Chapter Thirty Five

A Clash of Two Archers

MELODY

We've come a long way from the National Games. Melody glanced at the bleachers filled with young teenage sorcerers, and stared back at Prometheus, her bow still drawn back. The hooded and masked mercenary stood with his guard down, his hands not even raised to defend himself. The knights stood behind him, waiting for their commander to give the word. But he had already given it, warning them not to get involved.

Eyes narrowed, feet apart, she had a determined look on her face, but her palms were getting sweaty. What if she couldn't win? The last fight with Prometheus hadn't turned out well. That was sorely understating things. She had been decimated by the skilled mercenary, left with cracked ribs and bruises across her body. Was she really ready to start a fight she wasn't sure she could win? If she lost again this time, there was a chance that he could kill her. Her grip tightened on the bowstring. It was a risk she was going to have to take.

All this took place in her mind within the span of two seconds, and Melody released the bowstring. The arrow flew straight at Prometheus, and he caught it deftly in his gloved hand. Someday, I'm going to have to learn how to do that. She ran towards Prometheus, and Kristoff sprinted past her to engage the mercenaries at the back.

She hadn't seen Kristoff fight before, but she was guessing he was formidable enough to take the mercenaries on. Regardless, she had her own problems to worry about. Rapidly closing the gap between them, she watched as Prometheus tossed the arrow aside and fired one of his own at her. Melody promptly moved her head to a side and the arrow whizzed past her.

Dropping to the ground, she rolled in between his legs and came up behind him. He saw her coming, and spun round to face her, and as he did, she sprung up, delivering a solid uppercut. He blocked it with both hands, moving back to put some distance between them. Dropping his bow, he drew his katana from the scabbard on his back.

Melody kept her eyes fixed on Prometheus. If there was anything she learnt from last time, it was to not let down her guard in his presence. The man was not only strong, but fast and skilled, perhaps even more skilled than her. She had never fought an opponent she couldn't defeat before. But that all changed in Quodrun when she had lost bitterly. It was almost a no-contest that time.

However, this time had to be different. She had to fight not just harder, but smarter too. But how? Prometheus was just as fast as her, if not faster, and seemed to know every technique she had attempted to execute. It was almost as though he could read her movements. Then maybe it's time to try a new approach. One that had yielded results with Major Kane.

Drawing an arrow, she nocked and aimed it at Prometheus' chest.

"Haven't we been through this before?" Prometheus said, his tone somewhat exasperate.

"Maybe." She said, and then aimed at his shin. Before he could react, the arrow found its mark in his leg, and he staggered to a knee.

Now that she had demolished his vertical base, she dashed toward him and delivered a running knee to his face. Prometheus sprawled in a daze, but reacted quickly by catching her other leg while she was still in mid air. Momentum interrupted, she fell but broke her fall expertly, rolling away from Prometheus.

With a grunt, he quickly removed the arrow that had lodged itself into the flesh and muscles of his leg, and got up as best as he could muster. Tossing the arrow aside, he looked at Melody.

"Neat trick." He said.

"Stick around and I'll show you some more." Melody replied.

"I don't intend to." Melody didn't see his hand reach for a knife from his belt, and almost took the blade in her shoulder, slinking away at the last second. As she did that, Prometheus charged her, katana in hand.

She brought up her recurve bow in a last second parry, and Prometheus leaned down hard, blade grinding against the carbon fibre limbs of her bow. Kicking his injured leg, he gave way and she brought up her knee. It caught him in the midsection, and he stumbled. As he was slightly off balance, Melody slammed the riser of the bow against his hand, knocking the katana free. Regaining his balance in a split second, Prometheus smashed his elbow against the side of her head. He spun swiftly, positioning himself behind Melody.

He locked his hands around her neck and applied a chokehold. With his remaining healthy leg, he slammed his boot into the back of Melody's knee, forcing her off her own vertical base. Using his own weight and gravity, he pulled himself and Melody onto the ground of the training hall, the sorcerers still watching the intense fight with wide eyes from the bleachers.

Melody could feel her throat constrict as Prometheus tightened his grip on her. Smart. Forcing them both to the ground so she had a harder time struggling to get back up to her feet. Twice, she slammed her elbow into his side as hard as she could. When he loosened his hold slightly, she wriggled her way out of his hold and turned around, crouched on top of the mercenary. She began pummelling blows while he held up his guard to protect his face.

