Massive boulders crashed and shattered around the two combatants. The tunnel was shaken by ever-growing tremors. Burning rocks provided the only light afar. They clashed.
The lion stood on two legs, back hunched under his heavy mane. His claws ripped the air and projected shockwaves that cracked the ground. He could feel the attacks coming, dodged rocks and spikes with ease, passed through the projectiles to strike.
Against him the cute rapt was overwhelmed.
She could fight, she had never fought and hardly knew how, so all the legged beast could do was dodged and flee while earthworks bombarded her opponent.
Everywhere around was a mad brawl, a blur of beasts tearing at each other, black blood spilled, drenching the floor.
She had heard something she could not understand.
"What was this about summoning humans?!" Her panicked voice shrieked.
Stone burst near her under the lion lord's hit. Gusts of wind made sure the debris would not even skim her fur.
But earthworks would not be enough to take that lion down. He charged again, broke through the stone shield and his raised fist met with an immovable wall. That of my palm.
With my other hand free I punched his belly, sent him up in the air and crashing down.
Impale.
But his body dodged the new stone spikes surging from the ground. He rolled to the side, got up in a second and faced the rapt once again, despite his wound. I had hit hard enough that his pulsing heart should have stopped.
"If I lose, a human will come?" She was still at a loss.
"Yes. So don't lose."
"But Caline wants that!"
Was it my magic in her, a trace or just delusion, whatever motivated that lion had him lunging at her again. She met him with her tiny forelegs crossed, hopeless to block anything but so was her will and I blocked for her.
He started hitting my invisible arms, unable to break through.
She pushed back and with that my fist pierced through his chest, punctured on one side, burst in the back. He fell back once again.
"Heal!" She screamed.
I was not going to heal that beast. No matter how much she asked, that would not happen. She saw no circle happen and panicked once more, yelled for a heal again.
Only to see the lion rise again by himself.
He was hurt, his body bloodied but still adamant. I recognized in his eyes the gaze of a pit fighter, used to the duress of battle. Used to lose, time and again. A beast looking for a reason to stand.
"Kill him, Caline."
"No! I want to help and I want a human!" She almost cried.
And the lion, opening his two maws to scream: "Then bring one!"
"Make me."
At this point the rapt was not even fighting anymore, just standing there trembling and I found myself standing in front of her, taking the brunt of the attack.
This was when I felt it. To keep standing, that foe was tapping into the ritual. Dark magic. The forbidden art to defy a realm. So that was his trick.
Fine. I could match that.
He was enraged, incapable of approaching her, blocked by an invisible force that absorbed his attacks, then dished out twice the damage. No matter how much the lion regenerated, his body got pierced by too many wind arrows to hold.
Still he gathered his strength, let dark magic crackle on his fist and struck! And I had to block it or the cute rapt would get harmed.
My whole body shook from the strike. This was nothing! I called the polearm in my hand again, swung and watched him get torn, fall to the side, too weak to dodge this time.
Impale.
Meanwhile, our companions were running in the cave ahead.
The strategy hadn't changed. A pack of feral beasts stormed through, trampling loners on their path while more gathered at their sight. Once they stopped, monsters broke into as many confused fights in which the horned bunny, without a rapt to protect him, was struggling.
So the magnal at his side was fighting in turn, leaped on a tenacl to bite and, ignoring the tentacles that slammed his chitin plates, struck with his tail the beast's flanks. His prey retreated under the strikes of that fire lizard.
He jumped back, rejoined the hare whose blades finished pushing the greyhounds back. Both of them could feel the strain wrecking their bodies.
The red beak landed again on the hare's shoulder, briefly, before jumping back into the air.
They were still far from reaching the cave's center. Around them crowds of monsters purged all those they encountered. They assailed dens, pushed into the pillars to massacre. They chased the feral into hideouts to drag them out and eat them alive.
Tremors had the burning rocks throw mad lights on that mass hunt.
Then the cave warped. Reality distorted around them and they felt the frailty of their bodies magnified. Anti-magic had skimmed the ground, bringing its cold embrace of death to the combatants.
At first this was not enough to break the fights, but the beasts, instinctively, started to disperse to the sides. Slowly, the path to the center was opening.
The humanoid hare saw this, started to run only to falter. He was too frail, found himself on the ground, struggled to get back up.
"Savior!" The crow screamed from above.
Both of his companions rushed to join him. They could tell now just how exhausted their warrior had become. No matter how much he tried, his limbs could just not obey him anymore.
The magnal pushed back another beast rushing at them, then felt his own fatigue pushing him down.
