The Nodefoxes wind blades had gotten more powerful over time, as if the Nodefox was turning up the heat now. Blocking with his spear wasn’t an option for Dave anymore, he simply wasn’t strong enough, and the heavy attacks just pushed him around.

So Dave sidestepped one wind blade, evading the attack, but suddenly found himself directly in the way of another deadly gush of air. He just had his weight balanced on his front foot, and knew he wouldn’t be able to pivot in time to dodge the blade. So he brought up his spear, in the vain hope to at least block part of its damage.

Suddenly a surge of energy entered Dave’s body. He felt vitalized as new strength surged through his body. Dave felt stronger somehow, sharper and more awake. The windblade met his spear, and Dave’s arms didn’t even waver. Without any problem his spear blocked the incoming attack.

Dave wasn’t sure what was going on, but he charged forward with new vigor, his body almost bursting with rampant energies.

Nodefox across from him didn’t notice anything different in Dave, but was evidently surprised to find Dave suddenly standing in front of it. It still managed to dodge Dave’s spear thrust, but Dave nicked its leg when he rotated his spear for a follow up attack.

If the Nodefox was surprised before, he now stared at Dave in utter disbelief. It opened its mouth, surely to taunt Dave even more, but he was already upon it.

Spear met claws, windblades met empty air, and both of them caught a few wounds. They fought more evenly matched now. But as much as Dave tried, he was unable to pull ahead. He was preparing to set up Zeus Punishment though, hoping to end the fight with it.

Just as he was getting a read on the Nodefoxes reaction to his Spark skill, it jumped up, using its floating tactic from their first fight. Differently than in their first fight, it now seemed to be more at home in the sky, floating not just a couple of feet above the ground, but far above the treetops. Whereas the last time it had only slowed its fall, the Nodefox now floated with a certain sense of confidence, almost at home in the sky.

It hadn’t used that tactic so far, so maybe Dave had pushed it even farther than he had thought. But it didn’t use its height advantage to attack, instead it merely watched.

Out of Dave’s range he could only look right back at the Nodefox for the painfully slow seconds he was unreachable for it. Time almost seemed to stand still. The energy in Dave’s body urged him to continue to fight, but his attempts to reach it with his Spark skill were in vain, as a thick blue barrier sprung up and simply absorbed Dave’s futile attempts.

The Nodefoxes looked between Dave and Mira, a calculating look on its face. Before it was even halfway down, still far out of Dave’s range, a smirk played around its lips as it raised an eyebrow.

“A reverse drainage skill. How interesting, I wouldn’t have taken you to be that ruthless.”

Dave looked towards Mira and was shocked. She was ghostly pale, her face scrunched up in concentration and her eyes closed. Mira looked almost twice her age right now. Her body trembled slightly and with his enhanced perception Dave could see beads of sweat forming on her forehead. He had already suspected that she was boosting him with a skill, but just what consequences did that skill have? It seemed utterly sinister.

He wanted to tell her to stop, but before he could even speak up, the Nodefox soared towards her.

Dave reacted on instinct and found himself between the Nodefox and Mira just in time to deflect one of its attacks. Then another, and soon he found himself the only thing between defenseless Mira and a barrage of windblades.

The Nodefox increased into an almost manic tempo as he shot one windblade after the other towards Mira. He grinned widely, delighted to see Dave struggle to protect his friend.

Soon Dave felt his limbs growing heavier and heavier, exhaustion slowly creeping over him. Dave had to dig deep, beyond even the energy that Mira lend him to keep his concentration. He wasn’t just fighting for himself now, but also for Mira. He couldn’t let her get hurt because he was too weak. This was all that he had trained for, to protect the people he loved.

The Nodefox kept pressuring Dave, a savage grin in his face spreading even wider and wider. But Dave held strong. He blocked every attack, smashing the deadly gusts of air like they were nothing, and slowly moving closer to his enemy.

The Nodefox attacks grew frantic as it saw the lack of quit in Dave. Being weak now was no choice for Dave. He needed to be strong, and he wasn’t just strong, he felt himself getting even more powerful by the second. He moved faster than ever before, his parries like a blur, dispelling attacks faster than they came, the unending river of energy in his body surged wilder and wilder.

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But suddenly the river stopped. Dave heard a thump behind him, and barely managed to block another attack, getting a nast cut on his forearm in the process.

He turned around in shock, dreading what he saw. Mira laid on the ground motionless. There was no signs of obvious wounds on her, but that didn’t mean she looked healthy. Her skin held an ashen tone and her breath came ragged.

