The Shaman's Apprentice - part 2 - The Power of The Jaguar

Aiden woke up with a groan. His body was sore like he had been trekking all day long. His tailhole stung and his shoulders, once he tried to put weight on his arms to rise, flared up in pain. A paw on his chest pushed him down the soft fur again. He opened his eyes, bright daylight making him squint.
Above him, his master, Kagan the shaman, was looking down at him. The elderly white-fox's fur had turned a dappled grey with the years, his green eyes were hidden deep within the furrows of his withered face. His pure-grey muzzle opened, "Stay down, Aiden, you need to rest before putting any pressure on your body."
The teenage white-fox blinked, his blue eyes slightly teary from all the discomfort. "What happened, master?" He croaked, his incredibly sore throat making him regret his words.
"You have returned from deep slumber after your journey to the spirit world, my boy." The old shaman said with some pride in his voice. "Not everyone can undergo the trials of meeting an ancestral spirit and return in one piece. Or even alive!" He handed Aiden a burned-clay cup of fresh, cold water which he drank down in one long swallow before coughing weakly. Kagan patted the apprentice on the bandaged shoulder, making him wince in pain, before getting up smoothly and exiting the hut. Aiden followed his movements before the weight of his head made it slump down on the soft fur he was lying on. He was utterly exhausted, but his mind a buzz of excitement and happines. He had done it! He had journeyed to the spirit world, spoken to the great jaguar spirit Onamoru and submitted himself to it. He winced a bit at the memory, his throat constricting painfully and his tailhole twitching at the thought of that massive feline penis entering him in the most feral of ways. At the same time, his member stirred in his sheath, the scent of cat musk unbiddingly came through his nose and the feeling of that huge member filling his throat and ass, filled his body.
"Good morning pup, I sense you are already imagining the next time you come to visit," a booming voice said in his head. He looked around wildly with shock. His sore body protesting at the movement. "No no, relax my young friend. I am here, inside you, with you, for as long as you are bonded with me," Unamoru explained.
"But how is that possible?" Aiden asked.
"Once I washed the smell of prey off you and out of you," the white-fox blushed, "and once I took you like a mate, we bonded. You are now a conduit, small and weak that you are, to the spirit world, to me."
"So now you are with me all the time?"
"Not at all," the spirit said with some mirth in his voice, "I am always at your call. If you reach out to me, you will find me, if you call for me and my powers, I will be there in a heartbeat. As for right here, right now? I have been watching over you and old Kagan since you exited the spirit world last night."
At that moment, the wizened shaman entered the hut again, with a fresh cup of water.
"Ahh, I see you have decided to show yourself, Onamoru," he said.
"Greetings again, old Kagan, I was just checking in on [i]our[/i] young apprentice." The jaguar's voice was stretching Aiden's sense of reason, as it both bounced off inside his skull as well as outside within the hut.
"Where are you?" the young white-fox asked with confusion.
"Everywhere," the voice boomed, "I am inside you, inside Kagan, as well as everywhere the sun touches and the wind blows. We spirits do not follow the laws of logic of the world of the living. I can be three places at once, five even, though the more I spread my will, the less strength I have. Which is why only a few bi-pedals are allowed to bond with us ancestral spirits, lest we dilute our power."
"Were you thinking of him when I was fetching water?" Kagan asked.
"Uhm, yeah, I was remembering our time in the spirit world," Aiden said, blushing and drooping his ears a little.
"That can be summoning enough."
[i]"That can be summoning enough."[/i]
Kagan spoke and Unamoru with him from inside. Aiden's eyes widened with confusion. Both Kagan and the spirit started to laugh, merryment from within and without confusing the young fox, overwhelming his fragile conciousness, his eyes closed and he drifted into sleep again.
"Hrmmmm, he might be well-mannared, but his soul is not the strongest I have seen," Onamoru rumbled.
"Give it time, you roughed him up well and good. He needs rest before the burdens of a shaman can be put fully onto his shoulders," Kagan said, kneeling down and gently brushing the fur of his young apprentice's muzzle.
"Bah! You stopped me before I could harm him seriously. He will heal and his mind will recover. I look forward to helping him grow stronger, don't hold him back!" with that the presence of the spirit waned and Kagan was left alone with his apprentice.
"Damn cats and their damned impatience," he muttered while shaking his head.

