It was as fast as a blink. Sol was already right in front of Nia. Both his arms were ready, his hands were open, his claws longer than before. Flames dripped from his open hand.
Two slashes, aimed right at Nia's jugular.
Nia lost her balance. Wanwan tackled her right before the slashes happened, and the Old Chief kicked Sol's torso right before the first slash nicked her neck.
She fell to the ground. The Longrass obscured her view. Wanwan stood right on top of her, his full attention aimed at one of his saviors who was now going berserk.
"Hunger." The Old Chief's voice cut through the storm. With one leg, he kicked Sol away towards the house. The impact sent a shockwave that pushed the Longrass down for a split second before it waved again with the winds of the snowstorm. "You chained it down too long, gja'rim."
"Now..." The Old Chief moved to cover Nia and Wanwan from Sol, before continuing. "...it bares its fangs."
Wanwan helped Nia to stand, only to see Sol flying towards the house with great speed.
That much speed usually meant that someone wouldn't be able to react before they arrived at their destination, yet that was not what Wanwan and Nia witnessed. Sol kicked the air right before he hit the wall of the house and, with a massive shockwave and a sound of explosion, managed to stop himself and spin himself around.
He stopped himself right in front of the door, where the other Garm pups were currently barking at him from the inside. He did not look like he cared for any of them.
He feels... detached. It feels like he's still there, but barely. Nia looked around, trying to find something to use in order to make Sol return to his senses. "Wanwan."
"Arf?"
"Do not hurt Sol."
"Wan!" A confirmation. Wanwan left Nia's side and stood right next to the Old Chief.
"You need not stand, pup. Though a loyal fang is never wasted." The Old Chief ruffled Wanwan's head, his eyes still focused on Sol, breathing heavily in front of the house. His one singular horn was currently shining red with heat; even Nia could see the heat distorting his surroundings.
"Grandpa Rahzgir." Nia stood right next to him and opened both her hands. A greenish, golden-ish hue started to emanate from her palms, a sense of warmth followed. The Old Chief might not look like he was hurting, but Nia knew that Sol's attacks were working. Some of the bruises and cuts that the Old Chief suffered closed with amazing speed. "Please do not hurt Sol more than necessary."
"I am not here to break him, child." The Old Chief lifted his hand and turned both Nia's open palms down, closing them. "I am here to carve a path for him."
He walked forward slowly for a couple of steps and continued. "The boy was born with a vicious scar on his soul. It frightened the village and drove them from his side."
"It was my hand that planted that fear in their hearts. It was my silence that taught him he was a danger to his own home." The Old Chief bent his right arm and kept it on his lower back, and straightened his left arm towards Sol. "This old hand will set it right."
Sol's mouth started to smoke, the Longrass right around the house started to catch flame. The growls of the Garm pups inside the house started to change to whines. The house caught flame just by Sol standing near it.
"Wan!!" Wanwan jumped forward and growled. "Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!"
"He said that he wants to help, Grandpa. He can take a lot of hits."
The Old Chief smiled. "Later, remind me. There is a tale you should hear." His stance stayed strong, and he taunted Sol with his left hand, telling him to charge.
Sol disappeared with an explosion. The front door of the house was destroyed into hundreds of pieces, and it also took some of the wall with it. The Garm pups scattered inside to avoid the initial impact. Sol appeared right in front of the Old Chief, his expression already full of Repressed Rage, and the heat that he exuded proved that this flame of anger came from the inside, not the outside.
A huge kick from Sol was stopped by Wanwan, already tackling his left torso, and the Old Chief, already parrying the kick upwards with his left hand, before continuing, "It is about a beast, a boy, and a shard of light that walked together to thin the darkness of this world."
Sol spun midair, a series of claw slashes followed downward. Wanwan moved fast towards Nia and bit her white dress, sending her flying a couple of meters back towards the swaying Longrass. The claw slashes from Sol burned a patch of Longrass right where Nia was standing before. His aim was her, not the Old Chief.
The Old Chief appeared at that instant behind him, both hands still stowed on his lower back, his right leg lifted high, his left leg bent. The momentum lowered his right leg towards Sol's back, sending him down with a massive crash. It was not a direct hit; Sol managed to spin his body around, properly receiving and absorbing the impact before real damage was done, and dashed towards Nia again.
Wanwan appeared right in front of him, growling, his knife-like teeth bared in front of one of his two saviors. "GRRRRRRR!!!"
Sol's eyes were fixed on Nia, yet his body felt as if it knew that Wanwan was there. A spin kick hit Wanwan square in the snout, sending him backwards a couple of steps. Yet Wanwan did not stop. Right after he got pushed back, he jumped forward and bit Sol's left leg while spinning himself vertically in the air, aiming to slam Sol to the ground.
Sol spun in the other direction, directly opposing Wanwan's spin. The sharpness of the Garm's teeth on his skin should have drawn blood, yet the leg was still fine, and Wanwan's spin was neutralized while Sol's body position was currently facing the sky.
With his right leg still free, Sol kicked Wanwan's face, removing the Garm pup from his left leg completely, before spinning and running on four legs towards Nia's position.
