Broken and beaten, Seth's bloodied body bobbed through the air like a drunken bee. His legs, one of them twisted at an odd angle, dangled uselessly as he was dragged through the air by the arrows embedded in his shoulders.

The entire weight of his body constantly pressing against his collarbones, sending constant ebbs and pulsations of pain into his mind, which only flared up whenever he had to adjust his flight path or even raise himself up ever so slightly.

It was not the most elegant flight, nor had it been how he had hoped to finally fulfil the dream of being able to soar through the skies under his own power, but it was flight none the less. It allowed him to be mobile, instead of staggering through the battlefield on a gimped leg, or instead of cowering behind his compatriots while they put their lives on the line.

Dragging himself through the air, Seth brought himself to a gradual halt as he hovered above the ongoing three way battle between his allies, the Heart-Eater and the Nuckelavee. Blades sung, claws tore and blood bullets flew.

As Seth hung from the arrows high above their heads, he held out his hand and summoned the [Weaver's Curse]. Thick black ink pushed itself out of his skin from the nape of his neck, crawling over his shoulder, ignoring the arrow sticking out of it, and skittered down his arm like a swarm of pitch black insects.

The ink covered his hand, before pulling itself together and solidifying into a Gothic styled armoured gauntlet. With a black silk glove that covered his hand, it was composed of deep purple plates like the chitin of an insect.

On the back of his palm were eight red gems, like eyes of a spider that were glaring back at him. Each finger ended in a wicked claw, ready to rend flesh, while razor thin threads extended out of the tips of the claws.

Unlike Seth's natural threads, these glinted wickedly in the overcast sunlight. These were true spider silk, threads like steel. They had simply insane tensile strength, making it nearly impossible to tear them, yet if you were to cut them with even the dullest knife, they'd break like they were nothing.

They were an odd, perhaps even paradoxical existence. But they were beyond useful, because even though he could only spawn five of these threads, one for each finger, they could do something that his own could not, no matter their numbers.

Thrusting his hand forward, like he was trying to throw some kind of energy blast at the Heart-Eater, the silken steel threads shot from his fingertips and weaved their way through their air like coiling dragons.

The Heart-Eaters fist, which was about to smash into Fox's wise old face, suddenly halted its barrelling approach and trembled in the air. The fist trembled and shook, desperately pulling at the unseen force, as a fine line of blood drew itself across the forearm as the steel threads dug into the Heart-Eaters flesh.

Letting out a rumbling growl, the Heart-Eater glanced at its halted arm and then over his shoulder, at the figure dangling in the sky like a marionette. He bared his teeth, bringing them down on the steel threads, severing them and releasing their grasp on his arm, yet the grunt of pain he was expecting, just like the times before, never came.

Seth simply smirked at the Heart-Eaters irate expression, holding out his gauntlet covered hand and raising a single finger in particular, before curling that finger in a 'Come get me' motion.

Unfortunately, the bastard didn't take Seth's taunting bait, simply turning around to deal with the old man. But there was no one there any longer, the split second halt in his attack had been more than enough time for Fox to disappear into a stagnant puddle of blood.

The rest of the Heart-Eater's time that Seth wasted, that was just for personal satisfaction.

That was how their dance proceeded for the next few minutes. Erik constantly assaulted the screeching Nuckelavee, all while it defended itself from the ravenous Heart-Eater. The Heart-Eater who, in turn, was having to defend himself from the constant attacks from Bob and Fox, the three lettered duo. The pair didn't just focus on the Heart-Eater though, they also took ample opportunity to slice at the sizzling openings in the Nuckelavee's previously impenetrable defence.

Although they didn't have the best weapons for the job, both of them had determination and skill in spades. More than enough to pay any bills that might unexpectedly crop up.

And while the Nuckelavee and Heart-Eater attacked each other, and had to also focus on defending themselves from constant attacks, Seth stayed within the skies. He darted through the air like a swooping kite, his steel threads constantly running interference with the two enemies.

Stopping the Nuckelavee's claws mid swing, binding the Heart-Eater's wings temporarily so that he couldn't dodge particular blows as well as he would have hoped. There were many times that he redirected one of the beasts attacks towards his comrades and instead sent it into the other monster.

However, it all changed when one of many attacks landed on the Nuckelavee. There was nothing different about this attack, nothing that should have made it stand out, but when the creature reeled back and let out yet another horrific, shrill screech of agony as its flesh melted, the gap created in its flesh revealed something that turned the tide of the battle.

As the muscles schlopped away, sizzling like freshly cooked meat, more twisted and unnatural bones could be seen underneath its odd musculature. Yet hidden behind the bones, there was something special right at the base of the human half where it fused to the horse.