A couple of weeks had passed, and Aiden's bandages had come off. The days, here in the middle of summer, were hot and dry. His shoulder now bore the scars of his first journey to the spirit world, and the tribesmen had begun to rub over them for good luck. This was all new for the young apprentice, he had always been like a shadow to his master, fetching this and that, gathering firewood, cooking his meals, learning herblore and woodcraft. Now he was suddenly cast into the role of a proper shaman, despite his young age. The older members of the tribe would regard him like an adult, and not like a pesky youngster when he went and fetched foodstuffs or paints or animal parts from the different men and women of the village. Even when he went on a half-day hike to the sheep-herder Angram, the old bachelor handed over a fine pelt and a bag's worth of meat without even a grumble. [i]That[/i] was an eye-opener! As Aiden had always had to argue at length before being allowed to bring home such goods.
Today, he was talking to one of the head warriors of the village, a scarred white-fox of about 35 summers. Burock was looking him at him intently with his left blue eye, the right one white and withered beneath a deep scar on his face that went from scalp to just above his upper jaw. "Kagan wants you to do [i]what[/i]?"
Aiden cleared his throat, crumbling under the pressure of that intense, one-eyed stare. "He wants me to go with one of the scouting parties. He says that I need to meet danger to fully understand the extent of my new powers." 
The older male looked him up and down, taking into account his somewhat toned frame, the scars on his shoulders and his submissive demeanor. He snorted. "Why would we take a pup like you on such a dangerous mission? I can't let one of our warriors get killed just because you weren't up for the task!"
The young apprentice took a deep breath before he steeled himself, "I know I am not much to look at, but I can handle myself, I can gather firewood, cook meals, mend wounds.." he trailed off, stared directly into Burock's eyes, and continued, "and I can fight. I can wrestle and box just as well as any boy my age, I can shoot the bow, and I [i]need[/i] to face a real threat for my powers to grow!" The last was said both pleadingly and angrily.
"Whoah there, young wolf, do you actually have a bite? You say you can box and wrestle, but can you [i]kill[/i]? Can you face an enemy or a predator that wants to take your life?"
Aiden thought back to his time in the spirit world, of how scared and weak he had felt under the assault of the great jaguar spirit. He never broke eye-contact with warrior. "Yes," he said uncertainly, before continuing with more conviction, "Yes! I am no longer a prey. I can handle myself."
[i]"I don't give a rat's ass about how well you can handle yourself!"[/i] Burock half-yelled, "What I need to know is if you can follow orders and do what you are told in the time of need, so our men won't have to risk themselves on your behalf!"
Aiden took a step back from the intense words and gathered his thoughts, this warrior did most definately [i]not[/i] treat him like a gift from the spirits, such as he had become accustomed to.
"Let me help." Onamoru's voice boomed in his head. He felt a change in his body, in his eyes. Suddenly he saw much clearer, new colours blossomed in his vision, Burock's scar stood out in deep contrast, each ragged crook and line of it highlighted as if seen through a magnifying glass. Now it was the warrior who took a step back.
"I can handle myself," Aiden's voice boomed in his ears, a note of Unamoru's deep voice merging with his own, "and I will do whatever I am told, whenever I am told. Do we have a deal?"
Burock's eyes widened slightly, though from fear or surprise Aiden could not tell. He simply nodded and turned away, "Julo and his men are leaving in two days, at sunrise. Be there."
The young white-fox saw the departing man's back go from sharply defined to almost blurry and realised his eyes had returned to normal. "Well that was interesting," he muttered.
"Any part of you can be changed to one of me," Onamoru's voice said in his head, purring like a kitten at a bowl of milk, "eyes, fangs, claws, your entire fighting spirit can become one with me should you call for it."
"I didn't ask for your help!" Aiden said, surprised at his own bluntness and his anger at the spirit for taking over his body. The purring in his mind abruptly stopped.
"You are [i]mine[/i], fox-cub. I marked you. I claimed you. Other spirits would never even concieve the notion of taking over a shaman's body without their consent. But not [i]I[/i], the great Onamoru!" The spirit's growl had taken on a dangerous undertone. 
"But what is to become of me if all my actions are decided by you?" Aiden shot back.
"It's bothersome to stay with you continuously," the dangerous tone was swapped with condescending, "the mortal world was my playground eons ago, not anymore. I am only here to visit, to see that my mark is succeding. I won't decide [i]everything[/i], and once you figure out how to apply my powers without me needing to take over, you will barely notice I'm here." With that, the presence in his mind faded away, leaving him shivering with unease.
