"Run." He whispered in Ruffliette's ear as he dashed forward, stabbing at the injured carapace spider with his blade, taking out another one of its eyes. It cried out wildly, lashing towards him in a fury. He dodged to the side, kicking up a flurry of dust by spinning with an extended foot, pushing Ruffliette to run to the side as he dashed madly towards the crimson eyes lurking in the underbrush.
He had no chance to count how many they were, they all stumbled in pursuit of him immediately. Leading them away was partial to his plan, but there was another reason he had chosen to become bait in that split-second. He wanted them far away from her. Not just so that he could effectuate Lark's contract, but so that she wouldn't be put into harms way.
He had begun to believe that she was a more precious thing than he could consider. That if he were alone in this ruined city of shadows, he might really lose himself.
He came to a cliff-face high above the Gale, with a steep dirt slope leading down to a smaller cliff-face below. Without hesitating, he slid down its surface, using the ebony leg-blade to slow his descent. If he approached this drop at too high a speed, he might overshoot it and tumble into the endless darkness!
He reached the edge of the slope, and as he sucked in a large breath, committed himself to the fall.
Artemis landed harshly below, groaning as he felt pain rush through his arm and side. But he couldn't wait around and recover, they were fierce in their pursuit.
During their observation of the first carapace spider, he had been tasked with foraging for food. In doing so, he had discovered this place.
In front of him, the mouth of an abyssal cavern took shape. He dove into it, scrambling to reach the large section past a fork of craggy rock-faces. It opened up to reveal a dazzling sight, a wide section of stone from which bountiful streams of water spilled from, collecting into large sectioned-off pools of crystalline liquid.
He ducked behind an outcrop of stone as he heard the skittering titanic beasts approach the cavern, squeezing their way through the craggy tunnels as they clicked their mandibles together. He scrambled up the outcrop madly, his fingers wrapping around the hilt of his blade as their shadows crossed the boundary of the cavern's grove.
He fell from the height, diving towards the foremost carapace spider as he raised the ebony blade, spinning it clean around with the momentum of his body, slashing deep into the face of the monster. To his fortune, it happened to be the one they had already severely injured. The wounds it had took to its eyes had grown too deep, the shell had started to fracture.
His final strike was the end of it. He landed on the ground as it did, in pieces. Blood seeped from its head, its remaining legs still twitching.
He raised a hand, and as he wiped sweat and blood from his face, grinned menacingly.
The remaining carapace spiders gathered around him, clicking their mandibles together, teeth churning within their horrible mouths as saliva dripped to the ground.
He gestured towards them, calling for their approach.
"Do you want to continue?"
He swiped the blade through the air, flicking a thick sheet of blood and mucus onto the ground in front of him.
Artemis let out a slight chuckle as he approached. "That's your friend."
And then he took on the next beast.
His blade flickered upward, blending in with the latent shadows around him, imperceivable to his own eyes. But he could feel its motions, he could predict next where he would strike.
This was his key reward for his training in the darkness of his room— masterful control over his sword.
But it wouldn't be enough to fight these uninjured spiders.
He just couldn't effectively manage them at once, there weren't enough outcrops to weave around and cordon them into smaller groups.
His hand shot forward, black tendrils of shadow collecting at his fingertips.
Lark, let's effectuate the contract again!
The Spirit Bond! I want to use it!
Slowly, as if in response to his desire, a terrifying black mask spread outwards across his face. Its obsidian-metallic sheen had an illusory silver-and-crimson glow, and his left iris past the mask swirled like a stormy sky.
At the same time, those shadowy tendrils wrapped around him like a cloak, carrying that same stormy sheen as he grew rapidly in size. What was once the terrifying demonic black mask now resembled the snout of a wolf, his legs growing in size and sprouting terrible claws.
His furry tail, which simultaneously resembled hundreds of shadowy tendrils flicked about, and his eyes, dozens in number, flitted around as they observed the approach of the carapace spiders. His mouths, numbering five in total, gnashed their horrid razor-like teeth, drool pooling towards the ground.
This was Lark's Spirit Bond, and Artemis had allowed him to wrap himself around his body, while still retaining its control. This was the other half of the contract, one that all Spirit users remained capable of, the full summoning of the Spirit itself.
[Are you in dire straits, dear Host?]
[I don't mind helping… I just thought you wouldn't be pre-disposed to the idea.]
A Spirit Bond, that was the common name for the technique that Artemis had used. It wasn't a 'bond' in the sense of the contract they had formed, as if they were mutual partners, but in the sense that Lark would 'bind' himself to Artemis's body in the moments he was summoned, as if he was being worn like a suit of armour. To this extent, a Spirit could also 'Bind' themselves to a bladed weapon, such as a spear or sword, but this wasn't Artemis's style.
This was the utter domination Lark had over him. While he was able to take control over this form, that could only last for so long. Soon, he would grow too weak to remain in control, and then it would be Lark's turn. He needed to cancel it as soon as possible.
It would sap his strength, and then his innate vitality, and then it would definitely kill him.
After all, Lark was a voracious consumer.
That was why he had been so hesitant to use it against the hollow armour when he had first arrived. There was no guarantee that he wouldn't be attacked afterwards. He would be weak and helpless.
He could only use this for a few moments.
But he was sure that a few moments was all he needed to defeat the remaining carapace spiders.
Come forward, beasts.
He snarled, letting out a terrifying roar. Spittle flew from his gaping maws, the booming cry echoing throughout the cavern.
I shall be your hunter.
[+++]
Ruffliette flew through the shrubbery as she adamantly chased after the ruined trail left behind by the skittering titanic spiders. She came to a large cut in the landscape that trailed down into the spiraling Gale, a steep and treacherous pathway. But it was marked not only by the piercing of the soil, but by obvious human footsteps. They were tracks mark that skidded down the cliff-face.
It could only have been the case that Artemis had led them this way.
She carefully made her way down to the stone path underneath it all, trying not to slip so far as to fall all the way down, descending into the dark abyss below.
There was a cavern at the very edge, darkness only faintly illuminated by the glowing ivory tree resting behind her. She grimaced as she held up her blade, quickly and quietly navigating down the cavernous forks, following the trails she could barely discern in the darkness.
Quickly, she reached a large open area, the spilling of water blanketing her sense of hearing, but illuminating the area around them. Whatever light was reflected by the ivory tree somehow pierced deep into the cavern, allowing her to see into it.
What she witnessed etched shock into her expression.
She had only been apart from him for a few minutes. How could it have ended up like this?
All she saw was the carnage wrought by his blade.
Corpses upon corpses of those terrible beasts, fallen at his hand. Slices and gashes in their carapace shells like artistry, the strokes of a painter's brush, deliberate, precise.
And in the center of this portraiture of viridian blood and flesh, a young man knelt briefly at the foot of the largest beast, glancing upwards. His faint, long locks of silver hair ran down his supple cheeks and settled against his lithe upper body.
It was the Artemis she knew, this person that she chose to follow. Beast blood and sinew marked his lips, staining his chest and blade, as if he had fought them so viciously that even his teeth had become weapons.
He had slain them all.