C
CloudAegisNoctis
Guest
Original poster
The moon would cast beams of light through tiny imperfections in the forest canopy, the light spraying in countless directions on it's way to the ground. His body was almost touching the ground, and yet he still moved with speed beyond his size. The sheer darkness of the forest made him reflect a moving shadow, the illusion broken up only when the falling light struck his fur coat. His ears were plastered against his head, and his tail swayed in monotonously in tune with his motions. He felt a pleasant burning in his legs as a result of the excersion of running several miles without stoppping. Each of his breaths were slow and controlled, an attestment to the fact that he was very used to running for miles and miles. For a moment, his snout lifted to the sky and he took a deep breath, before lowering it and continuing on with renewed vigor. He could practically see the scent trail of what he was following, and he had no intention of letting it get away. Taking a risk, he raised an inch off the ground, and the resulting increase in his speed was substantial. His eyes were in constant motion as he ran, darting in every which direction to pick out the tiniest details; this was not only to keep from tripping stupidly over a fallen branch, but also to make sure that he was not about to be attacked. The forces with which he now played with were extremely powerful, and skilled in what they did. //// 'Whhhumph.' Leskxir's body raised instantly to full height, and without slowing pace he spun around one hundred eighty degrees, and leaped into the air. He heard rather than felt the current of air as a flying object soared past his head, and buried itself in a tree nearby him. As he was no longer running, his paws carved deep ruts in the thick, spongey layer of decaying leaves and needles. Swiveling madly atop his head, his ears strained to pick up any sound that he could attach to and follow, and his eyes strained to pick up any movement. There were four loud 'whumphs' of air around him and there materialized four humanoid figures, wreathed in shadows. Each of them had exactly the same proportions and build, a mere five foot eleven inches tall, and very lean. Leskxir knew these types of beings well however, and knew that between each of them there was most likely a massive power difference. The shadows that wreathed their bodies licked out at the air like flames. In his current form he wouldn't be able to do much about these beings, so he snarled his defiance against them and quickly quit supressing his speed. His eyes narrowed for a moment, and then the wind was whipping through his fur fast enough to almost pull it out. He knew that to lesser beings he had become the equivalent of invisible, his speed assuring that only beings of a power equivalent to Vampires and up would be able to track his movements. He didn't have to look back to know that the beings were on his tail, and gaining; he could hear the rythmic strike of their feet against the ground as they ran after him. He had expected and hoped upon this, and quickly acted upon it. Extending his conscious mind outwards, he intertwined his power with that of the Earth's, and began to draw power from it. Concentrating, he muttered what must have sounded like old Gaelic under his breath, and a wall of trees and branches and foliage kicked up behind him, forming a thick, living barrier. Not wasting a moment, or slowing down, he shifted into a form that was easier to fight in. Hundreds of cracks sounded at the same time as his bones all broke and then reformed within his body. The end result taking less than a quarter second, and leaving him looking like a very tall, very lean Dark Elf. Without slowing, he whipped his sword from it's sheath, pumping as much raw magick into the blade as he felt he could spare, and whipped around. He was considerably more confident in his skills now that he had his sword, and he quickly lifted the sword to parry four different swings at his head. His movements with the blade were quick and assured, moving it with measured strokes of his left arm. It almost seemed to move slowly, though that was just an illusion he had imbued into the metal to throw of his enemies. It worked this time, and one of the beings attempted to take a stab at an opening that appeared to exist. His weapon his Leskxir's sword and bounced off, and Leskxir's armed extended forward to quickly take advantage of the folly. With barely a shred of resistance, the blade sank into the other beings heart, and the shadows that manifested around the being exploded outwards, returning to where they had been gathered from. "One down, three to go," Leskxir thought to himself grimly. When he saw only two beings in front of him, his kicked off of the ground and saw a blade pass through the empty air where his chest had just been. He flipped backwards gracefully, swinging his blade in a diagonal cutting motion at the same time. It connected with the being's neck, and it too disappeared. They seemed to realize that they couldn't win in a melee against Leskxir, and backed off quickly. He didn't let them have to chance to use any magic however, as that would mean that he might actually get a scratch during this fight. He leaped after them with all of the speed he could muster, and that seemed to catch one of them off guard, as his blade pierced it's heart. The other didn't waste a good opportunity for a strike, and swung at Leskxir's head with all of it's strength. He knew he couldn't get out of the way in time, so he settled for leaping up and having the blade hit his shoulder. And it did, which sent a sharp course of pain into Leskxir's body, eliciting a considerably pisssed grimace from him. Blood sprayed outwards from the wound, and his left arm now hung limply at his side. "So much for fighting with my blade," he thought with irritation. He leaped backwards and was tailed by the wild slashing of the being, which now probably thought that he would be easy pickings. He managed to reach down and stash his sword into it's sheath with his right arm, and then continued to run backwards while dodging sword slashes by mere hairsbreadths. He couldn't fight much longer or else he'd pass out from the sheer amount of blood that was gushing down his arm, soaking the forest floor. He strained his brain for a solution to the problem, and one soon gave answer to his predicament. He was still tethered to the Earth's power, which gave him a massive store of power. He realized that his actions could kill entire forests, if he drew too much of that power, so he was very careful when using it. As fast as he could without messing up the incantation, words flowed like water from his mouth. Realizing what he was doing, the being redoubled it's attack, and Leskxir began to get scratches every now and then all over his body. He couldn't let it stop him though, and he retaliated by chanting even faster than before, despite the possibilty of a mispronounced word causing a backfire that would effectively leave him as a smear on the forest floor. "Skr'ul'bretha!" He shouted the final word with finality, and in answer to his call, a hundred roots burst up underneath his and the being's feet. He was throne off of his feet, but he managed to watch as they all whipped out and wrapped around the creature. A thin, ghostly wail filled the air as it was literally squeezed out of existence. ==== He pushed open the front door fo the castle with his right hand, unbelievably exhausted by his excersions. He didn't have enough energy to heal the wound, so his left arm hung limply by his side, bandaged roughly with a torn piece of cloth. The blood had soaked through the cloth, and there was a big red splotch on the front of it. He got to the end of the hall and then lightly dropped to one knee, his forehead pressed against them. He panted lightly and sweat glisted on the front of his forehead.