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The manticore seemed to come out of nowhere. One minute they walking through the street, and the next a manticore had managed to sneak up on them. Nico reacted instantly, putting himself between the manticore and Will, slashing wide arcs with his sword to put distance between them and the manticore. Will hadn’t prepared for a monster attack- but Nico never went anywhere without his sword by his side. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a knife, handing it to Will. Nico ducked as the manticore swiped sideways with its paw, running out into the road to avoid its sting. Will prepared himself to stab the monster’s underbelly, but the manticore was uninterested, turning to Nico and charging forwards. Nico dodged with rehearsed ease, slashing at its wing. The manticore hissed in pain, recoiling. Will took the opportunity to stab at the monster’s ribs- the manticore turned sharply, snapping its jaws tight on Will’s arm. Will yelped loudly, letting his arm go slack as the monster jerked its head to the side, dislocating his shoulder as it sent Will flying into the wall.
The temperature dropped considerably, tendrils of shadows wrapping around the manticore and cutting into its flesh. The shadows wrapped around its head, one on its jaw and one on the opposing temple- and snapped its neck, turning it to dust. Nico immediately ran to Will, who was barely conscious and paler than Nico had ever seen him. “I’m okay,” Will protested, but there was no was Nico was going to believe that, dropping to the floor besides Will.
“We have very different definitions of okay, Solace,” Nico pointed out, “should I relocate your shoulder?”
“No, don’t,” Will replied weakly, “I think I’ve broken the bone, needs surgery.”
“We should get you back to camp, I’ll shadow travel us-”
“NICO WATCH OUT!” Nico turned quickly, a second manticore charging towards them. Nico moved away from Will, swiping at the manticore and drawing it away from Will. Another manticore ran from an alley- whilst Nico managed to dodge the sting of one manticore, the other swiped, managing to catch the side of his stomach. Nico swore, stepping sideways in an attempt to keep his balance. He swung upwards, unable to effectively swipe his blade sideways without a flare of pain threatening to pull him out of consciousness. He couldn’t chance a glance down at the wound without risking being caught unawares. He focused on blocking rather than attacking, aware of his waning strength and aware that it would be easier to shadow travel out, but he couldn’t leave Will, and going to him would only draw the manticore towards them both, butting Will in danger. Nico kept on the defensive to gather some strength, but the searing pain in his side was a constant reminder that he was losing that strength. He could feel the hem of his shirt saturated with blood, so he knew he was losing it quickly. The longer he was on his feet and actively moving, the higher his heart rate and blood pressure, and the faster he’d bleed to death.
He had nothing left to lose, charging the manticore head-on, raising his sword up to jab painfully through the roof of its mouth to its brain- but he didn’t have enough strength to jump high enough, his legs giving out on the landing as the wound in his side prevented him from regaining stability. He raised his sword defensively as the manticore brought down its stinger, attempting to cut off the tip- but he was too dizzy to manage that. He looked over to Will- Nico could slip into the shadows and save himself, but he couldn’t save Will too unless he continued to fight the manticore long enough for Will to run- but Will wasn’t moving, and Nico remembered how hard Will had hit the wall- there was a chance he’d fractured his spine, so movement could paralyse him, not to mention the damage that a broken rib could cause should it shift and puncture a lung. Nico had to kill the monster or die trying. He stayed on the ground- he had to give himself the extra time to fight the monster, had to keep himself alive for long enough. He swiped defensively, hacking at the manticore’s paws and stabbing upwards towards its chest.
As the manticore roared loudly, bringing down its stinger in what would have been a fatal blow to Nico’s chest, whips of light hit the monster’s flank harshly, burning deep furrows. The light whip hit the monster again, tendrils of light wrapping around it and leaving burning marks until the monster turned to dust. Nico looked over to see where it was coming from, and Will, pale and clammy, was still slumped against the wall, but his outstretched hand was glowing amber, the light spread up his arm and through his veins. Nico crawled over to Will, shadow travelling them straight to the infirmary.