Eldritch Girls Chapter 14

Elizabeth No More

The towering monstrosity that used to be Liz let out a deep growl while struggling to keep it's still feminine form upright with it's clawed feet, that had started to destroy her tall black boots from within. The twenty eyes on Liz's wings had easily tripled in number and were glancing around the mill frantically and randomly. “Must win...” she growled through her sharp teeth. “Must slay you...”

“If only you'd just given us Kip...” Godfrey sighed. “But I doubt you can even speak full sentences anymore. You poor, poor thing.” Godfrey immediately tossed the pyramid-shaped small device in the air. “Alright, here we go” he thought before putting both hands on his sword. “Please work...”

Once the device reached a significant altitude, the base of it opened up and a strange white light burst forth, quickly spreading out into a large dome that covered the entire timber mill. Godfrey let out a relived sigh when the dome slowly vanished from sight. “Looks like the Symax Shield worked” he thought while readying his sword. “Now I don't have to worry about anymore innocents getting involved.”

Liz took one stomp forward as two red tentacles sprouted from her back, each one sporting a dragon head with a single bulbous eye and four mandibles. “Unstoppable...” one of Liz's new heads growled.

“No equal...” the other head growled.

“You poor creature” Godfrey thought while keeping his glare focused on his horrific opponent. “You didn't deserve such a pitiful existence. I promise I will make your end quick and painless. It's the least I can do.”

Liz suddenly let out an eardrum destroying roar from all three of her mouths, almost forcing Godfrey to his knees. Using her new tail as a third leg, Liz was able to leap high into the air at an incredible speed before swiftly lunging for Godfrey.

Not eager to back down, Godfrey jumped up to meet Liz head on, swinging his sword directly at the monster's head. Unfortunately, before the angelic knight could deliver the killing blow, Liz knocked him away with a swipe from her hand, her claws carving four marks into Godfrey's white armor and knocking the powerful warrior to the ground.

Not one second after Godfrey crashed into the dirt, Liz slammed her foot into the knight's chest, pressing him deeper into the ground.

Despite the intense pain coursing through Godfrey's body, he managed to strike Liz's leg with his sword. Unfortunately, the crimson scales covering Liz's skin stopping the blade from doing anything more than giving her a mild scratch. With only one option left, Godfrey moved his free hand over the cross emblem on his helmet, causing the small silver jewel in it's center to begin glowing.

With her opponent pinned, Liz prepared to tear Godfrey's head off with her claws. However, the second she readied her claws, Godfrey moved his hand away from his helmet and pointed it at Liz. A second later, a thin white beam burst from the jewel on his helmet and scored a direct hit in between Liz's eyes. Despite the thick scales, Godfrey's energy attack managed to do just enough damage to force the towering monster to clutch her face and stumble back.

Using nothing more than his back and hands, Godfrey leaped back onto his feet and rushed toward the still reeling Liz. Unfortunately, the second he got close, Liz's tail whipped around and struck the knight with enough force to send him hurdling into the mill's steel fence.

Liz let out another monstrous roar as several large cracks appeared on the purple jewel lodged in her forehead. “Kill you...” she growled as a light appeared in the mouth of one of her dragon-like heads.

Sensing tremendous power building up within his opponent, Godfrey quickly pulled himself free from the destroyed section of the fence. “This is proving more difficult than I would like” he grumbled to himself before being forced to block a strong energy beam with his sword. Knowing he couldn't hold his ground against such a powerful force, Godfrey tilted his sword, hoping to divert the beam into the sky behind him. It worked and the stream of energy shot up toward the clear sky. However, it soon collided with an invisible wall that stopped it dead in it's tracks. “Glad to see the Symax Shield working properly” Godfrey thought as the beam finally dissipated.

Enraged the angelic knight had survived her attack, Liz's two extra heads screamed with rage as her original head bore a furious expression. “Must win...” she growled before rushing forward. “Must protect friend!” Liz leaped forward and tried to slam both her large fists down on Godfrey.

