The Traveler chapter 6: The Battle
You were locked into a stare down with the three menacing looking assassins, except this time you weren't sure you had things under control. While rescuing Elsa and the others two nights ago, you felt confident at your ability to handle the situation by yourself, with just your staff at your side... but this time was different. You weren't fighting some greedy or perverted goons. No, these were trained, deadly, and most likely hired Assassins, liable to stop at nothing in their path and achieve their goal.
You would play the game of combat carefully this time, any mistake having high potential of fatality... for either side. The major problem though, was that they had three people, with you only having yourself and someone to defend. Unless the queen pulled off some magic and whipped out some crazy hidden combat skills, you were on your own against the lethal force in front of you.
You were abruptly torn from your thoughts when in a blur, the center assassin suddenly raised his arm and shot a dart past you, straight into the Queen's neck. Elsa, who had been slowly rising from the ground and was still dazed after hitting her head, let out a yelp of surprise and ripped the dart out of her neck. Blood trickled from the wound and she started to examine the dart which was now clutched within her left hand, in confusion.
The assassin in the middle then spoke out, his voice being gruff, deep, and commanding; "That temporarily suppressed her ice powers. Blake, Diana, deal with the interloper. I'll retrieve the Queen." And then without the slightest indication of them starting to do so, the two assassins on the sides attacked in a flurry of steel. You didn't hear the "Ice powers" Part, as your attention was solely focused on the assassins.
You barely had time to react before both of them had drawn obsidian colored blades and commenced their assault on you, the intense battle that followed was unlike most other skirmishes.
Instead of consistently referring to them as "The one on the left or "The on the right" you gave them nicknames. Lefty (The one that came from your left) and Righty (The one that came from your right) both attacked in a blur, blades striking in wide arcs quickly and precisely. Lefty was bigger, so you assumed him as "Blake", and Righty was smaller so you assumed her as "Diana".
You used your trademark vertical spin, deflecting their swords mid-swing sharply and hoping to stagger them, but they both recovered instantly and pressed the attack again.
You dropped under a horizontal swing from righty, and blocked a swift vertical cut from lefty, only to have righty try and stab you while you were being forced to your knees. You were too quick though, and slightly rotated your staff to block her blow. Instead of them both pushing you down harder into the ground like you expected they would, they broke their contact and swirled back in a spin, now being a few feet and taking a defensive stance, while starting to circle you.
Instead of moving with them, you let one get in front and one move behind you. Just as you expected them to, your battle natured instincts warned you of an attack coming from behind you and you swiftly ducked, turning up and around to the left and swung the end of your staff down diagonally. The attacker, being righty that was, nearly took the hit but lefty jumped in and parried your attack. A quick and intense one on one fighting match followed, and commenced between you two during the time Righty was recovering from her miss.
Thuds of sword against staff echoed the throne room, as the both of you blocked and struck out at each other lightning fast, and neither being able to score a hit. During your fierce clashing of weapons you saw an opportunity, and feigned a swing to his right. He fell for it, you suddenly twirling your staff back up in your hand and striking out against the side of his left knee for a desired crippling effect. It never connected as Righty joined back into the fray, throwing her sword out and pushing up hard. It caught you off guard, and the force of her push sent you stumbling backwards and open for the kill. Your right hand, which had the staff grasped in it's clutches was forcibly thrown above your head, leaving you completely defenseless.
Then, like back at the camp when you weren't able to dodge one of the thug's stabs, time seemed suddenly to slow down for your surroundings. You quickly observed that Lefty had a stab aimed straight at your heart, and Righty was doing a slash aimed low, towards your legs. You quickly thought of a move that would prevent you being skewered, but also put you at a disadvantage when done. Your left foot was still on the ground, and you had enough of a holding to push lightly, increasing the speed of which you stumbled and fell backward. Time seemed to un-slow and your move had it's desired effects. You launched and fell backward onto your butt, Righty's slash missing and she stumbled to your left, while Lefty tripped over you and fell face first from his momentum. Neither of their hoods fell off or slid down somehow, guess that you couldn't get everything you desired.
You, not being surprised at your move or being as severely and momentarily disabled like them, shot up to your feet and put in motion a crippling blow to Righty, who had fallen to your left and was now on her knees, sword being a few feet in front of her reach. Lefty saw what you were attempting to do and called out urgently; "D, Roll!" She obliged, although a little too late and then attempted to roll right.
Your move was dark and mean, being originally aimed at the back of her head to knock her out or even kill her depending on where you hit, but now since she moved it was aimed to her ribs. You struck down using the end of your staff, your full strength thrown into the blow, but it didn't hit the intended area. With multiple loud and clear *snap* noises, you hit her in the ribs, breaking about 4 of them on contact. She let out an ear-piercing scream at the excruciating pain that you just brought upon her, and then started to clutch her chest and groan. She wasn't rising from that blow.
You then turned your attention to check on Elsa and were alarmed to see her knocked unconscious, a large and bloody bump formed to her forehead. Another panic inducing situation was that the leader had her tied to a rope, which magically appeared from the outside of the window and was now starting to hoist her up on it's own. Then it struck you; "They have more outside help, on the roof!". He also was currently tying a rope around himself, probably preparing to be hoisted up next.
