The other side of the coin

The ebb and flow of time seemed to come to a crawl as off of his maneuvers took action. One after another, he would follow through blow after blow after blow with his practiced combo. Most of it came from training, a cross between boxing, judo, kung fu, and a few others rolled into one. His fists would flex from fists to palms in a matter of seconds, finishing off with the only real connecting blow that would knocked the wind out of his opponent. Feeling the pressure exerted on the final blow, his left hand was already retracting for the block when he saw the dynamic slash reaching for him on his left side. Almost on instinct, his left arm would shoot out to push away her forearm with his own, withdrawing just in time to evade the slash of her claw-like fingernails. It was mere millimeters from his flesh, their imaginary stings could be felt from where he evaded another nasty blow.

Once more, the girl evaded to the shadows... believing that she was safe within them. His eyes proved otherwise, witnessing the drawing of her blade within a moment's notice. This time he allowed her to prep her next strike, preferring to stay out in the open where he can balance his time and pressure. This gave him another few precious seconds to adjust his stance and adapt to the changes within his body. Instead of the painful sensations where all of his wounds were, they were on fire... burning with a viscous controlled rage that consumed his entire form. Whether not Riley was in true control was out of the question. He was acting on instinct, his eyes burned with reserved hatred for his enemy.

When he saw her coming, he knew what to expect. The knife was her weapon, a guided tool that was going to be used to maim him like before. So he focused more on the tool that could end his game, and minor focus towards her punches that would hit his body. Her right hand would shoot out, aimed to cross-check his cheek. Like a trained boxer, he brought up his left guard and absorbed the blow with his forearm, causing minor but completely bearable pain on his arm. Nevertheless, with his right he would witness the maiming venture before it happened, and instantly his body would pivot with the blow as her jousting motion was brought into play, letting the blade flow forward past where it originally was. Using his right hand, he would move to bat the blade away from his body... so that her retracting blow did not singe across his flesh.

Before he could react, she was dropping back into the shadows, trying to stay out of his reach. Instead of following, 'slicing the pie' as it were, he stood back. And a gloating, prideful creature erupted words from his lips. It was dark and sinister.

"A monster like myself. How quaint." A growl would erupt from it's lips. Inside, Riley could feel the darkness wrapping itself over him once again. Instead of being frightened, he felt compelled to allow it to wrap just barely around his soul. Just a taste. A tiny sip. But he was unable to stop the words that spilled from his mouth. "I have come out to play, at your request." His right hand would slowly shift towards the gun holster, which held the pistol he initially refused during combat. But the girl before him was trying to slash at vital body parts all over his body... almost slicing open his thigh, which would possibly lead to heavy blood loss and death. This inner turmoil manifested, mixing with the burning hatred that loosened his moral code for holding back in this game.

The weapon was drawn, pointed directly at the woman in front of him. One handed, his right hand was calm and collective. His hand was leveled towards the woman's head, some twelve to fifteen feet away from the tip of his gun. He would follow her if she were to jerk or move, and jump back if she were to charge him. With a smirk on his lips, he looked down the sight as he said "I can see you..." in a child-like chiming fashion. There was not a millisecond spared as the retort of the weapon echoed across the forest. The bullet lodged itself in the tree nearby, possibly just a few inches from her head... the initial shot not intended to go for the kill. With a wild chuckle, a wild man appeared behind the face of the man so collective and well mannered from before... this time his left hand reaching for the knife that he had holstered behind his back, drawing the blade very slowly.

"Here I come...." Holstering the sidearm as he dashed, he closed the distance between his assailant in a few seconds. With the blade in his left, he would bring the blade towards his chest where the blade end stuck out from the reverse end of his hand. He charged straight forward, his right guard up in case of a back lash. His first move was a stab maneuver that aimed straight for the sternum, hoping to catch her off guard with the novice maneuver.

