CH35 - The Noble Tongue

Moros' canines shone brightly in the cave's blue light, accentuating their unnatural length and sharpness compared to regular human teeth.

Edmund jumped back quickly, arching his abdomen inwards to protect the area the manticore's bite had been aimed. His movement options were incredibly limited, and Moros knew it.

Dodging to the sides was impossible due to the array of magical creatures that awaited him both to the left and the right. Ducking under and behind the manticore was a possibility, but a rather foolish one. The action was likely to get him entangled in the graphorn's tentacles, sprayed with water by the shrake, poisoned by the acromantula, pierced by the erumpent, or bitten by the horned serpent and hidebehind. If Edmund miraculously managed to avoid being struck during the maneuver, he would be left trapped with his back to the end of the tunnel. His goal now was to escape, and diving deeper into the pathway would be counterintuitive.

No. His only option was to retreat, and that was exactly what Edmund did. His wand danced in a flurry. With each step he took, he had to transfigure a foothold for him to traverse. His invisibility, while not allowing him to hide, kept the manticore confused about his exact location. The shrake still consistently missed him by less than a hair's breadth, and the demiguise cloak was the sole reason why.

Between each step, he continued to fire spells at the heads desperately. His hope was not to kill the manticore, for he knew it was a far-fetched dream. Instead, Edmund's purpose was to stagger its steady advance, giving him some space to breathe. To this end, his repertoire of spells consisted of those which would deal the most blunt damage.

"Confringo!"

A fiery blast impacted the manticore's central face, charring his eyebrows and beard. Blood trickled from his mouth, only to be licked up with a toothy snarl.

Edmund was unsure whether the wound was superficial or deep, but it was the first evidence of injury he had seen, and he figured he was on the right track.

"Bombarda!"

Moros seemed to have learned from his mistake, for as soon as the beam of light left Edmund's wand, the graphorn reared its head to absorb the explosion. It left nary a scratch on its discoloured skin, being soaked up with ease.

"Expulso!"

Again, the manticore directed the graphorn in the path of the spell, but this time, Edmund had a different idea up his sleeve.

"Deprimo!"

The ground around them shattered, splattering water up into the air. Moros stumbled, not expecting the attack on the environment. The previously fired "Expulso" struck true, hitting the same spot as the Confringo.

"Reducto!"

Edmund allowed him no chance to recover, following up as much as he could in the gap granted to him.

Slowly but steadily, he snuck backwards the same way he had come. The graphorn still ate up most of Edmund's offensive magic, but it kept Moros on guard all the same. In fact, even despite the graphorn's seeming indifference, Edmund could see the formation of bruises on its facial appendages, the weakest part of its outer body.

The key to keeping the distance between himself and Moros was to hinder the manticore's movements. Besides peppering him with spells, Edmund achieved this primarily through transfiguration.

A chain wrapping around a head here. A spear piercing through a tentacle there. It came to a head when the soil around the manticore's right paw solidified, trapping it uncomfortably. With an impatient grunt, Moros signalled the erumpent to act, withdrawing the rest of the heads as far up into the air as possible. The erumpent's horn stabbed through Edmund's transfiguration, detonating it and flinging chunks of rock-like dirt into the air.

Edmund grinned. It was an error of judgment on the beast's part and one he would capitalize on. With a sharp forward motion of his wand, he forcefully banished the created rubble. The debris soared through the air, smashing into the erumpent's horn.

Most deflected off of it, colliding with the surprised acromantula instead. Two fragments specifically hit its eyes, blinding them temporarily. The spider screeched with fury, chittering its intentions of revenge loudly.

However, the horn penetrated one of the larger shards, setting off a massive boom. Edmund was affected strongly by it, barely resisting the urge to cover his ears in an attempt to stop the ringing sensation. The hidebehind and acromantula on either side of it, however, were in much worse condition. The hidebehind screamed with rage, spasming wildly. The acromantula, on the other hand, became reflexively aggressive. It bit down onto the erumpent's ear closest to it, uncaring about the fact that one of its pincers broke off and fell from the futile effort.

Smirking, Edmund sneakily summoned the claw to him, hiding it behind his back before the manticore caught sight of it.

Moros growled gutturally once, immediately halting the fight that looked to be on the verge of breaking out. The three beasts glared at one another but reluctantly submitted to their leader's wishes.

'Trying to provoke infighting is useless. Moros' authority entirely negates any chance of distracting them. I'll have to incapacitate one of the creatures entirely, or just focus completely on the manticore's core itself,' Edmund decided.

