Chapter 45: Shocking

Mira’s POV

The smaller figure was thrown back by my kick.

She rolled across the street and came up on her feet, one hand pressed to the ground. Her mask was cracked at the edge. She raised her head and locked her eyes on me.

This time she did not throw simple fireballs.

She went all out. She swung both arms, and a massive wave of flame rolled across the street. She cast again, and another followed, then another, high-level spells that covered whole stretches of ground at once. The street lit up orange, and the heat rolled over the buildings.

I ran.

I lit up my body with lightning and shot sideways, out of the wave’s path, and the flames swept over the place where I had been standing. I cut left, then right, weaving between the fires. At first it was easy. I dodged every attack with speed to spare.

But the attacks kept coming, and they got closer.

The smaller figure did not stay in place. When I ran, she chased.

She pushed flames out of her palms and feet and used them to launch herself forward, the same way a bender would in a story. Her body shot up off the street and landed on the nearest roof. She ran along it and leaped to the next, blasting fire under her to carry her across the gaps. From up there, she looked down at me and attacked.

BOOM!

A fire blast slammed into the street. I jumped away from it. Another landed behind me. I ran along the wall and dodged again, and again, my boots skidding on the stones. The smaller figure followed above me, never slowing down, throwing larger flame spells every few seconds.

I turned into a narrow lane lined with stacked crates and barrels. I dashed behind a pile of them.

The smaller figure saw it and raised her hand.

A massive flame slammed into the crates.

BOOM!

The whole stack exploded. Wood flew in every direction, and fire and smoke rose into the air. The smaller figure landed on the roof above and stood still, watching.

She waited for me to come out.

A few seconds passed. The flames burned. The smoke drifted. Nothing moved inside.

Then a massive plank of wood came flying out of the smoke, spinning straight at her.

She reacted at once. She raised her hand and burned it to ash in the air.

But that was what I wanted.

Lightning crackled behind her. I had come around the other way, fast, and I was already on the roof. Before the smaller figure could turn, my boot drove into her side.

CRACK!

The kick sent her flying off the roof. She crashed into the street and rolled.

I did not stop. I jumped down and ran at her, lightning wrapped around my fist, ready to end it.

The smaller figure slammed her own fist into the ground.

A massive magic circle burst open beneath her. Flames shot up from it in a wide surge and hit me dead on. I was thrown back and slammed into the road, skidding across the stone. My sleeve was burned black, and my skin stung where it had been scorched. I gritted my teeth.

I raised my head, ready for what was coming.

The figure leaped. Flames gathered around her arm, and she swung down to end it all.

I shut my eyes.

Lightning gathered around my body, thicker and brighter than before. I pushed off the ground and launched myself up, flipping through the air, and threw a kick straight into the swing.

My boot hit the flames.

BOOOM!

A massive explosion tore through the street.

[...]

Tez’s POV

I dodged.

The larger figure’s huge sword came down, and I threw myself to the side. The blade smashed into the stones where I had been standing. Another swing came right after, and I ducked under it. The sword moved with a speed that should have been impossible for something that big.

I kept evading.

I used everything around me. I jumped off a wall, ran along a barrel, and kicked off a post. Every time I moved, I blasted flames from my feet to push myself faster. The sword followed me through the street, cutting through lampposts and splitting crates and carts.

’If I stay in range, he’ll cut me in half.’

I dodged again, and again.

The old man watched from the side of the street.

His breath was heavy. Blood ran down his chest. He had no cleavers left, and he could not fight like he had before. But his eyes followed every swing. He saw how the larger figure moved, and he saw the gaps.

He looked at the ground beside him. A piece of wood lay there, a broken beam from the inn, about the length of his arm.

He grabbed it.

He closed his eyes for a second and drew in a breath. Pale light poured down his arms and wrapped the wood in a thin glowing shell. He opened his eyes.

"Now."

He charged.

He crossed the distance in seconds, a white blur across the dark street. He leaped into the air above the larger figure and swung the beam down with both hands.

The larger figure sensed him and tried to turn his sword, but it was too late. The wood slammed into the side of his head.

BAM!

The aura exploded on contact. The force went right through the mask and into his skull, and the larger figure staggered sideways, his sword dragging along the ground.

I saw the opening.

"Move!"

I thrust both hands out, and a blast of flames roared across the street and hit the larger figure in the chest. The big man was driven back another step, fire licking over his cloak. I ran in behind it with my sword raised, ready to end it.

The larger figure raised his head.

He let out a roar, and his aura came out all at once.

It burst out of him in a wave of dark force. It hit me head-on, and the air itself seemed to slam into me. I flew backward and crashed into the ground, sliding across the stone. Dust and flame scattered in every direction, and the old man was thrown down too.

I pushed myself up with a groan.

The larger figure turned away from me.

He faced the old man instead, who was still getting to his feet. The huge sword came down. The old man rolled aside. It came again, and he stepped back. A third swing, and he ducked under it, the wind whipping past his head.

He could not dodge the fourth.

He retreated, but the blade came around too fast. It dug into his shoulder.

SLASH!

Blood sprayed across the stones. A deep wound opened from his shoulder down his chest, and he cried out and fell to one knee. It was a massive wound, but it was not enough to kill him.

The larger figure raised his sword to finish it.

"I find it disrespectful," a voice said from behind him, "that you would turn your back in the middle of our fight."

The larger figure felt me coming.

He spun around and slashed.

I did not run at the blade. I dropped low, almost flat, and blasted flames from my feet to slide across the ground. The sword passed over my head. I leaned back, skidding beneath it, and brought my own blade across.

SLASH!

It cut into the larger figure’s leg.

The huge man grunted and fell to one knee, his sword dropping to the ground beside him.

I stopped my slide with a burst of flame. I turned and moved in from behind, my sword raised to finish it.

I went for the kill. The larger figure was about to lose his head when suddenly he turned his neck all the way to the back and headbutted my sword with his metal mask. The collision sent me staggering backward while he rose to his feet and swung his sword down at me.

I leaped out of the way and rolled.

I got to my feet quickly and then put some distance between us. What had happened just now was shocking, but I did not have time to analyze and wonder why it had happened. I had to take down this dude now, and the dude did not want to go down at all.