Morgan didn’t intend to take the Urghat leader’s charge head-on. He moved into The Crane Defends the Nest, channeling Energy into his limbs. When the massive brute came roaring into range, swinging his six-foot-long saber, Morgan glided backward and to the side fluidly, like a ribbon blowing ahead of a breeze. He swung his own sword in an upward angled parry, using the Urghat’s momentum to fuel his movement away. The Overclaw roared in frustration and fury, and the volume and rage in the sound had a palpable effect. Morgan could feel a lethargic weight enter his limbs as if he should just drop his weapon and fall to his knees. He focused on his earlier rage at the sight of the militia members getting slaughtered, and with a genuine effort of will, he shook off the feeling.

“Morgan!” He spared a quick glance for Issa, who had run up to the scene and was looking at him expectantly, her rapier in hand.

“Help Bronwyn!” He would have appreciated an assist against the Overclaw, but Bronwyn had been fighting a defensive battle, barely keeping the two large Urghat at bay. Issa nodded and ran back into the smoke, making her way around the edge of the hill toward the sounds of the other battle. In the bare seconds it took to convey his message to Issa, Spineripper had turned and was moving toward him again. This time he moved more slowly, a low rumbling growl rolling out of his grimacing maw.

“You fight like a bug. I will water the grass with your juices.” As he spoke, Morgan could see the Urghat’s chest start to heave, and then he took a huge breath. Morgan didn’t need a degree in Urghat studies to know he was about to scream another roar at him, so he decided not to stand in front of him. He activated Hollow Charge, angling his movement to the left side of the Urghat and aiming a sideways slash at the spot where the Spineripper’s breastplate met some kind of chain armor over his stomach.

Morgan had fought fast enemies before, and he was prepared to have his attack thwarted by some mystical ability or speed, but he was pleasantly surprised that, as he flashed forward, the Urghat seemed to be moving in molasses. He could see him start to swing toward him, but Morgan knew the attack would be far too slow. He tore over the grass, and his razor-edged sword connected with the Overclaw’s stomach with devastating force, parting the links of chain armor like they were made of plastic and ripping a deep furrow in the Overclaw’s belly and side. Morgan continued moving forward at the end of his charge, narrowly avoiding the backswing of the Urghat’s attempt to cleave him in half.

Spineripper roared again, but this time it had little effect on Morgan. He simply shrugged off the lethargic effect and continued to circle his enemy, sword held in a low guard, waiting to see what he would do. As he moved, sidestepping, he was startled to see that another circle of Urghat was forming around him and Spineripper. Some of the onlookers held shields and were rhythmically pounding their weapons against them. Slowly, a crowd of stunned-looking Humans was gathering on the hillside. They had weapons ready and looked shell-shocked, but they were warily watching the Urghat, who, in turn, were watching Morgan and Spineripper. Morgan wanted to marvel at the strange scene, but Spineripper had other plans for his attention, swinging long, heavy cleaves at him. With his large deficit in strength and reach, Morgan was forced to move backward, lightly parrying Spineripper’s cleaves at their apex. He knew if he tried to meet one of those saber strikes mid-swing, he’d run the risk of having his sword ripped from his hands.

Morgan had to arc his back-peddling in a semi-circle to avoid running into the surrounding ring of Urghat. Still, he didn’t have much trouble avoiding Spineripper’s deadly but slow and predictable swings. After dodging another flurry of blows that seemed to rip the air and tore into the turf, Morgan launched his own barrage, slipping into The Crane Flutters its Wings. With his form fueled by Energy, Morgan brought his sword down and across in a series of cuts that parted the air in glowing shockwaves. The Overclaw was too slow to parry the first blow, which slid along his right vambrace and tore into his arm at the elbow joint. The Urghat blocked Morgan’s second slash with his bracer, roaring and jerking his arm upward. Morgan was moving forward with Energy-fueled speed, trying to angle to the Urghat’s side. At the same time, he swung, and his next two terrible slashes connected with Spineripper’s side and then, finally, carved a deep furrow down his meaty back, slicing through chain armor.

