The Shade of Battle Part II

"We need to run." Elena directed, tugging at Rell's sleeve. "I can't even see that thing's movements." 

Rell shook his head. 

"I think we can beat it." He said. "I'm starting to figure out how it moves like that." 

"What? Beat that!?" Rena let out. "It took the full blow of our attacks and doesn't look any worse for wear. It looks like you were the only one who did any real damage to it!" 

"It's not going to let us run." Rell said. "It wants us to fight it. More specifically, it wants me to fight it." 

Rell took a combat stance. 

"Elena! You can fly Rell out of here! Don't worry about me! He's our only chance of winning this war, if we lose him here our hope will be lost!" Rena yelled, pointing at the blonde girl. "Rell! Go with Elena! If you don't listen i'll shoot your knee caps out!" 

"If we move away from it, it'll kill us instantly." Rell said. "Trust me. This is the only way."

"How do you know that moron!" Rena said, pointing her guns at Rell's knee caps. "I'll do it! I ain't a liar!" 

"Rell..." Elena reached for him. 

"Will you trust me?" He asked, turning to her. 

She locked eyes with him for a moment. She didn't know why, but that gaze was so...familiar. 

"Yes." She found herself saying. 

She touched her lips, confused. 

"Okay." Rell nodded. "Rena?"

Her weapons quivered in anger. 

"Fine!" She conceded. "What do you need me to do?"

"Same as before. When I rush the thing, i'll need you to lay covering fire. Elena, i'm going to need your support. I'll disable it, and you distract it long enough for me to finish channeling my Nin." 

"Okay." She nodded. 

"You two ready?" He asked. 

"Ready!" They both answered. 

Rena let out another barrage of bullets, forcing the Shadow to raise its barrier once more. Rell Shadow sprinted, closing the distance before Elena and clashing his blade against the creature's.

"That's a fancy trick you got there!" he said, grinning with his face only a couple inches from the Shadow's. "I never thought to use Shadow Nin like that. That's what your using right?"

The creature's scream gave him all the answers he needed. 

Elena flew through the air above, flipping down next to the creature and swinging at its flank with her blades. They clattered against the barrier. The Shadow redirected its attention to Elena for a split second, just enough time for Rell to flare Shadow Nin. It engulfed his blade for only a moment, but a mere touch of the shadowy flames completely shattered the creature's barrier. 

"Now!" Rell yelled. 

Rena unleashed another freezing rainstorm, barraging and overwhelming the creature. Elena attacked, repeatedly slashing the creature's exposed flank as Rell backed up, channeling Shadow Nin into his blade. The creature screeched, Nin runes suddenly etching  across its body. 

"Elena!" He cried. 

Elena's instincts kicked in. She channeled Wind Nin, blasting into the air as dozens of jagged spikes suddenly rose from the ground. Her jump was abrupt enough that she was barely able to catch herself with Wind Nin, slamming hard into the ground some distance away. 

"Thanks for showing me how you do it." Rell mocked, forcing his way through the forest of spikes, several of them cutting his body. 

Rell's blade glowed dark red with Shadow Nin flames; instead of smoke, fading runes fluttered off the tongues of fire. The creature howled, smashing through the spikes and rushing Rell with its massive weapon. Rell readied his attack. 

"Shadow Rush!" He cried. He saw his shadow self, black tears running down from his burning coal like eyes. 

Rell combined his Shadow Slash with with Shadow Sprint, rushing the creature with a storm of slashes. His sword moved at the same impossible speed the creature was using earlier. Body parts flew off the Shadow as the onslaught continued, till finally, the Shadow's head flew off, falling into a small lake nearby. 

What was left of the creature fell to its knees, before finally falling over. 

"Elena..." Rell gasped. He stood up, only to fall over again. "Damn..." 

"You all right?" Rena rushed to his side. "I can't believe you actually beat that thing." 

"Elena! She's..." He pointed. 

Elena rolled to her feet, dusting herself off. She turned to Rell and waved, a beaming smile on her face. Rell sighed in relief, before finally allowing himself to fall over. 

"Rell!" Rena cried out, catching him. 

Hina found approached the group fifteen minutes later. Rell was curled under the shade of an old car, unable to stand. Elena attended to him, trying to patch up his spike injuries to the best of her abilities. 

"Ow! No not like that!" He cried.

"I'm doing it exactly as you told me!" She said, sticking the needle back into his cut, causing him to jump again in pain. 

"Be more gentle! Your stiches are so sloppy!" He growled. 

"Maybe if you weren't such a baby, this would go a lot more smoothly! Why do you keep pulling away from me?"

"Cause the way you're doing it is painful!" He protested. 

"I am not doing anything different!" She insisted. 

Hina looked to Rena, who was sitting on the hood of the car, with a confused look. Rena just shrugged. 

"Ahem." Hina coughed. 

Both Rell and Elena turned to her, finally noticing her presence. 

Hina's wound was healed by her Miracle Healing, but the uniform was still damaged and stained. 

"Did...Did the creature run away?" She asked. 

"No. Rell killed it." Rena said. 

"Yup!" Elena agreed, pulling another thread through Rell's cut, causing him to hiss in pain. 

"You...killed it?" Hina asked, both eyebrows raised. 

"I did." Rell answered, forcedly grabbing the needle from Elena. "I'll do it myself." He grunted. 

"Fine." She shook her head, turning away from him with crossed arms, a pout on her face. 

"This is...an interesting outcome." Hina noted, observing Rell. "The Commander will want to hear about this."  

Rell struggled to his feet, examining the poor stitching. He sighed, he'll have to wait for Mira to properly heal him. 

"Here." Hina placed her hand on his chest, channeling Light Nin. 

Light Nin healing worked differently than Water Nin. While Water Nin mended minor wounds, it was limited in what it could do. If a wound was serious enough, Water Nin would do little except maybe stop the bleeding, but it couldn't heal whatever damaged was done. Light Nin was different. It was known as miracle healing. Extremely powerful Light Nin users have used it to restore lost limbs, cure terminal diseases, and restore strength to people on the verge of death, almost like a resurrection. Like the very energy of life itself moved through the Nin. 

Rell felt the warmth engulf his chest, like a warm fire at the just the right distance on a cold night. The Nin energy spread throughout his body, filling him with strength and patching his wounds. The bleeding under the stiches healed instantly. He also felt his stamina returning to him, like he went from running a marathon to having a good night's rest. 

Hina knelt down, panting in exhaustion. Rell caught her by the arm. 

"You okay?" He asked. 

"Fine." She said, pulling away. "How does your body feel?"

"Good. Really good." he said, looking at his hand. 

"Good." Hina composed herself, straightening her body. "Let's regroup with the rest of Alpha Squad." Hina turned to her Light Orb. "Captain. We found them." 

"Oh thank goodness..." Rin's voice let out a relieved sigh. "I'll order the rest of the squad to your position Ma'am." 

"Thank you. We'll see you soon." She said.