Chapter 45

When she saw Tavik had stayed behind, Naomi slipped to a halt and scrambled to go back to him.

“Tavik!” she screamed.

“Naomi, go!” he shouted. He stood with empty hands as large murky objects raced toward him. The unicorn stood by his side with head lowered ready to fight.

Yula grabbed her arm and began pulling her back. “We must get back to the cottage!”

“I am not leaving Tavik!” Naomi shouted.

“You have no hope of fighting them without weapons, and even with weapons, the odds are against us,” Mr. Squibbles said from Yula’s apron pocket.

“He’ll be killed!” Naomi cried.

“Errilol will protect him,” Yula argued.

Naomi fought desperately to get free of her. “Errilol protects no one. He enjoys the deaths of everyone, even his followers.” Yula put both arms around her and heaved her off the ground staggering back toward the cottage. Naomi struggled to get free.

“Agatha has weapons that can kill the beasts, but she’ll need our help,” Mr. Squibbles said. Naomi looked toward the cottage and saw the witch madly scrambling around inside and tossing things about. Yula put her down and grabbed her hand. Together they raced to the cottage. They stopped at the doorway though and hovered there. Naomi got the distinct impression that if they entered, Agatha would mow them over as she searched through her things.

“What can we do?” Yula asked.

Agatha pointed at a sword, said a word of magic, and it whizzed out of the house. “Tavik, sword!” Naomi screamed. He turned just in time to catch the flying sword. He threw the sheath aside and turned back to the Golgoffs just as they closed in on the unicorn and him.

Agatha threw more things around the room.

“What are you looking for?” Yula asked.

Agatha lifted up a scarf to reveal a crystal ball. “This!” she exclaimed and held it up. The witch ran back outside with the crystal ball.

“What are we supposed to do?” Yula demanded.

“Pull down the cottage’s wheel,” Mr. Squibbles commanded. Yula jerked the wheel down. The cottage began to lift off the ground.

“I am not leaving Tavik!” Naomi shouted and jumped out of the house before it floated any higher.

“Naomi!” Yula screamed. Naomi scrambled to her feet. A tower shield fell flat beside her. She picked it up and staggered a moment under its weight. It had to weigh at least fifty pounds. She heaved it up and put her arm through the brace. The shield came up to her chin. She began jogging as best as she could back toward Tavik.

Naomi finally got a clear view of the Golgoffs, and she had to wonder if evolution worked a little differently on this planet. Umbreks were bad enough, but Golgoffs…Imagine if Rob Zombie had designed a Muppet. They were seven feet tall with shaggy fur like a yeti. They had massive arms and tusks that curved down from their mouths. Sharp slicing claws tipped each hand that could easily grab a man’s head and squash it. But for some reason their fur was neon orange.

Agatha stood at the edge of the fray with her smoky crystal ball. She held it high overhead and began chanting indecipherable words. Fog spilled out of the sphere to blanket the field making it harder for the Golgoffs to see them. Naomi stayed by her side keeping an eye out. Agatha was the most vulnerable with only the crystal ball. The witch looked at her, but didn’t stop her chanting. Naomi thought maybe she couldn’t, not if she wanted to continue producing the fog.

There was a roar that made Naomi jump. She watched Tavik charge a Golgoff. He leapt on it and sent it to the ground. He rose up with his sword and ran it through. He threw his head back and roared again. The sound wasn’t human. She gasped when she saw his eyes. They were consumed with a burning green light.

“Is that Errilol? Has he summoned him?” Agatha nodded and continued her chanting.
The unicorn was holding its own. His horn’s glow burned away the fog around him. He also blinked in and out of the field striking the Golgoffs wherever he appeared. Hard to believe some guys with dogs were ever able to kill one.

Tavik was climbing off the Golgoff he’d killed when another blindsided him with a massive claw and threw him into the air. He flew several yards away. Naomi ran to help him. He landed face down.

“Tavik, are you all right?”

He didn’t stir.

The Golgoff that had thrown him was snorting and scratching the ground. He was getting ready to charge. She held the shield tighter, but the Golgoff had to be three times her weight. It’d make road kill of her.