Aiden didn't really know how to react, but he didn't like it in the slightest. Knowing his own body could betray him at any moment left him with a deep pit in stomach that followed him the next couple of days. He didn't bring it up with Kagan, fearing the old shaman would scold him for not figuring out this predicament himself. 
Their relationship had been, well, [i]wierd[/i] since the young white-fox had travelled to the spirit world. He knew that Kagan had been acting as the physical intermediary for Onamoru during their mating. He knew that all the things that had happened in the spirit world, had in some shape or form also happened in the hut. The three-day soreness of his tailhole was a testament to that. Yet it seemed that the old shaman was harbouring secrets from Aiden, watching him intently, weighing him, studying him. On the other hand, he himself had been viewing the old shaman in a different light. Knowing he had seen him so exposed, had been an accessory in handling him so roughly. It was all so confusing. It didn't help that he now understood the relationship between the great spirits and a shaman. Seeing old Kagan, in his mind, raising his tail in the air to be claimed by Onamoru made his fur stand up with something akin to disgust. So he kept his worries to himself and prepared for the scouting.

The moon was shining brightly on the small band of scouts. The bright light cast long shadows from their crouched frames into the underbrush behind them. Six they were in total, including Aiden. 
They were up on a hill overlooking the last gentle valley before the Ordurus mountain range began its rise into the sky. Aiden had never been this far north of the village, and the scouting band had been trekking seven days to reach this valley. Their mission was simple; all they were to do was to make sure there were no goblins trespassing beyond the mountain range into the rolling hills below and into white-fox territory. 
They had reached the beginning of this valley in the evening and made camp in a depression half a thousand steps from their present vantage point, concealing them from any prying eyes, their fire had been of the buried style, keeping the smoke almost invisible. 
Aiden looked down at the valley with shaky excitement. Goblins! Hundreds of them were traversing the valley in double-file, with outriders on pony-sized lizards circling the flanks of the group. [i]The army[/i], he told himself, as their numbers were enough to stand toe-to-toe with each and every fighting-aged man of his tribe.
Julo, the leader of their band, laid a calming hand on Aiden's arm. "Take it easy, apprentice, the outriders are far away, and the main force is half a dozen hours marching from this hill." The middle-aged warrior had a pleasant baryton that spoke with confidence and assurance, even as he was whispering.
Glippo, the youngest of the band except for Aiden, tittered merrily and clapped the young white-fox gently on his back, causing him wince, "Young Aiden here is just anxious for a fight, look how tense he is, like a bowstring ready to fire!" he whispered with mirth, obviously making light-hearted fun at him. The young apprentice shut him a glare that caused the three year older scout to double over with ill-concealed laughter that threatened to alert any nearby goblins of their presense.
"Silence!" Julo hissed angrily. "Any sound could break our cover!" He looked sternly at the younger white-fox who slumped down in defeat, his mirth broken by the seriousness of the situation. After all, it wasn't exactly a common thing for goblins to roam outside the mountain ranges. Maybe once every half-dozen years a raiding party would venture down the mountain sides and wreak havoc until the tribesmen hunted them down, one such raid had cost Burock his right eye. 
But an [i]invasion[/i]... Aiden knew the implications, history and geography were two subjects his master had taught him well at. So too, did the rest of the scouting party know that this was serious business and not something to be laughed at. They all looked each other in the eyes, and nodded in unison before retreating from the valley-edge.
The camp was quick to be dismantled, the fire easy to snuff out and they trekked off back towards their village, to deliver the dire news.
Julo and the rest of the scouts had taken in Aiden's presence in their band with no issues at all. From the beginning they had treated him fairly and despite his insistence on gathering firewood and cooking their meals at every campsite, they had rigidly divided the different duties between them and him. The only arduous task he had been assigned had been night watch, which was something he had never tried before. But even as drowsiness had threatened to overwhelm him, he had always managed to get up and move to a different spot, accustoming himself to stay watchful and awake despite the monotony of crickets chirping and the rustling of the undergrowth which had given him several starts in the beginning of their jouney. It was Aiden himself, who had been curious as to how the moonlight would illuminate the valley before them, who had left the camp before running back full-tilt and waking up the rest of the crew with his sighting of the goblins.
Now, however, it truly struck him how the scouts were a different breed from himself. Their speed was somewhere between trekking and running, and after a couple of miles Aiden began to worry that he would slow them down. His breath was getting laboured, his legs were burning, and tears were forming in his eyes for how weak he felt. Every step they took, every laborious mile they covered led the young apprentice closer and closer to crying out in pain and desperation for them to leave him behind. He remembered Burock's words, and was determined to not let the others into any danger, but his body was betraying his conviction, their fast pace far outdoing any he could hold for such a long time.
