[Winter Contest Entry 2012] - The little things...

The spear pierced the space in between the two, quickly ripping through flesh and drawing blood by scratching Xenon’s forehead. The shock caused him to briefly freeze up. It had all happened so fast, too fast for him to react or even think. A long heartbeat of stillness followed until finally he managed to snap out of it as the second strike came with the same speed and ferocity aimed for his head. But a second attack would not work twice and with amazing reflexes and speed he dodged the strike all the while grabbing hold of the spear dragging the fragile yet deadly girl wielding it forward and off balance. But before he could strike he felt her feet land hard on his chest, using him as a trampoline she jumped backwards, losing her spear and so ceasing the assault. Xenon barely stayed on his feet and struggled to remain on balance as he expected her to renew her attack, but none came.

He caught her gaze and noticed she was looking at the spear he was still holding on to, it had broken in the struggle. Then she seemed to discard it, almost casually as if having it lost meant nothing. Before he could take advantage of the situation, the girl made a familiar gesture with her right hand and the desert ground surrounding them seemed to shift somehow. This was exactly what had occurred at the start of their battle, which had almost ended with his life, he would not be taken by surprise a second time and took a step back regaining some posture. The earth split open all around them, sending stone and metals flying towards the girl only to stop abruptly around her right hand which had now formed into a clenched fist. In only a matter of seconds her tiny right arm was now encased in a massive armored fist reaching, pulsating with power and life. She smiled mockingly as she swung the armored fist with great ease, causing Xenon to wonder where she summoned all that strength in that tiny body.

Xenon was not used to being on the defensive and decided he wouldn’t start getting used now and started to sprint straight towards his enemy. Unlike her, Xenon was unarmed and from an outside perspective was at a clear disadvantage with or without the initiative. But such viewpoints were naive and the girl seemed to be under no delusion of Xenon’s disguised lethality as she readied herself to repel the coming attack, whatever it might be.

Just before coming within reach of the raised gauntlet, Xenon jumped far into the air, twisting his body in mid-air all the while punching his naked fist straight towards her unguarded side. With almost impossible speed, she turned her body to meet the attack head on, throwing the armored gauntlet forward to meet the attack. An explosion of bright flames erupted the moment his attack made contact. Pieces of metal and stone shattered from the gauntlet while sending its wielder back by the sheer force of the attack. Making full use of the regained initiative Xenon pressed the attack, sending gouts of flames in a straight arc along the ground towards his opponent. She could only guard against the onslaught as her gauntlet were all but torn to pieces trying to defend against the attacks.

But the attack was short lived as Xenon halted the attack, falling to one knee with beads of sweat running down his temple, falling upon the hot sand. The exertion of his reckless attacks and the dehydration had taken its toll he realized. It had been days since he had a good drink of water and the sun had been scorching his pale skin endlessly upon entering the desert region. A pair of wooden sandals appeared in front of his bowed head, he cursed as he had forgotten the girl’s speed.

Both her arms were raised as far as they could be over her head and Xenon barely had time to push himself to the side avoiding the crushing impact of not one but two armored fists falling to the ground where his head had been only moments ago. Expecting another attack he painfully pushed himself up and turned only to realize he was not the only one who had taken damage. The girl’s dark skin had been burnt on several places and she was taking irregular heavy breaths of air. But her green eyes were still alive with determination and even though they were both battered he knew neither could back down.
But before either of them could launch another attack, they both made a horrible realization. They were no longer alone.

The sun had begun to settle in the horizon and both moons had become visible in the darkening evening sky. The things that had begun to surround them had no name, or if they did it was synonymous with death in the old languages. They were horrible four legged creatures who roamed the sand like oceans for prey in large packs. Little is known about them, however what is known is they are not of this world and do not need nourishment to sustain themselves. So why did they hunt, why did they kill? It’s rumored that they do it for the sheer malice of it, that they somehow take pleasure in ending life. Seeing them up close for the first time like this, Xenon decided he believed those rumors.

Wasting no time, the closest one lunged itself straight towards him. Did it think he was already finished and nothing but a wounded animal to be finished it? Xenon gritted his teeth in unexpected anger at being treated this way, gathering what little strength he had left he decided that if he was going to die, he would not die like some animal. Rather than dodging the attack he decided to face it head on, which seemed to take the beast by surprise. But the beast’s attack could not be avoided and its malformed teeth sunk deep into his left shoulder, knocking him back onto the ground. With clenched teeth he ignored the pain and put both of his hands under the creature’s stomach. The animal seemed to realize what would happen next and began to let go, but it was too late. The hound bathed in blinding fire, turning its inside to crisp, killing it instantly.

His hard earned victory was short lived however. He had barely had time to throw the burnt carcass off himself before he spotted another of the beasts making a jump on him from the left. Yelling in defiance he moved his hand in front of its path and let out a second blaze of fire, reducing the creatures front to ashes. Reeling from the two consecutive attacks two more came in from behind the second beast he had just turned to ash and a sinking feeling sat in. They had tricked him into burning out prematurely. With no reserves left he ineptly raised his hands in front of him, preparing for their teeth to do short work of his slender arms. Instead he was met with a loud cracking sound and the image of the two hounds buried into the ground by two enormous metal fists. A third came jumping from behind but was easily caught in one of her fists and thrown aside like a stuffed animal.

It took a moment for him to accept what had just happened, he had been saved and they had been killed. He tried to stand only to quickly be reminded he was still suffering the drawbacks of expending that much energy. But before falling over he was steadied by an armored fist, briefly causing him to awe how such powerful weapons could be used so delicately. As he thankfully pulled himself up with her support he realized that the hounds had stopped attacking. Why were they not taking advantage of the situation?

A near ear shattering howl answered his question, signaling to the hounds to back off. He gave the girl a nod of thanks and inclined to stop her support. He steadied himself awkwardly but determined to stand by his own strength to face whatever was coming next.
An enormous creature appeared near one of the sand dunes, the sun had by now fully set but in spite of this the monster’s deformed limbs and face were all too apparent, making him almost thankful for the dimmed light given by the twin moons and the burning carcasses. It was easily twice as tall as its brethren and a whole degree uglier if that were possible with its legs having both bone and fangs sticking out at odd places. It moved through the gathered pack with purpose and malevolence, each step taking it closer to the surrounded pair.

With no way out and their deaths almost assured Xenon turned to the girl.
†˜What’s your name?’ His voice was weak and drained of energy, but still his voice conveyed a sort of conviction a person who faces death should not possess.

She turned to stare at him with her large green eyes which seemed almost innocent in the moonlight.
†˜Medzy.’ She spoke softly. †˜You can call me Medzy.’ Her voice was beautiful and somehow calming he thought.

†˜If we get through this alive Medzy, I will split the water bottle with you.’ Indicating the bottle that each of them had spotted before meeting each other which was the cause of their skirmish.

Medzy said nothing for a while then she turned her head back to the approaching pack leader and gave that chilling smile from before. Xenon laughed to himself, she did not even entertain the idea of them dying here. She fully intended to survive and finish her fight with him over the lifeline that had been discovered in this vast desert.