My knees hit the dirt below the wall with a crunch! I felt the impact resonate up my legs and into my chest, the pain lessening as it rose. Standing, the pain faded further as I walked towards the bone-covered creature. It lowered its head, staring at me intently. The skull was crocodilian, long and pointed, made even more intimidating by the short, sharp bones pointing from its snout. Its teeth were visible, at least I think those were the teeth. The protrusions--I counted around twenty on either side of the snout--were sharper than the surrounding bones but were the same bleached color, so it was a little hard to tell. The two of us stared at each other, neither willing to look away. I looked up into dark eyes that stared back into me, the bones rattling as the creature took another step closer. We were twenty or so yards from each other at this point and I was beginning to smell the creature. I am not exaggerating when I say I preferred the downright pleasant aroma of the city to the godawful stench coming from the beast. I gagged as Death itself coated my throat in a thick haze, my eyes starting to tear. I fought through the stench and focused on the creature. It was advancing, another step causing more bones to rattle. Ten yards.

  I broke the stalemate, charging to my left, towards the wound in its leg. My Spark reacted, heat pouring from my core down into my right hand where it pooled. With a slight mental push, the power left me and entered my blade, a golden light shinning from the knife. The creature reacted to my sudden movement, bringing its head down to bite me. I dove and rolled, unsure of how my body was moving the way it was. My body sprung to its feet and set itself in a ready position, knife held in front of me. Without command, my body rushed forward and drug the blade across the creature's bone armor. The golden power that had pooled in the blade left a glowing scar in the bone armor and that same unsettling black smoke poured from the wound. The scratch wasn't deep, you could barely even call it a scratch, but the Nevind roared in what sounded like utter agony. The leg I had cut raised up higher than I thought should be possible and my eyes went wide. The Nevind's foot, which had looked like a traditional human hand; thin fingers that seemed to be more for grasping and clutching than clawing, suddenly shifted form. The fingers melded into one structure and the bones higher up the arm dropped down to form a nasty looking point that the creature then drove down at me faster than I could blink. I heard the sound of a Klaxon alarm mixed with a bell and I reacted, jerking back from the creature. One moment the hand was above me, the next there was an agonizing pain in my left foot as my body fell to the ground. My left leg stayed bent, my foot impaled by the Nevind's bullshit bone changing ability. I growled, adrenaline pumping into my system and my Spark grew brighter. I felt the power rush down to my foot and begin working to pry the intrusive bone from it, but it wasn't enough. The Nevind leaned down, jaws opening. I stared up at the beast, looking into empty eyes, and my own went wide in surprise.

  The Nevind had no eyes. Its eye sockets were completely empty, like the Molinbi, and they sucked me into them. I fell into the darkness and froze, my mind blanking. I saw Jenifer in her wedding dress, standing at the altar, waiting for me. I saw us in a cul-de-sac, Daniel and Penelope living across the street. Our kids played in the yard while I worked the grill and the girls got the fixin's ready in the kitchen. Daniel handed me a beer and smiled, and the vision burned away. I saw my body, charred and still burning, lying in the grass next to Jen. She woke and looked at me, and screamed. She scrambled away from me and stood up, rushing away from my crispy corpse. Jen morphed into Lia who exploded in a ball of fire accompanied by a soul shattering shriek.

  A deep, drowning sadness grew inside me, one I hadn't felt in years as I stared into the empty sockets. I saw everything I had worked for, everything I had lost. The love of my life fucked the man I considered to be my brother on what should have been one of the Top Ten days of my life. Why am I still hung up on her? I died; I'll never see her again. If they both lived, they should find love. I should be happy for them. If he makes her happy, then that's enough for me. A small, sad smile found its way onto my face as the Nevind lowered its head, and I closed my eyes. I knew I was useless in the end. It is better this way; no one actually loves me. I leaned back and allowed my body to go limp, my grip loosening on my knife.

  "Marshall!!!!" my world screamed, echoed by a pleading bark.

