"Halt!" Yelled a dwarf upon circling Mike in a spiral trail of mud. Soon joined the others, and he was surrounded. He recognized a few faces of the dozen, especially Xenar who was responsible for his current predicament. His face crumpled upon seeing him, his fists balled tightly.
"I am in trouble now, do your thing." He mumbled, urging his chains to sprout into action. There was no response, they had sunken into him since the arrival of the dwarves and it didn't seem like they would be back out anytime soon.
A dwarf took a step forward when immediately Xenar halted him.
"Be careful, we do not know what terrible monstrous abilities it may have." He said holding out an arm.
"Burn it." He concluded and as soon as he said those words, the group moved their hands in the same stylish manner, their legs moving with as much swift grace, and then they lunged their powerful short arms at him releasing blasts of terrible flames.
Mike did what his body willed, crouching down with his arms around his legs in fear, helpless before his demise. Was he?
The plumes of flames shrunk about Mike, they had encompassed him a second ago, and he ought not to be more than a shriveled ashy corpse, but somehow, he was still standing,and not only that, a vortex was about him siphoning the elemental attacks.
The dwarves back stepped, all but Xenar. He brought them all back to their senses, yelling, "Continue hitting him, we must not give him a chance to utilize his abilities!"
The dwarf raised his clenched fists up at an angle, and the ground around Mike tore to reveal jutting structures of rock. Just like the flames, it was undone by the red vortex that spun around the man.
Then, Mike stood up. The chains spun speedily about him creating a vortex that made him impervious to the dwarves' elemental attacks, he was saved yet again by it.
Now that safety was in sight, another emotion brushed against him: rage. He had no idea what would happen, but he trusted his instincts as he lunged his arms swiftly in succession releasing two powerful gales of wind.
The dwarves however were no rookie to battle despite their peaceful lives, and they hastily responded with a combined move of earth, raising a wall from the earth to block the move. Then they sent pieces of it hurling towards Mike.
He blasted the ground below him, momentarily thrusting himself up, and his chains lunged downwards, attaching themselves to the trunks around—a few of them targeting the dwarves themselves.
It was difficult, the chains were not only unaffected by attacks, but fed on it, and it moved ever so fast. It caught its first victim, sinking its razor sharp tip into its heart. The dying dwarf's radiance seeped out from the body through the chain visibly for the others to see, and as it did, its body began taking a duller hue, like its colors were being washed away.
"Monster!" Cried Xenar. There was no denying it now, he had killed one of them, and had absorbed his radiance just like the creature in the book could do. Mike was every bit the monster he thought the creature was.
A new wave of motivation swept across the remaining dwarves; they could not let this abomination roam their forest, they would put it down before it grew terribly in power.
Xenar took the charge, spinning with a jump and then sending an arch of fire to Mike. The human ducked, avoiding the heated strike. The dwarf was unrelenting, and so were his peers, and they continued attacking in succession and in barrages.
All attacks were stopped before they could strike Mike, rather easily too. He was just another attack away from whimpering, but the chains—this strange power he held had him protected. The chains, unlike their master, stood out stretched and arched, like terrible sets of red pincers, they were intimidating.
The dwarves stilled their attacks as they were caught in shock by the chains' appearance.
"Do not stop! Keep your distance." Xenar cried, he struck the ground with his fists, and he was thrown upwards by a surge in the earth below him.
Xenar got both Mike's and the chains' attention, the thick dwarf hung in the air, a small whirlwind holding him upwards and levitating.
A couple of chains sprang behind Mike striking the ground away, and then pulled him away as fast wind blades fell to him.
It all happened so fast. The chains acted as an extra set of limbs, having Mike evade the invisible blows that came for him.
He heard a sliding sound at his sides; it was the dwarves in their mud slides. They were relentless.
He swiped his right arm to the side, sending a wind arch at a group of three. The move almost had him turn over, but the chains adapted quickly, stopping from hitting the ground. It was like he was riding a large spider with long legs with how it swayed.
The wind attack struck the group, but Mike soon found them at his side once again, the move had not been powerful enough.
Xenar was still overhead, sending swift attacks of wind. Mike was getting cornered, and not only that, he was starting to feel mentally exhausted, especially with being out of control.
It did not seem like running would work anymore, the dwarves knew the terrain better than he did, and they were fast, faster than their shapes told.
An open circle was ahead, and Mike hoped he could find some reprieve there.
The stabbing sounds did not cease as the crimson chains pulled Mike, and almost like they could read his mind, they stopped in the open circle.
"Surrounded by trees, and murderous dwarves," he mumbled as he struggled for some air.
The dwarves had learnt not to underestimate him, and they didn't cease with their circling mud movements, neither did Xenar from above.
Mike watched as the thick bearded dwarf conjured a little tornado in his palms, compressed it and then sent it at him.
"Die Monster!"
It was the end.