Obsidian Ridge - Jess Lebow [75]
"You really don't know?" The man chuckled. "Then for now, you can call me the demon."
The man lunged, reaching for Quinn's belly with the tip of his sword. The polished steel left a blue-green trail of light as it moved, reflecting the glow of the phosphorescent moss. Quinn rolled to his right, tumbling away from the Strike and coming to his feet behind a stalagmite.
The demon struck again. Quinn ducked, and the exotic sword hit the mineralized stone, shattering the rock and sending it flying silently into a patch of moss.
"That's better!" shouted the horned man, swinging down on Quinn for a third time.
Backed up against the wall of the cave and with no cover nearby, Quinn slapped the blade aside with the flat of his palm. The polished steel bounced away, glancing harmlessly off the leather of Quinn's ruined gauntlet. The demon stumbled forward, thrown off by Quinn's unorthodox defense. He hopped once then lost his balance, crashing chest first into the ruined stalagmite.
Quinn leaped from the corner, raking the demon's arm just below his chain mail with the blades on his left hand, then he darted into the open center of the cave, giving himself more room.
The demon let out a growling scream that rippled the surface of the standing puddles. The arm of his robes was now tattered, and the padded armor underneath had been shredded as well. Narrow lines of blood rose to the surface from the razor-thin slices in his flesh.
Pushing himself upright, the demon came at Quinn, a look of pure hatred in his eyes.
"Now's your chance to die in place of your king!" he shouted.
He swung his sword in a figure eight, back and forth, side to side. The blade picked up speed as he came forward, a hissing wall of sharpened steel, leaving a blue-green tracer behind as it moved.
Quinn backpedaled and nearly tripped on a loose stone. Catching his balance, he reached down and grabbed the rock, nearly the size of a grapefruit. Quickly running out of options, he hurled it at his oncoming adversary. The stone collided with the exotic blade and was cut to shreds, the pieces scattering across the cave like a handful of thrown pebbles.
"Nowhere to go now, eh, Quinn?" the demon taunted, the sweeping motions of his blade filling the cave with sharpened steel.
Quinn backed away even farther, into a deep puddle. His feet sank below the surface, the water rising over the tops of his boot?: Having little else at his disposal, Quinn kicked with all of his might, sending a wave of filthy water up and over the horned man's head.
The muddy liquid collided with the moving sword, sending a good portion of it splashing off like a sideways rain. But unlike the stone, the water was not solid, and most of it continued on, hitting the demon in the face. It filled his eyes and nose, and the horned man coughed and spat, struggling to clear his vision. His blade came to a halt as he was forced to use one hand to wipe away the water.
Quinn dashed past, once again pulling himself out from against the wall. The tight confines of the cave were not the best place for his particular type of fighting, but he had no alternative. Taking advantage of his opponent's temporary blindness, he jabbed at the man's sword hand, trying to disarm him.
But the demon pulled back, saving his hand and keeping his blade.
"Maybe I underestimated you," said the demon.
The filthy water dripped down the demon's face, leaving long grayish-brown streaks on his cheeks, drips falling from the pointed ends of his horns. Wiping the last of it out of his eyes, he gripped his weapon in both hands and took an aggressive stance.
"At one time, I may have grown tired of this game, but"-his lips curled up on one side, revealing his sharpened teeth-"I'm rather enjoying killing you."
A rumbling sound echoed into the cave. It was faint at first, then it grew, getting closer. Soon the chamber filled with a familiar tapping noise, followed by growling, gnashing, and a tremendous hiss. A pair of giant spiders appeared in the mossy glow at the far end of the cave. Behind