Anton cast a desperate glance over his shoulder as he ran, rain pelting his face. The creature's outline shimmered in the downpour, its translucent form betrayed only by the water droplets cascading across its alien contours.
"Maria, it's coming after us," he gasped, lungs burning.
"I know," Maria replied, her voice steady as a heartbeat. Not a hint of panic colored her words, though death pursued them through the Malor forest.
Anton couldn't help but marvel at her composure. The expedition committee had chosen well when they appointed her as leader. While fear threatened to overwhelm him, Maria calculated their next move with calculated precision.
The creature's tongue lashed out suddenly. It cut through the air inches from Anton's shoulder. Though lacking the venomous secretions of its tail, the tongue's reach was formidable.
"That was close," Anton muttered, an idea crystallizing in his mind as he watched the creature's attack retract. His phantom hand ability... perhaps it could be more than a weapon.
Without warning, Anton extended his phantom hand forward, stretching past Maria toward a sturdy branch ahead. The phantom fingers wrapped around the wood with surprising solidity.
Maria's eyes widened as the ethereal appendage shot past her. "Anton, what are you—"
Before she could finish, Anton pulled against his supernatural tether, launching himself forward with startling speed. In an instant, he overtook Maria, the phantom hand dissipating as he landed several paces ahead.
He spun to face her, rain streaming down his determined face. "Maria, hold onto me!"
"What?" Confusion flashed across her features as she maintained her pace.
Anton extended his hand, his real one this time. "Do you trust me?" Their eyes locked, a silent current of understanding passing between them amid the chaos.
Maria replied in a heartbeat. "I trust you, Annie," reaching for him.
As her arms encircled his waist, Anton summoned his phantom hand once more, directing it toward a high branch. The spectral fingers grasped the wood, and with a powerful pull, Anton lifted them both off the ground. They swung through the air in a graceful arc, leaving the stunned creature momentarily behind.
"This is—" Maria's words caught in her throat as they soared between the trees.
"Faster than running," Anton finished, his concentration evident in the tightness of his jaw. Manipulating his phantom hand with their combined weight required immense focus. Beads of sweat appear on his forehead mingled with raindrops.
Maria adapted quickly, turning her gaze backward to monitor their pursuer. "Coming from your left!" she warned as the creature's tongue lashed out again.
Anton altered their trajectory with a thought, the phantom hand releasing one branch to grasp another. They swung rightward, the creature's attack missing them by yards.
"You've been holding out on me," Maria said, a hint of admiration in her voice as they continued their arboreal escape. "Why didn't you use it before?"
"Cause I never tried it before," Anton admitted between labored breaths. "Desperate times, desperate measures, I suppose."
Their aerial dance continued through the forest canopy with Anton focusing on their path forward while Maria served as their rearguard, calling out warnings with precision that kept them one step ahead of death.
The creature's frustration manifested in a bone-chilling roar composed of a horrific symphony of all the beings it had consumed. The sound echoed through the forest, causing birds to flee in panicked flocks.
Maria's grip on Anton tightened. "Annie, it's going into the shadows. Prepare your candlelight spell," Maria instructed, her tactical mind already three steps ahead. "When I give the signal and not before. We have a few seconds to bring it out of its shadow before it makes its attack."
Anton took a look at her. Their eyes met briefly, a moment of connection amid the chaos that spoke volumes more than words could express. Then both returned to their tasks: Anton navigating their escape route while Maria watched vigilantly for the creature's next move, ready to call forth the modified candlelight spell that might be their only salvation against the approaching creature.
Preparing a spell while swinging through the forest canopy proved more challenging than Anton had anticipated. His consciousness split between multiple urgent tasks. These include directing his phantom hand to find secure anchors, adjusting their trajectory to avoid branches and foliage that threatened to shred them mid-flight, and simultaneously gathering the intricate threads of magical energy needed for his modified candlelight spell. His mind strained under the weight of this focus, overworking his synapses to their very limits.
"How are you holding up?" Maria's voice reached him through the train of his thoughts.
"Managing," Anton replied through gritted teeth. Beads of sweat trickled down his temple despite the cool rain. "Though I wouldn't recommend this."
He controlled their movement while remaining effectively blind to what pursued them; she served as his eyes, tracking the creature's movements while entrusting her life to his spectral abilities. Their symbiosis was perfect.
Anton's mind continued working even as his magical reserves dwindled. He wondered if it possessed a finite mana reserve of its own. Why else wait until now to employ its shadow-form? Such transformations always came with significant energy expenditure.
