Moonshadow (Book 1 of the Torrent Skies Saga)

Chapter Twenty-Six: Juen'tal the WIldrun, Pt 2

*

For a moment, both swordsmen were trapped in the same stance, held up by blades stained with blood.

Katerin changed the angle of her strike, and her staff impacted with so much force that Fykes lost his grip on his sword as Juen'tal was slammed away from him.

Juen'tal hit the opposite side of the hall, gasping for air, blood trickling from his mouth.

Katerin stumbled, almost falling to her knees, her arms numb from her blow. She wrenched the sword free of the red-eyed figure before her and dropped to the ground, staring at him a moment.

He coughed up blood, giving her an intense yet somehow still amused look. "Just kill me..." his lips pulled back in a gruesome snarl. "Don't be weak."

Katerin could only shake her head, as she turned to judge the state of her companions, a few feet away.

*

Arjiah knelt next to Fykes, focusing her healing on him alone. His color had improved, but he was still shaking. After a few more moments, and another empty bottle of water, Arjiah had peeled away his armor and was hastily wrapping his wounds. The wounds were bad enough that instead of healing completely upon Arjiah's touch, only scabs formed. "There," Arjiah said, hovering in front of his face. "You're going to be alright, just stay still."

*

Fykes picked up Ahlindrion in one hand and pushed himself to his feet. Shaky and dizzy, as he approached Juen'tal. He looked down at the elf with a mixture of sadness and anger in his eyes.

He did not enjoy killing. Did not enjoy fighting.

Juen'tal was still conscious, somehow, and stared at him with still red tinted, angry eyes and Katerin still sat in front of him, staring with wide eyes.

Fykes took a deep breath and raised his sword.

*

Katerin stood between them with a pronounced limp, placing a hand on Fykes' chest.

"Katerin," he coughed. "Move."

"No," she stared at him. "You already beat him. Let it go."

He looked at her with a hard expression, as Juen'tal grinned up at him from the floor, blood covering his teeth.

"Just let it go," Katerin said, her eyes pleading. "He's not in your way, anymore."

"My way? Katerin he's..." Fykes studied her face, he shook his head, sadness in his eyes.

"He's... this is a mistake." He turned and stumbled away, holding onto the wall.

Arjiah gave Katerin a look she could not decipher before turning on her heel and moving to Fykes' side.

Katerin waited a moment, before she turned to Juen'tal and crouched. Leaning over him, she laid a hand on his chest and the bleeding slowed, though it was not perfect and not fully healed. "This should at least keep you alive," she said, her voice a hoarse whisper.

"He's right. And you know it." Juen'tal watched her with a strange expression, wiping the blood from his face with the back of his hand. "So why stop him? Why heal me?" His voice still held that same, uncaring arrogance.

"You helped me before," she said, biting her lip. "I owed you."

He gave the expression that one might wear when they were sure they were being lied to, and she sighed.

That was not the only reason. But she could not put anything else into words. Killing him just seemed wrong. Wrong enough to disagree with the people who had watched her back for months now. "You should leave, before we come back," she said, standing with a grunt of pain.