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“Not now,” she snaps. “Otherwise I’ll bleed to death.”
I shoot a sidelong glance at her, our eyes meeting as a look of relief comes over us. We smile, forgetting about everyone else for a brief moment. I realize she must have saved me when I fell, only reaffirming my love for her.
The mocking laugh of Ocuri breaks our immersion, snapping us back to the situation at hand. He wipes a smear of blood from his face as his eyes lock on mine. In them is the glare of a predator whose pupils are dead set on their prey.
“Oh brother,” he sighs. “As much as I despise the two of you, I never would have pictured you standing alongside a purna, let alone Salina. I must say though, it is quite fitting. You two will look good dying together.”
“We both know that’s not going to happen,” sneers Salina through her teeth. Her breath is strained, no doubt from the blade tearing at her flesh.
“As soon as we’re done with these goons of yours, you’re ours!” I exclaim as the guards rejoin his side.
“A confident choice of words for a pair of outnumbered fools,” he chuckles. He gives a hand signal to his men. “Go forth and make quick work subduing them. Save the killing blow for me though. I want to savor the moment of death.”
He leans back against the wall, removing a xaishet from his pocket as the guards advance. Little does Ocuri know that this’ll spell the end of him.
“I’ll take the one on the right,” says Salina. “You take the other.”
“With pleasure.”
Salina throws her remaining knives at them, their faces exploding with blood as we lunge forth. I grab my target and throw him into the wall, punishing him with blows to the head. He goes down swiftly, throwing his hands up to protect himself.
I glance at Salina as she crawls around her targets like an insect, causing the guard to hit himself with his own weapons.
Looks like she’s got this.
I grab hold of the hold once more, raising it high and bringing it down on the guard. His head rolls along the floor towards Ocuri. My brother’s grin suddenly drops from his face as he realizes the numbers are now even.
He springs for me, the xaishet still in his mouth. I grasp his wrists and twist them, causing him to yelp in pain. The xaishet falls from his mouth, but I grab it before it hits the ground, shoving the lit end into his eye.
“Agh!” he screams, grabbing his face as I turn my attention to Salina.
She kicks the guard toward me. I grab his arms, restraining him as Salina takes her own dagger and throws it up in the air. She then performs a roundhouse kick, the force of which propels the blade like a dart as it sinks into the guard’s chest.
I grab Salina, squeezing her hand reassuringly before we turn to Ocuri. He peers up at us, veins bulging on his forehead as he reaches behind him and pulls out a pair of curved swords. My brother rises to his feet with one last bout of strength and determination, seemingly dead set on coating his blades with our blood.
“Enough fooling around!” he exclaims.
Salaina and I rush toward him as he begins swinging. Ocuri’s attacks are unpredictable as I struggle to dodge. One of his swords slices through the fabric of my tunic, igniting a searing hot pain across my chest.
I stumble back, falling over a pile of wood. Shaking it off as quickly as I can, I look over at my brother as he goes for Salina, a look of grimace across her face as she maneuvers around each attack. Each time she moves her shoulder, she grunts in agony.
Ocuri feigns an assault from the right side, causing Salina to expose her left. He is quick to slash at her ribs, blood pouring out as she kicks him away. Desperately, she casts spells as Ocuri advances relentlessly.
He dodges each spell, barely giving Salina a second to recover before he’s back on her. I run up to him from behind, grabbing his arm. In that split second, I feel the tension and strength in his arm. I headbutt him and disarm one of his swords just as Salina kicks him away.
She unleashes a powerful black orb that hits his left ankle, causing him to fall to one knee. He drops the other sword as he screams in pain. I watch in disgust as the boot on his leg peels off, as does the skin on his ankle. The flesh beneath slowly rots, crawling its way gradually up his leg.
With Salina by my side, we close in on him. The look on my brother’s face is desperate, seemingly searching for an escape. Hope disappears from his eyes as we take steps closer.
“Wait!” he pleads, throwing his hands up. “Don’t kill me, I beg of you!”
I pick up his curved sword and peer down at the pathetic sight of him. He’s never looked so vulnerable.
“Salina, I promise I’ll get you safe passage out of Vhoig! And dear brother, I’ll get you back to the manor safely and tell my parents everything! I swear!”
“Your promises mean nothing,” I snarl.
“And no amount of swearing will bring my sister back,” growls Salina.
