His vision was filled with fangs and claws, and he thought that was it. His body moved without his command; he took several steps forward, stumbled on a rock, and fell just as the monster flew past where he was.
The monster slammed into the ground, turned with a sneer, and then began to move toward him slowly, growling.
Atrox was breathing fast, but as if the monster was cold water to his head, he began to think rather than just look at it. While he maintained eye contact, his hand searched the ground for anything he might use as a weapon and found a small stone that fit his hand.
The monster tensed, ready to leap, but then its eyes flickered to the left, and the monster forgot about Atrox and faced the new threat. Taiwo was back on her feet, holding her side with her left hand while her right hand gripped her sword. Her brows were dotted with sweat, but her eyes were clear. "You mangy beast!"
The monster eyed her warily, but not with the fear that Atrox expected. Then he realized that the monster was smart enough to know she was wounded—that must be what that attack on her was for!
Atrox began to crawl back with his butt while he kept the two of them in his sight. Taiwo narrowed her eyes as she saw the monster get ready to leap at her. She raised her sword and brought it down without leaving her place.
He didn't expect what happened next. He should have. Silver-blue light gathered around her sword and leaped in an arc at the monster, which whirled to the side immediately when it saw the sword going up. The attack caught it on the shoulder and bit deep into its flesh, drawing blood but not doing that serious harm.
Taiwo hissed, her face rigid as she brought down her left hand, winced, and then leaped to meet the monster bounding toward her.
'Essence Slash,' Atrox remembered. A basic Squire attack, since they've not got their essence aspected. He watched as sword met claws and fangs in a deadly dance.
She was fast, almost as fast as the monster, and maybe she would have done more if she wasn't already wounded. But as it was now, she was just barely keeping her head from being torn from her shoulders as the monster snapped.
Her sword was a wall between her and the monster, and already it was bleeding from numerous wounds on its body. But so was she—a claw had raked her right shoulder almost to the bone, and her speed had dropped drastically.
The monster saw this and jumped, throwing all its weight at her to finish the fight. She raised her left hand and grunted as a silver-blue body-tall rectangular shield flickered into place.
'Essence Shield!' Atrox thought, his hollowness replaced by excitement as all those hours of studying rushed back to him. This was all Squire's attacks!
The monster collided with the shield with a crunch and bounced back, disoriented. The shield crashed and collapsed, but that was enough for her, and Taiwo pressed her advantage.
Her right hand was slick with blood, but she slashed at its throat, only for the monster to turn at the last moment, and it hit its wounded shoulder. The monster howled and lashed out, its hand slapping the sword from Taiwo's hand.
The monster and she both froze at that.
Even Atrox froze. The sword landed point-first and sunk into the ground between his legs. This... was unexpected. And from the look on the monster's face, it hadn't expected this to happen either. But that didn't stop it from leaping at her.
Taiwo's face crumbled, but she slashed forward with her hand. A small sword arc leaped free, too small to do anything major, just enough to make the monster shield away while she made a bid for the sword. She didn't get far, as the monster slammed her from the back, digging its claws into her back. She screamed.
The world seemed to slow to a crawl. Atrox was staring at the sword as if it were alive, a snake that would turn and snap at him. He shuddered but couldn't look away. Seeing her fight the monster had dug into his mind, and something had crawled out.
He realized he didn't want to die. What he wanted... he didn't know just yet, but not death. Atrox knew the monster would kill him after it was done with her, so he lunged for the sword and yanked it... tried to. He had to use both hands to remove it, and he grimaced at its weight.
'How long has it been since I held a sword? Is it always this heavy? This sword is heavy... or... am I just that weak?' The years in the prison might have robbed him of his physique, his pride, and his ambition.
But it couldn't ever take away his years of training. He shifted his feet into the familiar pose, his body falling back into it as easily as changing clothes. His hand trembled, but he raised the sword high over his head, trying to get his shaking hands to make it straight.
The monster stopped assaulting Taiwo as it felt something shift in the air... bloodlust? Not quite, but it knew danger when it sensed one and leaped away, turning to face Atrox.
Taiwo looked up through her haze of pain and saw Atrox and the monster facing off. "He's just got here today, and he's going to die just like that. A pity... I should use this opportunity to get away."
She turned, then stopped and sighed. "I can't escape with these wounds. It'll catch me eventually. I should entertain myself before I die."
Atrox and the monster were still staring at each other.
The monster tensed, and Atrox took a deep breath, trying to forget everything around him. He knew this would be a one-hit situation. The monster would leap, and he would cut. The fastest one of them would live.
His thoughts fell away faster than he expected; his years in the dark did have some advantages. The only thing that filled his vision was the monster. 'Let's see if I'm still the fastest sword'
The monster leaped, blurring forward in a streak of brown, and Atrox brought down his sword like a judgment.