The Dream Shifter

Chapter 284

Above in the sky, chirping echoed from a chatter to a chorus. Ligeia looked around trying to figure out where the sounds came from. Suddenly, a shadow flew past her face. It turned her around to follow it, but another shadow flew past. She summoned up her shield for a defense, hearing dull pounding against it. 'What's going on? What is he doing?' Trying to focus, Ligeia managed to calm herself down enough to look at the shield.

Birds. They were birds, pale white birds. 'More spirit animals…' The birds had the same transparent appearance of the wolf. She tried to use her beams to knock them away, but their numbers only increased. They swarmed over her shield throwing her into a state of confusion. Ligeia could not get them off her.

However, the birds flew off suddenly. The reason for it came too late to Ligeia. A large shadow cast over her and knocked her to the ground. The wolf pinned her to the metal floor with its mouth closing on her. Ligeia glanced around at her projectors. She tried to fire, but all of her beams were blocked by the birds. 'I'm trapped! I can't get it off me! Damn it! He's got me right where he wants me!'

Ligeia struggled with the wolf to free herself, but it had superior strength. She felt the pressure of it digging into her. 'I'm not going to be able to get out of this with it… I didn't want to use it now!' The wolf clawed at her, knocking her around from the force. She delayed too long already. 'If I don't do it…' Glancing to the side, the birds kept disrupting her beams ability to fire. All other options disappeared. '…damn…'

Watching at his usual safe distance, Haruo felt an odd sensation. He already long examined the situation, but it still felt strange. '…because I know they can instantly heal non-fatal injuries, I have this freedom…it's an odd feeling to know I can hurt them without concern to the lasting effects…' It became one of the reasons he allowed himself to fight. He did not have to worry over severely hurting someone. 'It's the reason one of them stayed back, to heal all damage received…still this is…'

As the wolf mauled her, Haruo waited for her forfeit of the fight. He did not plan to allow things to go on just for the sake of asserting dominance. Haruo only wanted her acceptance to end the fight. It became the fastest way to resolve the entire matter. After, he could return to his questions.

'…unsettling…'

Questions had to wait, a brief light appeared below the wolf and then Ligeia disappeared from his sights. The wolf looked around in confusion. It started to sniff out for her. Haruo looked around the field searching for her. Seconds compressed together becoming almost infinity. 'Where'd she go? She didn't disappear…' His new line of thought moved his eyes. He stared at the field measuring it out. 'How?' Haruo turned around figuring it, only to be met with a massive beam to his face and upper body.

"Had to end it quickly," commented Ligeia, sweat dripping down her face, "Can't let you see any more of my secrets." Revealed out of the smoke covering Haruo, Ligeia stood only two meters away from him with her hand raised, the pyramid floating centimeters away from her open palm.

'Why did I come here?'

Coughing through the smoke, a noticeable sound of pain came from Haruo's voice. The fact that it only sounded in pain rather than something more severe made Ligeia take a few steps back. Her teeth ground together annoyed that Haruo still had fight left in him. '…tough bastard…'

Allowing the wind to take away the bag that covered his face, Haruo resurfaced. Blood dripped down his face from the top of his forehead around his cheeks and down the bridge of his nose. Barely clinging to his chest, the tunic no longer existed for his shoulders, marked up with scorches as well. The blood hung around his face creating a darker than intended image as his emotionless features multiplied his aura. "Unexpected."

Glaring back at Haruo, Ligeia did not like the situation. "It's more unexpected hearing your voice again," she retorted.

Unaffected by her remarks, Haruo continued, "Did not think you'd approach so close."

"If I do everything you expect I'm not going to win."

He could agree on the statement. However, other concerned bothered him. 'She disappeared from my sight and reappeared behind me. The timing was impossible for anything I've seen from her, human or aided.' Examining Ligeia, he noted she lacked any injuries from the wolf. Her clothes looked completely unaffected by the attacks. 'It happened a second time, she somehow avoided injury when her defenses fell…'

"Back to silence…" Ligeia pulled in her projectors around her. It gave her time to collect herself for the next phase of her strategy. She saw him doing the same with his pets. The wolf circled in around him acting as the first line, while the swarm of birds hovered around him. A few of the birds rested on his shoulder and head, looking as though he was one with nature. "Birds and wolves, odd mix."

