"What do you want?" Elias finally asked when the man stood in front of him.
"What I want.." he smiled softly. "I want to know who made you and then come to my side. I will try to plead mercy for you and let you live if you serve us well." though the man offered an alliance, Elias could see in his eyes that he was planning an attack.
Elias did not wait for the man to attack. This time he was not sure if he could learn the tricks with just one or two attacks.
"What if I refuse?" he asked standing up, ready to jump from the carriage but the man was standing in front of him with the blink of an eye. He had blocked Elias from leaving and now looked at him with a strange grin on his face.
"It would not surprise me, but then I would feel pity that a good weapon was broken without reason." he gave Elias a look from head to toe as if he was assessing his worth and then shook his head in pity. "You are made without the permission of the council, a rogue could be killed without giving information to its creator and I would still receive a reward." he informed Elias to see the shock registering in his eyes with a smile.
Elias tried to stand up again when the man finally moved. His hand came straight for Elias's throat, Elias barely dodged it when a brutal palm aimed straight at his chest. But the force behind it was monstrous. It struck the side of the carriage instead.
The wood exploded as if it was struck by lightning. The chests of gold spilled forward as the entire side of the cart split apart like paper. The mule shrieked and bolted away.
Elias flew backward and landed hard but the man was already smiling as he jumped from what remained of the carriage and came toward Elias. Elias rolled just in time to avoid the follow-up blow. He flipped to his feet. This time, he felt the danger, it made his blood pounding in his ears.
This wasn't like the others he had fought so far. The man rushed at him again, faster than most men could blink. Their fists collided mid-air with a crack that split the air. The shockwave burst outward strong enough to make leaves tremble, and branches snapped.
Elias grunted and pushed forward with all the force he could muster. He locked arms with the stranger as they tried to rip each other apart. Their strength tested bone against bone, but neither gave way. Then Elias headbutted him. It didn't faze the man but only made him laugh.
A punch came in return and Elias blocked it with both arms. But instead of stopping the man properly, he still staggered back several paces.
"You are strong," the man growled. "But not strong enough to fight against me. Just give up and stop stalling."
He lunged on Elias again with more force. Elias grabbed the man's throat and drove him into a trunk. The bark cracked under the pressure. Elias's eyes were gloomy and his hands were bleeding with the force.
"I have not come this far to give up." he gritted his teeth as he added more pressure but the man was stronger. He had already pushed Elias away. He rubbed his throat and started to heal instantly.
"You should not have challenged me like that." he spat looking at staggering Elias. "I was going to give you an easy death." he held Elias and pulled him up as if he weighed nothing and then threw him on a large tree. Trees splintered under his weight. Elias groaned as he stood up. His back was wet with his blood but it had already started to heal.
The man watched Eliad standing with his squinted eyes. Elias ran with full force and threw the man on another tree this time. The man countered with a knee to Elias's ribs, then flipped them both through the air. Elias crashed through low branches, landing in a crouch. A slash of claws tore through his coat.
The forest around them turned into a battlefield of broken bark and shattered branches. Elias flung a hidden dagger on the man when he walked closer to flip ELias up. it embedded in the man's shoulder. The man didn't flinch. He tore it out and threw it back with a snort. Elias barely ducked using the time he was given.
They clashed again. Instead of getting exhausted like the men from before, he was getting faster than the human eye with every blow they exchanged. Every strike was meant to kill and Elias was barely surviving now.
Elias grabbed a broken branch and used it like a staff. He drove it into the man's gut, swung again toward his head but the man caught it mid-swing and crushed it to splinters.
"Is that all you have got? You are slowing," the man murmured. "You are bleeding more than me too."
Elias painted as his shoulders rose and fell with lost rhythm. His muscles screamed in pain and his side throbbed. But his eyes didn't waver.
"I have survived worse, this is nothing." With a speed of Lightning, he surged forward, driving the fight into a clearing. With a roar, he tackled the man straight into a thick pine.The tree snapped in half with a deafening crack. They hit the ground hard, tangled in roots and blood.
The man struck Elias across the face with force that made Elias's vision go white. His mouth was filled with liquid and he tasted iron but the blows did not stop. One came after the other, Elias rolled, barely avoiding them. His hand found a stone. He slammed it into the man's temple.
He was able to hit the man twice before the man roared and shoved him off. They stood again, breathing raggedly and their bodies heaving. Elias bled from a gash above his eyebrow. The man's eye was swollen, but he smiled like it didn't matter.
"I see now," the man said, voice rasping. "You don't even know what you are yet."
"I don't need to," Elias said, tightening his grip on the hilt of his sword and then he charged.
The man met him with equal force and Elias pivoted mid-stride, sliding low and slashing deep across the back of the man's knee. The man finally fell on his knees. Elias didn't hesitate, he dropped his blade and grabbed a shard of the broken tree trunk sharpened by force and splintered the edge. He drove it straight into the man's heart.
The scream that tore from the man's throat was inhuman. A raw, feral thing. His eyes glowed for a moment with bright crimson before fading into blackness. He went still with a shocked expression on his face.
Elias collapsed to his knees, shaking. his every limb trembled with exhaustion. Blood had soaked his torn shirt completely. His ribs burned with every breath. He pressed a hand to his chest. His heart still pounded, he touched his chest to confirm that he was still alive.