66 A Surprising Battle

  Louis rubs his head sheepishly, messing up his blond hair. "I guess I was wrong," he admits.

  "Even if you aren't a master of dao of time, it's still pretty awesome!" Laurel exclaims in awe. "But are you alright?" She asks worriedly.

  Elanor laughs, "I overdid it a bit, but I'm fine."

  "We've been walking all day. Maybe we should take a rest?" Franklin asks. Even with them all in foundation stage, walking through the forest and snow is still exhausting.

  Elanor is about to reject the suggestion but seeing all the kids looking hopeful. She gives in. "Fine, let's set up camp then. But at this rate, it will take a week to get there," Elanor complains.

  Elanor releases a few tents from her interspatial ring. The boys set them up while Elanor relaxes. Laurel starts gathering firewood so they can cook a meal. As Laurel walks by Elanor with an arm full of wood, she stops in place and drops the load as her limbs go limp. The wood clatters to the ground.

  "Laurel?" Elanor questions. However, Laurel does not respond. Elanor jumps up and grabs the girl. "Hey, what's wrong?!" she exclaims. Laurel only stares blankly ahead and limply flops onto Elanor's body.

  Laurel suddenly finds herself in a beautifully decorated hall. Reliefs cover the walls accentuating the enormous frescoes. Great pillars of white marble that are three men's width large hold up a grand dome. The place is filled with people in extravagant ballroom gowns and suits. The view makes Laurel feel very underdressed. 'It's like a nightmare!' Laurel thinks. 'I didn't go to sleep, though,' her mind races.

  Laurel's eyes wander, trying to get her bearings. Then at her feet, she sees Angela bleeding from a cut on her forehead and her beautiful red dress in tatters. Angela hasn't noticed Laurel and is looking away from her. Laurel follows Angela's gaze looking up at a man in a nicely tailored black suit. His bulging muscles are visible even under all the fabric.

  The man has a curved blade held overhead, preparing to strike. It glistens in the light of the twinkling inscription that light the hall. Laurel feels like she is already cut just by looking at the edge. The man then strikes down towards Angela. "No!" Laurel exclaims. 'What can I do?' she contemplates.

  'There's no time!' she cries in her head. Her hand instinctively reaches for her waist. A severely chipped dull sword hangs there. She'd done this movement thousands of times over the last few months. She pulls her sword forth from the sheaf and thrusts forward to counter the attack from the big man. 'I will not move aside today!' Laurel repeats in her head.

  Laurel feels all of the foundation energy flow into her arm as it explodes out. Unfortunately, John has only taught this part of the technique. She doesn't know what to do after deflecting the enemy's blade. Still, she grits her teeth and moves like she did every day.

  Clang. Laurel's blade contends with the man's curved sword stopping its momentum. The man looks at Laurel with shock. The whole hall seems to gasp and whisper as if she'd appeared out of nowhere. Even Angela looks up over her shoulder in disbelief.

  "Argh," Laurel screams as the clash shakes her to the bones. She is pushed back, her whole arm shaking uncontrollably as she slides along the marble floor. As she steps back, holding her arm, she feels a weight on her shoulders a bright color flashes above her head.

  Thalia handstands on Laurel's shoulders and strikes out with her feet. Deadly daggers extending from her toes thrust towards the man's neck. The man quickly gathers himself and deflects the two dagger kicks from Thalia.

  After deflecting the attacks, the man twists his blade and swings it towards Thalia. Thalia then pushes off Laurel's shoulders, doing a flip as she dodges the attack. Laurel hears the sword whistle just above her head, making her shudder.

  The man then spins and turns the momentum into another strike over his shoulder towards Angela. Still vibrating from the last attack, Laurel's arm screams at her when she moves it once again. This time the clash ends with Laurel being sent back with her arm going limp with no more strength.

  Laurel curses as she remembers a warning from John, 'If you don't kill them during the shock of the first clash, you're basically dead.'

  However, the man's attack is slowed, allowing Thalea to cartwheel around the man and attack him from his left. The man is forced to turn his blade to defend. Again the man deflects the attacks forcing Thalea to retreat.

  "This is the end!" the man growls as he moves to chop off Angela's head.

  Laurel's eyes tear up. Her arm is already numb, and no matter how she commands, it won't move. Even holding her broken sword is hard. 'I need to move!' her brain screams, but all she can manage is a twitch. Just as everything seems lost, she feels a surge of power rising from her chest. A chain of light appears wrapping around her right arm. Without thinking, she wills her arm to move one last time.

  The chain tightens, nearly crushing Laurel's arm. Laurel winces but is happy her arm is moving again. She unleashes every last drop of strength and hits the enemy's sword squarely in the center. The man's sword arm is knocked back for the first time, making him take a step back.

  "AIIIIAAAHH!" Laurel gives a blood-curdling scream. Her arm pops as blood spurts from multiple holes. Her muscles mush and her bones shatter. She falls to the ground unmoving.

  "Laurel!" Thalia yells as she jumps over Angela to continue the attack. She squats down, and with her whole body, she thrust her legs straight up, doing a splits at a right angle from the ground. The man is forced to lean back to dodge. Thalia's blade nicks his chin with the deadly attack.

  Thalia then twists around, covering the man's vision with her colorful clothing. Thalia backflips as a red blur flies out under her. The colors disorient the man for just long enough for Angela's sword to pierces his chest.

  Even this doesn't stop the man, though, as he roars at Angela, "I'll kill you!"

  "That's enough!" a commanding voice yells out from a regal purple throne.

  "My lord," the man complains in shock.

  The regal man shakes his head towards the man fighting. If just Angela were killed, it'd be fine, but now the battle could go both ways. Angela has some secrets, and her death may rally her faction. If both die, he could see a civil war of revenge for generations. It isn't worth it.

  "I can't lose you in some petty revenge battle. This is over," the Regal man orders.

  "As you wish," the man bows and slinks away.

  The regal man then looks at Angela, saying, "That's enough mischief from you today as well. I hope you learn some prudence from this matter today."

  "Yes," Angela agrees before running over to Laurel. "Laurel, are you alright?! Oh my god," Angela bulks at the mess that is Laurel's right arm. "I did it again. I'm sorry!" she cries.

  "Hang in there!" Thalia yells while trying to bandage up Laurel's arm. Even as she frantically works, they both begin to fade.