30 Battle

"Brongr, watch out!", Raven yelled as she rushed towards the big man.

But the beast was already on top of Brongr.

The latter had dropped his sword and tried to keep the beast's sharp teeth away from his throat. Suddenly the beast became limp.

Looking up, Brongr saw Raven standing beside him with her sword buried in the beast's side.

"Are you alright?", she asked as she pulled her sword free.

"I'm fine, lassie", Brongr assured her.

He kicked the beast's dead body off of him and took the hand Raven was offering him. She helped him get back on his feet as a smile touched her lips.

"Then let's get back to it", she said as she gave the big man a quick pat on the shoulder before turning around.

Raven lunged at the first beast to enter her sight.

The beast saw her movements and jumped backwards just in time to avoid her blade. Standing opposite of the Shadow Beast, Raven decided to taunt it as she took in a defensive stand.

"You poor beast, so ugly… no wonder Beastie would send you to do his dirty work", she launched her verbal attack on the beast.

The Shadow Beast growled in response and bared its teeth, ready to rip Raven apart. But before Raven or the beast could react, the dead body of one of the pack leaders fell between them. Both Raven and the beast stared at the carcass for a few seconds.

Raven looked back up and shifted her feet a bit uncomfortable. Her eyes met the black ones. She could almost see the shock and rage brimming in the beast's eyes.

"I was not the cause of that", Raven quickly said.

The beast lunged at Raven.

She jumped backwards, slicing at the beast. The blade dragged across the beast's belly, wounding it deeply. The beast fell to the ground, immobilized for a few seconds.

And that few seconds was all Raven needed.

She jumped into the air, her sword raised above her head with the blade facing downwards. As soon as her feet touched the ground, Raven used the force of her fall and thrust the sword down and into the beast's chest, piercing its heart.

She stood back up and pulled her sword free. She glanced around and her eyes fell on one of the pack leaders. She charged forward, her sword readied. The beast spotted Raven and in turn, charged at her.

Seeing the beast charging at her, Raven grabbed her sword with both hands. When she was close enough, Raven suddenly stopped. She extended her left leg to the side and shifted her weight to her right leg as she bent it slightly.

When the beast was within range of her sword, Raven swung the sword at the beast, shifting her weight in the process to her left leg as she used the force of the shift to add to the power of her attack.

But before her sword could reach its destination, the beast was suddenly flung to the side when a ball of silver mist struck it from the side.

Raven didn't see the incoming attack on the beast and couldn't stop her blow. The force of her swing that struck nothing but air, made Raven lose her balance. She stumbled forward and fell on her knees. Stunned at what had just happened, she glanced at the dead beast. She stood up and turned around, searching for the source of the attack. Finally spotting the white-haired man standing not far from her, she yelled at him.

"Hey! Why did you do that! I had that one!".

"You're welcome", Axil yelled back.

"You just made me waste my energy on nothing!", Raven continued as she walked towards him.

A beast charged at her from the side.

Raven spotted the beast and her reflexes kicked in.

She fell down on her side the same moment the beast jumped at her. She rolled over on her back and as the beast passed over her, she thrust her sword deep into its chest. The beast tumbled headfirst to the ground, landing on its back. Raven, who had held on to her sword, got pulled up by the force of the beast's fall. Regaining her balance, Raven turned her attention to the sword as she continued to scold Axil.

"You'd better hope that these beasts kill you before I do!", she said as she struggled to get the sword free.

Axil on the other hand, only stood in silence, watching Raven with an amused look on his face.

Finally pulling her sword free, Raven looked up and saw the amused look on the white-haired man's face.

"You think it's funny?! ", she yelled indignantly as she resumed her march towards Axil.

"Not funny no…just…comical…", he said with a smirk.

Raven, irked by the look on Axil's face, glared at him.

"You…", she hissed as she lifted her sword threateningly, earning her a chuckle from the white-haired man.

"A little bit ay help 'ere!", Brongr's voice made both Axil and Raven's heads snap towards him.

Brongr was surrounded by Shadow beasts. He had his one sword buried into the skull of a beast as he was fighting off three others who were attacking him simultaneously.

Raven was about to rush to his aid when a hand on her arm suddenly stopped her.

"Let me handle this one", Axil said as he moved forward.

Raven scoffed. {"Does he seriously think that I'm going to stand back and watch?"} , she thought defiantly.

She scoffed again and charged forward. Axil was stunned when he saw Raven charged past him.

"You crazy woman!", he mumbled to himself as he watched her lunge at the first beast to enter her sight.

Raven plunged the sword deep into the beast heart. She pulled the blade free and slashed at the next beast, not spotting the beast charging towards her.

Axil suddenly appeared beside her and grabbed her hand the held the sword. He redirected her strike to the side and Raven felt the blade sinking into the flesh of a Shadow Beast. And then suddenly, the hand that had guided hers, was gone.

Stunned, Raven looked at the dead beast at her feet, her sword buried up to the hilt in its chest.

A snarl pulled her from her daze and she swirled around to see a beast charging towards her. Realising that she won't be able to pull her sword free in time, Raven reached for the dagger at her ankle. She grabbed hold of the hilt and pulled it from its scabbard…only, there was no dagger.

Raven glanced down and saw the empty scabbard strapped to her leg. {"But how…?"} , she thought as she looked up at the beast the approaching beast.

It lunged at her and Raven desperately reached for her sword, trying to pull it free in one last attempt.

Axil suddenly appeared in front of the beast. In a split second, he thrust the dagger into the beast's skull and disappeared again. Raven moved out of the way just in time to avoid the dead beast tumbling to the ground.

Once again she was stunned.

She looked at the two dead beasts and then she glanced over to where Brongr stood. She saw the big man standing, frozen on the spot, with his sword still stuck in a dead Shadow beast.

Raven glanced around, seeing Axil appear for a second, stabbing a Shadow Beast with her dagger and then disappearing again, only to reappear and repeat everything until there were no more beasts left.

Raven suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, turning her around. She nearly screamed but once she saw who it was, her voice died in her throat.

"Are you alright?", Axil asked as he worriedly looked at the slightly pale and stunned Raven.