"It's conserving power," he muttered. "Waiting for the perfect moment to—"
"Annie, NOW!" Maria's command cut through his theorizing like a blade.
Without hesitation, Anton closed his eyes, shutting out the chaotic world around him to focus solely on the spell. He released the carefully woven magic in a brilliant explosion of pure light that radiated outward from their position. The forest around them illuminated as though struck by lightning.
Seconds later, a pained shriek tore through the air. It was the unmistakable sound of the creature rematerializing involuntarily from the shadows. Anton allowed himself a brief moment of satisfaction.
Maria wasted no time. Still clinging to him with one arm, she extended her free hand toward their momentarily stunned pursuer. Frost rays formed in the air around her fingertips as she unleashed three successive ice spells, their azure glow briefly outshining even Anton's light.
"Anything?" Anton asked, unable to look back while maintaining their arboreal escape.
Maria's frustrated exhalation told him everything. "Same as before. It's like throwing snowballs at a forge. The outer layer frosted over but melted almost instantly."
They swung in silence for several heartbeats, both processing about their adversary's weaknesses and resistances.
"It's in the shadows again!" Maria's warning came sharp and urgent.
Anton tensed, ready to cast the spell again at her command. He stretched his phantom hand toward the next branch, fingers just inches from securing their next swing when a wet, viscous sound erupted behind them.
"Acid spray!" Maria shouted.
They were mid-swing, his phantom hand not yet grasped the next anchor point. Suspended in the vulnerable space between trees, Anton made a split-second decision. He released the light spell prematurely, hoping to at least disrupt the creature's concentration even as he braced for impact.
The acid struck his back with devastating precision. Pain exploded across his consciousness, an agony so absolute it defied description. It felt as though his very skin was being stripped away layer by layer, nerves exposed to the rainy air. A scream tore from his throat, primal and anguished.
His concentration shattered and the phantom hand winked out of existence.
As they began to fall, Anton's instinct took over. Despite the excruciating pain consuming his back, he tightened his grip around Maria, twisting his body to position himself beneath her. If they survived this creature only to die from a fall, at least he could cushion her impact with his already-damaged body.
"Anton, don't you dare!" Maria's voice pierced through his pain-fogged mind.
Before he could respond, azure light erupted from her skin. The familiar glow of her full-body enhancement enveloped her. The azure radiance pulsed with her heartbeat as her muscles tensed with supernatural strength.
Their positions reversed in mid-air. With impossible grace, Maria cradled him against her chest like a child, her enhanced form absorbing the impact as they crashed through lower branches. They landed with a heavy thud that would have shattered ordinary limbs, yet she remained standing, Anton secure in her arms.
The agony from his back threatened to pull him into unconsciousness. Through blurred vision, he watched Maria gently lower him to the forest floor, propping him against a tree trunk. Her face, illuminated by the fading azure glow of her enhancement spell, showed a tenderness that contrasted sharply with the determination in her eyes.
"Annie," she said softly, using the nickname that always made him feel both cherished and vulnerable, "you've done the best you could." Her hand brushed a rain-soaked lock of hair from his forehead. "It's my turn now."
"Maria, don't—" Anton reached for her wrist, his fingers trembling. "You can't face it alone."
Her gentle resolve underscored her next words, filled with both tenderness and steel. "Rest now. Allow yourself to heal. I will finish this, so we can finally go home."
To Anton, Maria, glowing with azure light, was like an angel like those from the bedtime tales Anton's mother told him during his childhood. The glow outlined her frame against the rain-soaked forest, casting eerie shadows as she moved with supernatural grace toward the creature that had hunted them relentlessly.
"Stay conscious, Annie," Maria called back without taking her eyes off the monster. Anton struggled to remain upright against the tree trunk, the acid burn across his back sending waves of agony through his body with each labored breath. "I'm not going anywhere," he managed, though his vision swam with dark spots.
Maria began her offense. Her enhanced speed made her nearly impossible to track. A blur of azure light darting around the creature with precision that went beyond human limitation. Her fists and feet connected in rapid succession, each impact sending shockwaves through the creature's body. The creature lashed out repeatedly, its movements growing increasingly desperate as it failed to make contact with its elusive prey.
"Is that all you've got?" Maria taunted, ducking beneath a sweeping appendage and delivering a punishing blow to what passed for the creature's midsection. "For something that's been terrorizing us, you're remarkably slow."
