Home for Horny Monsters Ch. 112

"What are you doing?" One of the knights shook her head in disbelief. Her eyes flicked to the cell. "I think he's possessed!"

Cyrus took a deep breath and tucked the air wand into his belt as he drew another rod from a different pocket and held it in his off hand. He placed his back against the wall so that he could easily turn his head either direction to see his attackers.

"Possessed with good sense, maybe." Cyrus flicked the rod. A sheet of ice formed beneath the knight, causing her to slip and fall when she stepped forward. The other knight moved in to attack him, which Cyrus deftly parried. The knight rained down blows in a fury, but Cyrus casually blocked or evaded them all. Though he wasn't as strong as the knight he faced, he had decades of experience training and sparring with them. "You rely far too much on brute strength, by the way."

The other knight was almost to her feet. Cyrus swapped the rod for the wand and sent a wave of compressed air in her direction. Unlike her counterpart, she used her blade to block the attack, which sent her across the icy floor like a giant hockey puck. He brought up his sword in time to block the next attack, but the impact was hard enough that his whole arm went numb.

"Give up, old man!" The knight pressed his weight into Cyrus, forcing the old man down to his knees. Cyrus jammed the ice rod against the knight's hand and poured mana into it, freezing the man's hand so quickly that the skin peeled from his knuckles. The knight withdrew, leaping back and taking a defensive stance. When one of the mages nearby groaned, the knight moved to stand over her.

"It's a battle of attrition." The knight knelt and helped the mage to her feet. The other two mages were also rising now, their eyes fixed on Cyrus as they readied their wands. "There's only one of you, Cyrus. Give up."

Cyrus snorted, then shook out his arm. His fingers were tingling now, and he strengthened his grip on the sword. Swiftly tucking the ice rod back into his belt, he pulled out the lightning rod once more. A fine mist of particulates hovered in the air like a cloud, a result of the rapid changes in temperature and humidity. The element of surprise had gotten him far, but not far enough. The missing knight reappeared, blood running down from a cut in her forehead. It was five on one again.

"That's Master Cyrus to you." The old man grinned as he identified the threat level of each of the implements that the mages were using. He had learned once that some basic sleight of hand with a wand kept your enemies guessing, but clearly that wasn't taught anymore. He knew what to expect the moment the mage on the left tensed up and sent mana through their fingers and into their wand. "Class is now in session."

One mage sent a barrage of dazzling lights directly above which was meant to blind Cyrus. He closed one eye and squinted with the other, allowing him to see just enough that he was able to dodge out of the way of a nasty thrust from the knight. Opening his good eye, he was able to duck beneath a fiery beam that carved a groove in the opposite wall. Using the ice rod, he created another sheet of ice on the floor to keep the others back.

"Lightning rod is on a cooldown," stated one of the mages. "It'll blow him up if he uses it too quickly."

"Someone studied." Cyrus raised the air wand in time to send a pressurized blast toward the nearest knight. This also served to intercept the fireball that had come his way, which sent it careening into the wall. In the blast, he shoved the ice rod in his pocket and pulled a rosary made of iron beads from his pocket. Pinching the cross in one hand, he used the others to violently yank the beads away from his body. When the rosary broke, the iron beads fired away from him with enough force that two of the mages were knocked off their feet. The nearest knight covered his face with both arms, his magical shield flashing with every impact.

Cyrus kissed the cross and threw it at the knight across the room. She flinched and swatted it out of the air. It clattered harmlessly to the floor where she stared at it in suspicion. When nothing happened, she smirked at Cyrus.

"You think you're--" The knight was cut off by the searing blast of holy light from the cross which blew her off her feet.

Cyrus turned to block an attack from the remaining knight. "Self defense rosary," he explained. "For when the church itself is the nest."

The knight drove his fist into Cyrus' face. He took the hit and tumbled away, his back spasming when he rolled across the floor. Cyrus brought up the sword to block the next hit, then pointed the lightning rod at the knight's head.

"Boom!" he shouted. The knight dodged away, but the rod never went off. Cyrus chuckled and got to his feet. The mage who was standing held up a knife with a glowing tip, then cocked his arm back with it as if firing an imaginary arrow.

"Ah, heart-seeker blade." Cyrus frowned. "That's...unfortunate."

The mage's eyes flashed with victory, but then he was knocked to the ground by Callisto. The centaur started trampling the man, stomping as his hooves hit concrete and flesh. He looked up at Cyrus and grinned, unaware that the knight had moved nearby.

"No!" Cyrus held up his hands and watched in horror as the blade was brought down on the centaur. The amulet around Callisto's neck flashed, knocking away what would have been a killing blow. Still, the tip of the blade sliced deep into the centaur's face, causing the boy to cry out in shock and pain. Callisto stumbled and fell, staring at the blood on his hands in horror. That single moment of silence stretched for what felt like an eternity, broken only by the sound of an ominous hiss.

Grace threw herself through the open cell door, using both of her hands to swing her body toward the knight. The man didn't even have a chance to react as the Arachne wrapped her arms around his waist and then lifted him clean off the floor, her slap bracelet rolling away.

"BAD!" Grace declared, then slammed the man down onto the concrete. "BAD! BAD!"

The man cried out once, then went limp as the small child repeatedly slammed him into the ground. The remaining mages looked at the little girl in horror, her arachnid features now on full display. One of them knelt to pick up the heart-seeker blade that had been dropped, but Cyrus pulled out the lightning rod and blasted both of them once more. The runes carved into the metal were glowing white hot, an indicator that the artifact was likely to burst if he used it again.

Cyrus took a moment to survey the room, then lowered his weapons and sighed. He walked over to the Arachne and put a hand on her head.

"He's done, Grace. Leave him alone."

The Arachne hissed and dropped the unconscious knight, then moved to where her brother sat. Callisto looked up at the two of them with tear- and blood-filled eyes. Grace pointed to the wound on his face.

"Bad," she informed them.

"Am I dying?" Callisto asked, his lip quivering.

"What?" Cyrus actually chuckled. "No, you're not. Head wounds can bleed a lot is all. You'll be fine," he said, taking a moment to inspect the wound. "It'll probably scar, though."

"Oh." Callisto looked at the blood on his hands and casually wiped them on his shirt. "My dad has scars, I've seen them."

"I've got a few myself." Cyrus scratched at his beard, then stood. "Let's take a moment to clean you up and then we're getting out of here." He looked over at the Arachne, who had picked up a dropped fire wand and was inspecting it. She opened her mouth to chew on the tip. "Don't do that," he said, then made an exploding motion with his hands. "This will be your head if you do."

"Bad." She nodded knowingly, lowering the wand.

"Yeah." He couldn't help but smile. "Bad."

With the threat of destruction looming over Maui, will Mike and his family be able to save the island? What's the deal with Darius anyway? And will Grace learn any new words?

My lovely readers, thank you again for joining me on this lovely day. There will be plenty of surprises in store in the chapters ahead which I can't wait to share with you! Please remember to leave me some stars on the way out. But even if you don't, please, please, please remember to do something nice for yourself. You deserve it.

~Annabelle Hawthorne