Fantasy Shorts

Fated Fighters

"You were once a captive, too. Care to change sides?" He laughed, crouching and swinging at her ankles. She jumped over it towards him. "You'd get to be with me again."

"How dare you." She barely spoke, trying to hold her rage in. He was using emotion to cloud her thoughts, she knew it. She cut through it, and his flesh on his unarmored thigh.

"How dare you, destroying the flesh of the one you love." He shook his head as he slammed the sword down with surprising speed. He missed, but her footing was staggered from the quake it created. He followed up with an attack to her side, causing her to yell. She was flung yards away, sliding through the dirt.

She grit her teeth and checked the damage. Her armor absorbed the blow, but it would not hold many hits like that. Her insides were sore; the blunt force had definitely bruised her ribs, if not shattered them. He wasted no time closing the distance again between them. He jumped, intending to use the increased downward force to deal even more damage.

She rolled, engulfing herself in the dust that flew up from his impact. Opposite her sword hand, a dagger appeared from her sleeve. Aella rose and slashed at the areas on his backside that were unprotected. Minor wounds, but all the same they leaked like they should.

Growling, he swung around. A fist connected with the hilt of her sword just in time. She pushed the attack away with both hands on her weapon. As she did so he brought his sword hand back at her. She crouched down, letting the attack ruffle her hair. Putting a foot behind her for stability, she made a jab at his armpit. Unsatisfying to them both, the metal slid easily through his armpit. He wrapped his arm around the sword, holding it firmly in place. He traded his sword hand and forced Aella to let go of her main weapon with the threat of another swing.

She backpedaled, putting room between them. Her thoughts raced as he withdrew her sword from his skin, darkness flowing from it. "Can't say that I'm good at dual wielding, but given the circumstances, I'll give it a try." Intimidatingly, he licked his own fluids off of her sword. Her stomach turned.

He walked menacingly toward her, thinking that she had no other methods of attack other than the annoying dagger she had pulled out earlier. She used the time to collect her thoughts and her breath.

Aella was resourceful. She kept more than just daggers on her. Nothing was quite as dangerous as her trusty sword, Elme, but that was a problem she would solve next. She took off her belt, which caused Isaac--or the god--to raise an eyebrow. It doubled as a whip, the end made of a special material that was sharp and splintered. Isaac moved into a sprint to reach her before she could ready herself, but he had taken too much time.

She lassoed the end around his knee and pulled as hard as she could. The knee gave easily, not having had time to steady itself from the assault, and bled as he fell. He pushed against the ground where the whip was attached, pinning it to him. She replied by pulling herself toward him for a close encounter.

He had expected this move, and countered with the hilt of her own sword to her gut. She flew backwards, winded. Pieces of her armor fell off as she rolled, revealing that the blow she had taken earlier had made a cut, and was bleeding. He had disarmed her twice. It was time to change to something else.

She threw a sphere down between the two of them. He rolled his eyes as it exploded and released a surprising amount of smoke for its size. Instead of searching for her, he listened. Having used this strategy before, she moved slowly and pointedly, making as little sound as possible.

"I'm growing tired of this game of yours." He grunted, swinging around him arbitrarily.

"You are the one who started it!" She screamed at him, verbally and physically as he completed his swing. She had jumped onto him from behind, one arm around his neck. The other hand, dagger within, began detaching armor from body parts. Unable to effectively reach her, Isaac jumped backwards and slammed her against the ground. Feeling gravity change, Aella steadied herself for the impact and remained undeterred.