"Aiden, [i]move[/i]!" Julo hissed, as the young white-fox came to a halt, his hands resting on his thighs as he was doubled over from the stinging pain in his side. His heart thumped and his breath was ragged in the warm summer air. He heaved in a gulp of air.
"I can't, Julo, I can't keep up!" He said with breathless desperation in his voice.
Glippo was on point, some distance away, and was gesturing sharply at Aiden to get a move on, but little did it help. His lungs were burning and his legs shaky, trekking was one thing, half-running from a horde of goblins was something else. Julo laid a heavy hand on Aiden's shoulder.
"Aiden! Get. Your. Fucking. Feet. Mo-" Julo's words were cut short by a blurry streak that whizzed between the two of them.
"GOBLINS!" Julo shouted, and unholstered the bow he had slung over his shoulder. Before he could reach for an arrow in his quiver, a black-feathered arrow struck his left arm and he crouched down with a loud "yelp!". 
The other scouts were quick to unholster their own bows, as the air around became alive with arrows. The shooters were soon to show themselves, more than a dozen goblins carried on lizard-back, firing bows as they raced across the valley towards the small band from the direction of Aiden and Julo's position. 
"Get your bow out, now!" Julo barked, and Aiden rushed to comply, shaky fingers even managing to fish out an arrow to knock. [i]There were so many[/i], he hardly even knew where to point, their unerving warcries rattling his nerves causing his arms to shake. The goblins and their purple-hued lizards, though illuminated in the bright moonlight, seemed like dark and foreboding figures that blended with their surroundings. He ended up focusing on the one closest to him, deeming it the highest threat. Before he loosed the arrow, the next volley from the goblin-riders thudded into the ground around the two of them, one nicking his right ear. His arrow went off course, sailing through the air a dozen paces to the left of the lead rider.
"Another," Julo grunted as he was busy sawing off the head of the arrow lodged in his arm, having quickly realised it was a barbed one.
"Oh dear spirits," the young apprentice muttered, as he pulled back the string, feeling it kiss his cheek.
"You called?" a purring voice said in his head, and the moon-illuminated group of goblin-riders suddenly stood out as clearly as letters in a book. Aiden wasted no time in firing his next arrow, easily able to see and interpret its path from the clear view he suddenly had of the world. The lead goblin fell off its lizard with loud screech, and Aiden didn't even realise the next arrow was knocked and flying before the next one came crashing off its mount.
Then they were upon him, arrows flying this way and that as the riders rode around him and fired towards him and Julo. One goblin, it's jet-black eyes radiating dark moonlight, had him squarely in its sights, he locked eyes with it, sensed its motions, and twisted his body sideways as it loosed its arrow. Aiden lost his footing and turned half-around, his body travelling towards the ground back-first. His view of the beautiful, star-covered sky was crossed by the streak of the goblin's arrow, travelling just inches above his eyes.
He broke the fall with his hands, bow and by tucking his chin towards his chest, so it barely took his breath away. A hidden source of strength, partly the thrill of battle, and partly the increasingly familiar spiritual power, let his legs get under himself and quickly roll backwards over his shoulder, drawing an arrow and knocking it, before standing up with his feet in perfect position for the next shot, in one fluid motion. The goblins were past him now, the one that had barely missed was looking back with surprise on its face before his arrow hit it in the back, right at the heart, and it slumped over and fell down its lizard mount which screeched in a high-pitched sound as the harness of the fallen goblin dragged its head down causing it to crash in a jumble of legs, claws and fangs.
The other scouts in the group had been busy joining up and forming a single firing line. Four arrows streaked out in unison and two more riders stumbled from their saddles before the rest of the goblins returned fire, peppering their position with black-fletched arrows. With his spirit-enhanced eyes, Aiden saw Glippo take an arrow in the shoulder and another one of the scouts was struck in the leg.
The gobling riders fired off another volley without any hits before they were past the small group of scots, the two wings of their formation circled around and spurred each other on with bestial warcries as they passed each other behind the four white-foxes. As soon as they had passed another volley was fired with only three arrows shot in return. This time the oldest scout in their group, a long-limbed greymuzzle named Kord, took an arrow through the eyes and crumbled on the spot, but not before his own arrow took one of the lizard-mounts through the neck bringing it and its rider crashing down on the valley-floor, the tumbling mess entangling with another rider who also crashed.
