The Final Redemption by Michael Manning (little red riding hood ebook free .txt) 📕

Incandescent fire flashed out, fillingthe air in front of Dorian with white hot flames as Sir Egan turnedhis sun-sword on the monster that had been battering him. The beastscreamed in pain as the fire proved to be unexpectedly effectiveagainst even its iron-like hide. Smoke billowed up around it asEgan continued his onslaught, and dark fluids seeped from itsburning skin, catching fire as they emerged. In short, it burnedlike dry tinder soaked in pitch.

The tall, spindly fourth creature thenturned its magic-charged tendrils on Egan, disrupting his attack astheir power flashed through him, setting his nerves on fire. Thistime the assault didn’t stop. The monster kept the power flowing,attempting to fry Egan within his armor.

Shuddering and twitching, Egancollapsed but the tall one continued its attack, until somethingflew through the air to strike it close to its round bulbouscentral body. Penny had launched herself like a missile, and sheremoved one of the softer tendrils with her initial attack. Sheclung to its main body now, and with a second swing she quicklyremoved the other. Leaping away, she landed near her fallencompanions.

The situation had becomedire.

The first three of their opponentswere down, but two remained. The tall one loomed over Penny as sheconsidered her options. Then impossibly, it began to grow newtendrils from its main body. Farther back, the fifth, and largestof their attackers had finally closed the distance. It towered,manlike in shape, twenty feet in height, a massive thing withheavy, bludgeoning limbs. It had only two arms, but each wasthicker than Penelope’s torso. She had no hope of cutting throughsuch massive proportions.

A sound from behind caught herattention, and she saw Dorian’s frame rising from the ground. Astrange guttural noise seemed to issue from his lips, and hereached up with one hand to pull his helm from his head. What laywithin shocked her.

Gone was the human face she had grownup with. In its place was a fierce stone head. His skin was nowgranite-like in texture, and while his features were still present,they were coarser, as though he had been carved by some madsculptor with a penchant for feral, dangerous expressions. Reachingacross his body Dorian began tugging at what remained of hispauldrons, and then he stripped the armor from his arms. Underneathwas more of the same, stone. Everywhere stone. He had transformedcompletely.

This can’t behappening, she thought.He’s like Magnus now. He’s gone.

She had no time to grievefor her friend however, the tall one was already aiming its newweapons at her, and she was forced to dodge the first of whatproved to be several potentially deadly magical blasts. Sand andstone vaporized wherever the magic touched, and she had no doubt itwould be even more effective against flesh, and her chainmailwouldn’t shield her at all. One hit andI’m dead.

Weaving in and out, shemoved like lightning, cutting at the creature’s legs, which seemedto be its main vulnerability, but her smaller sword made itdifficult to strike with the force needed to cut through theiron-like skin. If it would stay still,and I could make a two handed swing, I could probably severone. She had more problems than just thathowever. The fifth was close beside the tall one now, and its hugehands were sweeping down to catch her as she tried to dodge theblasts coming from the other.

Something flashed before her eyes, andthen she saw the golem that Dorian had become racing past. He hadfinished removing the armor and now held his great sword, Thorn, inone hand as he drove himself, shoulder first, into the main body ofthe larger monster, forcing it back. He rolled away from it as itfell, and the sword came up, glinting like a silver wraith in thestarlight. Gripping its hilt within his two thick hands, Dorian’ssword blurred as it struck and cut with incredible speed. Pieces ofthe monster flew in several directions as he danced and whirledaround it, chopping bits away like some mad lumberjack whittlingaway at a mighty oak.

The tall one had moved away from hernow, stepping back to survey the change in the battlefield. Thedeadly tentacles shifted, pointing at Dorian once again, and beforePenny could react, they unleashed another deadly barrage at hisunprotected back. He was transfixed for a moment as the magicravaged over and through his body, but he didn’t fall.

Penny was about to leap again, to makeanother flying attack on the tentacles, but Egan’s voice warned heroff, “Down, Countess!” The knight had recovered his footing, andhis sword was pointing at the spindly monster. Once Penelope wasclear, the flames rushed forth to bathe it in the devouring whitefire of his sun-sword.

Dorian fared worse. The magical attackhad temporarily stunned him, and his massive opponent wasted notime taking advantage; both of its huge arms rose and slammed intohim from either side. Cracks appeared in his chest as they drewback, but he seemed otherwise unharmed. Whipping his sword upwardwith one hand, he struck at the left arm but the blade failed tobite deeply enough. It snared in the hard wooden flesh, and beforehe could release the hilt, the right swung across to strike themiddle of the trapped blade.

A flash of light blinded them all fora moment as Thorn snapped in two.

Everything seemed to stop then as theystruggled to regain their vision. Dorian particularly seemedstunned by the loss of his sword, but the fallen god he was facinghad no such restraint. It caught him in one large fist, and rushingforward, slammed the stone man against the wall. Then it proceededto pound him, driving him against the hard stone with massivefists.

Stone and dust flew in all directions,and the courtyard seemed to vibrate with the deep sound of eachimpact. Dorian Thornbear was quickly being rendered intogravel.

It’s over,he thought. Thorn isgone, and I can’t go back. Oddly, histhoughts still seemed clear despite the damage his body was taking.He could feel pieces of himself splintering away, but it didn’treally hurt.

The image of Rose’s facecame to his mind. She would be devastated when she learned of hisdeath. “You know what I thought that day,when I first saw you?” The words werehers, from an evening years before,