FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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CHAPTER 29

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A few hours later, after accepting the mission to hunt down the curi'nakra, I was first led to the armoury, where I was told to pick a weapon and armour. I chose a spear, and some light leather armour. Remira gave me a dozen charged firris stones, which I stored safely on my person. Once I was prepared, I was led to the Hall of mirrors where Luna, Hesh'na, Jan'Zar, Garr, Davina, one of Davina's hand maidens and Khaine were waiting for us. We stepped through the mirror and emerged atop a tall plateau. Before us stood a tower of brilliant white stone, stretching high into the sky. All around the plateau, was a dense forest. The sun was beginning to set, casting an orange hue across the sky as the moon sat high in the sky.

"Where are we?" I asked aloud.

"This is the Temple of Sun and Moon." Callen answered. "Also known as the Twins Tower."

I had heard of this place, but I'd never expected to see it. It was dedicated to the Guardian Deities of the Sun and Moon; Solas and Luna. It was said that from here, the twins could see anything that their light fell upon. I wasn't sure how true that was, but the tower itself was impressive. Standing at its base, it looked like it stretched on forever into the sky.

Once inside there was a pedestal with a crystal orb that glowed with power. A combination of orange, blue and white smoke roiled within it, as if a powerful storm was contained inside. Callen ordered Khaine and I to follow him, as we parted from the rest of the group. Jan'Zar, Davina and her hand maiden stood next to the pedestal while the others took a set of stairs to the upper floor.

"Malakye..." Callen began, stopping to sigh a moment before continuing. I could his worry and concern rolling off of him. "I will not stop you from taking part in this, but I must warn you that this will be the greatest challenge you have ever faced."

"I understand. I'm going against Jan'Zar, I honestly..."

"You don't understand!" Callen cut me off. He never did that, and that told me just how panicked he was. "This challenge has broken countless warriors. My sister aside, this will tax your body, mind and will power to their limits!"

"What exactly is he going to do?" Khaine asked.

"Once the challenge begins you will be given a head start, before..." He hesitated. "Before Jan begins hunting you."

"She's going to hunt me?" I queried. "I thought this was a fight?!"

"Not exactly. It is a test. Fighting only forms part of the challenge. Let me explain about the arena. There is a boundary around the temple, which extends far into the forest surrounding it. You may go anywhere within that boundary during the challenge. But be warned, the forest is home to many dangerous creatures. Your challenge will be to both survive in the forest, and defeat my sister in battle." He explained.

"Easier said than done." I muttered.

"Jan will not pull her punches with you in this! She will strike without warning, and without mercy! You will be hunting one another. Should you succeed or fail, you will be returned to the tower, where we will be waiting. The others will observe the fight from the tower. The fight will last until the sun rises for the second time."

"What happens if time runs out?" I asked.

"You will return to the tower."

"And that's it?"

He gave me a strained smile and caressed the side of my muzzle.

"Are you done?" Jan'Zar asked from across the chamber.

"More or less." Callen replied, and we all began walking over towards the pedestal where Davina's hand maiden was holding a small bell in her paw.

"Do you know Kira?" Davina asked, motioning towards the dainty, white pelted fox holding the bell.

"We've met." I nodded.

"Kira is my Champion." She explained.

"Really?" I asked. "Sorry... I meant no offence by that."

"It's fine." Kira smiled. "I understand. Compared to the likes of Lady Remira or Garr, I am not exactly what most would assume a Champion be like, in either looks or ability."

"Kira has a most unique ability." Callen explained. "She is the whole reason this challenge is able to be hosted at all. Without her power, this challenge would likely never be used."

"What is your power?" I asked curiously, looking at the fox.

"It's difficult to explain..." Kira muttered, her tone a mix of embarrassment and shame, her ears fell flat against her head as she cast her gaze to the ground.

"It would be quicker to show him, than to try and explain it!" Jan'Zar huffed impatiently.

"I suppose it will be. Do try and put up a good fight. I do enjoy watching a desperate struggle!" Davina smirked. "Kira!"