Spineripper stumbled forward, dropping his sword and panting, bloody saliva dripping from his huge mouth. Morgan, for a moment, thought the fight was over, but then a red glow suffused the Urghat’s entire body, and he arched his back, roaring into the sky with such volume that the onlookers fell back, some dropping to their knees. Morgan didn’t know what was happening, but he wanted to stop it, so he charged toward Spineripper’s back, aiming to impale his blade into his kidney. Just as the tip of his sword bit into the Urghat, a flash of red Energy billowed forth from the Overclaw, catching Morgan up in its passage, sending him sprawling into the grass.

Morgan looked up from the ground, somewhat dazed, to see Spineripper slowly turn toward him. He seemed taller, lankier, and his clawed hands had elongated with foot-long razor-edged talons nearly dragging on the ground. Spineripper’s eyes had become red, fiery orbs, and he laughed in a gurgling roar, striding toward Morgan with renewed vigor and speed.

****

Issa hurried through the smoke and carnage, following the sounds of combat. She was surprised to find Urghat, not fighting but rather pressed into a crowd, jockeying for a better view of, what Issa presumed, was Bronwyn’s battle. They seemed to be ignoring her, and Issa made her way around the crowd, trying to find an opening to get closer. She was shocked to see some other Ardeni and Humans also gathering. It seemed that some sort of mutual agreement to stop fighting while the duels took place had been met. Issa knew that Urghat valued individual combat, and Ardeni would recognize a duel when they saw one, but she was surprised the Humans had stopped fighting and shooting. Maybe the shock of the combat and the hundreds of deaths had taken the taste for blood out of their mouths, at least while the Urghat stayed their hands.

She found a section of the circle mostly made up of Ardeni and Humans, and she began to push her way through. Not many Ardeni had any size on her, not since she’d upgraded her race in the Crucible, and they deferred to her when they saw who she was. The Humans didn’t fight much against her either as she pushed through, and soon she was standing on the edge of the ring and could see Bronwyn struggling against the two burly, heavily armored Urghat.

Bronwyn was on the defensive, clearly faster than either Urghat, but unable to push her advantage in speed because each time she tried to attack one of them, the other would start to flank her. She was constantly on her back foot, forced to block and dodge. Bronwyn’s fists were huge and seemed to be harder than armor as she smacked their weapons aside. Issa looked at the crowd, and, using her Battle Chant voice, she yelled, “How is this a duel? Two versus one? Have Urghat no honor?” Her voice ripped through the sounds of the melee and over the clamor of the crowd, and the Urghat quieted, looking in her direction. One of the big Urghat fighting Bronwyn backed off a step and also looked at her.

“Bah, this false Underclaw stands with our enemy, and it was she that challenged us!”

“Still, there are two of you! Why not take turns? Do you fear to fight her alone?” As she spoke, Issa watched Bronwyn and saw her glance her way, clearly glad for the short respite. She seemed able to easily avoid the attacks of the single opponent still pressing her.

“Quiet, wench! We’ll deal with you when we’re done with this false Underclaw!” The Urghat turned and began to move back toward Bronwyn.

“What’s your name, beast, that I might know what to call the fool that just challenged me?” The Urghat stopped in its tracks and looked at Issa, a malevolent glare entering its eyes. “You all heard him, right? Here he fights an unfair duel, and he challenged me when I called him out. Shall I not enter the fray?” The Ardeni and Humans started to stamp their feet and shout their agreement. The Urghat, not wanting to look afraid, also started to bang their shields.

“Alright, blue bitch! Come and fight Carnage, first Underclaw of Spineripper. Come, be meat under my axe!” He whipped his massive cleaver-like axe back and forth, evoking snapping, whooshing sounds where it parted the air. Issa only smiled and activated Haste, gliding like a beam of light over the ground to stand shoulder to shoulder with Bronwyn.

