He could feel his heart in his throat. The sound of leaves crunching and paws thumping was accompanied now by the 'whoomp' sound that came from Uundah blasting fireballs at their pursuer. He changed direction every time he could feel the wolf's breath on his bare back, but the trick was getting old, and the beast was getting closer each time. He had no idea where the river was now, or where he was. He'd been running for a few minutes at least, and his lungs were burning.
A small grace came when he spotted a rock face with a crack in it. He knew the wolf wouldn't be able to get through the opening, so he risked sprinting right at it and diving in, receiving a slash across his back in the process. He hoped the opening would lead to a way out of his predicament, but it was only about twelve feet deep. Still, he tucked himself into the back corner, and watched the beast swipe through the threshold in rage. Uundah sat awkwardly in the crevice, the shaft of his staff form was only inches from the monster's claws.
"What now genius?" Uundah asked.
"Don't be mad at me, I'm not trying to eat you."
"You pissed it off."
"You shot it in the nose with a fireball."
Uundah stayed silent for a moment. "Okay that's fair, my apologies."
"I'll think of something, just give me a minute."
"I don't think we have a minute."
Murphy checked his bag. All of the paint he'd made was spilled throughout, diluting their aspects into things he mostly didn't recognise. He grimaced. They were smeared all over the chunk of wood his master had tasked him to deliver. The new aspects were weak after the mixing, another downside to the paint. If he had ink with him instead, he thought, he could have probably used some of it to make another bomb. He was good at accidentally making explosive effects, he was hoping he could put that talent to use. He stopped searching his bag suddenly, as an idea hit him. He looked at Uundah, and focused on a thought. Then he imagined that thought was magic, and he pushed it towards his O'jin.
"Can you hear my thoughts?" He asked in Uundah’s mind.
"I'm impressed. I thought I'd have to teach you that too" Uundah responded. "Now might not be the time though."
The wolf snapped through the opening with a frothing snout, as if to emphasise the point. "Come out and die, food" the beast roared.
"Not a great offer if you ask me" Murphy muttered. He refocused himself, and stared at Uundah. Again, he formed a thought, and turned it into a spell, then pushed it at Uundah.
"Holy shit" Uundah responded.
"Did it work?" Murphy asked desperately.
Uundah responded by forming a rectangular prism of an aspect. It was a mix of the colours of folded space and containment. "What is it?"
"Do you remember last week, when I was making a chest bigger on the inside?"
The aspect in front of them disappeared back into Uundah in a flash. "Are you trying to kill us before the wolf can?" He scoffed.
"Just hear me out" Murphy insisted. "If we switch the combustion part of the fireball rune, with this, do you think it would work?"
"Murphy that's…" Uundah started to scold him again, but paused to think for a moment. "That might actually work. That's not even wild magic."
"If the old man could see me now" Murphy boasted. "Can you do it though?"
"I already have, but I can't hit him from here". The crystal that he was, sat at the top of the staff, with roots growing into the shaft from out of the opal. It was a simple and elegant design, but right now that design had Uundah pressed into the ceiling at an awkward angle. On their walk, Murphy learned the particulars of Uundah’s forms. When he was the rodent, he had a lot of his power tied up in operating a real body, but when he was the staff, he was just himself and some dead wood. His staff form gave him more strength to use, and his animal form allowed him to be dexterous.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
"Can you shoot fireballs from your other body?" Murphy asked, never afraid to be the one to voice the obvious question.
"I can, but it'll be pitiful. I need some fire-power if it'll scratch that thing… Pun intended" Uundah answered. "You have to do it. It's time for another lesson."
Pebbles crumbled around them and the stone shuttered as the wolf started to barge the opening. With its first hit, large chunks of stone fell from the doors edges, proving it to be an effective tactic.
"Better make it quick" Murphy said. "I think he's getting mad."
"This one's easy. Grab my shaft."
Murphy chuckled. "Uundah, at least cook me dinner first."
"Grab the damn stick Esey Esoni" Uundah snapped.
He listened to his O'jin, and grasped the staff.
"I can cast through you, open your hand."
He opened his hand and a rune structure appeared, floating above his palm.
The walls shuttered again, and he saw the wolf back up for another charge.
"That's really neat, but we better do this thing" he said in a panic.
The rune flooded with aspect, the combustion in the last few symbols replaced by his experimental colour. He grinned, and aimed the rune towards the charging wolf. "It's time to put the dog out" he said, then he empowered the rune.
The spell blasted outward, soaring straight and true. It looked like a normal fireball at first, but as it passed through the air, the flames changed in colour. They started as the normal orange, then shifted to green, then pink, then blue, and right before it hit the beast, it shifted to red. When it hit the wolf, a spectacular result ensued. There was a deafening crack as the wolf was blasted backwards by an invisible explosion. Before it hit the ground, it was drawn towards the centre of the explosion. Just as it reached the point of impact, there was another crack, accompanied by a flash of white light, and the wolf was launched into the trees.
