The Duel

With a sudden movement of his right fist he struck it with a fierce blow. A splatter of glowing, purple blood crossed the air in slow motion and landed on a nearby, demolished wall. Without questioning the gift, weary and thirsty concrete soaked up the substance with all enthusiasm it could muster. Steel rods growing out of the grey mass were flowers planted in a crashed clay pot. The liquid wasn't enough to bring them back to life. It was too late for that.

Soon after blood, a full body followed. It came in flying, having lost its balance and stopped at the concrete wall, tearing a portion of it in the process. The hit to the jaw was so clean it sent a few of the creature's many fangs plummeting down onto the floor like heavy raindrops before a storm.

Standing high at seven feet the creature's body was covered in dark grey husk with two insect-like arms arched downward growing out of its chest and another two connected to what humans refer to as shoulder blades, arched upward, creating a look similar to pincers. Such set of limbs had a considerable reach but limited maneuverability. The creature's head was darker than its arms and torso, looking almost black and similarly to its back it was covered with numerous small horns growing out of the skin. The head boasted a terrifying, elliptical jaw filled with fangs all around it, soaked in a mixture of saliva and purple blood. Above it, a set of three obsidian eyes formed a menacing triangle. The eyes were capable of looking in different directions giving the creature a certain advantage during combat. Possibly the only flaw in the creature's physique was its ability to maintain balance, which was connected to its unimpressive lower body. The torso was prolonged almost all the way down to the floor where a dozen feet was responsible for balancing out the stature and moving in a fluent manner. It caused the creature to possess a somewhat restricted pliability.

He knew about it and decided to take advantage of that fact. Throughout the duel he tried to outmaneuver the creature using dodging techniques and his innate celerity. He had to depend on his wits and use the knowledge of his surroundings well if he was to have any success in battle.

As the creature recovered its senses it let out sounds of modulated panting filled with anger and hate. It began to spew saliva all over the floor. Using its upper strength it stood up ready to charge at its opponent again. It focused its eyes at the man who was feeling signs of fatigue and suffered from fractured bones in his body. His ragged clothes were torn to shreds and fabrics were glued to his skin like leeches wherever there was an open wound.

The man reared back a bit awaiting the charge and preparing another swift and decisive strike. The creature's mad rage was unstoppable if it wasn't met with quick thinking and great agility. Fortunately for the man, he possessed both and as soon as the charge commenced, he jumped onto a pile of rubble and launched himself above creature's arms and drove his foot straight between its eyes. The creature lost its balance again and the man tumbled over broken furniture. Such maneuvers were starting to take its toll and he knew if he was to be victorious he had to end the fight sooner than later.

The creature sensed the man's vulnerable position and rolled over dealing a strike with its left arms piercing through his thigh. The man let out a terrifying scream, followed it by a stream of curse words. He managed to wrangle himself from underneath the creature's pin. He rolled over a few times gaining some distance and quickly torn his sleeve away in desperate attempt to close the wound. He tied a lousy knot and hid behind what was left of a wall. The creature shook its head and stood up leaving a pool of dense, purple blood on the ground right next to the dark red pool of the man's blood.

The man looked around and found one of the steel rods to be lying around separately from the concrete wall. At that moment in time, it looked like a blessed ancient sword forged to fight evil powers. He took it in his hands and sprinted, although heavily limited by his limp, toward ruined staircase. To his fortune, it was possible to jump over the gaps and climb onto another floor. The creature noticed his escape and looked up through the massive hole in the ceiling. It saw the man gasping for air and trying to recover what was left of his strength. The creature seemed to taunt the man angrily, inviting his attack. It clawed at the ceiling's edge trying to reach up. The man was preparing his next attack.

He could feel burning pain in all his muscles. He felt like he was going to boil and explode in millions of pieces, painting the ruined building like a mad impressionist. He examined his wounds and patched up some of them to stop as much blood loss as he was able to.

After a few minutes he was ready to strike again. Without taking much of a run he jumped onto the creature's shoulders, somehow avoiding claws and arms and in an instant stabbed the creature three times in the head, piercing through its armor. The creature let out a terrifying screech, a high-pitched sonic explosion that shattered remaining glass pieces and completely deafened the man. While the man struggled to remove the rod from the creature's head in order to plunge it again, he found himself fighting for balance. The creature began to whirlwind desperately and furiously filled with pain and blood craze, flailing its arms, cutting the man's flesh. Both of them were screaming in their own voices creating a dreadful song. The man was torn between clinging onto the steel rod, risking further injuries or letting go and facing unexpected outcome. The steel rod was glowing purple from the creature's blood and it finally slid out causing the man to be sent flying on the wall. The breaking of bones was audible and the man fell onto the floor, face in the ground. He coughed up blood and shook his head in attempt to remove mist and dizziness from his sight. He was covered in a mixture of dust and blood, both purple and red.

Meanwhile, the creature was still screeching, clawing at its own eyes, ineffectually covering the holes where the rod pierced its husk like a sailor trying to stop the leaking in his ship. It was rocking back and forth, side to side, being close to falling and then regaining balance. It wasn't fully aware of its surroundings as it neared the edge of the building ever closer and closer.

The man looked up and noticed the creature facing him and having a long distance down due to the lack of a wall behind it. It was now or never for both of them. The creature almost overcame the pain but still looked confused and was blinded by severe blood flow like a purple curtain over a window. The man held onto the remnants of his strength and managed to recover himself. He was barely standing up, leaning on over his knees with tremendous effort he took a deep breath and filled with adrenaline rushed forward without feeling any pain. The creature noticed him and tried to defend itself but just before facing the creature's outstretched arms the man slid onto the floor and with all his power and momentum he pierced the creature's torso, pushing it over the edge. He was unable to stop himself from following the creature's trajectory and was now descending toward their demise. He wasn't losing hope yet as he clung onto the steel rod, thinking he could still be saved by falling onto the creature's body.

A hollow sound of a heavy drop hitting the surface filled the air for a prolonged second. A cloud of dust rose up atop of a pile of rubble like wild animals flushed out into the open. After a long while it slowly began to thin its ranks, calming down and lying down politely, revealing two bodies stacked on top of each other. A pool of red and purple joined like yin and yang served as a grim floor bed. There were no signs of life, no movement, no hope, until something, someone let out a quiet groan…