"I'm sorry, Lari... I will save you... I just need time..." I said to her quiet body uncertainly. And it hurt me deeply that I could not be closer to her. This accursed body of mine caused issues wherever I went. I would only endanger her if I went near her for now...
So I tried to get as close as I could to her room from the outside. It was an awkward affair, but I had a clean line of sight. It made me sad as much as it made me angry. That face should've been smiling or made me smile myself...
"Is it time...?" I soon asked myself as I turned away from the glass. The sounds of gunfire and accelerating machinery could be heard. However, when I turned back to the glass. A message had appeared.
'Time to move it, Dance Partner!' it said, and, with a growl, I dropped down and rushed away. Stopping only briefly to get an idea which way the sounds of battle were. I could not fathom how that message appeared while he was fighting. But that was unimportant.
All that mattered was that he had made himself known again. In the dead of night as Jhurghdak told me. And soon, the sounds of magic guns started to be drowned out by that laughter. It sounded so close but he was nowhere near me!?
"Oh, won't someone dance with me properly!?" Jhurack whined before he cackled. The screams of men soon filled my ears and I was soon running past a bloody mess. Soldiers from this city were groaning in pain or holding their wounds. Yet that was all I kept on finding.
"WHERE ARE YOU!?" I roared out to the city before a loud bell rang behind me.
"Up here!" he declared before he flipped down onto the street ahead of me. And in but a flash, I was already charging at him. Missing at first before I had him pinned between me and a pile of still loaded supplies. Yet, he also disappeared just as quickly, and I ended up crushing some soldier.
I could only growl at what had just happened, but he had not gotten away just yet! So I started to run once more. Climbing up onto the roofs with him before I carried on. Enduring the pain each quick attack of his did.
Unlike before, he was only slapping me with that stick of his. No blood came out of me from his sword or whatever he used before. Yet, I could not keep my composure. There was simply no way I could.
That laughter would not stop and his efforts to agitate me carried on. And, as I just could not focus under the barrage of pestering attacks. I found myself tripping up and running into things. And before long, I fell back down to the streets below.
"DAMMIT!" I roared before I slammed a fist at the road I was getting up off. The lack of magic made it an even more frustrating experience as well. If I could just cast a spell... I could block his escape or catch him!
I could stop those annoying whacks and chase him unimpeded! Yet this damn city was preventing me from so much as even trying to manipulate it! I could not save Lari like this! I had to do something!
"Hey, up here!" Smiling Jhurack taunted as he hopped down onto a shop sign. And, right behind him, an aircraft was swinging around to fire upon him. But that man was mine, so I charged. I charged along the road and path before I ascended.
Only to suddenly leap into the air and go past him!? Whatever had just happened, I did not let it dwell in my thoughts. And I violently spasmed about before I finally got off this airship I flung myself into. Seemingly as well, I damaged it badly when I leapt off of it.
"Yes, that's it! You're doing better, Dance Partner!" he maniacally joked before he casually swung under and around my animalistic swings.
"GET BACK HERE!" I roar at before I instinctively called on my magic. An arcane fireball then roared after him. Yet, he charged through it without detonating it and impaled me. But he would not hear me roar or scream.
"Tsk tsk." he tutted as he skipped off of me, having left the sword in. However, when I tore it out, it suddenly reappeared in his hands.
"Scared?" I asked him as I did my best to call upon my magic. Now was the time to show everyone that I had been learning. That I had managed to go somewhere with this young power of mine.
"Only of these bullets behind me!" he answers before I am suddenly hit by dozens of magic projectiles.
Yet, he was still there in front of me, so I charged once again. Only to have him turn my power against me so he could throw me at the soldiers behind him. And that claw that I intended for him crushed the head of one of the guards. Despite Jhurack even being behind me right now, those same men turned their guns on me.
"DIE BUG!" one roared before he shot me directly in the face. Yet, suddenly, all their guns were slashed apart. And they were screaming in pain as blood showered about me.
"Oh, how could you?" I was asked by that laughing madman. All I responded with was violence and anger. And it only got worse. Because no matter how close I was each time, he was still too far.
He kept it up as well, leading me into groups of these soldiers and their aircraft. I could not care about their injuries at all. But I could still tell that he was manipulating me. Guns that should've been pointed at him were turning on me!
"Partner, my Dance Partner! Would you take my hand?" he asked me as he came to a stop before the base of a large tower-like building. To my fury, however, my attempt to yank him to the ground failed. And he suddenly brought us to the top of that tower.
"STOP RUNNING!" I roared at him as he suddenly and knowingly fell off the side of the building. And from my vantage point high above, I roared down at him before I jumped. With a mighty crash, I landed on the road. Carving a great hole into the brick and stone before I clawed my way out.
To my confusion, however, even though he was right in front of them. The approaching soldiers were firing upon me. I didn't have the time to explain or move them out of the way safely. So I barreled past them and kept on lashing out at Jhurack.
"GGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" I incoherently let out before I was tricked once again. I had him! He was in my claws! Yet, somehow, a soldier had replaced him.
