Chapter 145: Divided They Stood

The bat-like creatures were fast approaching them. Even with Ghwynmyr's pre-emptive attack, the creatures simply slid through the earthen spikes and made their way to them. Some of the flying monsters swarmed some of the spiky earth barricades until it finally crumbled down, leaving a big opening for the rest of them to get in.

Urfaal's heart was beating terribly fast. His palms were cold and wet, yet his throat was parched and burning. It was the same scenario again. It was another endless wave of monsters hellbent on killing them all. But this time, he was afraid that the monsters might succeed. Their dwindled numbers and fatigue had already crept into them.

He looked around and saw the rest of his comrades wearing stern faces without a glimpse of fear. Even Orphella never twitched nor jittered as the monsters were getting closer to them. The calm elf hoisted her bow and aimed it at them. She pulled the string along with an arrow glowing from her magic. She didn't release it just yet.

Urfaal saw his friend, Ghwynmyr lifted his hammeraxe once again. The dwarf raised his weapon above his head, heaving as he was about to release another powerful wave of magic. As the bat-like creatures swarmed around him, he smashed his weapon hard on the ground, it let out a pulse of air shattering the creatures into bits within its proximity.

"AAAGGGGHHH! Taste tis hammaraxe up yer arses!" Ghwynmyr shouted and swung his weapon wildly towards the relentless swarm who weren't even intimidated of the damage the dwarf had caused.

Urfaal quickly ran towards his friend to aid him, as the rest of them rained their fury off the monsters with fireballs and arrows. He immediately smashed his shield on the face of one of the angry critters. The head exploded as it hit the shield spraying blood and brains on the ground.

"Glad ya could join!" Ghwynmyr grinned as he evaded a wide swing from one of the creatures.

"Raaahhh!" Ulfaar caught the swinging monster with his blade and lopped off its upper torso clean from its body. "Because…rggghh! Not a good time to talk!" He exclaimed as another creature forcefully tried to grab his shield from his left hand. Luckily, he was able to stab the monster in the face.

"Watchout!" Ghwynmyr shouted as he rushed to his side and chopped the attacking monster in half.

He pivoted behind his dwarven friend and swung his sword eviscerating a bunch of the flying creatures open. Ghwynmyr lunged forward and swung his weapon in a frenzy. The dwarf's fighting style made it looked devastating storm destroying everything in its wake. However, the dwarf wasn't the only one tearing them apart.

After a few more slashes, Urfaal began to feel the burning rage steadily rising inside of him. His slashes became more wilder and wider. He felt his strength doubled with every attack he landed on the monsters. His vision slowly narrowed and was turning red. He knew what it all meant. The beast inside of him was furiously pleading for it to be let out.

He took a scratch across his chest and somehow it didn't stop him or even maimed him. Instead, it just threw more fuel to the raging beast inside of him. He grabbed the monster from the throat as his tattoos started to glow brighter once again. His mind was so clear nothing was encumbering his thoughts. He grinned at the monster before smashing it hard against the cold dusty floor, over and over again. The creature's insides painted the dull colored ground red with its blood as it splattered, he finally came to terms with his beast-self.

"AARRRRGGGHHHH!" His shout turned into a chilling roar. That it sent shivers down his comrades' spines.

He rushed towards the swarm and jumped towards them. He caught an unfortunate bat hybrid by the leg forcibly and dragged it down before stomping it in the face. Another one jumped on his back and tried biting his neck off. Unfortunately for it, Urfaal shoved his fist hard into its mouth, grabbed it by its jaw and threw it against the wall.

"On your right!" Ghwynmyr shouted as he tackled two more on the ground.

Ghwynmyr ran towards him while he pinned the two monsters down. In an unprecedented ingenuity the dwarf used Urfaal's back as a platform to leap to the other side. The dwarf furiously rotated himself on the monsters slashing of their body parts bit by bit.

The monsters finally understood how mismatched they were against them. As the creatures slowly retreated, Orphella and the others rained them down with a barrage of arrows and flame magic. The swarm wasn't able to kill them—this time.

Urfaal chased a few of them, tore their wings apart and a few, even skewered with it. The few who weren't caught, ran away and backed into the dark corner of the tunnel.

"Izzat all ya 'ave?!" The dwarf smashed a carcass' head just for the heck of it. He swung his sword once again and smashed it hard on the ground releasing another set of earth spikes. The spell took another few of them and unluckily skewered them with it.

"How does it feel to backed at a corner?!" Wahakim shouted. He drew his beautiful scythe out, engulf it in flames before throwing it towards the monsters hiding in the dark corner. The scythe flew like a ring of fire approaching the creatures.

They heard a clink from the darkness. It sounded like metal hitting against each other. The scythe returned unlit and cold in Wahakim's hand. There was an eerie silence in the air, suddenly, Urfaal's skin prickled. Something wasn't right.

"SSSHHHHHHRRRREEEECCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" A deafening shriek came blasting from the monsters' location. The shriek painfully pierced their ears and petrified them.

All of the sudden, Urfaal's berserker rage immediately dropped, and he began to feel sick. He vomited copious amount liquid he drank earlier. His head began to hurt so bad. He looked around and saw the same thing. Ghwynmyr holding his head writhing in pain and his beloved Orphella laid convulsing on the ground. The Orkhamuus weren't so lucky either. They laid down on their backs writhing in pain.

From a distance he saw sharp fangs reflect the flickering light from the runes Orphella held. The bat-like creature lunged from the darkness one by one and took his disabled friends' bodies one by one.  Urfaal couldn't do anything. He tried standing up but his body was failing him. The shriek disoriented him so much that a slight movement made his muscles cramped.

He watched helplessly as the beast-like creatures sniffed them curiously before taking them away into the darkness. One by one, his fallen comrades swooped away by the monsters into their death. Ghwynmyr, Orphella and the Orkhamuus gone in front of him just like what happened to his people.

He gnashed his teeth as he struggled to defy his body's physical protests but to no avail. It was his time now, The bat-like creature approached him and sniffed him before grabbing him by the waist. The monster opened its maw and revealed it long spiky tongue. It licked his face before finally deciding to carry him and flew him away.

Urfaal tried his best to struggle, but it looked like death was inevitable for them. He closed his eyes and hoped that it would be a quick and painless…Hopefully.