Huntsman

" Are you a hunter, or the hunted!?"

"Waaait!" Michael exclaims, stopping the Daedric Prince before he could sic the giant bear on him.

"... What is it mortal!? Few would still be standing if they interrupted me! You are lucky I want to see you hunt!" Hircine warns, his tone dire.

"Do the others know?" Michael simply asks, though, the importance of this question could not be understated.

"My brutish kin?" Hircine asks, referring to the other Daedric Princes that haunt Tamriel. "They are unaware of your entry into this realm. For how long that remains, I do not know. Now, cease your questions, your prey awaits!" the Daedric Prince announces, his presence disappearing as the bear recovers its senses.

Before it fully gathers itself however, Michael steps forwards and attempts to Blink next to it, wishing to end this as quickly as possible... Only for his Blink to falter, the magic dissipating as if something was interfering-... Ah.

"Play fair Hircine!? This isn't fair at all!" Michael angrily exclaims as he draws Derflinger, letting out a sigh of relief at the fact that his Gandalfr Runes were still working. "Derflinger, can you use magic at all?" he asks the sentient blade, only to frown at its silence. Seemed as if Hircine wished for this to be a solo hunt...

The bear unleashes a roar and charges towards Michael like a four-legged school bus. Its teeth 'beared' and ready to bite him in half.

Michael feints to one side before twisting to the other, causing the bear to slide past him and allowing Michael to 'bearly' dodge its claw swipe. With the side of its rump turned towards him, he lunges forward and buries Derflinger halfway into the suspiciously durable hide of the beast. He knew he hadn't hit anything vital, but he doubted the thing would give him the chance, so bleeding it out was his best strategy for now at least.

*Raaaaaargh!*

The thing roars, twisting around and sending two claw swipes at Michael, which he quickly backs away to avoid. Indeed, one of those would've taken his head clean off if he'd gotten hit directly.

He stumbles slightly as he backs away, however, his foot landing on Lohir's corpse. The bear seemed to take offence to this and slowly approaches him while letting out a deep guttural growl. At the drop of a dime, it springs forward and attempts to bite his leading leg, only to be met with a slash that almost takes out one of its eyes.

The attack doesn't stop it however, as it closes its eyes and stands on its hind legs before rapidly swiping its claws in his direction. In response, Michael sucks in a breath and soundlessly moves to the side, ducking under one claw and sending a heavy spinning slash towards one of the bear's back legs.

*Chaaht!*

The blade strikes true, burying itself a couple inches just under its knee, Michael knew he'd cut some ligaments since as soon as the attack hit, the bear's knee buckles and causes it to fall to its side.

With it on the ground and its back facing him, he raises his blade and chops down onto its neck... Only for the bear to turn its snout towards him to try and get a bite in. His sword chops into its face instead, cutting its nose in half and splitting the upper part of its mouth.

This would have been fairly tame, had the bear not still been alive and attempting to bite him... Its cut mouth looked like an Elite from Halo, or the Predator, fucking disgusting, especially with the amount of blood spurting out.

He wrenches his blade out and goes for another chop, only for the bear to roll over towards him, randomly throwing one of its large paws in his direction as it does. Michael continues his attack however, allowing him to cut the bear's foot clean off, the sword passing through the joint with surprising accuracy.

It was as if something had 'clicked' into place within his mind. The sword in his hand felt lighter and somehow more flexible, as if he'd been swinging this single blade for all his life. His posture straightens as his stance shifts subtly without Michael's knowledge. He shakes his head and continues his attack, his leg unconsciously pushing himself onto the as he turns and slides it into the bear's throat.

The animal's roar is cut off as the blade meets its windpipe... It attempts to knock him away with its remaining paw, but Michael just hops over its head with a skip and pulls the blade from its throat, leaving the now large gushing wound vacant.

The bear goes into a frenzy, attempting to bring Michael to hell with it... Only for it to fail to walk on its crippled back leg and missing front paw. It falls to the ground with a wheeze and quickly expires as blood coats most of the floor.

Michael goes to wipe the sweat from his face, but realises his mistake afterwards when he spots just how much blood was covering him... He lets out a tired huff and rests his back against the wall of the cave, awaiting Hircine's response... Hopefully, he wouldn't notice his Runes otherwise he might deem the fight 'unfair' and punish him further.

"Ahaha! Very good, Traveller! What exciting mortal combat you have shown! I knew you were a hunter the moment I laid eyes on you!" Hircine exclaims, the dead and mangled bear's mouth still moving to emit the voice.

"Am I free to go?" Michael asks, not wanting to get any more involved with the Daedric Prince than he had to.

"Indeed. You've come out on top and killed your prey. You are free to go... But first, allow me to grant you your reward."