9 Desperate Measures

Sael eyed the eight foot pitch black skinned giant in front of him. With his arms crossed over his chest, he just grinned watching his prey in front of him. From below he could hear the goblins still beating on the door. Though Sael lacked any sort of appraisal skill he didn't need one to realize how big the gap in power was between them. He lowered Ara down and grabbed the door slamming it shut. On the other side, the demon laughed "Where do you think you are going? My minions will rip you apart just as easily as I will. Come in and let us have a little chat before I tear you to pieces."

Sael looked back the way they had come and towards the stairs. Even if he went back, getting out would be impossible. He'd have to raise the portcullis and that would allow the goblins all the time they needed to either come in or set up to meet him. Not to mention he doubted big, tall, and ugly in the room would wait that long. Looking down at Ara her eyes were bright with fear but her jaw was set with determination. She knew probably better than he what the stakes were. "I'll be honest with you. I don't think I can beat that thing. But I might be able to make an opening for you. When we go back in I'll hit him with everything I've got. You go straight to the fireplace behind him. You'll have to climb out, I know it will be hard but you've got no other choice."

She opened her mouth and he could already see the argument in her eyes. "No arguments. We don't have time for them. It's time for me to man up and act like a prince rescuing a princess. And for you to woman up and act like a princess getting rescued."

He took a deep breath and asked "Ready?" When she nodded he turned and threw himself at the door. It slammed against the wall as he charged through rushing straight towards the demon. For his part the demon hadn't moved, still standing with his arms crossed grinning that horrible grin. Sael rushed forward cursing his lack of weapon and swearing if he got out of here he'd keep a back up no matter what. Twisting his entire body he slammed his fist into the side of the demon's gut going for a kidney shot right from the start. Rotating the other direction he brought his other fist in going for his lower rib before finishing up with a kick to the side of the immobile giant's knee.

Stepping back to assess the effect of his attack and he felt his hopes draining out of him. His opponent hadn't moved at all. Only his grin had changed getting wider in response to his all out attack. Refusing to give up Sael did the only thing he could think might work. Bringing his leg up as hard and fast as he could he tried to kick his enemy where he hoped it would hurt the most. It seemed demons shared the same vulnerability as all men since the sudden attack elicited a response but not the one he expected. Uncrossing his arms the demon backhanded the human so fast his target couldn't react. The blow lifted him off his feet sending him back to bounce off the wall. Worst of all was the fact that the demon's attack was made so casually. As if he wasn't even trying.

Chuckling the demon spoke again "I like you. You fight dirty. But your mistake was trying that shit on me. Now I've got to make you hurt."

Through gritted teeth, Sael said "Hasten!" before charging back forward. Launching another flurry of attacks the result wasn't much better. Only this time when the demon general decided to strike back he was able to bring his arms up to block. Unfortunately, this attack carried with it far more force. Pain practically blinded Sael as he struck the wall for a second time. Behind him, the bricks seem to give.  Bowing out behind him and keeping him from falling. His left arm was bent at an odd angle, bone protruding through even his leather armor.

More mocking laughter filled the room 'Why… Why am I still so weak? I thought I was getting stronger. What was the point of coming to this world? Of struggling so hard just to be beaten by such overwhelming strength. Even the stupid traits I thought were so over powered. That I was so excited to have meant nothing before an enemy like this. What good is being able to get stronger, if I can't even last long enough to gain anything.'

Hugging his broken arm to himself he resigned himself to waiting for his death. There was no point in struggling any further. Suddenly, Ara was beside him. He'd completely forgotten about her. He wanted to yell at her for not escaping when there was a chance even though he knew there was no way that monster would have let her get past him. But his protests were stopped when she kissed him. In shock, he tried to pull back but she wrapped her arms around his head holding him tight as she locked her chapped lips with his. His face grew hot and flushed in shock. 'Really in the middle of a fight?' That was all he could think.

She pulled away breaking the kiss as the devil behind her roared out in rage. His calm demeanor broke for the first time. "Fairy whore what do you think you are doing! YOU BELONG TO ME!"

