My first order of business was taking care of the rats in the sky.
I thrust the two spare stakes into the ground, doing the same with the sword on my waist in an effort to drop weight.
I ran forward, spinning the makeshift chainstake in my hand. Pushing off the ground, I took aim, hurling the projectile towards the wyverns. The wooden stake struck true, its barbed wooden shaft piercing the neck of one of the undead abominations. Grasping the Skeletal Chain of the stake, I used the wyverns momentum to propel me into the sky, wrapping the chain around myself as it thrashed.
The sword shards in my hand hummed to life as I filled them with my aura, a regal purple glow illuminating my surroundings.
My eyes darted around, calculating trajectories and flight paths.
'9 in the air and 3 on the floor' I thought, my brow furrowing in concentration.
I flew further in the air, propelled by the wyverns erratic movements. When I reached the apex of my ascent, I took action, the glowing shards in my hand roaring with the raw power I had poured into them. I pulled on the chain forcefully, accelerating once more, and using that momentum I pulled my arm back, launching the shards towards the moldy lizards.
Small concentrated explosions echoed in the clearing as the shards hit true. Two shards had dealt fatal damage to a wyvern while the rest merely served as a distraction. The runes glowed in my peripheral, announcing my kill.
'Too many shards wasted' I thought, clicking my tongue in dissatisfaction.
I changed my approach.
Keeping a hand on the chain, I reached back into the sash, only drawing a singular shard this time. Charging it with power, I threw it forward, the purple shooting star striking the wyvern I had hitched a ride from.
2 down, 10 more to go.
The undead perished in the light of my aura, the wooden stake freeing itself from the now corpse. Baiting them with my fast descending figure, I spun the chain again while overloading a handful of shards with aura. The wyverns closed in on me, maws opened, rotted fangs glistening in anticipation. I hurled the stake at the closest one, the wooden needle piercing through the roof of the drakes mouth. Yanking the chain hard, I propelled myself above the encroaching ring of wyverns, leaving a nasty surprise in the air where I had just been.
The stupid wannabe dragons collided with one another, unable to stop their reckless charge before my little aura bombs detonated, the force of the explosion propelling me further into the air. The shockwave winded me for a second, but I quickly regained my composure, focusing on the hunt.
5 down, 7 more to go.
The wyvern I had impaled with the stake clearly didn't appreciate my barbed gift, the undead ceasing all movement, dropping from the air.
I pulled, attempting to free the stake from the corpse's head. Unfortunately for me, the wooden stake snapped in half, the barbed needle unable to withstand the extended battle.
I was free falling, the chain dangling in my grasp.
I could survive a fall from this height, but the result might not be pretty. The angle that I'd collide with the ground left a lot to be desired.
My mind raced as I weighed the pros and cons. Quickly making my decision, my body burst into motion.
Rotating my body, I swung the Skeletal Chain with as much force as I could muster, the chain latching onto the leg of a nearby wyvern, the joints of the spine like rope interlocking, digging into the rotten flesh of the undead abomination.
The Chain whipped into a taut, straight rope. Pulling with all my might, my shoulder and arm creaking in protest, I sailed above the wyvern connected to the chain.
I dismissed the chain memory, pulling it back into my soul, just before It had reached its maximum length, the momentum still carrying me upwards. I reached into my sash once more, fishing out a few sword fragments, overloading them as I manifested the Skeletal chain once more.
Taking aim, I launched the fragmented steel towards the nearest flying target, a single shard whistling through the air before embedding itself in the poor wyverns' nape. Flicking my wrist another fragment burrowed into the eye of a wyvern that had flown towards me, its jaw unhinged as it accelerated to intercept my descent.
Explosions rang in the air once more as the shards detonated, wiping out the moldy lizards I had struck.
8 down, 4 to go.
I assessed my surroundings once more, this time unluckily, there weren't any wyverns close enough to launch myself back into the air.
'Crap'
There was no stopping my collision with the ground.
I was about to belly flop spectacularly.
I gritted my teeth, covering myself with aura just before making impact with the forest floor.
BOOM
The ground shook as my body collided with the flower field, my meteoric collision creating a crater in the previously pristine patch of flowers.
My aura helped disperse most of the force, leaving me with little to no damage. Unfortunately my aura reserves took a hit. After all that fighting I was only left with about a third of my initial sword aura.
The four remaining wyverns were fast approaching my location, closing in from all four cardinal directions.
I let out a tired sigh, my body wasn't faring too well, the physical exertion taking a toll on my limbs, exhaustion chipping away at my focus, my previously sharp mind dulling under the strain.
My heart pumped harder, my vision sharpened as I regarded the four last wyverns.
I drew the last few shards from my sash.
'Four shards left, four wyverns to kill' I thought bitterly.
I had to make each fragment count.
They closed in, the world slowing as I planned out the last stretch of the battle.
I could practically smell their rotted flesh, the mold on their bodies puffing out gray spores.
Just before the one of the undead could reach me, I made my move.