Dullahan (Doors of the Dreamer, Chapter 9)
Headless
Author’s note: For the month of July I am challenging myself to write and post one chapter a day every two days with minimal planning and outlining. You can read the first chapter of Doors of the Dreamer here.
“It’s headed right for us,” David whispered.
“On my count we’ll run into the hotel.”
“It’ll see us.”
The sound of hooves on pavement grew louder.
“It’s our best bet. It will have to dismount to follow us in,” Lance said.
Before David could protest, Lance began counting. There was about twenty feet of sidewalk between them and the hotel’s front door.
“—three.”
They sprinted toward it. David risked a glance to his right. The dullahan had stopped and watched them with its disembodied head. There was an impulse—something like frustration—in David’s mind. Perhaps he wanted to prove his usefulness, or maybe he was tired of running and hiding and scheming.
“Smite.”
The spell struck where the dullahan’s head should have been and it doubled over. Without straightening its body, it raised its scythe and uttered some grotesque syllable, and the hotel entrance exploded. Lance and David were thrown to the ground.
“Lance!” David yelled, his ears ringing.
Lance said something and gestured. The dullahan was watching them again. It held out its head and black ooze trickled out of the neck.
“Move!” Lance woke him from his stupor.
They ran for the hotel, shattered glass crunching beneath their boots. They passed through where the hole where the door had been and did not slow down as they ran through the lobby.
“Fire exit.” Lance pointed.
It took them into an alleyway behind the hotel. They stopped to catch their breath.
“What were you thinking?” Lance said.
“You didn’t tell me it could cast spells!”
“I didn’t know!”
David drank a mana potion and an agility potion. “We should fight it. Maybe we can take its horse.”
“Absolutely not. We have no idea what this thing is capable of, clearly.”
“It’s not like we’ll know what a raid boss is capable of either.”
“It’s too much risk for an uncertain reward.”
“You’re level 100, man!”
Lance shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. We’re leaving. We’ll take a longer route back to the apartment and make sure it doesn’t tail us.”
“And what if I say no?”
Lance looked at him.
“You need me, don’t you?” David said. “Look, I’ve followed you around, done what you’ve told me to. But now you need to explain why you’re so afraid.”
“Because I’ve seen what this world is capable of.”
David noticed something in his peripheral vision. Some kind of black liquid was creeping out from beneath the fire exit door. Too late, he realized this was the same stuff he saw oozing out of the dullahan’s head.
David jerked his head back as a pointed appendage shot out of the ooze like a spike made of tar. It grazed his cheek. A second spike was aimed at Lance, who had managed to bring his arm up as a shield. It had pierced his armor.
“Barrier.”
There was a humming sound, and the spell worked as he anticipated, dislodging the spike from Lance’s arm. The ooze retracted its appendages and was seemingly preparing for another attack. David and Lance both bolted for the street. David cast heal on Lance as they ran, hoping that would at least stem the bleeding. As they neared the end of the alley, they heard the clopping of hooves, and the dullahan appeared to block them. Behind, the ooze was sliding toward them, and beyond that, nothing but a dead end.
There was no time to form a plan or consider strategies. Lance and the dullahan watched each other, waiting for the other to strike, but David had other ideas.
“Smite.”
The previous smite had little to no effect on the monster. So, he changed targets. Light struck the dullahan’s head, and it flew out of its hand. Without missing a beat, David stepped forward, wound up a kick, and punted the head. It flew forward, between the horse’s legs, and bounced into the road. By some miracle, it was facing the opposite direction.
The dullahan swung its scythe blindly in their direction.
“Wind cutter.”
Lance was trying to hold off the ooze. Where the knight’s skill landed, the ooze spread itself apart to dodge before reforming a moment later.
“My attacks won’t work on this thing, I’ll take the rider,” Lance said.
David smiled. He had the perfect spell for the little slime.
“Smite.”
The ooze exploded outwards, whether because it was struck by the smite or because it was trying to avoid it, he did not know. But all the scattered bits still moved, trying to regroup. David realized the thing could be invulnerable on its own. If it was an extension of the dullahan, perhaps it could only be defeated by killing the dullahan, in which case he just needed to buy time for Lance. He retrieved and drained a mana potion as he glanced back at his companion. What he saw confused him. Lance was struggling to free his sword from between the clenched jaws of the dullahan’s horse without being struck by its flailing hooves. Atop the horse was no one.
Lance turned. “Behind you!”
The ooze was regenerating much faster than expected—only, it was no longer a puddle on the ground but a body that was forming. A headless body wearing black armor with a scythe in one hand and a helmet in the other—
David felt the ground shift. His insides rebelled and he vomited, hard. Potion sickness. He could no longer see straight.
“Barrier,” he coughed out. He held up his staff in a pitiful attempt to defend himself.
The dullahan’s scythe sliced through the staff and his body. He staggered backward. His world spun and his chest was on fire. There was blood on his hands and he was looking at the sky. The ground was cold. He saw the blurred form of the dullahan standing over him. There was a sound like laughter.
“Heal,” he said. But maybe the word only existed in his mind, because he felt no relief. He held up a hand to the heavens, wondering if God could hear him in this place.