Step! Step!
In an instant, the demogorgons were right before me. My muscles twitched and tensed as I ducked to the left, barely avoiding a pair of claws poised to rip through me.
Mid-roll, I dug the azure dagger into the ground, using it as a force to propel myself towards the demogorgon. Skidding towards the nightmarish creature, I bent my body backward, as a pair of claws flashed past my face, barely missing it by an inch.
I continued with the fluid motion, digging the azure dagger deep into the demogorgon's hide, before sliding past it. Yet, apart from a small, perhaps, slightly harrowing cut, nothing truly damaging occurred.
I gritted my teeth.
Of course! I should have expected that! I wasn't Mia, nor was I as strong as she was.
With a dark grimace, I rose to my feet, twisting my body in a fury of acrobatic maneuvers. As a result,
Step! Step!
I had barely escaped the pair of claws poised to rip through my heart. However, just as I attempted to capitalize on the lost footing of the nightmarish creature, its companion was already upon me. Raining down on me, a fury of deadly strikes. Hence, I could only dodge and roll, doing everything I could do to avoid getting hit.
But, it soon grew more difficult to achieve said feat.
Before long, the two demogorgons with hatred burning deep within their hollow sockets and tentacles writhing hungrily within their mouth, were now upon me. Each pair of claws ripped through the air in consecutive slashes and cuts, and I could only try to deflect some with the dagger, while few still drew blood.
'Crap!'
I grimaced in pain. And with a light stomp on the ground beneath me, spider-web cracks spread across it, as I retreated, hoping to regain my bearing. But, before I could do as much as to exhale,
Step! Tap!
They were already upon me, towering above me like sentinels of doom and destruction. Each movement of theirs was poised to kill, and I didn't need anyone to tell me.
A single deadly hit and I was done for.
I gritted my teeth and leapt into the air. Twisting mid-air, I barely managed to avoid a slash aimed to cut through my waist. Landing on the tough hide of the demogorgon, a dark smile curled up my lips as I made a short run on its back, just before leaping for its head.
Yet, in that same moment that I did. A cold, chilling presence crept in from behind. In that instant, every hair at the back of my neck stood on end. Through my rear-view, I managed to catch a glimpse of a pair of stygian claws heading right for my neck.
The best choice I had, if I truly hoped to live, was to retreat and give up on such an opportunity. But,
A dark smile along with a grimace crept up my face.
It wasn't within me to give up on such opportunities.
'This is definitely going to hurt like hell!'
I thought, and with hardened resolve, I drove the dagger right through the demogorgon's head, the sharp sound of metal cutting deep into flesh echoed through the dune structure. In a flash of crimson, I braced myself for the impact, however, what I hadn't taken note of was.
"...!!"
As the hulking monstrosity crashed onto the ground, I had somehow gotten out of the range of the demogorgon's attack. As a result, the pair of claws, howling like a deafening thunderstorm, had ripped right through the space above me, missing my neck by a few inches.
Dropping onto the ground, I sucked in a cold, deep breath. Feeling the chills of that near-death encounter. Rolling away from the strikes fueled by fury and desperation, I distanced myself from the nightmarish creature, hoping to catch my breath.
The massive monstrosity eventually stabilized its footing, its abysmal eyes staring right into mine. As I stared at its hollow eyes, my heart pounded in my chest as I felt myself engulfed in a burning, furious flame.
I could feel it, sense it even.
Emotiveness.
Just like my ability to detect supernatural creatures. In extreme cases, I could sense others emotions, going as far as to feel them, as though they were… mine.
And I could feel the burning hatred within its pair of eyes. After all, I, along with the rest of the cohort, had probably killed the entirety of its family.
Hence, I couldn't blame it for hating me. However, I also couldn't allow it to kill me. To survive, I was willing to do anything.
Morals be… damned!
And just then-
Crack!
It moved.
The ground trembled beneath its weight and just as my mind was racing with how to dodge its strikes, I caught a glimpse of a golden silhouette. A figure flashed across the darkness, moving at an astonishing speed.
Flick!
The nightmarish creature however, was now above me, its pair of claws raining down on me in a furious cadence of rotten flesh and steel. With a dark grimace, I made use of the dagger to deflect as many strikes as possible, though a few still managed to cut through, resulting in harrowing, grievous wounds.
The scowl on my face deepened. Although, I only had to engage in a battle of attraction with the demogorgon, for a few seconds at most.
However, the question was, could I truly last that long?
Right now, I was already at my end's wit, and was just barely holding in. But, it seemed that there was no need to panic. Within a few breaths, the bloodied figure lunged forward, pushing forth with every ounce of strength she had left.
The golden sword was drawn into a violent arc, and despite the demogorgon's final attempt to block the strike, the sword easily cut through its impenetrable hide, before severing the neck off its body.
After all, when battling, a single second of distraction was enough to decide who wins and… who dies.
And that was what I did.
Distract.
Crimson blood pooled beneath the carcass of the monstrosity who had now slumped onto the ground, an aura of malevolence still radiating from it.
"Huu…"
I exhaled sharply, as though I'd been holding that breath for as long as I could remember.
"Finally, it's... over."
I muttered weakly as I fell to my knees, a piercing pain ripping through every fiber of my being.