Black Smoke

"Your Majesty?" Jinx's voice carried an air of uncertainty as she tugged the older woman's arm.

Apollo stood directly in front of the two girls with his back to them. His sword was already in his hands and he looked right ahead into the gloomy darkness of the secluded and woody path.

"I know you're there. Come out while I'm still asking politely."

For a while, there was no answer. It was if everything went still. Then, a sudden wind came. The leaves rustled noisily and the tree branches groaned and creaked, bringing about an eerie atmosphere.

A dark figure emerged from beyond the thick trees, wearing a black cloak with a hood that obscured their features from being viewed properly. All Evelyn could make out from them were a pair of dark, almost black, eyes. He didn't look to be armed but it was purely the suffocating and oppressive air he carried that put the trio on edge.

Apollo's grip on his sword tightened. Something about this mysterious figure was all too familiar to him. He didn't like it.

A deep, mellow chuckle gently fell from the figure's lips and then a man's voice sounded. "As expected, you're quite quick on your feet. But that's to be expected of the royal guard's captain, isn't it?"

'Captain?'

Evelyn glanced at Apollo's side profile out of the corner of her eye. She hadn't known him long but she had interacted with him enough for this new bit of information to be strange to her. She knew he was a powerful man but she never expected him to be the mysterious captain of the knights.

With Tor being the most powerful nation in the world in terms of military strength, just how strong did he have to be to become their captain? And why had it taken her so long to learn his identity?

Her heart clenched. Had she been too friendly with him before? As her thoughts raced, the confrontation continued.

"Since you're aware of my identity then you're also aware that this path leads to the palace. What is it that you want?"

"You ask what is it that I want?" The cloaked man traced his fingers along the leaves of a protruding branch. His tone was light a playful. "Skipping straight to the point is no fun. Why don't we play a game? Let's level the playing field. I'll give you three chances."

He held up three fingers to emphasize his point. "If you can take three of my moves, I'll give you a hint about my identity. If you can't…" His eyes shifted to the two Evelyn and Jinx in a clear, unspoken threat.

"Apollo…" Evelyn's voice carried a trace of uncertainty.

This cloaked man in front of her gave her a dangerous feeling. He wasn't even armed but there was something strangely eerie about him. His aura was dark and she had a constant feeling of being overwhelmed whenever she looked directly into his eyes. It was like something was going to devour her. The feeling made her stomach turn.

Not only did she not have anything to protect herself with but she also had Jinx to think about. The both of them had no weapons on hand, clearly not expecting to run into something dangerous like this. And Jinx had only been training for around a week, she was nowhere near the level of protecting herself and especially not in front of this man who gave her such a deep feeling of danger.

"Since you're so well informed, I'll assume you're also aware of my reputation as well. Yet you still make this ridiculous proposal?" Apollo's tone seemed unbothered and carefree, even slightly mocking. But he was secretly clenching his teeth. This was the worst situation to be in.

Of course, just like Evelyn, he could clearly feel the danger this man seemed to radiate. He was the only one with a means of protecting himself so not only did he have to keep his attention glued to the man in front of him, but he also had to be aware of the two women behind him.

His mind raced at a hundred miles an hour. If he had been alone he could have taken out this guy with ease but he couldn't dare operate at his full power in front of the women. He would give it a try if it were just Evelyn but he would definitely have to kill Jinx.

He absolutely couldn't use magic now.

The cloaked man seemed to smile in a strange way. The moonlight danced on his yellow teeth and in the next second, he stood right in front of Apollo. He thrust out his hand.

Apollo swung out to parry the attack and the cloaked man jumped back just out of swinging range. He frowned. The man's attack didn't even touch him. Had he simply been overthinking—

"Apollo!"

Suddenly, he doubled over, his eyes bulging out of his head. A fiery pain clawed at his insides and it was then he noticed that the cloaked man's fist was covered in dark black flames. He supported himself on his sword, on one knee, and shouted behind him, "Don't come any closer!"

Evelyn stopped mid-step and swallowed back her panic but she gripped Jinx's arm with a new ferocity. She was right. That man was more than just dangerous - he could wield magic. That was the reason he didn't have any weapons on him. It was because he didn't need them.

The man grinned a toothy, yellow smile. He looked down at Apollo who was glaring up at him in a mixture of disbelief and anger. "Surprised?" He chuckled. "Don't tell me you thought this would be easy, no? Still, I didn't think you'd be able to take even one of my moves. Maybe that old bat is right to be wary of you. For a second I believed she had finally gone senile. But this….this will keep things interesting."

This was magic. Not just any magic but it was clearly a type of magic that didn't have to touch him to cause internal damage. The burning sensation continued to spread in his body but he couldn't pinpoint exactly how it was able to harm him.

"Don't get cold feet on me now," the man said in amusement. "That's only one move. You still have two more to go." He stretched his hand out and made a gesture, clearing indicating that he was giving the knight the opportunity to attack him this time.

Without much need for encouragement, Apollo ignored the fiery pain that was attacking him internally and launched forward. Though he swung his sword with great accuracy, it was clear that he was getting sloppy under the effects of the magic placed on him.

Not a second of movement between the two went unseen by Evelyn.

She felt extremely useless having to just stand off on the side like this, like a damsel in distress. Apollo was clearly under the effects of the cloaked man's magic and she knew very well that people who could wield magic were dangerous creatures. Though they were few in number any one of them had the power to rival a small nation's army and the strongest of them all were like Gods.

She just couldn't figure out why someone with his strength would be here attacking them like this. Wouldn't he belong to the mage tower? She hadn't heard anything about the mage tower being hostile towards Tor and even if that were true they would still have to uphold the agreement from hundreds of years ago. They could never directly attack or interfere with regular people. It simply went against everything they stood for.

This couldn't be a member of the mage tower!

Then, who was he?

"Enough of this," The man abruptly stopped dodging the onslaught of vicious attacks from Apollo and struck out once again. His hand never touched Apollo but like before, the burning sensation in Apollo's body ignited. It grew even hotter than before and it was obvious from the large beads of sweat that formed on his forehead.

Evelyn's eyes squinted as she noticed something off. She looked closer. A small, almost unnoticeable trace of black smoke wafted up Apollo's nostrils when the cloaked man struck his hand out.

She hurriedly called out, "Cover your nose! It's the black smoke, don't breathe it in!"

Apollo didn't even think before he stopped his breath. He was taking her word for it and having complete faith in her. He knew it was impossible for him to go on like this - despite his reputation he wasn't the best in sword fighting. He had to use magic and kill this man right here.

The cloaked man snorted in annoyance and sneered. "So what if you've figured it out? You won't be able to survive another move."

Apollo still didn't let in a breath, secretly channeling magic through the tip of his sword. He had to end this now.

As if sensing the danger, the man his hand out once again, and this time a small black dagger covered in black smoke flew out.

Apollo was prepared to parry it with the hilt of his sword but he quickly realized it wasn't heading for him.

Its target was Evelyn.