Page 57 of The Last Syphon

In the blink of an eye, one guard from each side attacked. Inara danced left as she parried one blade and ducked under the other. She spun on the balls of her feet, blocking more strikes. They came at her from every side, forcing her to stay on the defensive.

Not that she minded.

She found it almost…fun, in a way. She liked duelling. Sparring. It got her heart pumping, her adrenaline soaring.

She alternated between left and right, using both weapons to block and parry the strikes as her body kept moving, twisting this way and that way. Spinning and blocking. Spinning and blocking.

Felix was always in her line of sight. He was halfway across the bridge, slowly but surely making his way to the other side.

Inara brought her axes up in an X formation to block a powerful strike. Tension reverberated down her arms. She swung one axe up in an uppercut, knocking a sword away, and spun quickly, bringing both weapons down hard and fast. The soldier brought his blade up to block, and her axes cut through the metal with zero resistance, splitting the weapon in two.

The soldier stumbled back. His shocked gaze sliced to the two broken pieces of his sword and back to her. Fear flashed in his eyes.

Since her battle axes were constructed out of her magic, they were just as impenetrable as if they were in shield form. Nothing could break through. Nothing could withstand them. When she struck out, whatever came into contact with the weapons would be shredded to pieces.

Movement to her left diverted her attention. Inara threw her axe. She made it freeze right before it struck the soldier. It hovered in the air an inch away from his face. His breathing became ragged, frightened. Fear consumed his dark eyes. His body began to shake.

Inara called her weapon back. It flew to her, and she spun, using her hand to guide it around her body and to the other side. She was careful with her aim. Although Inara was warned prior that a Healer would be on call should any injuries arise, she didn’t want to hurt or accidentally kill someone.

Her axe cut through the air and impaled the blonde-headed soldier to the wall by the fabric of his shirt.

The crowd gasped.

Another soldier charged her. She sent her shield out in a strong concussive burst. It hit him head-on and sent him flying backwards⁠—

“Inaraaaa,” Felix dragged out. The panic in his voice made her heart stop.

She spun.

Time slowed down, almost coming to a grinding halt. Inara saw it as clear as the dark night sky; the harsh rocketing of the wooden bridge as it swayed from side to side. The terror on her best friend’s face. The snap of the ropes. That brief millisecond where everything just hung, suspended in the air, including Felix.

Time snapped back into focus. Inara’s hands shot up, her axes falling, disappearing before they could touch the ground, and a bright, beaming golden shield encircled Felix entirely, trapping him inside a protective shield bubble hovering in midair.

Silence reigned in the chamber. The Crowned Prince leant forward, interest sparkling in his violet eyes. The four soldiers stopped dead on the spot and stared in shock. Their momentary lapse worked in Inara’s favour, giving her enough time to call a shield around her body to protect herself, since all of her focus was on keeping Felix alive.

Unrelenting pressure built inside her head, boring down on her, allowing no reprieve. There was a constant thump, thump, thump pressing behind her eyes, making Inara grit her teeth through the pain.

The shock did not last long. The soldiers snapped back to themselves far quicker than she would have liked and converged on her all at once.

They attacked from every front, striking out with their fists, their weapons, savage, ruthless kicks. Inara felt every blow against her shield in the corresponding spot on her body. Lower back. Kidney. Left shoulder blade. It was like a punch of pressure. Not exactly pain, but a huge discomfort.

As hard as it was to do, Inara ignored them and focused on trying to make sure her best friend didn’t plummet to his death.

She channelled all her effort into manipulating the shield bubble containing Felix, using her hands to guide it exactly where she wanted it to go with swift, subtle movements.

Felix braced as well as he could on the unstable shield dome beneath his feet, his knees bent slightly, arms hovering at his sides, face concerned but eyes focused. One of the soldiers picked up an abandoned sword and swung to cut her arm off. Inara sent a burst of power into the shield protecting her body to strengthen it, and the blade snapped in two.

Pressure mounted, reaching an almost unbearable level. The magic she was expending to not only maintain the shield bubble but manoeuvre it through the air and keep herself protected was forcing Inara to dip into her power reserves—Something she didn’t want to do. At least, not so early in the game.

But she didn’t have a choice.

The shield bubble was something she didn’t like to do unless there was no other option because of how much power it required. To trap someone within it and keep them levitated in the air meant Inara was essentially carrying their weight upon her shoulders, adding more pressure to the already increasing force bearing down on her. Inara was tall, roughly 6’4, but Felix was 6’6, and mostly all muscle. Inara would not be able to maintain it much longer.

Her hands curved and sliced through the air, steering the shield bubble over to the safety of the other ledge, all while the soldiers continued to beat against her personal shield. Only once Felix was hovering over solid ground did Inara release him. He dropped, his landing slightly shaky when his boots smacked against the concrete.

The pressure instantly eased, but Inara didn’t have the time to celebrate the win. She spun, sending her shield out in a harsh pulse. It smashed into the soldiers, knocking them off their feet. She did not hesitate, anger and frustration fuelling her. Inara clapped her hands together and flung them out to her sides. A bright, translucent golden shield snapped into place, spanning the distance between one wall and the other. The soldiers rammed into it, attempting to get to her.

Heaviness snaked into her limbs. Pressure squeezed her brain again. Her blood heated.