Dave wanted to rush towards her, but the Nodefox didn’t let him. With his boost gone, the Nodefox wanted to press its advantage.

Dave was howling. He wasn’t even fully conscious anymore. What he lacked in power now, he made up for in total disregard for his own safety. He needed to finish this fight now and take Mira to safety.

Dave struck at the Nodefox with his spear, following up with a Spark, then another thrust, and another. He was like an untamed beast, let loose on the Nodefox. Not as fast as before, but more than twice as savage.

The fear slowly left the Nodefoxes eyes, being replaced by conviction. It enjoyed to have the upper hand again. Dave felt the weird energy from Mira leaving his body. He poured it all into one final Spark, combined it with all of his hatred, and shot it towards his enemy. The attack looked different than his other Sparks, glowing like bright green energy. A barrier of light sprung up between the Nodefox and Dave, but was quickly broken by the overwhelming power of Dave’s Spark.

The Nodefoxes eyes went wide, as it used its skill to jump away, almost putting the whole clearing between itself and Dave.

Dave used the time to rush to Mira, not caring about the Nodefoxes counterattack. But it kept waiting across from the clearing. Watching Dave patiently, even smiling in good spirits. It knew Dave had nothing left.

And it was right, Dave felt spent. A little wobbly on his legs, he slowly lowered himself down to Mira. He carefully touched her forehead, as if afraid she might break. He was shocked to see how cold to the touch she was. Not just that, but she seemed weak. A thin line of blood started running out of her nose, making Dave's worry intensify.

Throwing another glance over his shoulder, Dave saw the Nodefox still watching. It said something, Dave didn’t catch the words, but the tone was mocking.

He felt his pulse rising. His heart was pumping. He was getting angry, but his gaze fell upon Mira again, and he just fell into a deep pit of helplessness.

The Nodefox started walking towards Dave, slowly but surely. Dave knew what was coming. The only reason he was still alive after showing his back to his enemy, was that the Nodefox wanted him to suffer. But even entertainment could only last so long.

As the Nodefox was roughly halfway towards Dave, a purple projectile, made out of pure Mana shot out of the forest. It grew in the air, from the size of a dart to an unnaturally large arrow.

The projectile surprised the Nodefox and hit it square in the back. It shrugged it off though, looking around to spot the source of the comotion with mild annoyance.

Before either Dave nor the Nodefox knew what was happening, Dave’s friends stormed the clearing.

Bixby, Ryland and Sarah went after the Nodefox, tying it up in a battle from three fronts.

Max helped by peppering it with a few laser shots while making his way over to Dave, covering for himself and Sam on their way across the clearing.

Both men sat down next to Dave. Sam immediately gave Dave a quick heal, doing at least a little for his physical pain. Still a little dazed and out of sorts, Dave had to concentrate to understand his friend. It took a few seconds before his words started making sense.

“Dave!” Max exclaimed, shaking his friend by the shoulder. “Can you hear me? Are you alright?”

“Mira..” was all Dave managed. He still held Mira’s hand, blood painting them both. He didn’t know if it was his or hers.

Sam stepped between Dave and Mira, looking into Dave’s eyes. “Listen Dave, let me take care of Mira ok? You know I can do it, but you’ve gotta let me work.”

Only now did Dave realize how tight he was holding onto Mira’s wrist. He nodded, let go of her hand and inched a bit away, giving Sam space to work. It might’ve been one of the hardest things he had ever done.

He watched anxiously for a few seconds, before he registered Max’s voice again. Turning around, he saw his friends looking at him with a concerned face.

“Are you even here Dave?”

He barely managed a nod in return.

“We have the token. Let’s get out of here. Are you up for it?” Max asked.

“I’m not leaving without Mira.”

Max looked at him confused. “Of course not. We either go all together or not at all, you understand?”

Finally coming back to his senses somewhat, Dave nodded more firmly this time.

“Good,” Max said. “We need to deal with this Nodefox though. Can you take care of it?”

Dave took a deep breath. This was just how it had been all along. He had been scared, confused and frightened from the very beginning. But there was a job to be done.

So Dave did what he had been doing since the Apocalypse started. He took all those feelings that weren’t useful and put them into that deep, bottomless pit. At least he hoped it was bottomless.

But what were a few extra worries and doubts in there? All that mattered right now was that Dave could function.

His friends depended on him. Max counted on him. And Mira’s life might lie in his hands.

"Yeah, I know." Dave said, getting back up to his feet. “Let me handle it. You keep Sam and Mira safe.”