It was clear that the veteran was excited to finally be able to tell the story to somebody. The epic itself was obviously a long one, but that was not a problem. Though what Hector kept telling did seem fascinating to Xhad, the thinking incident could not be avoided and so he did not hear certain parts.
"Oh... that is but a strange happening that seems to occur from time to time to me. Stars are a great place to wander, you know? And thoughts may occasionally trap you among them. I just hope this won't happen during a fight."
He walked a few steps in pure silence, this time paying more attention to his surroundings.
"As for the epic, it was indeed a tale worth telling, though I am afraid it ought to be continued lat-" he said, when he suddenly saw a few rocks he had accidentally kicked, falling into an endless pit. The row of trees suddenly stopped, leaving only the sky and the sun smiling to them. At the bottom of the chasm, there seemed to be a wide river, though the mist that was plentiful in the abyss did not let this to be confirmed.
"-er... looks like our green friends are waiting for us on the other side." he said, referring to the trees.
But the chasm was not the problem. Just a while later, the ground started to quake and, as Xhad looked downwards, he could see the fog spreading and fading, as a huge mass of water began rising. The veil of water returned to its home and revealed the beast they were waiting for, at last.
The being was rather serpent-like, with its head resembling more a dragon. Its scale-armour was coloured in a brownish green, and its teeth seemed nearly two times the size of a banana. The thorough dimension of the creature itself was still a mystery, but it was clear it ought to have been greater than the chasm in height, and only the stars may have known how much of its body was still lying in the water...
It stopped, staring with its gleaming green eyes, which occasionally seemed to glow yellow. Was that a sign of attack? Or just one of concentration? That was the most trivial of their problems, though.
"I know, I know. It is, indeed, a lovely weather. Just look, there is not even a cloud on the sky. It is a crying shame that thou beest enraged by the scorching heat... a glass of water is a favour we should with ease and pleasure do for you, if--" he began in a joking tone, being interrupted by the sudden move of the serpent. It raised its head, looking skywards, stretching entirely. The length of its body seemed endless now and the end of the tail was finally visible, for it prepared to bash everything about.
Instinctively, Xhad made a fast move and suddenly jumped out of the way, though the effect of the snake's strike still remained: on his left, he saw maybe about ten trees falling in their direction. He proceeded to fold his palms and stayed that way for about a second, trying to gather his energy. Xhadaronn then tried to send a massive amount of wind in order to blow the trees backwards. Though the plan seemed to work, the weight of the trees could be easily seen and felt on their resisting moves, as they very slowly fell either in the opposite direction, sideways towards the forest, or sideways into the abyss.
"Very well! I presume you are not the talkative sort and you clearly were too lazy to do your hunting today!" he quickly said, and tried another spell. This time, around his left fist an almost transparent sphere started to materialise. He quickly flung it towards the snake, which burst into a relatively small-sized tornado upon touching it. All this air seemed to simply dance around the beast for a few seconds, leaving it untouched, gradually fading, until disappearing completely.
It was as if air dissipated into the air...
He tried his luck with another enchantment, sending thin slashes of wind which should have had an effect similar to the cutting of a knife. Seeing this doesn't work, Xhad created a small hurricane around himself and rushed towards the beast. This way, he tried to gain speed in his running so that the incoming attack would have a greater force, but any bash in any shape ended up being absorbed. He was now too close to the serpent though, and was pushed backwards with a brusque hit.
"'The bane of storms'..." he repeated to himself quietly, once he got up. "That's it! That's what the riddle referred to. Wind has no power over this monster!" he exclaimed.
He tried his favourite attack, the one in tune with the stars.
He closed his eyes, folded his palms, and waited. It was not the best place and time for being passive, but he had no choice. The waiting suddenly showed its purpose, as, after a few seconds, his body and clothes began to darken, the image of scattered stars and galaxies being visible all over this blackness. It was the night sky that he copied the appearance of, and soon all that was not black were his now whitely glowing eyes and the white creases on his clothes. It was in this state that Xhad could spawn small, pointy, throwing daggers in both his hands which were coloured in shades of dark purple, indigo, and violet, stars scattered everywhere on them as well. The daggers would do their piercing, stabbing or slashing, but because they were of mystic energy, they would dissipate once they had reached their target and had finished the job.
As he continuously threw them at the serpent, he realised the effect was not what he imagined.
As big as the creature was, it managed to dodge the knifes quite often. When he did hit his target though, Xhad saw the creature barely scratched. If the attack was more accurate and possessed a greater force, the creature would give out an enraged scream or intensify its constant growls. Thus, certain strikes were luckier and thoroughly successful, the knifes managing to penetrate the scales, but they were still not enough against a creature of such might and size. Even so, the spell's effect faded soon and Xhad returned to normal.
"It seems this fight is not exactly a feather in my cap!" he said with a quiet chuckle. He brought to the table his dagger as well, using it in combination with the sword, so that he could at least try to help the fight against the beast and not be entirely passive. Quite rarely, Xhad managed to add a stab, scratch or slash here and there, though with the mildest and most minour of effects, together with constant attempts in dodging the fangs of the monster.
