Chapter 18

The Attack on Haven PART 2

(that time I learned what it meant to be a hero...)

My eyes hadn't deceived me. Everything was burning. The fire from the Bukavac spread out around the village catching homes and merchant shops on fire. Even Jor's forge was burning. Years and years of hard work was turning to cinders in the matter of minutes. I couldn't stop myself from holding back my tears, my rage. When the mana shield my momma threw up dissipated into a blue mist I unsheathed my sword and summoned my shield, a fire of my own.

"Stand down Kai," Moma-Mia told me, she was standing behind m, her hands glowing with magic of her own. I wanted to listen to her, the logical side of my brain was telling me I was about to take on something I couldn't comprehend. Instead, I turned my shield into a weapon and dispelled several dozen Fire Bolts at the Bukavac and Dvorovoi as they began to pick themselves up from the rubble they were rolling in. Each one costing me 10 points of Mana I wouldn't be regenerating anytime soon.

My fire hit the Bukavac in the top part of its left shoulder and shattered its black hide which cracked, looking more like armor than anything. Underneath I could see it glowing blue, its body was almost entirely made of blue ether.

Damage Dealt x 10

Bukavac Shoulder Crippled.

It wasn't a Critical Strike but I managed to get its attention. Until now most attacks had been doing very little damage to it. I finally got a read on the monster.

-Bestiary-

Bukavac

Description: A six-legged demon with gnarled horns and a body made of armor. It usually lives in large bodies of water and comes out at night using its large arms to strangle anyone close by. It is well-known for making loud terrible sounds that can freeze opponents, and in some cases the sounds have been known to drive people mad. It can change its size and shape some, usually by elongating its body. Eons ago it was the size of a man but over the years it has grown considerably larger. There is only one Bukavac known to exist, a remnant of darker times. Many believe the Bukavac to be a child of Veles, charged with guarding entrances to the underworld.

HP: 2000 / 2000

Weaknesses: Unknown

Immunities: Unknown

It was unlike anything I'd ever encountered. Even the Elder Dragon that ate me only had a HP of 400. How could something so strong exist in this world. Moma-Mia must have seen the shock on my face when I realized the power of one of such an unfathomable creature. I could barely feel her grab hold of my arm as she began to pull me away.

"We have to fallback to the house and get Kalla," she said. I could barely hear her voice when I realized my ears were ringing loudlly.

I'd made a huge mistake challenging the titanic beast. It was turning slowly towards us raising its hand in the air. As it did I saw its forming a ball of energy in its hand. It was powering up an attack of its own. A dark ball of negative energy formed above it. It was going to kill us all.

The Dvorovoi intervened, nailing the Bukavac with its shoulder in a magnificent tackle that sent the two tumbling over on the ground. The dark ball of energy dissipated and fell apart over top of them. I noticed the Bukavac's health dropped another 100 points. Leaving its HP at 1300 out of 2000. It was a mircale. The creature's own attack broke apart several parts of its armor and the Dvorovoi began biting at its neck like a wolf, teeth elongating as it slowly transformed its body into a more agile state.

It looked like no creature I've ever seen, a combination of a man, a wolf, and agama. The Dvorovoi continued its assault on the Bukavac as Sudra crawled up over the ruins of the wall. Standing just behind her was Cass and still no sign of my father, Jor, or the Bobak.

"We can't leave them," I cried.

"We aren't, Sudra and Cass can handle themselves. We've gone against worst with your father but right now we have to focus on saving who we can inside the village, including Kalla, Ajax, and Pan," she cried back.

I knew she was right but I still felt like I was running from the fight. I promised myself I would be strong. That I would let this world beat me. But now I knew the true horrors of this world. Despite years of training I was barely scratching the surface.

My 100 HP was nothing. Humans were nothing. My attacks, 10 damage here, 20-30 it didn't matter. The Bukavac was already beginning to regenerate where I had managed to hit it. It was no different than a flea biting a dog, I was an itch, one that it had only for a moment gone to scratch and then forgotten about.

The Dvorovoi was losing health fast. It had 130 out of 500 HP left as it continued to duke it out with the Bukavac. Sudra was already beginning to conjure another beast beside Cass and several other warriors. No, she was conjuring a weapon, a two-hander, similar in size to my fathers.

"Is she crazy!" I cried. Moma-Mia and I were beginning our retreat as I turned back one more time.

"Kai, she knows what she is doing," Moma-Mia said.

Moma-Sudra was going to fight the monster head on with her own hands. Cass and the others right behind her.

I could hear her war cry, like a gods-damned banshee. The Bukavac turned its attention to the small, insignificant bugs crawling across the ground towards it. It must have thought so little of us now, once a single man would have been an entire meal, capable of sustaining its hunger for months, maybe even years. Now, its hunger was never-ending. It was a gluttony of darkness and chaos.

We were cattle… and the time of our slaughter was at hand.

They were heroes. Every single one of them. Even if they didn't stand a chance they were doing everything they could so that others could escape. I hated them for it. They were the strongest among us, why should they die so that others could live? That wasn't their way. My father had drilled that lesson into my head a hundred times. Just because we were stronger didn't mean that we weren't more important. It was our job to stand up for those that needed help, to build a better world. My mothers stood in defiance of a demonic entity more powerful than anything I'd ever seen. It would take an entire armies to defeat such a monster. No one woke up today planning to die, or end up maimed. No one woke up today planning to run, sword or gun in hand against a demon. But that is what heroes do.