“Welcome to the fun,” Bronwyn said with a sideways glance.

“My pleasure, now, get ready.” Issa, holding her rapier out toward the two Urghat coming toward them menacingly, placed her left hand on Bronwyn’s shoulder and channeled a fresh Haste into her. Bronwyn’s eyes widened, and then she burst forward in a blur, slapping her opponent’s sword aside and unleashing a flurry of devastating punches into his stomach and groin. He tried to react, but it was like watching a honeysipper attack a buldorii. Even with her Haste, she wasn’t immune to damage, and the other Urghat was finally within range to pose a threat, so Issa darted forward, engaging him with a series of feints and jabs. His clumsy swings with his giant cleaver were easy to dodge, and Issa dodged sideways, forcing him to turn away from Bronwyn and her foe. Then she began a true Battle Chant, her voice becoming loud and discordant, raising the hackles of all who witnessed its eerie sound. Her yellow-gold eyes started to change to deep violet, and a black mist spread into the air around her. She poured her Energy into it and started to feel the strength flow into her limbs, and she knew Bronwyn could feel it also. Conversely, the Urghat’s eyes widened, and his swings became even slower.

Issa slowly backed up, maintaining her barrage of thrusts and feints. As she created distance between herself and Bronwyn, she could see, behind the Urghat’s back, Bronwyn begin to take apart her opponent. Her fists landed with loud wet crunches as she circled the sword-wielding Urghat. Issa could see that Bronwyn’s strikes were destroying the creature even through his plate armor. Issa turned her full attention to her enemy and gave him a wicked smile as her disturbing chant continued to lay a heavy pall over the combat ring. Then, the moment she’d waited for came as her haste spell came off cooldown again, and she erupted into action.

Issa flashed around the side of the Urghat, burying her rapier into his side and back. Over and over, she stabbed him. He struggled to turn, but Issa just kept circling him, easily twice as fast as he was. Her Haste spell was at the improved level, and she could keep it running for a full ten seconds. In that time, she stabbed the Urghat Underclaw twelve times. Issa backed off when she felt the tell-tale lengthening of her breaths and pounding of her heart, watching the Urghat slowly realize that it was dying.

She looked over to see Bronwyn standing over the broken corpse of her enemy. Then she saw that the circle was dispersing, and, with dirty looks for each other, the different peoples were moving toward the only remaining sounds of combat - Morgan was still fighting the Overclaw. Motes of Energy were flowing toward her and Bronwyn as she heard a screaming roar that threatened to stop her heart. Bronwyn looked at her, eyes wide, and shouted, “Let’s go!”

****

Morgan scrambled to his feet as Spineripper charged. He’d just managed to plant his back foot and bring his sword up when the brute was upon him. No longer swinging one giant blade, the Overclaw came at him, swinging both taloned hands. The flurry of strikes was too much for Morgan to keep up with; he managed to parry the first couple of strikes but soon found himself backpedaling, desperately trying to keep his blade between himself and those slicing claws. Before he could fall into his Crane Defends the Nest form, one of those sets of talons got around his guard and raked across his chest and stomach. Morgan was stunned to see his armor held up; the heavy metal scales were scored but not cut through. Then he activated his defensive form, and his blade was suddenly able to parry far more slashes. He waved his sword back and forth almost with no effort, repelling the frenzied, slashing attacks.

Spineripper grew more and more frustrated, finally giving up all semblance of strategy or thought, and simply rushed Morgan, barreling into him and pulling him to the ground. Morgan knew he couldn’t survive long pinned beneath the gnashing clawing Urghat that had to weigh close to five hundred pounds. Even as he fell backward, he began to channel Azure Burst, and when his back hit the turf and he felt the Urghat’s weight begin to settle on him, he unleashed it. Blue light filled his vision as the force of the spell erupted out of him, directed by the ground beneath him. The full force roared upward into the massive Urghat, ripping him away from Morgan and into the air. Morgan rolled to the side, onto one knee, and then stood, taking stock of the aftermath.