The shrake had yet to give up on lobbing water his way, and Edmund had cottoned on to a pattern he could exploit. The magical fish was powerful, yet the fact remained that it was outside its natural habitat. Without being fully submerged in the sea, the shrake was forced to dip his head into the stream periodically to restock its supply of water ammo.

When it opened its mouth next, Edmund used an overpowered "Depulso" to shoot the acromantula's venom-coated pincer down its throat. The horned serpent sent out its usual warning, but far too late to be of use.

The shrake writhed, its neck flinging from side to side because of the pain. The paralytic within the poison would take effect soon, but till then, the creature was even more of a threat. Its flailing made its continued suppressive fire more unpredictable, and the poison within its system would undoubtedly translate to the shots it was expelling as well.

Edmund did not feel satisfied by the minor victory.

The harder he fought, the more Moros' golden eyes glowed with glee. With each piece of resistance he put up, the manticore's grin grew wider.

He was toying with him.

Softly, the beast began to croon. A sinister, blood-curdling melody began to flow, gaining in tempo and volume as time went by. The words were incomprehensible to Edmund, but he could clearly understand the emotion behind them. It was a war chant. Boastful and prideful. Threatening and petrifying.

Manticores were known to sing when their prey was within their grasp. Edmund had not yet been caught by Moros, but he knew the beast had reason to feel as confident as it did.

Edmund was exhausted, both magically and mentally.

He had constantly been transfiguring steps for himself and traps for the creature, concurrently casting magic-intensive spells to keep it at bay. That was not to mention the requirements of ceaselessly dodging and keeping track of the manticore's seven heads for almost fifteen minutes.

Just as the Moros' singing became so loud that he could hear nothing else, it halted suddenly. With a squelch, a tentacle wrapped around the back of Edmund's right foot, retracting instantly.

It had been a long con. The graphorn must have been snaking the appendage along the walls of the cavern from the beginning, only getting into prime position just now. Although he may have understood how he was caught, there was little Edmund could do about it.

As he fell, he cast a cushioning charm beneath him, barely preventing his head from being smashed into a paste. Three more tentacles promptly shackled his remaining free limbs, binding him fully. By some luck, Edmund had managed to retain a hold of his wand, his only saving grace.

Moros watched his struggles languidly, rotating his neck slowly as his bones crackled from the stretch.

Edmund continued to thrash until the acromantula bit into his calf, dulling his nerves.

"Your foolish persistence amuses me, human. It is one of the reasons I enjoy eating my prey while they are alive. Watching the hope fade from their eyes is almost as delectable as the taste of their flesh," Moros commented.

Edmund's motor functions were beginning to fail, and he knew he only had a few minutes before his movements ceased entirely.

Allowing his eyes to meet Moros' own, he let go of the flimsy control he had gained over his legilimency. He used his power the same way the wampus would have. There was no hesitancy or subtlety in his actions, only pure brute force. He rampaged through the manticore's mind, tearing it asunder. He wanted to hurt Moros as much as he could, and he did it by making the beast relive his greatest moments of pain and fear, playing the memories on a loop.

Edmund returned to his own mind with a gasp, looking to see Moros' face twitch with agony as he howled.

The graphorn still had a hold on him, which he needed to get rid of. Relashio worked only once, leaving a bloody gash behind on his left arm. The creature wizened up after that, and the next spell did not make its grip even slightly waver.

'This is it. Last chance, Edmund,' he thought determinedly.

§Please... help... me...,§ Edmund hissed out.

It was a risk but a calculated one. His mind sense had told him that although Moros had some level of control over the other beasts, they each had a brain of their own. Thus, it was feasible that they also possessed some degree of independence.

The horned serpent's gaze locked onto him, its tongue flicking thrice in disbelief.

§You speak?§ it asked hesitantly, quickly realizing that Edmund was in no state to reply.

It tilted its head consideringly and then nodded once.

§I will free you, speaker, if you vow to come back and release me from this never-ending torment,§ it demanded.

§...done...§ Edmund jerked his head downwards, and the horned serpent immediately latched its fangs onto the graphorn's tentacles.

The creature cried in betrayal, releasing its hold on Edmund in surprise. The two started to battle fiercely, but Edmund paid it no mind.

With the last of his strength, he wrapped a ball of stone around himself tightly. "Confligo" was cast with a weak flick before the ball was slingshotted down the passageway, out toward the light. The inertia-dampening spell ensured he would not bounce around inside the contraption, even as it tumbled and rolled out of the cave.

Moros roared with outrage as he fled, but Edmund's mind was too far gone to tell.

The last thing he heard was a muffled gasp, and a shout as his magic fell apart. His consciousness slipped, succumbing to the venom at last.