Kael stepped forward, his skeletal frame eerily silent, the hem of his cloak brushing against the ground. The injured camel spider lay sprawled ahead, its massive body heaving with labored breaths. Kael moved with deliberate care, his bony fingers lightly gripping his scythe. The spider's battered form twitched, one of its legs curling slightly as if it could sense something amiss. Suddenly, its many glittering eyes swiveled in his direction, scanning the barren wasteland for any sign of movement.
But Kael was no longer there.
In an instant, he had vanished, his form dissolving into the shadows of a gnarled, sun-bleached tree behind the spider. The dry branches creaked faintly in the hot wind, but the spider's frantic gaze found nothing. Cloaked in the tree's shadow, Kael blended seamlessly with the darkness, his hollow eye sockets fixed on his prey.
"This damn spider…"
Kael's thoughts simmered with frustration as he studied the creature. Its legs twitched as it attempted to rest, ichor slowly seeping from its injuries. Despite its pain, the spider remained vigilant, its gaze sweeping the desolate expanse around it.
"Walking straight up to it would be suicidal."
Kael's sockets shifted, scanning the sun-scorched terrain. The golden light of the desert seemed to stretch endlessly, broken only by sparse, skeletal trees and jagged stones scattered like forgotten relics. His gaze fell on a stone, roughly the size of his palm, half-buried in the sand. Bending low, his movements fluid and precise, he picked it up. The rough surface scraped against his bony fingers as he inspected it.
A faint, sinister grin seemed to play across his unseen expression as he muttered, "I think this will work."
With a flick of his wrist, he hurled the stone into the air to his right. It spun, catching the sunlight as it arced upward, casting a fleeting shadow onto the ground. The spider's head jerked toward the motion, its many eyes fixating on the airborne object. Kael wasted no time. The moment the stone created a shadow, he vanished again, reappearing on the left side where he had thrown a second stone moments before.
Each movement was deliberate. He needed those shadows the sun's harsh rays and the shadows they birthed were his lifeline. His skeletal fingers tightened around his scythe as he crouched low, his bones creaking faintly. The spider's attention remained locked on the first stone, its body tensing as if anticipating an attack from that direction.
Kael lunged.
With terrifying speed, his scythe glinting menacingly as he brought it down on one of the spider's legs. A sickening crunch split the air as the limb severed cleanly, spraying dark ichor onto the parched earth. The spider let out a piercing screech, its legs flailing wildly as it spun to face him. But Kael was already gone, teleporting behind it in a swirl of shadow. His next strike came swift and merciless, slicing through another leg.
"Booyah!", Kael said.
The spider shrieked again, its cries reverberating across the desolate wasteland. Kael leapt, his cloak billowing around him as he landed atop the spider's carapace. His scythe came down with brutal precision, slashing across the creature's glittering eyes. Black fluid sprayed from the wounds, and the spider reared back, its remaining legs thrashing in blind agony.
Kael barely avoided a retaliatory strike, teleporting to the shadow cast by the spider's writhing body. He landed gracefully, his cloak settling around him like liquid darkness. His sockets locked onto the spider's remaining legs.
"6 left," he muttered, his voice a low rasp.
He darted forward, aiming for another leg, but the spider anticipated his move. With startling speed, it whipped its remaining limb and struck Kael square in the chest. The impact sent him flying, his body tumbling across the sand before coming to a jarring halt. His ribs ached as though splintering under the blow, though no physical cracks marred his skeletal frame. His health bar flashed before him.
[HP: 35/50]
"Damn it," he hissed, staggering to his feet. Dust clung to his cloak as he gripped his scythe tighter, his bony hands trembling slightly.
The spider screeched again, this time with renewed fury. Kael's sockets widened as he saw its remaining limbs lash toward him, another blow imminent. It moved with terrifying speed, the air around its strike humming with lethal intent.
"Too fast!"