Chapter 120

As if Tobias wasn't even there, still under veil, the beast landed in front of Riley.

Every instinct the hare possessed freaked as her legs begged for her to run. Shocked, she lost hold on her magic.

The veil failed. Hedwig's eyes contracted down to points upon seeing them, his head shrinking back in animalistic surprise as Tobias swung his sword, missing by scant inches, all as a vicious and feral but awkwardly timed swipe swept across his armor.

Like dancers in a ball, everyone found new positions. Tobias's left hand was glowing orange, as his right held his sword, which drew the momentary notice of the twisted human fiend, yet as he stalked, padding on all fours on monstrously elongated arms, ending in feral claws, it was clear his focus was on Riley.

Their eyes locked, and a pitiful moan dribbled from the monster's lips.

"Hungry...."

Riley reacted as if slapped. Her eyes went wide as she juked back, shaking her head. A familiar guilt hit her, mixed now with pity. "You poor thing, you must be starving," she said, her ears falling crooked.

Tobias held the middle in defensive line, assessing, taking stock, waiting for the right moment to move.

Rotating around the large space, a long silence drew out as each waited for their moment.

"That poor thing has killed a lot of people!" Tobias reminded, steeled, and ready to strike.

"I know, let's do this quickly," Riley announced, pulling at her power.

Hedwig sniffed the air as if catching the scent of food, his nostrils dilating.

Flame Wall/Chaos Cracker

Will and intent, focused on a target, Riley felt the power well within her, saw the glow in her paws, everything happening as it had so many times before, but the moment she projected forward, letting the spell loose, it slipped from her paws.

Hedwig reared back and began drinking the spell's energy in, drawing it across the room; it sparkled like a particle river to Riley's eyes, spidering through the air, all as their shared mana pool began to drop precipitously.

"Riley, ground! Ground now! Dispel your cast! He's a mana feeder!" Tobias, spurred on by a concern bordering on panic, charged, pointedly keeping the flames and his magic away from his blade.

Riley stumbled on her paws but followed her partner's advice, pushing the magic away, letting it go to dormancy, and cutting the spell by shifting its focus from Hedwig to the ground.

Hedwig roared, his head snapping in Tobias' direction as, in mid-swing of form two, Tobias was coming from above.

As if the swipe was nothing at all, Hedwig reached up, his elbow contorting at odd and unholy angles, and caught the blade between his elongated thumb and index finger.

The blade buried itself halfway within his distorted paw-like hand. Tobias went to pull it away, yet the rest of Hedwig's fingers wrapped around the blade, holding it firm.

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The metal sliced but held fast at contact with bone while blood dripped down in a pool. The twisted human's eyes flicked, more in curiosity than pain, before focusing back in on the Ranger.

With a pop of his hips, Hedwig rose on two legs, bent still at an awkward angle, and slammed Tobias to the ground.

He let go of the blade still buried in Hedwig's hand. The beast ignored it, forcing his right hand down into the ground for support. The sword, tore through at an odd angle, cutting another path of exit. Black blood now oozed out over the floor, outlining Tobias's jerkin in a disgusting liquid cascade.

The vampire slammed his left over Tobias's chest, and immediately the wound in his right hand began to close, all as Riley noticed their mana bar was dropping again.

"Get up!" she cried, drumming her hind paw in emphasis, not knowing what to do.

"I'm woozy, he's got... me... pinned," Tobias's words slurred, all as his eyelashes fluttered.

Riley knew it was up to her.

Think... Gotta think... Fire is out, chaos is out! Vines!" Riley pulled at her power, drawing the attention of the feeding Hedwig for a moment, but the spell failed as she reached out for any organic life in the strange structure.

A useless prompt flared to life, taunting her.

There is no plant life or medium present for it to grow from. This spell has failed.

Meanwhile, their mana bar continued to drop. Tobias struggled helplessly, his flesh already becoming pale and drawn.

Hedwig licked at his lips before emitting his painful cry... “Hungry.... mooooore...”

The word fell from his distorted jaw like death's own herald.

The world flowed down until it moved like a series of slow-motion flashes for Riley, as memories seemed to overlay in real-time. One moment, she was there; the next, in Timbergarde, staring at the desiccated body of Ranger Iskaros...

"Getting ready to be starving, asshole!"

Mana Vampire

The spell began to work in reverse. It wrapped around the twisted human and began funneling its energy away, all as he took from Tobias, creating a strange kind of feedback loop.

Tobias still struggled, weakened by the drain, his energy flickering like a candle in a windstorm, all as Riley buffeted their mana, keeping him alive.

A bestial howl tore through the night, seeming to shake the rafters. Dust drifted down in heavy motes. Hedwig's head swiveled up, then locked in on Riley.

Not holding back, she opened the floodgates, greedily taking in the energy, pulling with all her might.

The beast let go of Tobias and then stopped, rising up on its hind legs as Riley felt a tug of war in magic.

"Hungry! Give it back!" Hedwig moaned.

The pull was immense. Riley, putting physical effort into her cast, holding it open with all of her will, began to push back on her paws. Still, the energy slowed to a trickle and then began to reverse.

Their mana bar, once at seventy-five percent, dropped to sixty in a seeming instant.

"Balance, not extremes," Riley said to herself, knowing the trap of pulling too hard, seeing an example of the very same monster she never wanted to become.

Behind Hedwig, Tobias was trying to get up. On shaking hands, he pushed himself up onto all fours, shambling towards his sword.

Meanwhile, Riley felt the connection to Hedwig, one that she could not ground or break. Lost in an awful stalemate, she felt herself being pulled forward, pulled towards the monster, all as strange memories of her last moments in her previous life began to flash through her mind.

Then there were others not her own... The sorcerer at the academy screaming in horror, then dozens more, all assaulting her focus, as Hedwig began to drink her magic down.

"Tobias! Get up! He's killing me!" Riley begged. He had his sword now and was trying to rise.

Their Mana bar plunged to forty percent and was dropping fast, but Riley still had time for one last cast.

Healing Halo

Ten percent of their shared mana vaporized as Hedwig's took another twenty. A headache slammed into Riley. Her mana bar began to blink while the world faded at the edges of her vision. Still, the spell sailed past the fiend, too embroiled in the feeding to notice the dismal magic passing around them.

It hit Tobias like an invigorating spring rain; he stiffened, then rose, gripping his sword, and wasting no time, charged, slamming it through the beast's chest.

The black blade ripped through Hedwig's heart and exploded out through his rib cage. Not done, Tobias pulled back as the monster dropped to all fours.

The blade moved, irrespective of bone and tissue, until Tobias pulled it free in a feral and vicious arc, cutting the fiend to the pelvic arch with all of the strength he could muster.

Black blood gushed everywhere before Hedwig fell to the floor, dead, and Riley collapsed across from him.