Rather than avoid the monster's attack, Godfrey braced himself and caught Liz's fists with both hands. While Godfrey managed to stop the attack, the sheer force behind it caused the ground beneath the knight to crack. Godfrey grit his teeth and tried to push back against Liz's overwhelming strength, managing to lift the monster's fists up a few feet. Unfortunately, one of Liz's tentacles swung in and clamped its mandibles down on Godfrey's hip, managing to pierce the white armor.

“Damn it...” Godfrey grunted as he felt the sharp teeth begin to pierce the skin beneath his armor. While letting out a fierce growl, Godfrey managed to throw Liz's fists back, throwing the monster off balance. Godfrey then tried to use his sword to slice Liz's tentacle but the monster's other tentacle reached down and snatched the knight's sword from his hands before tossing it away.

With his weapon gone, Godfrey resorted to attacking the tentacle biting into his armor with his hands, twisting the appendage enough to force Liz to release his hip. Despite the pain still coursing through his body, Godfrey unleashed a flurry of punches on Liz's stomach, forcing the towering monster to her knees.

She didn't stay there for long though, Godfrey saw to that with a strong uppercut to her jaw, knocking her into the air and onto her back.

Godfrey quickly darted away and retrieved his sword. “Now to end it” he thought before charging back toward the motionless monster. Putting all his strength into his legs, Godfrey leaped high into the air and aimed his sword toward Liz's chest.

However, the second Godfrey was directly above Liz, all the eyes on Liz's wings opened and glared at him. Before Godfrey even had a chance to react, each eye fired a powerful blast of energy. While many of them missed, many more struck the knight's armor, causing a multitude of small explosions to sent him soaring high into the sky, only stopping when he collided with the invisible dome surrounding the mill.

As Godfrey started to plummet toward the ground, Liz used her two tentacles and tail to lift herself back to her feet. A fanged smirk appeared on her face as she prepared to catch the seemingly unconscious knight in her arms.

However, the second Godfrey was close enough, he quickly spun around and with one arm, swatted Liz's arms away with his sword, the monster's thick scales preventing any serious damage. With his free hand, Godfrey threw a powerful punch and scored a direct hit on Liz's forehead jewel, cracking it even further. As Liz let out a pain-filled cry, Godfrey attempted to drive his blade into Liz's shoulder but once again, the crimson scales stopped Godfrey's sword from piercing the skin.

With pain pouring throughout her body, Liz flailed her tail and tentacles around wildly, forcing Godfrey to jump back several dozen yards.

Once he was at a safe distance, Godfrey quickly positioned himself in between Liz and the timber mill's main structure. “Looks like I've got no choice but to use it” he thought as his huge sword started to glow.

Meanwhile, within the timber mill, a trembling Celia sat next to the unconscious Helen, the horrific roars coming from outside would have completely immobilized her had the chains binding her to a chair not already done so. “What the hell is that?” she thought, her terrified mind doing it's best to picture what kind of monstrous creature could make such a courage devouring cry. Celia turned her gaze toward the one armed female knight standing watch nearby and the axe in her hand. “Who are these people? What do they want from me?”

“Miss Celia” a voice whispered from behind, causing Celia to turn her head toward her butler, Jules. “Miss Celia, are you alright?” Celia tried to answer but her fear stopped her from doing anything but slowly shake her head. “Don't worry, I'm going to get you out of here” Jules whispered while fidgeting his hands. “It should only take me a few moments to get free from these chains. Then I'll free you so you can take your friend and run.”

Celia glanced over to Helen, her eyes focusing on the small stream of blood trickling down her head. “W-what?” she muttered before looking at the female knight, who was thankfully distracted by the battle raging outside. “I... I c-cant.”

“Yes you can miss Celia” Jules assured quietly while continuing to fiddle with his chains. “I'll distract the woman long enough for you both to escape.”

“But Jules, what about you?” Celia asked.

“Don't worry, I'll be fine” Jules chuckled. “This isn't my first time in a jam.” Suddenly, the female knight spotted something outside and quickly darted over to the mill's front door. A second later, Jules managed to pull his hands free from the chains. “Alright miss Celia, get ready” he whispered while slowly slipping out of the rest of the chains. “This looks like a perfect chance to escape.”

Zora would have noticed the butler's stealthy escape were she not distracted by her general's glowing sword. “The general is going to use it” she thought.

