The panicked goblins clashed against Asmodeus’ shield. They had no hope of getting through. Whenever any of them moved round the side in an attempt to get past, he ran them through with his sword. Meanwhile… the bloke with the axe started whittling the goblins down from the side. It wasn’t difficult for them to do… the goblins were scared; they weren’t thinking clearly… they just wanted to escape.

  Three more goblins arrived and jumped down from the raised tunnel. Before they reached the ground, Damecus leapt from the tunnel. He landed on top of one, crushing it instantly. He picked up the goblin to his right and smashed its head into the wall. The skull collapsed in Damecus’ hand. Blood, brain matter, and pieces of skull dropped to the floor. The third goblin had hurt his leg when he had jumped down. It tried to crawl away, but it was not even close to being fast enough. It cried and begged… but Damecus simply stamped it to death.

  Axeman: “What the hell?”

  Damecus charged towards the remaining goblins. There were only six left. They saw him coming and scattered. Damecus did not stop his charge, heading straight for Asmodeus.

  Asmodeus: “Shield of Stone!”

  Asmodeus slammed his shield against the ground and it began to glow. Damecus slammed against it at full force. The shield only moved slightly. I forgot how strong that reinforcement spell was… to stop Damecus like that is… impressive.

  Asmodeus: “Carter! Bring him down!”

  Phoenix: “Don’t you dare!”

  Asmodeus: “Excuse me?!”

  Carter attempted to bring his axe down on Damecus. Damecus grabbed it with one hand before kicking Carter in the chest, sending him flying. Damecus then started slamming the axe against Asmodeus’ shield. Harder and harder each time. He was foaming at the mouth and snarling.

  Priest: “My Lady, if I can touch his head, I can cast clear-mind.”

  Asmodeus: “Just fry the beast!”

  Phoenix: “Shut up, Asmodeus!”

  Asmodeus: “He is but a lizardman!”

  Phoenix: “He is more man than you!”

  Asmodeus’ spell was beginning to wear off. It can only take so much force before it wanes. He will have to recast it again soon… or resort to another tactic.

  Damecus threw the axe to the ground and grabbed the shield with both hands. He lifted the shield off the ground. Asmodeus refused to let go however. As the shield was raised up, he lunged forward with his sword. Damecus dodged, but it caught his left side… just a scratch really… but it angered Damecus all the same.

  He released his grip on the shield with his left hand and grabbed Asmodeus’ sword hand. He bared his teeth and went to bite down on Asmodeus. Only the gods know what madness he thinks is going on because even Damecus’ teeth couldn’t break through that armour… and Damecus would know that.

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  Phoenix: “Fireball.”

  A small ball of flame shot across the room and smashed into Damecus’ back. Phoenix had obviously kept the spell small to avoid causing serious damage. It was simply to get his attention. Damecus threw Asmodeus to the ground, turned, and charged towards us. A couple of the goblins attempted to make a move on him as he passed them but they did not fare well. He bit the throat out of one and tore the head of the other.

  Phoenix: “Dwynfel, wound his leg.”

  Dwynfel: “Okay.”

  Phoenix: “Levitation.”

  Phoenix began to float off the ground. She attached her hammer to her belt and picked up the priest with her good hand.

  Phoenix: “Be ready to cast clear-mind.”

  The priest gave her a knowing and agreeable nod.

  Phoenix: “Dwynfel, now.”

  Damecus was charging towards us… his nostrils flared, he was covered in blood. I loosed my arrow and hit him in the leg… he kept running… barely fazed.

  Phoenix: “Again.”

  I loosed another and he began to slow. I looked at Phoenix, she nodded and I loosed a third arrow. As the third arrow entered his leg he dropped to the ground.

  Phoenix: “Dragon’s breath.”

  She held her weak hand out behind her and the flames burst from it. It propelled her forwards at a tremendous speed. She headed right for Damecus. He opened his arms and grinned as if he welcomed the assault.

  Just before she was within his reach, she moved her arm and very slightly altered her direction. She just passed the outside of his left arm and threw the priest onto his back as she did. The tiny priest didn’t waste a second. He wrapped his legs around Damecus’ back as best he could… which looked rather difficult due to the size disparity. He proceeded to grab Damecus’ head.

  Priest: “Clear-mind.”

  Damecus paused and looked around the room… he tasted the blood on his lips and spat a chunk of goblin flesh onto the floor. He reached his hand back and lifted the little priest into the air. He looked at the priest with a look of bewilderment.

  Priest: “Don’t believe we’ve spoken before.”

  The little priest presented his hand to Damecus. Damecus reached out with his other hand and shook it.

  Priest: “Clive Beaumont.”

  Damecus placed the priest down on the ground. He looked down at his leg… which had three arrows sticking out of it. He then looked at me.

  Dwynfel: “Sorry.”

  Damecus: “I hate confusion gas.”

  Phoenix had collapsed to the ground a few metres from where Damecus stood. She must have used up all of her remaining energy on that last spell. Agaroth had never managed to heal her fully before, so she was barely standing to begin with.

  The four remaining goblins rushed for the main tunnel in an attempt to escape. Asmodeus had just managed to get back onto his feet. I shot one of the goblins in the back and it collapsed to the ground.

  Asmodeus: “I do not need your assistance, fiend!”

  He screamed in anger and brought his sword down on the remaining goblins repeatedly… by the time he had finished it was hard to tell which parts belonged to which goblin… I mean… I know that I just sliced a ridiculous number of goblins in half… but fucking hell… he just kept chopping them up… he has… a lot of pent-up anger.

  Smutisha: “Calm down, Trevithick! Such a blatant display of anger does not become you, darling. Now, would somebody be so kind as to tell me, what the hell is going on here?”

  Obviously, they cannot be in the same place at the same time as they are one and the same. But I quite like the symbolic nature of this image, showing the beast that lies within Feiffer.

  (Side note... I have come to realise that I have spelled Feiffer wrong on several occasions during this story. I sometimes forget to do the double f in the middle. The correct spelling is 'Feiffer.' If you ever notice it spelt with one f then please highlight it so that I can correct it. Thanks.)