"At once my Lady!" The foxes ears perked up and she stepped closer to Jan'Zar and myself while everyone else took a step back. I looked to my left towards Jan'Zar, but her attention was purely on the vixen before us, so I turned my attention back to her. "When I ring this bell, your challenge shall begin."

"Two hours from now I shall begin my pursuit." Jan'Zar chimed in, motioning to a large hour glass sitting on the floor next to the pedestal.

"There is a boundary around this tower, and my power will remain in effect so long as you remain within that boundary."

"What does this boundary look like?" I asked.

"You'll know it when you see it!" Jan'Zar said bluntly. "If you leave the boundary then you lose. Other than that, there are no rules. You must defeat me in combat within the allotted time. Come at me with the intent to kill. Anything less and you shall not have a chance of defeating me."

"I shall now begin the challenge. Best of luck to you!" Kira smiled sweetly at me.

I felt her draw upon her power as she raised the bell up above her head and with a gentle shake of her wrist, the bell chimed. The high-pitched chime echoed across the chamber, and into my head, getting louder and louder as I felt her power emanate from the bell and wash over me. After a moment the discomfort caused by the surprising loudness of the bell vanished, along with the sound itself. I hesitated for a moment and looked around at everyone.

"What are you waiting for!?"Jan'Zar snapped. "RUN!"

I turned tail and sprinted out of the tower, into the cool evening air. I ran towards the cliff and leapt off. I plummeted head-long towards the forest below for a few seconds before spreading my wings in time, and I soared a few feet above the canopy. I flew for a while, before landing in a clearing. I'd bought myself a couple of extra hours from the distance I'd covered by flight. Jan'Zar wouldn't be able to keep up with me while on foot. At least that would be true when against any regular fur. But my opponent here was deity. I had no idea what the full extent of her abilities. I had no real idea what she was truly capable of!

In any case, what concerned me more was the nature of this challenge to begin with. Why go through all of this? If they wanted to test my abilities then surely a straight forward fight, much like how Lord Pyrrat had me fight against Kakla before, would suffice? The use of Kira's power that confused me. What was this challenge that could only exist because of her?

Those questions could be answered later, right now I needed to focus on survival. Callen had warned me that dangerous beasts lived in this forest. I was in a dangerous situation here at night, when many predators would likely be on the prowl. I needed to find shelter and survive the night, while also being on guard for Jan'Zar's arrival.

A fire would be effective at keeping beasts at bay, but would give away my position to Jan'Zar. Staying out in the open was not my best option, but the likely hood of finding a cave, that wasn't already occupied was unlikely, my next best option was to get up high and remain out of sight. I flew into the trees and found a branch where I could settle down for the night and figure out a strategy for defeating the Deity of War.

As I sat in the tree, I considered the nature of this challenge a little more. Without a proper understanding of how Kira's power affected this challenge, even so much as being the reason for it to be able to be done at all, the only conclusion I could come to was that they were challenging me to find a way to defeat an opponent that I would not be able to defeat under normal circumstances. What chance did I really have against Jan'Zar in a straight fight? Even using the spirits power, I doubt I'd be able to land a deciding blow without great difficulty. I had sparred with Jan'Zar many times, and not once had I ever felt that I was came close to defeating her. Not only that, but I always knew that she was not using her full strength against me.

I was pulled from my thoughts by the sound of a bell chime in the distance. No... not in the distance, it was in my head. The same bell the Kira had rang to start the challenge. What did that mean? Then I heard the sound of heavy foot-steps from below. I looked down and saw several large figures making their way through the forest. It was a pack of graug! Four, no five of them! They didn't seem to notice me. Even with the spirits power dealing with that many would be incredibly dangerous. I suppressed my presence and they wandered away without incident.

I closed my eyes and began to meditate, keeping my senses expanded for any incoming threats, and tried to get some rest. At night I would be at a disadvantage. Jan'Zar would be able to function far better than I would. If I wanted to level the playing field then I would need to be able to see her coming from a distance, so waiting until sunrise was essential. Hopefully she wouldn't find me in that time.

