His spell created more smoke but only grey smoke compared to the demon’s black. The demon’s spell stopped as Alrik’s spell blocked the demons from finishing.

Blood surged through Alrik’s veins. The rush was better than the best sex, the best anything in the world. He sidestepped then jumped and rolled out of the way as the demon lifted one mighty foot and stomped it into the ground leaving a large cavernous dip where his foot hit. The slam on the ground jerked Alrik from his feet sending him tumbling to the ground before he could get in an attack.

But he leapt back up, then raced along the demon’s other ankle, at the back of it he slashed his swords in a non-stop X pattern, crisscrossing and cutting skin into little chunks that plopped to the ground. Dark green blood, black and inky in his vision dripped to the ground with a sizzling hiss.

The demon let out a horrendous cry as its leg gave out. It went crashing down to one knee. Then its great arms swung around and around, trying desperately to catch Alrik. Alrik ran and ducked, rolling under the sweeping appendages but he couldn’t escape them all and one slammed into him like battering ram. His swords fell from his hands as he went soaring through the air.

He landed hard on his back to the sound of cracking bones in his shoulder. At once pain flared on the left side of his body, but the rage inside him tampered it down so he barely noticed it. He started to get up but his leg wasn’t acting right. He tried to put pressure on it but it only jolted forward, not letting him stand. He wobbled as he braced himself on one foot.

The demon shrieked again.

Then he heard soft footsteps coming from behind him.

Fear gripped him deep in his gut. His head spun around and he watched Abbigail charging towards him with the look of a mighty, determined warrior on her face. Her hands were outstretched. Even in his rage, he saw the bright orange glow of magic bursting from her fingertips as if it couldn’t be contained. The bolts shot straight for the demon.

“You will not hurt him!”

He jerked at her words. That couldn’t be what she said. That’d mean she somehow cared for him. She didn’t. He’d stolen her, planned to use her to his own means, to her own death. An imminent death she still knew nothing about. No way did she come back for him. His heart cracked in his chest. A real physical ache that made him want to bellow his pain for the world to hear.

The demon started falling. Flesh charred along its entire upper body that released a disgusting, stomach-churning smell. Even if he couldn’t move he had to help her. Alrik dropped to his knees, ready to cast his own lethal spell when he froze.

Time slowed for long, endless seconds, and all he could do was watch.

The demon opened its mouth and let out a roaring bellow—green, goopy spittle sprayed from it like from a hose. Alrik couldn’t run, he couldn’t hide, he was too close...and so was Abbigail.

With a power from somewhere deep inside him, from desperateness, he used the strength in his good leg to jump up and catch Abbigail. She grunted as he slammed her to the ground, covering every inch of her body with his.

The acid spittle landed on his back and legs like fiery poison. He shouted brief and hard as his body started jerking from tiny convulsions as the noxious spray ate through his clothing as if it was nothing and burned into his skin.

Abby’s wide eyes turned up to his, and then she pushed him off her. Where she got the strength, he had no idea. He couldn’t focus on anything but the pain. Even worse as his back hit the ground the acid was only shoved deeper into his skin.

His rage started to fade. It was too much; he struggled and tried to fight the urge to pass out. Abbigail stood and shot more power out one more time at the demon.

It bellowed and choked as green acidic spittle dripped down its chin and torso, sizzling its own skin. Then it collapsed to the ground with an earth-shattering thump.

The last thing he saw before his shaking body took him under was Abbigail leaning over him, her mouth moving. He tried to focus, tried to hear, but he heard nothing but a high-pitched ringing from faraway in the distance. Just as she leaned over him, his body shut down.

“Alrik!”

He wouldn’t move. Abby couldn’t stop shaking. His chest rose and fell but was he okay?

The demon was dead, and if it somehow decided to get back up again, she swore she’d summon more power than a god could to destroy it with how pissed off and terrified she was now. Alrik was hurt. Not a paper cut hurt or an ‘ouch I slipped and skinned my knee hurt’. No, she could smell, see, and hear his flesh burning where that green acid touched it.

“What do I do? What do I do?”

She could smell the demon carcass each time the wind blew. Her stomach rolled with nausea at the rancid odor. She needed to get them out of there. They needed to get somewhere safe so she could flip him over and see to his wounds.

Abby stood and looked over Alrik for a moment while chewing furiously on her cuticle. She needed to move him. The demon had to be at least two-hundred pounds though. This wouldn’t be easy, but she had to do it—for him. He saved her life.

Her chest tightened at the thought and she forced it away. She couldn’t think like that, couldn’t let herself think with her made her decision. She needed to check his wounds.

Kneeling beside him, she grabbed his side and pushed. He barely moved.

“Holy hell you’re heavy,” she muttered. Switching tactics, she turned around and used her back and legs to push against him. Finally, she felt him move. After he finally budged just enough, she pushed hard with her legs and got his left side up in the air.

A deep groan sounded from his chest. Abby dug her ankles deep and pushed the last of the way. His heavy body thumped to the ground, this time with his back in the air. A nice row of perspiration had worked up over her forehead. Abby wiped it off with her shoulder then turned to assess the damage.

She sucked in a breath at what she saw. His shirt lay in tatters around his back. His pants had deteriorated where the acid hit him and it seemed that’s where the bulk of it went. Where his pants had covered his thighs and calves were now gaping holes dotted like Swiss cheese.

She pulled back the fabric and gasped. His skin had bubbled up. It was a harsh red and swollen. Her gut told her she had to do something. But what?

“Alrik, you need to wake up.” She hated the sorrow in her own voice, but she couldn’t hide it. The tears were barely at bay as it was.

Taking deep breaths, she looked up at the sky. After a minute, she got her breathing under control, and had stopped sweating. She needed to inspect the wounds even if it grossed her out.

“Time to put your big kid pants on, Abby. You do this kind of stuff for a living, remember?” Yes, but not to people she cared about.

Slightly more relaxed than before, Abby set to work. She lifted Alrik’s shirt up as gently as she could. Apparently, that wasn’t gentle enough because he groaned in his sleep as she did it. “I’m sorry,” Abby kept whispering to him until finally she got the shirt up around the uppermost part of his chest.

Her hand flew to her mouth at what she saw. The vile green acid had mostly hit the lower part of his back. The green goop had burned into his skin making swollen bubbles of flesh stick out from him.

Abby sat back on her heels.

She was useless.

Utterly useless.

She was in a world where different rules applied and in this case, she knew nothing about healing a demon’s acid burns from another, bigger, and crazier demon.

Her instincts wanted her to clean off any excess acid with water. She laughed at that. The lake was at least a mile away. The dead jaheera had crashed between her and the lake, and on top of it all, she had no way of transporting the water. No bucket, no cup, no hose, nothing. She couldn’t do anything but wait for him to wake up because she didn’t want anything more than for him to wake up.