Page 74 of Fiendish Delights
I sprinted down the narrow corridor towards Enger’s office with Hugo matching me step for step. The door to the tiny ODA room was closed. Hugo sprang in front of me and kicked it open. In a stomach-churning flash, I registered Enger’s splattered blood dripping down the walls. Across the floor, a vicious, golden-skinned fiend with long black hair was straddling his body. In an instant, all coherent thought fled my mind.
Hugo reacted first, roaring with fury and launching himself at the fiend. I ran into the room after him and drew out Gladys, but the space was so small that it was difficult to wield her.
The fiend was already up and spinning round to face Hugo. With a sickening lurch, I realised that his mouth and his teeth were stained red with Enger’s blood. Hugo smacked him hard in the side of his head, following up an instant later with a powerful gust of wind magic that would have knocked any normal creature sideways. Not the fiend, however; he merely laughed and the cold sound echoed around the room.
‘Pathetic elf,’ he sneered. He swiped at Hugo, his clawed fingers raking across his cheek and drawing blood. Holding Gladys in front of me, I tried to push my way in but there was no space unless I shoved Hugo out of the way.
Hugo’s attention was focused on the fiend. He blew out another thrust of air magic that the fiend countered with a jet of fire. Hugo ducked to miss it, narrowly avoiding becoming toast.
I gritted my teeth. Air magic wouldn’t cut it against the fiend, and I knew that Hugo was wary of attempting anything elsefor fear of bringing more harm to Enger. I had to get the ODA officer out of the way.
I hunkered down onto all fours and dropped Gladys so I could reach for Enger’s ankles and drag his body to safety. His chest was rising and falling so he was alive – for now, at least.
As my fingers curled around Enger’s lower limbs, the fiend charged at Hugo and the loud screech of a fire alarm rent the air. At least that damned witch had finally done the smart thing; everyone in this building had to get out before they were all killed.
I yanked hard on Enger’s legs and concentrated on pulling him out of the room. He moaned slightly but the sound was barely audible over the crashing noise of the battle between Hugo and the fiend. I jerked my head up when Hugo cried out in sudden pain and registered the blood streaming down his forehead. I couldn’t tell what the fiend had done to him but it didn’t matter. He’d hurt Hugo. I couldn’t have that.
Red mist descended over my eyes. I shoved Enger to the side so that he was out of the way as much as possible, then I grabbed Gladys again. I stood up, swung her blade at the fiend and sliced into his fleshy upper arm.
He head-butted Hugo and knocked him against the wall before spinning around to face me. ‘Another elf,’ the fiend sang. ‘Another victim for my—’ He stopped mid-sentence and his scarlet eyes widened. ‘You!’
I slammed the tip of Gladys’s blade forward, aiming directly for his heart, but he was too fast. He leapt aside in a blur of motion and I didn’t get close. I swung Gladys at him again; yet again, he moved easily out of my way.
‘Not this time, bitch,’ he snarled. ‘Athair will hear of this.’ He raised his hand and I saw my death written in his eyes. There was a wall behind me; the doorway was blocked by Enger’s unmoving body, and Hugo was slumped in the corner.The fiend knew his magic was strong enough to kill me and I knew it too. I could feel the enchanted power of the impending attack pulsating through the fiend’s skin.
I threw out the best defence I could muster, pushing out water magic in a bid to form a barrier between us, but I was panicking and it was weak. Even under the best of circumstances, the air would have been too dry to magick up an effective water barrier. The fiend would destroy my pathetic creation in a second.
I braced and raised Gladys in front of me as some sort of shield, then waited for his magic to slam into my body. There was a flash of blurry movement from the fiend then I heard glass breaking.
Suddenly everything went quiet.
Unable to move, I stayed where I was for one long second then dropped the thin wall of water. A cascade of liquid crashed onto the floor into a mini-tsunami. I ignored it and dashed to Hugo. His face was coated in blood.
‘Hugo! Where are you hurt?’ I ran my fingers over his skull and located two small wounds, one near his forehead and another on the back of his scalp. He groaned but managed a small smile. ‘It looks worse than it is,’ he grunted.
‘There’s blood everywhere.’
‘Head wounds always bleed a lot.’ He raised his hand to his forehead and grimaced. ‘The damned fiend head-butted me.’
I winced sympathetically.
‘Is he gone?’
‘He threw himself out of the window,’ I said. I leaned across and peered out. There was some shattered glass and a few smears of blood, but no sign of the fiend. We were safe – at least for the time being. Why he’d run, though, was something I couldn’t explain.
The witch who’d confronted us in the corridor gasped andrushed to Enger, who lay half in and half out of the room. I looked into Hugo’s eyes and he nodded. I left his side to check on the ODA officer’s wounds.
‘I’ve called an ambulance,’ the witch said, the words spilling out of his mouth in chunks of anxiety and fear. ‘And the police. And the fire brigade.’
‘Good,’ I told him. ‘That’s good.’ I reached for Arnold Enger. Bite marks on his neck and shoulders were visible through the ripped fabric of his once-pristine white shirt. ‘Mr Enger? Are you awake?’
His eyelids fluttered open. The witch leaned over him. ‘Arnie?’
‘Torture me all you want!’ Enger hissed. ‘I won’t tell you where the lair is.’
‘Arnie, it’s me. It’s Erwin.’
‘I won’t tell you!’ Enger said. ‘I won’t say a word!’