The creation of the firearm in history is still considered one of the greatest technological evolutions to warfare. Whether it be a small card-table shooter or the artillery shell that could take down buildings, the art of rapid firing projectiles at a target with lethality and accuracy created a new era of war that refined the logic of rapid deployment, countermeasures, and the ability to kill at greater distances. It is considered easier to give a boy a gun with minimal training than to spend months conditioning a solider to fight in hand to hand combat. Effectiveness was a rating outside of this man's mindset, as he could only think on smaller scales like squads and single person logistics. But one thing he learned in 'basic' was that no matter what happens, a man with no gun experience was more dangerous than the man with complete knowledge of weapon history and experience when only armed with a knife. From there, probabilities and statistics for who will win, which was once again outside Riley's normal natural abilities and understandings.

Nevertheless, this foe was not considered normal... so special precautions need to be taken against this creature.

All in all, Riley would have taken off the kid gloves and begin firing more rapidly at his target, as he was armed with plenty of ammunition to outstay the fight, but the monster within only found firearms a tool for the weak. The knife was much more powerful, it granted a person the ability to charge after a foe and create much more tissue damage than a single penetrating charge from a handgun could create. The amount of flexibility and finesse behind such a tool, even in it's more archaic form, brought a sense of passion to the fight. His blood began to boil as the blade kissed her skin, but whether or not the cut was made was lost as the monster was tripped over by a foot. The monster would roll with the blow, the slice against his skin almost non-existent in the pain threshold of the creature. Upon getting back on his feet, the monster would survey his surroundings and ignore the blow that was slowly bleeding on his back, and within a moment, would disappear back into his flesh. The hole would be there, but no serious muscle tissue was torn. Just another hole in the flesh that would need time to mend itself again.

Instead of pain being a hindrance, it was treated in an existential manner where it was just a note taken down for later. His body only continued to burn brighter, but deep down he felt something dwindling within. With this increase in power came at a cost, where the meter was as ambiguous as trying to see which silk sheet is softer than the other. Nevertheless, he could tell something was draining... and the monster in control could feel it as well. With a shift in stance, the monster removed the firearm with his right and began to look for the target in the trees and began to fire in an eastward direction towards the target. He would only fire a few shots, three to four, to keep the gap between them concrete and establish. Even if there were trees, he could try to lead her shots towards a location in his favor... and they were only about a hundred feet or so away from a small pond that was three feet deep, give or take. He was going to have to corner her for this to work, but he had to make sure he had enough bullets.

Trained was the monster, calm and methodical in a way most unfitting for a creature like itself. It would slowly slip itself in between a dark anger that would bellow past his ear drums to a soft thundering echo of relaxed resilience. The monster inside did not reject the person named Riley within, as this was this human's body and needed to make things work in it's favor. Every little trick, trap, method, arts, or technique Riley new the monster was able to accomplish and comprehend in a matter of a split second. With each echoing shot, the monster was learning how to lead off the handgun and fire every round with even more precise accuracy through the trees. Even as she danced along the branches, his hearing was able to make out the outlines of her appearance on the edges of his vision. With every step, a loud shot would ring out. Nevertheless, after expending a total of eight rounds the monster knew that he only had one left. A magazine change.

Quickly, the monster would not allow instinct to override as he would search along Riley's person for a spare clip as the magazine fell from his handgun.

With a quick alteration of hands, the gun was reloaded in a matter of a few seconds.... quite slow for Riley's natural reflexes. The old magazine was placed into a pouch on another side of his equipment belt. He wanted to make sure not to leave too many traces of their encounter behind... and magazines were damn expensive to replace. Nevertheless, with the loss of eye contact the monster was unable to tract the movements of the seelie woman. She had either disappeared from his sight, or she had magically veiled herself in a spell of her own undoing. Riley did not know of such tricks and tapestry, as Riley was only a small pup in the otherworldly's ways, but the monster was not. However it gained knowledge or control of the situation, it knew what was going on. Nevertheless, he could no longer hear the bending of branches along the silent night sky. It would mean she was in the same general location as before, and she was possibly standing still in the moonlight.

With straining eyes, he could no longer find her. He could feel some of the cool night's air tickling against his skin. His time was starting to dwindle. He could feel some of the warmth escaping his body as he heard the small splashes of water nearby. So close. It would seem that he was unable to reach the initial destination. The monster inside was fading rapidly. Time to enact a different plan. Holstering the sidearm, the creature called out in a might roar.

