I moved before I could think too much about it. If I stopped to feel everything, I'd freeze. The creature swung again, but this time I didn't brace the same way. I shifted my weight and let the force glance off instead of crush straight through me. It still hurt, but it didn't feel fatal. My body absorbed it differently, like it understood what was coming. I stepped in closer while its arm was still extended and drove my fist into one of the glowing cracks along its side. The impact shot pain up my arm, but I felt something else too—the stone there wasn't as solid as the rest.
The creature roared, the sound vibrating through my skull. A chunk of rock broke loose where I'd struck it. I stumbled back, staring at my own hand. I had never been the one attacking. My role was to endure, to last. But now endurance wasn't enough. If I kept surviving without fighting back, this thing would wear me down eventually. It swung again, slower now, more deliberate. It wasn't confused anymore. It was adjusting too. I realized then that this wasn't just a fight of strength. It was a test of who could adapt faster.
Another blow landed against my shoulder, and I felt the strain—but I also felt the reinforcement settle in deeper, like layers stacking under my skin. I rushed forward again, aiming for the same crack, hitting it once, twice, three times until my knuckles split and something inside the creature fractured with a sharp sound. It staggered slightly. Just slightly. But it moved. I stepped back, breathing hard, chest rising and falling in uneven rhythm. I wasn't overpowering it. Not yet. But I wasn't helpless anymore either.
For the first time since the gate closed, I didn't feel like the abandoned shield. I felt like something in progress. Something unfinished. The creature straightened, stone grinding against stone, its glowing eyes burning brighter as if it had finally decided I was worth crushing properly. I wiped the blood from my hand onto my torn sleeve and met its gaze without looking away. "I'll survive you too," I said quietly, more to myself than to it. And this time, when it charged, I charged back.