THE IMMORTAL: Dance with the Dragon

30: Betrayal

As Samara grabbed her sword, she saw at least a dozen black-clad attackers, wearing the same clothes as the ones in the mountains. They were coming quickly from behind a large rock formation from the east. One of them lay dead a few yards away from Rufus, a bullet wound in his head.

"Who are these guys?" Samara hissed to her friends.

Leela shook her head, frowning at the oncoming attackers while she tightened her grip around the hilt of her sword.

Samara looked down and saw Kit was still asleep. She kicked at the girl's foot to wake her up. Good thing she hadn't been asleep long or she probably would have slept through this fight too.

"Huh? Wha—?" Kit asked sleepily.

"Get your sword," Samara said as the attackers surrounded the campsite. Kit's eyes widened as she realized what was happening. She jumped into action, holding her sword in shaking hands.

The four stood back to back, facing their attackers as they circled them. Rufus had his gun ready, looking as if he was trying to decide if he should just start shooting now.

"What do we do?" Kit asked, sounding worried.

"Try not to die," Rufus replied, dread in his voice. "I don't have a lot of bullets left. There's too many of them."

Leela searched the area, looking for something they could use to get the upper hand. Her ice-blue eyes landed on the campfire that was starting to die out.

"Use the fire," she muttered.

"What?" Samara asked.

"We can use the fire." Leela repeated and sheathed her sword. Her hands glowed orange as she used magic to pull the flames from the logs. As she pulled, the fire grew.

Samara understood then. She put her sword away so her hands were free too. Pulling the already ignited flames would take less energy than conjuring them themselves. The two worked together, dragging the flames out of the fire and combining it with their own magic until there was a whirling belt of flames swirling around the four of them. The circular wall of fire formed a barrier between them and their attackers, who had stopped advancing toward them at the sight of the growing flames and the heat kissing their faces.

They had never attempted anything like this—Samara smiled at Leela. So much for hiding their magic. But they didn't have a choice now, did they?

Rufus tried not to gape at the girls' power. Sweat beaded on his forehead from the heat of the fire wall. He wiped it away. Kit shielded her face with the crook of her arm.

"On the count of three," Leela mumbled. "One, two—"

"THREE." They pushed the flames outward, the fire bursting around them like an explosion. Some of the attackers had already started to flee, but they didn't make it very far before the fire pulsed, sending the flames rushing out like a bomb and hitting several of the black-clad fighters. They fell to the ground.

Those that didn't get hit began to scatter, giving the companions a chance to spread out. Samara and Leela quickly drew their swords again. Rufus and Kit were ready to attack now too.

The attackers on fire dropped to the ground, rolling around while screaming, trying to put the flames out. Those that weren't injured turned around and continued their attack. Samara rushed out to meet one head on, swords clanging together in the dark. Why did they always attack them at night? She wanted to sleep. She wanted to see who she was fighting. Luckily they had the light of the moon tonight.

While she was fighting, Samara became distracted trying to keep an eye on Kit. The girl was doing well with her long knife but for how long?

Samara made sure to stay close by her in case she needed help.