Damn it! Ruban thought, as he stood in front of an unconscious Simani with his back to her, staring at the new Aeriel. Damn it all to hell. He should have known there would be more than one. How could he have been so damn careless? His sifblade was still stuck in the dead Aeriel’s throat, utterly useless, and all he had was a gun.
Guns were good as a distraction technique with Aeriels, as long as you had sif to back it up with. But without that, it would just be a minor annoyance to the Aeriel, and the creature looked annoyed enough as it was, glaring down at the lifeless body of its comrade before looking back up at the Hunters with pure, unadulterated fury. This one looked like a male, Ruban thought deliriously; not that one could always tell with Aeriels. As he watched, it raised its pale, almost translucent hand, palm facing Ruban, and he could see the tiny pinprick of light beginning to take shape in the air around the Aeriel’s skin.
If he were to dodge the shell, it would hit Simani directly, and there was no way in hell she would survive that. If he remained where he was, however, and took the brunt of the attack, she might just escape with a few shattered bones and lots of bruising. The surviving Aeriel would probably be satisfied with both the Hunters down and proceed with whatever task it had come here to accomplish in the first place. Aeriels were not known to be sticklers for detail, one of the few advantages humans had over them.
To Ruban’s mind, it was not a choice at all. Simani was his subordinate, his responsibility. He should have anticipated the presence of more than one Aeriel. That he had not foreseen this was his fault, a flaw in his planning. It was his goddamn job to anticipate the enemy’s next move, his only job, and he had failed at it; failed spectacularly at that. There was no reason whatsoever why Simani should pay for his stupidity.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Ruban squared his shoulders and spread his legs a little farther apart, trying to cover as much of Simani’s body as he could before the shell finally hit. The more of the impact he could take, the less injury his partner would sustain. As he watched, the ball of light grew larger, and Ruban prayed silently to anybody who was listening that Simani might get out of this alive.
Just as the Aeriel was about to throw the shell at the Hunters, however, a dizzying blur of black and grey launched itself at the creature, knocking it off balance. This caused the energy-shell to fly off at an angle, missing its targets by a wide margin.
For a moment, Ruban stood stock still, half blinded by the light from the misfired shell and completely unable to process what was going on. As his vision cleared and his mind kicked itself back into action, though, he realised in a heart-stopping moment that their saviour was none other than the whiner extraordinaire, Lord Ashwin Kwan.
His braid flew in the air behind him and his grey frock-coat fluttered around his lithe form, giving Ruban the faint impression of wings propelling his body forward, as he arched gracefully in the air, his foot connecting with the Aeriel’s jaw in a resounding crack. The stunned creature flared its wings, flying up into the air as Ashwin landed with undiminished poise, straightening. He looked up at his opponent almost casually, as if waiting for it to come down and play with him again.