Back outside, Liz pulled herself back up and turned to face Godfrey. “Stop you... Must win...” she growled before letting out another deafening roar.

Godfrey stood his ground as his glowing sword began to shake. “Master, give me the strength I need to free this monster from her madness” he mumbled to himself. As the shaking of his weapon grew more intense, Godfrey pointed his sword directly toward Liz. “Purification Sword!” A white light erupted from Godfrey's sword, quickly focusing into a powerful beam that engulfed Liz's entire body.

Liz's monstrous roar suddenly changed to a painful cry as her body vanished into the light right before it erupted into a large explosion that threw back everyone in the vicinity, except for Godfrey, who managed to stand his ground despite being the closest to the blast. “That's all I got” he thought while shielding his eyes from the intense light.

As the explosion dissipated, a thick layer of smoke spread out across the entire area, only stopping when it reached the invisible dome surrounding the mill.

Zora stared into the thick smokescreen outside while using her axe to lift herself back to her feet. “Did the general do it?” she asked herself. So distracted by the battle, Zora didn't notice a small figure climb through a broken window and sneak toward her three captives.

“Hey there” a voice whispered, drawing Celia and Jules' attention toward a small child with bright orange hair. “You three look like you could use a hand.”

“A kid?” Celia questioned as Jules continued to fiddle with the chains wrapped around her wrists. “What are you doing here? And what's with that ridiculous outfit you're wearing?”

Kip glanced down at her purple suit. “I was going to save you” she snickered while brandishing a bolt cutter. “But now... Now I'm not so sure.”

“We don't need that anyway” Celia scoffed. “Jules will have me free in a second and then we're getting out of here.”

Jules let out a quiet groan. “Well... These chains are proving to be a lot tighter than mine were” he whispered before spotting the tool in Kip's hands. “Little girl, could I please borrow that?”

“I don't know...” Kip giggled. “The girl with the ugly pigtails was mean to me. I want her to say she's sorry.”

“What did you just say about my pigtails you little brat?” Celia growled.

Jules put his hand on Celia's shoulder. “Miss Celia, please just apologize” he whispered, causing Celia to roll her eyes at Kip's smug smirk.

Meanwhile, Godfrey readied his sword while keeping his vision focused ahead, just in case Liz hadn't been destroyed or at least defeated by his powerful attack. “I wouldn't be so exhausted if I could access my full power” he grumbled to himself in between his heavy breaths. “It took everything I had to contain the explosion to keep Zora and the mortals safe. Still, that should have been enough...”

Suddenly, with a single swish of her tail, a very injured Liz dispersed the smoke.

Godfrey and Zora's eyes widened. “Oh no...” they muttered as all the eyes on Liz's wings started to glow.

A sinister sharp-toothed grin appeared on Liz's face. “Ladon's Gaze” she growled quietly, causing every single extra eye she had to fire a thin beam directly toward Godfrey. The energy streams quickly merged together into a single huge blast.

Knowing the entire structure behind him would be vaporized if hit by such a powerful attack, Godfrey remained still, planning to use his body as a shield.

However, Zora suddenly appeared in front of Godfrey and quickly held up a large white shield far taller than herself. When the red energy blast struck the shield, the force behind it nearly blew Zora away. However, she grit her teeth and held her ground, holding up the shield with her one arm. “General Godfrey!” she shouted as force of the beam slowly pushed her back.

“Zora!” Godfrey shouted back while shielding his eyes from the intense red light. “What are you doing?!? Even a Dumah Shield can't last long against that much power!”

“It'll last long enough” Zora replied as large cracks started to form in the shield. “Please, ensure Triff's and my deaths aren't in vain.”

“Zora wait!” Godfrey shouted as the Dumah shield finally shattered, allowing Liz's energy attack to completely consume both Zora and Godfrey before blasting into the mill's main structure. A second later, the entire building began to crumble as a shining pillar of light exploded upward in a bright pillar of light, only stopping when it collided with the invisible dome.

It would seem Liz put too much power into her final attack, collapsing to the ground the second her extra eyes ceased their energy blasts. “Can't lose... I must... I must win...” she mumbled as her eyelids grew heavy and her vision went dark.

TO BE CONTINUED....