Champ heard the beast rush towards him, massive paws bounded closer and closer, and loud thumps echoed with each of its steps on the forest floor, the beast's yellowing fangs contrasted against its inky oozing skin, all bared ready to rip Champ to shreds. Champ relied on instinct and dove to the side sluggishly. The beast grazed his shoulder and champ screamed out in anguish.

Champ hobbled to his feet clutching his mangled shoulder and saw the beast low to the ground getting ready to pounce once more. They circled each other, both intently focused on the enemy. Champ limped slowly trying to make the distance bigger between them as they continued their posturing. The world around them faded away from Champ's vision. All he could see was the beast's bloodthirsty gaze and his impending demise. The inky undulating fur and foaming mouth were all determined to end Champ's existence. Champ's body trembled, and his heart raced in his chest.

“This is how I die? To some monster in some forest, why? Why?” Champ's thoughts were both numb and erratic.

Simon's voice broke Champs' stupor.

“FIGHT CHAMP USE YOUR BRAND! AGH- FIGHT!” Simon screamed out to Champ desperately trying to help, while simultaneously fighting a blade-conjuring assailant.

The beast lept at Champ, foaming maw agape, fangs bared ready to pierce into its prey. At that same moment Champ dove backward, and narrowly dodged the attack. His brand, that feeling clawed and scratched at Champ's chest once more until it was unbearable.

“Not yet!” Champ bellowed in his mind, almost pleaded, to himself

“Think! Anything, anything at all damn it!”

Blessed with sourceless inspiration a memory pushed itself forward, a memory of the largest bird he'd ever seen.

“You, you will do fine,” Champ thought desperately.

Champ let out a screech that echoed violently, nearly identical to that of an owl but much, much louder. This phenomenon was likely due to the high concentration of brand energy focused on Champ's vocal cords.

Wispy vapors burst forth into a plume of feathers that flowed from Champ's chest like leaves caught in the wind. The being that Champ conjured, more specifically an Outerland Deviled Owl rivaled the size of the bloodthirsty wolf-like beast he was locked in combat with. The owl's feathers were icy white and gained its deviled name due to two spiraling horns that protruded from the creature's head. Champ remembered this beautiful creature from a time in school when one fortunate day a seeker had brought in his pet and told amazing stories and warnings of the danger beyond the borders.

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The owl emerged between Champ and the wolf, Its massive feathery wings extended and blocked the wolf's line of sight. With its momentum fully controlled, Its large razor-sharp talons extended forward and gouged into the wolf's face and neck, the large owl let out another ear-piercing screech that harmonized with Champs. The owl flapped its wings and gained altitude before it dove down once more horns first and wrestled the wolf to the ground in a spray of blood and sparking brand energy.

It all happened so fast. It was mostly a blur to Champ. The two creatures scrambled and ravaged each other in a cacophony of feathers and fur. Blood and bits of flesh and loose fangs and talons littered the area as they tumbled and fought. The owl flew up just out of reach of the wolf and plummeted back down clawing and slashing at every opportunity. The wolf was outclassed and tried desperately to bite and latch onto any part of the owl, but could only grab feathers. The giant owl raked another talon across the wolf's back and with a large skittish yelp, the wolf was still on the ground.

Champ's vision became blurred and his head ached as if a railroad spike was embedded in his skull. He called out to the owl in a commanding voice

“Help Simon quickly while you're still here!” The giant wispy owl flapped its great wings and flew silently through the air towards his master's orders. Champ fell to his knees and fought with every ounce of energy left in him to stay conscious, to be of some use to Simon. This, after all, was his fault for not keeping watch he thought to himself. He needed to fix this mistake, he needed to be strong.

Simon's shield blocked away knives and blades being hurled at him while he rushed toward his enemy, he used the shield as a type of gauntlet and pummeled the assassin whenever there was a rare opening. The assassin quickly realized early in their fight that range and rapid fire were to his advantage against Simon. The assassin tried changing his vantage point to a nearby low-hanging tree branch, roughly fifteen or so feet above the forest floor. Simon saw the assassin turn his back to him, picked up a blade from the ground, and threw it towards his fleeing enemy, slicing their side open. The assassin grunted in pain but pressed on, leaping gracefully up to the sturdy branch.

The assassin reigned down magically summoned blades from his new position, each time he threw one it would split off into two or sometimes three more blades. The brand's magic at work. Simon had now summoned two arm shields. He held his guard in front of him and used them as a makeshift wall. He slowly advanced trying his best to block as many blades as possible. But he couldn't block all of them. His once plain brown cloak was now starting to become sparsely covered with blood in various parts.

“Ugh, you damn coward you think distance is enough to kill me, you've made a grave mistake!” Simon shouted angrily.

Simon halted and slammed the shields upright into the ground, and made a makeshift barricade. He sprawled down behind it and opened a rift.

“Alright you idiot you asked for it I'll show you real firepower you son of a-”

A piercing screech overpowered Simon's words as Champs’ owl dug its massive talons into the back of the assassin, picking him up and flinging him towards Simon. The would-be assassin let out a shriek of agony and fear as he was flung from the branch fifteen feet away, plummeting towards the floor. He was utterly defenseless, arms flailing looking for something to break his fall. With this last impact, the owl evaporated into an icy fog returning to wherever it was conjured from.

“Alright that works too I guess!” Simon shouted as he ran towards the falling assailant

Simon in the same stride picked up one of his shields, rushed forward, and firmly planted himself near where the assassin fell. He cocked the shield gauntlet back and swung a vicious right hook that crashed into the assassin's face with astonishing force. The sound the strike made was a deep resonating crack of the wooden shield and the assassin's bones breaking simultaneously. The assassin flipped over and fell flat on his back. Limp and lifeless.

The air was still for many moments. Cautiously both Champ and Simon, stood holding their ground. The sounds of ringing in their ears and the sound of their blood pumping slowly faded and gave way to the silence. As they waited the sounds of the forest slowly returned to normal as it was mere moments before this chaos ensued.