He turned to the hare: "Draw on me!"
A monster was asking another monster to take his mana. To feed, in short. And the hare, after barely a moment, took the offer, took the offered neck and bit.
There was no lack of carcasses strewn on the ground or falling from cracking ramps above. But to feed on the dead was to pick crumbs. A living beast offered more and a willing one the most. It was just the most expedient, if only option for them.
As soon as he could the hare got back up, staggered a bit then started to run. Behind him the lizard tried to follow but his pace could not keep up and feral beasts quickly separated them.
There were still creatures ready to defy that warped reality to hunt.
And there was still a lion defying me.
He was getting back up. I had ravaged his body, hit every limb and still he got back up. Dark magic would not let him rest.
Our arms met once more, once more I got the better of that exchange but he only fell back a few steps. Even with his wounds, my blows were getting weaker.
"Caline, you need to kill him!"
She really did not understand how magic worked.
I had so far used her as a conduit, allowing me to cast spells and arts without straining myself. As long as she was willing, I could make her as potent as needed.
But now the legged rapt was just standing there, ignoring me and I was forced to push myself directly. My body had a hard time keeping up.
To put it simply, just moving was a strain, let alone striking and blocking a lion lord. As long as the ritual lasted, he would keep coming and I would get weaker and weaker. I would be the one breaking here, no matter my strength.
"Kill him!"
"No no no no!"
She was losing it, shaking her head madly while the shockwaves rattled her close by. A single blow would have been enough to finish her.
She really, really wanted me to summon a human.
A human would not only bring her comfort but solve every of her problems all at once. Were I to call one, he would have no trouble ending this bestial war. it would be trivial for such a powerful being to fix and restore all the chains that stabilized the humans' haven.
Or that human could equally side with monsters and decide to destroy the realm. Or to lead the feast and see all humans exterminated. Or to side with humans and murder all beasts, only to witness the end of his own species.
Regardless, any human I called would die.
So that was it then. With the rapt not moving and my own body slowly failing under a mere lion lord's confused attacks, I was finally going to crumble.
I stumbled back, almost lost my balance. My enemy had disappeared under a massive rock that had crashed on him from the ceiling. He slowly rose from under, pushing it up and then to the side. That lion was a bloody mess and still willing to fight.
Barrier. But my spell got disrupted again and his claws ripped on the clay plates, leaving deep marks. They could not repair in time to sustain his next strikes.
"Just bring a human!" The rapt shouted behind me.
What had her so distraught? Once buried into the ground, broken in pieces, if there was anything left of me I would have to hold my word, if only because all the pieces would be there for them to do it in my stead.
But for as long as I could stand I would let them taste the human wrath.
Exchange!
And all of my pain, all of my wounds were cast on him while all of the lion's went to me. This was how you used dark magic, all the more easily when your foe was knee-deep in it.
For me, his suffering was not even noticeable. A reprieve, really. For him, it made him scream in agony. And while it would only last a few seconds, those seconds would sear into his very essence. It would be enough to destroy anyone.
I watched him fall to his knees, then to the side and on the ground, thrashing. Eyes revulsed, maws foaming with black blood. To kill him now would be mercy.
And yet, against all odds, his paws still clutched the ground, looking for a hold, pushing back up.
He faltered again, just crumbled down but pushed back up. There was no way he was still alive and yet, even before the exchanged had waned, the lion lord was getting back on his two legs, to barely stand and face me.
"If I win..." His growl was barely coherent. "You will..."
The exchanged had ended. His strength was back, mine gone but still it took him all he had to come at me, aiming for the rapt.
I tried to hit him. My arm barely moved if at all. The soft clay inside was like gravel. So I took the brunt of the attack, not even blocking, just getting hit. And hit again. And once more, at which point my legs gave out.
The rapt shrieked and leapt on my foe.
I watched her jump past me, lunge at the bloodied black lion and bite him at the neck. He tried to fight back but, too weakened himself, could only imprint shallow gashes on her.
She pushed him back, making him trip to the ground then jumped once more and fell on his chest. She was going for the heart.
I watched her sharp legs plunge and pierce through, time and again while she ignored his own claws. Her black chitin was getting torn. She didn't care.
When the lion's shard was exposed she bit, made it crack and shatter.
Still the claws ripped on her body, still she kept digging in his chest, mandible soaked with black blood and flesh, for the broken shards whose pulse faded.
I put my hand on her head. She hissed.
"It's okay, Caline. You can stop now."
And I repeated that until the cute rapt came clutching me in sobs.