Five Little Sacrifices

Chapter 19

Yukino didn't hear a thing what Ever was saying inside the trap but she could see she was furious. She could guess that this happened because Ever got something in her eye.

"Um... Seems like Freed's rules don't consider getting something in your eye as an exception for us to blink", Yukino said, even though she knew Ever couldn't hear her. And even though she was happy for her victory, she could see why the brunette was frustrated. It wasn't really fair.

"I'm going to kick Freed's ass when I see him next time", Ever growled angrily, looking how Yukino left.

Rufus was still running and why wouldn't he, when there was a revengeful dragon slayer just behind him. He was really lucky when he noticed that even though Laxus seemed to be faster runner than he was, the bigger man was not that agile to move around when the ground was rough to walk. So he used that as his advantage and did his best to keep them in an area where there were lots of rocks, tree trunks, bushes and other things to slow Laxus down.

Rufus jumped over some rocks, a little stream and he climbed up a small cliff faster than he had ever dreamed he would be able to climb, running right through some bushes and he didn't even care if his clothes might get slightly ripped. If he would get caught, Laxus would rip his limbs off after all so tearing his clothes a little bit wasn't that big of a deal.

He slightly smirked when he heard how Laxus was already falling down behind him, hearing him cussing and shouting something from under the cliff. But his luck wasn't long lasting when suddenly the ground disappeared from under his foot and in the next second he was already rolling down the hill.

When the finally stopped, he carefully rolled over and got on his knees panting heavily. It felt like nothing was broken, that was good. He had to start moving immediately or Laxus would find him, definitely he heard all the rustles and noises from him falling down and he might appear here at any second.

Finally the memory mage managed to stumble on his feet, wiping some dirt from his face and he looked around. His eyes widened when he could hardly believe what he was seeing.

There was a little opening between big trees and bushes, with rocks covered by moss. And there, between the biggest rocks was Bickslow's visor shining in the sun. Just waiting for someone to pick it up. He had accidentally managed to find the flag!

Rufus glanced towards the top of the hill but he didn't see Laxus, though he did hear him moving somewhere there. It would be stupid not to use this moment. He had to run away from Laxus anyway, probably during the whole game so why not do that while holding the flag they had to bring to their home base?

Rufus smirked and he grabbed the visor – that was actually surprisingly heavy – and he looked around to find out where was north, starting to run again towards the right compass point after finding it. Who knows, he might actually be able to do this!

Freed stood up in the trap he had created so they could talk and Rogue did the same.

"I hope I managed to help you at least a little bit, even though what I know is not much", the rune mage said and Rogue smiled.

"You did, it's easier when you can talk with someone about these things than just ponder them all by yourself", he said with a nod.

"That is true. I can also ask these things from Porlyusica if you want, but I don't think she knows more than what we know right now. We can only wait and see what might happen next."

"I understand", Rogue said. "Sting already told Rufus to go through some books but I don't believe he will find any information. So our conversation is now over", he said when Freed let the trap around them fall. "So now we are again enemies in this game."

"Should we walk away on our different paths, or see which one of us is allowed to leave first?" Freed asked.

"Since we are already here, why not see how things will go?"

"I agree."

For a moment they stared at each other and in a same second they both bolted towards each other. They both were swift, strong and calculating. They had the ability to predict what might be the next move their opponent probably would use and they both were equally defensive as well as aggressive.

Freed smirked looking at Rogue.

"I will slip out a little secret for you", he said and blocked another hit. "Ever since I couldn't control my magic while being pregnant, I decided I would make sure I would never be too vulnerable even if I couldn't use my magic again one reason or another."

"Interesting", Rogue smiled and he dodged a kick.

"So don't let me catch you", Freed smirked. "Because if you do, you should know that if fighting with pure power", he said and managed to catch Rogue's collar, using the shadow dragon slayer's own body weight when he was trying to attack him and pulled him over his shoulder. "I can take down even Laxus!" Freed stated and his fist hit with blasting power on Rogue's chest, crashing him brutally against the ground and causing the nearby trees to shake.

Some leaves fell softly down on the grass around them and Freed straightened his ascot scarf around his neck, looking at Rogue who was lying on the ground, panting heavily and gasping for air.

"Don't try to get up", the rune mage instructed. "You will faint if you try."

"I think I broke", Rogue managed to chuckle wearily and coughed. "I can believe when you say that might take down even Laxus."

"Of course that alone wouldn't do it, but at least it's not anymore plain clear which one of us would win if magic is not allowed."

"I wonder if I can get up even when my prison will disappear."

"You'll be fine, I know you're a lot tougher than that, Rogue", Freed smiled. "Just take it easy for the next ten minutes", he said and the rune walls appeared, trapping the shadow dragon slayer inside them.