The demonic Vocier roared again, but Draven did not move right away. He waited, and the creature began to charge toward them.
Taliah gripped her sword with both hands.
"Now?"
"A little longer."
"Draven."
"Trust me."
The Vocier closed in and Draven watched its mana continue to drain.
The wounds inflicted by the Shadows of the Forgotten were still doing their work.
Every second, every slash and every skill the creature used was reducing its reserves, but Draven did not want to risk it too soon.
The Vocier opened its mouth and dark mana began to gather inside. Draven smiled.
"That’s it."
The blast shot forward and both of them leapt to opposite sides, the attack tearing through several trees.
Draven felt the difference immediately. The daggers reacted, and this time there was no doubt.
The Vocier’s reserves had dropped below his own.
"Now!"
Draven drove one of the daggers into the ground, distorting the Vocier’s shadow.
The creature tried to keep advancing, but it could not. All four limbs locked in place.
The Vocier roared and tried to move its head. That would not respond either. Draven took the chance to give the signal.
"Taliah!"
She was already running while Draven kept one hand on the dagger.
The shadow control was working, but he could also feel the resistance. The Vocier still had considerable strength, which meant the effect would not last long.
Taliah raised her sword.
"This’ll be quick."
The blade began to glow.
The Vocier could not move, and it could not look away from her either.
The light intensified as the skill activated. The monster shut its eyes and let out another roar.
’Three seconds.’
Draven clenched his teeth. The shadow control was starting to weaken.
"One!"
Taliah reached the creature but did not strike immediately. Instead she moved to one of its flanks.
"Two!"
She looked for the opening they had discovered during the fight.
The scales on its neck were thinner near the joint connecting the head to the torso. Taliah raised the sword.
The Vocier began to regain mobility.
"Three!"
The sword came down. The blow punched through the scales, dark blood spilling from the wound.
The Vocier roared in pain.
Draven lost control of the shadow. The creature swung one of its legs. Taliah tried to pull the sword free, but she was not fast enough. The claw struck her.
Taliah was sent flying.
"Taliah!"
Draven yanked the dagger from the ground.
The Vocier tried to chase her, but Draven slipped into a shadow, vanished, and reappeared beside the creature.
He drove both daggers in near the wound Taliah had opened. The Vocier whipped around violently.
Draven disappeared before it could reach him and emerged from another shadow behind it.
The Vocier lashed its tail. Draven dodged.
"Taliah."
She was already getting up several meters away.
"I’m fine."
Draven sighed.
"You ever going to stop saying that?"
"When I’m dead."
The wound on its neck was still bleeding, proof the attack had worked, but it was not enough.
The Vocier was weakened, not dead. Taliah moved back to Draven’s side.
"Can you pin it again?"
"Not right now."
"Perfect."
"I need it to lose more strength."
"Then we keep going."
The Vocier was breathing hard. Its movements had grown less precise, and there was something else.
’It’s desperate.’
Draven recognized it.
Wounded creatures were more dangerous because they stopped worrying about conserving energy.
The Vocier opened its mouth again and dark mana began to gather.
"It’s going to fire again."
"That’s better, right?"
"..."
The amount of energy was much greater.
Draven watched its neck, its chest, its horns. All of the creature’s mana was being concentrated.
’It’s using too much.’
The blast erupted. Draven slipped into a shadow while Taliah reinforced her legs and leapt.
The attack slammed into the ground, the explosion kicking up earth and stone alike.
Draven emerged from another shadow.
"Taliah."
"I know."
The Vocier had gone still for an instant after using the attack. That was the opening.
Taliah ran. Draven did the same.
Taliah attacked from the right, Draven from the left. The Vocier tried to swipe with a claw, but Taliah deflected it with her sword and Draven slipped underneath.
One dagger sliced the leg. The second struck the abdomen.
The creature tried to turn, but Taliah hit the neck wound again while Draven vanished into the shadows and reappeared behind it.
He drove a dagger into one of the joints of its hind legs. The creature lost its balance, and Taliah understood.
"Down!"
Draven threw himself to the side. Taliah swept her sword in a horizontal arc. The blade struck the same spot on the neck, this time cutting far deeper.
The Vocier collapsed onto one of its legs.
Draven looked at the shadow. The daggers reacted again.
"Taliah!"
"Can you?"
"Yes."
Draven drove a dagger into the shadow. The Vocier locked up, and this time the resistance was far weaker. The creature barely had any strength left.
Taliah drew a deep breath as mana flowed through her arms, then her legs, and finally the sword.
Draven looked up.
"Do it."
Taliah ran.
The Vocier opened its mouth, but no blast came out.
Taliah leapt, twisted her body, and brought the sword down on the neck wound.
The first strike had opened it. The second had deepened it. The third finished the job.
The Vocier let out a low sound as its body shuddered, then collapsed.
Draven pulled the dagger from the shadow.
The creature hit the ground, making the earth tremble slightly. For several seconds neither of them spoke.
Taliah was breathing hard. So was Draven. Both of them stared at the Vocier, which was no longer moving.
Taliah slowly raised her sword.
"That should’ve killed it."
Draven did not answer. He moved closer.
"Draven?"
"I’m checking."
"I just cut its throat."
"And I’ve seen enemies survive worse."
Taliah looked at him.
"Where?"
Draven stopped.
"Training."
"Sure."
He knelt beside the creature.
No breathing. No movement. Draven brought one of his daggers close. Nothing.
The Shadows of the Forgotten no longer reacted. There was no mana circulating.
"It’s dead."
Taliah let out a breath.
"Good."
She sheathed her sword.
"Because I really didn’t feel like doing all that again."
Draven made the daggers disappear as well.
"Neither did I."
Taliah looked at the massive body, then at the destruction around them.
Broken trees, cracked stones, churned earth, and multiple scars left by mana attacks.
"All this just to get into the academy."
Draven sat on a nearby rock.
"When you put it like that it sounds ridiculous."
"Because it is."
"Some people just have to take exams."
"Exactly."
"There’s also a chance you don’t get in."
Taliah crossed her arms.
"You almost took a rock to the chest to skip an exam."
"And you almost got skewered by a tail."
"I came because someone had to keep you from dying."
"How generous."
"You’re welcome."
Draven let out a quiet laugh, proving there was no more danger... or so they thought.