Lyren wanted to think but he could not get distracted. Maybe that was the reason he was losing even. He wanted to survive and the only path that could yield fruits was his sword.
The beast kept appearing behind him and he could not help but shiver at the thought that it was already behind him which caused him to turn back and swing his sword.
He felt relieved but again he could not help but feel that it was behind him again as he swung his sword again. That was it. He was panicking and he ought to have panicked.
The creature in the dark was arrogant but could the arrogance of a normal beast surpass that of a dragon? Now that he was panicking which the beast wanted him to, it was obviously going to get bolder.
Again, he swung the sword behind him and he created another fireball which was instantly extinguished.
He observed the flame direction and his head quickly turned towards the direction the wind came from and he was sure that their eyes made contact.
Unbeknownst to him, smoldering flames in the depth of his eyes had appeared once again and the beast had definitely seen them.
Lyren quickly felt a plan form in his mind as he felt that the beast was no longer in that direction anymore. He swung his sword behind him again and turned.
He looked around as he started running away. He left the horns and hooves for the moment and his destination was somewhere he had forgotten.
The tree suddenly became narrower and it was obvious that the beast could not use its fast maneuvers here. Or so he thought. He had decided to limit the direction the creature could attack him from by standing in front of a tree, his back to it.
His grip on the sword tightened once more and his ears perked up. His eyes could now barely make out the dark trees but that was barely enough.
He was doing exactly what a prey should be doing yet the beast was not chasing after him. He could not help but have a bad feeling about this.
He just had to survive the first attack though for sure and he would have a chance. He thought that he was developing instinct but the next moment he felt warmth on his back.
Something rough slithered on the wounds and his grip on the sword loosened as his knees gave in and he fell.
He turned his head backwards and came into contact with the pink tongue laced with his blood and the red eyes staring at him.
The creature had crawled from the top of the tree which he had not taken into consideration. As he supported himself with his hands, the beast crawled further down and retracted its tongue before tasting his blood.
Lyren started crawling backwards and the beast leapt and stood before him, leaving him too scared to move.
The beast appeared to be a shadow and it was definitely much taller almost a meter tall. It loomed over him and with him on the ground, it had the upper hand.
It raised a paw and rested it on his chest before pushing him to the ground which he couldn't resist.
The beast could see in the dark but it failed to see the changes in his face as a grin appeared. The beast was just as he had expected it to be and it had actually fallen for it.
The beast opened its mouth and bit at his neck and it was then that Lyren acted.
Flames smoldered in his eyes again and the beast seemed to notice this. A sense of urgency hit it but Lyren was quick to slip from its paw and flames lit up on his fist.
With the head very close, he was quick to use the momentum to punch at the gut giving the beast an uppercut.
The black fur was once again visible and horror in its eyes as it saw the incoming flaming fist made its fur stand on edge.
The fist and gut connected and Lyren felt like he had hit a wall but he had forced the mouth close with that fist.
Its neck arched backwards as it was caught off guard by the strength behind that fist. It was also enraged as it had been played.
Its paw which was just inches away from him swiped and hit him at the chest and sent him flying again. It had not released its claws and the swipe had turned to a punch instead.
Lyren was glad for a second that he had survived the first assault but when the paw landed, the shock on his ribs almost broke them and he was glad they had survived.
He rolled several times and the hit a tree's base with his back. He sprayed a mouthful of blood and he started coughing. He seemed to be in the backfoot but he knew that he had won the first exchange.
With the thick trees in this section, it was going to be easier to narrow out the direction that it was going to come from and obviously not behind him except from the top of a tree which it was not going to try again.
He stood up and the beast was not around but that did not scare him much than the fact that he had dropped his sword.
Of course, he was not that scared when it appeared behind him and his act had forced the creature to fight in a battlefield he had chosen.
He shook his aching fist and spat saliva mixed with blood as his gaze focused once again. It was a faceoff and whoever made the first move was going to be on the losing end.
The creature itself was aware of this and it now knew that he was not that scared of it. It had been played.
Lyren lit up a fireball and threw it away to light up the grass once again but the beast quickly extinguished it. When the flame wavered sideways, Lyren knew where it was and his plan kept getting refined.
He looked at that direction once again but the beast was not in that direction anymore. He had to move too and he quickly headed towards where his sword was.
He felt a tingle on his spine again and he realized the beast was on to him and he could only jumped forward and as his hands reached the ground.
He rolled forward and the beast landed exactly where he had fallen without a thud and it failed to see the missing sword.
As Lyren stood up, he swung the sword sideways as he rotated and slashed at the beast which was caught off guard once again.
It was quick to leap but it did not escape without a scratch and a few strands of its fur were chopped off.
Lyren felt the sword had scratched the beast
The fact he had managed to cut it gave him a confidence boost and also time to strategize.
The creature was a patient one and it was not the kind to make the same mistake twice. It too had to strategize and Lyren was left in between the trees.
He found a good spot where there was only a narrow space and the creature did not have many options if it was going to attack him.
It was an open space between trees around ten meters wide and if it was going to appear, this was going to be their final battleground and only one of them was going to survive.
He lit up fireballs and dropped them on the ground once again and the creature did not seem to have the urge to extinguish them. He was disappointed but that did not discourage him.
He braced himself as he could already feel his heart racing and that the beast was very close to him. He really needed his mind's eye but it was not the time to feel bad for himself.
His sword floated before his eyes as the flames illuminated his face. The next instant though, the flames wavered and they all bent sideways in a circular manner and it was obvious that it was coming from above.
They extinguished instantly and Lyren was once again blind in the darkness from the presence of the light and the beast was falling from above.
He swung his sword upwards at the point his gut told him and there was a clang as sword and claws met producing sparks.
Smoldering dark grey eyes and red dangerous eyes glared at each other. Lyren was pushed backwards as the creature landed with a thud and it was obvious that it was now standing before him.