Vision returned in a rush of vertigo. They were high above the hallway, perched in the deep shadows of the vaulted ceiling supports. Zac looked down at the distant floor, where the confused bug-mage was still looking for them, and made a mental note to hold on tight.
Then he realized he already was.
His legs were wrapped securely around Andras's waist, his arms locked around the owl's neck. 'Totally planned that,' Zac thought with a wicked grin. 'Knew it would come in handy.'
Even through the thick, tattered greatcoat, he could feel the lean, corded muscle of the rogue beneath. The soft, fluffy feathers added a delightful texture to the embrace, a plushness that made Zac's thoughts wander into dangerous territory. He tried, and failed, to stop himself from thinking about how nice that extra padding would be cushioning those slim, athletic hips during… strenuous activity.
Andras was hovering, his massive wings beating silently, keeping them aloft in the gloom. He looked down at Zac, his golden eyes burning with an intensity that made Zac's breath hitch. The smirk on his beak was distilled trouble.
"Pure little avatar," Andras whispered, his voice a smoky caress right against Zac's ear. "I wondered why everyone seemed to be struck by Cupid when they saw you. But up close… the scent is intoxicating."
The owl leaned in, running the sharp, curved edge of his beak along the sensitive cord of Zac's neck. He inhaled deeply, a sound that vibrated through Zac's chest.
Zac melted. His grip loosened, his body turning to liquid heat in the owl's embrace. He tilted his head back, moving his mouth blindly toward the owl's beak, ready to surrender absolutely everything.
Andras pulled back just an inch, his eyes glinting. "Would you scream for me if I asked you to?" he murmured softly.
Zac nodded dumbly, his eyes half-lidded. 'Fuck yes I'll scream for you,' he thought, his mind a haze of lust. 'Maybe from a bit of pain… not sure what an owl demon is packing, but at his height, I probably won't be disappointed. Probably ribbed. Or barbed. God, I hope it's barbed.'
"What do you want me to scream?" Zac whispered, breathless. "Your name? Or maybe you want me to call you a-"
Before he could finish the sentence, he felt the arms around him vanish.
Andras let go.
Zac hung in the air for a split second, staring at the owlman, who gave a cheerful little wave as he dissolved into the shadows of the ceiling.
"BASTARD!" Zac shouted as gravity remembered he existed. He tumbled backward into the empty air and began the long fall to the stone floor below.
Zac watched the fight unfold below him with the detached interest of someone watching a nature documentary, completely ignoring the fact that he was currently plummeting toward a terminal velocity impact.
'So that's what the top of a bug-tornado looks like,' he mused calmly as the wind rushed past his ears. 'Fascinating structure. Very vortex-y.'
Below, the meerkat mage looked up, his beady eyes widening as he saw the flailing, cursing human dropping toward him like a bomb. He opened his mouth to shout a command, but he never got the chance.
Andras rose from the floor.
He didn't step out of a doorway or drop from the ceiling this time. He rose directly out of the meerkat's own shadow, cast long and sharp by the single torch on the wall. He materialized inside the swirling vortex of insects, the bugs parting around him as if repelled by his very presence.
The meerkat looked back, shocked, and began waving his spindly hands frantically, trying to command the swarm to attack the intruder within its midst.
Andras didn't hesitate. His large, taloned hands shot out, wrapping around the meerkat's scrawny neck. He began to squeeze.
The bugs rushed inward, a chittering wall of death closing in on the owlman. The meerkat, though choking, managed a twisted, victorious grin as his swarm prepared to devour his attacker.
Andras smirked back.
He sank.
In a blink, he dropped straight down into his own shadow, dragging the struggling meerkat with him into the inky void. The bugs slammed together in the empty space where they had been standing, a confused cloud of chitin and legs.
Across the room, near the extinguished torch where Andras had thrown his weapon, the shadows writhed.
Andras surged up from the darkness, still holding the meerkat by the neck. He slammed the demon backward, directly onto the blade of his own cutlass, which was still buried sideways in the stone wall.
There was a sickening shnk.
The meerkat's head was severed cleanly from its body.
The effect was instantaneous. The swirling tornado of insects lost its cohesion. With a sound like heavy rain, thousands of bugs simply stopped flying and fell to the stone floor, a lifeless carpet of crunch.
Andras released the headless body, letting it slump to the floor. He turned just as the warthog, finally recovering from his earlier concussion, roared and charged again.
With casual grace, Andras spun and delivered a devastating side-kick to the warthog's temple. The massive pig-demon stumbled sideways, dazed, right into the center of the hallway.
"Ooofff!"
Zac slammed into the warthog's back with a cry of pain.
The impact knocked the wind out of both of them. The warthog collapsed under the sudden weight, cushioning Zac's fall just enough to prevent broken bones, but not enough to prevent significant bruising. Zac rolled off the unconscious demon, gasping for air, staring up at the ceiling he had just fallen from.
"Okay," he wheezed. "Ow. That… that hurt. A lot."