But I knew that I couldn't just run and hide if I wanted to succeed in this challenge. I would need to confront her. Which meant I would need to find her, but something told me that she would find me in due time. I should prepare for her arrival, and try and ambush her. An ambush was still a long shot, but it would improve my odds if I could successfully pull it off. She would sense my nen, so I wouldn't be able to use it until after I struck! I would have to also keep my emotions in check; the slightest hint of bloodlust from me and she would immediately know of the impending attack. I would have to use every bit of training I'd received since coming here to Aaru in order to pull this off.

If I wanted to ambush her then I would need to find a spot to ambush her from. I would need to plant a false trail, but I'd have to make it convincing. Then an idea struck me. Why did I not make a bad attempt to hide my trail, using the trail of another beast to do so? That pack of graug would have left a hell of a trail behind them, one that would be easy to follow. If I made it look like I was trying to hide my trail using theirs, then I wouldn't even have to try very hard in making a convincing trail for her to follow.

I was counting on the fact that she assumed she had an overwhelming advantage in terms of our skills, if she underestimated me, that would allow me to get the jump on her. If I could catch her off guard, I might just be able to land a deciding blow, ending the fight before it truly began. That was the best-case scenario. I was fooling myself if I thought I could beat her in an honest fight; barring a miracle, there was no way I could defeat a deity

I followed the graug trail for an hour before I found their lair, a large underground cave which had been dug into a dirt mound at the base of a large tree. Their scent was pungent. I retreated to the point where their scent was not over bearing, but would effectively hide my scent. I looked around for a good hiding spot. There were a number of bushes that would hide me from sight, but if a graug came lumbering along I didn't want to get crushed underfoot, so I decided to retreat back up into the tree tops. After a quick search I found a sturdy branch I could perch upon, well above the grab height of any graug, but also well concealed by the foliage.

From here, if Jan'Zar followed the trail, she would hopefully be distracted as the graug lair came into view, giving me an opportunity to catch her off guard. Now it was a game of patience. I waited, suppressing my presence. By midday I was starting to get really nervous. I was the hunted, but I was also on a time limit. This forest was extensive, and even for a deity it might be difficult to locate me while I was hiding like this in the time available. After another couple of hours my nerve was starting to lose my nerve, and was considering a change of plan when I heard something moving below me.

I glanced down and saw someone walking, following the graug trail. It was her! She was cautiously stalking forwards, with her halberd readied. I watched her, my heart pounding hard in my chest, so hard I was almost sure that she would hear it. She kept moving forwards, passing beneath me. I held my breath as she passed by, worried that she might actually hear my heartbeat and alert her to my presence. I slowly and carefully readied my spear, being careful not to make a sound. She paused when she spotted the graug lair. Just as I'd hoped. I leapt from the branch I was perched upon and plummeted towards her, with my spear poised to skewer her.

As I plummeted towards her, I aimed for her shoulders and neck. Even if I failed to kill her a wound from an attack like this would cripple her ability to fight. My aim was perfect, I would have struck her at the base of her neck, but she moved at the last possible moment; somehow sensing my attack. My spear struck the hard, compacted earth. I landed hard into a crouch, the impact shaking my entire body.

But I couldn't allow myself lose what little advantage I still held from my surprise attack. I immediately drew upon my nen, yanking the spear from the ground and then lunged towards Jan'Zar. I aimed for her chest, but she deflected my spear away with her halberd with a single swift motion. I cursed under my breath, but kept up my assault. If I lost the advantage this fight would get more difficult.

I spun round, lowering my stance, attempting to sweep her legs with the shaft of my spear. I didn't expect to land a hit, but it would force her to dodge, and make it difficult for her to counter attack. As expected, my sweep didn't strike her. But she didn't leap back to avoid my blow, she had leapt forwards! I couldn't do anything in time to block her kick that struck me in the side of the head! She used my head to leap away, pushing me into the ground and sending me tumbling. I quickly rallied, got up, and ignored the mild wooziness I felt from her attack.

"I'll give you credit, that ambush of yours was pretty good. It would have worked on most." Jan'Zar smirked. "Now you have lost the element of surprise, what are you going to do? Run or fight?"

