CHPT 150: Two Monsters, One Sky.

Terrible high pitched cries resonated from above the forest, followed by slender wooden arrows that fell from the sky like silver glinted hail— splitting through the lush trees and sinking into the dirt around Claude and the Wolves.

They silently moved from tree to tree hoping the Urd wouldn't follow. Unfortunately every time they moved— a volley of arrows fell from the sky and pin pointed their location.

A couple of the arrows even hit him from when he jumped in place of one of the Wolves or was simply in an unlucky spot. Fortunately, all they were doing was creating tiny rips in his skin and armor.

"THIS IS EXPENSIVE ARMOR YOU DICKHEAD!" Claude yelled at the black sky.

The winged creature responded by making a spitting sound from where it flew above the forest.

"God dammit! We need a plan that involves killing that thing in the sky or bringing it to the ground." Claude thought to himself. "Arne, do you think I could reach it with Nature?"

"[The last time you used it at a speed that would be fast enough to grab it out of the air was when you were fighting the Raiders. You weren't exactly yourself back then...]" Arne explained.

Thwish!

Woo!

He dodged another arrow and felt it whistle past him as he lunged out of the way.

"Ok. My Elemental Magic isn't all that good at the moment. But what about this?" He questioned as he eyed the bloodstained spear in his hand.

"[Id say it's worth a try.]" Arne replied.

He agreed with his guide's assessment and took off towards the clearing where no objects above him would ruin his accuracy or view of the Urd.

He instructed the Wolves to continue running through the forest, hoping it would keep the Urd distracted and flying in one spot.

"[Make sure to aim for the wings. It's a bigger target than it's body.]" Arne explained as Claude silently ran through the forest.

It didn't take long for him to see the dimly lit clearing full of Kobold corpses and massacred tents ahead of him.

As he closed the distance, he willed the small amount of the transformation he had control over to strengthen and harden his muscles.

By the time he stepped into the clearing, it felt like every fiber of muscle in his arms were on fire and bursting with newfound strength as they pulsed and pressed against the increasingly tight armor around them.

He located the Urd immediately after he stepped out from under the dark shadows created by the trees.

It flew 20 or more feet above the forest. It's great dark wings constantly sending noisy gusts of wind down towards the trees below it while it used its thin scaled arms to load up arrow after arrow.

"AARP!" One of the Wolves yelped painfully from somewhere deep inside the forest.

As soon as the sound hit his ears he roared and threw the spear so hard that the medium length grass surrounding him laid completely flat from the large amounts of wind he generated.

He was looking at the Urd one second once the spear left his hands, then the next second it was flying backwards unevenly with a hole in its left wing while it roared in pain and its left hand steamed profusely. He wasn't able to register what it meant before the steam turned into a bright orange glowing object.

He watched the creature spin around in the air and fight to gain steadiness before suddenly spinning to face him and throwing something at him.

"RRRAWWWWWRK!"

FWOOOOSH!

He moved just as the steaming ball of light crashed into the ground at his feet, scorching the grass and sending debris into his face as he flew backward and away from the impact.

Thud!

[70% HP Remaining. (245/350)]

Claude opened his eyes and found himself laying on his back in the grass. The smell of burned earth and anger filled his nose, blending into what he imagined boiling hot rage smelled like. It took him a moment to realize the anger he smelled was his own.

"It hurt Frosty." He said in a deep and base heavy voice that was slowly becoming the voice he associated with his more animalistic side.

He ignored how odd it was that he knew which Wolf the Urd hit as he looked around trying to figure out where he was.

The forest he left to hit the Urd was a few dozen feet away and small balls of flame ate away at the tops of trees and bushes beneath them.

The Urd flew above the ignited trees like a dragon flying over the smoking ember remains of a village. Its slitted purple eyes scanned the forest for the life it was eager to end.

"[Claude you have to stay cool and think. Be the Potential you are and focus. The Wolves are in danger staying in the forest.]"

He listened to Arne while he scanned the area for ideas and tried to stay calm.

"I have no range. All I have is my physicality....but I can't jump from this lo—" A grin made its way to his face as he looked back at the cliff edge that hung over the Raider camp.

He rose to his feet immediately and took off into the forest below, splitting the hot steam that rose from the ashen ground around him.

"Ashe, Shadow and Ghost! Distract that bastard!" Claude yelled back to them.

The three Phantom Wolves bursted out from under the trees and began running around the wide expanse of the clearing like little moving shadows that the Urd followed happily. What the creature didn't know was that it was also much closer to the cliff.

