The Shade chased after the man through the woods. Its blow had sent him a distance, but now it was his own actions that led him further in. The Shade could only chase, its fury fueling it. Its savior, ally, friend, had nearly been killed.

The Shade ran past a tree with the warrior hiding behind it. He had known the importance of surprise on the beast. He gripped the ax tightly, and prepared to strike. The moment the Shade’s body entered his peripheral, he acted.

The silver ax was swung with unrelenting force, the edge aimed at the Shade’s head. The man’s body was bulging with muscle, and his metal helmet was creaking as his veins threatened to bust the thing open with their intensity.

The Shade slid under, its body quickly turning to a kneeling position, and laying its two arms flat. It was in control of every movement, every act was measured to the utmost precision. It left no room for error. The antlers barely slid underneath the ax’s swing.

The warrior did not have time to react to his miss. The Shade’s left shoulder and side unfurled, and anchored themselves into the ground, pivoting the Shade’s body into a wide arc, with its left fist slamming once again into the metal helmet. It hit the helmet with such force that it shattered the thing, revealing the warrior's face as he slid against the ground.

His face was bleeding profusely and his left eye had grown useless. His right eye looked in open shock and awe and fear at the thing in front of him. His hair was black, though now red blood had covered parts of it.

He went in for another swing, and the Shade slapped down the ax side with its arm. The man felt himself drop quickly, but he held tight and shoved the ax forward. The ax’s head slammed into the stomach of the Shade and pushed it backwards with great force.

The Shade did not miss a step, running immediately back towards the warrior. It unleashed a flow of jabs, and the warrior barely blocked each of the streaking black fists with the wooden shaft of his ax.

The battle entered a stalemate for a moment, and the warrior took the initiative in the next bout. The bottom of his ax slammed against the ground, creating an odd tremor that took the Shade off balance.

He knew he could not hesitate for a moment, and he stepped forward, rearing the ax back.

The ax hit the side of the shade, not gathering enough force to pierce through but it aided in its imbalance. The warrior let the grip with his left hand go, and then slammed his left fist into the stomach of the Shade. Spiny brass knuckles lined the man's fist, and they embedded themselves into the Shade’s stomach.

The Warrior stepped back quickly after the blow, before one of the extendable arms of the Shade struck the space he previously occupied. It struck against the ground and burrowed cleanly through the stone ground, it retreated and retracted quickly into the Shade’s body.

“You’re a tough bitch!” The warrior spat, preparing to go into another round of combat.

The Shade began this one, this time launching faster than the man could block. A fist bulleted past the side of his face, and he felt his armor nearly cave in on itself by what he presumed to be another of the things fists.

He bit his tongue fiercely, and his pupil faded. He seemed to be filled by a far greater strength than he had before, and managed to grab the Shade’s right arm as it jabbed towards him. He attempted to twist the thing’s arm in a break, but the Shade quickly hit his arm with one of its own and stopped his grip.

The Shade backed up again, taking a lower stance than before. Its eyes analyzed the warrior, taking in the change in scenario.

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The warrior slammed the shaft of the ax into the ground, and the Shade felt the foothold grab its feet. The previous solid ground had become a viscous liquid that gripped at its legs. With a quick movement, the Warrior opened the pouch that sat at his side. A flame lit, and he three five ball shaped fuses around the Shade.

The fuses burned to the Shade’s confusion, and then exploded in a uniform fashion. The blast covered the thing entirely, and sheared away the ground. A black smoke covered the area, and sulfur was the primary scent the Warrior could sense.

The warrior gripped his ax, preparing to advance and deal the finishing blow to the Shade. Although he had no confidence the blast killed the thing, he believed it would stun it and weaken it long enough for him to end it with his ax.

Before he could approach and deliver his blow, the Shade’s foot stepped out of the cloud. The armor was undamaged, the antlers shined with the same brilliant gold, and the eyes looked at him with intensity.

The man could not fathom the material the exoskeleton was made of, nor the antlers. A deep fear seated itself into him at the sight.

His breathing was heavy, and he planted his feet into the ground. His eye was locked onto the Shade in absolute focus. Anticipation coursed through his body, and his grip on his ax tightened. His vision focused and strength flooded through his body once again.

The Shade quickly took a standing stance, its arms retracting back into its body at prodigious speed. It stood tall, and held its arms at its sides loosely. Its eyes shone with bright light between its golden antlers. Its eyes matched the warrior’s, and did not leave them for a second.

The Shade’s posture favored its left, and it moved forward slightly. The warrior backed, but then his posture changed as well. His awareness had begun to climb, and he readied the ax, extending his arms fully and keeping the thing back, ready to be swung.

It was obvious, the moment the Shade entered the warrior’s radius he would swing and attempt to take the thing in one hit.

Walking forward, The Shade stood at the absolute radius. One step more, and it would be dealt a blow. It understood, and it stepped forward still.

Earth broke and wind whistled as the ax flew through with absolute precision. A clean cut through the mid section, followed by a reverse motion to destroy the things upper body. He knew it was something he had to kill quickly, or else he feared he’d pay a great cost.

The blade sunk cleanly into the exoskeleton cracking the outer black shell, and then was summarily destroyed by a combined effort of each of the extra limbs the Shade had. Systematically, from blade to hilt, the arms cut apart and destroyed the components of the ax in a quick and brutal fashion.

One of the arms struck a step further, piercing into the man’s flesh and disabling his right arm. The two on the left both held the man in place and the Shade looked him up and down.

It was simply observing, considering the bout finished. Now it took the time to examine the attacker of his ally, and while it gave no outward inclination, it was certainly thinking more than just the thoughts of a mindless predator.

A dagger extended from the boot of the warrior, and he kicked through his bindings, aiming directly towards the area the ax had hit before. The blade sunk in, and parts of the exoskeleton shattered off, pieces of wooden flesh flew.

Backing up in rage, the Shade’s white eyes glew with anger. The warrior took a step back, quickly unsheathing another dagger from his back.

There was never a chance for it to be swung, for the Shade’s fist landed on the warrior’s face again, stunning him. And another fist landed on the warrior's body, clanging as it hit the armor. And then another fist slammed into his armor, and another, and another, and a few jabs to his face as well, and a countless amount of blows from the Shade’s extra appendages rained down.

By the end, the warrior had not looked at all what he had been like before. The armor laid over his raw flesh, and there was not a breath of life left in what barely remained.

The Shade looked down. Its rage subside. It looked at the outcome, and felt a tang of pity.

But, it understood the act the warrior had taken. The warrior had attempted to kill Epim, and that was a transgression the Shade would not overlook.

So the Shade lifted its head to the sky, and a sound creaked out of every crack in the wooden flesh, every opening, and it roared towards the sky.

It sounded like a whistle, twisted and amplified a thousand times. The body of the thing arched backwards, and each of his limbs stretched out.

In the Bewitching woods, the Shade had taken its first life for another’s sake.