that protected his hip and groin. The spider retracted the leg and attacked again as Jonas screamed from the pain and stumbled backward.
Jonas knew that he had to finish this spider off quickly or the demon might soon join the fight. He did not know if the demon prince had survived his attack but he had to assume he had.
The spider was a blur of red energy in his mind’s eye. He used his two blades frantically to keep the beast at bay while he used his mind to concentrate on the hunting knife that was sheathed at his side. The spider did not see the knife coming as it was focused on trying to get through the deadly blades that blurred before it. Jonas used his mind to send the knife into the large right eye of the spider. Green gore burst from the wound. Screeching in pain, the spider backed up, trying to use several legs to knock the knife free.
Jonas had never used his power to levitate his own body but he had to try. His head was pounding with the exertion of using his powers but he put his trust in Shyann and forced himself to focus and draw forth whatever energy he had left within him.
He was able to use his power to leap high into the air, wrapping his body in energy and lifting himself well above the spider, then quickly releasing the energy to slam his body into the injured creature. His feet hit first followed closely by both blades. His feet slammed the spider down into the stone while both swords plunged to the hilt into the soft hairy body. Jonas ripped both blades outward, slicing open the abdomen and showering the floor with its entrails. Simultaneously he jumped off the dead spider, landing on his shoulder and rolling quickly up to his feet, both swords held before him.
He mentally scanned the room for another attack. He was tired and severely injured, but in the state of Ty’erm he was able to block the pain and focus on what needed to be done. His head ached badly but in his meditative state he could handle more pain than normal. He pushed his strength to its limit, knowing that it would mean life or death.
Various colors assaulted his mind as he tried to makes sense of what he saw in the room. He could make out the two dead spiders, their color in his mind now a darker red as their bodies cooled in death. He could see the king’s bed and the softly glowing blue outline of the dead ruler.
Prince Nelstrom was choking on his own black blood as his spiders were attacking the cavalier. He tried to whisper the healing word that his master had taught him, a secret word found in the Shan Cemar. All that came out was hissing and gurgling as his ripped throat showered the ground with his blood.
One of his innate abilities as a follower of the Forsworn was that he could call on Naz-reen’s servants at will, once a day. So he didn’t need to say words of magic to bring forth the spiders. He simply willed them to arrive and they would, but to heal himself he needed to speak, to use words of magic like a wizard.
His red eyes boiled with rage as he felt his life’s energy begin to leave his body. But he was not dead yet, his magical body was able to handle injury and pain beyond that of any human.
He used the last bit of his energy to run forward, grabbing his sword off the ground with his only arm. His eyes focused on the cavalier with hatred and fury and he ran toward Jonas just as he had finished off the last spider. The demon prince attacked Jonas from the side, hoping to drive his dark blade deep into his body.
Jonas detected a glimpse of energy from the corner of his eye and turned quickly to meet the attack. He felt a searing pain lance through his side in the seam below his breastplate. No normal blade could puncture Jonas’s chain mail shirt under his armor, but this was no normal blade; it was a dark blade cursed by the Forsworn, and its magic was powerful. The blade pushed through the chain mail shirt, and through his abdomen, bursting out his back.
Jonas screamed in pain as the demon prince held the blade inside his body, twisting it left