The goblins were hooting and yelling in murderous rage now, the next flight of arrows as they rode past the small group of scouts all flew wide. They now had their sights on Aiden and Julo, seven goblin riders in full charge towards them. The young apprentice had his bow ready and fired at the closest goblin, but it anticipated his arrow and tugged its lizard to dodge the incoming projectile. It slung its bow over its shoulder and drew a long, curved sword and barked a command, two other goblins mirroring its action, while the last four shot off a volley of arrows.
Small streaks became large, and one spot in particular seemed to not move at all. Aiden didn't realise the arrow was on a straight course towards him before it thudded into his chest, sharp pain radiating from the impact as it punched through his ribs on the right side of his chest just under the pectoral muscle. He had been in the proces of aiming another arrows, but it flew wide as his right arm lost all its strength from the wound and released the arrow prematurely.
A hard impact on his left shoulder brought him to his senses. Julo had punched his shoulder with the pommel of his short-sword, "DROP THE BOW, GET YOUR KNIFE OUT, NOW!", he yelled, as he took up position on Aiden's right side, his sword enguard towards the charging goblins, his left arm hanging limply with the arrow through it.
Aiden was still in shock, his movements sluggish as he dropped the bow limply from his left hand and awkwardy tried to undo the leather string on the scabbard holding his hunting knife secured. The goblins were almost in front of them when he finally managed to pull the knife out and hold it out, trembling before the charge. This close, he got his first real look at the creatures: short and squat, with entirely black eyes, the light-green goblins had their teeth bared in ferocious snarls. Their mounts were long-legged lizards that moved with their legs to the sides unlike the upward-standing ponies he knew from home, giving them a height that was a bit shorter than Aiden's own. Together, though, the riders seemed to tower above and all his instincts were telling him to run. Only the reassuring presence of Julo at his side kept his head cool enough to actually try and think of a plan. The goblins were only seconds away now. He closed his eyes and seeked out the jaguar spirit in his mind.
"Don't worry pup, bad odds lead to the greatest fights," Onamoru's purred with malice.
The young apprentice felt his entire body awash with warmth, almost like scalding water was coursing through his blood. The arrow in his chest didn't register as more than a mild annoyance, his muscles tensed with untold strength, the skin bulging and audibly creaking as his muscles inflated with spiritual power. He bared his mighty fangs and growled.
Julo yelped with surprise as Aiden suddenly stormed off with uncanny speed to meet the first goblin rider head-on. The creature screamed its warcry and brought down its sword with devastating speed, but the nimble white-fox dove headfirst between the front legs on the lizard mount. Aiden rolled once and stopped his fall lying prone, as the lizard's body travelled above him. Then he struck. Both hands now bore long claws that stuck into the soft belly of the moving lizard, utterly eviscerating it as its momentum dragged the sharp digits from sternum to groin, spattering pristine white fur with blood and ichor. 
Julo didn't have time to watch the rest as the other two riders were upon him, one widely missing its slash as it rode by, because an arrow from behind took it in the back of the head. The other moving to his left trying to catch him off-guard. The green creature stood up in its stirrups and slashed at Julo with a powerful down-to-up motion, but his shortsword just managed to parry the blow, leaving his right shoulder burning with pain as the cackling goblin rode by before re-organising with its four comrades who still had their bows out. Another flight of arrows hailed in, and Julo took a glancing hit to his right thigh. He looked behind, seeing the other scouts advancing rapidly to his position, and noting Aiden getting to his feet behind the collapsed lizard mount which lay in a spreading pool of blood and gore, its intenstines spilled from its stomach, the entrails leading all the way to. [i]Aiden[/i]? His hands, not holding his knife, but instead showing off massive claws like a mythical beast, entangled with gory innards. Julo gulped and returned his vision to the goblins.
His blood was pumping with almost audibly thuds, his ears were ringing with all the small sounds around him, the taste of blood and entrail were on his lip, his claws were awash with the exquisite feeling of rubbery slipperiness from the lizard's guts. He had never felt so [i]alive[/i], every single moment stretching out for an eternity. The goblin rider had managed to fall off its mount without taking any damage, its curved sword held warily between it and Aiden.
He stepped forward, each movement seemed to glide into the next, each tiny tiny twitch of a muscle gripping into the next, his stance low and fluid as he approached his adversary with the crouched gait of a hunting cat on two legs. He forced down the urge to walk on all fours, despite his instincts screaming at him to take to the ground like the predator he was.
