Assuming the worst, Natasha and I moved quickly to take up positions on either side of the door. As I leaned against the way, the muffled screaming turned into a male voice begging for the pain to stop. I reached out to grab the handle to push the slight ajar door fully open, but Natasha stopped me with a look.

“What?!” I hissed, hand still on the handle.

“Don’t be an idiot,” she hissed right back. “Why would the door be even slightly open? Think about it!”

It took a long second for her words to sink into my panicked mind, but it soon came to me. My face paled at the thought of what I had almost barged into.

“That is right,” she said, telling by the look on my face that I understood. “It might be an ambush. We need to be careful.” She looked me up and down. “Do you even have a weapon?”

“Shit,” I swore. No, I did not have a weapon. There was not even a simple knife in my pocket. “Can I borrow one of yours?”

You would think I just asked her to cut off her own foot and hand it to me so that I could batter down the door. Shaking her head in disgust, muttering angrily under her breath.

“No,” she said in the strongest way possible, “you cannot just borrow one of my weapons. I might need them. More importantly, did you forget about something that you can use instead?”

“What?!” I asked again, my temper rising. Karl was likely being tortured just feet away and here we were talking!

“Bloodburst you dolt!” Natasha practically growled. “You can use Bloodburst!”

“Yes, I know that, I just thought you meant I needed a physical weapon as well.” Despite my words, I actually had completely forgotten my new ability.

“Sure,” she snorted in what I am pretty sure was disbelief. She turned her attention back to the door. “Alright. I’ll lead the way in. Just make sure you are aiming at the right dark elves before you use it.”

Before I could respond, Natasha raised her leg and kicked the door open. It slammed out of sight against the wall inside. She moved in fast, the knives in hand leading the way.

I moved just a heartbeat behind her. Hands raised looking for enemies, my eyes quickly swept the room. The waiting area was much as it was last time I was here, with a few small differences. The chairs that lined the wall had been tossed throughout the room and magazines littered the floor. What dominated the whole scene, however, were the two dark elves dancing about each other in a whirl of blades. As I watched, Natasha’s opponent pivoted and slashed his left blade along the outside of her arm, causing her to falter briefly.

The dark elf quickly looked my way while Natasha recovered, his brief glance assessing me and then discarding me as a threat altogether. His casual disregard angered me, but I was not so much a fool that I didn’t know his dismissal is likely the only reason I remained alive while Natasha struggled to recover. They were soon engaged in close combat again, though this time our enemy held the clear advantage.

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Not knowing enough about my new ability in terms of its combat use, I hesitated in using it without a clear shot at the other dark elf. After that blow to Natasha’s arm, however, I knew I needed to do something, and quickly, or my only ally and source of insight into this new world would be dead. Seeing her foes skill with his knives, I likely would be too soon after.

Frantically I looked around the room again, eyes seeking anything that I could use to help her. My gaze landed on an upended chair I vaguely remember from my visits here as having a loose leg. Reaching out, I grabbed the leg that I thought it was, and yanked as hard as I could. I almost lost my balance when it came free in my hand.

Spinning, I turned my attention back to Natasha’s duel, makeshift club raised high to help. She must have been paying some attention to what I was doing, as she retreated in a way that put her foe’s back to me. Seeing my opportunity, I whipped the wooden leg as hard as I could at the dark elf’s back. My grin of triumph soon turned to horror.

Using some ability, the dark elf surged to the side, completely dodging my throw. The chair leg spun onwards, striking an equally surprised Natasha in the leg, knocking her to the ground with a yelp.

My concern for her was completely overshadowed by the look now being directed my way by our enemy.

“Should have left well enough alone, human,” the dark elf snarled. “I was having fun toying with the blood traitor, but I can’t let you think you are strong enough to interfere.”

Without another word, he used his ability again to surge into striking distance of my face. Before I could react, I felt his first blade sink into my side. The pain was like fire, wiping out all thought as my muscles seized.

But that all faded into the back of my mind as I saw his second thrusting knife coming for my eye.

Time almost seemed to slow. My focus shifted to what was immediately in front of me. Natasha’s growing look of horror as she struggled to return to her feet. Rage on the face of the dark elf in front of me. All gradually faded until the knife and I were all that existed in my rapidly shrinking world. Was this the end? Was this really my fate? To die just as I was on the threshold of something more than my past miserable existence?

As the blade inched lower and lower, only one word came to my mind in response to these thoughts.

“Bloodburst!”

I roared the word into the dark elf’s face, willing as much pain and suffering on him as my eyes locked onto his plunging blade. In an instant, his purple and grey hand turned bright red before rupturing open. His blade went flying across the floor as he instinctively clutched his shattered hand to his chest. Bellowing his agony, the dark elf took a quick step back from me.

It was the last move he made.

Recovered from her fall, Natasha rose like a monster from the deep sea behind the dark elven male, knives thrusting downwards into his neck from other side. Blood was flung from her plunging blades to splatter across my chest, but I didn’t notice it.

All my attention was focused on the vicious fanged smile that had spread across Natasha’s face.

The bloodthirsty glee drove home once and for all that, despite her earlier cheerful attitude and almost flirty interactions with me, this woman, this dark elf, was a born killer. As she made eye contact with me over the collapsing corpse, I resolved to remember that at all costs. The need to do so was so powerful in that moment that I didn’t even feel relief that the fact that I survived my brush with death.