“Tavik!”

A low chuckling began from him. It made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. “Tavik, get up!”

The Golgoff charged. She crouched behind the shield and braced herself. It was all she could think to do. The Golgoffs paws slammed the earth as he ran at her. She could feel the impact of his steps through the ground. “Oh God, this is going to be bad,” she said to herself as she screwed her eyes shut and waited for the slam. The ground shook and suddenly stopped. She felt a little bump on the shield and then there was a distant thump. She peeked over the shield and found the Golgoff yards away, sprawled on his back.

She turned back to Tavik and found him standing behind her. “Thank God, are you all right?” He didn’t reply.

“Tavik?”

Before she could protest or even offer it as she would have done, he grabbed the shield and wrenched it off her arm. Naomi screamed as her arm snapped. She fell clutching her broken arm. He put his arm through the brace and hefted the shield. He looked down at her, and the burning green eyes stared through her. That wasn’t Tavik in there anymore. It was Errilol.

“I’ll be back for you,” he said and went after the Golgoffs. She didn’t romanticize his statement for a second. He wasn’t going to help her. He was going to finish her off once he was done with the Golgoffs.

Her ears perked. Agatha was changing her chant. The fog took on a strange odor. “Stop that, witch!” Errilol shouted from within the fog. She struggled to stand and began stumbling toward Agatha, but it was difficult. The fog was no longer a simple fog. It had sleeping gas in it. She covered her mouth to try and lessen the effect. She heard pounding footsteps and turned to see Tavik running toward Agatha. He was going to attack her. His body had a green sheen as well now. Naomi began to run, gasping as her steps jarred her arm. She had to intercept him before he got to the witch. Her legs burned as she sprinted. He didn’t see her coming at him. He was only a couple paces away from Agatha when she tackled him from the side. They went down, and she pinned the shield to his chest with the weight of her body.

“Tavik, wake up! You gotta get rid of Errilol!”

His eyes when he looked at her still burned green. “I’ll leave when everything’s dead.”

He raised the sword to slash at her. She grappled for it, but she could never hope to win an arm wrestling match against Tavik.

“Tavik!” she screamed.

He coughed, and a speck of impossible hope entered her. He was growing weaker. The fog was having a quicker effect on him. When he dropped the sword, she thought it was over. When she looked down, she was relieved to see his eyes were closed. The gas had finally knocked him out. She was feeling pretty close to passing out herself. She looked to Agatha. She wasn’t stopping her chanting. There were still Golgoffs nearby. Tavik’s swordhand shot to her throat and proceeded to squeeze.

She clawed at his hand, but his hold only tightened. Her eyes were streaming, and the lack of oxygen was affecting her more swiftly than the fog was slowing him. Her hold began to weaken. She only had one chance. Her hand dropped away, and she looked down at him. Her face calmed, and she mouthed the only thing she could think of to Tavik. Her eyes slipped shut.

There was a scream off to their right, and cloven hoofs galloped to them. Suddenly a blinding horn slashed Tavik’s chest. He snatched his hand away from her throat with a wail. He clutched her to him and sobbed.

Taking a breath set off a coughing fit that threatened to make her head explode or wish it would. Tavik froze and looked her in the eye. His were beautifully blue again. “Naomi?” She gave him a pained smile. Her good hand went to her throat and touched it tenderly.

“How?” he whispered.

“Played opossum. You guys must not have those here,” she rasped. He stared at her in joy until a harsh snarl drew both of their attentions. A pair of Golgoffs were stalking them. They moved cautiously, but they were still strong and unhurt. Tavik was in no shape to fight, and the unicorn had received wounds in its battle. It was slashed across one flank, and it moved jerkily with exhaustion. Agatha still chanted her incantation, but she had grown hoarse. Fog barely spilled from the globe now. Tavik pulled Naomi close and held up the shield, but his arm shook under the weight. He didn’t have any strength left. Then the cottage crashed down and flattened the Golgoffs.

Naomi giggled and began to cough violently. “Deus ex suburbia,” she wheezed. Tavik rubbed her back.

“Did we squash’em?” Yula called from the cottage.

Continue to Chapter 46.