Her question was a pertinent one. A straight fight with her was likely to end in my own defeat, but I was on a time limit. Even if I was able to escape her, would I have the time to set up another ambush and for her to fall for it again? It would likely fail; she would be more wary of an ambush. If that was the case then fighting her now was my best option, before fatigue started to affect me.

"I see you've made your choice." She smiled, radiating confidence. "One last warning! I will not be holding back. I will be trying to kill you!"

Our exchange was surprising. She was not the type for talking during a fight unless it was to mock me or goad me. After knocking me down before she had the perfect opportunity to take control of the fight, but instead she held back and began talking. We both knew that she was faster and stronger than I was. But I did have a trick up my sleeve! A trick I had learned from Master Jun'lao the last time he had visited the temple! I channelled my nen into my eyes and inhaled deeply, using my nen to condense and increase the amount of air in my lungs. I closed my eyes for a moment and cleared my mind, opening my eyes again for time to have slowed. So long as I managed to hold my breath, I would perceive the world in slow motion and could react accordingly! I had been practising this technique on my own, so Jan'Zar did not know about it. Despite seeing the world move in slow motion, my own movements did not speed up, and instead every movement I made felt as though I was trying to swim upstream, in a powerful flowing river.

I charged her, hoping to regain control over the pace of the fight. I thrust my spear for her chest, but she effortlessly deflected the spear aside with a graceful twirl of her halberd, stepping back and then launched her own attack. I managed to step aside to avoid being skewered by her attack, but before I could do anything, she retracted her weapon and attacked with a spin kick, striking me in the chest and sending me tumbling over the ground; the kick was so powerful I my foot-paws left the ground. I managed to roll through the fall, and raised my spear over my head, her halberd struck upon the shaft of my spear. If it hadn't been for my ability to sense the flow, I would have been finished there and then. I had raised my spear in defence, but hadn't seen the attack coming. I felt the impact from her attack in the bones of my arms. She had not hesitated in going for a killing blow!

I pushed myself up, shoving her weapon aside and stepped in to counter attack, attempting to strike her with the butt of my spear. She moved in time to avoid being struck by my attack but immediately struck me in the gut with her knee. As I reeled from that attack, the next thing I knew was being struck across the muzzle by the butt of her halberd, the hard steel brought stars in my vision and sent me staggering from the impact. The side of my muzzle was in agony from where I had been struck, and I could instantly feel the familiar tingle as the wound began to swell.

She was just too fast! Not only that but she was using my blind spots to attack me! I was using the flow just to try and keep up, but it wasn't enough! I couldn't beat her in this kind of fight! I needed to use my bending! I allowed my nen to flow freely, pouring into the air around me, and I began forming wind spirits to use against her.

She immediately sensed this change and went on the attack! I used my spear to block her attacks, which I could now see thanks to my nen bubble. She could no longer use my blind spots against me. I blocked a series of attacks which shook my arms to their core. I formed two nen blades out of the wind spirits and attacked with them. She leapt back, but I could attack her freely within the confines of my nen bubble, manipulating the blades with great effect. She ducked under the next attack, and then struck the next one with her halberd, shattering the wind blade with the hard steel of her weapon.

She was incredible! I knew that my nen bubble made my wind blades difficult to detect; having being told that from numerous opponents that I had used them against. But it seemed she could effortlessly detect them within my nen bubble, even though they were also invisible to the naked eye. I don't know if it was just her natural instinct that allowed her to detect them so clearly, or if she could sense the disturbance within my own nen bubble. Either way, she was able to dodge and strike them down with her own weapon. After destroying my third wind blade she resumed her attack!

She charged me, thrusting her halberd at me. I blocked it with the shaft of my spear, but with one swift move she managed to rip the spear from my grasp, sending it spinning into the air high above our heads. She followed that move up with a wide sweeping attack at chest height. I leapt back to avoid a fatal strike, but the tip of her weapon sliced into my chest, creating a shallow wound which stung like hell, but I couldn't pay it any heed at she was quick with her next attack, a power thrust aimed at my heart.

