Grey Spatium 16

I noticed the shimmering, smokey apparition before Regis did.

Cadell solidified from the gloom still cast by the clouds overhead, swinging down with a burning black blade. Activating God Step, I appeared just before him, catching the attack with an aetheric sword.

I was just waiting for you to tap out, I answered, straining under the force of Cadell's blow.

The shadow wolf dissolved, becoming immaterial and drifting into my body. 'Since you're back to making crappy jokes, I assume you've got it from here?' Despite his banter, I could sense the fatigue setting into my companion. He was near the end of his strength.

Black metal spikes burst out of the ground between us. My sword swept cleanly through them, but it gave Cadell time to step back and bring up his own sword. "Your new bond is a rather crude excuse of a beast."

"I think the word you're looking for is 'majestic'," I quipped, hurtling forward and unleashing a flurry of cuts and jabs, pressing him further back. He tried to fly up into the air, but God Step allowed me to cut him off, pushing him back toward the ground where we were on more even footing.

Cadell may have been more versatile, but I was the better swordsman.