14 Blood on the stone

Our feet stomped the dampened ground as we encircled each other. Both me and the way-too-big swordsman were trying to make our enemy fail, flinch, even blink one second longer to get an advantage and expose the other to our archers.

Each feint, encircle, step and slide were mirrored, carefully measured so as to not be near enough to be attacked nor far enough to be a target.

"What's the matter big guy? The cat bit your tongue?"

His stern and cold eyes didn't change. Seems like cheap taunts won't be effective on this one.

Suddenly, his foot slipped on the ground, affecting his balance for few precious seconds.

However, at the second I leaped at him, an arrow rained down on me, exactly through the space where his head was.

I have been baited, and to my misfortune, successfully.

The arrowhead spun pointed at me, I could only raise my arms to form a curtain with my gauntlets.

Soon, the clinging sound of metals colliding reached my ears, only a second before that man's leg reached my ribs.

As the painful kick sent me rolling on the mud for a few meters, robbing me of my air and burning my lungs I could only pray for there to not be a fracture.

'I should really invest some coin in plate armor, my ribs have suffered enough already!'

Jasmine covered for me with her arrows while Lucas faced the spear bearer, using his hands and the tip of the shield to deflect both spears and arrows throw by the enemies.

I lacked the coordination and prowess both sides were showing, though there is no use in wailing over what can't be changed.

I struggled to get back up, forcing the air inside my lungs, feeling as if the very air was tearing them apart inside out.

I was trembling, due to cold, due to fear, due to excitement. I could sense Darkness clouding both my vision and my mind, tunneling my vision and conscience to the target in front of me.

It didn't take him long before his voice came resounding upon my ears

"Let me lend you some help. I would almost feel sad if you died here"

"I don't need your help"

My voice was clear, perhaps way too loud, as the swordsman looked at me with a confused stare, before pronouncing with a deep voice, brandishing an ironic tone

"All it took was a kick on your sides to pop up your brains?"

I could only return him my best glare. Must not lose focus, must not let down the guard.

But he did not stop

"Maybe you should run back to that wench you call mother"

I could hear the sound of glass shattering inside of me, as the shadows that obscured my sight covered almost half my eyes, Dakness' voice sounded much more clear

"You know what, boy? Things just turned personal"

I projected my furious thoughts onto Darkness' presence inside me

'Got any suggestion on how to deal with it?'

"Lend me one eye, and don't flinch"

'What do you mea-'

Before I could finish my thought, the shadows obscured my right eye, actively invading it as a solid mass, as if someone scratched burning sandpaper from inside your pupils and the surface of your sclera

And yet, his voice kept shouting loud upon me

"I. Said. Do. Not. Flinch"

I did my best to stand my ground, as the black field filled my eye, I could sense the world growing slower, and clearer.

I could notice each drop of water falling.

I could hear them breathing amidst the leaves.

I could sense the flow of energy inside them and below.

Painful as it might be, it was also exhilarating.

And what seemed to last an eternity to me, happened in no more than a few breathes, far from enough for them to take the opportunity to attack.

The swordsman looked at me with surprise in his eyes, but it lasted no more than a second. Either he knew how to hide his emotions or this wasn't something surprising, but he saw something different in me.

"Now this is getting fun"

The tension on his legs grew, raising crevasses before jumping right into me, disturbing the air and leaving deep indentations on the ground where he stepped.

His greatsword drawing a arc out wide in the sky, putting over me the pressure of a thousand mountains.

My blood boiled and my spine chilled over such a thrill, I could see every movement, every disturbance in the air, not even the flow of energy inside him could escape me. Nonetheless, what good was it if I couldn't move as fast under the pressure of his cultivation.

I raised my arms to block the sword with a punch again, but the smile he showed made me regret it instantly.

He let his sword go, in the middle of the strike, hitting me hard, but without hands to sustain the impact it ricocheted out, only to be followed by his massive hands over me.

His knuckles hit me as rocks punishing my flesh. But the adrenaline soothed the pain. I tried to take a leap back only to be followed by a towering shadow before me, laughing insanely as he shouted:

"Useless! Useless! Useless!"

The furious barrage rained down on me, forcing me to give up on dodging and focus solely on protecting my vitals. Thank goodness my robe was weaved by Father, I can't even imagine what would be of me without it.

I knew I wouldn't get any help.

Alright then, I can't be too picky.

"Darkness, I need your help here"

Darkness answered my call, his voice sounding more like a hungry demon, echoing in the void inside me

"Now that's what I call a good deal"

I felt his darkhole absorbing the energy of my meridian, devouring the energy in the rings of my star, and I could only hope it wouldn't be permanent.

The flow of energy Darkness showed me began to create silhouettes of the attacks to come, as well as making evident his weakpoints.

Slowly but surely, his hands had to take an extra effort to hit me, and my blood soon wouldn't be spilled.

Forcing my meridians to drain their energy, I summoned another talisman, heating my gauntlets to a point where the gentle shower would evaporate instantly at contact. Strangely, that scorching surface seemed comfortable, I dare say.

The red streaks of cooper on the gauntlets now shone with a bright red, as it tried to conduct the incoming heat.

The man was surprised by the sudden change and halted his attacks for a moment.

