Orn breathed deep the smell of churned earth and trampled pants filled his nose. The mother stood a dozen paces away across the torn ground. Even with its back to him Orn saw it was panting as well. Between them Orn saw the remains of this cloak half trampled in the dirt. A clear reminder that the fight had almost ended as fast as it began.

The goblin mother had surged forward as it had when it dodged the arrow. Orn had barely out of the way of its claws but his cloak did not. If the fabric was a little thicker or less worn, I would be dead. He shivered at the memory of the moment when he felt his feet sliding backwards towards the monster.

“Do not loose focus,” Kao said to bring him back to the present.

Orn internally cursed his distraction and noticed the monster had turned to face him. A half dozen broken arrow shafts stuck out of the thing’s chest, and it appeared exhausted. Orn took this as a win though he knew he was not in much better shape, a fact a sharp pain in his side reminded him of.

Orn’s little finger gently brushed the stone at the base of the knife. He felt the remaining healing mana waiting for him to draw on it, but he resisted the urge. Instead he flexed his fingers on his blades and watched for the little signs that showed the monster was about to charge again.

There! Orn thought as the monster’s foot twitched slightly. The motion seemed to vibrate up the thick leg and through the rest of the creature propelling it forward. A moment later the monster’s jaws snapped closed a step left of where Orn had stood.

He swung his sword, leaving a gash across its ribs. He raced forward as a large arm dropped trying to knock him down. Passing under the arm he pulled the blade free, and swung for the back of the legs only for the monster to lurch away from him. Orn smiled as he raced away from the monster.

“It was faster that time,” Kao commented as came to a stop. “It is learning the pattern. Once more then you need something different.”

Orn wiped the sweat off his face and nodded. The monster was adapting faster to his patterns as the fight went on. Only its growing exhaustion kept Orn just out of reach. The creature panted with its back to him, and Orn once again wished he still had a bow.

A sudden spasm in his leg caused him to nearly topple. Without thinking his finger touched the stone on the knife’s base. Healing mana raced out of the stone and towards his legs taking away some of his weariness. As soon as he felt the shaking stop he moved to force the stream of mana closed. Instead he felt the last bit of power in the stone flow into him.

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He started to reach for the smaller stone on the sword’s guard, but the monster was again facing him. It barreled towards him in the next instant. Not prepared for the monster to move so fast, Orn threw himself to the side.

As he rolled through the dirt a large shadow passed over him. Turing onto his front Orn leveraged himself up his nose barely a foot from the goblin mother’s heel. Orn shoved himself up onto his elbow just high enough to get his knife out from under him. The next instant he shoved himself forward, flipped the knife around, and drove it down.

The knife bit into the monster, only to be wrenched from his hand. The satisfaction of knowing he had landed the blow, disappeared as the back of the monster's hand smashed into him. Orn flew through the air and felt something solid connect with his left leg. He spun only for his back to smack into something else.

Half dazed, he tried to rise but fell biting back a scream. Blinking through the waves of pain he felt healing mana at his fingertip and emptied the stone in one go. On instinct he pushed the warm feeling past dozens of smaller wounds toward the new injuries. As the pain began to subside, he released the mana to focus on the world outside his body.

“Get up! Hurry!” Kao yelled pulling orn up.

He stumbled upright, his fingers barely holding on to his sword. Orn glanced at the monster only to see the vibration passing through its body as it charged. The world seemed to slow as Orn realized he was going to die. Kao’s yells seemed distant as his world narrowed to the monster beginning to move toward him. It’s left leg blurred, as it started to move.

Its right leg only seemed to move faster, driving the creature forward. Orn stared as the monster seemed to close on him faster only to realize it was falling. The right leg had collapsed sending the monster sprawling towards him.

Orn felt the ground shake as it landed, but kept his unsteady legs under him. The monster’s momentum carried it sliding towards him. He tried to step back as he realized it would hit him before it stopped, but was not fast enough. The goblin mother’s shoulder knocked Orn’s legs out from under him. He doubled forward, and his face hit the monster’s back.

The creature shook beneath Orn as it recovered from its shock and reached for him. Orn tried ot rise only to feel himself slide off the monster, and land on his knees in front of it’s shoulder. He leveraged himself up with one hand on the monster’s shoulder and raised his sword. He felt the monster starting to move as he swung his sword at the back of the monster’s head. He lifted it free as the creature started to roll. The shoulder Orn was holding onto lifted him to his feet as he brought the blade down again.

This time the blade came free with a spray of blood that blinded him, but Orn felt the monster shudder. Releasing his grip on the shoulder, he wrapped both hands on the hilt of his blade. Blinded by the blood on his face he brought it down again, and again.

...

“ORN!” Kao yelled, and he could feel her hands on his shoulders shaking him. “It is dead.”

Orn wiped at his eyes and blinked to see the still form of the goblin mother laying before him. He had survived.