My vision was filled with fangs and claws, and I thought that was it. My body moved without my command; I took several steps forward, stumbled on a rock, and fell just as the monster flew past where I was.
The monster slammed into the ground, turned with a sneer, and then began to move toward me slowly, growling.
I was breathing fast, but as if the monster was cold water to my head, I began to think rather than just look at it. While I maintained eye contact, my hand searched the ground for anything I might use as a weapon and found a small stone that fit my hand.
The monster tensed, ready to leap, but then its eyes flickered to the left, and it forgot about me and faced the new threat. Taiwo was back on her feet, holding her side with her left hand while her right hand gripped her sword. Her brows were dotted with sweat, but her eyes were clear with annoyance. "You mangy beast!"
The monster eyed her warily, but not with the fear I expected. Then I realized that the monster was smart enough to know she was wounded. That must be what that attack on her was for.
I began to crawl back on my butt while I kept the two of them in my sight. Taiwo narrowed her eyes as she saw the monster get ready to leap at her. She raised her sword and brought it down without leaving her place.
I did not expect what happened next and I should have.
Silver-blue light gathered around her sword and leaped in an arc at the monster, which whirled to the side immediately when it saw the sword going up. The attack caught it on the shoulder and bit deep into its flesh, drawing blood but not doing that serious harm.
Taiwo hissed, her face rigid as she brought down her left hand, winced, and then leaped to meet the monster bounding toward her.
"Essence Slash," I remembered. A basic Squire attack, since they have not got their essence aspected. I watched as sword met claws and fangs in a deadly dance.
She was fast, almost as fast as the monster, and maybe she would have done more if she was not already wounded. But as it was now, she was just barely keeping her head from being torn from her shoulders as the monster snapped.
Her sword was a wall between her and the monster, and already it was bleeding from numerous wounds on its body. But so was she. A claw had raked her right shoulder almost to the bone, and her speed had dropped drastically.
The monster saw this and jumped, throwing all its weight at her to finish the fight. She raised her left hand and grunted as a silver-blue body-tall rectangular shield flickered into place.
"Essence Shield!" I thought, my hollowness replaced by excitement as all those hours of studying rushed back to me. This was all Squire's attacks.
The monster collided with the shield with a crunch and bounced back, disoriented. The shield crashed and collapsed, but that was enough for her, and Taiwo pressed her advantage.
Her right hand was slick with blood, but she slashed at its throat, only for the monster to turn at the last moment, and it hit its wounded shoulder. The monster howled and lashed out, its hand slapping the sword from Taiwo's hand.
The monster and she both froze at that.
Even I froze. The sword landed point-first and sunk into the ground between my legs. This was unexpected. And from the look on the monster's face, it had not expected this to happen either. But that did not stop it from leaping at her.
Taiwo's face crumbled, but she slashed forward with her hand. A small sword arc leaped free, too small to do anything major, just enough to make the monster shield away while she made a bid for the sword. She did not get far, as the monster slammed her from the back, digging its claws into her back. She screamed.
The world seemed to slow to a crawl. I was staring at the sword as if it were alive, a snake that would turn and snap at me. I shuddered but could not look away. Seeing her fight the monster had dug into my mind, and something had crawled out.
I realized I did not want to die. What I wanted... I did not know just yet, but not death. I knew the monster would kill me after it was done with her, so I lunged for the sword and yanked it... tried to. I had to use both hands to remove it, and I grimaced at its weight.
"How long has it been since I held a sword? Is it always this heavy? This sword is heavy... or... am I just that weak?" The years in the prison might have robbed me of my physique, my pride, and my ambition.
But they could not ever take away my years of training. I shifted my feet into the familiar pose, my body falling back into it as easily as changing clothes. My hand trembled, but I raised the sword high over my head, trying to get my shaking hands to make it straight.
The monster stopped assaulting Taiwo as it felt something shift in the air... bloodlust? Not quite, but it knew danger when it sensed one and leaped away, turning to face me.
Taiwo looked up through her haze of pain and saw me and the monster facing off. "He's just got here today, and he's going to die just like that. A pity... I should use this opportunity to get away."
She turned, then stopped and sighed. "I can't escape with these wounds. It will catch me eventually. I should entertain myself before I die."
The monster and I were still staring at each other.
The monster tensed, and I took a deep breath, trying to forget everything around me. I knew this would be a one-hit situation. The monster would leap, and I would cut. The fastest one of us would live.
My thoughts fell away faster than I expected; my years in the dark did have some advantages. The only thing that filled my vision was the monster. "Let's see if I'm still the fastest sword."
The monster leaped, blurring forward in a streak of brown, and I brought down my sword like a judgment.