Behind The Locks || ONC 2024

Chapter 12: Loosing Combat

In his eyes flickered a flame of loathe, utter determination of turning her into a corpse dancing by its side.

Luckily, she dodged the first strike of the air-splitting weapon. It cut-empty the air above her head, leaving a sliced smidgen aftermath of wind.

The man was no quitter. Not to what seemed to be his sheer want.

He flung it to the side of her head, but she ducked. Thank her reflex for that one, but how many more could she dodge?

The back of his right elbow unexpectedly flung back before the ax and got her by the left hand.

At the impact she stumbled back like a drunkard only to be stopped by a wall.

The man's pursuit was still not near satisfaction.

He lifted the ax above his head, and thrusted it towards her. Involuntarily, she swerved away from the slicing whoop that dug into a wall next to her.

She couldn't tell how but one-too many dodges were not luck. There was something else, something that was capable of healing wounds and now dodginging a deadly weapon.

"I see you've got some moves," the man grumbled, pulling it from the wall. "Let's dance,” he uttered, twirling the ax frantically between his hands.

SPOILER: Arielline was terrible at dancing. 

He stretched it backwards to his full arm-stretch and pulled it back with gravity that could beat that of an angry riptide.

She dodged it in an acrobat she only saw on TV; arcing backwards that her head nearly touched the ground, her arms intact with her hips.

She regained her stance, soon after the ax mercilessly whooped above her, and punched him in the stomach.

The impact reinforced with that of her guardian angel's sent the man flying across the alley.

He dug the ax in the cobblestone forming a gulley before coming to a halt.

From the ground, he switched his glare to her in so much animosity that Arielline quivered. Not like she wanted to fight, but in the situation there would be nothing rather wiser.

“Who are you?” She quizzed as if she was the one on the top side of the seesaw.

“The real question is who are you?” He roared.

She blinked and in the split of a second he was back on his feet and running towards her at bolt speed, but instead of carrying the ax with him, he carried a whitish powder in a glass jar. 

He dipped his fingers into it and flung crumbles of it in the air such that they would rain on her like snow.

She remained steadfast, pending for whatever miracle was taking place in body to make the next move.

The first grain that landed on her came with a burning sensation, like a spark of fire, leaving her to wonder what effect it had just exposed her lower left side of the neck to.

The second one was worse. It felt like it tore through her skin and burned into blazing flames everything it met.

The whole rain made out of her a circus of blazing fire. 

Everything in a term close to that of strength was ripped off drastically, leaving her like a sheet of paper.

Whatever magic he was using, it was working, and it was restoring all her wounds and bruises, more painful than ever.

The man's pursuit was still not done with her. Run for your life. That would be the only way she would get to see the following second.

She got from her kees, of which she could not recall kneeling, and sent everything she had left to her heels.

It was clear that she was no match for a person who seemed to know her more than she knew herself.

The alley was short, and through stumbling steps she made it out alive.

The man appeared after going back for his murderous weapon. 

As it turned out he had underestimated the potential of a girl running for her life.

She had crossed a two way road between them and was glaring at him with eyes full of terror on the other side.

He gave one last demonic glare before disappearing back into the shadows.

It wasn't over between them, she didn't have to be told.