The sound was the most embarrassing sound Damon had ever made.
The horn released what could only be described as a farting noise. And it was not a pleasant farting noise; it was long and gregariously loud, with a liquid undertone, but at least an unpleasant smell didn't accompany the eruption. The numbers above the horn glowed with magic.
Horn of Udo: Summoning +8
"Sorry for that sound," Damon said.
"Blow it again!" Kim shouted.
He blew again, and this time the horn's expulsion was deeper, richer. A loud note went RAA RAA RA RA WROHH and reminded him of bulls mooing at cows lounging in a valley; he felt an immediate surge of power rise inside him. He was the summoner. He could draw the world to him.
Kim took a step towards the horn, as if the noise were pulling her.
Damon drew in a breath, searching the sky and the vast distance, but nothing was coming to help them.
"Blow it again," she said. "Put your whole heart into it."
Damon nodded, took a deep breath, and this time, the sound was even clearer. RAA RAA RA RA WROHH. Kim took two steps closer to the horn, so that she was right beside Damon. He lowered the horn. "Uh, what are you doing?"
They were almost face to face. She jumped back. "It's the horn! It made me move closer to you."
He examined the horn with wonder. "So it's like that aftershave."
"Huh?" she said.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
"Those commercials for Axe body spray imply that women come running. It's obviously fantasy. Anyway, this horn has a special tone that makes things move closer to it. Living things, judging by the fact none of the rocks flew my way."
"Let's listen for a second," she said. "Maybe we'll hear help on the way."
They waited. The gray sand didn't shift. The gray sky didn't change. There was no noise but the slight wheeze of Damon's breathing, which he tried to hide.
"It's not calling anything," Damon announced. He blew the horn lightly: DA DOO DOO DO DA DOO DOO. "It's such a familiar tune." Then he snapped his fingers. "It's the song 'Midnight Mover' by Accept. They had great fantasy songs, though not as many as Helloween."
"It frightens me how much you know about olden-days metal music."
"Dad was a repository of metal lore." He looked down at the horn. "Oh, dear. We are talking too much. I can't see Fiora or her numbers. She must have suffocated by now."
"Technically, it's asphyxiation," Kim corrected. "Sorry, my mom was a cop and a stickler for, well, knowing how people die. Should we say a few words of… of remembrance?"
"No. It's time to think outside the box. Or maybe under it." He blew the horn, hard and loud, and blew and blew: DA DOO DOO DO DA DOO DOO. And just when he thought he'd pass out, he jammed the horn into the sand.
The loud, bullish summoning sound grew muffled, but the sand in front of him shifted. He kept blowing the horn. The sand was shaking and shuddering, and it turned into a funnel. Several tentacles broke the surface, thumping around. A hairy head popped out, with squinting red eyes. It looked very much like a giant rat, except for the tentacles coming out of its shoulders. Its jaws hinged open; its mouth was a cave with yellow sharp teeth.
Metal Health: 416
Type: Monster, Female
Kind: Deathcrush Tentacled Rat Demon
Abilities: Poison tentacles, poison teeth
"Watch out for the tentacles and teeth," Damon wheezed out.
"Blow," she said. "Like your life depends on it."
He blew, and the giant rat mouth below them opened wider, and several tentacled tongues came lashing out of it. The pink, grotesque and now squealing maw erupted with sand and rat saliva and spat out a blurred clump of flesh, wings, a head, and scaly arms and legs. Damons's heart sank because it looked like this giant rat creature had already mostly digested Fiora.
The last bit of air expelled from his lungs. And he fell to his knees.
A tentacle smashed the ground next to him. The rat demon let out what could only be described as an avenging, angry, ear-splitting squeak.
