Ace of Spades

"Thanks Natasha," he winked at the cleric, causing her face to turn from pale to red.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. This was, for Saint Elimine's sake, still a battlefield, and the monsters that stood before us were considerably formidable with their lethal claws and gaping jaws dripping with saliva and venom.

One of the monsters spied me and roared, an inhumane sound coming from the depth of its hairy abominable body. It charged forward, stopping a few metres before me. Only then did I realize size of that thing, it completely towered over me, blocking the sun out with its immense body. It opened its mouth and roared again. I was engulfed in a sea of putrid breath.

Grimacing, I took out my daggers. There was no point in being graceful and wasting my shamshir with this foul beast. Bracing myself, I twirled my daggers and crouched down. The beast reared, exposing its soft underside. Seizing my chance, I sprang forward into the air.

There were two bright spurts of red. The monster roared, this time from pain, as it toppled onto the ground, red gore leaking from the large 'X' on the underside of its belly.

I examined the wound I had inflicted on the monstrous beast. Depth, sufficient but could have used more strength to cause more damage; position, accurate and deadly, but could have made the two slashes more symmetrically next time; length of gashes, sufficiently long to cause almost instantaneous death but it would have been better should it have been a few centimeters longer. On the overall, the strokes were correctly performed, but there was room for improvement.

I gazed at my prized daggers – proof of my progress from a less-than-decent myrmidon of a mercenary past to a soon-to-be-feared assassin who would make a name for myself by besting everyone and eventually, my father.

I wiped my cherished possessions gingerly and meticulously on the grass, taking care to ensure that not a drop of that venomous and corrosive monster gore stained the blades.

"Marisa! Behind you!"

I turned. A huge spider-like beast reared before me, jaws accept, purple poison dripping from claws and jaws. Roaring, it brought its claws sharply down onto where I was standing.

Somersaulting out of the way, I cursed mentally. How could I have been distracted by the cleanliness of my daggers so much that I allowed this disgusting beast to creep up behind me unnoticed?

Unsheathing my shamshir, I leaped forward and slashed a long wound on the side of the monster's head. Screaming with pain, the monster reared once again and slammed its fangs down onto the ground, claws flailing wildly.

I jumped out the path of its flinging claws, which sent the purple venom flying all over the battlefield, dotting the grass and killing whatever that grew where it landed. Steadying my shamshir, I launched another assault, this time with more precision and strength than the last failed attempt.

Two surgically perfect gashes sliced through the monster's body, resulting in a spillage of the purple gore that killed a vast expense of the grass.

I could see myself reflected in all of the monster's many beady black eyes. One of its claws shot out, forcing me to twist in mid-air. The other shot out, effectively trapping me in the air.

I did a flip, but not quickly enough. The poisonous claw grazed my right shoulder, piercing the skin.

I tumbled onto the ground, clutching my shoulder. The monster gave its last dying cries and crumpled onto the grass.

A sharp pain shot out of my wound. I stifled a cry of pain. I had never taken poison well and would never be able to.

I attempted to stand, but collapsed back onto the ground.

"Marisa!" I lifted my head to see Joshua running towards me. "Are you alright?"

"What do you think?" I said through gritted teeth. The pain was becoming intolerable with every passing second.

"Let me see your wound," he tried to pry my left hand away from the wound. "Stop being stubborn, Marisa! Your life is at stake, and I'm not going to watch you die from an infected wound!"

I grudgingly removed my hand.

"It's infected." He gently touched skin around the wound. "We need to get the poison out before it spreads to other parts of your body. But I don't have an antitoxin and Natasha and Moulder both busy trying to save Gilliam…" He frowned. "I hope you won't kill me afterwards for doing this but…"

My eyes widened as he leant in. What was he going to do?

"Wh-wh-what are you doing?" I stammered, before stifling a cry of intense pain by biting down hard on my tongue.

He did not answer, merely continued sucking the poisoned blood out of the wound, before spitting out a mouthful of poison onto the ground.

I was numb, utterly paralyzed as he continued his ministrations. My heartbeat was accelerating at an impossible rate. I could feel the blood rushing to my face.

What…was he doing to me?

Unconsciously, I closed my eyes. Although it felt so…awkward, at the same time, I felt, for once, safe, sound and secure. The feeling of his calloused hands on my arms made me strangely calm and happy. I could feel the corners of my lips turning up slightly into a smile.

The sound of cloth tearing interrupted my fantasy of bliss. He had just torn a strip of cloth off his sleeve. Gently, he wrapped it around my shoulder, covering the wound.

"Done," he smiled. "How is it? Can you stand up?"

"…" I tried once again to stand, but had barely taken a few unsteady steps when I collapsed back onto the grass.

He sighed. "I suppose I could go and call someone with a horse to come and rescue you back to base camp," he kneeled down beside me. "But you are unfortunately unable to defend yourself at all." He smirked. "The usually deadly and swift Crimson Flash has lost her capabilities today."

That was utterly Joshua. I resisted the urge to kick him and send him sprawling on the grass. Instead, I contented myself with a fierce glare.

Taking the hand he offered, I stood up with much difficulty. My head spun with every step I took. I faltered.

"It's okay," he tightened his grip on my shoulders, supporting me. "I'm here, Marisa. I don't have the capability to carry you but I'm here to support you."

My heartbeat accelerated again. I took another step, and another.

"That's right, Marisa, we'll make it back soon," he whispered in my ears gently. "Don't worry, I'll be always there to protect you."

Author's Note:

Third chapter was inspired by Marisa's love of battle. The name was inspired because out of the trump suit, the Ace of Spades has technically the potential to take out any other card in a game of bridge. Next up: Break Trump. I'm going to post the two of these chapters together, because I did chapter 4 first, then realised that the change was too abrupt and did this chapter. Please review, thanks!