Draimon: Fracture: Erasend- Book 1: Deascension

Chapter 29: Surveillance

The pale orange might beam burst through the air, I flew away from the beam, but my body felt heavy while flying. I landed my lungs working hard. The Monster turned in an instant, its front arms lifting the body then swaying, turning with the momentum.

It roared again, another beam with my strength faltering. I rolled out of the beam's path, but it followed me. I tried to move out of the way, but even my legs strained to hold my body up. Just being close to the might energy put my body into shock.

"O yeah, physical zones **** Dragons," I heard Peter say. In an instant, he converted the ground to vine earth, and I felt my strength return to me, "damn, how'd you guys even make a physical zone? Good job." I took a moment to look at the Shifters. They looked to feel the same way that I felt moments ago.

"Dad!" One of them yelled, "do you know how hard we worked to make that."

"I felt so powerful," another sulked.

"Sorry, but if I didn't, Drydra would die. I'll turn down the energy a bit."

As they talked, I kept dodging the Creature's might blasts, which seemed weaker than before, and it looked slower. I rose thick vines to strike. Despite its size, it dodged each one. Perfect. It had my weakness and was faster than me. I smiled.

"For Shifters might costs stamina, when its stamina is low it'll tire out whenever that'll be," beam another flew through the air, followed by ranged pale silver slashes from the lower arms. I took flight, keeping my route chaotic.

"Kill flesh," it said through roaring, "flesh stole power," I knew this was a Monster; Devourers used their life force for might. That Wyrm-torn had an abundance of life force from all those it had devoured, but the way it spoke, was this the Wyrm-torn? It could not be a Core-torn, but its intelligence, the way it nearly predicted my random flight path.

I could see no change on it, time to go on the offensive. I formed my claws into bark fists and dived, aiming to punch its head and knock it out. I commanded vines to divert its attention, and air rushed past my body.

Its head swayed out of the way, and I felt its jaws clamp around my body then slam me to its front. As my body struck the ground, I willed my body to merge with the earth and travel back. When I rose, I saw the Monster had both claws embedded in the land. I flew to where the neck began.

"Strangle the neck, or punch the base!" Peter cried; the latter was just where I planned to strike. I rammed the point, my fist blocked by the lower arms' claws, and a backswing disengaged me.

The blades whipped through the air. I dodged each I could, landing to avoid becoming grounded. I stepped past each swing, striking when I saw an opening. This one was good. It was not swiping wildly, each swing aiming to force me into a specific position for the second arm to land a killing blow. Whist dodging, I morphed my wings into tentacles tipped with bark maces which thrusted, its body dipping past each, I kept the dance up, but when I saw an arm above me, I guarded my body with my tentacles.

The palm slammed down but, I held it with my tentacles, then wrapped them around the bladed fingers, no skin, just claw, so I had to hold the flat edge. I bent them back to stop them from impaling me. The Monster snarled in pain; those arms had to go.

I bent the fingers back more and rose the body; the lower arms could not reach me, I saw the other arm coming towards me, I stomped, and a bark wall rose. The claws embedded themselves into the structure, and as I kept hold of the hand above, bending the blades back, I grew bark over the claws and increased its concentration.

The Monster screeched, I threw the hand on top away, forcing it to fall on its back, and the hand in the bark bent crudely. I held its neck down with vines and, once it touched the ground, roots held the neck in place.