Mighty gusts of winds whipped through the trees, and lightning struck around Audu from clouds that had appeared from out of nowhere. The lightning gathered before his outstretched hand, taking on the shape of a sword. The light faded away, leaving a gleaming sword that reflected the arcs of light still flickering around Audu. His grey hair danced wildly in the air. Some strands of hair were even gaining a hint of blue color in them, and his worn muscles were bunching up once again. It was as though he was getting younger with each passing moment as the wrinkles on his body were gradually disappearing.
While all this was going on, the Gnoll's body, which was still hidden within the cloud of dust, suddenly disappeared. Audu's facial expression didn't change a bit as he casually raised up his hand which was holding the sword.
CLANG!
With the sound of metals colliding, the Gnoll's claws were stopped just a few inches from Audu's face.
[Hmm?!] The creature's eyes widened as it felt Audu's resistance. It jumped away, making sure to keep some distance between the two of them. Audu studied it, just as it studied him. It seemed that when it was still obscured by the cloud of dust, its body had undergone some changes. Metal covered its body, like a skintight armor plating.
Audu glanced back at Abel who had finally lost consciousness for a second. That very short second was an opening that the Gnoll didn't miss. It leapt at him, baring its vicious teeth and claws at him. He responded in kind, swinging his sword at it.
Thump!
A furry limb fell to the ground, squirting blood everywhere. The Gnoll stumbled as it hurriedly retreated. Its eyes were red and bloodshot as they stared at the bleeding stump of an arm.
[You-you pathetic rat! I'll end you!!!] It screamed at Audu before letting out a loud howl into the sky. All the other lesser Gnolls that had been hiding since the fight started began to walk out from in between the trees. Audu only spared them a passing glance before they all began to run towards him in droves.
[Kill him! Kill him and eat that boy!] The steel-covered Gnoll leader screamed into the air. Gnolls scrambled as they rushed to get a bit out of the downed boy and the aged swordsman.
Psshhhh-Splat.
Blood sprayed into the air as the first head went flying before landing right before Audu's feet. He twisted sharply before kicking the head at another Gnoll and spinning to cut off the arm of another Gnoll that was reaching for Abel. This went of for minutes with the numbers of the creatures remaining steady without dropping, but even still, Audu was never at a disadvantage. Instead, he began to move farther from Abel little by little, butchering the surrounding creatures.
After about ten minutes, the amount of Gnolls finally showed signs of exhaustion. By now, all his grey hair had finally turned blue and the arcs of lightning dancing over his body also grew more violent.
With a forceful thrust of his sword, a massive charge of lightning blasted a path through the crowd of monsters. The Gnoll leader which was covered in steel was at the end of that path. It had its arms crossed before it in a pose to block the strike. Unfortunately for it, the power behind that strike was too much for it to handle, forcing it to lose its balance.
'Now!' Audu thought as he shot forward. With one powerful wave of his blade, the head of the Gnoll went flying, its eyes and mouth wide open. The green glow in its eyes was slowly fading as its head flew through the air.
[Curse you, ant! Mark my words, I will have your head as a trophy...!] Its voice faded together with the green glow, disappearing completely the moment the glow ceased to shine. The lifeless body of the Gnoll leader dropped to the ground with a resounding thud. The surrounding Gnolls had also stopped the moment their leader lost its head. They flinched as Audu looked back before turning around and fleeing with their tails between their legs.
"Abel!" Audu rushed to Abel's side. The poor boy's face had gone pale and the ground around him was completely soaked in his blood. He had bled out...
"Abel, my boy! Please stay with me!" Audu placed two fingers to the side of his neck, feeling for a pulse. Though faint, it was definitely there. Audu looked up, his eyes sharp and his brows furrowed, as though glaring at the heavens. Thunder roared and lightning danced in the clouds before striking down at him, raising a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, both Audu and Abel were gone.
Lightning danced on the corpses of the slain creatures for a few moments before disappearing. When the lightning was gone, so were the Cores of all the creatures there...
***
Lightning stuck in the open backyard of Audu's home. When the smoke receded, it left Audu and Abel there, with Abel in the old man's hands.
"I'm not going to mess up my floor boards for your sake, so you better wake up here." The old man muttered as he placed Abel down gently. A low groan slipped past the lips of the latter as pain shot through his body.
Audu furrowed his brows as lightning gathered in his raised palm. The lightning swirled and condensed before turning into a ball of blindingly bright light. More and more lightning continued to enter the orb of energy for a few more moments until it was so bright that even Audu had to squint.
"Come on, kid!" Audu grunted before slamming the orb of energy into Abel's body. Abel began to glow brightly as the energy circled through his body. This continued on for minutes until the energy gathered at Abel's mangled limbs. Slowly, all the grievous wounds were slowly healing up.
But as the wounds were healing up, the blue hair on Audu's head also began to turn back to white. The wrinkles al over his body returned and his strong, defined cheekbones hollowed out rapidly. In the time it took for Abel to heal up, Audu began to age. He aged even more than before he had fought. If someone saw him now, they would think he had suddenly aged by ten more years.
"Wake up soon, kid..."