In a panic I twisted my body awkwardly to avoid the fatal attack; her attack missing by less than an inch as it passed by me. I knew that from this position it would be difficult to dodge the next attack that would undoubtably come. Having no way to counter in a panic I used a feint. I sent three wind spirits hurtling at her, not having the time or focus to turn them into blades, but hoping that she couldn't tell the difference. My feint seemed to work and she leapt back.

I looked up and saw my spear hurtling back down to earth, spinning wildly in its descent. I leapt into the air and kicked the spear at her. As I hoped it flew straight and true, but she blocked it with the shaft of her weapon, where it bounced back towards me. I charged forwards, snatched the spear out of the air, and swung it at her wildly. She backed away out of range of my wild attack, before leaping forwards, her halberd raised skyward, poised to strike me down.

I saw a chance, if I could pull this off, I could disarm her, but it was a risky move. If I was off by so much as an inch this fight would be over! But this was the first opening I'd had! I had to seize it. I continued to charge forwards, waiting for the last possible moment to launch my counter attack. The moment her weapon began its downwards descent towards me, I made my move. I took a half step to the right, twisting my body to the right and positioning my spear for my counter.

Her attack would narrowly miss my torso by less than half an inch to my left, and I twisted my body further to the right, thrusting my spear diagonally into the ground behind me, perfectly timed to slip into a narrow gap beneath the head of her weapon, and then firmly into the ground. There was a loud clang of steel as our weapons connected, and she tugged on her weapon only for it to remain pinned where it was! If she wanted to retrieve her weapon then she wound have to rip my spear from the ground at the same time!

I had no doubt that she was capable of such a feat, but that moment of surprise was what I needed! In less than a second I had formed a nen blade in the palm of my left paw and swiped at her neck. She dodged with barely any room to spare, choosing to abandon her weapon to avoid the fatal blow! She spun round as she dodged, leaning backwards and then leaping into the air, her body corkscrewing through the air as I lunged towards her, only to be kicked in the muzzle and then again in the side of the head with enough force to go tumbling over our weapons. It was in this moment that I inhaled deeply, losing the ability to see time move more slowly.

She had managed to stop my assault in its tracks while dodging! I cursed as I was sent tumbling. She may have stopped my assault in its tracks, but I had a contingency plan. I manipulated my nen bubble to remain centred on her, rather than move with me. As I rolled to the edge and then out of it, channelling a large amount of nen into the bubble in order to maintain it. I rolled into a crouched stance as she landed out of her corkscrew jump. I drew upon the firris stone stashed under the bandages on my right forearms, igniting the entire bubble in flames with an intense burst of heat and light, causing a wave of flames to wash over and around Jan'Zar as the flames consumed the nen surrounding her. This was the first time I'd used this technique in battle.

With Jan'Zar now engulfed within the flames of my attack, I began to draw upon the spirits power now. I had been unable to do so while using the time slowing technique. For some reason each time I drew upon the spirits power it disrupted my mental state enough that I could not use it. But before the spirits power could flow throughout my body, something burst from the cloud of flames that had once been my nen bubble, slicing into my left shoulder.

I cried out in pain and surprise, falling backwards and clutching at my shoulder. Blood flowed freely from the wound, just as it was from the wound on my chest. It had left a nasty gash on my shoulder; if it wasn't for all the blood, I would clearly be able to see the bone. The wound itself was not life threatening, neither was the one on my chest; so long as I could avoid them becoming infected. But the blood loss could prove to be a problem if this fight continued to drag on.

I glanced behind me to see her halberd embedded in a tree truck a few yards away. I turned my attention back to the cloud of flames which was now vanishing into a cloud of embers as the nen was now completely consumed. She was standing there, completely unscathed by that last attack! Not only that but she had managed to throw such an accurate attack while completely engulf and blinded by the flames! It shouldn't surprise me that she was capable of such things; but it had left me disheartened. I stood up, now with the spirits power flowing through me.

"You think a weak attack like that would be enough to defeat me?!" She scoffed.

