The vocier moved a claw, and Draven watched the joint. This time he did not try to remember which attack came next; he simply looked.
The shoulder rose, the limb angled to one side, and the creature’s weight shifted onto its hind legs.
’Horizontal.’
Draven dropped low, letting the claw pass over his head, and advanced at once.
One dagger scored another cut while the second struck the opposite leg, and Draven was already gone before the tail could reach him.
"That was better."
Taliah said.
"Focus on the monster."
"I am focused."
The vocier attacked again, and Draven stopped thinking about the game and instead recalled his training.
Yruza had never allowed him to rely on a single response; during their sessions she constantly changed her attacks.
Taliah did the same, and for eight years he had taken the hits precisely to learn that.
See the enemy, not what you expect it to do, but only the enemy itself.
Draven partially blocked a claw with both daggers and used the impact to push himself away.
The vocier followed, so Draven retreated into the shadow of one of the trees and vanished.
Taliah’s eyes widened slightly.
Draven emerged from another shadow several meters farther away, and the vocier spun at once.
That was another ability of the Shadows of the Forgotten: the wielder could use nearby shadows to move between them.
The distance depended on several factors and it could not be used indefinitely, yet the mana cost remained surprisingly low.
Draven slipped into a shadow again and appeared behind the vocier.
He cut one leg, vanished, appeared on the other side, scored another cut, and the monster tried to catch him with its tail, but Draven was already gone.
He appeared in front of Taliah, who looked at him.
"I’ll admit that’s useful."
"Extremely useful."
"Now I understand why you wanted those daggers."
Draven did not answer.
In truth that was not everything, for the Shadows of the Forgotten possessed a third ability, and probably the most dangerous one.
They allowed the wielder to attack an enemy’s shadow directly.
If the user possessed a greater amount of mana than the target, the enemy could be temporarily immobilized, but the problem was rather obvious.
Draven had far less mana than the vocier, at least for now.
The monster attacked them again, and Taliah stepped forward.
The sword she carried was also an S-rank relic that had belonged to the Valdegrim family for generations.
Draven knew the weapon perfectly.
While equipped it raised all of the user’s primary attributes, strength, speed, endurance, magical capacity, and control.
It did not automatically turn anyone into an extraordinary warrior, but in the hands of someone like Taliah the difference was considerable.
Its main ability, however, was something else.
"Taliah."
"I know."
She raised the sword, letting mana flow along the blade until an intense light appeared.
The vocier looked straight at her, and Taliah activated the ability, causing the light to flare suddenly.
The monster let out a roar and closed its eyes for three seconds, during which it could see absolutely nothing.
"Now!"
Draven entered a shadow and appeared behind the monster.
He inflicted the first wound, changed position, and on the second the vocier began swinging its tail without knowing where he was.
Draven avoided the attack while dealing the third and fourth wounds.
"One!"
Taliah shouted as Draven moved under a limb and scored the fifth wound.
"Two!"
He drove both daggers into its side and pulled them free at once.
"Three!"
Draven vanished, and the vocier’s eyes began working again; the tail smashed the place where he had been.
Draven stepped out of a shadow beside Taliah, who asked him,
"How long can you keep doing that?"
"Depends."
The vocier roared, but its breathing was already changing, heavier and more frequent.
Draven observed the wounds; each one continued to drain mana.
"It’s working."
Taliah noticed it as well.
"Is it losing enough yet?"
"It still has a lot."
"Then we keep going."
The vocier began another charge.
This time Draven did not advance; he waited to see the complete movement.
Taliah leapt to one side while Draven went the other way, yet the creature turned faster than expected and tried to strike Taliah.
She blocked with the sword and the impact sent her sliding several meters.
"Taliah, are you all right?"
"Yes, I’m fine."
"Stop saying that every time you go flying."
"When I’m not fine, I’ll let you know."
The creature opened its mouth again, and Draven saw the mana gathering; he smiled.
"Let it."
Taliah looked at him.
"What?"
"Let it attack."
"Wasn’t that dangerous?"
"It is."
"Excellent plan."
The blast was unleashed; both of them avoided it, and an enormous amount of mana vanished with that single attack.
Draven could feel it through the daggers, the weapons were reacting more and more.
The vocier released another wave around its body and then tried to reinforce its limbs.
Draven understood what he had to do.
"We have to force it to keep using abilities."
Taliah deflected another blow.
"Why?"
"To empty it faster."
"And after that?"
Draven looked at the monster’s shadow and concentrated a small amount of mana into the right dagger.
The shadow reacted only slightly, but it reacted.
"After that I immobilize it."
Taliah turned toward him.
"You can do that?"
"Once I have more mana than it does."
Taliah glanced briefly at the monster and then smiled.
"I understand."
She advanced.
"Let’s go!"
The vocier roared and followed her, and Taliah began fighting far more aggressively.
She used the sword head-on, blocking, deflecting, counterattacking, and every strike was accompanied by mana reinforcement.
Her strength and technique allowed her to confront the monster directly, while Draven, by contrast, moved around both of them.
He entered, cut, retreated, vanished among shadows, returned from another angle, and never stayed in the same place too long.
One dagger scored another cut along its side; the vocier tried to reach him, but Draven disappeared and Taliah struck the joint of one of its legs.
The creature used mana to reinforce it.
"More."
Draven said.
"More what?"
"Make it angry."
Taliah struck again.
"That I can do."
The vocier opened its mouth for a new blast.
Draven smiled, and both of them dodged it, causing another considerable amount of mana to vanish.
The creature’s breathing grew much heavier.
Draven concentrated energy on his dagger once more, looked at the shadow, and this time it deformed considerably.
"Almost."
"How much longer?"
"Not much."
Taliah fell back until she stood beside him.
The vocier slowly lowered its head, and Draven watched the horns; mana was beginning to gather again.
He did not assume it was about to charge; he waited, and the grooves on the horns started to glow.
"It’s going to launch rocks."
"You sure?"
"This time, yes."
They both moved as the vocier slammed the ground and several stones shot outward.
Taliah shattered one, Draven dodged another, and the third passed between them.
Draven felt something in the daggers; he stopped, looked at the blades, then at the vocier’s shadow.
The response was different.
"It’s ready."
Taliah looked at him.
"What?"
"I have more now."
The vocier roared.
Draven observed the accumulated wounds, then the leg Taliah had damaged several times, and finally looked at the neck.
He already knew the answer.
"Taliah."
She approached.
"What’s the plan?"
"We keep forcing it to spend a little more."
"Fine."
"After that I’ll use its shadow to immobilize it."
Taliah glanced at her sword.
"And me?"
"You use the blindness so it can’t move or see."
She looked at the monster’s neck and understood at once.
"Three seconds is enough."
"I hope so."
Taliah settled back into a combat stance as the vocier began to advance.
Draven gripped the Shadows of the Forgotten tightly while the creature roared and started running toward them.
Taliah raised her sword as Draven moved toward the nearest shadow, knowing that at last they were going to defeat it.