Freedom always comes at a price. After Kaia leaves the sanctuary of the guild to finally make a name for herself under a new alias, things don't quite go as she expects. As dual mages, she and her twin Kieran are able to dip into air and lightning m...
Turning my head towards whatever was out there, I should've activated my reflex rune, but my brain didn't completely process what was about to happen. It took the distinct clicking of claws to snap me out of it. I only had a split second to react because the sound didn't come from down the corridors. It came from right next to me.
"Watch out!" I pushed Tyler forward causing him to stumble into the tunnel as I narrowly dodged to the side, the sharp claws missing my face by mere inches. If I'd been even a little bit slower, I would be walking around with a huge scar on my cheek for the rest of my life. The creature was so fast that by the time I turned back, it had disappeared into the shadows once more. My heart was pounding hard as I stared tensely into the darkness. Just how had it gotten so close without neither of use noticing?
Unless it has been here the whole time.
The dim lights of the tunnel behind me only illuminated a small cone around me. Knife in hand, my eyes carefully scanned our surroundings until they met a set of glowing, yellow ones hovering around four feet above the ground. A low growl was the only warning before it pounced again. The corridor was too narrow to avoid its attack, so I braced myself.
This time, however, Tyler was there. His sword slashed down on the creature, clipping its shoulder. It hissed in pain, but only backed up slightly before charging at us again. He blocked its attack while his other hand reached for me.
"Get in here!" Without further ado, he grabbed the back of my cloak and basically threw me into the tunnel. After warding off another attempt of whatever was trying to eat us for dinner, Tyler dashed after me.
Now, the problem of a wide-open door remained.
"Close the door, I'll hold it off." My elemental rune hummed with energy as I dipped into my magic. Tyler started searching for the runes that would hopefully close the door from the inside while I pulled the air around me together, waiting.
In the next second, that thing was in front of me again, but before it got the chance to attack, I released the pressure. A strong gust of wind erupted in front of me, propelling it outside the tunnel and right into the opposite wall.
"Found them," Tyler yelled.
I sighed in relief, but it turned out to be a second to early. Halfway through closing the gap, the creature appeared once more, its claws reaching for me.
"Shit," Tyler cursed, and quickly dashed forward to pull me back at the same time as I tried to retreat. A knife flew past my face, through the opening, and a howl echoed in the tunnel. Apparently, it had hit its mark.
Due to our combined momentum, we both toppled over with me landing right on top of him. My face ended up being pressed into his chest as he half hugged me, his fist still clutching the back of my cloak.
What's wrong with this guy?
He grunted in pain as I accidentally dug my elbow into his ribs when I pushed myself up. After I had finally managed to detangle myself, I narrowed my eyes at him as he sat up as well, or rather tried to.
Not so fast buddy.
Annoyed, I leaned forward to put my hand on his chest and used my weight to press him back down. "You know, I'm not some kid you can keep swinging around like a toy."
"Really?" Tyler groaned out. "Could've fooled me, considering how tall you are."
This guy! I'm gonna...
I paused, finally noticing something wet and sticky under my palm and a distinct metallic scent in the air. His fingers gripped my wrist, but it was too late. "We can do this the easy, or the hard way. Your choice." I threatened with a pointed look towards the knife in my other hand.
He sighed, not sure if in pain or defeat and let go.
I reached out to open his robes and nearly gasped in shock. Long gashes, burn marks, and several blue spots marked his muscular chest. Some had opened up and were bleeding slightly. But even more shocking, were the runes on his body. I could tell at a glance that he had more than me. Suddenly, finding him inside the secret cell was starting to make a whole lot more sense.
"Not that I mind you staring at my naked body, but this isn't the time. We have to keep moving," Tyler said, and I finally became aware of the position we were in. He was lying on the ground while I was on top, effectively straddling him. Startled, I jumped up and put some much-needed distance between us.
I quickly reached into my bag and procured a tube of ointment and some pills that I always carried with me. Both contained first class healing magic, so as long as the wounds weren't too severe, it could fix anything.
"This should help," I said, handing him the pills and ointment.
"What? No offer to treat my wounds...?"
"You, yourself said that it's not as bad as it looks," I interrupted him coldly. "So, better hurry up before we find out if anyone heard all that noise." Turning my back on him, I swiftly started down the passage.
It didn't take long for him to catch up with me. His complexion already looked better, so the treatment must have worked.
Still, I couldn't help myself from shooting him worried glances every now and then. One thing was for sure, getting out of here unscathed would be hard without his help.
"It's cute that you're worried, Kitty, but I'm fine." The pills must really be working if he was back to his annoying self.
"I was just making sure you're still able to keep up, Tinkerbell," I replied smugly.
Hah!
I definitely won the cringe nickname competition, in my opinion.
Kaia: 1 , Tyler: 0
I felt more energized now that I finally had the upper hand in our banter. That was until he just shrugged nonchalantly.
"How did you know that I am good at making things? Kinda impressed you figured it out, or did you investigate me secretly?" He gave me a suspicious once-over, before he continued with a smirk. "Not that I mind the stalker vibes coming from you. It's Tink for short by the way."
I gaped at him, speechless.
More like Tyler : 1 , Kaia: 0
Although his earlier comment about fixing my knife made a whole lot more sense now. In that moment I remembered that he threw a blade at the creature earlier.
"Wait a second, wasn't that my knife you threw away?" I asked irritated.
It must have been because he cleared his throat and said, "I saved you, didn't I? Besides, I can make you a better one." He had the nerve to shoot me another grin.
I scoffed at that. "What are you talking about? The only thing you really did was make us both fall over."
"You could just say thanks you know."
Somehow his behavior bothered me. "Well, thanks for losing my knife, Tinky, but maybe you should take care of yourself first if you want to help someone else next time." I ignored the odd look on his face at the sharp tone of my voice. I simply worked better alone.
You can't rely on others anyways.
Shaking off the negative thoughts, I refocused my attention on the passage ahead. It was about time we got out of this hellhole, so I could go back to doing my own thing.
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