"Not defeat you." I admitted. "I had hoped at least to burn you!"

She seemed completely unaffected. Not even her warpaint seemed harmed by that last attack. But it had bought time to draw upon the spirits power for my next attack. I gathered a wind spirit into each paw and focused the spirits power and channelled them into a blade. It would be difficult to hit her, but if I managed to land a single blow, I was sure that it would be enough to end this fight!

I readied myself, focusing a significant amount of nen into my shoulder to dull the pain. Jan'Zar smirked and raised her fists. It seemed she was going to engage me unarmed. That surprised me, but that was to my advantage. I charged at her, striking at her with a series of fast swipes, being careful not to leave any openings. She dodged each one of my attacks with incredible agility, ducking beneath my fifth attack to deliver a devastating uppercut to the underside of my muzzle.

My head snapped sky-wards; my eyes rolled into the back of my head as I felt my foot-paws leave the ground. Somehow, I managed not to lose consciousness. She was insanely strong, far stronger than someone of her stature should be capable of. Before my foot-paws returned to the ground I was propelled backwards by another blow to my chest. I hit the ground and tumbled to a stop. I gasped for breath, forcing my body to roll over and to stand up.

As I got to all fours I was kicked in the side and sent flying into a tree. My back went numb from the impact, and screamed in pain as I tried to stand once more. Before I could though I was dragged upwards and shoved into the tree. I braced myself against the tree to stop myself from falling again. Jan'Zar threw a punch which I narrowly dodged, her fist breaking a chunk of wood out of the trunk of the tree. I blocked her next blow with my arms. Her blows felt like they were coming from someone of Garr's size.

I continued to block her attacks, focusing on forming a wind blade, which I quickly aimed at her exposed back. She sensed this, turning around and striking it with her bare fist, breaking the blade and seemingly suffered no damage as a result, but this was the opening I needed. Quickly gathered a wind burst and struck her with it, knocking her back a for a moment. The moment she recovered, she dove at me like some savage beast, but I managed to spread my wings and flew out of her reach, landing a short distance away. My entire body ached with pain; it was all I could do to remain standing. Even with the spirits power she was completely overwhelming me!

We stared at each other over the short distance. A flash of light emanated from her hand, and a sword manifested itself. She was planning on finishing this fight in the next exchange. I couldn't beat her like this. I needed time to regroup and come up with a plan. My best option was to retreat. I quickly extended my wings and used my wind bending to propel myself backwards, away from Jan'Zar. She took after me immediately. I hurled a powerful gust of wind towards her, stopping her in her tracks as she braced herself.

I used that brief moment to take flight through the forest. I swerved round the trees at high speed, landing on branches and propelling myself higher and higher into the canopy, as fast as possible; grateful for all the parkour training I had completed. As I broke through the canopy into the open sky, I was shocked to see Jan'Zar perched atop a tree top, with a gleeful smirk of murderous intent etched into her face.

How had she gotten here before me!? I hadn't been able to sense her with my nen bubble until I was just a few feet away from her! I attempted to fly away, but she lunged at me before I could create any distance! I twisted my body to avoid the thrust of her blade, and flew upwards. A sharp pain exploded across my back and I began to fall towards the ground. I plummeted through the canopy of the trees, plunging through the countless branches that scratched at my scales, bouncing off the thicker branches, until I hit the forest floor.

If my body had hurt before, I was nearly crippled now. Every part of me ached, I had numerous cuts that I was now bleeding from, and I was sure my ribs were broken judging from the burning pain that each breath I took now inflicted upon me. But the worst pain was my right wing, or what had been my wing, which was now missing! Severed from my body the moment I had tried to fly away.

I heard her land a short distance away. I painfully turned my head to face her. She looked down at me with no empathy, sympathy or regret. Her expression was cold, merciless and hard. I was defeated, there was no arguing that fact. But she wasn't stopping! She was going to kill me! I grunted in pain and tried to roll over onto my belly, but before I could manage that I felt her grab my shoulder, and I cried out in pain as she lifted me up of the ground and shoved me into the trunk of a tree, just as she had before. Only this time, before I had even begun to fall to the ground, she plunged the sword she held into my chest and into the tree behind me.

