The Living Tower

Chapter Seven: Two of Kings

Five rebels. Gods damn it. Salestia doubted they intended to seriously hurt her, but being knocked unconscious and taken prisoner would be a waste of precious time.

The daggers in the rebels' hands glinted in the light as they surged forward. Salestia mentally noted that she needed to be better about keeping weapons on her person. For now, she'd have to blind them. Nothing more than that. Itwas too soon to let them see all of her tricks.

As she lifted her hands, she threw Ellias a quick glance. "How did they get outside so fast?" she hissed. "Or even know we came out here?"

"They must have had another calling sigil," Ellias replied as his hands went up in parallel to hers. "And guards waiting by the entrance." He traced a circle in the air with one of his fingers, and green sigils briefly flashed in a shield in front of him before vanishing.

Three rebels went for Ellias while the other two targeted Salestia. She waited for them to get close—dangerously close—before flashing light in their faces. If they were lightspeakers, blinding them wouldn't be as effective as she hoped. And even if it did work, she had to be careful about using her light so that she didn't make things more difficult for Ellias.

One rebel staggered away from Salestia. The second was thrown off for only a moment before she swung again with the hilt of her dagger. Aimed at Salestia's skull. Knocking her out was definitely the goal.

It seemed Maddilen still had high hopes for Salestia's identity.

Salestia dodged the weapon's arc and stomped her foot hard on the rebel's toes. The woman winced. Salestia took the chance to swing at her face with a clenched fist. The blow sent her stumbling into the other rebel, who was just recovering from Salestia's flash of light.

Salestia wanted to check on Ellias, to take a closer look at the flashes of green in the corner of her vision, but she couldn't risk losing. She lunged forward and slammed her boot into the woman's chest. The woman crashed into the wall of the alley and sank to the ground.

The first rebel recovered and raised his dagger. Salestia jumped back out of his reach and took a moment to think. To calculate. This time, she did risk a glance at Ellias.

Two rebels laid on the ground in front of him, groans of pain indicating that they were still conscious despite making no moves to get up. The third circled Ellias, brandishing his dagger.

Salestia's eyes returned to her opponent. To his weapon. Then, to his hand, where a golden ring shone. A frown crossed her face as she realized she recognized it, recognized the small gem embedded in the metal. Her fingers twitched. She needed to get her hands on it to be sure.

Attempting to wrangle it away from him could get bloody. Her combat experience against blades was lacking. But if the ring offered answers, it might be worth the risk. And healing her earlier cut had seemed to take little effort on Ellias' part. How far did his healing abilities go?

Could be worth finding out.

Salestia flashed light in the rebel's eyes again and reached for his wrist. This time, despite his impaired vision, he continued to swipe at her. She dodged the first attack and grabbed at the ring. His next swing cut through her upper arm.

Salestia couldn't bite back her cry of pain, but she managed to keep her hold on the ring. The grimace that flashed across the man's face suggested he'd cut deeper than he'd intended. Salestia kneed him in the stomach to distract him before sliding the ring off and staggering backwards.

She pressed her hand against the wound on her arm. There was more blood than she expected. Thepain hit her again, harder, followed by a wave of vertigo. And the man wasalready recovering, preparing to make his next move. Salestia backed farther away from him, moving as fast as she could manage without collapsing.