Thorns In His Side: Part 2

Elias is ready to overcome any puny demon that crosses his path, and has turned the tables on the spirit he made a pact with- the Thorn Mage is now strong as an oak! Enjoy folks, and Happy Holidays!

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Elias stared at his reflection, slightly frustrated. He had transitioned into one of his glamours, a disguise he used to walk about town without scaring mortals. His favored form was that of a well-dressed gentleman, with features he borrowed from his mentor, Lindel. The face was the same, the clothes were the same- the body, however, was still enormous. He frowned, his suit warped around an immensely muscular physique.

"This is impractical, Spirit," the mage chided, gesturing with thickly roped arms to his bulging form. "I'm supposed to blend in. How many normal humans do you see with three hundred pounds of muscle piled on their frame, like some kind of prized bull?"

"Prized bull? I'll take that as a compliment, kumpadre," a thickly accented voice echoed inside Elias' head. This was the Kapre, a powerful guardian spirit the Thorn Mage had made a pact with- for placing powerful wards on its sacred tree, the burly spirit would also help Elias protect what was important to him- curiously, however, that had translated to the Kapre possessing Elias' body and expanding the mage to more than double his size, every part of his body corded with thick, heavy muscle. The mage returned to his usual form, a horned wolf's skull for a head and dark, midnight-black skin underneath, but still not an inch smaller.

Elias would roll his eyes, if he had them. The skull-headed mage only muttered "Die," as a response.

"Oh, come on!" the Kapre chuckled. "Ladies will want you, and men will want to be you- I gave you a physique people would kill for! And besides, tell me that being as strong as ten regular men wouldn't come in handy." As an automatic response, Elias' arm curled, his bicep surging until the mound of muscle split his sleeve.

"You vastly misunderstand me if you think brute strength is all that appealing to me," Elias grumbled, "And I do not care to have any ladies after me- I already have someone, Chise. She's the reason why you're here in the first place, so that I can be strong enough to protect her."

The Kapre sighed heavily. "You really do take all the fun out of this, Boney."

"You are here to help me protect the people I care about, not for amusement," Elias said icily. Their argument was interrupted, however, by a small, delicate jingling sound- Silver Lady had sensed someone approaching the door.

Elias filled the doorway as he answered it, the sheer brawn of his new physique shoving sprawling shoulders against the posts. Cast in the large mage’s shadow was a blond-haired priest, Father Simon, who had been sent by the church years ago to keep tabs on the Thorn Mage. The priest leapt back, eyes wide as he took in all of his charge. “Uh, Elias…” he gaped, tripping over his words. “You look… hardy. Do- do Mages workout now?”

“It is a recent development,” Elias said bluntly. “What do you want, Simon?”

“There’s been a spate of disappearances in town- three people in three nights have gone missing, all at night. They were all taking night time walks, and just never came back.”

“This sounds like the job for the Constabulary, not me.”

“Elias,” Simon began, “this particular case has magic written all over it. One who got away from the creature is currently in my church besides themselves, convinced they saw a horse-faces monster.”

“Putang ina mo!” the Kapre swore, powerful enough that it overtook Elias, and the words came stumbling out of the mage’s mouth.

Simon arched his brow. “I beg your pardon? Elias… are you feeling alright?”

“I’m fine,” the mage said shortly, gripping the doorknob hard enough in his newly powerful hand the metal was buckling and crunching. “I will look into this. Goodbye, Simon.” He slammed the door quickly, and with enough force to nearly knock it off its hinges.

“What was that about?” Elias demanded.

“The Tikbalang!” the spirit responded. “The demonyo spirit I've been fighting with. He must have followed me after your wards blew him up!”

Elias’ glowing eyes were like fire. “You mean a vengeful spirit followed us from the other side of the world, and is now wreaking havoc in my backyard? When I specifically made a pact with you to keep my home safe?"

"Hey, hey, kyah, calm down, we can fix this!" the Kapre responded, and already Elias could feel prickling thorns prod him from the inside, already forcing the mage bigger. Elias could feel his muscles tense and tighten, the cloth around his chest beginning to strain, until the Thorn Mage grabbed his gilded staff and struck the floor.

"Enough!" Elias commanded. "We are taking care of this my way. And then, we will speak about how the Fae look poorly on those who don't keep up their end of an agreement," he said icily, Grabbing an overcoat too small for him, and already splitting at the shoulders, as he stormed out the door.

Elias teleported into the forest, following the musky scent of an unfamiliar spirit in the forests he knew so well. Elias was clumsier now; his legas alone were twice as thick as they once were, and entire trees buckled under his powerful, lumbering gait as he pushed his way deeper into the woods.