His ears were ringing, but he could hear the wolf yelp when it ricocheted off of a tree and hit the dirt with a heavy thud. Preparing another fireball, he stepped out of the crevice. With a sadistic smile, he raised his hand in the direction of the recovering wolf, and released the spell again. This time, he found himself at the edge of its effect. The first crack knocked him back, causing him to stumble, but he gripped a half buried stone to avoid meeting the wolf in the middle for the spell's climax. The wolf howled in rage, and righted itself with a flurry of kicked limbs and bites to the air, then stared him down from across the new clearing.
Murphy felt a resolve that he wasn't familiar with. He'd already decided he was going down fighting, but staring into the eyes of the beast, he decided that if he was going to die, he was bringing the mutt down with him. He pushed another thought to Uundah, preparing to finish their fight. Uundah understood the colour of protection in an instant. He opened his mind to his O'jin, and hoped it was working. He didn’t have enough time to focus intensely, so he just forced a stream of consciousness into the crystal. Uundah pulsed faintly, and Murphy felt a twisted satisfaction in return.
The O'jin cackled. "Let's teach him the power of your stupid" he gleamed.
"I'll remember you said that."
The wolf sprung forward, its four front paws poised for a skewering, and Murphy snapped into action. He threw himself into a roll, allowing the beast to crash into the rock wall again. Still on his back, he released a wild cloud of protection above himself. Just as he empowered it, the beast swiped, but its claws bounced off of the air and away from him. The concentration of aspect in the cloud waned at the hit, making the barrier weaker. Wasting no time, he shot a normal fireball into the monster, forcing more power into it than was called for. The spell hit the wolf in the side of the face, jerking its head violently to the side with the explosion. The cloud of protection guarded him from the effect, but he still felt the warmth blast through his shield. With that, the protection was used up, and it dissipated. He sprung to his feet, and sprinted for some distance. Uundah fired off fireballs behind them to try and keep it back. He scooped a rock from the ground, and infused it with the volatile aspect of nearly glide. He waited until it was leaving his hand to empower, and he threw it at their attacker. It bounced off of its chest, and the infusion was successful. The beast lost its footing and drifted past him. He jumped out of the way again, just in time to avoid the snapping teeth.
"I don't know how long we have until that pays off" he shouted over the growl, as he launched into another sprint.
"We can keep it back for long enough" Uundah cackled, shooting another fireball. He didn't dare a look over his shoulder, but figured he'd gotten some distance on the thing when he heard the double crack from his new spell. Uundah clearly wasn't taking any chances. The satisfying sounds of the beast being thrown through the forest echoed behind them, but still the wolf crept closer. Their escape was leading them into a craggy section of the forest, and he found himself having to keep an eye on his feet to avoid falling into a hole. Ahead of him was a small canyon. With iron hard determination, he summoned the aspect of glide from his O'jin, then smeared it on his chest and leaped from the rocky ledge. The aspect did its job, being spent rapidly as he crossed the divide. He crashed into the ground on the other side just as the last of the glide was spent.
Looking across the gap, he could see their pursuer. It wasn’t running after them anymore, but stalking slowly towards the ledge. It hobbled slightly thanks to a graze on its shoulder, and its mane was a tangled mess covered in leaves and twigs. Other than that, and the sooty residue from fire coating its fur, the beast seemed unperturbed. At least in a physical sense, because it was obvious the overgrown canine was mad.
"The man only wastes time" the wolf declared. "I have time."
Murphy spat on the ground, hoping the wolf would recognise it as the sign of disrespect it was. It's growl intensified, and he felt successful. "I'm going to wear your skin, you filthy flea post" he threatened sadistically, right before blasting out another spacial fireball. "Eat my space bomb mutt" he screamed with a wild laugh.
The beast darted out of the way, then rounded a tree to get a run up for its jump. Murphy quickly dumped a cloud of protection at the canyon's edge, and empowered it straight away. The wolf leaped at them with murder in its eyes, but came to an abrupt stop against the invisible wall, the impact was hard enough to spend the wild spell completely. It clambered at the rock face before it fell too far. It was making its way to the safe side of the ledge fast, so Murphy acted faster. He thrust Uundah into the beast's chest to push it back. He was relieved to notice his O'jin wasn’t bothered when he was used as a weapon. The wolf snapped at the shaft, and Murphy swung it away, returning it with force to the side of the beast's face. It roared in rage, and he took the opportunity to shove Uundah into its mouth. It paused, a look of terror washed over its demonish face.
"See you in the next life ronta" Murphy sneered, then he blasted off a space bomb right down the things throat.
The explosion knocked him flying backwards, then forwards, then back again. There was enough room behind him to avoid hitting anything, so the worst he got was from being rag dolled about and thrown to the dirt. While he laid on his back and watched the snow drift from the faintly lit trees, he anticipated being swallowed up, but nothing happened. The forest grew silent again, so he groggily pulled himself to his feet.
The explosion had cleared away a lot of loose debris, leaving a large semi circular patch of stone on the cliff's edge. He thought about the aspect of light, and sent it to Uundah. Then he infused and empowered a small stone to drop into the canyon. It bounced from various obstacles on the way down, and settled at the bottom to reveal a large and nearly headless wolf, laying in a puddle of blackened blood.
"It's time to eat" he said, grinning at his O'jin.