These are the last set of updates from a book I've been working on for six years. I hope whoever gets to read this likes it.
A flying fireball came flying towards him. He ducked just in time to evade it. He looked up to see his assailant. His stomach rumbled at the sight. Silhouetted in the sky, the creature's mouth hung open as greenish slime trickled out. It had the head of a shark but its body bore semblance to a hippopotamus. It was heading for his direction with amazing speed for something that heavy.
George aimed a stunning spell at it.
"Nostram!"
The creature stopped in its track and fell down to the earth with a thud, raising dust in its fall. Confirming it was dead, George turned his attention again to the sky where a ravenous monkey had appeared. It had hands that were hairless and large. It had a mouth that could pass for a beak and was attempting to set fire to their house.
“Wrong house you idiot,” George said as he stupefied the creature with the same stunning spell. It dropped to the ground with a speed faster than the other had been.
George turned to see Mr. Logan contending seriously with a bat-winged bear. Mr. Logan attacked with such an aggressiveness he hadn’t imagined the man possessed. Looking into his face as he doubled for him in the assault, he realized he didn't know this man at all. Quite well, the same cloak hung unto his fatherly frame but the face was different. His brows were creased and George thought he saw the evil eye as he acknowledged his presence. He had to concentrate on not trying to discern what had happened to his mentor. Tried as much as he could, it didn’t work. Not when felt strands of hair prick him as he came in contact with the older man’s body. Mr. Logan had never liked keeping hairs on his body. Something had definitely happened to him.
What could have happened while he was away?
There was no time to find out as the creature had begun piling them with fireballs that needed extinguishing. As George quelled the assault, he watched with uncanny interest as Mr. Logan jumped up with such vehemence that George feared he would sprain his ankles. However, he met his target and with one big swoop, tore it down. He tore the animal apart with his bare hands. George didn’t know what to make of this and for that moment, he forgot about the battle and just watched Mr. Logan do his damage. It was like watching as your favorite athlete competes in a competition. He liked the new Mr. Logan however strange he now seemed. All through their preparation for this battle, he had wondered how he was going to protect the old man. He had even once proposed that Mr. Logan get to a safe place, like the fort where the elixir was being kept. Mr. Logan had out rightly refused the idea and said it was only cowards that feared the inevitable.
“Had did you do that?” he asked as Mr. Logan got up from decimating the creature. He gave George a smirk as he turned around to look at him.
“Some things are better left unsaid George.”
Although George wanted to reply, he had the feeling Mr. Logan needed what he was seeing kept silent.
And when did he ever get called by name by Mr. Logan?
He shoved the anxiety out of his mind and looked to the battle raging before him. He was surprised at what he saw. It was like the sky had broken loose and all of hell let loose. They weren’t many of them when he sent out the instructions. Now, every available space was filled with the stench and cruelty of these demons that he wondered if he could really do anything. The sons of Thorank were doing their best to withstand the attacks and were already failing at it. He watched as one of them dropped to the floor as one of the creatures bit into him. Its teeth sank in like a pickaxe on muddy soil. The Son cried out as his flesh began to deteriorate at a fast pace. George recognized him immediately. That was Sanie, a teenage boy, about his age, who had showed him so much kindness since he came to the realm. George looked straight at the creature that was already coming for him. His fingers contracted into a fist as he felt the adrenaline seeping into his veins, shot at the creature a damning spell.
“Valun decimal!” What he had sent out was a curse that ate its victim ten times the normal rate. Its entrails would dry up before he could even think of doing something about it. He would never use this against a human but this creature more than deserved it. He watched as it fell close to the Son it had bitten and George saw the light go out of its eyes. He ran to it, not satisfied that it had just gone that like that without screaming out in pain. It was dead before he got there. George turned to the Son and in his eyes were the look of plea. George knew there wasn’t anything he could do about him and this made him angrier. The Son’s blood trickled out like a broken tap and his hold on George’s arm loosened until his body went limp.
George got up then and began attacking every single one of the creatures he could find with a killing curse. He shot them down with the ease of lighting up a flame. The anger in him helped his course as rage flared, his focus sharpened, and his spells met their target. In a matter of minutes, he had struck down more of the creatures that many of the other Sons put together. However, he was beginning to feel weak and the more lunarlings he killed, the more of them that remained. They had to be multiplying. There was no way they could be this many.
As George felt the strength giving way, his thought drifted from the battle to Cordelia whom he had left in the woods. He had to be strong for her. It had been his wish to get this battle done, at least his bit before going back to rescue her. He couldn’t give up. She had to be alive. He wished he had the same psychic connection he shared with her that he did with the Thorank fellows. He needed to know that she was alright.
Every spell he threw now was making him weaker and he didn’t dare stop. Not when a lot of the lunarlings now focused on him and were firing their deathly shots at him with the obvious intent to kill him. He fell to the ground no longer able to keep his footing. The creatures took this as a cue to finish him and they begin directing all their assault at him. Even those who had been finishing off the Throrank fellows left them and turned their focus to him. George scanned helplessly for Mr. Logan but he was nowhere to be found, at least not among those still left standing. Any moment now.
He made a last grasp effort to repel the lunarlings. He had to do the repelling curse that would jab them all and send them miles backward. This however needed strength. He needed to raise his hands but the strength was not there anymore. At last, he surrendered to his unforeseen fate. The first of the band of fireballs tore down. A scream rent the air as he felt the burning sensation.