"UNSEELIE OF THE DARKNESS! I CALL UPON YOU TO FIGHT ME!" A growl was beneath his voice. It beckoned. It called her from her hiding spot. "I GROW TIRED OF THESE LITTLE QUIPS AND HIDE-N-GO SEEK GAMES! COME OUT AND FIGHT ME!" The monster would holster the weapon, glaring at the general location where he lost her. He call out so that the entire forest could hear, even those on the edge line of the trees. "Or this test is for naught. PROVE YOUR WORTHINESS TO BRING ME FORTH." These words, unknown to Riley, spilled out before him without a rhyme of regard. Slowly, his hands would shift and he would focus his center of mass and gravity for an oncoming attack. He was primarily prepared for a possible missile attack, light on his toes, along with shifting his weight to evade the first glancing strike. "Otherwise you are a coward who hides in the trees." His arms were raised, waiting for the inevitable strike.

His stance, slowly softening from a wild like aggressive beckon slowly simmered down to a dull echo as the seelie filtered down from the trees. It was an arugeably nice bluff the monster tried to pull, he knew it tugged at the woman's own pride. Her creature, her monster, within was just like itself. It craved the natural of the hunt, the thrill of the kill, the ecstasy of battle. There was no more joy to it in the world than to conquer the flesh of blood and another. Even if he did not get the result he wanted, he could see controlled anger flashed into her eyes when she exposed herself once again. This caused Riley's monster to growl in triumph. He preferred the look in their eyes, to see the anger and sorrow as he cut into them. To make them feel everlasting pain before they would slip into the finalizing horrors of death. The monster, in full reign and control of Riley's body, wanted nothing more than to make her blood shower upon the sacred grounds of Caislin Hallows. It did not see this little game of cat and mouse entertaining anymore. It wanted her dead. It wanted to come out victorious.

Something within began to make it's move for control.

The monster outwardly regained composure by relaxing his step and smirking wildly at the girl in front of him. As long as it did not have to strain itself, the gifts he bestowed on this simple boy did not have to be burned up. In actuality, they slowly recuperated on a small level, slowly regaining a few minute slivers of energy to prepare for the next assault. "Just irritated at the way your body can move so easily in the trees after I cut you. Maybe I should have taken control sooner, so that simple scratch on your arm was a bit more...painful." Smirking, the creature once again took a step to enclose the distance between the two. Instead of being on the defensive, the creature wanted to remain on the offensive. Nevertheless, he was growing weak. A flame that burns twice as bright burns out twice as fast. It was time to end this event. "How about we end this little charade. One final bout, as it were. One single moment to end this entire theme and go home." He never specified if they both would. Tilting his head, he continued. "Which is faster. The knife, or the gun?" Slowly, he would lace his fingers along the hard metallic surface of the colt knock off with relative ease. The holster was an outward mixed conceal/exposed but not a quick draw. Nevertheless, she had a knife that could be drawn with relative ease. He had a feeling she could understand the implications that she might have the advantages when the creature was not used to firing into the darkness.

"How about something that tests our dexterity, speed, and willpower all in the matter of a split second. Something like a western quick draw?" An evil grin appeared on the monster's face.

What was the creature thinking? Whatever part of Riley's voice was inside, still in control, was screaming at how stupid the creature was acting. He was carrying a semi-automatic, a klutzy one, not designed for quick draws from the hip. His holder was more on his waist, instead of lower on his leg, and it was not adjusted to sight in on a creature from a totally different level of terrain. Dueling with pistols was on a level, open plane. Here there were trees, roots, and other shit to hide behind. It was just going to be another shooting match, and Riley was just merely shaking his head. But the monster held no morals, no resentment or qualms. All it wanted to do was kill the girl that was being an annoying insect. But the creature, although ruthless, could be calming and relaxed. With no issues with restraint, the creauted used what knowledge it could obtain from Riley and focused all of it's anger and desire into total focus of it's mind. It relaxed, letting it's mind open to multiple other possibilities. It was strange, this kind of trance, but it gave him pre-emptive measure to figure out what the girl's next move was.

Very slowly, the weapon was inched from the holster.

