I cut his arm.

It wasn’t a deep cut, but I was able to slash him from his wrist to elbow as he pulled out his blade. The yellow blade began to glow as he brought it up to stop me from stabbing him in the chest.

His sword was parallel to the ground and he blocked wide, raising his arm to his neck as he pushed my sword up.

I pushed magic into the blade, giving it a purple glow as I backed up.

I had thought about trying to twist my blade under his, but distance proved to be the proper answer because he pointed his left hand at me and electricity shot out of his hand.

My muscles spasmed as the electricity ran through me. I was able to keep a grip on my sword, but the magic drove me to my knees.

Fyga threw one of her ice daggers into the outside of his left thigh.

“AHHH!!!” The Touched reached down and grabbed the icicle with his free hand, while he deflected the next projectile she threw.

My whole body tingled as I sprang back to my feet, I slid under his slash and cut the back of his right leg as I sprang up behind him.

The Touched turned around to block my sword, but that exposed his back to Fyga. The short woman sank an icicle into his back behind his heart.

“YOU LITTLE...!!!” Electricity crackled along the yellow blade as he twisted to his left so he could face both of us. He had to grab his sword with both hands as he held it defensively in front of him. He deflected another pair of thrown daggers as he backed up.

I thought about lighting the pine needles below him on fire, but while spreading fire might help me wear him down, it would make Fyga’s ice less potent. I started circling around him, while Fyga stood her ground and continued her barrage of ice.

The Touched used his free hand to shoot a burst of electricity at her, but she was having an easier time evading his projectiles than he was able to deflect hers. That was partially due to him having to rotate to keep me from flanking him, but that allowed the two of us to pivot him out of the trees and towards the cliff.

His eyes widened once he left the treeline, which was when I assumed he realized what we were doing even though the two of us hadn’t spoken. It felt weirdly reassuring to know that we were able to work so well together as a team.

“You think you’ve won!?!” He roared as a wave of electricity rolled off of him.

I let the energy wash over me, tickling my skin as it raced across my body. It made me stutter, but I shrugged it off and forced him to block my slash. With his sword occupied, Fyga was able to land one, two, then a third ice dagger lodged in the Touched’s chest.

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I scored a deep cut on his left thigh, his next attempt to block was too low and I sliced his shoulder. He dropped the yellow sword and grabbed the wound with his good hand. His wounded arm tried to point at me, but a blast of frosty air hit him in the face.

I grabbed the yellow sword and threw it towards Fyga. While I was half turned, he tackled me at the waist, knocking me on my back. I dropped my sword as I fell. I pounded my elbow on his back, drawing a scream of pain out of him.

He straddled me, smearing blood over both of us. “You should have handed the...!”

I punched him in the face, silencing his rant.

Fyga charged, swinging a block of ice like a club. It connected with the side of his head, knocking him off of me. I rolled away from him, grabbing my sword as I moved and came up in a crouch.

The Touched was laughing as Fyga lifted him off of his feet by his shirt collar.

“You think you won.” The Touched’s right arm was hanging by his side. He wasn’t even trying to struggle as he dangled in her grip.

“You should have left me alone.” An ice dagger appeared in Fyga’s left hand.

The Touched grunted and released a burst of electricity, launching himself backwards.

Right off the cliff.

Into the ocean.

I ran over to the edge and watched him disappear under the waves. I shook my head as a small flame sprang to life in my left palm and started weaving between my fingers.

“They aren’t dead until you cremate the body.” I glanced over at Fyga. “I have a feeling it’s not over.”

“Not until I’m dead.” The black-haired woman walked over to where the yellow blade had been thrown. She picked it up and slashed it through the air a few times. “If it’s not him, it’ll be someone else.” She inspected the blade. “Have you ever seen one like this?’

“Until Eveth, I’d thought purple was the only color.” I remembered something Master James had said back in Gher. “There are blue, red, and I guess yellow colored stones too.”

“It’s wild.” The shorter woman tucked the sword under her arm. “Does this mean I get to pretend to be a Bokor too?”

“Even I had a Bokor blade as an apprentice.” I looked at the yellow stone at the base of the handle. “But they didn’t put stones in them.”

“See?” She puffed out her chest. “I can totally pass as one of those snobs!”

I shook my head as I checked my wounds. As an apprentice, an open wound was almost a death sentence, so making sure to clean and cover any cuts or scrapes first was something that had been drilled into me.

“We should probably go warn the others.” I nodded to the south west. “You said there were two of them?”

“That I saw.” Fyga shrugged. “No telling if they sent more or if the other one followed after that senior Bokor.”

“Are you good?” I looked her over, checking her for wounds. She’d fought at range for most of the fight, so I wasn’t expecting anything, but that didn’t mean we shouldn’t take a moment while we had one..

“Why Byler!” Fyga covered herself in exaggerated embarrassment. “Buy a girl dinner first.”

“Huh?” I didn’t understand what eating had to do with being able to move.

“You are hopeless.” Fyga patted my shoulder. “I’m good. Let’s go.”

“Wait.” There was something that started nagging at the edge of my senses. “Do you feel that?”

“Feel what?” Fyga had a huge grin on her face as she bumped her shoulder into mine.

I looked south and shivered as the feeling got stronger.

“Zombies.”