Of Shadows and Darkness

Chapter 31

"Go easy on him," warned Gregor standing close by.

"Don't worry, this is just a warm up," smiled Percy tying her hand into a ponytail. She flicked her hand up and darkness gathered around her fingertips forming the shape of curved dagger. She curled her fingers around it's ornate handle.

We had stepped outside into the garden with the sun beating down on us. It was a dry heat and I was already sweating. I chose to take only one of the cubes of darkness but at the sight of her knife I wished I had brought my whole box.

"How are we going to do this?" I asked.

She shrugged. "You need to learn to defend yourself so...try not to get hurt. We'll keep going until you can stop me or land an attack." She waved her dagger in the air in a semi circle and darkness gathered above her head forming more five daggers. They twirled, dancing in the air around her.

My breath hitched as she sent them whizzing in the air towards me. I leapt to the left and dodged them. The daggers stabbed the ground with a snap, burying their blades into the ground. Damn. The daggers dissolved into dust as Percy summoned more around her, ten daggers spun around her.

I dissolved the cube of darkness and built a wall. Whip. Whip. Whip. Whip. Four blades stabbed through the wall. I quickly dissolved them and healed the holes they left in my defense. How was I supposed to stop if I couldn't get close? What could I do even if I did get close?

"Come out!" goaded Percy. "There's no point if you're just going to hide."

"Isn't defense about hiding and avoiding the attack?" I shouted back.

"Not if you're movement is limited by your defenses and you're opponent knows where you are," rebuked Percy.

She was right, I couldn't just hide. I compressed the wall into a smaller rectangular shield and molded a handle to hold onto. If I took her shadow I could stop her but I needed to get closer.

Whip! The sharp end of the blade cut through my shield inches from my hand. "Fuck," I cursed under my breath and healed my shield again. It was only a matter of time until she hit me.

Whoosh! Black blurs flew around me, two spinning knives curved in the air aimed toward me. I dissolved and reformed the darkness in a hemisphere around me. Whip, whip. The two blades cut through my shield completely and hit the ground. I dissolved the hemisphere. The sun burned the back of my neck. My heart raced, my back was drenched in sweat and my lungs were on fire. The muggy air was stifling; Percy's persistent attacks were suffocating.

Percy stood calmly a few meters away knives floating lazily around her. How can I get close enough to steal her shadow when I wasn't even safe standing? Being constantly on defense was wearing me out; I didn't know how much longer I could take.

"Caught your breath yet?" smiled Percy sadistically. "Want to start another round?"

I reformed the darkness into a shield. With the blackness between us I remembered the trap Earl Alfred placed me in when he caught me in Market Town. What if I can trap her instead of defending myself against her attacks? It should stop her long enough that I can steal her shadow.

My throat burned. "Okay," I panted.

She twirled her dagger and dozens more knives appeared around her. Five at a time flew towards me in rapid succession. "Shit," I hissed as I dodged the first five.

I spread the darkness into a shield to stop the next five. I needed to be faster; I needed my shielding to be more fluid. Maybe if it was always fluid instead of solid? I evaporated my shield along with Percy's daggers which pierced it.