134 Blood Alley (2/2)

\”Coward! Come back here and fight me!\” I roared.

My challenge fell on deft ears.

\”Shit,\” I began to run toward them. \”Aura, watch out!\”

Not that I needed to warn her as there was no way she'd miss the murderous drow charging at her.

\”Spirits of the sacred flame defend me from those who mean me harm,\” Aura chanted as she placed her Hearthwood Staff before her. \”Breathe life into my shield of flame!\”

An arcane pattern of molten lines blazed to life in front of her and expanded itself into a round shield whose edges grazed both sides of the wall.

\”That's brilliant, Aura,\” I called to her.

\”Spirits of hardened earth turn my rage into power,\” the masked rider chanted in accented common. \”And make my fist into a Mighty Hammer.\”

Her left fist began to glow a bright green color.

\”Holy Sh**,\” I breathed.

Instead of stopping to avoid Aura's fiery shield, the masked rider pulled back her left fist, and as with a mighty heave, launched it forward right as she collided with Aura's shield.

There was a resounding boom as both fairy magics collided against each other. The air pressure of the impact exploded outward, cracking the walls on either side, and rushing through me as it passed through the alleyway.

I fell to my knees as the pressure of the impact hit me. When I tried getting up again, I heard a second boom, and I glanced up to find that the masked rider had punched Aura's shield a second time.

The wind came rushing out toward me, and I covered my face with my arm to protect myself, but not before seeing the spidery cracks form across the surface of Aura's shield.

\”Dammit!\” I yelled. \”Move, Dean!\”

I jumped to my feet just in time as a third resounding boom exploded out of yet another impact between Aura's flame shield and the masked rider's magical fist.

This time, however, Aura's shield flickered weakly. It was losing out in power against the hammer being struck against it.

Air rushed toward me again.

I raised my falchion high, and in the next breath, I sliced downward.

The pressure of my swing negated the pressure from the air rushing toward me, and I was finally free to run forward.

However, by the time I'd closed the gap, Aura's shield had already sputtered its last breath. There was now nothing between her and the masked rider.

How quickly I forgot that it was Aura who'd first trained me in the art of fighting fairies. And as she twirled her staff around, unleashing the shadowblade hidden on its other end, I realized that I was panicking like a fool for nothing. Aura could most definitely handle things herself.

She thrust her spear forward, but the masked rider managed to dodge her attack by a hair's breadth.

She sliced down toward Aura with her katana while pulling her fist back at the same time.

Aura blocked the katana with her staff.

The masked rider began to launch her fist forward.

\”No, you don't!\” I leaped forward with my falchion raised high.

I slashed downward; catching the masked rider's left arm mid-flight and cutting a deep gash into her triceps area.

She screamed in pain, but at the same time, sent her katana slithering toward me.

Now, the old Dean would have been unprepared for this counterattack, but Dean two-point-oh was more experienced now.

I'd raised my sword just in time to parry her attack, and in the next breath, launched an attack from on high.

Fool's Insight had proven useful yet again, showing me within that short exchange the tiny cracks forming along the middle of her katana's shadowblade.

I didn't hesitate to capitalize on this. I sent my falchion careening down the flat of her blade and finally broke it in half.

As if she were in tune with my thoughts, Aura took this moment to attack. She stabbed her speartip into the masked rider's right leg, forcing the drow to scream a second time.

\”You know, if you hadn't run away from our duel, you would still be just be fighting me,\” I joked.

She spat a mouthful of spit and blood into my face.

\”Whoa, gross!\” I yelled as I dodged the projectile.

It was my mistake. The masked rider had taken that time to back away from Aura and me.

Aura stepped in to stop her from running away, but the masked rider threw the broken katana at Aura, forcing her to stop and block the shattered blade.

This gave the masked rider enough time to turn around and run to the other end of the alleyway.

\”Stop running away from me!\” I yelled.

I began to chase after her but it was too late as she'd just melded into the shadows and disappeared from my sight and not even Fool's Insight could find her again.

\”She ran away from both of us, Dean,\” Aura reminded me.

I glanced over to her and noticed that her cheeks were flushed.

\”I lack training,\” she complained. \”Remind me to ask Azuma for some pointers.\”

\”Sure,\” I said, grinning. \”What's say we grab our dead and get out of here.\”