The Old Chief appeared right in front of him, a defensive stance. Sol jumped up, another claw slash towards the ground. The Old Chief accepted the attack, the Longrass behind him started to catch flame. He jumped and delivered a very fast combo on Sol's torso using both hands, and finished the sequence with a spinning right kick that landed right on Sol's right neck, sending him flying towards the face of the mountain.
He crashed with a loud impact. It was a clean and direct hit.
"Still on your paws, pup?" The Old Chief landed gracefully. His body was wounded, yet the slashing wound was already cauterized by the heat of Sol's attack. The snow started to pile, the wind started to pick up heavily.
Nia stood and clasped both her hands together before opening both her palms toward the Old Chief and Wanwan, currently shaking his fur, hyping himself up to fight Sol the next round. "Adloquium."
A green-gold hue started to shine and envelop both their bodies, their wounds closed just a little. Nia clasped both her hands again, streaks of light started to escape the cracks of her fingers.
"Lumen mite." She opened both her hands, a wave of light followed. "Benefica!" It latched onto both Wanwan and the Old Chief like a veil of light, protecting them from harm.
"And nothing for yourself, little one?" The Old Chief looked at his body, veiled with a human sorcerer's spell. He looked quite amazed.
Nia shook her head. "I'm already well protected. I got both of you right in front of me."
Wanwan dashed forward, capitalizing on the fact that Sol hadn't recovered yet and intending to finish the fight as soon as possible. The Old Chief followed close behind him.
Sol lifted his body with much effort and looked towards both of them with eyes that were filled with a cornered animal's instinctive rage, before dashing forward to meet them on the field.
"That instinctive rage in your bones..." The Old Chief parried Sol's first attack. The heat wave still reached far beyond him, however. "You carry his blood, there is no doubt." The Old Chief smiled a little.
Knowing that his bites were not really going through, Wanwan jumped at Sol diagonally from his right and vertically spun himself before kicking Sol right in the head. The impact reverberated through the ground. Some of the snow started to fall from the face of the mountain.
"Steady, pup." The Old Chief opened both of Sol's arms with one swift movement and placed his open right fist on Sol's solar plexus once again. "You might cause an avalanche if you're not careful." Then he closed it, sending Sol's body far behind towards the face of the mountain, where he crashed and got lodged inside the cracked cliff.
Sounds of Sol's scream could be heard, even from Nia's position. The crack got wider and spread into more cracks. Sol's scream got louder, and the crack exploded outwards, with Sol dashing towards the Old Chief's position. He no longer aimed at Nia.
"Patience, gja'rim." A flick to Sol's forehead, followed by what seemed to be twenty fast hits towards his torso, before a finishing right kick sending him upwards. "Do not swing with closed eyes. Open them, see what hunts you."
Wanwan bit Sol right on his jugular and slammed him into the face of the mountain once again. The snow started falling even harder.
Sol fell down, face first to the ground. His breath was ragged. He tried to get up, yet he could not find the physical strength to lift himself up from this predicament.
"Lie still, gja'rim."
"Wan! Wan!"
"I... can't..." Sol's voice escaped his mouth, weakly. "I... know... I must... stop..." He looked towards both of them, eyes still gleaming gold, his horns starting to shine once more.
"I CAN'T!!" He dashed and appeared right next to Wanwan. With one closed left fist, he hit the Garm pup on his left side, hurling him far away towards Nia's direction, before disappearing once again.
He appeared above the Old Chief, something that the Old Chief had already anticipated. With one spinning movement, a kick was aimed at Sol. The same kick was caught by Sol and he let it pass through him, forcing the Old Chief to spin faster. Using the momentum, the Old Chief used his other leg to kick Sol's torso. Sol was gone.
"You have learned." The Old Chief smiled. Sol was standing right behind him, right hand open and stretched outward. The Old Chief knew that there was no time for him to recover his position, so he braced himself.
A massive claw mark burned through the Longrass field, setting everything around them aflame.
The Old Chief got blown off far towards the left side of the house and planted straight to its wall, destroying that side of the house and drowning him in rubble.
With no one able to oppose him, the boy stood alone in the middle of the burning Longrass field, under the assault of the storm of snow. An almost invisible veil of red and black could be seen waving alongside him, like the tongues of an invisible flame, burning him from inside.
Wanwan tried to stand, but he couldn't. Sol had gotten too strong, too fast. He whined at Nia's side.
"Wan..."
"Adloquium."
Nia's hand glowed with her healing energy. It dimmed a little; she might be pressed for magical capacity soon.
"I have to get there. Grandpa Rahzgir needs my help." Understanding that Wanwan had healed some of his wounds, Nia stood and stumbled a bit; she could already feel the exhaustion setting in.
"Wan!" Wanwan stepped right in front of her, aiming at Sol, determined to carve a path for her.
"I will leave it to you, Wanwan."
"WAN!" He dashed towards Sol, who was currently clutching his head, the flame burning even hotter.
Sol looked at him with eyes that had already turned full gold, and with a massive scream, burned all the snow that was currently falling on them away from the Longrass Meadow.