"You lack refinement." he chastised before he cracked open the reinforced glass near one of my eyes. I then hissed in pain as that extra hard material got stuck in my eye. A bloody, yellow tint overcame part of my vision. Soon after as well, he started to attack me more from that side as well.
He brought me to the ground again and I tried to hold him off. But, he was too quick for me to act against. Each sharp slap against my body only left empty space when I tried to stop him. I was helpless until he suddenly just stopped.
"Where...?" I questioned as I quickly got over how my eye had suddenly been fixed. Fortunately, I found him running away down the street. So I scrambled to my own feet and ran as fast as I could. Swinging into a small shop when he suddenly dived into one.
Whatever he had done, it was me who broke through the glass front and terrified the occupants. He was nowhere in sight until I saw the door out back. He was laughing beyond it and I tore up the place on my way out. Despite the screams behind me, I could still hear his laughter above it all.
Even as more and more men started to shoot at me or cast small spells. I kept on chasing him as fast as I could. No matter how many times he tripped me up or kicked me aside. I got back up each time.
"I'm loving this fire in you! But can I fan it to be even hotter?" he asked before he suddenly carved Lari into the wall I was about to punch down.
"STAY AWAY FROM HER!" I roared as I pulled back my brick dust-covered fist. Venting my magic out once more before I nearly filled the alleyway we were in with blue fire. And I did the same again when he was somehow right behind me. Then, full of anger, I lept into the air.
"But she is only right over there!" he taunted just before he surged after me to deliver a street-ruining kick. And as I growled on the way back up. I saw him slowly approach me. A rhythmic tap filled my ears rather than his laughter for now.
"You will not touch her..." I told him defiantly as my memories started to flash in my mind. I still remembered vividly how I found her. Blood all over her as he smiled viciously in my direction. I would not let it happen again.
"Then watch me do so!" he cackled after he slashed both my eyes. Rendering me blind. I roared and flailed in terror. Confused by the sudden light I was able to see.
"L-Lari...?" I questioned as I felt my arms grab nothing that I could actually see. And, if I could, I would've probably cried at the sight of her being so defenceless. With that man right above her with his sword.
"Now do you see how easy it is for me? Now, dance better!" he demanded as my eyes went back to normal. And I stumbled back as the tears finally came out. In a fit of rage, I then started to tear off my clothes. I roared and charged once again.
Swinging and lunging for him with everything I had before we suddenly reappeared on the gnomon. It was a slippery, gripless surface. Yet, thanks to my magic, I was able to force my way up. The explosive force sent me up the slope while he ran up it.
However, I could not reach for him like this, and I had to run on all fours as we climbed the great slope. But, as it started to flatten out, I started to reach for him once more. Barely avoiding the attempts at redirection. And then, with a divine blessing suddenly coming my way!
I caught him!
I latched onto him with both my claws and we plunged off of the gnomon's peak. He screamed and cried and I dug my claws in deeper. Roaring in triumphant despite the wind blasting in my face as we fell. Yet, then, all of a sudden...
"Very crass." he casually commented before I slammed against the gnomon's peak with a shell-breaking crash. And even though he was right in front of me, I could not call on my magic anymore. The city was somehow pulling on it again!?
"No... No! NO!" I repeated over and over with growing frustration as he tapped his cane in front of me. A smile on his face as aircraft started to rise up to meet us. Yet, when they arrived, the soldiers who dropped down only turned their weapons on me. Those strange, faceless soldiers...
Why could they not see him!?
"HE'S RIGHT THERE!" I roared before I charged at Jhurack again with frenzied viciousness. Yet, he kept on hiding behind these soldiers and I had no chance of going around them. So I just punched straight through them in order to get to him. I lashed out however I could.
With kicks and stomps that rang out into the night sky. With a gnashing jaw that snapped at him whenever it could. My bloody claws twitched and flexed near him. But no matter how hard I tried, those soldiers kept getting in my way.
They retaliated near-instantly. I was slashed away at and punched and slammed at with their rifle stocks. I did not let it stop me, though. I kept reaching out for Jhurack as he taunted me amongst all the blows.
"STAND DOWN!" someone then called out from above before they jumped down. Fire erupted around them, yet there was something off about it. It was dark, there was no light and it only made the night darker.
"MOVE!" I roared back at her before I aimed for the madman beyond her. Yet, she slashed at my chest with a flaming sword. Gashing it open and searing it shut with that burning darkness. But, it would not stop me just like how those soldiers would not.
So I tried to go for Jhurack again. But, for as long as he stayed behind that woman, I could not reach him. And the strength in me was starting to disappear. All this battle was taking its toll and I could no longer go on.
But after what he did earlier, with that threat he made on Lari's life. I could not just take it lying down. So I dragged myself back up with all my strength and roared again. Trying my hardest call forth my magic before it then suddenly came back.
Yet, he was gone, and I was left howling in fury at this second failure. But the soldiers and that woman were all still here. And she in particular was briefly horrified by the appearance of my magic. And she slashed her sword at me once again.