  I was overwhelmed by the scent of flowers and fur, and I tightened my grip. The Nevind's mouth lowered around my midriff, closing harshly. Before the jaws could snap together, though, the beast's head shot back, another scream tearing from its throat. The creature jerked its entire body back, tearing its claw from my foot. I roared in both agony and release, my Spark burning hotter than it ever had before. I stood and took a step, ignoring the white-hot agony in my foot. The Nevind shook its head, pawing at where I had stabbed it in the mouth. My knife glowed with an internal golden light, black shadows dripping off like blood. It was a surprising contradiction, but not one that I disliked. I quite enjoyed the dichotomy of the warm sunshine shining from within the blade blocked by the inky blackness of living shadow. It was a sight someone from Earth would never get to see; this pain was something they would never experience. The bond I share with Rosie is unique to us. Same for Lia, for that fact. I was lucky. Very, very lucky.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  A large, wide smile spread across my face and I readied myself, watching as the Nevind recovered from my attack. It stomped its feet twice and lowered its head, growling at me. I moved to the right, ignoring the pain in my foot. I had played two games on a broken ankle; this was just like that. My foot ain't workin' right, so I gotta make some adjustments. I moved more of my weight onto my right side and the Nevind followed. One of the downsides of being big is that we are fuckin' SLOW. However, since the Nevind was four or five times my size, I was able to move faster than it. So, when I took off to the right, it took the beast just that much longer to get moving. It wasn't much, a half second or so, but it was enough for me to analyze the beast.

  The small wound I had made was still "bleeding". Black smoke poured out from the leg and I watched as the creature tried to place weight on it. Much like me, it could, but not nearly as much as it wanted to. I smiled; I could use that. I pivoted and shot for the same wound, scoring another hit. The creature howled and I paid the price, suffering a claw to the side. It took the same arm that had impaled my foot and swiped at me, scoring a hit on my abdomen. I snarled in rage and pain, landing heavily. I remained upright, continuing my momentum. Turning, I ducked a spear of bone as long as my arm. It sailed just over my head and I instinctivley shrank, base fear overcoming me for a moment. I looked back at the spear of bone wobbling in the dirt in shock, then snapped back onto the Nevind. The fight's not over yet.

  I kept moving towards the Nevind's injured side, trying to find an opening. The Nevind, apparently having wisened up to my tactic, kept me right in front of it. It advanced slowly, keeping its empty, soulless eye sockets trained on me. I struggled to move, the adrenaline boost starting to wear off. My foot was really starting to hurt and it was all I could do to keep moving. I circled away from the city, planning to lead the creature on a chase away from everyone. If it killed me, oh well. At least they had more time to prepare. I glanced back at the Nevind and watched as its entire body turned to face me. Its flank blocked my view of the wall and the others and I grinned. Good.

  Then the night turned to day. A wave of flames poured around the creatures flank, causing it to howl in agony. Its bone-covered, crocodilian head turned back to the city and it opened its mouth. I watched as a visible wall of sound shot towards the wall, people dropping from view. I didn't hear anything other than a faint scream that sent a finger of ice down my spine, but I didn't let the chance go to waste. I pivoted, ignoring the flames shooting into my brain, and charged for the creatures leg. I poured as much of my Spark into my dagger as I could. The glow coming from my dagger increased to where I had to squint against it and the shadows dripping from the blade burned away. I reached the creature and roared, driving my dagger into the wound as deep as it would go. I felt a barrier of resistance give as I broke through the bone armor and then a new resistance met me. It felt like the barrier I had pushed against when I used my Spark to summon my Notebook and I growled, driving the blade deeper. I placed my other hand on the dagger's pommel and pushed harder, putting my entire body weight behind it. I felt my Spark leave me, draining into my dagger as I pushed more and more of my energy against the barrier. The other power reacted when it felt mine, rising up like a hungry beast. It tried to overwhelm me, showing me Jenifer again. I panted hard, my breathing irregular. The pain was blinding and I was having trouble focusing on maintaining my connection, but I fought through it. I had to succeed, there was no other option.

  Lia's face flashed in my mind. She and Rosie were playing on a beach, the western sun setting gloriously behind them. It silhouetted them perfectly, glinting off the water like thousands of diamonds, and I could have sworn I saw a little black haired kid run up to Lia before the vision disappeared. I roared, giving everything I had in one final push. I felt the barrier shatter under me and my body finally moved forward, driving the dagger into the Nevind's body. The power within the creature writhed in agony, burning away as my Spark entered the creature. It screamed louder than I had ever heard before and my eardrums shattered, a harsh ringing taking over any other sound. I groaned and dropped to the ground, holding my ears. It hurt like a motherfucker. Still, even through all the pain and exhaustion, I smiled. I felt the opposing Spark leave it when I broke through the barrier. I had won.