A powerful sorceress

My eyes darted around me. I couldn’t tell which direction the shriek of alarm was coming from, but I knew it had to be someone’s dying moment. Someone was going to die, and it might be my own. The air was tense, my gut feeling told me that I was close to catching up on the one who were responsible for this, and they weren’t a very nice bunch. The shadows in that small dark alley that I was in soaked up my light, like a lover to a lover, and it was my only hope. I didn’t need the distraction. So I sat down and waited.

Perhaps it was the fatigue of my journey, or the fact that I hadn’t eaten since last night, but I had never known peace like this. I hadn’t felt this way in so long I had forgot what it was like. It was just me, my blade, my quarry, and a few bloodthirsty hungerers that rushed in to take what they thought was as good as theirs; an easy kill. That was a pleasant surprise, because I wasn’t expecting that. One less thing I had to worry about, one less thing I had to worry about.

They surrounded me before rushing me. That was a possibility that I hadn’t considered, but it didn’t matter. I had my weapon drawn and I was ready. I was ready to remove every threat I would find. I was ready to get my vengeance on these people, these plagues that were pestering my travels. It was so much easier when I was entire, if only for moments, then it would all be over and I could go back to wandering, back to welcome in the night. The night was so harsh though, I didn’t know what I would find. I didn’t care. I would probably be dead before the hour was done anyways.

The lead attacker rushed me, which was a good idea. It gave me time to draw my blade and raise it up to shield my chest and allow him to come into my range. Not more than a second later, his sword was trapped between both my blade and my shoulder, and it was so hard to breathe. My chest had never ached like this in my life, but it gave me enough leverage to wiggle a leg behind his and shove him off of me. As he stumbled back, I turned and got low to hit my target in the ribs. I was about to strike, until I saw all of the others that had crept up, that were circled around me. It seemed I wouldn’t be getting my one hit in, I would be fighting all of them. This was going to be difficult.

They rushed me after the betrayal of their friend. He had shown me that attacking me on my left was my weakest side. I had focused all of my energies on that side after that one. Then my five enemies had worked around me and cut me from the left before from the right, and I was forced to let it slide and focus on the two in front of me. Now, the four that were left were getting more and more bold. I knew if I struck quick enough, perhaps I could land one. But that would require opportunity.

As I tried to decimate the man in front of me, I would notice their eyes. They were all looking at me, looking at the arm that I had dropped and was struggling to pick back up. The blade’s ground had been covered in a meaty red substance, like the blood of a mammal. It was a taste that they were all getting accustom to. Knowing this, I decided to get in close to him and bring his nose close to my arm. I could smell it and I could feel the soreness in my arm as it twinged in pain. But I couldn’t miss this chance, I had to do it. That arm was the only thing that I had to protect, I needed to protect that limb, I needed to protect the weapon.

I froze as another ally of theirs rushed me with a rusty cleaver. I was somewhat surprised by his bravery to grapple me so much, but it was nice to have him on my side. This would give me the time that I needed. I could tell he was trying to lock his arm to my, though I knew he wouldn’t get a grip. As I engaged him in a battle that I could win with my arm, I would notice a girl, standing about two steps away. She was looking at my arm, looking at my hand, then back at my arm. She had the same expression on her face as the others, and her posture, it seemed to congeal the moment.

It was the same expression that had been on the face of the one before me, the one who had sacrificed himself. The girl, she was standing to the side, in front of the pier. She was watching it explode. She didn’t know it, nor did she care that she was currently in front of the chaos. She had driven her sword into the wooden supports and she couldn’t look away. The same way a person would enjoy the scenery, the kind of person that she would be, but not the way she was now. She was staring, watching. She was observing the collapse before her, her expression in silence. She was watching it all, from the magical explosion to her own arm, and beyond.

The explosion shook me from the distraction that was my arm, and I would come back up to two men. I needed them, I needed them to trust me in this moment. I didn’t know how much more of this I could take. I would watch as the other two rushed me, and when I was met by one more, I would take it. I would strike, I would seek my vengeance.

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