Reflection
seventeen years old
"Back away!" came the command. It was a deeper pitch than Cedric was accustomed to and muffled, but it was definitely Sofia. He had hoped against hope that it wasn't her he had seen from the corner of his eye. He knew she was usually in the fencing room at this time but he also knew that since James had gone off to train with the Knights that Sofia didn't keep religiously to the schedule any longer. But it wasn't as if he had much control. You generally don't get to choose which doors an assailant throws you through.
The momentum from the toss had rolled Cedric to Sofia's feet, his wand barely out of reach of his hand. She had stepped in front of him, protecting him. Foolish girl. Foolish, wonderful, potentially suicidal girl. The one saving grace of the moment was that she was fully attired for her activity in thin armor and full face mask, her hair tucked away under the mask. The only part of her that could be recognizable would be her voice and it sounded to him as though she was trying her best to disguise it, clever thing. She held a rapier defensively at her side. Cedric was uncertain if he felt relief or concern when he saw it wasn't one of the blades with the protective tip for casual sparring.
After sparing the glimpse in the settling dust to see Sofia standing over him, Cedric shut his eyes and feigned unconsciousness. It could give them an advantage, he told himself, if he seemed passed out and that it was strategy, not cowardice, to do so. Though he did slowly, oh so slowly, inch his hand to his wand. He heard the unimpressed laugh of the rotund man who had thrown Cedric through the doors and fought back an internal cringe at underestimating his enemy. He was some king or another who had come into the castle, apparently uninvited. He had met Cedric first and punched him across the face with inhuman strength. It was around the time that Cedric heard bones crack unpleasantly and tasted blood in his mouth that he resolved to never leave his tower again. Before he could raise his wand to act, the foreign king had lifted him by his throat while laughing maniacally and thrown his body through the doors of what turned out to be the fencing room. It brought him immediate relief to see it wasn't unoccupied, followed my immediate panic at knowing that Sofia was in danger now, too.
Cedric heard feet approaching, slow but not calculating in their heavy step.
"Let me kill the damned magician and I won't kill you, how about that?" he said thickly.
Sofia's feet responded, lunging forward in a practiced motion. Cedric could hear the thin blade whipping through the air and a sudden growl of pain.
"THAT WAS UNWISE!" he roared. His feet thundered toward Sofia but her feet padded off, leading the man away from Cedric's prone form. Cedric heard the rapier whip through the air again and again, each time followed by crescendoing roars of rage and pain. Whatever had giving that man his inhuman strength had skimped on his dexterity, making him an excellent pin cushion for Sofia and her blade. Cedric had to hold back laughter at how easily Sofia seemed to be handling this beast while Cedric had been so quickly bested.
A smack of impact. A gasp, a groan and a body hit the ground. Cedric's eyes flew open and his fingers wrapped around his wand. Sofia was down. Hit, hurt, definitely still alive and conscious, but down. Cedric watched in slow motion as the foreign king raised his foot to deliver a devastating blow across Sofia's vulnerable back. If time was moving slowly for the enemy, it was moving in double time for Cedric. He felt a fire of fierce protection ignite within him, melting any trace of cowardice away. He got to his feet, raised his wand in a terrible arch of power he had never known before, and sought to defend Sofia, the first true friend he had ever known.
A/N: Did you catch the INCREDIBLY CORNY ending? *Sofia, the first* Sometimes I completely flounder on how to end/pause these drabbles and so I default to something so corny I have to go floss.
I saw this awesome fan art that had Sofia in armor and I just had to indulge. Cedric keeps saving Sofia in these drabbles, so I thought she should save him for a change. Though, as it turns out, the story wrapped around to Cedric saving her. In my head, they end up doing it together and once the bad guy was taken care of, THEN soldiers come running in, which Cedric is quite put out about.
The prompt for this that I went off on was reflection. Cedric was supposed to open his eyes from his fake unconsciousness and see a second enemy approaching Sofia through the reflection of a mirror while Sofia was taking care of the first guy. But I thought one bad guy was easier (which I was picturing as King whatshisface from Rudistan). Anyway. Just goes to show you how a prompt can start you down one path and then led you to another. :)
p.s. I pinky promise swear that I'm working on Freed from Lace and Give Me Your Riches. Pinky promise! Soon!