Magnus rolled to the right, dodging a rat beast’s lunge. His face, nose, and mouth hit the ground, dirt grinding into his skin. He curled both knees toward his chest, braced himself, and kicked up into a kneeling crouch. A horde of rats ca flying at him.
Without hesitation, his knees tensed again, and he shot upward, twisting mid-air in a clean backward flip. He spun a full circle and landed squarely on the back of a rat beast.
Moving fast, Magnus pulled the Nature Crystal from his belt and pressed his right palm down on the black-ringed tattoo in his left. A thought, and the deep red crystal Lucy gave him earlier appeared in his grip. He crushed it without rcy.
Dark red energy whipped across his body like wildfire. In an instant, streams of half-ter-long bloody red light erupted from every inch of his skin - from his hairline to his heels.
The rat beast under him took the full blast. It let out a blood-curdling screech, louder and sharper than any before.
Thrown off by the squealing rat, Magnus hit the ground, rolled hard, and ca up on his feet. Around him, the other rat beasts froze in terror. They shrieked and backed away.
Not one dared take a step closer.
Sophia!
Magnus’s ears pricked. Her scream rang out through the chaos. No ti to care about the rats now - he swerved, sprinting toward the voice.
In less than thirty ters, he looped past a massive teor fragnt and spotted her - Sophia hung in mid-air, both hands clutching the massive wing of a giant duck, using it to shield herself. The duck’s enormous wings flapped viciously, tossing her small figure around like a doll.
"Is... is that you, Magnus?" Her voice trembled.
Dangling in the air, she squinted at a man blazing with streaks of blood-red light. She couldn’t see his face clearly, but sothing about that mont - like a scene pulled from a fading dream - tugged at her heart.
What the hell am I thinking? So dramatic. I’m getting rescued, aren’t I?
Her mind raced. She shut her eyes tight and gave her head a tiny shake - must be the swing from despair to hope ssing with her. One minute terrified, the next overwheld. It was too much.
Lost in that brief daze, her grip slipped. Whether from relief at seeing Magnus or sheer exhaustion, her hands let go without aning to.
The giant duck suddenly surged, twisting its fat neck to the side. It snapped its beak forward and caught Sophia mid-air. With a tilt of its head, it gulped, beginning to swallow her whole just as Magnus reached it.
"Son of a - ! You let go now, of all tis!?"
Magnus cursed, then launched himself straight at the duck.
The duck saw him coming. Just like the rats, it let out a startled cry and lumbered backward, wings flailing in panic - but still not quick enough to get away from Magnus. Magnus kicked off the duck’s body and leapt onto its back. The giant duck shrieked and flapped wildly as Magnus crouched low, eyes locking on the duck’s throat where Sophia’s body was halfway swallowed, her outline bulging under its skin.
Without hesitation, he sprang forward again, wrapping both arms tight around the duck’s thick neck - thicker than two grown n’s waists.
The beast thrashed its head and screeched, wings flailing, but it was no use. In less than ten seconds, the part Magnus held was scorched black, smoke rising with the sll of roasted at. Monts later, the massive duck head dropped with a thud, red eyes the size of carriage wheels fild over, gaze gone blank forever.
Panting hard, Magnus cursed as he pushed himself up from the ground, pulling out his dagger. He crouched and started cutting upward along the thick neck.
He figured Sophia had used the tal Crystal, so he didn’t hold back. After slicing up about two ters, he spotted strands of dark hair.
Without courtesy, he grabbed the hair and yanked. Sophia scread as she got dragged out of the duck’s gullet, landing on her side and coughing violently.
"Get up! We’re leaving!"
Magnus grabbed her arm and lifted - four tis the average man’s strength made Sophia’s sub-90-pound fra feel like a doll. He practically flung her into the air.
She barely managed to catch herself on her feet, looking miserable - long hair soaked in duck sli, no trace of a "beauty" left.
"Magnus! What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Still stumbling to balance, she shouted furiously, "Why are you manhandling like that?!"
"Who the hell told you to run off on your own?!"
Not even letting her answer, Magnus stepped in, bent down, and hoisted her over his arms. She kicked and flailed as he broke into a sprint towards the underground granary entrance.
Thirty ters - he hit full speed, reaching the door in seconds. Mutant rats still sward around the granary, and at the center stood a towering three-story-high white goose.
As Magnus ran, beasts scrambled aside, even the giant goose backed off. But he knew full well if he entered now, they’d co clawing at the door again.
He banged hard on the granary’s side-door and shouted his na. The door opened in an instant, and he threw Sophia inside, slamming it shut behind her.
Now alone at the gate, surrounded by skittish beasts, Magnus yanked a dagger from the sheath strapped to his calf.
His eyes locked onto the fleeing white goose. Without pause, he charged.
He grabbed the goose’s slick tail feathers, climbed up its back, and launched himself toward its neck. With a roar, he shoved the dagger into its long throat.
Teeth clenched, he ripped it down hard.
White feathers soaked red in monts. The goose reared back, howling in pain, body flailing uncontrollably. Magnus dragged the blade - an opening more than a ter long tore open.
Yanking the blade out, he swung around the neck, now facing its front. The goose’s lower jaw lood above - he drove the knife up again.
His left hand let go as he dropped with gravity’s pull, dagger slicing a line from under its beak all the way down to its gut.
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