I fought a grin. This was not the time. “Once a soldier, always a soldier.”
We waited, eyeing into the dimly lit hallway, for someone to appear. And then two figures flickered into the room. I say flickered because they didn’t move in any way I’d ever seen before. It wasn’t a blur of speed. It was as if they were fading in and out of sight at rapid speeds, and with every fading, they grew closer and closer to us. It was unnerving. I tightened my grip on my sword.
Ivan pointed his sword. “Keep moving like that and you’ll meet our weapons.”
The hairs on the back of my neck tingled, and I spun around in just enough time to be blown across the room by a dark figure. My back slammed against the wall, knocking the air out of me. I struggled to my feet just in time to see the attacker push out their hand to blast me again, only this time I placed my sword in front of me to repel the magic. My blade was more than a weapon, it was a shield when needed.
The slight pause gave me time to appraise the situation. The attackers were still flickering in and out, which made them hard to hit. From the bit I could see, they wore all black matted armor with helmets that covered their faces. They were both tall, but I could not tell gender. Ivan seemed to be fending off the other attacker, so I kept my attention on my own.
They conjured up their own weapon, a fire rifle, common Nodoorian weaponry. Interesting. I’d ponder that later. For now, I needed to avoid getting hit. I whispered the ancient chant to ward my body just as the attacker fired their weapon. The fire spread out in front of me then dissipated. The positive about a body ward was that it worked as a sort of invisible armor.The negative was that although you could physically attack, you couldn’t use magic to do it while having the ward up. It was as if you were trapped in a house with no windows or doors. You were safe from the elements but had not so much as a crack to get out unless you demolished the house.
If I was going to do anything, it had to be strong because I’d likely only get one shot. The armor didn’t seem to have many easy openings except between the neck and the shoulders where the helmet sat. And despite my earlier fatigue, I was now feeling energized. And I now knew what I had to do.
I balanced against the wall behind me with a foot and kicked off, jumping several feet in the air above the attacker. Swiping my sword out as I did so, I was able to dent the helmet of the armor. This let me know that the attacker was not wearing a body ward. It also allowed for an opening between the neck and the head.
I landed on my feet behind the attacker, and they spun around. I used that moment to drop my ward and blasted my magic across the fae’s head and body in a multi-hit. The fighter’s helmet flew off and their fire blaster fell from their grasp. I wasn’t going to waste time with talk, they sure hadn’t.
The attacker, who I could now see was a male with a bald head and red eyes, thrust his hand out, but I swiped out my sword, slicing it clean off. Dark blood spurted out of the wound splattering my gown. Now I was really pissed. The male fae gave a deafening cry, but I didn’t care. This was his fault.
Before I could raise another attack, I found myself rising in the air and being swung to the other side of the room. Again. My side connected with the wall, and I swore as I crumbled to the ground. A sharp pain burned through my ribs, left leg, and arm. Luckily, my head was spared, but I was going to be covered in bruises.
Once again, I found myself trying to stand up before I was murdered because the other attacker was now charging my way. Only, they paused midway, one leg in the air in front of them, one hand out in my direction. Soon I saw the cause. Ice encased the attacker’s body, growing from the ground up until, in only seconds, they were a frozen statue. Ivan appeared from behind the attacker, looking less bruised than me. This made sense, he was more skilled and experienced than me. He swung his sword against the ice statue, and it shattered into several tiny pieces.
Ivan looked me over, his eyes now dragon-like. Rage filled his face seeing me injured, and he spun around, raising his shoulder to, I assumed, puff out another freezing breath. However, we couldn’t kill the other one. At least not right now. I needed answers.
“Don’t!” I cried, limping to his side. “We need to find out what the hell is going on.”
I glared at the other attacker, who was holding on to his injured arm, looking between us and the door. I raised a hand and slammed the door closed. “Freeze just his feet.”
Ivan pushed out a deep exhale and a cloud of chilly smoke wrapped around the attacker’s feet, freezing him in an ice encasement up to his calves.
I pointed a finger at the armored fae. “Who sent you? Because I don’t recognize you, and I know you both didn’t just attack us without cause.”
He glared at us with those dark red eyes, but I would not be deterred.
Ivan growled, a deep guttural sound that made even me a little frightened. It was safe to say he was angry. I was a little turned on by it. “Answer her, or I will make you legless,” he said in a low, controlled voice.
This time the fae had the decency to pale and look a little less sure of himself. “Those who hired us will kill me.”
Ivan tilted his head, giving the fae a quizzical look, reptilian eyes almost crazed. “We’ll kill you, too.” Angry Ivan was scary.
The attacker remained silent, seemingly getting resigned to his fate because there was no way that Ivan would let him out alive. I’d have to convince him to stand down because it was better to have the court detain the attacker and enforce the appropriate punishment by our laws. “If you won’t tell us who sent you, at least tell us why they want us dead.”
He sneered at me. “Who said they wanted you both dead?”
What the hell did that mean? They weren’t attacking us just to detain or mildly harm. The other attacker had tried to set me on fire.
“You can do what you want,” he continued. “But the attacks won’t stop. There’s no escape.”
Ivan nodded. “Okay, I’m going to kill him now.”
I leaned into him. “We should alert the authorities.”
He considered me for a moment, then looked me over again, and I swear I saw a fire in his eyes as he settled over each injury. He then gave me an eerie smile. “I love you, Sunshine, but I’m probably going to kill him.”
He raised his hand, and I grabbed it. “Wait, wait, wait. What about being spied on? He’s not a threat anymore, and we don’t want to get in trouble if they see you kill someone when you aren’t defending yourself.”
“If they were watching, I’d hope those assholes would have come and helped us by now. Not to mention, there’s their attendant lying on the ground, still not moving.”
