The Phantom Man

XIX - The Fight

The full Moon energized once again the red crystal on the tip of the staff and Juan made the first move to attack. Klaus raised his right hand and absorbed the energy directed to him. The wolf jumped on him, but the warlock stretched his left hand and Dark Moon fell paralyzed on the floor. The animal could not move at all.

The mage looked at the Doppelgänger wrapped in its dark mantle coming toward him with its sharp claws. He raised his hand and, in German language, cast a spell on the creature, commanding it to immobilize:

"Stoppen jetz!"

The monster stood still like a statue and Klaus felt the impact of the spell on himself. He took a deep breath and said:

"How interesting! No one has ever stopped Fratello. This is going to be a great fight... And the reward will be even greater. The Book of Souls and a child that I'll kill next," Klaus said in a roaring laughter, while he studied his rival.

"You talk too much for a dead warlock."

With no further ado, Klaus unsheathed his sword and ran towards the wizard, who used his staff to defend himself from the first blow. Juan threw another beam of energy on the wizard, who dodged it by rotating his body to the side. The evil man counterattacked by delivering a blow with his sword, striking the abdomen of the mage, who started bleeding. The old man felt the stroke, and the eagle descended to hit Klaus who directed his palms to the bird as soon as he felt its presence. The bird fell stiff on the floor. Although it wasn't dead, it had been paralyzed. The owl cut the air flying from the tree, but was immobilized by him too.

"How about that, Juan? Will another animal show up by surprise to attack me?" He asked, looking around. "I don't think so. Now the fight is between the two of us."

Juan pointed his staff toward Klaus. The warlock was thrown against the wall, and then fell on the floor. He stood up; his face was bleeding. He passed his hand over his mouth to clean the blood, and then stood up, stretching his hand to throw a powerful energy on the mage, who lifted his staff to defend himself, but it didn't work. Juan's body was thrown on the air and he fell down a few feet away, near the cave's entrance.

The Doppelgänger's red eyes only moved from one side to the other, following the dreadful fight like a statue. Even though the mage was tumbled on the floor, he gathered his strength and put himself on his feet. He took up his staff and pointed it toward Klaus, who felt the magical blow. The warlock's body slid along the whole cave's extension until he landed outside of it.

Klaus looked around and saw many yellow dots in the darkness watching him. They belonged to the wolves of Dark Moon's pack, which were there to help in the fight against the wicked warlock. They ground their teeth, making the night scarier. The man stood up. Juan was near the cave's entrance, looking at him. He initiated a metamorphosis process by stretching his face to shape a muzzle; dark fur began to grow on his skin, his ears enlarged, his teeth turned into pointed weapons. He morphed into a big white wolf. He joined his friends to attack the hideous Basnet.

Although the transformation surprised Klaus, he stretched his arm and opened his hand. A huge black energy came from inside his body and attacked the wizard, who was thrown to the depths of the cave. The wolves ran toward Klaus, who turned himself in their direction, lifted his hand and cast a spell that made them stand still.

"Wake up, Fog of the Shadows," Klaus summoned his Doppelgänger.

The creature moved its arm and then its whole body was free from the spell cast by the mage, who was weak. Juan stood up, but was involved by a dark smoke that covered his body from his legs up to his neck, immobilizing him. After he was trapped for a few moments, the enemy celebrated as the albino wolf grunted in pain.