The Soul Keeper

I raised my arms to protect my face from the creature's acidic spit – well, that was what I assumed it to be anyways. Scales appeared on my forearms just in time for the disgusting substance to reach me. 

I felt nothing but some mild itching thanks to them, and quickly burned the substance away with my flames. "Erik, don't let its spit touch you!" I shouted before beating my wings and continuing my approach to the creature.

As the paladin nodded, the creature roared at me. I extended my arm holding my scythe and swung it at the disgusting monster. Yet, before I could slash its flesh, its tail hit me once again, throwing me aside.

I fell to the ground with a thud and immediately used Soul's Respite. How was this monster so fast? As the souls healed my cracked ribs and broken wings, I gritted my teeth. If only the pain didn't feel so real – what was Erik's dad thinking, designing this game with such a feature?

It took the souls a few seconds to fully heal me. As soon as they were done, I took to the skies again. I attempted to approach it again, yet another spit and tail strike later, gave up. I had narrowly evaded those, and I wasn't sure if I could do it again.

"What do we do?" Erik shouted, then immediately grunted as the creature tried to claw him. The golden shine that protected him was getting dimmer and dimmer as he blocked more strikes. 

I hesitated. If only I could get a little closer to the monster, then I could use my flames to actually hurt it. 

A figure dashing out of the woods caught my attention. Vincent, his sword in hand and his face twisted with anger, ran straight to the creature.

"Look out!" I shouted. As soon as the words left my mouth, the creature spat at me – again. As I was about to get angry, realisation dawned on me. I facepalmed, then shouted as loudly as I could. 

"Erik! Make sound! Now!" I drew out every word for as long as I can, then coughed as my throat hurt from screaming that much. The creature outright ignored Vincent and reared on its hooved legs. It clawed the air as I quickly beat my wings to move away.

"What?" Erik shouted. The creature hit his shield with its tail. The young paladin swung his sword to leave an insignificant cut on its tail, then glanced at me again with a confused expression.

Vincent had reached the monster's hooves by then. He swung his sword, leaving quite the wound behind. The monster screeched and turned its attention towards him. The young fighter ran again, circling to the creature's other foot as it trampled on the ground, swinging its tail wildly. 

I folded my wings and dove towards it. I knew it would hear me – that was how it attacked us. Vincent leapt up and grabbed on to the creature's grass-like fur as I approached it. I noticed it rear its head again, ready to spit, but then, it screeched again. Vincent had stabbed it. It shook itself, like a dog would do to get rid of fleas.

As my flames gathered in my hands, Vincent screamed. He lost his grip with the force of the creature's shaking, finding himself flung high up. Too high, in fact. 

"Damn it." I hissed through my gritted teeth as the flames dissipated. I dashed to the falling young man. If he fell from that height, there was no way he would survive. I caught him moments before he touched the ground. We fell together and rolled on the grass, but thankfully, he was fine aside from a few small bruises.

"Be more careful!" I hissed as I got back on my feet. "It can't see us, but it can hear us. Don't make too much sound."

The creature's tail swung towards us as soon as I finished my words. Vincent grabbed me and pulled me away from it. "Got it." He whispered, then dashed towards Erik. I hesitated before allowing my wings to dissipate in a black mist. I couldn't afford to fly and make so much noise – the creature's movements were too fast for me to reliably avoid. 

"Kai!" Erik shouted. The creature's head snapped to him. "I'll distract it!" I clenched my fists as Erik hit his shield with his sword, making a loud noise. The creature screeched and clawed him.

"Idiot." I mumbled as I dashed forward. The near impregnable shield he had created couldn't last for many more hits. I had to do something before it broke, or there was a good chance Erik would end up dead.

Flames gathered in my palms as I approached it. I leapt up, sword in hand and thrust my blade into the creature's side. At the same time, I released my flames.

It screeched, voice filled with pain and agony. My crimson flames engulfed the both of us as I poured my anger, hatred and fears into them.

Something hit me, making me lose my grip on the hilt of my sword. I was flung aside, as the ground shook under the creature's steps. A loud splash sounded, and not long after, someone grabbed my shoulder.

