The Daylight armor was unnaturally light, yet it seemed to press down on Jim with the weight of a mountain. It felt wrong. Irreverent. Kanjigar was supposed to be wearing it not him. He tugged listlessly at his pauldrons.
"Come along," Merlin huffed. "It's best we take care of this quickly."
He opened the oak door and started down the tunnel without pausing to look back. Jim hurried awkwardly after him. The clanking of the armor felt deafening in the caves. It was a relief when they exited out of the eerie green glow of the cave into the natural silver light of the half-moon.
"Now let's see…" Merlin hummed.
He let his staff rest in the crook of his arm as he fished a dark vial of potion out of his bag and removed the stopper. He retrieved a grey piece of stone which he dropped into the vial followed by a glowing yellow crystal. He put the stopper back on, swished it around a few times and then smashed it on the ground where it dissolved into a green mist. After a moment or two the mist reformed into a vaguely hawklike form. It took off into the forest.
"Quickly now!"
Merlin and Jim followed.
It wasn't more than five minutes before they came to a halt, the smokey bird circling above a pile of stones. A familiar scent reached Jim's nostrils.
He rushed forward and fell to his knees by the pile. He sniffed and then opened his mouth slightly to better take in the scent. He smelled a strange chemical, human blood, plants and earth, but mostly he smelled Kanjigar. His heart clenched painfully.
Kanjigar was really dead…
A soft keening crept out of Jim's throat.
Merlin came to a halt beside him. The light from staff cast a sickly glow over the crumbled stone.
"I shall gather his remains," He said after a moment. "They must be returned to his kin."
He planted his staff in the ground and opened his satchel.
Jim turned toward the wizard to say something, but a flicker of movement drew his gaze. He lifted his head and caught sight of a shadowy figure in the tree above them. The green light glinted off their knife.
Jim lunged forward, flinging Merlin to the side, and summoning Daylight to deflect the blow.
His opponent was bathed in the blue glow from the sword. They were human shaped: fully clad in dark armor with a ruff of black feathers around their shoulder and a yellow visor hiding their eyes.
"Step aside, Trollhunter," A feminine voice said. "My business in with your master."
She was after Merlin then. A jolt ran down Jim's spine, raising his hair, and his heart beat faster.
"No," He snarled.
He had just lost Kanjigar, he was not going to lose Merlin as well.
"I'll kill you too then," She stated.
Jim curled his lips back farther, fully baring his teeth, and lunged. His sword planted itself in a tree. His opponent dodged around him, sending a kick into his back. Jim stumbled and regained his footing. He spun around and saw she was heading toward Merlin.
The old wizard was in the process of sprinkling something on the remains. His back was to the fight.
Releasing Daylight, Jim crouched down onto all fours and sprung. His leap carried him effortlessly onto his foe, tackling her to the ground. He pinned her shoulders to keep her from moving.
A familiar smell reached his nose. Jim's nostrils flared. Where had he…?
His grip on her arms loosened and in an instant a dagger was coming for his eyes. Jim reared back to avoid it and his opponent twisted out of his hold.
She came up in a crouch, a sword in one hand, the dagger in her other.
Jim growled softly. She was between him and Merlin, but her attention was on him. He had to get past her. He stood up slowly and flexed his hands. Daylight was a few feet to his left but if he went for it she would go after Merlin. Jumping at her unarmed would be risky though…
He moved sideways inching toward his sword while keeping his eyes on his opponent.
She took a step backward as he took one sideways then…
She turned and charged toward Merlin.
"Watch out!" Jim screamed.
He ripped Daylight out of the tree and ran after her. His pulse pounded in his ears. He wasn't going to make it in time…
There was a flash of silver and a resounding clang. Jim saw with relief that there was a long thin, double-edged sword in Merlin's hand. Kanjigar's remains were nowhere to be seen. Their adversary jumped back.
It was two on one now.
"Who are you?" Merlin demanded.
There was a pause, as the figure's head moved back and forth. Likely gauging her chances against the two of them.
"I am Nemesis," She finally said, her visor facing toward Merlin. "I am Morgana's chosen champion to bring about your downfall."
Merlin's face paled.
"Impossible! She's locked away."
Nemesis laughed. It was a cruel humorless sound.
"She is far too powerful. You knew when you did it that solution was temporary."
She took a step back. Jim noticed that she was favoring her left side.
"I will meet you again. You will pay for your crimes in blood," She promised. She turned toward Jim. "Be careful, Trollhunter, who you put your trust in. That bastard will stop at nothing to accomplish his goals."
Nemesis turned and fled, disappearing into the dark shadows of the forest.
Jim growled and took a step forward, but Merlin stopped him.
"You're not ready. There are things we must take care of before you can face one of Morgana's followers."
Jim sighed.
"Okay," He said, but kept Daylight in his hand.
He sniffed the air, picking up more of Nemesis' scent.
Jim stilled, hackles going up.
He realized why the scent was familiar. It was the human scent he had smelled on Kanjigar's remains.
By the time Barbara made it back to her Janus Order apartment, she had just enough strength to lock the door, stagger to the bed, and shove some of the books off it before she collapsed. It felt like someone was stabbing her side with a pickax. Her head ached and every muscle in her body was screaming.
She should have returned home immediately after dealing with the Trollhunter instead of camping out to see who would come for the body.
Gingerly she tugged up her shirt as best she could without getting up. Her whole midsection was bruised. She prodded at her side and gasped as her vision whited out for a moment.
Barbara released her shirt and laid back again.
Lovely…
She was sure several of her ribs were at least cracked if not broken. On the bright side, now that she was actively using magic, she healed a lot quicker.
She would need to take her armer in to be repaired too.
What a headache.
Barbara lay there and tried to muster up the energy to at least get a pain killer. She really should start carrying some with her.
She closed her eyes.
…
When she opened them, the clock on her wall told her that two hours had passed.
Barbara struggled to sit up, stiff muscles protesting the movement.
"Ugh."
She didn't want to move but it would only get worse if she stayed there.
She made her way to the bathroom and swallowed down the strongest pain killer she had that wouldn't leave her loopy, then staggered over to have a seat at the kitchen table. She glared at the wall tiredly before reaching in her bag an pulling out the dimensional orb. She wasn't looking forward to paying back what she owed for it, but storage spells were tricky so she hadn't dared attempt one on her own.
Inside the crystal orb Kanjigar's blank stone eyes stared at her. She wondered briefly if the young troll she'd met was the one he had mentioned.
She quickly shoved the orb back in her bag.
The next scheduled meeting with the Underlord was tomorrow. She and Walt were to attend.
She hesitated at the thought of Walt.
It had been rough after she had learned what the Janus Order really did, but she had desperately needed someone to lean on, to learn from. Walt wasn't trustworthy but he did care about her.
She would not have done as well as she had without him.
"…There is no honor among assassins," She whispered.
A bitter chuckle escaped her.
He was a very good teacher. It was unfortunate for him.
Barbara ran her fingers over her sweaty hair and sighed. She would take a shower and try to get some rest. She needed to be looking her best. Tomorrow, if all went well, she would be receiving a promotion.
Author Note:
Trying to get back into the swing of things.
I welcome any critiques or thoughts you have to improve my writing.
Hope you're all having an excellent day!