Groggle struggled to its feet, at the last second, it had managed to twist aside, David's sword slicing into its face.
"Oh shit." David murmured, noticing that the mana signature from the other bandit hadn't faded away, and was now moving towards him.
"Are you ignoring me now!" Cherie had only grown more furious. She was marching over to David, her hair floating in the air, the patterns on her skin now a solid black.
The patterns resembled the fine metal work patterns that you might see on an iron gate, or inscribed into armor, except there were many spikes and twists, giving them a sinister feel.
"Can we argue about this later!" He yelled, spinning around.
Clang
Sparks flew into the air as David barely blocked Groggle's dagger. he leaned back lifting one leg and kicking out at the small figure.
"Stop! That's only a child!" Cherie yelled, as Groggle went flying backwards, David's kick connecting with its chest.
David dashed towards the falling bandit, his sword ready to stab through its chest.
'Oh, come on.' David sighed internally, Cherie was speeding towards him.
David dove to the side, narrowly jumping out of Cherie's way. Luckily for him, her swords hadn't been aiming at him, she seemed to just be trying to scare him.
Both arms stretched out to his sides, David's sword hung loosely from his hand.
"Let's stop here, and talk this out." But David's words were in vain, as Cherie charged at him again.
Frustrated David could only watch as the remaining bandit started crawling away.
"Cherie. Let's not forget, we killed Xavier. He was our friend. And these, are bandits." Now, David was losing his cool, he had been looking out for them both, and instead of helping, Cherie was attacking him?
"NO!" Cherie screamed, and the red light around her grew blindingly bright, and her eyes went completely blank. The patterns on her skin grew thicker, starting to shift on her skin.
[User! I advise retreating, your mana reserves are insufficient for dealing with such an opponent.]
The system's cold voice called out, highlighting David three quarters empty mana indicator.
'No. She's my friend, as much as she's pissing me off, I'm not going to abandon her.'
David grit his teeth, and sheathed his sword, channeling mana into the sheath.
" I guess I just need to knock her out." The frustration in David's voice grew and braced himself.
"Raaaaaghh!" Cherie let out a demonic scream, her voice piercing into David's ears, charging towards him, her swords forgotten, fallen on the ground.
Aiming for his head, Cherie swung both her arms towards his head, her fingers outstretched like claws.
David ducked, but striking out towards her chin with his sheathed sword.
*Crunch*
"Ah. Fuck." David looked on with wide eyes as Cherie's teeth bit down, intercepting his strike. Even as he tried pulling it back the sword didn't budge in the slightest.
Letting go of his sword, David jumped backwards.
"Ow!" He yelled out.
Cherie swiped out again, her nails catching the side of his face, tearing a series of deep gouges into his skin.
[User, please retreat. You mana levels are dangerously low. I believe Cherie is deep in a magically altered state.]
David's mana indicator was now blinking red, only a few units of mana remaining.
'Thanks for pointing out the obvious.'
'I've got this, she might be stronger and faster, but she's acting on pure instinct right now.'
'I just need to fight smart.'
David's eyes flicked over to the fallen bandit to Cherie's left.
In a smooth motion, he picked up a handful of rocks, and threw one at Cherie.
Rocks continued to fly out at Cherie, who covered her face.
Cherie failed to see David run to the fallen piece of metal pipe that had fallen next to the dead bandit.
As he grabbed it, he tossed the pipe high into the air, far above their heads.
Cherie uncovered her eyes, seeing David standing still, she charged at him, hear arms outstretched.
'Ok. This should work.' David channeled all of his remaining mana towards his arms and legs.
First, David sent his sword spinning through the air towards Cherie's face. Seeing the incoming blow, Cherie covered her face.
David leapt into the air, grabbing the falling pipe.
Thunk
The pipe slammed into Cherie's head. David winced as he struck the blow, he hated having to attack her.
For a moment, Cherie stood frozen, and David panicked, the mana he had remaining was only enough to keep standing. He was out of options.
Slowly, Cherie toppled to the side, David instinctively stopped her from falling down into the hard ground, as though he hadn't just slammed a metal pipe onto her head.
"Hope I never have to do that again." David muttered, gently laying Cherie down onto the ground.
"See my face, enemy!" A screeching scream pierced through the air.
Exhausted, David looked around in confusion, until his vision focused in on a small figure standing on top of one of the tall spires of rock.
"Come. On." David sighed, taking in the green skin, beady eyes and long hooked nose. A long cut was along one side of the creature's face, blood dripping down its pointed chin.
"A damn goblin? All this for a goblin. I knew it wasn't a kid." David shook his head the unconscious Cherie.
He drew his sword, even though he realistically couldn't fight on, he needed to put on a strong front, hopefully the goblin would be scared off.
"I, Groggle, swear revenge! This face you see when you die!" The goblin shook its dagger at David, and scurried away, disappearing amongst the rocks.
"Well. At least it's gone." Once the goblin's mana signature disappeared, David let himself fall to the ground.
Laying there, David did his best to remain conscious, but all his energy had disappeared, and against his will, his eyes slowly closed.
-----
The soft crackling of a fire, and the smell of cooking rabbit woke David a few hours later.
He looked around in confusion, and saw Cherie's back to him, hunched by the fire.
David sighed with relief as he took the tidy camp that she had made, and lack of a red glow or patterns on her skin. It seemed she was back to herself.
"You're up! David, I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me. I can't even properly remember. One minute I was fighting those two bandits. It's just bits and pieces." Tears streamed down Cherie's face, an anxious stream of words coming from her.
"Hey. Slow down. All that matters is that you're alright." David interrupted her, he had never seen Cherie like this.
"No! That's not all that matters. Think about yourself for once David. You could've been hurt. Or even worse. You could have died." Cherie shook her head.
For a moment, David paused. Cherie's words sinking in. He really was in over his head.
'What was I thinking? Coming all across the wilderness. First I get stuck with this weird system, and now, something's wrong with Cherie.'
'Plus, this is our first time being on our own in the wilderness. I can't believe we're still alive.'
"You need to leave. Head back to Coppervein, you'll be safer on your own." Cherie said, looking at David's expressionless face, waiting for his response.