Despite the situation, Ara's gaze was cool and calm as if nothing else in the world mattered. "You said you'd be my prince, remember?"

Sael managed to throw both of them to the side as the demon crashed into the wall where they had been a moment before. Stone shattered and flew away as he barreled through it into the hall beyond only to return in the blink of an eye. "I will show you what it truly means to incur the wraith of Grawmaw'nagul."

Flinging Ara as far as he could towards the fireplace with his good arm he leapt up as the demon general charged "Fuck you Gnaw maw no balls!" Almost as angry at himself for giving up before as he was with the demon he swung his good arm with everything he had. 'Fighting something so strong I have to have gotten stronger. Even if just a little. Please!' Mentally he cried out as Graw threw a punch of his own. As their fist collided Sael's was crushed. Bone fragments exploded out from his ruined fingers as they were crushed, knuckles shattered, and finally the bones all the way to his wrist shattered. But his efforts weren't in vain as Graw's own hand crumpled as bones shattered in a similar fashion.

Laughing despite the blinding pain Sael cried out. "It wasn't for nothing!"

Shocked and enraged that a human had managed to harm him Graw decided to end their fight. Knifing his good hand he thrust it towards the now helpless human's throat intent on digging his talons right into his flesh. Out of instinct, Sael reached for the wrist of the incoming hand, thinking to catch it. It was hard to tell who was more surprised when his previously broken left arm managed to grab and stop the incoming attack.

While Sael asked "How?!"

Graw simply yelled out in rage turning to look for the fairy. "You whore!"

Not one to let the opening go by Sael took the chance to make up for his earlier failed attack. Bringing his leg up with everything he had, pushing even his new found strength to the limits. Graw's rage turned to blinding pain in an instant as he leaned forward reaching for his ruined goods.

As Graw's head lowered down into his reach Sael raised his right arm shocked to see it healing at an impossible speed. Bone fragments that were protruding pulled back in and realigned. Skin and flesh mended before his eyes. Even the blood he'd been shedding pulled back in leaving his hand perfectly restored just in time for him to land the first of many punches into the demon's face. Sael's hand shattered again, unable to withstand his growing strength with each blow, yet each time it took less damage than before. Still, no matter how many times he punched the demon it seemed to have no effect. Just as Graw was starting to recover from the first kick Sael reached up and instead of punching jammed his thumb into Graw's eye.

With one of his arms still being held the demon general tried his best to pull back. In response Sael held on, digging his fingernails into the side of Graw's head as his thumb curled to give him a better grip on his enemy's skull. Using both his weight and all his strength he dragged Graw's face back down. Right into the perfect spot, where he proceeded to head butt him smashing his forehead violently into the demon's nose.

Throwing his weight backwards the demon struggled to get free from the human's sudden iron grip. When Sael quickly let go of his head he crashed backwards landing on his back. Leaping forward Sael kicked the downed demon across the face as hard as he could. Feeling bone crack and seeing blood splatter. Far from out of the fight yet Graw grabbed his ankle with enough strength to crack bone. Toppling over in pain he found the demon towering over him in the blink of an eye. Now it was his turn to be kicked while he was down. He managed to block with his arms only to have them shatter from the blows and heal just as fast.

When the next blow came he threw himself at the incoming leg and wrapped himself around it managing to once again topple the giant. Soon they were rolling on the ground punching, kicking, clawing, and even biting one another. Every wound Sael suffered healed so rapidly he wasn't able to keep track of all of them. Each blow he dealt seemed to carry a little more weight. Still, the gap between them was too great. Nothing he seemed to do could deal a decisive blow and it appeared the demon knew it.

Managing to get back to his feet he growled down at the demon before winding up for another kick. He cried out in frustration doubting that his monstrous enemy could be easily defeated unarmed. "Damn it. I need a weapon!"