Then the creature was frazzled by blinding light, something so unnerving that it was hard to see. He felt it's host body go numb, as it began to realize that some kind of magic was being used against it. Being an old creature like itself, it knew of these kinds of parlor tricks. Nevertheless, no matter how old or wise you are... there was no changing the fact that it was a spell and he was suspect-able just like any other creature on the mortal plane. The weapon was drawn, and instead of firing immediately (from the hip), Riley forced the creature to wait. The creature snarled, unable to control itself. Wondering why the hell this host body was not falling to its commands. "Forward assault, so unlike your kind." But the creature only laughed, but the laugh was cut short as a blade was punctured straight into it's stomach. A growl, of bellowing proportions would be called as the blade sunk deep into his host's flesh. How could the creature let this happen to it! He should have known better, should have seen it coming. But when he went to draw his left hand to swipe at the creature, it would look down instead to see the blade was only half an inch deep... and Riley had taken control, once again, to try to catch the girl by the wrist... using all of hi's strength and ability in his robotic left arm to hold the creature at bay. If it were to connect, the Unseelie would find it very difficult to even move her arm. Even if he was part human, his robotic arm was just as strong as any vice grip of a lycan at full strength in hybrid form.

However, he knew the tension was building within the arm, and it was only a matter of time before it gave out.

As the digits curled to slice at his flesh, he evaded it by firing across his chest towards the hand of the maneuver from his waist. It would cause his back to arch just a tad, but the bullets were just used as a scare tactic. If she were to complete the maneuver, the bullets would ravage across her arm and sink into the flesh so deep, probably tearing tendons and stopping a majority of the power in her wrist. However this move was dangerous, as the bullets ripping across his chest would cause scaring and burns after they ripped through his shirt. Nevertheless, he was more worried about the knife in his stomach. With that, Riley's voice would appear.

"THIS GAME IS OVER!" He would tighten the grip, if he still had it, pointing the gun with his right towards the girl's stomach. "WALK AWAY, UNLESS YOU WANT TO SHIT LEAD FOR BREAKFAST!" Riley's eyes would flash from brown to red, trying to force control over the creature who was determined to fight this girl to the bitter end. Nuh -uh, no way. Even as the blade would fidget and possibly tear more flesh in Riley's stomach, the boy was hopped on adrenaline and used to fighting through the pain. The weakening control of the creature gave Riley more strength, as he could tap into the creature's powers and use them for his own moves. On a side note, the girl did successfully glamor the creature that was standing before her. But Riley was on inside, unable to lock a complete gaze with the girl. He managed to have a half of second chance before the glamor wore off, giving the boy enough time to catch the blade before it went too far into his stomach (two completely separate minds to glamor). But he could feel the bile and blood building at the back of his throat. If the girl did not release her grip the blade, she would have to deal with two rounds of armor penetrating bullets at close range.

He knew his beckons were not going to effect the girl more intune with her blood lust than the man standing in front of her, conflicted, unable to reason between the two bodies as they fought for control. At first, the monster was bewildered by the boy's strength and dexterity with all of the wounds inflicted mentally and physically, able to draw deep within to pull out some of the strength the monster could only muster, and using tactics not familiar by the monster or Riley. Riley was on the verge of death, although the knife only maybe an inch deep, but given Riley's thin frame, it was pretty devastating. He could not calculate the damage initially, but she might have ruptured his stomach or kidney, one being harmful but the other livable. Riley knew that it would heal, overtime, but for right now it was dangerous. Muscle tendons were slashed in his stomach, making it very hard to breathe without the pain becoming overbearing. His minutes older wounds, although physically looking healed, were straining under the new weight. Given an hour or two, he would be completely fine (although exhausted), but right now it was all crappy stitch work and shoddy quilt patterns that held tissue and muscle together.

Even with his warnings, she was not going to beckon. Things were way out of control, and this battle needed to be stopped now! "Last chance!" There was not a hint of mercy within his voice.

On the inside, the monster growled as it wanted control. Wanted to fight. Wanted to destroy this mythical beast before him, but Riley was forcing himself back into the helm of the driver seat. He had a plan, she just didn't know it yet. He wanted to give the girl one more chance before he was going to, pretty much, destroy a body limb. Gritting his teeth in front of her, he was seething and banding for control. But with Riley behind the wheel, he was going to be much more susceptible to the glamor, although weakly, but the creature had more resistance to it on the inside. Although the girl appeared to be backing away from Riley, he could feel that her vice grip on the blade had not loosened or did she even show a remote glance of backing down. The monster cried within she was preparing for another attack, so before his eyes would materialize the slash towards the gun arm... two things happened.

