Nevin threw himself to the side in a desperate attempt to dodge the overgrown lizard. He had seen what that acidic fluid was doing to the rock, he did not want to find out what it would do to his own tender flesh. The frantic dodge carried the alchemist out of the way of the snapping fangs, though a drop of the yellow orange fluid flew off and onto his cloak, sizzling through it in moments and scorching his shoulder. The pain from that didn't really register though, as Nevin had forgotten a very important fact.

The creature had claws. Despite mostly avoiding the dangers of the mouth, the alchemist hadn't considered trying to avoid the rest of the beast, and he paid for it as the claws raked his side, tearing through his shirt and tunic. A wave of pain blossomed from the injury, and he snarled in anger at the idiotic mistake that had led to it. The lizard landed and turned around, re-orienting itself on the red-head, who had now dropped his crossbow and was swinging his staff around, bringing it to bear. The two circled each other slowly, animal hunger and instinct on one side, pained intellect on the other.

Nevin could feel the bloody runes along his skin singing in exultation again, a loud crescendo that drowned out the noise in the area. Blood was flowing from the lizard's side, running in crimson rivulets down its scales. The magic inside of him sung to Nevin of the potential in that blood, the possibility of unknown powers just waiting, begging to be tapped, an enticing chorus of wordless voices that needed to be heeded by the blood mage. Worse, his own blood was trickling down his torso, clotting up against the fabric that had been dragged into the wound – and the melody that his magic sang to him of his own blood was.... terrifying in its intoxicating effects, and in the power that it wanted to spread.

When the attack came, it happened in a rush. With a sudden bunching of its muscles, the lizard charged forward again, this time snapping for Nevin's legs. But now that he had a melee weapon in his hands, the man was far better prepared. He swung the staff around in an arc, catching the angry beast in the side of its head, knocking the charge off course as it stumbled away from the blow. This time, Nevin noticed that when the lizard turned to face him, the motion was awkward and slow, and a realization came to him.

The beast was much like a charging bull – straight line rushes that could devastate the victim, and in probably normally worked by chasing its prey down and pinning them down under those wicked claws, and then began to eat. What it did not seem to be good at, was maneuvering, it was cumbersome for the beast to turn. In fact, the lizard had to come to an almost dead stop to turn, and Nevin knew that that was going to be the key to his victory in this fight. He could move faster from side to side than the lizard could, now he just had to take advantage of that.

So, against his better judgment, he ran at the lizard, swerving a few steps away to avoid the attempt at another bite. True to what he had thought, the creature began to ponderously turn to chase him, its motions ungainly as it swung around to swipe at him with its claws. He wasn't completely safe here by its side, but whatever abomination of evolution had led to this thing had not prepared it for something to attack from the side. Nevin swung his staff up, the length of oak and metal bindings catching the thing in the stomach, and with a grunt of exertion, he flung the dog-sized lizard up, and it landed heavily on its side. Unfortunately the man didn't come away unscathed from the exchange – as he levered it off the ground, the unnatural lizard had managed to scratch his lower right leg with its claws, scraping through the heavy fabric as it was knocked off balance.

Nevin took advantage of it being disoriented from suddenly being knocked on its side, and began spinning his staff end over end, the weapon picking up speed and momentum as it completed revolutions. Within moments it was blurring through the air , a low hum coming from it as Nevin's wrists and forearms flexed, twisting it end over end. It was just as the creature came to its feet that he lashed out.

The momentum of the spinning granted the blow more force than it would have had unaided. Nevin had noticed before when he caught the lizard in the side of the head with his blow that the beast had mostly managed to shake the attack off – he wasn't a fighter, so he wasn't surprised that he wasn't quite strong enough to really injure it so easily. But he was at least somewhat educated, and he knew what the momentum would do. There was a somewhat sickening squelch as the iron-covered end of the staff smashed into the lizard's head.

Two things happened when the blow connected. The metal caved in the head, crushing it inwards, pinkish-gray mess oozing outwards from the injury. And the lizard's mouth was driven closed – far more than it should have been capable of naturally. The fangs pierced through the tender insides of its own mouth as the jaw ligaments tore, delivering acid to the flesh that was quite unsuited for withstanding it.

Nevin panted heavily as his side and leg stung fiercely, blood dripping from his injuries. The crescendo from the scarlet lines was almost overwhelming now, and he needed to satiate at least one of the demands before it drove him mad.