You were just about to start sprinting after her to stop them, when your battle instincts tingled (Wow that sounded corny) and without a thought you swung your staff around behind you. You were surprised to find (and block his attack) Lefty, who was un-hooded with a fire raging inside of his blue eyes. He was obviously pissed that you injured Righty so badly, and he must have wanted revenge... of which you would NOT let him acquire today.
He then broke off, but immediately started to angrily slash and strike out at you, who was now starting to deflecting his clumsy attacks with ease. He lost his cool, and it would be grave a mistake on his part. After a good thirty seconds or so of intense fighting, you spun your staff out in font of you sideways, knocking away the stab he was propelling mid-swing, and then kicked him with all your might square in the chest. You knocked him onto his back, also knocking the wind out of him and immediately sprang onto him, not wanting to miss the opportunity to disable him. He had dropped his sword upon landing, and was now trying to punch you, his feeble strikes doing nothing to your adrenaline filled self. After pinning him with your knees, you raised your staff high above your head and swiftly struck down as hard as you could on his forehead. With a sharp "Oof", he instantly stopped struggling, knocked out from your blow.
Not even stopping to catch a breath, you launched upwards off of him, retrieved his sword and sprinted off to stop the leader, who was now almost at the windowsill. When you were within ten feet of her, you slowed down to a halt, took aim, and whipped the sword with force and precise aim at Elsa's rope. Clean shot. The sword successfully severed the rope and then embedded itself into the wall with an audible thump. Elsa collided with the ground moments later, luckily landing feet first and then her body slumped to the floor with no sound.
Luckily she was only about 4 feet off the ground, so falling didn't hurt her much... but you still felt bad and made a mental note to apologize later. The leader then glanced down curiously at the noise made by the sword, not noticing that you had defeated the other two and then exclaimed in frustration when he saw Elsa back on the ground. He drew a sword, just like the one you severed the rope with and cut his own rope... somehow managing to twist in midair and land on his feet, in a crouched position.
He then looked up at you, rising to his full height in the process and spoke out coldly, venom laced into his words; "You're turning out to be quite the nuisance. I'll enjoy having my sword pierce your heart.". He finished his words, to then rush at you, leaping the least few feet in a barrel roll somersault and swung down hard on where you were moments before. He was fast.
If he wasn't the good 10 feet away when he suddenly commenced his attack, you would have been dead by his first move. Without stopping to gain balance or bearings, he landed on his left foot, and spun out a vicious whirlwind slash at your midsection, of which you leapt up over it like an acrobat. He ended on his right foot as you landed behind him, and you both in a blur, spun and strike out. Your weapons connected in the middle, locked together, and you both started pushing against each other for dominance. He then made a crazy but un-expected move, which left you exposed. He tilted his weapon, letting your staff slide down it and smash against his left fore-arm, but his blade was now in his right hand, and he made a stab for your thigh. This time, time didn't slow for you. He struck home.
His sword pierced your thigh, coming out the other end, and he ripped it out as fast as it came in.
The pain that coursed throughout your leg was like no other, even the near excruciating head pain when you woke up seemed warm and inviting compared to this. It felt as if all of the pain felt from days before, the pain when you first awoke, and the pain of your head the second time you awoke, had combined and multiplied 100 times over to strike at the spot where his sword pierced your leg at. You fell to the floor, clutching your leg and screaming desperately out in pain. It was a horrible, searing and sharp, burning pain... and it was all your mind could comprehend at the moment. You would have continued to dwell on it, but then the sadistic leader walked over to you, laughing in amusement.
He then pulled his lag back and kicked you with all the strength he could muster, directly in the center of your stomach. Your cries of pain where cut off and you choked, coughing and then spitting out blood onto the throne-room floor. The pain was now in two places, and you just sat there... one hand clutching your grievously injured and bleeding leg, another clutching your now burning stomach.
The hooded leader then said with glee and amusement in his voice; "And that's why you should never cross me! A very mighty warrior like you, defeating two extremely skilled opponents and Mike himself without a scratch, lost a duel to me within seconds." He finished and then gazed down to your face, hood still hiding his own.
He saw the look of fear and desperation that had crept onto your face, and then said with a mock comforting tone; "Oh don't worry. You aren't the only.. er... skilled fighter that has fallen to me quickly, and you definitely won't be the last. Tell you what, since I'm so nice and generous, i'll put you out of your misery, free of charge!".
He then raised his sword high above his head, trying to add drama and suspense to what he was about to do. "Any last words?" He asked with sarcastic sadness.
You just simply closed your eyes... awaiting what was to come. The sound and heavy footsteps of guards approaching from the outside of the throne-room spread some relief through your body, and one final thought escaped your mind. "At least Elsa will be safe now" you thought out and smiled. He cursed and said out loud; "Have fun in hell, weakling"
Then you heard the whoosh of the sword start to approach your body.
So... what'd you think? I'd be happy to know in a review! Also, sorry for all of the extra commas I used in this chapter. I forced myself to use less in chapters 4-5, but I couldn't seem to write well without them in this one. I know this was a short chapter... but I can't always make them lengthy. Well anyways, hope you enjoyed!