I cried out in agony as the cold steel pierced my chest and pinned me to the tree. My breathing, which had been painful before, now was even more difficult as I began choking on my own blood. I coughed and spluttered as I struggled to draw breath, the metallic taste of my own blood filled my maw and began dripping down my chin.

I grasped weakly at the sword protruding from my chest and looked Jan'Zar in the eye. The murderous intent was still there. Was I really going to die here? I didn't want to die! A wave of fear as the realisation washed over me, and I was momentarily frozen as I stared into her cold gaze. But I couldn't allow myself to freeze up now, I shook away the fear, and summoned my nen. There was very little I could do, pinned to the tree as I was, but I was going to make sure she felt my defiance! I channelled my nen into the firris stone strapped to my wrist.

Jan'Zar seemed to realise my intent and leapt away, leaving the sword buried in my chest. I unleashed as powerful a torrent of flames as I could in her direction. She ducked and weaved, narrowly avoiding being struck by my attack, before ducking behind the trunk of a tree. I couldn't strike her there, so I cut off my attack and instead gathered the flames into several large fireballs and hurled them at the ground around the tree, engulfing the entire area in flames.

I stopped my attack as my body was racked by a coughing fit, where I coughed up a large amount of blood. My body slumped with exhaustion, which only intensified the pain in my chest as my bodyweight was supported by the blade of the sword. I watched in disbelief as she stepped from behind the tree I was pinned to. Before I could try and react, there was a flash of steel as she plunged another sword into my chest. I stared up helplessly at her as my vision darkened. My body was getting heavier, there was nothing more that I could do. I was going to die here...

A bell chimed loudly.

I inhaled sharply, now freely able to do so, and the sudden freedom of being able to do caused me to startle. I felt something fall from my paw and I quickly caught it. It was my spear. Confused, I looked around and realised that I was standing back in the tower; Khaine, Callen, Jan'Zar, Davina and her priestess Kira stood before me.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Khaine spat.

I looked at him in confusion. What the hell was going on? What was I doing back in the tower?! If I was in the tower then what the hell did I just experience?! I was sure I'd just lost! That I'd... died! If that was true then how was I back in the tower?!

"What are you waiting for?!" Jan'Zar asked. I turned to meet her cold gaze. "RUN!"

As the wave of de-ja-vu washed over me, I remembered the killing intent from her; without thinking I turned and sprinted towards the exit. I ran quickly out of the tower and towards the cliff, but I came to a stop at the cliffs edge and stared out into the horizon. What had happened? Had that all been a dream? It had seemed real enough. I pressed my paw against my chest where I could remember feeling the blade of her sword run me through.

I remembered the bell chime. After hearing it I returned to the tower, almost as if nothing had happened. I remember it happening. But Khaine obviously seemed surprised by my shock at the situation. But looking at the nights sky, just as I had the first time, the time of day had clearly changed. It was the middle of the afternoon when Jan'Zar and I had fought.

Had it not really happened after all? Had it been nothing more than a vision? Kira was Davina's Champion; was it possible that her power allowed others to glimpse visions of the future, just as an oracle might? That seemed unlikely. Callen had said Kira's power made this challenge possible, but how could allowing its participants being allowed to glimpse the future, in my case my death, be a benefit?

I turned and stared at the tower. What was happening here? Just what did Kira's power do? In any case, the challenge had begun, again, and if the vision I'd experienced before was any indication, my opponent was not one I'd be able to over-come easily. She was faster, stronger and far more experienced that I was. And she was clearly willing to end my life.

I took flight, following the same route I believed I'd taken before. If I'd been shown that vision for a reason, then perhaps retracing my steps would help me figure out what that reason was! I flew until I recognised the same clearing I'd landed in before. I was surprised that it was the same, or at least it appeared to be. I didn't pay that much attention to the environment the last time I'd been here to be completely sure; but it seemed familiar.