Anton tracked the exchange with growing unease. Despite Maria's bravado, he could see the subtle signs of her faltering strength. The delays between attacks, the reduced height of her jumps, the weakening glow of her enhancement. The creature, for all the damage it had sustained, showed no signs of tiring.
Both Maria and Anton recognized the cruel reality of their situation. Maria's enhancement couldn't last much longer, while the creature seemed to possess reserves beyond their calculations. As if sensing her weakening state, the beast suddenly trembled and began to transform.
Its form collapsed inward with a sickening sound of flesh contorting against flesh. The chameleon form it had maintained dissolved into its true nature. An enormous amorphous mass of pulsating flesh spread across the forest floor like spilled mercury.
Before Maria had a chance to react, dozens of spikes erupted from the creature's surface with explosive force. Two found their mark, piercing through Maria's left arm and right leg before she could fully evade.
"Maria! NO!" Anton's scream tore through the forest, birds scattering from distant trees at the sound. His heart seized in his chest as he watched her stumble backward, the azure glow flickering dangerously around her wounds.
Maria gritted her teeth against the pain, retreating several meters from the creature. With her trembling fingers, she reached for the healing potion secured in the pouch at her hip. The creature, sensing vulnerability, began to undulate toward her, spikes retracting into its mass only to prepare for another, more devastating attack.
Desperation clawed at Anton's consciousness as he gathered what little mana remained in his depleted reserves. The familiar taste of blood filled his mouth as he pushed beyond safe limits, drawing the last of his mana to fuel four Magic Missile spells modified to their highest potency.
"Hey, you bastard!" he shouted, directing the creature's attention away from Maria. "Try using your brain for a change!"
The quartet of glowing projectiles surged forward with devastating precision, striking the creature's central mass in rapid succession. Each impact released a thunderclap of magical energy that momentarily illuminated the nearby area.
Yet when the light faded and the rain cleared the air, Anton's heart sank. The creature's flesh rippled where the spells had struck, minor wounds that seemed to close even as he watched. His most powerful attack, cast at the cost of his remaining mana, had barely inconvenienced the monster.
Pushing himself to his feet, ignoring the screaming agony across his back, Anton stumbled forward. "Maria, run! Get out of here!" His legs threatened to collapse beneath him with each step. "Over here! I'm the one you want!"
In his thoughts, Anton offered desperate pleas to gods he'd never been certain existed. Please, please don't let Maria die. Take my undying ability if you must—I'll sacrifice myself willingly—but spare her life.
The irony wasn't lost on him. For months since discovering his unique ability to reset his life upon death, he had been reckless. Death held no permanence for him, merely a painful transition before he awoke once more back to his mundane shepherd life with half a day passed in the future.
Yet now, facing the possibility of Maria's death rather than his own, the true horror of his ability revealed itself. If he died here, if his life was reset, everything would be lost, his apprenticeship with Master Blackwood, the camaraderie with his fellow guild students, the trust he'd built with the expedition team. Most devastatingly, his relationship with Maria would vanish, reverting to the cold formality of their first meeting. Months of shared experiences, private jokes, slowly earned trust and love, all of them erased in an instant.
Even knowing this terrible cost, Anton would gladly pay it if it meant Maria might live. His death for her life seemed a bargain worth making. He didn't want to see her die. Not now! Never!
The creature, however, ignored his provocations entirely. Its attention remained fixed on Maria, who had managed to uncork her healing potion but whose enhancement spell was visibly failing. The azure glow now merely a faint outline around her wounded form.
"Anton," she called, her voice weaker than he'd ever heard it. "If this doesn't—if I don't—"
"Don't you dare," he interrupted, still struggling forward. "Don't you dare say goodbye."
The creature reared up, its mass towering above Maria as she raised her arm in a final, defiant gesture. Anton screamed with a raw, primal sound born of absolute despair as he tried to reach out to her with both his real hand and his phantom one, knowing neither would reach her in time.
And then the world turned to fire.
A massive column of crimson flame crashed down from above, engulfing the creature in a conflagration so intense that Anton had to shield his eyes from the heat. The creature writhed in silent agony as the magical fire consumed it, unable even to voice its suffering.
"Hey kids," a familiar drawling voice called from above. "I heard you were in trouble."
Hovering twenty feet above the forest floor, suspended by invisible forces of his own creation, was a figure Anton recognized instantly despite his blurring vision. He finally showed up with his immaculate robes despite the rain, and an expression of theatrical disgust as he looked at the burning creature.
"Master Blackwood!," Anton cried out with excitement.