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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 2914871" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 324Unlike most idiots in the galaxy who would just stand in shock as something exploded at them...Shadow moved. She didn’t need the Force to tell her that standing in one place when a transparasteel window shattered inwards at her that it was a good idea to not stand right there. It was one of the reasons that she wondered if she was the only sane being left in the galaxy anymore. Even Jyren would have at least given thought to standing there.    But Shadow wasn’t stupid...at least, not when it came to simple matters like that. Her ears were already picking up the sound of the attack before the Force screamed at her, and so, Shadow’s body was diving to the side and rolling out of the way before the window itself was even completely shattered. Mid-roll, she heard an angry roar behind her, and it didn’t take anything more than that for her to know the source of the attack.    This time, fear did not grip her. Mainly due to the fact that Shadow was too busy coming back up to her feet while, at the same time, staying low enough to avoid the large, powerful swing of a clawed hand that could easily have taken her head off. Out of a natural reaction, her own hands remorphed to reveal her own claws, though they weren’t nearly as dangerous as the ones that had nearly killed her.    Shadow had a half second to get decent footing and see that this Darkwing was about twice the size of the ones that had been in the tanks. It was maybe four meters high, and with a nearly ten meter wing-span, all curled up to fit into this room that was suddenly a lot smaller with this leathery, black-skinned creature inside it. Another angry roar that sent a cold shiver up her spine escaped the large, sharp-toothed jaws of the thing before it took a powerful step forward and swung at her again.    Part of her nearly stood still...which would have meant a lack of a good half of her body and all of her life. But, again, Shadow’s instincts moved her body before anything else would have. A second time, she ducked low, feeling the swipe catch a few stray strands of her hair as she slid to the side again, now with her back to the shattered and open window.    She could run...but it would follow. It would follow, and she couldn’t run forever.    Her hand quickly reached down and withdrew the small, ancient dagger that had been with her since Alraxia, and slid the cold metal blade out of the makeshift sheathe that she kept it in more for the sake of Jyren and Tobias than herself. She brought the blade up in front of her just as the massive form of the Darkwing spun around to face her, swinging another clawed hand at her.    Now, though, when Shadow ducked under the strike, she spun around and gave the Darkwing a sharp slash across the back of its arm. The creature made no sound, but Shadow could see the dark blue coloured blood spill across the ground, and the two piercing eyes narrow in rage. Instead of another swing of a powerful arm, it dove at her, wide-open jaws first.    The Darkwing snapped at her like a dragon, only missing her by centimeters as Shadow sidestepped the strike...but the Darkwing had obviously been ready for her dodge, this time, as it gave Shadow no chance to return the attack. Just as its jaws closed on the empty air, a wing swung around and slapped Shadow across the side, sending her straight back at the Darkwing’s jaws...which had, of course, reopened in anticipation.    But Shadow did what Jyren would have called cheating.    She used the Force to throw herself back and away from the monstrous thing, leaving it to once again snap its jaws into nothing. But she didn’t stop moving there. Once her feet caught the deck plates, Shadow dropped to the floor just in time to avoid a vicious slash. She then rolled inwards and straight to the Darkwing to dodge another set of claws that sank hard into the deck where she’d been. Just as she ended up on her back, Shadow’s arm shot up towards the hunched over torso and the metal blade cut straight through its gut and up to the neck, where she then turned it and left a long, horizontal slash.    The strike had been lightning fast, and perfectly placed to cause the Darkwing to stand up fully and rear back a step and a half out of pain. Shadow also took note of the fact that the wounds did not remorph...an important similarity with Alraxians that was not something to miss. Her eyes still on the Darkwing, Shadow rolled out from under its torso just as one of the large feet slammed down on her spot. Her tail was missed by a very small margin, a thought that would later cause her to shudder more than anything else...the very idea of how that kind of pain would have stopped her was mind numbing.    But she kept moving, rolling across the deck plates an quickly kicking herself up to her feet again. The Darkwing had recovered from its short moment of shock by then, and was charging straight for her at an extremely fast speed. Shadow jumped up just in time to avoid another loud snap from the monster’s jaws and she came down just on the spot between its massive wings...and a memory struck her.    Not her memory...but Jyren’s. It was a point where he had been when...she...was one of these. Not a blind spot, but a point where the arms couldn’t actually reach. The safest place she could possibly be, really.    Immediately upon realizing this, Shadow dug her claws in deep in the creature’s spine as it twisted around to throw her off. One foot managed to find a spot to wedge itself right against where the wing met the back, but Shadow was still thrown around viciously as the Darkwing struggled to remove her. And Shadow knew right away that she wasn’t going to be able to hang on for much longer...this sure as hell wasn’t as easy as Jyren’s thoughts made it seem.    Shadow’s free hand, which had been thrown to the side with a vicious thrashing from the Darkwing, managed to come back down, and she brought the metal blade down with all her strength. It hit hard, digging down into the back of the Darkwing’s skull and cutting straight through the bone until it was so deep that her hand was up against the horrible, leathery skin.    And that was it.    The Darkwing let out a deafening, mind-numbing sound from its jaws, tilting its head back and flapping its wing in its thrashing until Shadow could no longer hold on. In a second, she lost her grip on both the skin of the Darkwing’s back and on her blade, and was thrown like a small toy straight across the medical ward and into the far wall. There was a loud thud and an even louder crack from her spine as she hit, but Shadow didn’t make a noise.    ...because her head was snapped back and her skull slammed straight into the durasteel wall before she dropped to the ground face first with another bone crunching thud.</blockquote>

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