Tribeca: Part 9

Ebon fell backwards onto the forest floor, his protection charm failing him. As he fell he saw the witches coming for him with looks of ravenous rage in their eyes. The darkness took him. As the horde of hags rushed in to claim their prize, a ray of bright sunlight penetrated the thick dark forest of Steridian surrounding where Ebon lay and blinding the witches. As they shrieked and shielded themselves from the sun a shower of arrows rained down on them, piercing and puncturing and penetrating the mass of dark magic women.

The arrows, once embedded into the flesh of the women glowed and melted into the wounds, turning the witches to stone or wood. Others would explode on contact sending pieces of flesh and innards all over the forest floor and onto other witches. A mass hysteria mounted within the witches as they struggled to see who was attacking them. From the clouds, now visible by the opening in the trees, came forth a figure in shrouded in light. The tall witch that had attacked and poisoned Ebon leaped out to meet this new creature. She would not be denied her claim. The King never allowed for failure.

The other witches that were not now stone or wood, fled into the darkness of the forest, peering back through the underbrush. The opening of the tree tops closed, allowing for the big witch to regain her focus. In font of her stood a creature of pure grace and beauty. It was all black in appearance. It had the lower body and legs of a horse and the upper torso of a man. Large, angelic wings hung from its horse body. The upper torso was a chiseled body of muscle. White hair sprouted from the creature's barrel chest and ran in a fine line down his abs. His arms were huge and heavily defined like two slabs of granite. The creature had claws for hands, ready to strike. One eye sat in the middle of its face where two usually should be. His lips were full and pout and he had a small puggish nose. Above his eye was a long bejeweled horn protruding from his forehead. The creature had no hair on his head nor did it have an eyebrow or eye lash; two large hoop ear piercings dangled from his ears. A bow too large for a normal man to carry was slung over its shoulders.

After taking in the sight of this beast-man the large witch cast a spell towards him, much like the one she used on Ebon. The creature shielded itself with its wings as the spell visibly bounced off of them. The other remaining witches, regaining composure, came back from the forest to join with the large witch, surrounding the creature, who hovered protectively over Ebon's still form. His eye glowed red for an instant before he spoke.

"Leave here devil women! This boy is protected and no harm shall come upon him from the likes of you." He commanded. The witches laughed as they closed in their circle around the creature and Ebon.

"The King demands his sacrifice! This boy interrupted the ceremony! He must now substitute. Give him to us creature or die!" The large witch answered defiantly.

The creature reared up on its hind legs, as it did so, kicking the air with its front hooves, it summoned a violent gust of force, shredding into molecules three of the witches closing in on it. As it landed the earth shook, causing a split in the ground to open underneath the creature, spreading to two other witches that had tried to sneak up behind it. The earth swallowed them, closing behind them as they fell. A loud squishing sound was heard as sprays of blood shot up from the ground like a fountain mist. The large witch watched in horror at the might and power of the creature who had dispatched five of her lot with no effort.

"Come then, she-devils! Let us end this confrontation! This boy will NOT be harmed!" The creature bellowed as it challenged the remaining witches. The large witch shrieked and fell back into the shadows, as did her sisters.

"You may have him. But this is not over creature! The King is not one to be angered or denied! He will come for his prize himself!" The large witch warned as she fell back in the darkness. The creature looked sternly in her direction.

"Give him my name then, so he knows who to look for. I am Aardol, the Avatar of the Earth!"

Only silence returned the creature's call. He turned to face Ebon and frowned. Ebon was bleeding heavily unto the ground, his blood flowed black, formed a pool around Ebon's still form. Aardol sat back on his hunches and his horse parts became humanoid, as his torso became man-like, his four legs became two, with strong nude thighs forming but retaining their fur from the knees down and hooves for feet. His wings folded into his skin as well as his claws became hands. He retained his one eye and horn though. He reached for and grabbed Ebon's wound with his hands. The black blood began to run red between his fingers as it poured from Ebon. Aardol was cleansing the poison from Ebon's body.

'I must move quickly,' Aardol thought to himself. 'He has lost far too much blood. I must get him to shelter and proper healing, but this should work to stop the bleeding for now.' Aardol knelt over Ebon's limp form which was starting to turn a pale grayish from the blood loss and touched his horn to the wound in Ebon's side. The horn glowed as the wound appeared to heal itself, cauterizing the hole and stopping the bleeding. Ebon moaned slightly as Aardol bent and picked him up. He returned to his horse form and lay Ebon across his back.

"You will not die, child of Koa. Your father has need of you!" Aardol then lifted slowly into the air carrying Ebon away into the sky.

He did not notice the cloaked figure blending into the shadows of the forest watching him the entire time. DaChase's warlock now prepared to follow the creature to its destination.