She looked up at her opponent and took a moment to study him. His palms were open and from the middle of each of them, something sharp and white protruded. Was that…?
She didn’t get to finish the thought, as he was already approaching again, arm raised to strike. Realizing that she didn’t have the time to dodge, she raised her remaining sword over her head to block the incoming strike.
A sharp sound cut through the air as the object in his hand collided with the metal of the blade.
The blow sent her stumbling back a few steps and her muscles strained under the pressure, but she stood her ground.
With a swift motion, she thrust her sword up in the air, forcing him to jump back. Not giving him a chance to recover she sprinted towards him and swung her arm to strike. He raised his hand and parried easily.
As he raised his hand, Selissa saw that the sharp object in his hand really was protruding from the middle of his palm. The skin was broken and small spatters of blood covered the edge.
Selissa almost dropped her sword in shock when she realized what it was. His bones were sticking out from his hands.
She staggered back, her eyes never leaving Ardeth’s hands. “What are you?” She asked horrified.
Ardeth grinned and lifted his hand to show her the bone clearly. Selissa felt sick when she saw the bone slowly sink back into his palm.
“Don’t you know? All of the Demios are quite gifted.” He continued grinning at her. “I was born with the ability to freely manipulate my bones.”
Selissa’s eyes widened. He could manipulate his bones? Was that the kind of powers the Demios possessed?
She watched as he tilted his head and brought his hand to his shoulder. She heard the same sickening sound as before and slowly a bone started growing out from his shoulder. Selissa stood petrified as Ardeth grabbed his own bone and ripped it out of his shoulder.
“En Garde, my lady.” He said playfully and held the bone out in front of him. The tip was sharpened and Selissa was quite sure it could easily penetrate her heart. What a sick joke, to use one’s own bones as a sword.
She took a deep breath and gripped her sword harder. She was quite sure this freak of nature was a lot stronger than she was, but she couldn’t let it faze her. With another deep breath she steeled herself and lunged at him.
15
Fighting Ardeth was different from everything she had ever experienced.
She swirled around him, letting strike after strike rain down on him, and he blocked them all effortlessly.
With the ribbons dancing around her, forming angry red lines in the air, she continued to try to find an opening and was caught completely unaware when a kick in the stomach sent her flying through the air.
Gasping for air, she scrambled to her feet just as Ardeth leaped forward to strike. She threw herself to the side, narrowly avoiding having her guts spilled on the ground.
The evasion had her fighting for balance, and she didn’t have time to move as the back of the bone sword was slammed into her face.
The impact sent her flying to the ground and she heard something crack as her back hit the unforgiving earth. Stars were dancing in front of her eyes, and she felt the metallic taste of blood fill her mouth.
She heard the gravel shift as Ardeth slowly stepped closer.
“I told you it would be better if you just came with me.” He said as he leaned down to look into her face.
Her head throbbed horribly and she closed her eyes to keep out the light.
“Open your eyes.” He said softly. She could feel his hot breath dancing over her face and she felt panic overwhelm her. She slowly opened her eyes to look at him.
“Better.” He said. “You have really beautiful eyes, you know.”
Her eyes widened in shock. He was calling her eyes beautiful? The strange, silvery eyes that made others scared of her. It was the first time anyone had ever complimented her on them.
Selissa cursed silently at herself. What was she doing? She had a deranged murderer leaning over her, a murderer who was probably only seconds away from killing her, and she was flattered that he liked her eyes?
Mustering up her strength she sent a kick towards his legs, hoping to knock them out from under him.
Ardeth dashed her hopes as he grabbed her by the leg. She bit back a scream as he used his hold on her leg to throw her into the nearest wall. Her leg twisted painfully, and she didn’t have a chance to shield herself before she slammed into the wall.
Pain washed over her as she slid to the ground, and she had to fight to keep from passing out.
With the last of her strength she pushed herself off the ground and stood shakily. Her sight was blurry and she could barely breathe from the pain in her chest.