Spineripper was rolling in the grass about twenty feet from him; the circle of onlookers had turned into a massive crowd. Urghat swarmed one side, out toward the gate, and the colonists and Ardeni made up the other half, spread out for hundreds of feet and all the way up the side of the Colony Stone hillside. Morgan didn’t know how they’d come to agree to stop fighting and mutually watch the combat, but he was glad - as long as they weren’t fighting, more people weren’t dying. He turned back to Spineripper and saw that he’d stopped rolling and begun to get to his feet. He moved in a jerking, faltering manner, and when he turned to regard him, Morgan could see why: much of his face was burned away, down to the bone, but the baleful red eyes persisted, and though Morgan was sure he’d burned him elsewhere, the beast’s armor obscured the damage.

Spineripper let out another terrible roar, the flesh around his jaws parting while he screamed into the air. The crowd grew quieter, backing up a step, but the cry no longer had any effect on Morgan, and he used Hollow Charge to close the distance, unleashing another Crane Flutters its Wings. The sudden attack, during his howl, caught Spineripper off guard, and he belatedly brought his claws up to block Morgan’s series of cleaves. It turned out the lengthening of Spineripper’s limbs during his transformation was a double-edged sword: his arms were no longer fully encased in his plate armor. Morgan used his heightened dexterity to make minute adjustments to the trajectory of his blade, aiming for the gaps. His first two cleaves sparked against talons or armor, but his third one bit through flesh and bone, rendering Spineripper’s left arm useless. Morgan yanked his blade free and pulled back, interrupting his combo.

Spineripper howled again and turned, rampaging back toward the circle of Urghat, swinging his good arm against their shields. Morgan could only guess what Spineripper was thinking - was he trying to flee? Was he driven mad by pain and rage? In any case, the Urghat didn’t break but held their shields up, forcing the weakened Overclaw to turn back toward Morgan. Morgan, for his part, dropped his blade into The Crane Forages, sliding over the ground toward the beast-man. Spineripper’s mad eyes darted around, looking from one edge of the circle to the other, then he roared and, like a rabid grizzly bear, charged at Morgan again. Morgan was ready, his footwork perfect, and his sword like liquid lightning as it rose to slip, point-first, over the top lip of the Urghat’s breastplate into his neck. Morgan rode the charge, backing up enough to avoid the frenzied claw attack. Then he sidestepped, twisted his sword, and yanked it to the side, cutting through half of the Urghat’s neck. Blood fountained from the wound, and the titan collapsed with a ground-shaking thud.

With hoots and howls, the horde of Urghat, as one, turned and started to flee, streaming through the gate and into the night. The colonists and the Ardeni cheered, firing bows and muskets after the fleeing horde. Morgan felt a warm hand slip into his, and he looked down to see Issa smiling up at him. Another hand clapped him on the back, and Bronwyn said, “Nice fucking fight! I think we broke their Ur-clan. I don’t think we’ll have trouble from them for a very long time.” Morgan was about to respond when a massive torrent of Energy transfixed him.

***Congratulations! You’ve achieved level 20 Hollow Guard. You have gained 10 Strength, 10 Will, 8 Vitality, 8 Intelligence, and 6 Agility.***

***Level 20 Class refinement is available. Class refinement is permanent. Human Energy cultivators will next be offered a Class refinement selection at level 30. To view your options and make your selection, access the menu through your status page.***

“Did you level? Bronwyn and I did!” Issa’s voice was thick with excitement and emotion.

“Yeah, twice, in fact.”

“How’s that fair?” Bronwyn laughed, but Morgan’s reply was drowned out by the cheering jostling crowd as they closed in around the trio. Musket shots continued in the distance, and Morgan almost felt sorry for the fleeing Urghat, but then, they had come here to eat everyone, so he didn’t allow his sympathy to venture too far.