"Listen, kyah, I know you're upset, but you need to listen to me, the Tikbalang-"

Elias inflicted a scorching spell on himself, gritting his teeth through the pain, if only to inflict some measure of it on the Kapre. "This tikbalang wouldn't even be here if not for your part of this bargain! A powerful spirit he may be, but I will not be intimidated- my magic has spelled the end of many fiends in my time."

"That's the thing, Skull-face, the Tikbalang is resistant to magic!"

Elias didn’t have time to respond, as leaping out of the shadows was a massive beast that slammed into the mage, knocking him to the ground. As the Thorn Mage pulled himself up, he was facing a creature with glowing eyes and smoky mist coming off his form; the Tikbalang had the face of a stallion with red eyes, a dark coat, and long limbs with claws on his fingers. Beside that, a ridge of metallic spines ran down his back, poking through his mane, and those long limbs were thickly corded with powerful muscle, biceps larger than Elias’ head tending as the Tikbalang curled his arm and slammed a fist into Elias’ side like a battering ram, knocking him down again. The Tikbalang planted his hooves foot on the mage’s cobblestone abs, leering down at Elias.

“So you’re the one who tried playing a little prank on me, eh? Explosive fire runes around a tree, tricky.” The Tikbalang turned his face, revealing half of his muzzle burnt down to the bone, angry scars and burns littering his face. “Magic doesn’t hurt me so much, but fire is fire. You got me good, punyeta, but now I’m here to return the favor.”

The wind was knocked out of Elias, and he strained to push the Tikbalang off of him, and scrambled for his wand. The mage summoned thorny vines to ensnare the demon, but the Tikbalang flexed his powerful arms, swelled up his chest, and the vines melted away. “Takes more than weeds to keep me down!” He ran in, taking another powerful hit to Elias’ stomach that left him reeling.

“Kyah, I can help!” the Kapre urged. “It doesn’t look like he knows about me- if we take him by surprise, he won’t have time to squirm his way out of this.”

Elias' mind was racing for a moment as he tried to weigh his options, and finally, facing down the leering snout of the Tikbalang, he relented. "You have one chance to fix this," he hissed.

"Done! Enjoy the ride, Bone-boy!" the Kapre cackled. That prickling sensation returned, a thousand thorns prying Elias' skin from the inside, jutting into his bones, splitting his muscle- Elias was stoic enough to stay quiet, staring down the Tikbalang as the demon sensed a shift in the energies surrounding his would-be foe. Each breath Elias took filled his lungs, his chest inflated, but did not retreat, surging forward like the tide rolling in. His fingers dug deep into the earth, cracking stone and root, as his arms billowed out, anvil-sized triceps pulsing as his biceps bloomed into boulders. His legs became engorged, thicker than the trunks surrounding him and hardier than any wood, tear-drop quads rippling as his trousers were shredded to bits. He stood to his full height again on his reinforced legs, modesty only barely preserved even as his thick, sculpted flutes caused his belt snapped, replaced by the meaty Adonis belt girding his hips, holding up an impressive display of eight, densely packed abs. His back sprawled, beefy flanks filling the space like a vast, rolling field, lats so dense and wide they were digging against his mighty arms.

“You are done here,” Elias proclaimed, grabbing the Tikbalang as if he were a doll in his massive arms, cast in a grip so tight and strength so vast, the demon could only helplessly squirm against it. Elias threw him down with enough force to crater the ground, his chest swelling mightily from the effort and wedging his skull between his pecs.

The demon wheezed from the impact, stunned into submission as Elias planted his foot on the Tikbalang. "You will not threaten this region again, not so long as it is under my protection."

"I- I swear!" the horse demon wheezed.

"You did it, Kyah! Hah- look at his face! You won't regret this- the Tikbalang serves whoever defeats him," the Kapre explained.

"Yes," Elias replied, throwing the Tikbalang over his mountainous shoulder like he was a ragdoll. "I had a feeling it might go something like that- but then, so do you."

There was a stunned pause. "Skull-boy, what are you saying?"

"You've overextended yourself, friend," Elias explained. "Given me a little too much of your power. I'm still angry about you dragging trouble to my home- so we'll have to discuss our arrangement." Elias flexed his arm, the immense, engorged bicep swelling big as a tire, large enough it was pressing against the knuckles of his clenched fist- and now, all at Elias' command. "I'll expect payment for the damages you caused."

With two new spirits bound to him, Elias, now a brutish titan, lumbered his way back home. He couldn't even begin to imagine Chise's reaction to his new form- but for now, he was starting to enjoy it.