"I'm not about to die now!"
The words came out raw, more desperate than threatening but Rivere could feel the switch.
It could feel Natsuki's muscles getting stronger, his injuries had stopped bleeding and his eyes.
His eyes didn't look angry, they didn't look desperate like how his voice sounded, they looked determined.
But not normal determination, they were determined to kill.
Rivere could feel it, he'd seen those same eyes a million times but these were much different much darker much scarier.
"There's nothing you can do human! Your finished!"
Under Rivere's foot the temperature began to increase rapidly, at first it just felt like standing on hot sand.
Slowly it began to increase, his foot began to shake and go numb from the heat.
And then smoke began to rise, while little burnt pieces flew off into the wind.
Finally it released him.
Flying into the air it began releasing pained sounds.
'I must end this quickly, I'll send his heart into temporary stasis, he'll die for sometime but eventually he'll wake up.'
Rivere assumed his plan was flawless and begun flying down towards Natsuki.
Natsuki began to relentlessly throw fire balls at him, prompting him to dodge and fly around.
He knew that if the fire was as hot as Natsuki became under him then it was safer to avoid them than try risky manoeuvres.
'Where is this human drawing this power from, it's unnatural. Unless...'
Its eyes were locked on the glowing ring on his finger, just looking at it he could feel it was different.
Somehow it was responsible for whatever was happening to Natsuki.
Now incredibly close it raised its wings high.
Sending a large amount of air, not razor sharp but a powerful wind that put Natsuki off balance.
Natsuki was trying to stay in place, making sure his feet didn't slip and make him fly off.
His gut suddenly began shifting.
He avoided Rivere narrowly by letting the wind take him momentarily before blasting fire towards his left side to push him violently into a tree to cushion him a bit.
The tree however began to char, it's oak turning to charcoal.
He pushed himself out of the gap he had burnt through and looked forward trying to see Rivere.
'I don't have time to think,' he began looking around quicker now, 'I just need to rely on my senses and react on instincts, my senses are already very high, so it shouldn't be hard.'
After the thought crossed him, he closed his eyes and began breathing in, trying to smell his surroundings.
It was mostly smoke that he could smell but because his senses were higher now, he could differentiate between the burnt smells.
He knew which one was wood, which one was grass, which one was leopard and which one was bird.
His gut tugged at him as he moved to the right, avoiding Rivere again.
Using this strategy he began leaping, twisting, turning and flipping around to dodge Rivere's attacks.
Then he stood in front of a huge tree, it's trunk was 10 metres wide and it was so tall that Natsuki could barely see the top.
Twisting out of the way at the right time he led Rivere to smash right into the tree.
It shook violently.
And then Natsuki could see the faint brown glint of something falling down towards him.
But he didn't have time to see it.
Rivere took advantage of this distraction and using it's shoulder roughly smacked Natsuki head first with it.
Going blank from the sudden strike it was quickly followed by a large amount of wind that sent him flying onto a stump.
Ribs first.
Laying on the floor Rivere loomed over him and in one quick strike it shoved a talon into his chest.
Making sure the hole wasn't too fatal so it would only leave him in a state of stasis.
He felt his heart shut down.
His eyes remained open wide and shaking but stopped after sometime.
Natsuki's body was now just laying still.
Pleased with himself Rivere turned to fly up to his nest to go and tend to his foot.
But something was off he could feel it.
The atmosphere still wasn't right.
The wind was trying to tell him something he couldn't make out.
Finally he realised something.
Behind him he could feel it.
Heat.
It was burning the air furiously, all around him heat waves began to appear.
Looking behind him he saw Natsuki, his pupils were dilated and shaped like a tear drop, his teeth changed to fangs and his nails turned to claws.
"What are you?" He asked completely shocked, "I pierced your heart, how are you still moving?"
"Two words, dragon heart."
'Dragon heart?'
His legs began to buckle at the knees, his feathers stood at attention and his pupils dilated almost as large as Natsuki's.
'He has more than one heart.'
Trying to react he was too slow.
Using a fraction of a dragon's speed he moved quickly towards him and landed a quick punch to its abdomen.
The force was bone crushing.
Rivere stumbled back.
Then laced with fire, he landed another punch mid-air across the birds face.
It's beak chipped a piece fell out slowly and hit the ground.
But it didn't stop.
Slowly the birds stamina and durability began to waver.
In a desperate move it tried to fly away but Natsuki just grabbed a spear from the heap of weapons and threw it directly at its wing.
Rivere's movements were slow and sluggish.
Meaning it was a direct hit.
It fell to the ground.
Panting heavily.
Weak and disoriented it looked at Natsuki what he saw wasn't a man but a beast, no even worse than it beast a monster.
He moved with deep brutal cuts that would probably leave nasty and disgusting scars all over his body.
Blood, sweat and grime had already incorporated themselves into the clots of the wounds making his situation look even more unbearable.
But in spite of all of this, he still moved forward like nothing had happened to him.
"Spare me!"
"The weak don't get spared, henchmen certainly don't either."
"You can't do this, my brother will hunt you down and present you to our Lord. He will... "
The words never came out as he squeezed his neck preventing them from coming out.
Using the same method he used on the leopard he killed in the forest, he burnt a hole through its neck to kill it.
Reddish-black blood came out of the bird wound in its carcass.
'I feel like eating it again, why does this keep happening? In fact...,' he looked around the battlefield, 'I want to eat them all.'
Then a voice spoke.
It was unmistakable.
The voice of the creature from his dream echoed through his head.
"You ask too many questions! Just do what your instincts tell, isn't it how you got this strong in the first place?"
The voice was right, edging the temptation further.
What pushed him over the edge was when the rings glow began to fade.
Slowly he felt the relief he was given fade and the pain of his injuries surfaced.
Falling face first into the hide of the bird he couldn't help himself.
He began eating.