We were both showing signs of wear, and starting to accumulate injuries, but it didn’t matter. If I wanted to win the battle, I had to win the fight… And I had to do it quickly… I charged forward, sticking my sword in the ground and using it to vault over another dangerous swing from the man's hammer, jumping off its head and kicking him in the face, dropping to the ground right in front of him. Once again he let go of his weapon and tried to fight me hand-to-hand, but this time I was fully prepared. I ducked to the side and swept his leg the moment he lifted his foot from the ground. As he fell he grabbed my shoulder, driving me to the ground with him and slamming me into the earth, making my ears start to ring and everything else begin to fade.
Suddenly there was only one enemy, and if I didn’t win… I would die. My mind went blank and the last of my manna filled my veins as my eyes turned orange at the taste of my own blood.
I rolled away, jumping towards him immediately after like a bear hunting an elephant, and before he finished standing up I hit him in the head again with my palm. His neck whipped but he stood up swinging back at me and we continued to trade several blows before I finally staggered backward to wipe the blood from my eye as my brow split open.
He picked up his hammer and swung it one last time aiming to crush me flat. But he was wearing out too, and even if I wasn’t consciously thinking, I had already formulated the course of action beforehand, allowing my body to turn it into instinct. The third plan…
I caught the downswing of the hammer, feeling the soft earth dent under my feet and crack, dust spurting up from the ground. The moment the impact struck all tension left his body, and grabbing each side of the hammer's head I threw it towards him, ramming the handle directly into his stomach, making him suddenly motionless.
My whole body burned as it started to feel like I was deflating, but heat continued to pour out of me. Whether it was paranoia or a subconscious feeling, I somehow knew the fight still wasn’t over, drawing yet another parallel to my fight with the demon, and filling me with even more adrenaline until my eyes began to bleed.
He regripped the handle and pushed himself off of it, struggling to breathe for a moment. I tried to rush in to finally end it, but I was stopped by a quick smack of another hammer that sent me flying several feet through the air. I didn’t even feel myself land, my whole body going numb as crumpled on the ground. ‘So… They lost then…’ The same man that hit me was suddenly struck in the back of the head with an arrow and fell limp to the ground. ‘Or… Did they?’
Feeling and sound returned to my body and I staggered to my feet, picking up my sword and assuming a stance the best I could, though I probably looked like a zombie, my knees buckled, and my arm shaking as it held the sword, blood trailing down my face. I couldn’t explain it… But I wasn’t even telling myself to get up, I wasn’t even trying to move, it just happened somehow…
‘It wasn’t that they lost… The reason I got hit… Was because they won…’ The archer had left his bow behind as he fled down the hill with the other hammer user. Isy had picked it up and knocked a man out with it. Bear was standing back up, and Mo… Although one of her arms was hanging low in its socket, was still standing.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
My vision straightened out, coming into full focus as the orange tint intensified and pulled. ‘I can’t let them retreat… They’re less injured than us, and I have to assume that shot from Isy was just luck… This has to end now… Even if I get taken down, I just have to stall them for a second while… While the others…’
With overwhelming forces behind them, they had to charge through me, coming to that conclusion they gathered their strength and came at me, both at once. Finally, they were starting to panic. Forced into an unfamiliar situation, a hammer and an archer with a sword, there was bound to be an opening. The moment I saw it my body suddenly felt lighter and moved on its own, claws growing from my fingers. I dropped my sword and brought my feet closer until my knees didn’t buckle. With a single step forward and a slight crouch I slipped between and around their weapons twisting, and striking the commander in the armpit again with a pointed hand, and the other in the liver with a clenched fist, feeling their bodies ripple from the impact, and feeling my muscles tear themselves apart with an unfamiliar strength, not coming from my magic.
Bear and Mo didn’t waste any time getting on top of them to bring them down for good and secure the win. “Precision… Will always beat force…” I muttered as the blue trails disappeared from my eyes and the pulsing I felt as my instincts controlled me started to fade. The last of my manna left my body, my reinforcement and strengthening magic vanishing in an instant. “I won… Did you see? Did anyone… See… that?”
I was ready to fall to my knees and start crying again, realizing I didn’t have to die as the familiar wave of overwhelming emotion hit me all at once… But Isy caught me and held me up. “Easy there. We all saw it, just take it easy…”
I wasn’t alone… But that almost made me want to cry even more… Still, I held back, mostly on a count of the deep pain in my nose when I started to tear up, but partially just so I could look tough.
I pushed myself back onto my own feet, keeping a hand on her shoulder for support as we turned to the crowd and waved while they announced our victory. Everyone cheered as though ours was the only match anyone was watching, and we were the home team. “Hey Isy, you never told me you could shoot a heavy draw war bow. I know you have strong hands, but your back has to be crazy strong too.”
She chuckled nervously. “Well, Yeah… When you suck at everything… You might as well just get supper strong right? It was all I could really do to try and make up for it… I had never actually hit a target though…”
‘So it was luck…’ I tried my best to laugh. “Well, maybe we can work on that too… For now though… I need a shower… And some food… And some sleep… And like 13 Advil and an energy drink with way too much caffeine mixed with bear and sugar…’
“Uhm… I don’t know what that means… But a shower sounds nice… Can you make the water hot again?”
I saw Mo’s eyes widen like a cat from the side of my vision. “You have hot water?”
‘I guess we’re getting a new roommate…’ I staggered backward as my head began to spin, my body suddenly feeling numb and heavy as my vision returned to normal. “Let’s just… get out of here…” Taking a deep breath I steadied myself and before long everything calmed down.
Isy and Mo walked off without me after I assured them I was fine, but it was all I could do just to stay standing after I no longer had Isy to lean on. “Guys…” I muttered, but neither of them heard me by the time I changed my mind.
Bear, after taking one of the giant hammers and bows, gently placed a hand on my shoulder from behind. “I got you Little Lizard.” He said warmly, making me tear up again. I also wanted to question how ok it was for him to just loot the battlefield… But considering he was doing it in front of thousands of viewers… I figured he must have been pretty confident it was ok.
He was too big for me to throw an arm over his shoulder, but holding onto his arm was enough. It was a far cry from the days my father and brother would carry me around… But it still made me feel a bit like a kid… Although, I wasn’t sure I minded, since at least this time I had a cute nickname, it kind of fit. ‘It really doesn’t take that much to make me happy.’