War (4)

'I messed up.'

That was the only thing Daven could think of as he watched one of the giant greatswords of the human Pillar bear down on him. He could see the savage smile on the face of the man from where he stood. That smile was burned into his mind as the sword came down. But just before it could hit him, Daven heard the voice of his subordinate ring through his mind.

<PATRIARCH!!!>

Azreal's voice boomed through the mental link just before Daven felt an immense force slamming into him and forcefully removing him from the trajectory of the blade. A fountain of blood bloomed and painted the floor and Daven's gray fur red.

He stared wide eyed as Azreal collapsed to the ground clutching the bleeding stump that used to be his arm.

THUD.

Azreal's severed arm dropped on the muddy ground beside him, drawing his attention to it.

'No.'

<No.>

"No."

Daven's mind seemed to explode when he registered what had happened. Azreal had sacrificed his arm in order to save his life.

"NOOO!!!" Daven shot to his feet, letting a blood curling roar burst through his throat. He felt a fire that he had once felt before light up in his veins. A fire that sang for the blood of humans.

Daven curved his fingers and let his claws stretch out to their full length. Eight inch long claws grew out from each of Daven's fingertips as he made a clawing motion at the Pillar. A giant, ethereal clawed hand formed beside him and slammed into the Pillar who simply raised both of his swords in a blocking motion in the path of the ethereal claws.

CLANG!! BOOOM!!!

The sound of their clash rang through the battlefield, followed by a black figure shooting back and demolishing multiple trees in the path of his flight. A cloud of dust expanded in the distance when he managed to stop his flight. Daven shot right after the human Pillar, a savage light shining in his eyes.

To most people, Daven would look like he had lost his sense of reasoning, but in truth, Daven was aware and in control of everything he was doing. He had realized that fighting safely against the Pillar would only prolong their inevitable defeat. Already, Azreal, one of the strongest Dominants in their pack had fallen in battle, and it was obvious that the Pillar was not yet going all out against them. If things continued that way, then it was obvious that they would lose the battle.

Because of that, Daven had decided to use one of the few trump cards that belonged to his pack. This trump card had been gifted to them by another demi-human pack. The pack where the lizardman that had been able to claim a Skyfall was.

In this world, where the demi-humans were constantly at odds with the humans, most demi-humans had learnt that it was for their best interest if they stuck together. Because of that, the demi-humans in possession of Gifts from the Skyfalls tried their best to help the others with resources and other things that they could help with.

In that aspect, the lizardman could assist in a much more direct manner than the Werewolf in possession of the Gift of Beast-taming. He had provided multiple packs and clans a method to temporarily display an overwhelming amount of power through his Miracles.

Some time ago, he had gifted Daven a small token. The token resembled an azure crystal that had the head of a wolf carved into it. That token contained an immense amount of power that was capable of doubling the power of the being that used it.

Just to be safe, Daven had brought that token with him into the battle.

Right at the moment when Daven had realized that Azreal had sacrificed his arm to save him, he had crushed the token in his hand without thinking twice. The moment he crushed it, an immense amount of energy flowed into his body, filling him with unbridled power that he had never felt before.

A sharp, guttural roar that throbbed with power left his throat as he let the world know that he was alive. And then, he pounced.

Chunks of rock and muddy earth were ripped out of the earth as the ethereal claws ripped into it in an attempt to maim the Pillar who easily dodged out of the way. He was no longer holding back his strength.

A deep, orange glow that had some flickers of black energy running through it covered both his greatswords as he lifted them up above him and drove them into the ground.

HUMMMMM.

A strong vibration shook the earth as an immense amount of force was transferred into it.

CRACK!

The earth splintered, and ruptured, before large chunks of rocks were blown into the air, throwing everything and everyone in that area into disarray.

'Dammit.' Daven thought grimly. 'I have to use it.'

He jumped back and stretched his arm before him while flattening it horizontally. A deep blue glow formed around his hand, with its edges sharp.

'Savage Art: Severing Claw!'

He felt a huge amount of energy leave his body as he swung his arm, sending a large wave of sharp, condensed energy in the direction of the Pillar. A few unlucky humans were caught in the path of the wave of energy, and were promptly sliced into half without any resistance!