The throne room smelled of blood and molten wax. Femi's breath came in ragged, wet gasps as he pushed himself up from the cracked stone floor. His vision swam. Blood dripped from his wounds, splattering dark red across his matted fur.
Before him, the skeletal horror stood wreathed in its shimmering metallic aura, the remains of its ancient armor now reforged by whatever juju magic it used. The creature didn't even look tired. It simply waited, the crimson fire in its hollow eye sockets pulsing with cruel amusement.
"Kuros."
The word slithered into Femi's skull like a blade between ribs. Not spoken not exactly—but vibrating through the air itself. The skeleton's jaw didn't move as the sound echoed through the chamber, through Femi's very bones.
The creature took a single step forward. Its bare foot bones clicked against stone, each movement precise, unhurried. The massive greatsword in its grip hummed with energy, the serrated edge vibrating like a living thing.
Femi's eyes darted to his axe _five paces away, half-buried under rubble. "Too damn far."
The skeleton's aura pulsed iron-gray, its metallic sheen rippling like molten steel.
It moved.
One heartbeat it stood motionless. The next, it crossed the distance in a blur of gleaming bone, its sword carving a silver arc through the air where Femi's head had been. He threw himself sideways, feeling the displaced air tear at his fur as the blade passed close enough to shear whiskers from his muzzle.
The shockwave from the missed strike sent him tumbling across the floor. His claws scraped against stone, drawing sparks as he fought to regain his footing.
"You are slow."
The skeleton's voice grated like rusted metal dragged across stone. It didn't turn to face him, instead examining its blade with what might have been curiosity.
"Too slow."
With a flick of its wrist, the sword's edge elongated unnaturally, stretching like liquid metal toward Femi's throat. He barely got his forearm up in time. The blade sliced through fur and flesh, stopping only when it hit bone.
Femi screamed.
The skeleton yanked its weapon back, the blade snapping to its original shape with a sound like a cracking whip. Blood arced through the air.
"What kind of monster is this?!"
A cold dread settled in his chest. "I'm finished. This thing will wear my skin."
Femi clutched his wounded arm, feeling hot blood seep between his fingers. The cut was deep, he could see pale bone amidst the red. His left hand wouldn't close properly now.
The skeleton advanced again, each step measured, deliberate. It knew it had already won. This wasn't a fight, it was a slaughter. A game.
Femi's ears flattened against his skull. His tail lashed once, twice. Then he moved.
Not toward his axe. Not toward escape.
Straight at the skeleton.
The creature cocked its head, aura pulsing crimson as it shifted stances. It raised its sword
and Femi dropped into a slide, kicking up a spray of wax and debris into the skeleton's face.
For half a heartbeat, the crimson fire in its eye sockets dimmed. The sword's glow flickered.
Femi was already moving, rolling to his feet behind the creature, his good hand closing around a jagged piece of broken chandelier. He drove the makeshift weapon toward the skeleton's spine with all his remaining strength.
Iron-gray light flared.
The metal spike shattered against the skeleton's suddenly invulnerable back. The rebound sent shards of shrapnel slicing across Femi's face and chest.
A bony elbow smashed into his ribs.
Air exploded from Femi's lungs as he flew backward, crashing into the throne room's far wall hard enough to crack stone. He slid down, leaving a smear of blood behind him.
The skeleton turned slowly, its aura shifting back to crimson as it raised its sword again.
"Kuros-Enchantment-Bladework!"
The blade glowed crimson, the air around it warping from the heat. Femi barely had time to throw himself aside as the skeleton brought it down in a devastating arc.
The shockwave tore through the room. Stone shattered. The throne itself split in two with a thunderous crack.
Femi hit the ground rolling, shards of broken masonry cutting into his hide. He came up spitting blood, his vision swimming.
The skeleton strode through the settling dust, its aura flickering from iron-gray ,to crimson shifting like a predator toying with prey.
Femi's breath came in ragged, wet gasps. His ribs screamed with every inhalation _"at least two broken, maybe more". His left arm hung useless at his side. Blood dripped from a dozen wounds.
And still the skeleton came.
It didn't speak this time. Didn't taunt. Simply advanced, its movements precise, economical.
Femi bared his teeth in a bloody snarl. "I can't die here."
He spotted his axe
Femi lunged, rolling beneath another vicious slash. His fingers closed around the wooden haft just as the skeleton's blade slammed down, aiming to crush his skull. Femi twisted, swinging the axe upward with everything he had.
"CLANG!"
The impact reverberated through his arms, the force nearly dislocating his shoulders. The skeleton didn't stagger.
Femi staggered back, arm screaming with numbness. The skeleton swung again, forcing him to deflect. The rusted axe met the sword and with a sickening "crack", his leg buckled. A raw, guttural sound ripped from his chest. The skeleton didn't pause. A backhanded strike sent him flying.
He hit the wall hard, breath knocked from his lungs. Blood trickled from his nose, his vision swimming.
The skeletal horror watched, its metallic aura blazing.
"You are stubborn."
It raised its sword high, the blade glowing crimson, matching the fire in its eyes. The air warped, pressure building until Femi's ears popped.
"Gaze upon true might!" the skeleton declared. "Kuros-Enchantment-Bladework!"
Femi's breath caught. "So I've become a victim."
The blade came down.
A crescent of crimson energy screamed toward him. He dove, the shockwave tearing through the wall behind him, reducing solid stone to rubble. The throne room trembled, dust raining from the ceiling.
Something hard hit him from behind—impact—and the world vanished.
When consciousness returned, the skeleton's free hand closed around Femi's throat, lifting him effortlessly before slamming him into the wall, hard. Stone cracked beneath the impact.
Femi's vision whited out from the pain.
When it cleared, he found himself staring into the skeleton's burning crimson eyes. The creature leaned close, its breathless voice a whisper of dry bone.
"You've fought valiantly."
Its grip tightened. Femi's claws scrabbled uselessly against its armored wrist.
"But even you should know by now..."
The skeleton's aura flared iron-gray as it drew back its free hand, fingers curling into a fist.
"...there's no hope."
The first punch landed
"CRACK" shattering Femi's cheekbone.
The second struck his sternum
"CRACK" and bone buckled beneath the force.
The third drove the air from his lungs in a wet, bloody spray.
The skeleton threw him.
Femi hit the floor broken, vision fading. Somewhere distant, he heard the skeleton's sword scraping against stone as it dragged the blade behind it, coming in for the killing stroke.
"This is it. I'm dying."
The darkness crept in. His limbs refused to obey; breath came in shallow, wet gasps.
But as the skeleton raised its blade high, a final, reckless thought flickered through Femi's fading consciousness:
"If I'm dying anyway…"
A feral grin split his bloody muzzle.
"Then I'll drag you with me."