A Flawed Alliance

Chapter 14- Demanding a Hound

Before he moved any further, I shouted, "You need to convince me to go to Malanthe!" I stepped back, pointing my sword at him. "You can't kill me."

"We have never killed one Phoenix Auxiliary," Augite said, frowning. "You think we're just slaughterers? When I was about to convince them into giving their powers to Malanthe, they would always kill themselves. Added to all the shit ash around here. If you're not going to cooperate, I'm afraid I have to find a way for you to."

"Force me?" I asked. "How? You need me to go willingly."

He bared his teeth. "Your Phluid is not invincible to pressure. That's the beauty of humans. They are resilient, but they are vulnerable in their core."

A moment passed between Augite and I, and I knew he was going to strike me before he even did. With one fast movement, he picked himself off the floor and swiped a hand, automatically calling a sword in his hand. Another movement and he was on me, pinning me to the ground.

My shoulder blades slammed on the cracked tiles and I felt a tile scrape the fabric of my shirt and my bare shoulders. The breath was knocked out of me as he pushed his hands against my ribs. I yelled. He grunted, bulging his eyes out in front of me. I breathed and coughed, making some kind of sound of desperation to relieve the tightness of air away.

Out of nowhere, a hound emerged, the size of a truck. It came out from behind one of the columns, snarling as it did so. I would have flinched if it hadn't been for Augite preventing me to.

The wolf-like creature pawed across the hallway and now that it was closer, I could tell that it was made of shadows and trailing wisps of black smoke. Its red eyes were beacons, glowing like light bulbs in the dark room. The teeth were transparent but the black outline indicated that it was still lethal all the same. Augite's symbol was his teeth.

I couldn't watch the hound anymore when Augite hissed sharply and pulled back, swinging his sword behind him and rolling his red uniform's sleeves to his elbows. Thick veins bulged underneath his arms as he tightened his fists around his swords. I craned my neck and felt the weight on my ribs alleviate. I heaved a huge breath, kneeling on the floor and watching Nix tear Augite's sword away from him. Always Nix had to save me or else I would have been dead a long time ago.

I heaved with a breath and propped my hands out in front of me for help. I cried out in alarm at the amount of pressure he had pushed onto my lungs. I was trying to get used to the pain of fighting but I didn't think I was fast enough or strong enough to resist it.

The hound was about to race to Augite's aid when Logan and Veronica intercepted. As Veronica shot an arrow, Logan stayed behind, but just as she was moving her hand back to ready another arrow, Logan would come forward, fast, to strike at the hound.

But no matter how many times Logan struck, the sword would pass right through its transparent fur. Arrows plunged past its intangible fur.

Augite whipped his sword at Nix, rebounded back and watched Nix fall back with a sneer. He turned his attention on Logan and Veronica's animals and pinned each of them on one of the columns with stray swords all littered under the tiles. He was so fast that I couldn't do anything to stop him from pinning the animals useless. All our animals were immovable and freeing them would be impossible with Augite and his hound guarding our every movement.

I didn't know where Ace was but I needed to move before Augite moved first. I quickly hoisted myself from my slouch and ran to trip the man off his feet. I remembered that much from Aaron's training but my movements were too slow to his quick gaze and he knew exactly what I was doing, counter-attacking by lifting his feet up and kicking me in the neck.