Guardians: Away Mission Book 2 of the Guardians Saga COMPLETED except for edits

The Battle Begins Ch. 9.3

Alex touched the tip of her blade to the chains between his hands. Her sword flared brilliant blue, while the chain hissed black smoke and melted at the sword tip. The acrid black smoke burned her nostrils but then the blue smoke erased it, replacing it with the comforting scent of a campfire.

"Cale!" Alex cried when the blue flames chased the black smoke up and down the length of the chains.

Cale stood up and held out his hands, inspecting them and his arms. "I'm fine. I suspected these chains had the taint of The Adversary and this proves it."

"I wanna do that!" Rile touched his sword to Gabe's chains and the flames and smoke started their dance. "Why didn't it do that before?"

Gabe rubbed his neck and wrists. "Because you're a show-off, raising your sword over your head and all."

Before Rile could reply, Gabe's and Cale's Guardian swords appeared in mid-air before the two.

"They couldn't have appeared before?" Alex asked in exasperation.

"Guardian swords cannot be captured," Cale said, taking his and checking the blade. "They won't reappear until we're able to use them. I also suspect the enchanted chains kept them away."

Alex leaned close to Cale and whispered, "Are you okay? Did those miserable Anolis females—"

Cale patted her hand and smiled. "Don't worry. Deela was shrewd and transferred us here this morning. Cla agreed since she didn't want to share Gabe. The Kuni didn't have any time before the battle started."

"Then I'm off. I've a Kuni to catch."

"Stay," Gabe ordered. "I must strategize before—"

"I have a strategy," Alex said and Rile grabbed her hand a split second before she speed-burst out of the room.

***

Alex sped through the back hallway. They flew all the way outside with a sign of the Kuni, although there was another clump of fighting by the back gate.

"Alex, fly straight up for a look." Rile pointed and up they went.

The Kuni was running for the carriages, her elite guard surrounding her. Cla was not among them and Alex smirked at her demotion.

"The Kuni's escaping." Alex swept after her. "Kuni! Hey, you fire truck coward! Stop running like a scared chitterer!"

The Kuni didn't turn, but several of the guards did. Alex blasted every guard senseless. A quick burst of speed brought her in front of the Kuni and she landed.

"I challenge you. No guards, no substitutes. Let's see if you've kept in shape."

Rile hissed, but he hadn't expected anything else. His job was to keep Alex safe from the revolutionaries. They would stab Alex in the back as quickly as the Kuni's warriors.

Alex faced the Kuni and her hand tightened around the hilt, fingers locked onto the handle, and the blade was sharp, as sharp as a razor's edge.

When she pulled her arm back, the sword rose in the air and snapped forward, a crack like a whip that snapped her body back.

The sword seemed alive, not a blade. It was polished to a mirror's gloss, sheathed in leather, and a scent like new leather wafted from it as well as a faint whiff of blood clung to the weapon like a ghost.

Alex swung a strike and the cross-guards of their swords clanged together.

"Release me mammal, or my loyalists will gut every one of your emancipated males and hang them from their entrails."

"Not a motivational speaker, are you?" Alex savagely kicked the Kuni's ankle in the spot between the shin guard and armored sandal.

The Kuni collapsed, but used her forward momentum to bear hug Alex around her waist, trapping her arms at her side.

Instead of trying to break her arms free of the stronger, more muscular reptile, Alex slid her left arm up and crashed her elbow into the Kuni's muzzle.

The Kuni staggered back and Alex swept her sword in a low arc. The Kuni blocked it, so Alex redirected the rebound force upward. The Kuni blocked again and stepped back.

Alex thrust forcefully and when her sword contacted the Kuni's breastplate, the sword tip flared blue and black smoke curled from armor.

Surprised, Alex almost fell when her sword penetrated through the armor and into her opponent's chest.

That witch is using Adversary-tainted armor! But she should have been able to block that move. Guess she didn't keep in shape. I wonder why her sword didn't have the same fate as her armor? I'd feel badly except she tortured Trac to death. This is for Trac and every other male you've murdered.

"Why?" The Kuni gasped, holding the sword in her chest. "All Anolis females hate you, stupid mammal."

"For Trac."

"That dung heap of hide?" Hatred overcame the pain in the Kuni's eyes.

"He's worth more than a thousand Anolis females," Alex replied.

"Fool, you'll die-"

Her words cut off as Alex tugged on her sword. She found, that, unlike the movies, when you run someone through with your sword, it's hard to pull back out.

The Kuni collapsed in death and drove the sword further in.

What was my blade stuck on? Too high on the ick factor to think about.

Alex tugged uselessly for another moment, until Rile cleared his throat and motioned her up. She extended her hand to him, but he shook his head.

Rile motioned her over to the front courtyard. The courtyard's cobblestone was broken into awasteland of rubble and dirt, full of squirming shapes in the middle.   "You need to be a rallying point for the revolutionaries. I'll find my brothers."

****

A/N: Satisfying enough battle? Or more detail needed?

There's still Cla out there!

Dedicated to

RLM915

She's one of those encouraging souls every writer wants for a fan!

Thanks to
RainerSalt

BookAddictAR

For cheering me on for extra detail. Here it is !

Rewrite dedicated to IanReeve216

who noticed the inconsistency of the Guardian sword properties. I think I fixed it!