The Blightwing swerved far, sweeping down below the edge of the building and out of my eye-line. It left behind a strong gust of wind that ruffled the top of the building and caused me to cross my arms in from of me. I planted my feet firm and waiting for the wind to break. When the wind ceased the light ended. The Blightwing had crest its flight and ascended high into the air. Its wingspan blocked out what little light was coming from the sunset. C’mon already you damn beast. See me. See me.
I began to wave my arms and shout. “Down here. Do you hear me? Come and fight me?” To my right I could see Theo reaching the halfway point of the crane’s ladder. Another minute or two and he would be at the top. If I could manage to drive it down here by then perhaps we really did have a shot. “Tala! Get its attention.”
Tala had stopped short of the shade of the awning, turned and began to send flares up in the air. The ribbons of fire trailed high into the sky before popping off twenty feet shy of where the Blightwing had flown. She continued her firework show trying to get the things attention. Her attacks were too slow. By the time they exploded the beast was long gone. We needed a better way to draw its attention. It knew we were here, we just needed to get it mad. It could fly all it wants but unless he came down, it would never kill us.
I summoned my Colt Revolver from my [Inventory] and spun the chamber. There was one shot left. I had planned on saving it for a better moment but using a gun seemed somewhat off now that I had chosen the [Thief] pathway. I brought the gun up, aimed down sight and took in a deep breath. I drew upon the memories of my father and the firing range. It was one of the last things we did before I took on my Trial. As far as we knew at the time, it could have been our final moments together. I let my breath paint his words in my mind. “Keep your shoulders square. Squeeze the trigger, don’t pull.”
I did as he taught me. Letting my shoulders guide my shot rather than my eyes. I slowly pulled the trigger and let the gun take control. Slowly I turned my body. My chest following the Blightwing and before I knew it, the gun fired. In a flash of light and burst of smoke I had fired my last shot. The bullet fired true and impacted the boss squarely in the jaw. The shot rung out across the darkening sky. The sound was strong and metallic. My attack was strong as well. Checking on its condition the [Enraged] status was updated to [Bruised]. It wasn’t much, but it was something. Something enough to turn its gaze right at me.
Great! I got its attention. Great… I got its attention! Our plan suddenly felt very unreliable. Why was I the bait? The Blightwing cut its flight midair by flying up and twisting over its back. It rose higher and higher, flipped and pointed its sharp beaks right towards me. Even though its status didn’t say [Enraged] anymore I knew it was pissed. “Theo here it comes! Tala get ready too. If I can’t manage to slow it down maybe you can draw it back in.”
“Ward, what are you doing? Get out of there!” Tala asked. I could barely hear her over the rising of the giant’s wings.
“No, I need to keep its attention to the last second. Theo, you better be ready to do this.” I materialized my kitchen knife in my left hand and crouched down. Placing my right palm firmly on the ground, I slowly raised it and forged a long blade from the shadows of the crane. I concentrated on creating a wide, sturdy blade, ready to not only attack but potentially protect me from a miscalculated dodge. I crossed the weapons out in front of me and readied myself.
The Blightwing was drawing ever closer. Wings beating hard in the air. Whoosh! Whoosh! I focused on its speed and on its ever growing size. I needed to time my dodge just right. I stepped forward a few feet then sidestepped closer to the stonewall of the walkway to my right. If I could make myself a smaller target, harder to hit between the concrete roof and stairwell shed, the better chance I had at not getting myself killed. I crouched down again, kept my blades crossed and waited for my chance. Directly in front of me the roof was caved in ever slightly. Its shape had created a small valley that, if I was quick enough, could potentially lay flat and safe in. It was a good idea. It was my only idea.
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The Blightwing rocketed across the rooftop. The force of its flight caused more glass windows down below to shatter, the concrete to shake, and the crane to teeter back and almost bend. This is it. Any second. Gotta wait to the last minute. I had to swallow the fear that crept up my throat as I stared into the Blightwing’s demonic eyes. Its mouth opened and I prepared to jump. A blinding flash from the Blightwing’s maw. The light cut my eyes. Burned deep into my mind. I shut my eyes against the searing pain. I hadn’t expected such a retaliation. What’s worse is I definitely didn’t expect what happened next.
The Blightwing smashed its entire body into the top of the building, sending rubble and rebar across the sky, including into me. I still held my blades out in front of me. I was lucky enough for my shadow weapon to take the blunt of the hit, however it wasn’t sufficient to completely protect me. I flew back and hit hard into the concrete wall. My body twisted in the impact, rolling across the wall in the torrent of stone and wind. My shadow blade was shattered on impact, and the kitchen knife was lost in the air as it flew from my grip.
My body crumpled in pain. It felt as though my entire spine suddenly shattered like breaking ice. My shoulder flared up, engulfed in a fire of pain. My head whiplashed back and forth, my vision going from a burn of light to a deep darkness. My body ran out of concrete wall and spun to the ground. There I tumbled, feeling the broken concrete cut and scratch at my body. I eventually came to a stop. More rubble fell across my back, hit my skull, and smashed my body. It all ended so quickly, or at least I hoped so. I had lost track of time and space. I had never been in so much pain yet so numb to the things around me. My [Codex] flashed a warning in the darkness of my blindness. [Maimed]. The impact had caused me to go directly to [Maimed] status. I was still alive, but one more attack and I was dead.
Once my head stopped spinning, I squeezed my arms under my body and opened my eyes. The Blightwing’s attack had knocked me back thirty feet. My body was resting in the corner of the building’s exterior wall. Lines of cracks broke out in all directions from where I was lying. If it hadn’t been for the short wall, I would have been blown off the building and plunged straight to my death.
It took me a while before my eyes could focus, and the pounding in my head calmed down enough for me to look around. The top of the Crumbling Tower was engulfed in a sheet of dust and debris. To my left, the construction crane rose out from the thick cloud. Theo had made it to the top, but he was flat against the framework and yelling. I couldn’t hear him. All I could hear was a high ringing in my ears that emanated from the base of my skull. I tried to see if I could spot Tala beyond the dust cloud, but it was too thick for me to peer through. I couldn’t see where the Blightwing was. For all I knew, it had taken off again and was circling the building, getting ready for another attack.
With what consciousness I had, I focused on inspecting what was wrong with my body. My back was killing me, my head was a field of shattering glass, and I could feel blood dripping from my eyebrows. I began to feel around for my kitchen knife and had to stop. My left arm was broken. A harsh peak of bone was protruding from the sleeve of my windbreaker, and thick, crimson blood was staining it black. My other arm was fine, but I was too dazed to even move it. The whole left side of my body felt unusually stiff and numb. Staring at my hand, I commanded my fingers to move. To show me any sign that I wasn’t paralyzed. What little luck I had reassured me as I watched my pointer finger twitch.
A howl broke through the ringing in my head. I looked up to see the head of the Blightwing begin to peer through the swirling cloud. Its eyes were a deep black, dotted with a hollow red spark. Its beak began to click rapidly as it caught me within its sights. It was coming to finish me off. It curled its neck and rotated its head to better see its prey. Suddenly, a flare of red light illuminated the dark, swirling dust. The Blightwing’s head sank fast into the cloud as it let out a surprising screech. I watched as the dust cloud burst in a violent glow over and over again. With each burst, I could see the silhouette of the Blightwing arching its body in anger. Twist in pain.
Tala walked out from the far right, close to where I was standing before. She had swirling balls of fire in each hand and was hurling them into the mass of metal and dust. Her red orb swirled with anger all around her body. Her eyes were aflame with anger and desperation.