45 Keep him alive
Julian was quite literally backed into a corner. He sucked a breath in and held up his chin. The tip of Nathaire's Witch Slayer grazed his neck, leaving behind the barest of cuts. It flared with pain, probably from the excessive anti-mana vibrating off that terrifying thing.
A rush of adrenaline mixed with the flare of power brought on by the Blue Pill. Nathaire was taking another step closer, leaving Julian nowhere to escape to. There was a narrow window of opportunity where he could have chosen to dodge and roll out of the way. Julian purposely ignored it, and waiting for the moment when Nathaire was so close that he could practically feel her body heat radiating off of her.
The only warning that came was a cracking sound. Blue light flashed brightly, and Nathaire found herself momentarily blind. She was shocked but did not lose her cool, quickly switching her reliance on visual cues to her other senses. There was the barest of sounds in front of her, from the cackling lighting and shuffling of feet. She tuned into them and found her target in blindness with ease.
The dogs were not so lucky. They screeched and whimpered at the light and sharp sound. One of them was hit by a bolt of blue, striking the beast right through the heart. It fell, dead.
Julian was surprisingly nimble for a cripple and was able to dodge out of the way of her spear. He kicked her legs as he passed her, making the Inquisitor stumble. There was a lot of shuffling and bumping into this and that. Julian used the discarded chair to get himself to his feet, fighting any flares of pain.
There was laughter on his lips, and when Nathaire got up to finish him off, he pointed his right palm back. Another swell of blue lightning, this time much more powerful in strength. The Inquisitor, unprepared, was blown back. She knocked into the wall but did not remain fallen or disorientated for long.
Her dog, however, was fast and pounced after Julian with two rows of jagged teeth.
"Damned mutts! Get off of me, you diseased filth," the Doctor shrilled with annoyance. He narrowly escaped its maws but only partially, because the beast had gotten a hold of his pants leg.
The fabric ripped, but that was the least of his concerns because Nathaire was back on her feet with her Witch Slayer coming down upon him.
Julian cried out in frustration. He was right at the damned entrance of the door! So close to at least escaped the dregs of the house, but alas, he might really end up dying there in this disgusting shambles of a hovel.
Without hope for a reprieve, he ignored the persistent soreness that plagued his right leg and attempted to balance on the limb without support. It was a failed endeavor, especially when he was trying to bend down and wrestle with the dirty mutt.
But somehow, he had managed to grip the animal by the ears and wrangled it enough to use it as a bonafide meat shield. He didn't know how, but it worked. Because the blackened spearhead pierced through the animal's hind instead of Julian's. The whole ordeal had caused him to fall on the floor, and now he was practically defenseless against her.
Nathaire withdrew the spear tip. With a cackling curse, Julian tried to jump to his feet, which only resulted in him stumbling and falling…
…so he rolled!
Drew his knees into a fetal position, Julian rolled out into the hallway in the shape of a ball. Talk about absurdity!
But there was still one more hound on the loose that was quick upon him. Julian rolled out of his ball-like state. He held one arm out for the dog to sink its teeth into, and not his jugular. Julian had to reach out his other hand as Nathaire came after him into the hallway. Drawing out the last of mana, a blue sparkle sizzled at his palm.
She was neither surprised nor fooled this time, knowing well that the power that would erupt from Julian's outstretched hand. She aimed her Witch Slaying toward where the spell was being formed and was ready to gather anti-mana to disperse Julian's magic.
Hah! But Julian was already expecting that. The hand had only been a distraction, a bait to draw the aim of her Witch Slayer and the gathering of her anti-mana. The real focus and conductor of Julian's spell was his blood. Bits of live mana entered into the dog's body, and Julian waited for the moment when Nathaire's spear was close to his right hand.
In an instant, the dog's body went up in blue flames, tendrils of lightning shooting out from its fur. The lightning rose from the dog's fried body, shooting forth at Nathaire.
She flinched, eyes wide. There was barely any time to react. The force of the spell threw her into mudbrick walls. There was so much force that she was thrown right through the flimsy wall, leaving behind a gaping hole. There was debris about, and it assaulted Julian's throat. He brought his hand up to cough, his entire body wracked with shivers. Even peeling the dead dog off his arm seemed like a chore.
He had no strength to stand. Even after finding his walking stick in the rubble, he couldn't quite pull himself up to his feet. The spell and the damned dog had done a number to him. Julian's left arm was now a mangled mess, flesh gashing and blood flowing out freely. He had a high tolerance to the sharp and blinding pain, but Julian was feeling terribly dizzy. His magecircuits were spent.
Nathaire didn't climb to her feet immediately this time. But the Doctor doubted that she would stay downed for long. Now was going to be his only chance.
He needed to summon his strength.
Julian absolutely refused to drop dead without a fight. But unconsciousness was already dotting the edges of his vision. It was a chore just to stand.
One step, two steps.
There was still fighting going on outside.
The door was ajar.
Julian followed the light. Stumbling, falling, and picking himself up. He might have dropped his glasses somewhere along the way.
It burned to breathe, and he might have been coughing, but Julian also felt that his body was numb. His mind was going numb as well.
Something circled around his upper arm. It took him a moment to even realized that he had made it out of the house.
He was pulled back into an alley that he didn't recognize. Julian didn't recognize anything or anyone at all. His head rolled, neck slack. Julian was truly and completely out of strength. Dark lashes fluttered, a heavy dizziness prevailed.
"Hey. Hang in there." A wide hand tried to slap some awareness back into him, but damn, his eyelids were just too difficult to fight.
Julian wanted to reply with something witty, but words came out like a slur. He hated how prickly his face was feeling against Leonel's hand.
He heard that signature deep sigh. And wanted to poke fun at the Inquisitor for being cute.
"This is seriously getting on my nerves, isn't there a way for you to walk?"
There were strong arms around him, and Julian was feeling a bit like a woman even more than usual. He also didn't mind and was starting to understand why the maids and even noblewomen used to gossip so much about finding a strong and handsome lover who was tall and had broad shoulders. Because being protected and cared for was like being wrapped up in a blanket and showered with affection. The affection that Julian had always longed for but never received.
He sighed and leaned into Leonel's chest. The Inquisitor's heartbeat was thrumming with adrenaline. Julian could feel his world shift, inciting his nausea to flare. But he was already too exhausted to react even to that.
It didn't matter because he was safe now.
It didn't matter because he could rely on someone else to keep him alive.
