Malik barely had time to breathe before two more were on him.
One came low, trying to swipe his legs out, while the other leaped high, aiming for his head.
He jumped back, his feet skidding on the dirt as the high one’s claws nearly raked across his face.
His blade flashed in a quick arc, clipping the low one’s arm and sending it spinning to the ground.
The second Qird landed rough and pounced again.
Malik sidestepped, driving his elbow into its side midair, then followed up with a slash across its back.
The creature hit the ground in a heap, snarling for a moment then dead the next.
“You guys gotta work on your coordination.”
He flicked the blood off his blade.
KIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!
A loud screech from his blind spot made him whirl around.
Another Qird—a big one, its flames burning brighter than the rest—came barreling toward him.
“Oh, shit!”
Malik threw himself to the side, narrowly avoiding getting flattened.
The beast skidded to a halt, then turned back to face him in what seemed to be a blink.
Without pause, it charged again, its claws leaving scorched marks on the dirt.
Malik planted his feet, gripping his shamshir with both hands, nearly sizzling the hilt.
KIEEK—!
At the last second, he stepped forward instead of back, meeting it head-on.
“Shut.”
His blade sliced upward.
Clang!
Sparks flew as it clashed against the Qird’s flaming claws.
The force of the impact sent vibrations through his body, reaching the ground, cracking it.
It was a strength surpassing his own, but he held firm.
“Kneel.”
With a twist of his wrist, he redirected the Qird’s momentum, sending it stumbling past him.
He spun on his heel, bringing his shamshir down in an arc that split its legs clean.
Kieeeeeeeeeeeeek!
It howled, collapsing onto its side, and he stepped close, raising his blade.
But before he could finish it, two more were on him.
One lunged for his back, its claws aimed for his neck, while the other shot multiple fireballs at him.
Malik dropped to the ground in a roll, narrowly dodging the flames as they whizzed past, exploding against a tree.
Popping up to his feet, he swung his sword in a wide arc, forcing the Qird behind him to back off.
The other one rushed him, thinking it had an opening.
Big mistake.
Malik turned on a dime, his free hand igniting in flames.
With a sharp thrust, he shot a fiery blast straight into its chest.
The Qird was lifted off the ground, flying backward into one of its friends, dead.
Malik grinned, spinning his blade lazily.
“Next time, think before you try to dogpile me.”
That grin didn’t last.
More Qirds flooded into the clearing—ten, maybe fifteen.
They formed a loose circle around him, flames flaring like torches in the forest.
He let out a low sigh, gripping his hilt tightly.
“Alright, then. You wanna do this the hard way? Let’s go.”
The Qirds attacked as one, a chaotic wave of claws, fangs, and fire.
Malik moved like a man possessed, his blade a blur as he parried and countered.
One Qird came too close, and he slammed his fiery palm into its stomach, sending it sprawling.
Another leaped at him, and he ducked low, slashing upward to open a gash across its chest.
A small one, undetected until the last moment, latched onto his arm, claws digging into his skin.
“Grrh!”
He growled, headbutting it hard enough to daze it, then blasted it off at point-blank range.
They just kept coming.
For every Qird he put down, three more seemed to take their place.
They weren’t just random attackers anymore—they were coordinated.
Surrounding him. Pushing him into corners.
That forced him to start thinking outside the box, use all he had to his advantage.
Malik didn’t just fight them—he outsmarted them.
Using the terrain he’d spent days scouting, he lured Qirds into tight spaces, forcing them to bottleneck.
He used fallen branches as distractions, leading them into ambushes.
Even baited a few of them to charge into his blade.
The man was good, no doubt about that, but he wasn’t invincible.
No, he was so very far from that.
Exhaustion had arrived.
His breath came in ragged gasps, struggling against all the smoke and fire.
His muscles screamed in protest as well, showing signs of failure.
Malik couldn’t keep this up forever.
There was no way out of this but escape.
He glanced around, spotting a few landmarks belonging to a nearby stream.
‘You’ll be my ticket.’
A risky move, considering his past experiences with water, but better than slowly getting overwhelmed and ripped apart piece by piece.
“Time to go.”
He sheathed his shamshir, then shot another fire blast at the nearest cluster of Qirds.
It didn’t do much damage, but the explosion bought him a few precious seconds.
Then he bolted, weaving through the trees and dodging fireballs as they gave chase.
Using his knowledge of the terrain, he darted through narrow paths, leading them into traps—places where the terrain worked against them, away from trees.
He simply gave them a hard time.
One by one, they fell behind, tripping over roots, crashing into, and shooting each other.
And yet, many of the Qirds remained hot on his tail, literally.
Though… he didn’t seem to mind that as much as one might expect.
Just as he reached the small stream, Malik skidded to a stop, his eyes scanning it for danger.
Unsullied blue water glistened under the flickering light of the flames chasing him.
Nothing was revealed to be hiding in its currents.
“…Gotta do it.”
Taking a deep breath, he waded into the stream, his fiery hands glowing brighter.
He pressed both hands down, boiling the water for a moment before it quickly formed a thick wall of steam that blanketed the area.
KIEEEEEEEEK! KIEEEEEEEEEEEK! KIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!
The Qirds screeched in confusion, unable to understand what was left from right.
Using that chaos, Malik swam away, moving as quickly and quietly as he could.
By the time the steam cleared, he was gone, back on land in the distance.
Panting, he leaned against a tree, wiping sweat from his brow.
His body ached, and his hands ached, but he was alive.
“Public enemy number one, eh~?”
The lighthouse was now to his southeast, bit of a distance away.
Malik stared at it, then looked back at where his destination lay.
“They better be there.”
