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Elite did not carry shields into battle. They were not ancient Spartans who fought as one and had shields and armour to protect them. They were Akrhyn who were highly skilled in combat and trained extensively in swords, short swords, daggers, knives and the bow. They had no protective gear, as it slowed down an Akrhyn that needed to be light on foot. The arrows began to rain down on them as they retreated, and Tegan hissed when one grazed her arm.
“You okay?” Michael demanded as he flicked an arrow away with his sword.
“Yes.” Tegan glared at the top of the stairs where the two beings stood with the bows.
“They are not Drakhyn,” she growled as she took in the Akrhyn features. “They have Lycans,” she said in a harsh whisper as the Elite ducked another round of arrows. As they advanced backwards down the hall, the corridor became narrower, which meant they had to squeeze together, but it also meant the Drakhyn couldn’t rush them all at once.
“We need to take out those archers,” Jasper commanded as he looked to Tegan. “Cover her!” he ordered the two closest Elite. Tegan stood still and took a moment to calm herself, and then in quick succession, she let fly three knives. Two struck true, but the second Lycan sidestepped her dagger and raised his bow again.
“Shade,” Tegan cursed as she reached over and grabbed one of Michael’s daggers. She threw it with more force even as her brother stabbed a Drakhyn that almost got to her.
“Be careful!” he growled as Tegan nodded in thanks. She turned to look, and the Lycan was on the floor.
“Got him,” she called to Jasper.
“Elite, run!” Jasper cried out, and the remaining Elite turned their backs on the Drakhyn and ran at full speed down the hall.
“This way!” the Elite called as her companions blindly followed. “Here.” She pushed open a door, and they flew through it, barring it behind them.
Tegan and Michael both pushed against the door before they turned to the room and saw why there were no words.
They had locked themselves not into a kitchen as Michael had hoped. They were locked into a large room with double the amount of Drakhyn. One stood out in front of the others. Not the same from before, but he looked at Tegan with a smile.
“Tiger, we’ve been waiting.”
“Tegan,” Michael whispered, “there are too many.”
Jasper looked around at his Elite and looked to the Sentinel who had led them here. She smirked as she walked over to the Drakhyn and slipped behind them. “Harrian’s wrath,” he cursed. He had nine left including himself. There were maybe twenty in front of him, and only the Ancients knew how many in the hall behind them. “Elite,” he ordered lowly. “Raise your weapons.”
Tegan exchanged a look with him, and Jasper nodded as he moved slightly in front of her. She looked to her brother, and he dipped his head, his resolve hard.
“Tiger, you don’t need to fight, we won’t hurt you,” the Drakhyn said as it drew its talons out in front of it, ready to fight. “Much.”
“Attack!” Jasper cried, and the Elite sprang forward. The room was a rough square and fortunately almost empty of furniture, and as the Elite moved forward and engaged in battle with the Drakhyn, they knew they couldn’t get out. Which meant the Drakhyn pounding on the doors they had barred behind them, couldn’t get in.
Tegan fought with everything she had, never straying too far from Jasper or Michael. She heard her companions cry out, and she knew some fell. She didn’t look. She couldn’t look. They had been outnumbered two to one, but the Drakhyn were focused on her, and she and her brother were fighting off more than they could take at one time.
Michael cried out as a talon sliced his thigh and his leg gave way. She saw him falter. Ducking under the upper swing of a Drakhyn, she sliced its torso as she spun from another attack to get to her brother. Before he fell, she grabbed him and hoisted his arm over her shoulder.
“Not today, brother,” she growled as Jasper closed the opening she had left, and she fought one-handed as she held her brother up. Michael was still defending himself as he leaned on his sister for support, and Jasper was doing his best to draw most of the attack to himself.
Tegan heard another Elite scream in pain just as she felt the talon bury itself into her upper thigh, and she grunted as she twisted to drive her knife through the eye of the Drakhyn who wounded her.
“Tegan!” Michael screamed.
Tegan jabbed forward and slit the throat of another attacker, but Michael’s weight dragged her down, and the Drakhyn fell forward onto her, bringing them both to the ground. Turning her head quickly, she avoided the black blood pouring onto her face from the fallen. She saw Michael stumble and fall even as his short sword plunged upward through the neck of a Drakhyn.
As she pushed the heavy corpse off her, she struggled to stand. Her blood was flowing too freely from the wound to her thigh. Her arm raised in defence as a talon came slicing downwards, cutting to the bone as she yelled in pain, even as she kicked at the Drakhyn’s legs to get some distance so she could stand.
She slipped in her own blood before she was able to stand.
“Put your weapons down,” the Drakhyn who had spoken earlier said.
Tegan glanced to either side of her. There were five left, all wounded, all short of breath. All standing defiantly in the face of their enemy.
With one hand on her side, trying to stop the bleeding and her other injured arm across her body, Tegan shook her head. “No.”
“Tiger, he is waiting for you. We weren’t supposed to let you bleed.” The Drakhyn smiled with evil intent. “He wants all your blood for himself.”
