Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Lucius looked around the small clearing at the other children. All of them were shaking and the girl called Edra had lost consciousness from fear. His best option was to run and exit the woods alone. If he did, he would be out in under an hour.

Something kept him there though. There was a hand on his shoulder and connected to it was a cute girl with crimson hair and green eyes. A quiet ferocity stormed behind those eyes and held him in place.

"Alright. I guess we are doing this." Lucius shouted, "Surround him from all sides. Make him have to choose a target!"

Rena, Nate, Pavi, and Maribel instantly jumped to action and spaced themselves around the monster. It chose to ignore them glaring squarely at the black, haired boy. The other children gathered around Edra protecting her, but also waiting to be called upon for backup.

Nate went to the deer's left side and held an axe at the ready with a small shield in his off-hand. Everyone else carried a shortsword, with the exception of, Pavi, who was much larger than the rest of them and was capable of holding a longsword without much effort.

Rena had gone to the deer's right side, while Pavi and Maribel took up the rear. Of course, with being the monster's chosen target, Lucius had the front.

Unfortunately, no one in the group focused on the bow. Rena had one strapped to her back, but Lucius really needed her on the front since she was one of the children brave enough to stand up against the monster with him. Also, something about her presence calmed him somehow.

Once everyone had settled into position, the deer finally started to make its move. It tossed its head back in a manner that suggested it was allowing them to get ready because they would need it.

Lucius knew he was weaker now than before, and it was more than likely the monster knew that too. He gripped his sword tightly and crouched down into a ready position.

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His fighting stance was much lower than what was taught by his father. Lucius' sword hand was placed forward and in front of him, while his off-hand was held back and in the air in a claw-like position.

Rena side-eyed him with curiosity because she had never seen this fighting style before. When compared to the standard sword styles in Arcadios, this looked unrefined and sloppy.

Lucius knew that he looked odd, but his time unconscious as well as the short time exposed to the Beast Arts gave him basic knowledge of the instinctual fighting styles that he gained from his parentage…whichever one that was.

A snort interrupted his thoughts as dirt was kicked up in the air. The Alpha Deer pawed the ground and charged towards Lucius. He jumped backwards to create a momentary gap. Using this small opening, Nate lunged forward and struck at one of the deer's legs.

Rena followed suit with taking on a second leg, while the two children behind it jumped up to strike the monster's haunch. It seemed to notice the danger, and wheeled around to block Nate's axe with it's remaining antler. This movement also pulled it's hindquarters out of reach of Pavi and Maribel.

Thankfully Rena's sword was able to make contact, but it left only a shallow scratch due to lack of power.

Nate flew backwards from the monster's counter and struck a tree with a dull thud. He groaned, which told Lucius he was still alive.

"Michael! Jump in for Nate. Nate, rest for a moment and swap with the next person." Rena shouted.

Lucius was shocked, it seemed she was a strategist more than a fighter. He grinned to himself despite the situation.

Next, the monster wheeled back around at Lucius, though not before throwing a backwards kick at Pavi. Sparks scattered as he was only barely able to block the hoof from striking his sternum. Despite that, he was still pushed back several feet and his arms visibly shook from the effort.

Maribel was able to avoid the attack thanks to Pavi, and attempted to counter by aiming for the beasts more sensitive bits. This proved to be a bad idea, as the monster chose to wheel around and body check the girl with his side.

She too was thrown back, though it was a much lighter hit due to the awkward positioning. Both children were still in the fight.

Lucius was not hanging back and chose to strike at the monster's neck. He jumped up and brought his sword down for a powerful strike at the Alpha Deer's wide-open neck.

What he didn't realize, until it was too late, was that the monster was rather intelligent…which meant this was a trap. One that the boy had fallen for.

Having been waiting for something like this, the monster swung its head around again. It was able to recover from its attack against Maribel because it was waiting for someone to take the opening it had created.

Lucius felt all of the air leave his lungs and heard a few unhealthy cracks around his chest before he too was thrown backwards. Memories of his first fight with this monster flooded his mind. Though from his perspective, it felt like it was literally yesterday.

Thanks to his time spent unconscious after the first fight, he had felt…out of place. His perception of time a little…loose. Lucius attempted to grab for his weapon next to him, but when he brought it up to his face, the sword was snapped in half.

"Fuck. Fuck…" He groaned. He moved to grab the simple bow on his back, but it too was broken. "Gods dammit all!"

Good news: his bones weren't broken…most likely. Bad news: the cracking sounds were that of his weapons breaking.

Rena glanced his direction, but saw he was still alive and moving. She jumped back into action, assuming that he would take care of himself. Nate also jumped back into the fight, taking over Lucius' opening.

Seeing that he wasn't needed for a moment, he took advantage to gather his breath. However, the monster had other plans.