The demon shows its face and goes for the kill

The door to the guard station creaks ominously as it topples off its hinges, courtesy of the creature standing on the other side. The door falls flat against the floor, caving inwards and kicking up a cloud of dust. When the soot finally clears, you get a good look at the monster entering the room.

It has the basic form of a man, but it towers over you and Scars at over six and a half feet. Its skin has a slight purplish hue to it, and underneath it ripples with bulging muscles and tendons, stretching and covering every inch of its body. At the end of its long two arms are a set of pointed, sharp claws, whose purpose is quite simple to understand: to slice and maim anything in its path. It's head is the most bizarre part of it though.

It has no eyes. That's what strikes you first. No eyeballs, no empty sockets, just smooth skin over the face where eyes should be. It also doesn't have a nose, so much as two nostrils angled slightly downward. It also has a lack of any hair whatsoever, but its not hair that catches you...it's the massive tendril sticking out of the back of its head and dropping to about the level of its shoulder blades, swaying hypnotically back and forth.

"Stone-bearer...kill." The creature murmurs mechanically.

It's huge, ponderous form deceives its true speed though, as it charges towards you with a speed incomprehensible to its size. It crosses half the distance of the room in less than three strides, and you don't even have time to react before its almost on you.

But leaping to your defense, Scars hurtles towards the creature to intercept it, blades gleaming at his sides, roaring a battlecry in Elvish.

"Caveniya! Alari an Caveniya!!"

Their two forms collide mid-air in an explosion of flesh, muscle, and steel.

Scars snaps his swords out, deflecting the demon's claws and scoring twin cuts on each arm. The creature doesn't even appear to notice the damage and immediately pivots on the ball of its left foot, slamming its shoulder into the half-elf's stomach. Scars grunts from the impact and gasps for air but he still manages to maintain his footing and counterattack, swiping with one sword and stabbing twice with the other. All three hits connect, but yet again the creature is unfazed. And then it is upon him again, talons slashing, teeth bared, forcing him back.

Their movements are all a blur as you watch Scars and the demon battle it out amongst the rubble. Scars' twin blades circle inwards and out, scoring a dozen hits and never stopping. And as much as you hate to say it, the creature is no less skilled. For every attack Scars makes, it makes two more, moving, spinning, and swinging like a hurricane.

The half-elf leaps up onto a wooden desk, aiming a low kick at the demon's jawline. His foot connects and you watch its head snap back from the impact, bending at a terrible angle. But it recovers just as quickly, head moving back into it's original position. The monstrous creature uses its immense strength to surge against the desk and smash it, causing wood chips to fly in all directions, but Scars already somersaulted off and moved towards the attack again.

Scars is good. Very good. His movements are those of someone who has practiced real combat, day in and day out, for years. If his opponent was anyone else, you're sure he or she would be face down on the floor by now. But his opponent is beyond all recognizable limits. All the damage he's done has had little to no effect, and the creature is as fast and as strong as when the fight started. He needs help.

Without thinking, you reach out and grab the tendril, hanging off the back of the demon's skull. The response was much more violent than you expected.

The moment your fingers clasp its clammy, tough skin, the monster immediately stops attacking Scars and whirls towards you, shrieking horribly and swiping at you with its claws. A hot, burning sensation along your ribs warns that its nails have gouged deeply into your skin, drawing blood. But you hang onto the whipcord vine, giving a sharp tug and pulling away from it.

It shudders for a moment, the first response you've seen the whole time, and then resumes its attack on you. But the delay is enough and Scars is there suddenly, deflecting its claws. You pull the tendril again, and note the way it trembles briefly. This is it.

"Scars!" You yell, indicating the tendril in your hands.

He sees your motion and nods in understanding, raising both swords high. You tug hard on the tendril again, making the creature roar, and pull it low towards the ground. Scars steps forwards and brings both of his swords down against the creature's tendril. There is a squelching noise as they cut through, and then a dull thunk as the blades bury into the wood.

The demon lets out a cry much more terrible than what you heard moments ago, and begins thrashing violently. The open wound pumps out a blackish liquid, gushing like a fountain out of the back of its head. The monster falls to the floor, still quaking, still screaming. Both you and Scars have to back away quickly to avoid being struck by the creature, now in its **** throes, and you cover your ears to block out its cries, which seem to last for an eternity.

And then it is suddenly quiet in the guard station again, except for the pained gasping of yourself and Scars. The demonic entity lies dead at your feet, still, finally. You heave a sigh of relief that this fight is over.

And then your heart drops again when you look up from the corpse.

Two more creatures, identical to the one Scars just killed, lumber into the guard station.