Threads of the Soul

(This one, and the subsequent battle, gets gory, as if the rest of the novel up to this hasn't been. Either way, You have been warned.)

Claws scraped against stone, marble fists pounded against tender flesh and steel edges tore through bodies as blood was sprayed, splattered and misted.

Although Seth simply looked like he was standing at the window and watching while everyone else was preparing, in actuality he was having one of the most intense battles of his life so far. Not only having to fight one battle, but 5 simultaneously. His eyes were darting over the destructive landscape, his mind running a thousand miles a minute as he was constantly multi-tasking. He was so focused that he couldn't even bring himself to look away long enough to blink, he hadn't done so in so long that his eyes were starting to burn from the strain. Yet even with balls becoming drier than a martini in the desert, he forced himself through the pain and kept his focus completely on his puppets. The Spirit Animal wasn't trained enough for this, even with his efforts to stuff it full of programmed commands, it could barely handle 10% of the situations that were happening every second.

There were simply too many opponents, too many variables, too many unknowns for it to handle anything without constant supervision, so he didn't bother. Every action they took, every foe they vanquished, he had to do it all.

It wasn't just that he was controlling them like a video game character, he was them. Every punch was with his fists, every swing was his own weapon and every blow landed on his own body. The more hyper focused he became, the more he lost himself in the intricate web of soul threads. One minute he was Corvus, cleaving through a Hemogoblin with his makeshift sword, yet when he turned to give a blow to a new enemy he would find himself as Neptune, swinging his Trident like a baseball bat and sending a savage, snarling wolf careening through the sky. He'd reach to his side, trying to grab a goblin trying to sneak past him, only to grab a hold of a panther-like cat's tail as the unarmed Diana.

Swinging the cat around, he slammed it into the ground and used it like a flail, smacking its body off of countless different beasts and monsters before tossing it away like garbage.

Corvus swung his feather bladed sword, cleaving into the stomach of a goblin who had made a leap for the wall, as he easily sliced the wretched creature in twain. Blood sprayed out like a hose as the two pieces of its body collapsed to the ground. Undetermined to let the simple matter of having its guts torn open and legs removed, the remaining goblin torso began to drag itself across the ground.

It's gnarled claws digging into the tarmac as it pulled itself along, forcing its way closer and closer to the wall, yet it barely got a few inches before Corvus slammed his head down onto his head and splattered it like a watermelon thrown from a skyscraper.

Almost losing his footing from the sudden bout of blood and viscera stuck beneath his boot, Corvus quickly dove to the side, just barely avoiding the pounce of a dire wolf that was nearly the size of a horse. The moment he came out of the dodge roll, Corvus whirled around and tossed his blade, sending it careening through the air, but not without purpose. However Corvus didn't wait to see if his throw landed, or if it even got close to its target, as he immediately turned and caught the snarling, spittle dripping maw of the pouncing Dire Wolf once again.

The air whistled sharply as the projectile tore through the skies, slicing apart the air as if being in its presence was the worst affront possible. It cut through the air, heading straight towards the towering Hobgoblin, which snarled in derision at the pathetic attempt to take its life. Perhaps if it were caught by surprise by that flying dagger, but it was keeping an eye out for that now, so a normally thrown blade like this was nothing but child's-play in comparison.

Raising his axe and facing the flat towards the incoming feathered blade, it tried to deflect the projectile, however at the last moment something curious happened. Instead of clattering uselessly off the Hobs blade, like it was supposed to, it changed its trajectory and performed a sudden, and utterly impossible, barrel roll. Swirling over and around the blade, and even the Hob itself, only to sink between the eyes of another mag. Cleaving its head in half, leaving a started look on its wretched and now splintered face.

The mage staggered for a few seconds, the remnant signals from its skewered brain sending useless orders to its body before it finally collapsed like a sack of potatoes, fresh life wine trickling from its exposed grey matter.

The Boss Hob looked back at the sight of yet another dead mage, which seriously impacted the rate at which they could produce more underlings, and realised the fact that he had been tricked... tricked by a mere human! Oh that made the Hob beyond furious. He grit his teeth, so much that many of them developed cracks and he had to stop himself from splintering the wood of his axe handle.

Quickly barking out new orders in that repulsive, language that sounded like a seal trying to swallow a seagull whole, and while it was still alive, the Hob commanded the remaining two mages to be protected before glaring at the one responsible for their deaths. His eyes burned with untold fury as he watched the bird faced man get pounced on by one of their beasts.

***

The Dire Wolves teeth dug into Corvus' palm, not that Seth could feel a single bit of it, claws scratching helplessly at his armoured chest, unable to get enough of a proper grip to tear the armour and shred the tender flesh it assumed to be hiding underneath.

Corvus' arms trembled, straining against the power of the snarling jaws, until he let loose a blood trembling and guttural war cry. With one last mighty pull, he forced the beast to open its mouth. Even when its jaw cracked and flesh began to tear, he kept pulling until he tore the jaw off. Like pulling a strand of skin next to your fingernail, a portion of the beasts flesh under its neck clung on for dear life, peeling downwards as it remained attached to the lower jaw as Corvus tore. He ripped it as far as he could, until a crude metal collar bound around the Dire Wolves neck prevented him from tearing any further.

He gave the ramshackle shackles a brief once over, noticing it was not a regular dog's collar from a life as a pet but definitely something that had been put onto it after the apocalypse. The crude metal was banged into shape, with no care for design or aesthetics, before being scrawled with a mess of runes. Runes that were incredibly familiar to the ones carved onto the Hemogoblin spawning stones, and which were quickly losing the burning light they had once produced.

However, Despite his burning curiosity Seth had neither the time nor the mental energy to give the collar more than a passing glance, he would have to come back to it when everything was dead. Perhaps if he could get a second without something on his ass, he could attempt to figure out it's purpose with his rudimentary knowledge.

Speaking of things always being on his ass, Corvus shifted his grip on the dead Dire Wolf, grabbing the back of its head and twisting around. Thrusting the head forwards, he plunged its exposed upper jaw into the chest of an attacking Hemogoblin, piercing its flesh with the Wolves teeth.

Before the vile creature could even come to terms with what had happened, It was already flat on its back as blood filled its lungs, yet despite everything the cruel and psychotic smile never left its face. Not even when the life drained from its beady eyes. The sight of that thing, grinning away as it died dreaming of the twisted things it would do to these people. It repulsed him more than the blood and guts. No amount of violence was more twisted than this wretched things glee.

Without even turning his head or bothering to look, Corvus reached behind him and caught another Hemogoblin out of the air, locking his hand around its throat and preventing it from carrying out its small minded sneak attack. The stupid thing thought it could leap onto him while his back was turned and slit his throat, shame it never realised it was being watched from above by the puppets real master.

The crimson skinned goblin let out a series of barks and dry heaving, clearly insulting him, as it flailed its arms and pounded its fists uselessly against the back of Corvus' head as he stood up straight. Keeping the feral beast suspended in the air by its throat, Corvus turned his head to face the wretched creature. Staring at it with eyes hidden behind the darkness of his beaked mask, he letting his puppet master see that same depraved grin plastered across this creature's disgusting face.

Yanking it towards him, Corvus speared the sharpened point of his beak through the goblins head, finally wiping the horrific smile from its face, and looking deep into the Hemogoblins eyes. As he forced it to stare into the void, it felt the void staring back at it and for once, Seth finally saw a new emotion deep within the windows of its soul before they turned milky and lifeless.

Fear.

Pulling the corpse off his beak, he tossed it to the side and drew another blade from his cloak before turning to face the rest of the horde. This battle was far from over. In fact, this was only the beginning.