What had I done when I was here last? I'd hidden myself in a tree to get some rest, but had been roused when a pack of graug had passed by. The graug! If the vision had been a true vision of the future, and not some delirious dream, then the graug should once again make their way through here! If that was the case then I also knew where their den was! Excited to find out the nature of the vision I once again leapt up into the trees and made myself comfortable to wait for the graug to make their way through the area.

Eventually the silence of the night was pierced by the sound of a bell chime. I remembered it from before, but had forgotten about until this point. I was sure that that was Kira's bell! And then just as before, the sound of heavy foot-steps echoed from below me. Sure, enough there were the graug! The five of them lumbered through the shadows, and I began to follow them just as I did before.

If the vision was any indication, then there was no point in trying the same thing as I did in the vision, or it would end in the same way. To prevent the same result, my choices were to run, but that would mean that everything the vision had shown me would be useless. My best option was to use the knowledge from the vision to improve my odds. I would set traps to give me an edge during the fight.

As before the graug trail led me to the cave entrance where they slept during the day. I only had a couple of hours before Jan'Zar would arrive. I needed to get to work on the traps! I didn't have time to dig any pitfalls, but there were plenty of other traps that Callen had taught me while hunting. Ones that could be used against opponents rather than just prey.

I made my way towards the tree line to gather the wood I'd need to create my traps when I something felt 'off'. I looked around. Everything was as I remembered it. The smell from the graug cave. The trampled earth. As I looked around, I noticed the figure standing in the shadows a short distance away. I readied my spear and they stepped forwards. It was Jan'Zar! What was she doing here!?! She wasn't meant to arrive for another couple of hours yet!

"Such an amateur!" She scoffed.

"What!?"

"I knew that you'd come back here. They always do."

"What are you talking about!?" I growled while drawing upon both my nen and the spirits power.

"Heh!" She chuckled mirthfully to herself. "You still haven't figured it out yet?"

She charged at me. I blocked her initial blow, our weapons clashed loudly against one another, and then leapt back to create some distance, and immediately drew upon the firris stone on my right wrist and unleashed a powerful stream of blue flames at her. She dodged to the right, into the forest and used the trees to block my attack. With a large number of trees now ablaze from my last attack I gave chase, creating three wind blades as I chased after her. I wasn't fooling myself. I didn't believe I would be able to defeat her easily, but I needed to control the pace of the fight if I wanted to have a chance.

I flooded the forest ahead of me with my nen, attempting to detect her. And sure enough, I did. My nen bubble gave me a full two seconds to ready myself as she attempted to charge me from my right flank. I used my wings to fly upwards just in time to dodge her attack. Her halberd sliced into the trunks of three of the surrounding trees, gouging deep chunks out of them. I attempted to strike her with my wind blades, but she gracefully dodged them with a series of back flips, at the end of which she corkscrewed through the air and hurled her halberd at me. I managed to dodge to the left in time for it to embed itself in the tree behind me.

I gathered a large amount of flames from the burning forest around me and hurled a barrage of fireballs at her. Even if I had managed to hit her, none of these attacks would be enough to seriously wound her. But it forced her to retreat, and spread the fire further. Fire which I could take advantage of! As the trees around her began to burn I hurled a large amount of nen inn her direction, nen which burst into flames when it came in contact with the flames, and engulfed her in a wave of powerful flames, enhanced by the spirits power.

I lost sight of her in the flames and smoke. I immediately began pumping my nen out into the surrounding area. We were both blinded by the smoke, but my nen bubble allowed me to see anything within the range of the bubble; perfectly in every direction. In this situation I had the advantage! She came at me from above, I spun round to face her and the world began to spin and tumble as I fell towards the ground. The last thing I remember seeing, as a bell chime echoed, was my body hitting the ground before me.

I stumbled backwards, dropping my spear which clanged loudly against the stone floor, clutching at my throat. She had just cut my head off! My heart was pounding strongly in my chest as I came to terms with what had just happened. I stared up at her from the floor, at the cold harsh stare she was giving me.

"What are you waiting for?" She smirked down at me. "RUN!"