A moment was everything I needed.

I enclosed his hands, covering them with mine with a grapple, each of my fingers working as a lock, singing with the sound of burning flesh, only to be followed by the smell of a smell reminescent of coal and the violent wails of his.

His tall figure shouting, cursing every member of my family up to ten generations prior, squirming to break free from this burning lock. In his despair, his legs flew upon me, finally granting his freedom.

I could see the disturbance in his energy. His red and furious face now looked at his hands, with hideous black and red marks, charred skin surrounded by red perimeter that now gained blisters.

"Seems like you won't be holding swords any moment soon, old man"

His face now reducing the contorcion caused by pain, reflected his attempt to stabilise his cultivation and energy, drawing energy to heal his hands. It would be a long process, nonetheless, and would certainly leave a nasty scar.

I took a moment to regain awareness of the environment surrounding me:

Both Lucas and the spearman had sustained injuries in their duel, the spear now laid broken in two pieces, being used as double staves, while the shield had some indentations and a few bits missing. Their arena laid delineated by arrows and darts that had intercepted each other in plain air, as a testament to the accuracy and skill of both archers.

Although tired and under severe wounds, their imponent presence under such a wild battlefield was that of a dragon and a tiger facing each other, with riders on their back.

On the other hand, I was overstruck, bleeding from my mouth and nose, while my enemy posed with burned hands, we seemed as two beggars fighting over a piece of bread.

"It is not too late for you to give up!" I said to the man with burned hands

He raised his eyes back to me, staring with unrelenting will, he placed both of his hands in his back and stood in only one leg, imitating a crane

"I will make you regret for making me use my Flying Crane steps"

His legs tensed up, invoking the pressure of his cultivation and training, it was evident he was ready to bet everything in that single attack.

And I could only answer with the same seriousness, placing one foot and hand in front, steadying my feet and ready to stand my ground. My right eye still blackened by Darkness' influence, allowing me to trance the flow of energy in and out of his meridians, and trying to predict his movements.

At this moment, my own meridian was but a mere dim dot of light, almost blackened by the dark hole that competed with it.

Yet, I stand, this in not the moment to back down.

The time seemed to slow as he ran in my direction

"Your body will be a sacrifice to his resurrection!" He exclaimed atop of his lungs, smashing the ground as he leapt, his leg stretched aimed at my head at such a speed that even my prediction couldn't be of much use

As my eyes reached for the weakest point of his energy flow, I bent myself forward in a lunge with a closed fist, hitting precisely at the core of his technique, disrupting the flow of energy through his body, with a risk of crippling his cultivation permanently.

The acute shout of pain after my metallic gauntlets struck some soft tissue made me realize that I had probably broken his family jewels for good.

"That's my boy!" Darkness shouted from my mind "Quickly! Grab his head!"

"What? Why woul-"

"Just Go!"

I immediately ran over the man and immobilized him, or tried to. Holding his head with one hand while the other pressed on a lock on his neck, my legs prevented his torso and arms from moving

"We have two of you under custody! You better surrender!" I shouted, getting the attention from the spearman and the marksman, giving a little breath to Lucas.

Then, I felt an energy comming from my arm, black tendrils and roots surged from my forearm and extended underneath the man's clothes, eventually pulsing with shiny dots as stardust.

"Darkness, what are you doing?"

"My best" that was the only answer I managed to get before the man beneath shouted from the mud

"You monster! I beg you! Stop!"

Tears of water and blood streamed violently from his face

"Hold him tight, boy!" Rang Darkness inside my head

"Well, gods curse you!" I shouted, pushing his head back to the ground. The black tendrils penetrating his skin even deeper.

A whistle in the air.

A volley of arrows flying over me.

A whistle in the air

A broken shield flying in front of me.

Lucas gave me cover as my energy was being restored.

I looked down and couldn't read the meridian of the man under me. It was broken, drained and crippled, robbed by Darkness as nourishment.

I forced my own meridian to rob that energy from darkness, as the two stars competed for the energy brought by that man, I felt it longing for the light of my star rather than the void Darkness offered

"Fine, I will let you heap this sow, boy"

With new energy pumping on my meridian, my star burned brighter

The tendrils left and I backed down from the man who foamed on the ground, with a terrorized face.

"We still have your friend with us on the cave! Surrender or she will be tortured as well!"

Another volley of arrows.

I jumped back as six arrows pierced the vitals of the man, hitting his carotid artery, his jugular vein, his trachea, his spine under the nape and his spine over the lumbar.

Completely overkill.

Lucas kicked away the spearman and took cover behind a rock, while I jumped to grab his bent shield and use as a wall.

Me and Lucas looked back and shouted at the same time

"JASMINE!?"

After this moment of silence, a response

"She's already dead, boys!"

When our attention went back to the battlefield, the spearman and the marksman had already fled, leaving no traceable footprint.

I punched the ground, trying to quench my anger and despair over such empity deaths.

"Let's take him to the cove and see what we can find" Suggested Lucas "There is bound to be some clue to who they were and what they wanted. Common bandits aren't that well coordinated".

I know, I just didn't want those deaths to be our fault.

"You are right. And we can't be delayed anymore. Let's pack up and leave them to the beasts"