Morne tried to stand, but it was difficult considering he was amidst a jumble of elf limbs and armor.
The Runner stepped forward, as if knowing that Morne was vulnerable, and its mouth opened wide as saliva dripped down from its teeth in thick ropes.
With no warning other than the fraction of a second it bent its limbs, coiling its body like a spring, it leaped forward, claws outstretched and tongue hanging from its mouth as it imagined tasting Morne's flesh.
Morne rolled aside and snatched a shield off of the ground, blocking a second attack by the skin of his teeth but too slow to block the third. The mutant's claws shredded through the armor on his stomach, turning it as black and corrupted as the darkness around them.
Its next attack came less than a second after the third, ripping chunks of Morne's cheek off, then the fifth arrived, hooking into a gap in his armor made by the previous Runner Morne had fought and tugging.
