Spellsword

A Dagger

"Armor. On. Now" I said quietly but with haste, standing up and pulling on my knapsack.

"That's not really where I thought you were going with..." I hushed him with a gesture of my hand, walking slowly toward the hatch, beginning to make out the muffled sounds of voices.

There was more than one up there, but how many? I turned back to Teldryn, who was already standing and picking up his armor.

"They aren't trying the hatch yet..." I said, taking one side of his plate and lifting it over his head, "How long have we been here? Maybe the snow fall has covered our tracks, the door?" As I whispered my thoughts I buckled the sides of Teldryn's plate as he pulled on his gauntlets and saw to those.

"We should wait until they are gone, or until they find us..." Teldryn began, now lifting up his scabbard and buckling it around his waist, we two preparing together as often we had done so in the past. "But then... Where would be the fun in that?"

I flicked the last of his buckles, and we both smiled at one another, standing up straight.

Thud, thud. Mutter. Crack.

They weren't trying the hatch, but they were on it, and surely the sound of wood churning beneath boot was enough to give it away. Teldryn swooped his arm over - albeit with a slight wince - and unsheathed his sword. His other hand lit with an orange glow not dissimilar to the hearth that still flickered beside us.

"Oh now wait" said I, "Where are your manners?" I brought my own hands up, one lighting within the palm almost immediately. I had come into my fire magic first and so naturally that incantation ignited before the other. But not so long after a silvery blue mist glowed upon my other palm.

"Yes," Teldryn gleamed, his face clear with the magic lights flickering beneath. I considered his helmet laying on the table for a moment, but I knew him too well to have assumed he hadn't considered it himself already. "Ladies first."

"That's why I pay you."

There was a sudden crack, a blunt axe hitting something metal. Followed by the wrenching of the hatch door. In fell a heavier dusting of snow than before, followed by a natural rose coloured light. And then the shadow of a face.

"Funny," Teldryn considered, heavy with sarcasm, "I thought I had locked that..."

"They're down here!" it cried over confidently, "We've got you now, might as well give up!"

"That was your first mistake!" Teldryn cried, extending his arm in such a way that a snake might reel back and then go for the kill. From it, three separate balls of flame erupted and pelted toward the voice. One hit the wall of the cellar - the edge of the hatch itself - singeing and glowing orange as it steamed. The other two successfully met with what had undoubtedly been the face of the man. Whether it killed him or not, it did throw him backwards, his harsh outline disappearing from sight.

I shot a quick look back at Teldryn, to which he responded with a shrug. "Sorry" he smiled.

The commotion above was not heavy, and I heard only one other voice as it assisted in bringing the shadowed figure back to it's feet. He immediately returned to the hatch, uttering some hateful words and attempting to fling a hand axe into the confines of the cellar. As he did, he grabbed the entrance for support and screamed out in pain.

He'd burned his hand on the magic of Teldryn's missed blast, the action of which Teldryn found hilarious. So hilarious that I had to swoop and kick the leg out beneath my companion, so that the somewhat misjudged flung-axe now hurtling toward him only just missed him. With a strange clang, it came to land partly embedded in the bedpost.