First, the blade within his left arm, holding onto her wrist, shot out with enough force to completely pierce at least 1.5 inch of steel at close range. Unless her bones were made of diamond, they would probably lacerate through all five bones in her wrist and jettison itself out of her possibly now shattered wrist, using remaining momentum to cut across her guard and strike deep into her stomach (It is a 1.5 foot blade). This did not stop Riley, as he already prepped a blow before hand. The gun in his right already firing at close range. A normal shooter could probably only fire about once every other second with one hand. But Riley's right was his strongest, having to deal with about a year's worth of doing with only one hand made it stronger than naturally possible, carried on with the fact it was not a heavy recoil gun and with his unnatural strength, the weapon fired steadily at her chest. Before the pain would hit his flesh, five shots in a upper left (his left) pattern would be shot towards her body (starting from the lower gut, upward). She might of been able to avoid the shots if she jerked back just in time, but this would probably throw off the slash towards his arm. IFFFF she continued with the blow, there was no chance in hell to stop the hand from in bedding itself into his shoulder. He would cry, a loud echoing roar, before his left boot would come up to smash straight into her lower chest, just an inch below the blade, to kick the girl away. He would fall back at this point, trying to step back he managed to catch himself on some roots. Nevertheless, if the kick failed he would retain the grip as he fell. If she backed off, he would jerk his left hand away, allowing the girl to hold onto the knife as he wanted to put some distance between the two.

He hoped fucking up his aiming arm was worth the damage he possibly did to her body. The gun was still in his hand, but there were gaping slashed wounds across his left arm. Blood was gushing from the wound, having torn through muscle tissue and arteries, so he was a bundle of fuck at that moment. The wound would slowly seep after about a moment, the blood flow coming to a small trickle after about thirty seconds... but for at least a few moments his arm was completely useless. It was a miracle he was able to maintain a grip on his firearm after what had happened.


TL;DR - Left hand jettisons a 1.5 foot blade through her right hand, which is holding the knife, to puncture her stomach. His right hand fires off 5 shots at close range, moving in a diagonal pattern from her stomach to her chest. Kicks in the abdomen to part the bodies, falling backwards onto his ass.

There was pain, once more he could feel the wounds and bile building in the back of his throat. The coarsing adrenaline was slowly tapping out, draining itself from the last attack with a might of fury that only true warriors possesed for a fraction of their lifetime. Although the fae's body was much older and more complete, humans were docile creatures and had weaker constitutions than most mythical beasts. The will to push on still hamering in Riley's mind, the body was already past it's feable limitations, whatever power within that was fueling the body to continue on past it's constraints was only by the supernatural beast residing within. Although blood thirsty and violent, it was old and knew the ways of war far longer than many creatures at Caislin Hallows. As the last round would puncture past Kalika's flesh, the creature would take over and contort Riley's body just enough to pervade the blow from Kalika's hand from puncturing any more vital spots in his right shoulder. Blood would spicket from the wound as her fingernails raced across the top of his shoulder, severing more than just flesh and digging deep into the bone. Muscle tendons snapped as Riley would find his right arm completely useless as he slumped to the dirt. The woman before him retreated to recover from her wounds.

He would only smile as he stared at the girl trying to cover the various holes in her body, as Riley would move a hand to clutch at his own gut... which was bleeding out at a slowing rate.

The ammo he was using was not standard civilian use ammo, rather ammo purchased from surplus and refilled using tools at his workbench. In the states, he would have a large workshop where he could reload ammunition on a small, mass scale. Nevertheless, he was confined to a "motel" so he could only bring the bare essentials... and bribes came at a nasty price when trying to sneak specialized reloading equipment through customs and purchasing the rest through contacts he met along the way. To put a long story short, the ammunition in the CZ weapon did not pack the punch of a 45 bullet, but held more penetrating power that could easily puncture through standard American police issued Kevlar and come out the other side. The full metal jacketed tip did not collapse on impact with a surface for massive tissue damage (as the goal for hollow pointed bullets), but tries to penetrate deep into it's target. If the bullets were to smash against bone, especially ones harder than normal human strength, they had a tendency to shatter... sending shards ricocheting across the body fueled by the remaining momentum left in the bullet. If it was a choice between a knife wound to the gun or having to pick out the shards that slice through several vital organs, Riley would prefer the knife wound on any day of the week. Even if Riley seemed to be on his last legs, he could remain cold and calculating in the fiercest moments of battle. However, fragmentation was by chance. Many rounds were through and through, but it would only take one fragmentation to end the life of any mortal human.

