"Who's there!" Arran called out.
Although he knew the growl had not come from a human, perhaps the sound of his voice would drive off whatever creature was stalking him.
"If you come closer, I'll attack!" he yelled, giving his sword several swings to give some weight to the threat.
Another growl sounded, this time from Arran's side. He quickly turned to face it, holding his sword in front of him as he prepared to be attacked.
But no attack came. Instead, a few moments later yet another growl sounded, now further to his side. Again he turned, understanding that the creature was circling him, probably looking for an opening to attack.
The realization caused him to feel some worry — if the creature was testing his defenses, it was no simple beast. Perhaps it might even be intelligent enough to figure out that he was blind.
His Sense told him there was only one creature, but other than that, it was as good as useless. All he could feel was a single presence, but he could not tell where it was, nor how far it was from him.
A fireball might have frightened off the creature, but Arran had sealed all his Realms except for Shadow when he began to purify Essence. Removing the seals would take moments he did not have, and after that, it would be minutes more before he had gathered enough Essence to launch an attack.
Again a growl sounded, and again Arran turned toward it, swinging his sword in what he hoped was a menacing manner. He did not dare move from where he stood, because right now, a single stumble could leave him completely exposed.
Arran waited for the next growl to sound, but no more sound came, and Arran grew even more worried. Although he hoped the creature had decided to leave, he could still Sense its presence. And if it was still there, it had probably understood that Arran was only reacting to the sounds it made.
His fears were confirmed only a moment later.
A sudden rustling sounded in the trees behind Arran, and without thinking, he instantly ducked to the side — and not a moment too soon, because an instant later, the creature struck his shoulder with terrifying force, and he could feel its claws tearing into his flesh.
Had he not ducked at the last moment, the claws would have torn through his throat rather than his shoulder.
Ignoring the pain, he got back on his feet, then used his sword to attack the space where the creature had been a moment ago. Yet he didn't hit anything, and he knew the creature had retreated already.
His breath quickened from fear and pain, and he had to fight to keep his hands from trembling. The creature was clearly both stronger and smarter than he had feared, and if he didn't find a way to defend himself, he would die.
Nerves on edge, he attacked several times when he thought he heard something, but each time, his sword only struck air. Whatever kind of creature it might be, it was dangerously smart.
Another attack came shortly after, but this time, Arran was luckier. As he heard a sudden noise to his side he dodged rapidly, and the creature's claws must have missed him. Instead, he was hit by a large furred mass that he took to be the creature's shoulder. The blow sent him sprawling to the ground, but left him otherwise unharmed.
Again, he got up, instantly waving his sword around to keep the creature from following through on its attack. It seemed to be wary of the sword, and that, at least, gave Arran a moment of respite — until the creature had time to move to his side or back, anyway.
He knew that if the fight continued like this, it would not be long before he lost. Without knowing where the creature was, he had no way to defend against its attacks and no way to attack it himself.
Perhaps he could get lucky and strike the creature just as it attacked him, but then, he could not afford to rely on luck.
With Arran blind, it was far more likely that the creature would get a good hit in before he managed to dodge, and that would be the end of it — the wound on Arran's shoulder was all he needed to know that his foe was strong enough to disable him with a single blow.
Unable to defend himself with just his strength, his thoughts turned to Essence.
Shadow Essence would not be able to harm the creature in the slightest. All it could create were shadows, and small ones at that. But perhaps, he thought, if he hit the creature with a large blast of Shadow Essence, he could blind it just long enough to—
Suddenly, he gasped in surprise. He knew what to do.
"You want to eat me, you furred bastard?" Arran said, a mad grin appearing on his face. "Let's see who gets eaten today."
He gathered as much Shadow Essence as he could, then forcefully expelled it.
It was the exact opposite of how he normally attacked. Rather than concentrate the Shadow Essence as he would when using Essence from his other Realms, now he cast it out in a thin mist that spread all around him.
He could not yet properly Sense Natural Essence, but the Essence from his own Realms was another matter. That, he could Sense with little effort.
That alone would not have helped him, but if he could Sense where it was, then he could also Sense where it wasn't — in the ground, in the plants and trees, and most importantly, in the massive shape that was barreling toward him right at that moment.
Now that he could tell where the creature was, he easily sidestepped the attack, then lashed out with a deep cut into the creature's flank as it hurtled past him.
The creature roared in pain, then came to a stop a dozen paces from where Arran stood, on the edge of Arran's mist of Shadow Essence.
Arran could roughly make out its shape as a gap in the mist of Shadow Essence. It seemed to be a bear, albeit a freakishly large one, at least nine feet tall at the shoulder.
For a moment, the creature stood still, as if hesitating what to do. Then, it slowly began to back away — perhaps it understood that the situation had changed.
"I don't think so," Arran said quietly.
If it moved any further away, he would be unable to Sense it. And if it attacked again later, it might succeed in killing him before he could respond.
Arran knew he could only maintain the mist of Shadow for a short time, and after that, he would once more be vulnerable — at least until he replenished his Shadow Essence.
But more importantly, the creature had attacked and injured him. And for that, it would pay with its life.
At once, Arran dashed forward as fast as he could, toward the creature. Then, with all the power he had, he rammed his sword into what he thought was its head, driving the blade in all the way to the hilt.
For several seconds, neither Arran nor the creature moved, and Arran could feel his heart pound in his chest as he feared the creature might have survived the blow.
But then, the creature slumped to the ground, the life ripped from its body by the four feet of steel that had torn through its brain.
A moment later, Arran slumped to the ground as well, panting from exhaustion and trembling with the knowledge that he had only barely escaped death.
It took him some time to gather his wits. Even if he had won the fight, the experience had been one he did not care to repeat — short though the battle might have been, and despite him escaping relatively unscathed, he knew he had only narrowly avoided a terrible fate.
As he calmed down, however, a small smile appeared on his face. He had found a way to see without seeing.
