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She waved her hands around, swinging the shield, not sure what to do next. Axle decided to focus on the sounds, knowing that the demons were experts at sneaking up on their targets. They moved like shadows, and traveled in them. The other dragons could sense them easily, but Axle had to put in the work to make sure he picked them out.
He heard the sound of loose dirt falling from the hole in the roof of the cave. He heard a cricket in the distance, and the sound of wind hitting a flat rock face on the surface. Axle shut his eyes tighter, trying to pick out the sound he knew would be there soon. One mistake could mean the difference between life and death. Then, just as he had predicted, he heard it.
A rock moved in the cavern and settled a second later, followed by an echo near the entrance on the other side. Axle turned to face the sound, and as he looked to the entrance he saw three large lizard demons walking over the rocks and heading into the cave. They had their eyes set on Natalie as she stood at the altar, shaking in fear.
It wasn’t something they had planned for. Kanai had sent demons. Axle got out of cover and got in the way of the demons as they darted their forked tongues into the air, looking at him. They looked like overly long Komodos, with burned rotting skin, and overly long and sharp claws on their paws. For some reason, they each had a spiked tail as well, along with jaws filled with rows of sharp teeth that stopped them from shutting their mouths.
Axle cracked his knuckles. “Here we go.”
Chapter 16 - Natalie
Natalie watched in shock as the creatures walked in. They were as large as tigers, and looked like they could take down an elephant with relative ease.
She saw Axle charging right at them, throwing a powerful blow at the closest one. A deafening crack bounced off the walls of the cave as the creature was thrown backward.
Axle turned around in time as the other two reacted instantly. One swiped a paw at him, but he ran forward, getting out of the path of the sharp claws. He took the blow from the inner paw of the creature, and was knocked to the side, but he dug his feet into the ground, slowing himself down and stopping himself from falling over.
She couldn’t do anything but observe the demon he had knocked away rushing back at Axle, jumping over one of the others, with its jaws spread wide, looking to take a large bite out of him. Axle opened his arms, catching the top and bottom jaws of the creature, holding its mouth open as it tried to force itself closed around him.
“Bingwen, I would appreciate the help!”
“You’re all good!” came a voice that echoed from somewhere in the cavern, causing Natalie to jump in fear.
The creature pushed forward, digging its legs into the dirt. It swung its tail over its head, looking to impale Axle. Luckily, he looked up just in time to see it coming, and quickly jumped to the side, the teeth of the creature tearing into his skin. Axle stopped, grunting in pain. He grabbed the tail of the creature, looking to use it offensively, but another attacked from behind.
“Behind you!” Natalie screamed.
Axle turned just in time to see another one behind him, jaws wide open, about to take a bit of his head. He drove the spiked tail of the other demon into the mouth of the creature. It let out a scream before staggering backward, trying to pull the barbed spike out of its mouth.
Axle rolled between their legs, watching as one dragged another by its tail, biting rapidly in an attempt to cut the spike free from its mouth. He felt the wind change behind him and turned just in time to see the attack coming from the paw of the third creature. Natalie was gripped with fear since there was no way he could get out of the way, even with his enhanced speed.
Just before the blow landed, a golden wall of energy appeared in front of Axle, and the creature’s claws bounced right off it. He dove right at the demon as it recoiled from the attack, grabbing its neck and squeezing it tightly, looking to choke it out. The defense had come from Bingwen, who was still a rock somewhere, watching the entire thing play out.
Straddling the back of the creature, the tail of it attacked Axle, then it brought it down on him. He jumped off at the last moment as it stabbed itself. He grabbed the end of the tail and began forcing it through its own body, yelling until it made it through to the other side.
Natalie put a hand over her mouth in shock, seeing the creature fall to the ground, dead. Quickly, Axle turned around to face the other two, seeing that one of them had its tail cut off, and the other had a spike in its mouth. They had both suffered damage, and it seemed Axle was on a roll. He would win the fight against them.
Before she could speak, Natalie realized there was a horrid smell, and she turned around to see a demon. It was the same kind as the one that had tried to rip the bracelet off her arm at her house. It looked like an insect, with large bulbous eyes that oozed with some sort of liquid. It screeched and flapped what looked like wings, before diving straight at her.
Natalie put up a shield, and as the creature slammed into the shield it exploded into green blood and guts. She let out a breath and held up the shield, looking up at the hole above her head to see several more of the demons step inside. She tried to regulate her breathing, attempting to calm herself.
“Bingwen!” she yelled out, knowing Axle had his hands full. “We’re being swarmed!”
Before she could finish the sentence, a rock was hurled through the air right at the hole. It slammed into it, blocking it out completely and cutting out all light. Natalie froze. Then she heard a clap and the room was suddenly filled with little flames of light that floated in the air. She turned just in time to see an insect demon rush at her. She put the shield up and blocked it.
“The energy from your bracelet is too much for them, just keep hitting them with it,” Bingwen said calmly, suddenly behind her. “Axle, hurry up, we got a swarm!”
Natalie slammed her shield into another creature and it went splat. She smiled, feeling a bit of power. She turned to see Axle pull the jaw of one of the lizards to the side, breaking it. The creature dropped to the ground, and when Axle turned around Natalie caught a glimpse of his chest, which had a long slash across it. His shirt had been ripped open.
As she stared at him, an explosion over her head caused her to raise the shield up instinctively. Just as she did, a large rock slammed into it and Natalie realized she could have died if she hadn’t reacted like that. Looking up to see what had caused the explosion, all she could see was the hole that Bingwen had closed. But then she heard a loud thud on the ground behind her, and turned around slowly, feeling the energy of the room changing instantly.
Standing behind her was Kanai.
Chapter 17 - Axle
Axle wasted no time, knowing that Kanai would kill Natalie instantly. He ran as fast as he could, pushing himself until he was right between them. He threw a right hook with all of his momentum, catching Kanai across his face. Bits of the rotting skin flew right off, exposing the bone underneath.
The impact sent a crack through the cave, causing the wisps of flames floating in the air to dance a bit. But Kanai barely flinched, and his body instantly healed from the blow, healing over and quickly rotting again. Kanai then placed a blow of his own, looking to catch Axle with his claws.
