Raelynn’s words brought more questions than answers, but Casek was given no time to ask them. The Bel’gor let loose another cry as it swept back beneath the canopy, great wings stretched wide as it dived at them.

  The creature reminded him faintly of an eagle with its razor sharp talons and crooked, black beak. Casek could see no eyes, for there were none. Only inescapable, weeping black pits on its oddly human face. Its feathers, however, shone in a vibrant display of prismatic colours that moved and shifted in the fading light. It was a captivating creature–a strange combination of beautiful and horrific in equal measure.

  “Move, you moron!”

  Raelynn’s heavy shove probably saved his life. He stumbled to the floor, face-first, and the Bel’gor’s talons passed right through the space he’d once occupied. It turned sharply, black limbs bursting from the creature’s flesh to steady it and provide a platform for launching itself back at them.

  Raelynn stepped between him and it, swords shining brighter than he’d ever seen them. A faint glow of power surrounded her, making the air around her shift and squirm as though she were burning up.

  “The Drau. Now.”

  Casek didn’t bother formulating a response. He dragged himself to his feet and turned away from Raelynn’s fight. The difference in strength was far too pronounced for him to make much of a difference by joining that battle. The most he could do to help was to keep the other Shadow creatures from distracting her.

  The deer-Drau still circled the pair of them, predatory gaze never having left the two humans. It was at least wise enough to be wary of getting between the Bel’gor and its prey, hanging back as a handful of remaining shades danced around it.

  Casek stepped away from Raelynn, bringing his blade to bear in an obvious challenge. The Drau stopped dead in response, honing its attention on the fresh enemy. Casek could sense the creature’s deep well of power, greater than his own by a not inconsiderable amount. He licked his dry and cracked lips. If he did not play this perfectly, he would die.

  Of course, if Raelynn didn’t kill the Bel’gor, he would be dead whether or not he played it perfectly, but he was trying not to think about that.

  First, he ran. He chose a dense part of the forest, where gnarled tree roots intertwined with thickets of new saplings and bramble, and slipped between two relatively young trees before turning back to look at the Drau.

  As he’d suspected, weaker prey breaking off had been too much of a temptation for it to bear. The creature bound after him, spittle flying from its hanging jaw, glistening on the tips of spear-like fangs that would have looked far more at home on its wolf counterpart.

  He carved a swift path through the maze of root and thorn, weaving back and forth through the undergrowth. Over open ground, the Drau would have caught him quick; but here, Casek could put his greater agility to use, swinging around trees and turning too sharply for the thing to follow at pace.

  Still, he made certain to keep the fight between Raelynn and the Bel’gor in sight, Tauph watching when he could not. That battle, too, was a game of cat and mouse. Which combatant was which, Casek couldn’t say. Raelynn moved at speeds he could barely comprehend, sometimes moving so fast that she seemed to disappear from one place and reappear in another in the time it took him to blink.

  Each retreat and dodge served a purpose. Another narrow miss allowed Raelynn to swing out a shortblade, catching the creature along its wing. It shrieked. There was a fizzle of magic, and the Bel’gor retreated, a touch weaker than it had been.

  Casek took a sharp left around the thick trunk of an ancient oak, ducking slightly to avoid a low-hanging branch. The Drau snarled as it skidded around the same bend, its hooves struggling to get traction in the soil. He halted beside a trio of sturdy young trees and turned to face his pursuer.

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  The creature hurled itself forward, teeth bared, and leaped straight for his throat. Casek rolled to the side, jerking out his sword arm and running the blade across his side. There was a clash, like nails on slate, as the sharp edge scraped along its tough hide and the Shadow creature grunted in pain.

  A sliver of magic flowed into him from the contact. Not much—there wasn’t much damage done—but it was a start.

  He scurried away into the woods, making his way toward the shades that had trailed after the Drau, looking to share in the creature’s easy meal. Casek dispatched them without slowing his escape, and their power also bled into him.

  We can’t do this forever, Casek. There was a quiver to Tauph’s voice, a dose of genuine concern that left a lump in Casek’s throat.

  “I don’t have to. I just have to outlast this thing enough. It’s the same thing Raelynn’s doing. Do enough damage to wear the creature down. Weaken its defences. If I were a betting man, I’d say that’s the first step to binding Shadowspawn.”

  Understanding dawned in the other presence. You’re not just trying to survive. You want to bind this thing.

  Casek halted once more, the Drau’s footfall behind him growing ever closer. “If I want to survive, I’ve no choice. There are far too many things in this forest that can kill me far too easily as I am now. Make sure you’re watching her, Tauph. I don’t want to miss how she does the binding itself.”

  Of course. Just don’t die in the meantime.

  “Thanks for the support,” Casek groused.

  The Drau, seemingly, had learned its lesson. It stalked forward, each step measured, its eyes scanning for the slightest hint of movement in Casek’s body. Casek glared back, daring the creature to lunge at him once more. He was more agile, but the Drau was faster. He needed it to commit first. To lash out, and allow him to counter and run before it could do him any damage.

  Trouble was, the Drau knew it.

  Just past its head, Raelynn’s battle with the Bel’gor continued. The two had exchanged good hits since he’d last seen them. Raelynn wore two long gashes across her face, crimson stark against olive skin. The Bel’gor was considerably worse off. Its feathers stood at odd angles, bent and broken, with streaks of oily black matted through the once beautiful colours.

  It swept at her, diving low across the forest floor, and Raelynn chose then to make her move to end the fight. Instead of ducking out of reach and lashing out, she stepped into the attack, jumping over its flight path and twisting, snatching up a handful of feathers. The momentum of the thing yanked her forward, dragging her behind it through the air.

  The Bel’gor let loose a panicked squawk, craning its neck around to get a look at the stowaway. Raelynn didn’t give it the opportunity to react. She raised her longsword up and drove it through the creature’s chest cavity. Casek could tell, even from this distance, she had avoided anything vital; but the blow still sent the pair skidding along the floor, raking up a mass of yellow and brown leaves.

  Raelynn hauled herself to her feet, standing over the still flailing Shadowspawn, dirty and bloodied, but victorious. She pressed her booted foot down on its head, and the creature increased its squirming, all too aware of what came next. Casek couldn’t help but stare, even as the Drau padded ever closer, as Raelynn raised her sword and a three-pronged blade emerged from the bottom of the hilt.

  Her mouth twisted into a satisfied smile, and she plunged the new blade into the Bel’gor trapped beneath her boot. It screamed. The sound tore through Casek’s skull like a knife had been thrust into his eardrums, and drawing even the attention of the Drau. It was the primal sound of a creature that knew it was about to suffer.

  The Bel’gor melted, dissolving into the peculiar obsidian ooze the Shadow bled when wounded. Then, much like the black mist of the shades, Raelynn’s blade drew it in; drinking in the essence of what had been, only moments before, a mighty creature.

  Triumphant, Raelynn stood the moment nothing more of the Bel’gor remained, panting, but smirking.

  Casek wore a smile of his own. Not because of Raelynn’s victory, though that certainly contributed to his mood. No, his smile was because he’d seen what he needed to see. He didn’t really understand exactly what she had done, but he could at least try to replicate it with the Drau in front of him.

  The Drau met his eyes, before glancing back at the slowly approaching Raelynn. It turned back, knowing its only way to escape was through him. It crouched low, ready to attack, and Casek readied his blade.

  There would be few better opportunities than this to take his first proper step toward survival in this new world, and he was going to take it. It was time to bind his first Shadowspawn.

  Thank you all so much for reading this far! If you've enjoyed what you've read, please consider checking out one of my other stories below - just click on the pictures to go to their pages!