Tibaut had to restrain himself from throwing the giant fireball. He looked around and realised he'd do himself no favours if he used it.

("Damnit, he's too close to those buildings.")

There were two houses nearby behind him and who knew if people were still in them. He decided to back over to Grace. He could hear her struggling to stand up but he couldn't afford to take his eyes off the threat in front of him.

("What do I do, what do I do, WHAT THE FUCK DO I DO!?!!")

His whole body was tense at the situation, and he had an even bigger question. Was he the only one? Did he use the dart on Grace or did he have an ally waiting nearby? He didn't see a blow dart or any implement in his hand. He felt like his teeth were going to shatter from how hard he was clenching them.

("Damnit I fucked up!") He thought to himself. As the man in black walked closer in a nonchalant manner he realized what he had done. Instead of the only casualties of the blast being the man in black, himself and the two buildings, it was now a weakened Grace, himself and the man in black. He traded off theoretical casualties for a guaranteed one if he attacked.

"Stay back you bastard!" He shouted.

The man in black shrugged his shoulders.

"Why? It's not like you're going to attack anyway." He continued walking towards him.

("Dammit why the hell is he here? Is he working with those bastards?")

He soon heard scuttling behind but realized it was further than Grace was located to him.

("Fuck it all, he did bring an ally!!!") Tibaut cursed in his head. If he did nothing he and Grace were both screwed. He wasn't naive enough to think the fireball he had summoned would be enough to take the black bastard out. Yet if he kept this up he'd be picked off by the one behind him. No matter how he looked at it, he was fucked. Should he take the risk of bombarding the bastard and hoping Grace can survive the blast? It was his magic and he could mitigate some damage and in the best case, Grace would be stable long enough, for Elizabeth could heal. It might even provide a smokescreen to try and lose them. He saw it. His only path to victory. Even if Grace didn't survive, he could at the very least avenge her. The few seconds that had passed while his mind raced had felt like an eternity. He could no longer hear the figure behind moving and all he heard from Grace was laboured breathing. He turned his head to keep the man in black in his line of sight and barely in the corner of his eye saw Grace on the floor.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Grit your teeth Grace." that was all he could mutter before sending the fireball that carried his only way out of this situation. The man in black was just a few feet in front of him and the fireball itself was wider than both the men were tall.

"Woah, he actually did it!?" the man in black commented before moving quickly to the side.

As the fireball was about to hit the ground, Tibaut could only curse at himself for bringing Grace here. She'd either be a sacrifice or heavily injured after this was over.

As the thing too large to be called a fireball was mere millimetres from the floor, Tibaut put his hands out in the direction of the fireball.

"LIKE HELL I'LL ALLOW THAT TO HAPPEN!!!"

The fire that formed the ball was slowly being sucked away and dragged towards him. It formed a sort of veil of fire around him and Grace. His heart was pumping with the same vigour as a redlined engine and his hands shook like a person with Parkinson's. He had no idea this would work. He could always have manipulated fire but this was the first time he had manipulated it on this scale. He felt like his knees were going to give out but was given the motivation to stand up as he noticed some ash enter his veil. It came from behind and a small bead of molten metal dropped to the floor. As he looked on the floor he also realized the dart that had initially hit Grace was made of wood and metal.

"He's found a persistent henchman." Tibaut shakily commented as he caught his breath.

He quickly lifted Grace in his arms and used his cure spell on her. Her breathing returned to normal and she weakly opened her eyes.

Tibaut breathed a sigh of relief and fell to the floor.

"Okay, somehow I've managed to buy us a few more seconds." He soon looked at her and realised she was sweating way too much for her current state. Did his cure not fully heal her? As he was thinking about what to do he noticed how arid the air had become. He looked around and slapped his forehead.

"It's just from the fire."

He got up, dusted himself, picked up Grace and tried to have her stand on her own feet.

"You good?" Tibaut asked.

After catching her breath for a few seconds she responded.

"It's a bit too hot for my liking but I suppose it's better than being asleep during all this."

She was bent over with her hand on her knees but it thankfully seemed she wasn't going to pass out anytime soon.

"Anyway, this is some time to bring out a trick like this." She said while wiping sweat off her forehead. "Anyway, so when can we leave this oven?"

Before he could answer, a stiletto pierced the veil before being retracted. The hole it left was permanent.

"So it does work on it." A voice outside commented.