Claude's legs pulsed with power and his lungs sucked in large amounts of air as he ran through the forest and turned to make his way up the hill that would eventually lead to the cliff.

He reached the top in seconds and stood just at the edge of the forest that gave way to the slim pathway off the cliff.

"If I don't kill it here, I might die....or one of the Wolv—all of them." The thought terrified him and also made him aware of the odd hot and tingling feeling in his legs. He thought it was nerves.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself as much as he could.

"No. Failure is not an option. I have to end it here."

The next time he opened his eyes, they glowed green and the tree behind him moved and creaked as branches and bark blended into a medium length spear hard enough to rival low grade metal weaponry.

Snap!

He broke off the weapon and headed towards the cliff.

At first the movement felt odd. His legs kept their odd hot feeling, only with every step the heat increased until it was a steady burn and each individual muscle felt like it was exploding.

He ignored the pain and picked up speed with the image of Frosty in pain as a source of motivation to finish the job.

Slowly, the pain faded and his legs felt different— stronger. Every silent step into the hard grass was backed by easily accessible power that coursed through his limbs like lava.

He could've sworn he heard Arne gasp in his mind but the thought was immediately discarded once he was reaching the cliff and located the Urd.

It flew in the air firing bright flames at the Wolves running below. It had to be thirty feet away.

Claude ignored the impractical distance and steeled himself.

Luminous green energy leaked from his right hand and coated his wooden spear, increasing its offensive power to cut through scales with ease.

Ten more steps.....five.....three...

The Urd was conjuring another fireball with its back to him, the Phantom Wolves below were running out of ground to run on that wasn't covered in a red and orange sheet of flame. He had to end it now.

"This ones for Frosty, bitch." Claude said as he took his last steps and jumped from the cliff.

FWOOO!

His legs launched him so high into the air that he was looking down at the flying Kobold as he closed the distance. He was going to miss it. He somehow jumped high enough to overshoot the distance.

He realized this once he flew over its head with no plans of slowing down.

"No no NO!" He said before reaching out with his left hand.

SHCK!

"ARRRRGH!" The Urd roared as his claws sunk into its wings and yanked it along with him.

The two growled and snapped at eachother as they spiraled through the air above the flaming tree tops of the forest.

Claude and the Urd spun a few more times and clawed at eachother, fighting for dominance until he had enough.

"Come here!" He yelled as he grabbed onto the squirming creature and stabbed his Aura shrouded spear through its heart.

"RRRRAAAAWARRK!" The Urd screeched in his face and gripped his arm with its steaming left hand.

The heat seeped through the rips in his armor and burned his open wounds immediately.

"AAAARRRGHH!"

Snap!

"ACK!"

Claude vocalized his pain before snapping the sharp point of his spear off inside the Urd. He used the remains of the weapon to stab into its throat.

Woo!

Shlck!

"Ack..." The creature made a weak sighing sound as the light of violence faded from its bright reptilian eyes. It was dead.

[+200 EXP]

Despite the hard fought victory, he had no time to relax since he was now heading towards the forest below at incredible speeds with the Urd acting as extra weight that was sending him there faster.

His instincts took over right before he hit the trees.

In seconds, he gripped the wooden end of the spear that stuck out of the Urd's throat and spun them both around so he was on top. In this position he was able to use the winged creature to shield him as he crashed down through the trees and leaves.

The twigs and branches snapped and stabbed into the monster shield below him while stray pieces rose up to cut his face and neck.

The chaos came to an abrupt ending and he was suddenly falling to the cold packed earth below. The only noise he could make out was the wind hitting his sensitive ears.

BOOM!!!!

He landed feet first holding the Urd by the throat with his left hand. They hit the ground so hard that dirt and dust rose up around them like a meteor just landed instead of a teenage boy holding a monster.

When the dust settled, Claude stood in the forest dumbfounded and in disbelief as he looked at the missing trail of forestry above that led to where he stood.

"I just....how the fuck did I just do that?" He questioned in shock. He looked up at the sky once finding it hard to imagine that he fought a flying creature up that high....and won.

"[Claude.....your legs. Look at your legs.]"

Claude reluctantly let his eyes fall to his lower body. He gasped once his eyes scanned over them.

His pants and leg armor were ripped all over and fur covered dark leathery skin bulged between the seams. His shoes were ripped in half, revealing humanoid paws that stood in two small craters within the ground where he landed.

"What the hell is this?"