Shadows Gave Chase

 Hiding behind a building, Avis was concentrating on what was after him.

 Rough shapes of summoned weapons and creature limbs were jumping from rooftop to rooftop, but they had a clear goal for him.

 He started running again, shadows were appearing left and right of him, and sometimes he found his body changing directions towards one of them, he quickly corrected himself as he could feel their energy, but that only meant that he could not let go of his eyes.

 Murmurs were coming from them as they realized the power they used wouldn't work, so they resorted to other methods.

 Two daggers were thrown at Avis' feet, neither missed as they cut into his calf.

 "Argh!.." That however didn't stop Avis, the daggers were quickly pushed out by the regenerating power of his body, and soon he ran at full speed again, realizing he was approaching the town's gate.

 'Damn, this is exactly what they want! To get me into the forest so they can quietly dispose of me! But I have no choice, there are at least twenty of them!'

 The chase went on, Avis slipped by the guard at the gate, and only forest was in front of him. Focused his eyes, trying to find any trace of leftover spirit energy, but no such thing was present.

 "Agth!" He was tripped by a rope, falling to the ground.

 His chasers were quick to catch up as they surrounded him.

 Avis was now backed up against a tree, sword in hand.

 "He looks pretty normal to me…" One of the men said.

 "It's not what's outside that is different, but what is beneath." A woman responded.

 "Why are you doing this?!" Avis questioned.

 "Silence." A pure wave of energy was released by a man, and both sides didn't dare to speak another word. "Goliath, kill the monster."

 At the man's order, a giant man came out from behind the foliage. He wore thick armor and brandished an enormous axe that Avis wasn't sure he could even lift.

 "Are you sure I'm the real monster?"

 "Grugh…" The man grunted, years of battles and injuries affecting his jaw as it remained tightly locked.

 He raised his axe, then brought it down on Avis.

 As he was about to dodge the slow-moving strike, his side was hit with a dagger, slowing his reaction as the axe grazed his arm, cutting a chunk out.

 "Argh!... You bastards! You are cowards, you can't even beat a child without cheating!"

 "..." The leader was silent.

 "I have a proposition! If I beat this bastard, you let me go, otherwise, you kill me! So, how ab…"

"No, carry on, Goliath." The man didn't let Avis speak, he wasn't foolish enough to give him any chance to get away.

 Another strike was thrown at Avis, he managed to dodge the axe, but another dagger was stabbed into his back, puncturing one of his lungs.

 *COUGH* *COUGH* Blood was flowing like rivers from Avis' body at the unrelenting strikes, but just as they appeared, others closed up, even so, he felt his energy being drained, his healing slowed down, his mind began to slip, even with his healing, the blood production couldn't keep up.

 But in his fight, he realized something, the others weren't using their spirits, letting him use his arm.

 It came out, unseen by the others, and aught a knife in midair, then it rushed the man's head, letting the knife slip through the gratings of his helmet, even so, it barely stabbed his eyes because of the knife's length.

 "You dammed kid! I'm going to cut off your legs and break your spirit, or better yet I'll get yours!" The man readied his next strike.

 Exhausted, Avis fell to his knees, there was no way for him to leave this place alive, so, there was no point in fighting his fate.

 The man's axe came down, but as it was about to strike Avis, the blade was stopped by a man's dagger.

 Avis looked up, and he saw Thorne's back.

 "Thorne?"

 The man kicked back to push Avis away. Desperate, Avis ran, traversing the forest at an incredible pace despite his injuries.

 …

 "What does the Eamon family want with us?" The leader asked.

 "You are destroying the family's property, that child has been adopted by our clan, he is not your toy to play with."

"Is that so? Then, will you take his place?"

 "Sure, who do I have to kill before you scram away?"

 "Kill? Oh, you're not going to kill anyone unless you want us to report your family for keeping an inhuman, a weapon of war."

 "He is not a weapon, I'll make sure of it."

 "Are you willing to die for him?"

 From behind him, a dagger was thrown at Thorne, but he did not need to react as it was stopped by another man.

 "Are YOU willing to die?" The new appearance said. The man had no arms, as it was a birth defect, but they were beautifully substituted by arms made of living wood, holding a dagger in each.

 …

 As he was running, Avis didn't feel any safer than when he was surrounded, there was a certain pressure that manifested around him.

 "He's mine, boys!" One of the men, who had giant pistol shrimp arms coming from his armpits dashed ahead of Avis and stood still. With her boyish voice, Avis assumed her to be a man, but a beautiful woman wearing black robes, contrasting the fiery red claws on her back stood in front of him.

 As Avis was rushing at her, he got ready to strike, but when he was about to touch the woman, one of the claws cut a hole through reality itself, making a portal to a hole filled with spikes, Avis barely managed to stop himself by extending his invisible arm.

 "Oh~~ Interesting!" The woman said as she launched another strike. "Show me more!"

 Avis' hand acted as a shield against the claws as he slashed back, soon it became a standoff, whoever hesitated would be the loser.

 The woman was just as skilled using her claws as Avis using his sword, but soon a mistake appeared, one of his strikes missed as he interrupted his defense to strike at the woman.

 "Hah~ Amateurs, I swear."