"Severing your own arm to take off your opponent's head" The grip on the gun held true, but there was no way in hell he was going to be able to lift the 4 pound weapon towards anything. He didn't back down, didn't take this chance to flee, didn't even beckon to continue the fight. The waning adrenaline shaking his body only made the boy laugh in solemness. The death was only inches away, sitting on his doorstep, and all he could was laugh at the aspect of becoming one of the many he had killed just to take another step into his feeble future. His left arm continued to hold the gaping wound in his chest closed, the creature inside trying to muster up what little power it had left to try to mend it. But there wasn't enough to keep Riley stable and fighting, the various wounds and strength he called upon to keep up with the woman came at a cost. A flame that burns twice as brightly exhausts twice as fast. He was at his limit, he reached it, and there was nothing else to do other than ignore the wounds and put his remaining energies into one last attack. It was either die a miserable death, alone in the darkness that he was birthed into. A world that he had no birth mother, a loving father, or a family unit to call his own. It was only natural to die in the same manner, covered in blood... and on the brink of death.

Or go out fighting, like the Riley before did, screaming in agony as he charged the monster headlong until it sliced his chest clean open.

The laughter faded, hysteria ceased, as the boy mustered whatever strength he had left to put himself to his feet. "Lets get this over with..." Once again, he tried to use his right arm... but found it useless. Unable to raise the gun to defend himself. The blade, still sticking out on his left arm, retracted instinctively. He was not going to need that blade for the final assault. He had only one bullet left in the chamber anyways, meant for him initially, but he had the will to use it in a different manner. As he took to his feet, drops of blood would seep from the stomach wound and spill onto the ground... forcing himself through the pain and the massive release of endorphins to keep himself focused and conscious. His vision was fading, his eyes wavering. It was hard to focus as he removed his left hand to hold the weapon that was in his right... slowly lifting it up. Muscles tension increased as he was forcing his body to make one last stand, blood continued to trickle out his stomach and arm... as the strain to even stand was taking every bit of focus in his body.

Riley's knees shook for a moment, until he was at full height. His breathing was shallow and forced, as it took every bit of strength within him to just to keep his two feet planted long enough for him to stand upright. Propping his right arm with his left, he gritted his teeth as the fire arm was brought to bear in front of the girl resting before him, wiggling his right trigger finger sent pain unknown to Riley down his spine. He would have to thank the creature's control of his bodily chemistry for that later. His hand shook, as the weapon was trying to focus in on the target's head... standing his ground before him. A quiet, soothing voice escape his lips, as if something deep within was coaxing the words to come trickling out of his mouth. "This was never the first, or the last time I will face death." A smile creeped upon Riley's lips, cynical and stout, but with those words came a calamity through his body. He stopped shaking, his eyes started to focus, and he was able to line up the short perfectly. For a second, there was silence, as an internal struggle was deciding the woman's fate. If she moved, he would be able to move the firearm in her given direction. Nevertheless, something was off about the gun... as there was a glint of metal sticking out of the slide.

Without a word, he pulled the trigger...

A dry click resonated within the gun.

And then the pain, misery, exhaustion, and feeling in his legs came over him in a matter of a split second. He could feel the world turning, his body falling backwards. His eyes, an everlasting peace once again. Before his body would hit the ground with a sickening thud, before his eyes would close and put himself into a deep slumber, a small trickle of words would slip past his lips. "Bang..." The body would crumple to the ground, falling into immense silence that only the trickiest of ears could hear the shallow breaths of a sleeping man resting on the bed of a wicked forest. His wounds would slowly stop bleeding, but any movement for the next few moments could be fatal as the creature within tried it's best to work with whatever powers it had left to roughly patch the major wounds on Riley's body.