Alisa had already lost count on how many times the restless Meriane kept trying to slash her with her blade. She could feel the cold, muddy floor her back was drenched with as he watched the occasional lighting illuminate the other girl’s smiling yet crying face.
After a final slash, Alisa’s bow broke, making way for Meriane’s victory.
“Finally!”, Meriane celebrated before punching Alisa on the face and causing her nose to bleed, and if that’s not enough, the princess again caught her by her long black hair.
“You never learn do you; you should have cut this long hair of yours when you had the chance”, she cackled. “Hey Alisa, Do you know why pigs love to swim on the mud?”.
“Why don’t you go ask them yourself, since all you did was oink?”
Meriane’s face turned sour while letting her statement slide, "Yeah, I figured you don’t know; care to find the answer for me?”, she grinned once again as she looked Alisa deep in the eyes, pushing her to the ground, stepped on her head, and dipped her face into the chocolate-colored mud.
“Go to hell!”, cried Alisa, spitting the mud from her mouth.
“Yeah, yeah, did you find the answer for me?”, Meriane asked while the other girl glared at her, “You did not? let’s do it again, shall we?”.
She was about to kick her again but Alisa was able to conjure an arrow and plunge it into her thigh.
“How dare you!”, she squealed, looking properly angry. She was about to really end her when someone kicked her away and she slipped into the mud.
Nicolas tended to Alisa as soon as he could and helped her stand.
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
“For fucks sake, Nicolas! Is this how you greet a friend? I can stomach you pushing me away but damn, that kick hurts!”, Meriane exclaimed as she too stood up.
“After all you did, do you think you can still call me a friend”, Nicolas yelled back at her. In his mind was what the little girl told her as they almost left for the library.
“Aren’t you going to help her?”, asked Mae as they’re about to leave.
“I need to get you to safety first.”
“But Isn’t she someone precious to you? Like my grandpa to me, I can tell by your expression.”
Nicolas could not argue to what the girl said. “Children really are something”, he thought, “Yeah but I need to take you to Madam Veronica first, so we—”
“No”, she protested and got down from his back.
“What are you doing? We need to go.”
“Not unless you help her, or you might regret it in the future”, the girl uttered as tears materialized from her eyes, though she herself could not understand why, “I will hide here, I promise so you should go and help her”.
They both can hear the clash behind them: “Do you promise to be a good girl and hide?”
“I’ve promised already”, she nodded.
“Alright, I’ll be back”, Nicolas smiled at her, stood up, and then ran.
“Thank you Mae”, he thought. “I don’t want to regret things ever again.”
“I bet you never regretted when you left me”, Meriane whispered to herself, looking down at her pitiful reflection on the puddle, crying as the rain gave ripples to it.
“Give it up already and tell us where Liam is, Meriane”, Nicolas mandated.
“As if I’d tell you!”, she yelled and charged in again, but Nicolas casually blocked it with a shield.
“Wow, a nice cheat you got there”, Meriane recoiled her punch upon seeing the shield.
“Uh huh, I have always been a fast learner. Don’t expect me to fall for the same trick twice”, Nicolas said.
“Great, well then—”, Meriane was about to laugh again when she felt a burning feeling on her right arm, “What the hell!”, she exclaimed, checking what might be the cause and it led her to Alisa. Staring at her while wielding her bow.
“Alisa, I would really kill you!”, she said, backing away, “If you can’t play fair, then I won’t too... Edmund! Darius!”, she called and the two came out of nowhere as the surrounding were illuminated by a flash of lightning.
“Three versus two, where did the Algerian dignity go?”, Nicolas sighed.
“Coming from you? The audacity!”, she exclaimed before the three of them swoop for the two.