"Kai! Kai, can you hear us?" It was Vincent. It took me a moment to find my bearings as I opened my eyes. The harmless remains of flames dancing on my skin slowly dissipated as I wiped away the blood on my face.

"I'm fine." I mumbled. I really was, aside from a few superficial cuts and maybe a broken rib or two. "Where is it?" 

Erik pointed at the lake. As he did so, ripples formed on its surface.

"Can it… breathe underwater?" I asked after a moment of hesitation. Soul's Respite continuously healed me as Vincent helped me up.

Erik shrugged. "No idea." He glanced at me. "I knew you could, uh… burn stuff, but I didn't know you were that strong with it." He hesitated. "That was a sight to behold."

I shrugged, but then shook my head. "Save that for later. It's not over yet." As I spoke, the water rippled again. 

Moments after, the creature broke the water's surface. It swung its tail to hit the lake's surface. It took us a fraction of a second to understand what was going on, but it was too late by then. It had splashed the lake's water at us. Fear gripped my heart as I noticed the green-brown coloured water approach. 

"Look out!" I shouted. I raised my hands and poured everything I had – every bit of strength, every drop of mana – into my flames and winds. The water hissed as it touched the crimson flames. My winds pushed the smaller drops away.

Somehow, I had destroyed most of the acidic water, but it still wasn't enough as the few drops that survived the flames still reached us.

My scales protected me, but Erik and Vincent weren't so lucky. 

"What the hell!" Vincent shouted as he stepped back. The spots on his skin that the drops touched were already getting corroded. 

"It burns!" Erik screamed. The monster slowly climbed out of the water as the two of them staggered and backed off even more. I clenched my fists – I was nearly out of mana. I had enough for… maybe a single fireball. Maybe.

"You guys pull back." I said as my scythe materialised in my hands. If only Alina was in a better state – if she healed Erik and Vincent, we'd still stand a chance. 

I looked at the staggering creature. It wasn't in a good shape either. Nothing remained of its fur and its exposed flesh was charred with my flames. Its movements were clearly slower. I wondered – had I damaged its hearing at all? Was it still able to pinpoint my location?

I dashed forward. I couldn't give it any time to do… well, anything, really. 

"Kai!" Erik shouted. I ignored him. A single, well aimed slash to its throat would kill it now that its protective scales had fallen off. It swung its tail, aiming at me. I gritted my teeth – so its hearing wasn't damaged after all. I braced myself for the hit – I didn't have time to evade it. Not without the speed Fallen Grace provided me with.

A loud cling sounded. My eyes widened as ethereal chains wrapped themselves around the creature's tail, immobilizing it even if only for a moment. While it was only for a very short time, it was enough for me. I leapt, using the last drop of my mana to strengthen my legs. As I reached the creature's neck, I swung my scythe.

I landed on the ground and smoothed my fall with a roll. Behind me, the creature collapsed on the ground with a loud thud.

Silence followed, then my legs gave out.

"Kai!" Vincent shouted. He and Erik ran towards me.

"Are you ok?" Erik asked. 

"I'm fine, just exhausted." I accepted their help and slowly got up. We moved a bit away from the massive, disgusting corpse. "Alina needs to heal those." I said gesturing at the inflamed, bleeding spots on their arms and faces.

"Guys!" Joshua shouted. He and Alina slowly left the woods. The young priestess stared at the corpse as the young man dashed to his brother's side. "Are you ok?"

I clenched my fists, then quickly hid them behind me as soon as I noticed. Where the hell was he while we were fighting for our lives?

"Erik and Vincent need healing. Fast." I said, instead of telling what I was really thinking. "Joshua, can you bring Alina here and remind her to heal them?"

The young man shot me a deadly glance, then nodded with a fake smile. "Sure."

He gently led Alina here. "Hey, Alina. Could you heal them? They're hurting." I was honestly surprised at how gentle and kind he was towards the young woman.

It took a few seconds, but Alina finally snapped away from the creature's corpse and nodded. "I think... I think I can do that." She whispered. A soft shine appeared in her palm as she slowly reached for Erik's arm.

"I think not." A familiar voice echoed.