Chapter89

He answered at once, driving his sword into the same wound on its ribs before it could pull away. Purple blood ran down the blade while the monster's eyes narrowed for the first time since the fight began.
'He got it again,' Didi thought, fingers tightening around her sword. 'Then keep doing that, please.'
Gazel ripped the blade free and kept pressing, chopping low at its knee before turning the same motion into a slash across its chest. Gold light ate through more obsidian and the monster gave ground again, one step this time.
The clearing kept ringing with steel and claws. Didi could barely follow him now, only the gold arcs of his blade and the dull thuds each time the monster got pushed back.
'Since when did he fight like this?' she thought, staring at his back. 'Just how much was he hiding?'
It swung at his head and he ducked under it, cut its wrist, then planted a foot on its thigh and kicked himself up over its shoulder. He landed behind it and buried the sword at the base of its neck before sliding away from the elbow that came back at him.
More blood spilled. The monster touched the side of its neck, looked at the purple on its claws, then smiled a little.
"Good," it said, voice lower now. "This is finally worth my time."
Gazel said nothing as blood ran from the corner of his mouth, but he still stepped in again before it could finish straightening.
'He's pushing too hard,' Didi thought, taking one step forward before fear locked her legs. 'No, if he stops then we're dead.'
The fourth Shard flared brighter around his wrist. He raised the sword with both hands and brought it down, splitting the ground under the monster's feet, forcing it to catch the blade with both arms.
For the first time, its knees bent.
Didi sucked in a breath. 'He pushed it down,' she thought, almost not believing it. 'He actually did it.'
Gazel tried to end it right there. He dragged the blade free, stepped inside its guard and drove three fast thrusts toward the chest, the throat, then the eye.