Their brutal and burgeoning encounter teetered, swaying on the uneven crux of their shortcomings. The Xangu shaman, let down by his brittle form, was evidently unfit to compete with the robust demon—a bloodied and broken shoulder was the very evidence. But, Nosdyn seemed to be showing his own shortcomings? Do Mugu, nursing that terrible injury and undeniably lagging in the race, would not overlook the opportunity for a clean and clear deathblow.

If N'Jal's famed champion thought a sorrowful submission would temper the shaman's heart, then he was critically mistaken.

It was true, Gum do Mugu was physically weaker.

But, perhaps Nosdyn was mentally weaker.

It wasn't that the Dheathain human lacked compassion. On the contrary, he had fostered a perennial affection for relieving the suffering of others. Consider this: Nosdyn was suffering, of that there was no doubt. Furthermore, the crow's caws had told Gum of this demon's murderous past. So, at least in the eyes of Do Mugu and his cast of divine overseers, the kindly act was to remove this chaotic invader from the playing field. After all, death was not the end; in service to his masters, the shaman had ferried so many souls into the shambling clutches of the Underworld's chief general, Oxxad.

Locked in the midst of his metamorphosis, the shaman was quaking with pain. He struggled to respond to Nosdyn's heartfelt words.

Regardless, Gum had little to say in return.

Yet, Nosdyn continued to pour out his melancholy heart. "Maybe you are right...maybe life itself is right maybe I do not belong here at all," the demon said.

At first, Gum could not respond. His silence was involuntary. There wasn't much he could say to Nosdyn. He knew that the sooner it was over for the troubled demon, the sooner his broken spirit could begin the process of rehabilitation. And, eventually, rebirth—it was a good thing.

"Intro..." Do Mugu rasped, "...spection." Then, he spat blood and phlegm down his chin while his organs churned, mutating from their natural form into something else. "Introspection," he gasped, finally. He was choked from within, caught off guard by his own spine crunching inside his neck. It, like his organs, was morphing from human anatomy into feline anatomy. His mouth, by then covered in jet black fur, jutted forward into a short snout. Then, another mouthful of blood oozed from his narrow, quivering lips... then, his teeth—blunt, human, useless—fell from his mouth and spilled out across the cavern's moist substrate. With a snarl, his new set of jagged, bone-crunching gnashers and skull-piercing canines came in.

"Take, so I am not forgotten. So my people are not forgotten," the demon said, offering his shaman foe a dear treasure.

With his right hand, Do Mugu gripped the cloak in a balled up fist. But, he said nothing. He wasn't able to speak.

"I am ready shaman. I am tired of fighting...maybe I can also know peace. And be with my love that I left behind."

The Xangu man dropped the cloak, it fell to floor like the shaman's blood and teeth before it. Gum shook his head ruefully, he had meant no disrespect. However, his hand had turned to a paw.

The shapeshift was complete; from human to Xangu jungle cat.

With a muscular spring of his hind legs, the black jungle cat leapt at the demon. The injured left shoulder had followed him into cat form, so he was only able to slash at Nosdyn with his right paw. Meanwhile, his canines were unleashed—the Xangu's most deadly assassin was aiming to crack through the demon's skull and burrow into his brain.

If the demon possessed even the dimmest glimmer of hope, the slightest will to live, then he would have to sidestep Do Mugu's savage assault! Otherwise, his desire to be reunited with Illsandra would be fulfilled—together, Gum believed, their spirits would be joined in the comforting flow of the glowing cavern's stream.

The choice was Nosdyn's.

Death or life.