They were too focused on the girl, their guttural snarls mixing with her weak, ragged breaths. One of them—larger than the rest, its scales marked with deep crimson lines—stepped forward, raising a clawed hand. I saw the blow before it even came down. The shift in the air, the tension in its muscles, the way the others stepped back as if they knew what was coming.
I moved before I even made the decision to.
The wind shifted as I stepped into the fray, my body no longer bound by hesitation. The Dracus' arm came down toward her, but I was already there. My dagger met flesh, slicing through thick scales and muscle. A roar of pain split the air as blackened blood splattered across the dirt.
Everything stopped.
The girl's eyes flickered toward me, wide with surprise, but I wasn't looking at her. My focus was on the other Dracus, the ones who had finally realized I was there.
A moment of silence. Then—
The largest one lunged.
I sidestepped easily, my body reacting on instinct. My dagger lashed out, aiming for the throat, but it raised its arm just in time. The blade scraped against hardened scales, sending sparks flying.
Too slow.
I barely ducked in time to avoid the backhand aimed for my head. The force of the swing alone displaced the air, kicking up dust around us. I spun, bringing my dagger up in a tight arc, aiming for the weak spot beneath its jaw. Another miss. The Dracus was faster than I expected.
But I was no slouch either in the speed department.
My feet barely touched the ground as I moved, my newfound awareness guiding me through each attack. The air rippled around me as I twisted, avoiding a claw swipe by mere inches. I could feel them—their movements, their intent.
My essence was making me more aware of my surroundings than ever before.
The moment of clarity cost me. One of them caught me from behind, its claws raking across my shoulder. Pain exploded down my arm, hot and searing, but I didn't stop. My free hand lashed out, slamming my elbow into its ribs. The impact sent a shockwave through my arm, but the Dracus barely flinched.
He looked down at me and smirked knowing full well that I was the one at a clear disadvantage.
I needed to move.
Pivoting on my heel, I drove my dagger forward, aiming for the gap between its ribs, he went to evade but this time was too slow to dodge. The blade slid in, sinking deep into flesh. A strangled snarl escaped the creature's throat as it staggered backward, black blood dripping from the wound. He didn't know how to react to this as prior to this encounter he was one of the Darcus tailing me from the forest into the wastelands.
But he wasn't dead and I had to continue pushing, breaking past my limits.
The others moved in, their eyes gleaming with a mixture of rage and something else—recognition.
They knew me.
Or at least, they knew what I was.
A slow, guttural growl rumbled from one of them, a deep sound that vibrated through my chest. The air around us grew heavier, thick with tension. This wasn't just a fight anymore.
This was a battle to the death, and I was not willing to lose.
I exhaled, tightening my grip on the dagger. My heartbeat steadied. My mind cleared.
They thought I was still prey.
They were about to learn otherwise. I closed my eyes once more and began to feel out my surroundings, my essence was pulsing. Whatever power had awakened inside of me was expelling itself around me, picking up on every single vibration, breath, and intention that my advisories were putting out. It was time. The one whom I had stabbed between the ribs was the first to strike.
He sloppily jabbed at me over and over not caring about technique, just aiming for a kill shot, but for every single attempt he made was thwarted by a swift dodge, followed by a gashing by my dagger. While this was going on, the other Dracus got impatient and joined in the Frey, also attempting to slashing and gashing at me, but to no avail. I wasn't unnaturally fast, but my actions were concise and I could see their movements.
As this continued for an extended period of time I could finally see the girl who was laying on the ground finally start coming back to.
This was bad, I wanted them to leave her alone and only focus on me, but being the predatory hunters that they were, they would most definitely notice her. I began running down the corridors of the tomb we were in and lead them to a narrow passage, diverting their attention from the girl and now, it was time to act.
"You guys are in for it now, prepare yourselves to take your last breath"
A sinister laughter began to flood the surrounding area as both of them began to chuckle at my statement, but they had no idea what was about to befall them. I closed my eyes once more and began pulling at whatever was inside of me.
I sank deeper and deeper into the abyss that was my mind and finally felt it.
Whatever "IT" was, was more than enough to dispatch these creatures and before I knew it, I could feel my body enveloped in that same viscous feeling that I had attempted to reach into during my past few months of training. This was it.
"Release"
No sooner than I muttered those words a slight aura began to encapsulate me, brimming with malice and love it was a direct contradiction to itself.
I looked at the Dracus once more and now I was the one chuckling, for this was the first time I would be able to test my prowess in combat, and I was anxious to collect the heads of the pursuers who had tormented me for so long while I was helpless in the forest.