beginning Will supplemented his attacks with force-lances, but in the chaotic moments that followed he found himself forced to switch to using the point-defense shield more often—not to stop spells, but just to keep Madrok from eviscerating him with the blinding speed of his black blade.
Selene moved closer, until she was less than twenty yards away, and then she began attacking the demon-lord with force-lances whenever his back was toward her. She couldn’t yet reflex cast the spell, but she could construct it quickly enough to throw one every few seconds.
Between Will, the trolls, and her sneak attacks, it seemed impossible that Madrok could escape every attack, though for a while he did. Eventually, he turned away from Selene for too long, and one of her force-lances struck the demon-lord’s hip, blowing out a fist-sized chunk of flesh and bone.
Now! thought Will. Madrok stumbled, and Will dropped his sword, summoning one of the war hammers that had the new spell on it. Gan swept in with a long-clawed hand and ripped part of Madrok’s belly open, spinning the demon-lord around and disorienting him.
A better moment would never arrive. Selene might be too close, but Will couldn’t waste the opportunity. Swinging the war hammer as hard as he could with his right hand, he brought it down on Madrok’s shoulder.
Or at least he tried to.
At the last moment, something slammed into Will’s breastplate so hard that it immediately burst into flame, and despite its inertia-dampening properties Will was knocked back two feet. His swing missed, although Gan hooked a second hand around the demon-lord and began to twist as though he would rip the blue-skinned demon in two. Belatedly, Will realized that Madrok had finally used a force-lance of his own to knock him back.
Madrok ignored Gan’s devastating claws and hissed in pain, but as he did, his will stretched out like poison in the air around them. Will fought it instinctively, but as strong as his will was, he could only nullify the effect for a few feet around himself.
Everyone else took the full brunt of it, and the air was filled with the screams of twelve trolls and one very human woman whose voice rose through the octaves until Will thought it would tear his soul apart. Gan, Selene, Lrmeg, and all the others collapsed, writhing to the ground as they shrieked in agony. Will sent an unending stream of force-lances at Madrok, but the bastard stopped each and every one with a grin. The demon’s wounds healed over, and the fiend straightened up even while as he defended himself.
Madrok danced forward, swinging his black sword with perfect grace, and Will knew he’d been a fool. They had never had a chance. None at all.
He raised his war hammer, the motion seeming slow and clumsy compared to his opponent’s fluid motion, and then a roaring howl filled the air, temporarily blotting out even the screams of Selene and the trolls. Seemingly from nowhere, a massive grey form that was so dark it almost seemed black flew through the air to land on Madrok’s back.
At the same time, a disembodied voice found Will’s ear. “Run. We’ve already lost. Run while you can.”
The goddamn cat’s claws latched onto Madrok’s shoulders, and the great cat’s jaws bit down on the back of the demon-lord’s neck, crushing his spine. Black blood spurted and flowed as Madrok collapsed under the weight of the Cath Bawlg.
The pain stopped the demon-lord’s spell, and Selene and the trolls suddenly stopped screaming. Will started to run to his wife, to take her and flee, as he’d been warned, but then his eyes met those of the goddamn cat and he knew.
His friend had come to die. Though the Cath Bawlg had the advantage, the demigod knew something else was coming. This was how his end would come. This was why he had tried to leave. For whatever reason, the goddamn cat had thrown aside all reason and come anyway.
And as soon as he knew the truth, Will could no longer turn aside. He could see Selene struggling to her feet, so he shouted to her. “Take the trolls and go!” He doubted she would listen, but it didn’t matter. Together or apart, he was going to make certain of one thing. If the goddamn cat was going to sacrifice his life, at the very least one of the cat’s most ancient foes would die with him.
Turning back, he lifted the war hammer and started toward the helpless demon-lord.