Wild (An Inheritance Fanfiction)

Chapter 28: The Wolf and the Shade part 2

Talismen studied the shade intensely, watching his every move, trusting his instincts to tell him wether he was right or not. Sythrel was studying him also, slowly turning in a circle and following the wolf’s movements. Levial had dragged himself to the side of the small clearing, clutching the pulsing wound in his shoulder. He had managed to bring his brother to safety as well, leaving Talismen and Sythrel to fight.

Talismen could see that the shade was a little nervous now. It was unlikely that he had fought without wards before, besides the time when Sharrag stepped on him. He was likely to be far more cautious and less likely to be the first one to attack, which meant he was going to have to get through his defence.

“Brisingr,” the shade suddenly barked, sending a fireball towards the Shrrg.

Talismen easily dodged to the side, though he was slightly surprised at Sythrel’s sudden attack, but he didn’t let that distract him. The shade grinned at him before putting out his hand once again. Talismen tensed and the shade laughed, noticing his jumpiness. The Shrrg growled, realising that he was playing with him.

“You are a strange creature Talismen,” said Sythrel with a smile, “Unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. From what I gathered from Sharrag’s mind I would say you are a lot alike, though unlike him you don’t value yourself highly. You don’t think yourself important like Sharrag does.”

The wolf just growled in response, not daring to open his mind to the shade. He didn’t trust him enough to open his mind. He didn’t want what happened to Sharrag to happen to him. He doubted he would have the strength to break through the effect of a true name.

“I wonder if Sharrag has told you of his desire to leave yet,” said Sythrel in a mocking voice.

Talismen growled again, but inside his heart fell slightly. Was this true? Did their leader truly want to leave? He shook his head and snarled, before charging towards the shade. Sythrel leapt into the air, attempting the manoeuvrer he had tried before. Talismen quickly spun his body to the side, avoiding the strike of the shade. He launched himself to where the shade was about to land. Sythrel landed and rolled forward before leaping to the side just as Talismen’s blade passed where he had just been. The wolf felt another blow on his wards.

The two went back to circling each other again, the shade looking slightly angrier then he had before.

“You’re a lucky wolf you are, to have been raised together with a dragon,” he said, “He effects you in such a way that you are able to think and speak like an intelligent species. But really you’re just a wolf, a dumb creature. All you can do is hunt, and howl and fight. Stop trying to win because you never will. No shade has ever been killed by a dumb creature.”

Talismen narrowed his eyes. That was three times now Sythrel had tried to distract him with words. Luckily the wolf knew he was lying, for most of it anyway. Words didn’t affect him as much as it would a human or elf, for the simple fact that a creature like him didn’t know how to take words to heart.

“Brisingr!” the shade shouted his favourite spell again.

The wolf dodged to the side once more, only to be caused to stumble because of the force of the explosion caused by the fireball. His wards protected him from the fire and heat but not from the force. He growled as he felt a couple more strikes from the shade land on his invisible shields. He quickly swung towards the spot where he had seen the shade only to find his blade meet thin air.