The Embers Book II: Rise Of A King

Chapter Twenty-One: No More Killing

Taylor pushed the machete's back then slammed a kick into Marcelo's abdomen, it had meant to wind him but it all it did was amuse him as it had little effect. He'd forgotten about the man's freakish strength and it seemed he was able to take a hit. Rolling away he barely evaded a slash from Marcelo as he countered the kick, getting to his feet Taylor got into a comfortable stance with both blades held high ready for anything to come afterwards. Nothing did, and Marcelo had begun to pace the blood red of his eyes remained glued to the sky blue of Taylor's. 

He wanted to drag the fight out, to savour his vengeance but Taylor had ideas of his own. In one swift move Taylor threw one of his Gladius' at Marcelo, it flew end over end as it cruised toward its intended target. Just before impact Marcelo went to deflect it away with one of his blades but instead of the weapon soaring away safely it passed right through the machete, and embedded itself into his right shoulder blade. A roar of pain and anger ripped out from his lungs as the fire burned deeply into his flesh, instead of bearing with the weapon in his body he gripped it by the hilt and yanked it free tossing it aside. 

Taylor's attack had worked perfectly, the key to maintaining a flames strength in the form of a weapon was to make sure it was solid. All he had to do was intentionally lose his concentration for a moment to weaken its density. A sickly looking wound was the only remaining sign that the blade had been there, the flesh had blackened and all the arteries and veins sealed from the heat. Despite their fire sealing wounds they still took a lot out of a person, it was a shock to the system. But Taylor wanted to do more than shock him at the very least he wanted him dead and gone. 

"I see you've learned some new tricks, it's not like they're going to help you and I am done playing with you" growled Marcelo and charged at first then materialised from sight. 

As expected he sprang up from behind him, but instead of a blade he was met with a flaming fist causing him to back away rather than block. The attack had so much power behind it, it would have likely taken his head clean off not the way he wanted to go out. Another fist came his way, and this one wasn't going to be dodged. In Taylor's right hand he formed within an instant his Scutum, and the timing couldn't have been any more perfect as it was met by flesh and flame merged as one. A violent set of vibrations shook the shield and worked their way up Taylor's arm until they managed to travel all the way to his collar bone. 

The attack wasn't over yet though; a flurry of blows rained down on the shield causing it to shake and the flames to shift in such a way to suggest it was struggling to retain its form. Which Taylor was having trouble doing, he poured more power into it but the exhaustion he'd felt back in London had caught up with him. One punch was all it took to finally break his defence, it broke through the shield like a rock through glass, and Taylor looked down in horror as the fist travelled through striking the centre of his chest. 

The blow sent him soaring back at least five feet into a nearby car, his back arched as it collided with the bonnet of the vehicle sending unimaginable pain spiking through his spine not to mention the agony that resided in his chest. Marcelo had definitely annihilated a few of the bones in his chest cavity and it had made it difficult for him to breath, each one taken was sharp, short and full of pain. Taylor had been able to get himself into a sitting position on the bonnet of the car as he attempted to regain his breath, and composure. His enemy didn't seem to want to let that happen though. 

Instead of a fist it was a machete that came tearing in determined to severe his head from the rest of his body, but Taylor was able to summon the strength roll along the car out of the way. He watched as the blade bite into the metal going through with ease slicing through several of the cars inner workings, likely rendering it unusable. Taylor knew he had to go on the offensive at some point but the unbearable pain in the front and back of his body didn't quite see eye to eye with him on that idea.