16

Tenacity

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The movement was too quick.

“KILL HIM!” Alduin shouted with despair, he was too far away.

The shocked Ise regained her focus and the dagger she was holding shifted in her hand.

An impish move allowed the fallen Goblin to regain his initiative as he performed a twist on his hand. This evasion of the flowing dagger towards its head was followed by a twisting kick.

Ise was catapulted back over three meters.

“NO!” Alduin panicked

The impact on her side almost knocked her out. The kick was followed up by a flowing move like a dance. And the goblin athletically landed on his feet once more.

But now Alduin had reached the creature.

“FUCKING!”

Alduin launched a sharp diamond-shaped dagger forward.

“DIE!” The yell marked the end of his spear thrust.

Alduin’s final card had revealed itself. A perfect spear thrust shot out. Alduin’s arms pushed forward as the blade finally pierced the shoulder of this monster.

Three limbs. Alduin had taken out three limbs of this beast. The first was with the bullet he shot out, it had pierced through its left shoulder blade. The second left a gaping hole in its thigh. And the third hit its right shoulder.

A staggering predator stared with bleeding eyes. A long spear was stuck where his shoulder met his arm.

“Just die already,” Alduin growled. The floating embers seemed to consume his anger.

Two pairs of mad eyes met each other.

But surprisingly the goblin’s other arm still moved. Its physique was just large enough to reach Alduin’s shoulder height. But the strength it possessed would only be possible from a man that towered over him.

“KKIEEEKKK,” The goblin growled back.

Their language was more primal than any language he knew but the goblin's body language portrayed his intention clearly.

A blood-red arm grabbed the spear that had pierced his shoulder. Only one leg could be used in this struggle for dominance. But unlike what should be expected Alduin was the one getting pushed back.

“HOW?!” Exhaustion overwhelmed his mind. Alduin felt the heavens mocking him. 'How is this possible? It should have died already!'

The spear was used to keep the goblin at a distance. Even with an obliterated thigh. Small incremental steps were made with that leg, and instantly following that, its dominant leg anchored its position.

Every step forward cost Alduin a step backward. He didn’t dare let it come close.

What held the piercing spear could not even be called a hand. Calluses, small elongated hands, four fingers, three of which were index fingers, and a thumb that seemed to be elongated. And on their ends, pitch black nails, as sharp as daggers pierced out from its fingertips.

It was clear, from the pieces of skin and dried-up blood that he had used these claws to rip open the belly of that wolf.

“ISE” Alduin anxiously yelled.

Their momentary dominance was slowly slipping from his hands. His arms were shaking, it was a miracle that he had even reached this place.

“ISE! GET UP!” Alduin shouted with anger.

He tried raising his adrenaline further with each consecutive shout but he had already been pushed back two meters. Each step weaker than the one before.

His hands were slowly sliding closer to the goblin. His hands which were torn and bleeding could no longer keep hold of the shaft.

Closer than ever, the elongated head of this goblin was now clear as day. A mouth with a maddening smile on a head almost twice as large as a human’s. But it were its teeth that struck fear in him. Each one was small and extremely sharp. The yellowish teeth fit in its mouth like a puzzle. And from the hatred in its expression, it was clear it was aiming to bite his throat.

“ISE!”

A crack rang out. The goblin suddenly struck the spear at the moment Alduin yelled.

Alduin lost balance.

Wooden splinters flew everywhere.

Completely caught off guard, Alduin who was still pushing his spear, fell forward.

The goblin had broken the spear. With a twist of his body and a strong attempt of using his immobile arm, the goblin used its fist to completely shatter the handle.

An anchored goblin had struck first. The tug of war between predator and prey which kept changing had been decided.

The arm which had broken the spear flopped down again. The two now fell towards each other, one with a shocked expression, the other with its wide mouth completely open.

‘Fuck.’ Alduin looked behind the goblin, his fate seemed to be decided. A running figure looked at him with shock.

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His legs had no more strength left. He dropped faster than expected. The mouth that aimed for him had grazed his shoulder. The teeth which wanted to bite his neck narrowly missed him. But now, the leg with the bleeding thigh momentarily switched dominance.

‘I’m dead either way.’ Alduin stepped forward.

This was the end. He didn’t care anymore.

All his nervousness disappeared, there was only one last thing he wanted.

The distance he tried so hard to maintain meant nothing anymore. Alduin’s arched body which slumped down instantly shot forward with a last peak of strength.

A classic tackle. The physically overwhelming goblin saw it for the first time in its life. Something voluntarily ran towards his arms.

The rotten stench from the goblin forced a teary-eyed Alduin to momentarily regain his focus. He had stopped thinking about survival.

“Just die already!” Alduin hugged the waist of the goblin and pushed forward.

“KIEEEKKKK!” A piercing shout replied but sounded like a cry in pain.

The anchored leg of the goblin had momentarily switched. The damaged thigh now became strained. The goblin’s legs gave way. The tackle had succeeded.

Alduin and the goblin landed on the ground. Closer than ever before. But the quick thinking of Alduin had already made him position himself behind the goblin.

A stranglehold he was more than familiar with. He never thought those wrestling matches with his friends would save his life.

His final, life gambling attempt at survival. His legs locked around the waist and the slumped arm of this creature. And in his headlock was the goblin’s neck as well as an outstretched arm.

Both arms were locked, it's claws removed from Alduin's body. A stranglehold on a mythical beast. An imp that could bite straight through his arm. Both its arms were incapacitated, now they were waiting until one of them gave in. The one to give way first would be the one to die.

“Alduin!” Ise yelled out loudly, every fragment of a second counted.

“I can’t hold him!” His body wouldn’t last even a second.