"Good. Good! Remember who and what you are as you let my instincts guide you," the jaguar spirit's voice whispered, almost as un-intrusive as one of his own thoughts, yet instilling a sense of clarity to his actions as he suddenly took note of his transformation.
He looked down and [i]saw[/i]. Blood and guts, the smell of entrails. He began to shake as bitter bile rose in the back of his throat. Sensing its moment, the goblin charged.
"Snap out of it, apprentice!" Unamoru's voice boomed in his head, the spirit's presence attempting to take over his body again to react to the attack. Aiden resisted, his left arm only halfway up to block the slashing sword.
The pain was even worse than the arrow in his chest, as the blurring sword cut deeply into his hand below the smallest finger and nearly severing the entire hand, the cut going all the way through but not clearing his thumb.
"Away, pup!" the command rang out in his mind, and spirit-powered legs carried him back a dozen paces in two short jumps, the surprised goblin's next attack missing completely, a wide swipe that would have taken his head off.
"Ahhhhh! It [i]hurts[/i]!" the young apprentice screamed out, the sight and sense of his mangled hand bringing him to his knees with tears flowing freely from his eyes.
"No time for that! Get on your feet! He is closing in for the kill now!" Unamoru's voice now echoed just a sliver of the dread and fear Aiden was feeling, but not for long as it spurred him on, "don't worry, young Aiden, you can still take him down." the spirit insisted, its larger-than-life confidence somehow invigorating the apprentice who got off his knees and faced down the goblin charging him at full speed, a mighty warcry coming from it. 
The instincts of the young white-fox combined with the jaguar within and he knew [i]exactly[/i] what to do now, trusting in the ancient being within to lead him out of this alive.
His footpaws, now complete with massive feline claws, dug deep into the ground and launched him running towards the goblin, which stumbled in surprise from the sudden burst of movement. Its sword was just a breath too slow to get into position, and as they crashed together, the curved blade glanced inefectually down the upper left arm of the apprentice just before his right shoulder hit the creature in the stomach, lifting it clean off the ground pushing it backwards several paces, knocking the wind from its lungs in a pained wheeze.
Aiden drew back his right arm and with a fearsome scream, somehow both low and high-pitched, he punched his knife-hand shaped paw with its claws first, straight into the abdomen of the stunned creature.
The goblin grunted in pain, before wailing loudly as Aiden set his footpaws deeply into the ground and dug his paw deeper inside. Pressing upwards, reaching, tearing through meat and guts as it searched within the body of the screaming creature. His arm was in at the elbow before he found what he was looking for, a tremulously trembling sack of pulsing flesh. He gripped it tightly, the goblin's screams reached a crescendo as Aiden [i]pulled[/i], invisible strings of flesh holding him back before he yanked with all his might, tearing out the creature's heart within his grasping paw in a gush of gore.
The goblin stared at him with wide eyes, and managed a gasp as Aiden's fangs dug deeply into the still-pulsating piece of meat, his preadatory eyes meeting the goblin's with dispassion as its eyes glazed over and it fell down backwards, hitting the ground with a heavy thud.
Even as Aiden was screaming in his mind for the spirit to stop, it forced him to consume the warm heart of their enemy. His wordless protests fell to deaf ears as Onamoru hissed with scorn; "You [i]always[/i] eat the heart of your first kill", re-telling the age-old tradition of huntsmen with a new twist.
The jaguar was still in control of his body as it forced his head up to look for the other goblins. They hadn't charged down at Julo yet, instead opting to watch the fight between their companion and the white-fox. Their mouths were open in shock and fear at the sight they had witnessed, a quick glance at Julo showed the exact same expression. They argued intensely for a few moments before a couple of arrows from the returning scouts stuck in the ground before their mounts. As one they turned around and fled, their lizards rapidly bringing them out of sight from the battered scouts.
Aiden felt the grip on his body and soul being released, and all the pain from his wounds came crashing down upon him at once. He stumbled and lifted his left hand to steady himself, only to scream in pain as the mangled hand flapped around uselessly, spattering the ground with his blood.
"Bah, it's merely a flesh-wound," came the condescending purr of the jaguar spirit.
The young apprentice felt his hold on conciousness disappear and he dropped like a sack of stones, the arrow which had so far been sticking out from his ribs broke and the feeling of its barbed tip tearing through his back, was the last sensation he noticed before drifting off to oblivion.