There was no way she was beating this guy. She was up against a murderer with supernatural abilities and she could barely stand. The only way she was getting out of this was when they dragged her lifeless corpse away.
So be it, She thought to herself. There was no way she was letting him get her alive. As she was now unarmed, she clenched her fists and ran forward, ignoring the searing pain that coursed through her body.
Ardeth seemed to be taken back by the fact that she could still move, because she felt her fist connect with his jaw. His head snapped backwards, but her victory was short-lived.
Ardeth quickly regained his composure and three claw-like bones shot out from his knuckles.
Selissa cried out in pain as he swiped at her stomach. The claws tore through her shirt and made deep wounds in the flesh.
Identical claws spawned from his other hand and strikes starting raining down on her from both sides.
All attempts at protecting herself were in vain and soon she felt the last of her strength leaving her. Her body was so battered that she barely noticed the impact as she once again hit the ground. Everything was spinning in front of her eyes and the pain was so overwhelming that she couldn’t move.
“How disappointing…” Ardeth drawled as he drew closer. “I had expected more of the great Cadeyrn.” She vaguely wondered what he was talking about, but it seemed insignificant right now.
He stopped next to her broken body and watched her with a thoughtful expression on his face.
“So I guess this is it then…” He let out a deep sigh, as if he was really disappointed that she didn’t put up more of a fight.
Selissa forced herself not to close her eyes as he lifted his hand to make the final strike. She remembered reading something about looking death in the eyes, no matter which shape it came in. Even if death came in the shape of a terrifying, yet strikingly beautiful demon…
In a swift motion, he brought his arm down, sharpened bone in hand. Selissa braced herself for the strike that would kill her.
But it never came…
A mere inch from her face, Ardeth froze. Then Selissa looked at his face she saw that his eyes were wide in shock and every muscle in his body was shaking from strain, as if something invisible was restraining him.
“Let her go.” Someone said. Selissa blinked a few times. The pain must have gone to her head. She could have sworn that sounded like Alassane.
The look of shock on Ardeth’s face was slowly replaced by a grin. He let out a low chuckle.
“So the protector has arrived?” He said slowly. Whatever had been restraining him seemed to have disappeared, as he slowly straightened and turned to face the newcomer.
“So this was the best they could send, huh?” He said. The look on this face reminded Selissa of a predator, ready to pounce. She turned her head in the direction he was looking, silently hissing in pain as her head ached.
“You should be smart and leave now, demon spawn.” The other said. Selissa’s eyes widened. She wasn’t hallucinating. She could recognize that patronizing drawl anywhere.
Alassane slowly stepped closer and Ardeth huffed in amusement. She wanted to yell for him to run, but no sound came through her lip
s.
She tried to move, but her body screamed in protest.
“Don’t move.” She was surprised by Alassane’s gentle tone. She caught his eyes and saw the determination in there. And no matter how much she wanted to disobey his order, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She kept still, watching him intently.
She heard a by now familiar crunching noise and turned her head to watch the long bone blades slide out from Ardeth’s palms.
“As much as I would love to play, I’m only here for her.” He said and took a step forward. Alassane didn’t seem to be fazed in the least, because he merely shot him an annoyed stare.
“She’s staying here.” He said simply.
Ardeth didn’t bother with an answer. The grin widened and he charged towards Alassane.
Selissa didn’t quite register what happened next. A flash of brilliant blue light forced her to clench her eyes shut and the next thing she knew, Ardeth collided with the ground several yards away.
Ardeth recovered quickly though and rolled to his feet. For the first time he looked out of breath. The grin had disappeared and was replaced by an appraising look.
Alassane didn’t seem to have moved at all, but his right hand was surrounded by bright, blue flames.
Confusion flickered through Selissa’s already dazed mind. Alassane’s wasn’t a mage… And could mages even do that?
The flames around Alassane’s hand flared up and suddenly shot towards the spot where Ardeth was crouching. Ardeth managed to hurl himself away before he was hit by the blast. Where he had been only seconds earlier, a big crater now marred