Time moved differently in combat. It wasn't faster or slower but everything was more. More intense. Every second meant more. But every second came faster. They blurred and combined and you could get lost in it if you battled mindlessly.
Something that came easy to Murciel when blood was involved.
So much blood.
So many differences in his new form. His Petrasaur-form was just as hulking only less strong and faster. It worked in his favor since the saber-cats were faster than the Petrasaur's.
They moved in earth-toned blurs through the ashen jungle.
Murciel's expanded lungs carried him through the trees. He flipped and rolled across the branches as the cats chased his tail.
Below him, Sandmaw and Logan faced two cats of their own.
Murciel wished to join them. Selfishly, he knew he needed to feed on every cat. That meant making quick work of his own pursuers and then finishing off the felines dancing around Logan. Not to mention he had to end the fight before Professor Switch and the others found them.
With that in mind, Murciel jumped from the branches, falling for the jungle grounds.
The cats jumped after him, slitted eyes widened as the sun beamed on them.
Quickly, Murciel reached up behind himself and grabbed hold of the branch he jumped off of, causing him to swing back onto the branch , now behind the feline hunters.
He could practically feel the blood pulse in the back of their muscular necks.
Once again, he jumped, now using his powerful legs to propel himself at the cats.
The moment they hit the ground, he crashed into them, landing with his feet onto the spine of the largest of the two.
He felt the crunch under his pawed and wrapped feet.
The other cat scrambled, hissing as it tried to run in the cloud of rising dirt and debris.
Murciel reached out and caught hold of its tail.
Now powered by beast-blood, he yanked the creature back to him and jumped on its back. From there he sunk his fangs into the cats neck and drank.
Seconds later and he was skidding to a stop as the once defiant and fiery feline crashed and burned.
He spun back and pounced on its back-broken pack mate and made quick work of it.
In a rush, he was back on the move.
Through the miasma of dirt and debris from their crash landing, he could see the twisting lashes of fire and smoke made by Logan. He hopped and flipped around the ashen clearing, trying to steady his flame bow to shoot down the final two cats.
Sandmaw growled and snapped at them from the rear, keeping the beasts overstimulated.
It wasn't enough.
Worse yet, his ears twitched. Everytime he blinked, he could see the world around him in audio-visual waves.
He could see the cluttered outline of a patrolling Silverhenge cat on the move. Freshly fed and ready to defend.
Panick lined his limbs like fire. He hadnt even noticed he'd been rooting for the span of seconds he spent standing in silence. Rich Ambient-Mana flowed. It twisted and intermingled with his physical form, transforming into Inner-Mana. It soaked his muscles with power and lubricated his joints. Making him feel reborn in nature.
He pounced.
At the same time, Logan fired.
The flaming arrow bloomed like a sparking rose as it hit the dried dirt.
Off to the side, Murciel rolled with the cat, ripping the beast apart as he drank from its throat.
Once it stopped moving, he got back to his feet and roared.
The other cat hissed and ran, ignoring Sandmaw— its previous opponent.
Logan turned to Murciel, slim eyebrows twisted with confusion.
Before he could say anything, his nostrils flared. He could smell the Silverhenge Druid coming.
"Your form! Get rid of it!" Logan snapped, "Unless you wish for your power to be known."
Murciel panicked, "I don't know how!"
"Hide. In the bushes there."
Murciel leapt a single time and landed in the green.
Logan whistled and Sandmaw ran off to join Murciel.
As the demigod stood in the center of the battlefield made into a clearing, he took a deep breath. The sun brightened, rays almost blinding as he absorbed the Solar-Mana contained within the rays.
The Druid neared. Assumedly led into a sprint by the smells of death and violence.
Logan exhaled slow. Spirals of steam spun from his lips. The air around him wiggled as the heat climbed. Flames danced on his bronze skin like orange and yellow jewels.
Slowly, all the cat remains turned to ash and the spilled blood evaporated.
But as Murciel watched the remains fade, he saw them change as they burned.
Going from something feline to something more human.
The Silverhenge Druid emerged from the treeline opposite Murciel. In a flash of verdant winds, the cat became an older teenage girl wearing leather armor. Whatever she said, he didn't hear.
He was too busy grappling with the fact that he might've just killed six Shamans….