– -but it simply wasn't there anymore.
Tarrin turned a full somersault as the momentum of his attack carried him into a spin, landing on the ground in confusion. The Cat did not understand. It was there one instant, and the next it was simply gone. His nose detected the enemy behind him, and Tarrin dove forward and rolled to his feet facing behind him, but there was nothing there. He could feel it, it was in the room.
A shadow behind warned him. He ducked instinctively as something whooshed over his head, but the Were-cat cried out when the long pincer claws of the monster's undamaged hand appeared on either side of him, and then closed. The power in that crushing grip instantly sent fire through him, cracked his ribs, crushed the air from his lungs, but the Cat had the presence of mind to react. Spinning the sword in his paw so the blade faced the other way, he twisted and stabbed blindly behind him, hitting nothing, but then tried again and felt the tip hit something, something that gave to its deadly edge. The beast bellowed in pain and the grip eased reflexively, allowing him to twist aside and duck under the pincer, sacrificing his shirt to it in the bargain.
Backing up, panting to recover from the pain, the Were-cat brandished his sword and squared off against the massive monster. They had proved to each other that they could hurt one another, but the monster seemed rather unimpressed. Its canine maw almost curled up in a smile as it looked down on its foe. It pointed at him with one of its smaller hands, and the Were-cat felt something strike the Ward protecting him from magical assault, turning even this monster's magic aside. That caused it to turn its head sideways, as if intrigued, and then its eyes began to glow with a bright red light as it motioned again.
Something smothered the Ward, flowed over it, surrounded it, and then attacked it like a pack of wolves hounding a wounded fawn. The Were-cat staggered under the attack, felt it penetrate the Ward, eat into it like acid, and then disrupt it. The Ward dissolved like smoke around him.
Despite his fury, the Cat knew it was now in trouble. That was confirmed when the creature made a flicking motion with its finger, and Tarrin felt gravity turn over, pulling him up towards the ceiling rather than down to the floor. The Cat was agile and lithe, twisting in midair to land easily on the sloped ceiling, looking down at the amused creature with burning eyes. In a quick move, he lunged directly over the monster just as the magic causing the reversal faded, and gravity reasserted itself properly. Tarrin did not turn over again, he fell headfirst towards the monster with the tip of his sword leading.
And it simply vanished once again.
Twisting in midair, he barely managed to land on his feet. How did it do that?
All thought ended when something smashed him from behind, sending him sprawling to the floor. Shaking his head fuzzily, Tarrin got back to his hands and knees, then rolled aside as a huge clawed foot sought to crush him into the floor. He twisted on the floor inhumanly and took a swipe at that leg, but it was simply gone.
It was toying with him!
He was struck again on the side, sent careening across the floor, and he lost his grip on the sword in the tumble. He heard it clang several times as it bounced along the floor, then skid to a stop somewhere behind him and to his right. Even the Cat understood that death would be the result if he could not recover the sword. A sudden red glow behind him sent him scrambling forward, as a raging cone of fire scorched the floor where he had been, a cone that moved to follow him for a terrifying second before exhausting itself mere fingers from reaching his tail. He snapped to his feet and whirled around, and found himself cut off from his weapon. It lay behind the massive Demon, who had placed itself squarely in the path to reclaim it, a ball of fire formed around the hand of the arm protruding from its chest. It gave him an evil, toothy smile, crooking a finger at him with its other human-like hand, taunting him.
Separated from his weapon, the Were-cat's enraged mind allowed the rational part of it analyze the situation. It quickly concluded that he stood no chance against this monster so long as it could disappear like it did, and turn gravity over and throw fire at him. He had no choice. He had to fight magic with magic. Despite the fact that his body was too exhausted to survive.
He never got a chance to try. A sudden strange force emanated from the creature, striking him like a cudgel to the head, sending him flying to his back with stars dancing before his eyes and a buzzing in his ears. He swam in a grey mist for what seemed like an eternity, and then felt something lock around his middle, pick him up off the floor. The pain in that sudden intense grip shocked him back to his senses, and he found himself in the Demon's clutches, held off the floor like a child with its pincers locked around his waist. And it was squeezing him, driving the sharp ridges and protrusions on its pincers into his middle, tearing a scream from his mouth as he felt as if he was being snapped in half.
Tarrin grabbed those pincers with his paws and pushed, pushed with all his might, his desperation giving him even more strength. But it wasn't enough. He could feel the monster strain against him, have to struggle to maintain its grip, but the pain overwhelmed him momentarily and caused him to lose his purchase. Pain blasting through him, he grabbed at a desperate ploy, one that just may work.
Soundlessly, quickly, his great understanding and experience giving him the ability to perform through the pain, Tarrin shapeshifted into his cat form.
The pincers collapsed around his suddenly small body, and they stopped before they could crush him, striking each other trying to grab the suddenly tiny prey. They could not close far enough fast enough. Tarrin dropped from the pincers unabated, landing on all four feet and instantly dashing forward, directly between the monster's legs. He shifted back in the blink of an eye and raised his paws, driving them up into the crotch of his opponent. He couldn't hurt it, but he could knock it off its feet, surprise it long enough for him to recover his sword. A leg snapped out and slammed into the back of its ankle as he pushed on it from below, and he succeeded in knocking it off balance. It teetered for a moment, then crashed to the floor with such force that he could feel it under his feet.
Directly on top of his sword.
That hadn't been in the plan when he did that. He tried to topple it forward, but it had teetered and fell backward. Backing away in chagrin, the Were-cat extended his claws and entered a crouching stance, ready for just about anything. His chagrin deepened when the monster picked up his sword as it got back up, holding it in one of its hands, holding the one thing that gave him a chance. He had no choice now. He had to attack it, if only to recover his weapon.
Putting his ears back, his eyes glowing brightly, forgetting in his rage about the conclusion that his rational mind made but seconds before, the Were-cat lunged forward. He slid around another blast of fire as if he had not a bone in his body, slithering around it without allowing it to touch him, then he leaped right for the Demon's face with all ten claws out and seeking its eyes. The sudden, irrational attack seemed to take the Demon aback, and it vanished from before him almost too late to avoid having the Were-cat's claws futilly attempt to gouge out its eyes. Tarrin flew right through where the monster had been an instant before, landing on all fours near where the book was located-
– -the book!
Of course! Even in his fury, he understood the significance of that book! It was why he was here! Abandoning even trying to locate the Demon, Tarrin twisted to the side and made a break for the book, his paw outstretched to grab it as soon as he could reach it. If he could get the book, he could get around the Demon and flee with it! But a dark shadow to the side told him that it was too close to try, and he suddenly careened aside, abandoning his attempt.