"Daurian Jackdaw and Ezo Wolf," Haruo corrected.

"Eh?"

"Their sub-species name."

"That's some useless bit of trivia." Ligeia made some of her projectors disappear. One set by her shoulder formed into a pyramid quickly firing off a beam. 'Knowing their names doesn't change anything.'

The bird targeted by Ligeia fluttered away before it hit. 'Starting up a new round of attacks. I'm forcing her to use more of her techniques. So I should see what she did before again. I need to watch and figure it out.' Making use of his birds together with the wolf, Haruo resumed his attack on Ligeia. The birds did well to disrupt the coordination of her devices while the wolf focused on cornering her.

Sliding around, Ligeia changed her distance with Haruo quickly to keep away from the wolf. 'His damn birds keep getting in the way. I can't get a clean shot on him anymore…' She kept trying to work around the complication. Unfortunately, it forced to her to start using her secret again.

Haruo kept ahead of Ligeia attempts to directly target him. He had the clear sight on her actions. However, a beam suddenly hit him from an impossible direction. It scored a small mark on his face. 'Where'd that come from?' Little time allowed him to think too long on the problem. His eyes started to notice more changes in the beams. They were no longer coming from predictable directions.

The birds were not enough to keep her beams broken up. She found ways around them, even if only a few. Their count diminished quickly as well, no longer keeping up with the changing pace. 'She must be using her new secret.' The only thing keeping her from going all out on him with her trick was the birds. She kept to using only micro beams. They fired faster and worked in greater numbers, a better match for his Jackdaws.

'Fighting continues… Fighting is pointless…unnecessary…'

Seeing the more aggressive nature of the wolf, Ligeia pulled herself back even further from the animal. She kept up a shield between them, one it struggled to break. It often chose to try to flank her, but she easily moved it around to keep pace. 'I've got him back at my pace. I need keep applying the pressure.' She saw she could inflict wounds on him. It meant she just needed to increase the strength of her attacks.

All of her attacks focused him on her. She kept him busy and distracted. Glancing above him, she watched the careful positioning and development. 'It's just about ready. If I didn't have to do all of this distraction it'd be finished already. But he's very observant, I can't afford mistakes with him.' It came time. A massive beam charged from a few meters above Haruo. In only a few seconds, it discharged screamed down at him.

Bright light washed everything. Haruo disappeared from her view. All of the animals paused to look back in the direction. While distracted, she took the opportunity to wipe out a large portion of the birds causing them to flee. Ligeia directed her attention to the wolf, which recovered from its confusion. Focusing all of her beams into a complex web, the wolf fell quickly.

'…it's not enough of a reason…'

Even while the beam continued, Haruo stepped out from around the beam completely unscathed by the attack. The threat of its proximity did nothing to his features.

Staggered backwards, Ligeia could not believe he evaded her attack. Surprise filled her eyes. "How?! How could you see it coming!?" She disconnected the pieces to shut off the beam.

"I tracked them." He stretched out a hand for one of the remaining birds to land on his finger. A bright glowing core filled its chest. It jumped up his arm eventually perching on his bare shoulder.

The lack of context aggravated Ligeia. "What are you talking about?"

"Your devices. They have remained a consistent number until recently."

"You were counting them?!" It seemed impossible to her that he followed all of them. 'I keep track of them because I have to, but for him to be following it all so closely. He's even more dangerous!' However, it still bothered her that he knew how to dodge the attack. "Knowing it's missing doesn't tell you where it is."

"I am connected." The bird lifted off his arm and suddenly more birds materialized around it growing into a swarm. It restored their numbers fully in moments.

'…no feeling…'

Another indirect answer, but Ligeia understood the implications. 'He's connected with his animals. The birds provide him better sight than the wolves, always facing at me. Damn…' Watching the birds return to their restored status made Ligeia understand them a little more. It bothered her how difficult they would be to kill.

