Page 52 of Bite of the Gargoyle

More monsters begin to file into the hall as Derith and I back up, both quickly furnishing ourselves with weapons from those that hang on the walls.

“Do you have a plan?” I whisper to him.

“No. You?”

“Have you ever fought a hydra?” I ask.

“I actually have not. You have?”

“Yes. It’s a good story, I’ll tell you sometime. The secret with a hydra is to identify the lead head. They’ve got lots of heads but one is the lead—the others are simply decoys so you get caught up trying to cut them all off rather than the one that counts.”

“And once you cut off the lead head?”

“The hydra dies.”

“How easy do you imagine that will be?”

I shrug. “The lead head is always towards the back, hiding, protecting itself. It’s not easy to reach. But when it must be done, then you find a way.”

Derith nods. “My powers may be of some use if…”

“No.” I shake my head. “He’s mine. You promised.”

“As you wish. Then I will use my powers to keep the monsters busy.”

“All of them?” I raise my eyebrows. “There are quite a few. How are you…?”

With a shake of his head, Derith transforms into his gargoyle form, his smooth, vulnerable flesh vanishing beneath the hard skin of the monster. He springs vertically upwards, flipping in mid-air and landing on the ceiling, claws digging into the plaster. The sudden movement draws the monsters’ attention and the bulk of them go after Derith, goblins clambering up the walls, ogres reaching up and jumping, nameless horrors from the pit spitting blood and throwing furniture that Derith dodges and bats aside so that it crashes back down on the heads of the monsters beneath.

Of course, not all the monsters go after him, especially with Balor yelling at them and pointing at me. A centaur lumbers in my direction, swinging a massive club. Diving out of the way, I roll across the floor, past the centaur, and come up behind it.

“Hey ugly!” I shout at a nearby troll which growls and hurls a stone axe in my direction.

I duck, allowing the axe to bury itself in the head of the centaur. The troll looks first guilty then angry and charges at me. Which is just what I want. Monsters don’t get out of the way when they see a five-foot-two-inch girl running towards them, but when they see the troll coming up behind her, then it’s a different story.

I weave a path through the horde, taking down monsters here and there, but mostly spreading chaos so they attack each other. Balor probably thought he had the advantage of numbers, but packing this many monsters into a confined space just leads to lots of accidents and lots of in-fighting. Monsters aren’t smart, and when in doubt, they just lash out at whoever is closest.

Finally, I find myself face to face with my target.

“Balor… I’ve been searching for you for a very long time,” I seethe.

He chuckles as though he expects to have the last laugh and then shifts into his gargoyle form just as Derith did, snarling and spitting at me.

Behind me, the lumbering troll catches up to me. “Got you.”

I spin around in a windmill kick that connects perfectly to the big creature’s jaw, knocking it unconscious.

I turn back to Balor. “You know what you did, don’t you? You thought you were training me to kill your brother. You ended up teaching me to kill you. Isn’t that an ironic ending?”

“Ironic that your petty quest for revenge ends with the man who killed your family killing you too.”

He’s deliberately pushing my buttons and, to my shame, it works. I launch myself at him and he’s ready for me, lashing out with a knife that whips out from under his cloak. I twist my body away, saving my life but I still feel the sting of the blade as it cuts my flesh.

Balor cackles in his gravelly gargoyle voice. “Don’t worry, Suisse. It won’t be quick. I’ll let you live a little while longer to enjoy the pain.”

Though I try to control it, the rage inside me boils higher and I go at him again, hard and fast and so stupid. Again, he’s too quick for me, reading my rage like a book, and again I end up wounded, blood trickling down my arm.

“I wonder how many cuts it will take to kill you.”

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