As if on cue a spear appeared in his hand. Not questioning the sudden twist of fate he thrust the spear down piercing the demon's forehead only stopping when the point buried itself into the stone below. Sael felt the tension go out of him as the strange turn of events led to him surviving. His relief was replaced with terror as a powerful blow knocked him away. Gripping the spear with both hands Graw managed to pull it free of the stone and stand up. Tossing the spear aside he took one step towards the cursed human before collapsing his final burst of defiance ending with his life.

Staring in horror at the corpse in front of him, still not completely sure it was over Sael held his breath. Only when he heard the pained groans of the fairy princess did he get back up. Looking down at himself he found his armor was badly damaged but he felt fine. In fact, he felt better than fine. It was as if a warmth was spreading through him infusing his body with an endless stream of vitality.

Going to Ara he knelt down to help her sit up. "Are you alright?"

Grumbling she replied. "Other than the scraps and bruises from you THROWING me. I think I'm ok." She looked up at him with her brilliant emerald eyes clouded with just the hint of pain. "A kiss to make it all better?"

He almost laughed, it was such an insane situation to find himself in. Despite the madness of the situation, he gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Better?"

"It will have to do for now." She stood up and moved towards the fireplace. "Let's get out of here while we can."

Sael nodded but hesitated to look around the room. He couldn't find the spear from before. In the heat of battle, he hadn't gotten a chance to give it a good look. But he was certain it was at least as good as the one that Dego had. Still, he wasn't willing to leave empty handed and butchered the demon's corpse though even his greed wasn't enough to let him linger. Scooping the little fairy up and telling her to hold on to him he started up the chimney.

*********

They were currently sitting across from one another in the camp he'd been using during his time raiding the goblins. Ara was once again eating as fast as she could without choking. Her clothes were still tattered and filthy but she looked much better having washed up in the nearby stream. Her shoulder length hair was a fiery red that contrasted with her bright emerald eyes fiercely. Her skin was still pale although a bit of the color was starting to come back. But he doubted a little color would ever be enough to hide the sprinkling of freckles across her nose and cheeks.

Rather than a fairy, her appearance made him think of an Irish lass. Or maybe a female leprechaun? Shaking his head he pulled out some more food for her before standing up. "Alright. Stay here. I'm going to go back."

She stood up so fast she nearly dropped all the food in her lap. "What? Why would you go back?"

He pointed to the air next to him before realizing how silly it was, she couldn't see his quest text. "I have a quest. I'm supposed to get the treasure the goblins stole. Plus I want to find that spear! I need a weapon. What if we run into something else on the way back."

Ara's gaze fell to the ground for a moment as she fidgeted before seeming to calm down or perhaps found her resolve. "Well, actually I have the spear. I guess it is yours now." She took a deep breath and made a motion as if she was grasping the air. The spear from before appeared in her hand and she held it out towards him.

Once he grasped it there was a mental chiming sound and the quest complete message popped up. "So this is why they had you captive." he stated as he ran his fingers down the polished dark wood of the spear's shaft. It was perfectly polished and contrasted with the gold color of the blade and ornate decorations. Flowers, vines, and other nature themed adornments covered the spear. Compared to his last spear its blade was narrow and incredibly thin. It was also much longer, more than a foot in length almost like having a slender short sword at the end instead of a spearhead. The blade was heavily engraved as well with a forest motif, tiny fairies fluttering around with butterfly-like wings.

"No, I don't think they knew I had it to be honest." she shivered as she said it.

"So, You're just giving this to me?" he asked more than a little shocked as he tested the balance. "As in, I can keep it?"

Her gaze was filled with something he couldn't grasp as she nodded "Well… Yes, I guess. It belongs to you now. It isn't really up to me to give it to you or not. It's part of the package you could say."

"What package?" He spun the spear listening to the crisp sound of the razor sharp blade cutting the air.

"Well…" She seemed to fidget for a moment. "Me of course. You did propose and I accepted. Since we are husband and wife now the Fairy King's Spear I was entrusted with becomes yours."

He fumbled to catch the spinning spear as he lost focus on his routine. Slowly he turned his shocked gaze to her blushing face and blurted out. "WHAT?"