'…no passion for fighting…'

The pause in fighting came to an end. Ligeia saw to it. Beam fire resumed in chaotic fashion. The wolf removed from the equation, made life for her easier. She only had to deal with the birds. They only provided a distraction, a disruption to her plans. 'Why hasn't he brought out more animals? Is he at his limit with the birds?'

'…no pride on the line…'

Beams broke through the defense of the birds easily. Haruo hardly expected them to have as much of an effect in the battle with his wolf gone. However, he wanted it that way. It freed up his concentration to watch everything more carefully.

'…no interest in testing the limits…'

The assault continued with Haruo remaining defensive. Each beam that came in at him did not have enough to stop, but he knew it added up. Eventually, it would be more than his body could take. However, he had to last long enough to figure it out. 'The way the beams are moving should be impossible…they're always moving…' Following everything was not easy for him, but he started to find clarity. Pieces began to fall into place.

'...just empty…'

His eyes narrowed in on it. It surprised him that he missed it for so long. The clues blended in well enough with the myriad of everything else. He wrote it off too quickly. 'I understand now. There's slight differences, but I can see it now. They all make the same shape, but orientation determines their function. The one I was missing was the third function, a matter transportation. Instantly jumping from one of her devices to another. Makes sense now.'

'…so why…'

Armed with the new knowledge, he instructed the birds to deal with the devices that served to reflect, shield or teleport. It broke down her offense quickly. Directed, he freed up his birds and increased their numbers further. They broke off from the main group diving after Ligeia.

Pulling up her shield, always ready, the birds slammed into the barrier. The first did nothing but fall away. Same the second and third, but the pounding echoed louder. It felt a little unnerving watching the near k******e attack. Suddenly a c***k developed in the shield. Ligeia tried to strengthen it with another layer, but the birds already had their advantage. Speed increased on their attacks quickly punching a hole through the shield.

Through the gap, the remaining birds swarmed through at Ligeia. Using their claws and beak, the birds covered Ligeia. White glows of light soaked her figure with only a dull hue of her color breaking through under their assault. '…damnit…they'll break through…I've had enough of this!'

All of the projectors in the area disappeared. They materialized around her emitting a blue light. It forced its way inward acting as a repulsor against the birds. Moments later, a force from the center threw off all of the birds, sent tumbling away through the air for meters. Ligeia surfaced with marks on her face, thin trails of blood dripping down. Faint flashing on her clothes showed damage on a transparent surface, ripped into by the birds. Underneath, her clothes looked torn in same points.

Spinning around her legs and arms, the projectors connected a blue transparent sheet wrapping around her ankles and wrists. Ligeia suddenly hovered into the air a meter away from the ground. More pieces floated around her in a different pattern than before.

Haruo arched his eyebrow a touch. He did not expect such a drastic alteration of her tactics. The new patterns left him wondering their potential. 'I've got to test it…' Signaling the birds, they flew at Ligeia, but hit an invisible wall before reaching her. It lined up with the shape of the devices. However, the barrier's strength was incomparable to the previous. The birds bounced off as though a force pushed them back.

"It's time this came to an end," declared Ligeia, sweat poured down her face. Her features hardened, forcing herself to continue. She lifted her hand up slowly as though commanding something.

A shadow stretched up behind Haruo and to the side. He looked around noticing columns rising from the ground. The plating from her field exposed itself. Behind the smooth metal surface, complex machinery worked. Electricity jumped around ends and multi-colored lights danced around the faces.

Turning her outstretched hand over, a holographic sphere formed. She closed her hand over it inserting her fingers into the surface depressing sections of the surface. The holographic turned from blue to red, a signal. "Try to dodge this!"

Electricity jumped out from the three columns closing off all exits, above or flanking. Then electricity refocused back to Haruo. His entire body drank in the volts involuntarily. He had no escape. Pain stretched up his body and through his muscle into his throat. Haruo did not know how long he could last.