Vampiric Blood

The gauntlets continued to press down until two claws on the right hand managed to punch through the glowing red barrier. With the first breach, the rest of the claws followed, breaching into the shield. The red shield shattered underneath the ȧssault. Two massive fists of black fog smashed down upon the hut's roof shaking the runes on it.

Beams of fire launched themselves at the fist in an attempt to destroy them but to no avail. The rays passed through the fog without dealing any damage, yet when the fists swung down, they shook the foundations of the shack.

"Haha, Raum, you have improved, but that's made you ċȯċky. If you came here quietly to steal the pearl cloaked in the night, perhaps you could have succeeded. You have always been a sneaky little rat. Or should I say crow? But this time, you are stepping out of your league, little crow."

Emerging from the hut came a clear and sweet voice, yet her words were not. But just as her voice faded in the wind. The conical roof of the place started to unfurl as if a flower in bloom slowly. The wood roofing had curled itself half-open with petals halfway open raised in the air. The wooden petals entangled the clawed hands, fending them off as they struggled to press on. You could see a woman standing there with bright flowing red hair that fell to her waists in the open centre of the roof. She was wrapped in a bright red cloak that fell like flames around her as her hands waved in the air holding a golden staff inset with a red and gold crystal at its tip. The cloak's hood was up, so you could not see the woman's face. Only her piercing red eyes shined through.

Having finally gotten a glimpse of their target, the shades surrounding the place launched their attacks with renewed vigour to them victory was close at hand.

But before the attacks landed, the woman in the center of the circle raised her arms in the air and conjured a flaming ball of golden fire. The heat blasting off the golden sun shredded the blasts of dark energy. Thus, burning a circle of scorched earth around her as the shades retreated to evade the heat.

The only person that had not moved beside the Witch was the leader of the Shades. He was still standing at his original position. The black clouds circled his body, warding off the heat.

"Did you really think you could use the flames you stole from me to harm me?!!!?!?"

Raum shouted out, enraged at the sight of the golden flames. The clawed hands dissipated into clouds once more, swirling together gathering in mass.

"No, but I had to try afterall it's been so many years. Who knows, you might have gotten weaker."

A snarky reply came back in response to Raum's shout of anger. The arms of the witch waved around once again as the giant ball of fire above her started to split off into smaller pieces that launched themselves at the mass of clouds swirling above her.

"IT IS I THAT SHOULD BE SAYING THAT TO YOU!!! AFTER SO MANY YEARS, YOU HAVE GROWN WEAK, AND NOW IT IS MY TURN TO TRAMPLE YOU AND TAKE WHAT IS MINE."

With that bold statement, the clouds above exploded out in response to their owner's anger. The gray cloud burst open with rain as droplets fell and made contact with the golden fireballs. The sky was lit up in gold and black bursts of energy as grey raindrops collided with golden flames.

"NOW ITS MY TURN!"

The shade burst into a massive fog of feathers and shadow as a giant coal-black crow flew up into the clouds merging with the storm of clouds hanging over the Witch's conjured sun. When the crow and the cloud made contact, it was a lit match to oil. The original black shadowy clouds coalesced around the crow's wings, enlargening them beyond their already immense size as the clouds gathered around his talons as well elongating them and turning them even deadlier to the touch. Having completed his preparations, Raum flapped his giant wings and launched a torrent of feathers down onto the Witch.

A torrent of flames blasted out from the orb of fire to melt the feathers away. But, alas, the feathers tore through the attack without the slightest impediment. The flames were useless to stop their flight. Just as they were about to strike the golden orb, the wooden petals of the hut came to the rescue once again as they obstructed the feathers blocking Raum's strike once again.

"OUUU so close. Try again next time."

Massive roots emerged out of the ground, reaching up into the sky to capture the crow. But Raum sliced through them with ease as his enhanced wings went to work.

This collision of plant and avian went on for several minutes as the roots did their best to lock Raum down while he did his best to circle them, cutting them down to size as he hunted for the perfect opportunity to end it all.

"Man, I practically did you a favour! If you had simply gotten the sun flames and turned yourself into a Golden Crow, you wouldn't be nearly as interesting as you are now! You should be thanking me for having stolen the flames from you!"

The Witch was still composed, but underneath the facade, you could see panic start to build. Her greatest strength, fire, was being significantly suppressed, and her secondary element, wood, was not as effective as she wished.. She could only hold on as best she could. .