The moment Alduin grappled with the goblin. A massive amount of strength tried pulling away from him. His lifeless arms felt like they were torn from his body.

“KUCHAAAAAKKKK!” The shout showed the desperation of both parties.

“ISE!” Alduin felt this beast pulling away. His legs almost opened. The goblin’s body already started twisting.

“Hold on!” Ise finally reached them.

Bleeding eyes that wanted nothing more than to extinguish them looked straight at the suddenly reappearing Ise. But the weak figure of that woman was completely ignored. His hatred had risen to an unprecedented degree towards Alduin.

His sole undamaged leg did everything it could to twist his body. The arm with the remaining piece of the spear was completely lifeless. But the arm where the first bullet had entered managed to scratch alduin a couple of times with its limited movement.

“DO IT!” Alduin saw the hesitation in Ise’s eyes.

“But-” Ise readied her weapon.

“NOW!” Alduin exploded with anger towards Ise.

The goblin now stared at Ise’s hand. The dagger was nowhere to be found.

The earlier kick had landed the dagger out of range but something else was held in her hand. A dark black box.

And then it saw something. From the black box, a bolt of lightning sprung out. The moment it laid its eyes on it, it started shouting and struggling even harder. But before he could do something, the strongest shock that was available from the machine had landed on its body.

For a single short second, the monster broke free. Now with a single purpose left, it had to escape to the forest. The swinging claws moved around. Even the immobile arm exerted a force that overwhelmed Alduin. The intact leg formed a pivot point.

Pushing slightly back, Alduin slid with his back over the rough ground, inching closer to the burning trees. But the moment his arms loosened up and the goblin wanted to escape, the black box hit.

The fear in its eyes made it forget about the prey he had targeted.

Alduin and the Goblin both tensed up. An unnaturally high voltage, even though it was momentary, a raging current emerged from the black box in Ise’s hand the moment it touched the goblin’s skin.

“AAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKK!” A shriek wanted to reach the heavens. Alduin whose head laid behind it had started bleeding from his ears. But the electricity tensed his muscles and once again completely locked the goblin.

“AGAIN!” Alduin yelled out. The goblin once more started struggling.

Blood spurted from Alduin’s mouth. Something was wrong. But Alduin’s command was followed.

Ise once more pushed the box on the goblin. This time she aimed at its chest. And once again the goblin completely tensed up.

Ise could only stare at Alduin laying there. Their eyes never once lost contact. An unnatural amount of voltage coursed through his body. Right now, most of the energy was grounded through Alduin’s body.

His eyes were bloodshot. He was bleeding from his mouth. But his grip was tenser than ever.

Even Ise felt a tingle in her hands as the shock surpassed her expectations.

‘What?’ She stared at Alduin in shock.

The strength Alduin had lost had been replaced with artificial strength. The way he clenched his muscles around the goblin’s neck only made his grip stronger with each subsequent bolt.

But the goblin in turn went completely berserk. Alduin’s arms almost ripped from his body. The full weight of the goblin was pushed on him. The goblin kept using its remaining leg to slide Alduin further from Ise.

“AGAIN!” Alduin yelled out once more. And the goblin who wanted to rage tensed up again. Both the chokehold and the lightning were pushing him to its death. But Alduin was the same. Ise had to take longer intervals due to the increasing voltage. Alduin who also tensed up used every ounce of desire to survive to remain conscious.

Ise was struggling to stand. Her side was broken. The kick had temporarily knocked her out but now she felt the backlash.

In the raging heatwave, Ise and Alduin fought for their lives. This predator couldn’t escape. If it did, nobody in the church would survive.

Every time Ise stopped her assault more blood flowed from Alduin’s mouth and his breathing became more ragged.

“AGAIN!” Alduin shouted.

“You won’t last!” Ise yelled back with tears. Her eyes constantly looking for the dagger.

“NOW!” The longer she waited, the closer they were to death.

“AAAAAAAACKKKKK!” The goblin shouted out again. Its madness reached a crescendo. If it was a human, now its adrenaline would have peaked.

His entire vision was painted red.

‘I’m going to die.’ Alduin was still taking his breath but his grip almost loosened again.

“Aghh-” Alduin wanted to yell out but he coughed up blood

‘He’s going to outlast me,’ the more he thought this way, the stronger his grip became. The goblin used every fiber in its muscles to escape from this grip.

Nails had already cut through Alduin’s thigh.

The goblin was audibly gasping for air. Its ragged breath could be transmitted to Alduin. He felt it. The only way to take this beast down.

“TASE ME!” Alduin yelled out “Keep going until I pass out!” Alduin risked it all.

If he died then Ise would die. Who knew what would happen if this predator could recover? From their first encounter it had already started adapting.

The high ground which they thought was safe was used against him. He couldn’t take a chance.

‘Veleda.’ Alduin no longer see clearly ‘mom.’ The only thing he could do was wait.

Ise panicked. The voltage was way higher than what a taser should be capable of. But when the immobile arms started moving again and the goblin almost pushed them into the forest Alduin shouted out for the last time.

“NOW!”

And his vision went blank. The only thing he felt was his grip forcing out an inhuman strength. And then a crack was felt. And then another. And then a third.

Three consecutive cracks rang out. His arms gave way. He felt it, he reached his limit.

His arms lost all strength and before he knew it everything went black. The only thing he felt was a burning sensation. His entire body felt as if it was on fire.

‘This is the end.’ Alduin’s darkening vision saw Ise run away.

Passing out occasionally he saw a jaw heading for him.

‘Why didn’t it die?’ Alduin blacked out with only a single thought coursing through his mind, ‘I’m sorry Veleda.’

He only followed his intuition and wanted to save the lives of those he held dear. Even if it came at a cost he couldn’t afford.