Right there, where another special human organ should be, hidden within its body was a melon sized heart beating rhythmically as it pumped warm blood throughout the hellions monstrous body.

Everything seemed to halt at the sight of that vulnerable organ, performing is duty diligently in such an odd place. Seth's own heart thundered within his chest, blood draining from his face as fear painted his expression while the Heart-Eaters eyes gleamed with gluttony and greed.

His tendril blades pierced into Bob's chest before quickly whipping him to the side, tossing the living mannequin out of his way, as his wings beat and sent him rocketing towards his prize.

The crimson blur was enough to snap the rest out of their stupor, as they all burst into motion the next second. Although Seth had only relayed the orders directly to Bob, the others were smart enough to know such an expression on their enemy's face was not a good sign.

Yet despite the understanding, there was little they could do about it. The wind being whipped up by his beating wings was sending constant ripples throughout nearby blood puddles, messing with Fox's ability to teleport anywhere close to him, while Erik was simply not face enough to intercept.

He could splash him with water, but that would do little more than give him a refreshment to wash his meal down with, as he seemed to not suffer the same weakness as the Hemogoblins despite sharing their traits. A fact that they hoped he would not share if he absorbed the Nuckelavee's indestructible nature and left behind its weakness.

All that was left to stop him was Seth, who rapidly flew after the Heart-Eater. Soaring close to the ground, his face nearly scraping against the concrete as he flew like a heat seeking missile, Seth lashed out with the [Weaver's Curse] once more.

The steel threads lunged through the air, rapidly crossing the shortened gap between them, before wrapping themselves around the Heart-Eaters tendrils. They tightened like miniature nooses as Seth flipped over, digging his heels into the ground to force them both to stop.

Ignoring the screaming pain erupting from his ankle, Seth put all of his weight and remaining strength into his arm as he carved furrows into the ground and dragged the Heart-Eater to a halt, just a hair away from the weakened Nuckelavee.

The steel threads tightened further around the tendrils, thin lines of blood drawing themselves across the prehensile limbs.

Glancing over his shoulder, despite his predicament, the Heart-Eater simply gave Seth a wide, toothy grin.

"Can't stop me now. Don't you remember? I'm not human."

Letting out a maniacal laugh, the Heart-Eaters body began to shift once more. His other arm, which had remained as muscular Orcish monstrosity the entire time began to morph. The finger nails lengthened into wicked blades, that looked eerily familiar, as his fingers spread apart before the entire arm unravelled like a twine rope.

Seth watched in horror as he turned his other arm into knife tipped tendrils, just like the ones he was using all five fingers to restrain. Without delay or ceremony, the Heart-Eater plunged his new tendrils into the Nuckelavee. The blades moved like a blender, slicing apart the valves and veins connecting the heart with practised expertise, before scooping out his prize.

As the Heart-Eater ripped the Nuckelavee's heart, the creature swayed softly before collapsing to the ground. The Heart-Eaters tendrils wove themselves back together as it transformed itself back into the Orcish arm it had always been, the heart still beating in his palm as it spurted blood into the air.

Xavier the Heart-Eater threw his head back, ready to let out another malevolent laugh of victory, but what instead echoed out was a deafening roar. A roar that did not come from his mouth, but from the castle he called home.

His expression froze, the smile still plastered across his face, yet the joy had completely escaped from his eyes as it was drowned in complete and utter fear. His pupils trembled, his heart palpating in his chest, as he slowly turned his head to look at the castle, and more importantly... at the tyrannical black scaled dragon that was sat atop its walls.

Before he could do anything about that particular issue, a new one arose as a sword erupted from his chest, a perfectly placed strike straight through the heart from behind. Blood spurted from his mouth as he let out an involuntary cough.

Bob twisted his sword, twisting the blade he had plunged through the Heart-Eaters chest. While others had been frozen by the dragons roar, even the wretched Heart-Eater himself, Bob only had one thing in mind.

He had to make his father proud, he had to keep his promise. His father ordered him to keep the heart away from this wretch, and that is what he had done.

Bob held tight to the blade, ignoring the fearsome dragon as its throat swelled like a croaking frog, making sure the Heart-Eater couldn't get away.

His thoughts were only on his father, on how he could make him proud. Even when the Heart-Eater turned his back towards the dragon, or when the dragons acidic bile splashed across Bob's back.

All he could do was look over the Heart-Eaters shoulder, directly at his father.

As Bob's fleshless body sizzled and melted under the wrath of the acid, his eyes never left his father, his lips not moving as he whispered his final words.

"Are you proud... father?"

However before he could hear the answer, the acid ate through his plastic body and all that was left was a sizzling puddle on the ground, with a small stone sinking into the middle of the acidic depths.

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