Strangely, he dropped his guard and exposed his head. Not missing the opening, Melody aimed straight for his nose. He grabbed her wrist, pulled her forward with every ounce of his strength and kicked her off him. Getting up, he attempted to get on top of her, but she pulled his arm forward and locked both legs around his head in a triangle choke. She squeezed and pulled with all her might, hoping to finally slow Prometheus down.

And the big difference maker. His strength. With Melody still clinging to him, Prometheus slowly got to his feet and deadlifted her, his head still locked in a triangle choke. With all his might, he slammed her onto the ground and rolled away the moment she released his arm, picking up his bow in one hand and the katana in the other. He sheathed the katana and slung the bow across his back, leaving both hands free and ready for another round.

Her body wrecked with pain, she pushed herself off the ground only to see Prometheus walking towards her. She circled round, raising her guard. From behind her, she could hear grunting and the clanging of metal, presumably the mercenaries' swords and Kristoff's knives.

"Ready to stop?" Prometheus asked.

"Never." Melody moved her fingers, clenching her free fist.

"I'm giving you an out." He hissed from behind the mask, and Melody could have sworn that he sounded desperate. "Why don't you just take it?"

"Because after everything you've done, you're not getting away. Not this time." Melody sounded confident, but inside she was actually uncertain of whether she could take him. Regardless of the result, she had to try. And try she would.

She motioned for Prometheus to make the first move. As he moved in, she sprung forward, burying herself into his midsection, dragging him down. Before he could get to his feet, she hooked her inner leg across the back of his neck, pulling herself and him across the ground. Rolling across the ground, he broke the momentum and grabbed her leg, stretching it in a painful direction. Still lying on the ground, Melody used her flexibility to her advantage, bringing her other leg to land a solid kick to his midsection. Stunned, he let go of her leg. Getting to her feet before he could, she positioned herself steadily, lying in wait.

Prometheus got up, and she launched a roundhouse kick at his head. He saw it coming and ducked beneath her leg, spinning in close till his back was facing her. He delivered an elbow to her shoulder blade and grabbed her slack arm, hoisting her over his shoulder. Melody landed back first on the ground, and rolled out of the way as a boot slammed inches away from her face. Taking advantage of the opportunity, she delivered a spinning kick from the ground, sweeping out his injured leg from beneath him. Before Prometheus could hit the ground, he supported himself with his hands, springing back up to his feet, only to have his face met by a vicious knee which smashed his mask.

Prometheus staggered back, his mask broken in half, revealing only the left side of his face. The other piece lay on the ground, and Melody could see that his nose had been broken along with the mask, dripping blood on the ground. More shocking was the fact that there was a long scar that spanned from his forehead to his left cheek. No wonder he wore a mask.

Before she could react, he removed a small silver pellet from his arsenal, head lowered and other hand shielding the left side of his face. With all his might, he hurled the pellet at his feet and there was a blinding light and a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Prometheus was nowhere to be found, and the very last mercenary could be seen bolting for the exit.

"Kristoff, are you alright?" Melody glanced at Kristoff, who no longer held his knives.

"I think so." Kristoff clutched his arm. "A few nasty cuts, but nothing serious." He looked round at the mercenaries who had fallen. "The rest got away."

"I know." Melody said, picking up her bow. "His mask. The reason he fled so quickly. He can't bear to show his face."

"Are you going after him?" Kristoff glanced worriedly at the sorcerers who had gotten up from the bleachers, their murmuring getting louder.

"Yeah." Melody took off after the last mercenary. "They couldn't have gotten far."

"Right." Kristoff sighed and picked up his blood stained knives, sprinting after her as the sorcerers began climbing down towards him. "And now they're coming after us." He burst through the exit and slammed the door shut. He took a nearby pipe and jammed it through the handle of the door to slow his pursuers down.

"That's not going to hold them for long." Kristoff backed away from the door as shouts came from behind it and the door bugged slightly.

"Come on!" Melody hissed, dragging him away from the door and down the long narrow passage. "We can lose the sorcerers and catch up with Prometheus."

Author's Commentary:

Just six words. This was ridiculously hard to write. Please leave a review if you're enjoying this. Will be a great motivation booster :)