Reaper: Redemption

Chapter 40: Wilt

"Alright big guy... I may not have my powers active.. but that doesn't mean I can't fight you off..."

I steadied my blade, my friends were far enough already. It was time to fight. I charged straight for the monster, knowing I was at a disadvantage. It's eyes were glowing, so it had some form of light to see me with, but for me, it was getting darker.

However, my one target was between the two eyes. It was the easiest to gauge, and I was more than used to the length of my blade, I knew exactly what was where. The monster opened its mouth, exposing long fangs as it shot forwards towards me. I immediately ducked out of the way to avoid the horns cutting into me.

The monster raised its head and struck at me again, I raised my hand to create a glyph, but I suddenly remembered that I couldn't. By then, the monster was already too close, I leapt back while swapping for my scythe and slammed it into the ground to raise myself up, the monster's head striking against the flat of the scythe. That strike knocked the scythe over, causing me to land on its back.

It then immediately coiled around me and constricted my movements. The monster's body squeezed against my arms, making it impossible to use my weapon. This was bad, this was really bad. It hissed at me and opened its mouth again, those fangs did not look welcoming.

What now?!?

I'm thinking!!! Um... er...

The constriction was getting worse, and I had trouble breathing. My sight was blurring as I felt the pressure in my head rise.

The monster tried to bite me, and almost did, but a fireball hit its body, causing it to release me. I fell to the ground, gasping for air. The monster slid back, cautious of Au. Good thing he came back just in time....

"Rose!!" Au shouted. "Are you alright?!"

"Yeah... it just managed to constrict me for a bit... I forgot that I couldn't use my powers... and this happened..," I panted.

"It's okay, there's the two of us now. This guy's going down."

"Where's the rest?"

"They're far away enough. I came running back after I they got somewhere safe. Maya and Lily are keeping guard. I think we might have found a way out."

"Good. Let's get rid of this guy first."

"Right-o, Rose," he grinned. "Alright... let's test out some new skills on you... I worked real hard on this one," he charged, his blade slowly catching fire.

He leapt upwards, swinging the sword straight down against the monster's head. The monster swung its tail at him, but Au blocked it off and sliced off it's tail. The monster hissed loudly as it moved further back. It was beginning to grow wary of us. The monster's tail was on fire... was the flesh quite flammable?

"Au, I have an idea."

"I'm all ears," he replied, holding his shield between him and the monster with his flaming sword ready.

"The Steamworks Mechanism... it releases a burst of air, but it's mainly oxygen, isn't it?"

"Yeah, like 70% of it."

"Good. Can you pass me your sword? I want you to be ready to block this guy head on, can you do it?"

"I think I know where you're getting at, I like it. It's all you."

I grabbed his blade, still in flames. While it's body wasn't easy to set fire to with all those scales, it's flesh was. I charged forwards, rushing straight for it and didn't bother dodging. It hissed and struck towards me once again. I sliced at its jaws, setting fire to the inside of its mouth.