Only the further we went, the further the moon seemed to steep. Deep within the sky's darkened night. Only a quiet howl to accompany my thoughts.
"Did you hear that?" The twins spoke, their voices seemingly tacked on to the other.
"Yes." Delphine said.
Her eyes seemed to scream annoyance. A tone that seemed to be wholly ignored by those around her.
The twins merely took a steadied breath and continued with their search.
Eyes that darted here and there. To find any trace, that they might not have been able to see within the day.
"Nothing…" Delphine muttered. Her eyes closed as her hand splayed out in the dirt.
And then a pulse. A lurch of my stomach that brought my instincts on edge. In search of the disturbance.
Yet when I looked, truly looked. There she was. The twins had fallen on the floor.
Hands clutched verily to their hearts. A rhythm that seemed to beat twice as fast as it had before.
"Don't- Don't scare me like that." She spoke, the shyer of the twins.
She spoke from the back of her sister. Who had taken an aggressive stance.
"Let's go back, there is nothing here."
I tilted my head in askance of what she had done. But there was nothing.
Not even a slight hint towards the act that she had committed. Only a tiny glint in her eyes that shone towards me. A hand that placed me over the twins. Their own fear slightly reconciled.
"Hey there boy…" She spoke, her voice tinged with a hint of reassurance. As if I needed it myself.
However I just preened. Let her pet my snout whichever way she pleased.
It seemed to work as within the moment that fear and anxiety of hers had stopped. The frightened look, the taut grip over her sword. It became a dream of nothing, mere thoughts that faded towards the back of her head.
For the village came back into view, those wooden fences of theirs. A shortened fig-
I leaped from her back. A white energy - Qi - sprang from my paws and flung me towards that shadowy figure.
But within the moment he merely dodged. A cloak that veiled his form from the world.
I had but a moment to think before I was forced to the ground.
A yip of pain rang from my mouth.
"Off of him!" The twins yelled - in unison - and with swift steps. They made their way towards me.
A quiet mutter of whatever technique they had used.
Bull's Rushing Steps
The words rang through my mind. How the energy coagulated towards his feet. A strand of energy that burst from his soles in a grand display of power.
And off he went. A slash that marked his efforts. Bared her naked shoulder to the world. Crimson fluid dragged over his knife.
The edge was serrated, with a curve that took out chunks of flesh from her body. Enough that she would not be able to move it for the rest of the fight.
Another mutter, this one of the same quality and sound of the last.
Bull's Rushing Steps
The same two steps. A rush of energy and a burst that brought him barreling towards Delphine.
I looked at my own paws. Felt the energy within my own body. And with a mere imitation.
An afterimage foretold of my position. Of the coming flesh, gouged from his arm.
A pound of flesh for a pound of flesh. Red filled my vision. A roar that spoke of intense thirst.
For the blood had barreled down my throat filled it with this… this energy that seemed to mix with my own.
"Stop."
There was no force, no mystic teaching to her voice. A mere word. Mortal in tone.
But the sound, the cadence forced my dilated pupils back to normal. A death of that blood soaked rage before I could even act upon it.
Left with only a small snarl that spit out flesh.
"Take this."
She talked not to me, but to the girl that had gone sprawling to the ground. Clutched at her wound with tears within her eyes.
…
[Delphine pov]
A wraith. Named for their veiled faces and ghost-like movement. Most importantly however were that such beings were not birthed but summoned.
"Take this." I spoke, a bottle of inexpensive pills - I could tell immediately by the mere smell they wafted through my nose - handed towards the girl.
She had taken a hit. Blood poured down her shoulder, a pale face that, I knew, would not last.
"Thanks…" her voice was faint. Tinged with death.
But no thanks were needed. This was her own after all. She could bear the burden of health on her own wallet, or of the wallet of whoever had given her this supply.
I merely unsheathed my own sword. A stance I had taken hundreds of times. Both hands held taut against the hilt.
Spaced evenly and with a thumb for control on the hilt. So that I could slither and snake my way through defenses that would otherwise be impossible to pierce.
My eyes narrowed, the dark of the night disappeared. Replaced by a void. A life or death space I had created with my mind.
Where the only focus was those I knew would bring harm to me. And so I pointed my sword downwards. The edge placed in such a way…
"Come." I taunt.
And he took the bait. The wraith turned, red eyes stared into equally bloody eyes. For his charge was stopped.
A straight and even pierce, made for the sake of that technique of his.
However that was the wrong move, as without any external technique, I pulled my blade up. And, in a display of ultimate skill, placed the middle of my sword on the hilt of his own. Took one step and turned the blade.
Used the momentum garnered to slash to the right. His head cut from the shoulders that bore that ultimate weight.
A fountain of blood sprayed. For one moment before he fell to the floor. The strength within his bones severed.
I flicked my sword, the blood painted the ground crimson, before I sheathed that cleaned sword.