Briar Rose - Taekook

Chapter 29

The picture above is what the weapons look like. Enjoy! :)

XXIX: Taehyung

Within ten seconds of me drawing my scim, Lucius attacks. He's more impatient than usual, but his strokes are far from harmless. Every move is calculated to make sure that it inflicts the most pain possible. I dodge his first attack, before lashing out at him with my scims. He dances away from me without bothering to cross his blades, then flings a throwing knife at me. It misses me by a hair. Before he can reach for another, I rush at him, landing a kick on his chest that sends him sprawling.

As I draw two daggers from my pocket, Lucius scrambles up, gripping his scim firmly. He vaults towards me with full force, using darting strokes to try and distract me. He growls with irritation when I block his attack and score a hit on his arm. When he tries to counter, I simply fly five meters away. Lucius snarls. "Still up to your tricks, Taehyung? They won't help you here." He whirls his scim above his head, before striking down. I deflect his blade, but the shock of it sends pain up my wounded arm. I hiss at the sting.

Lucius feints with his scim, but when I block, he swipes my feet out from under me, and his blade comes down. I roll away, narrowly avoiding death by impalement. Two more throwing stars whistle towards me, and though I deflect one, the other cuts into my bicep. I bite back a shout of pain.

Not waiting until Lucius gets the chance to gut me, I kick out with my legs, feeling a rush of triumph when my foot connects with his stomach. Throwing him off me, I scour the ground for my scims, finding them just in time as Lucius presses another attack.

We go back and forth in the fighting circle, each doing our best to kill the other, but never succeeding. Our skill level is matched, and we know the other so well that we can predict their movements. Lucius pants slightly, and murder glimmers in his eyes. He wants this finished.

"Tae, watch out!" Jungkook's frantic yell sounds from the edges of the circle, and I lunge to the side, turning just in time to see a knife hurtling through the air where my neck had been a moment ago. I hear a cry and see that Jungkook has been forced on his knees, the guards holding him literally crushing his wrists in a death grip. One mutters something into his ear, and Jungkook flinches.

An animal like snarl splits my lips, and I advance towards them, with the full intention of cutting their throats open. But Lucius blocks my way, sending a vicious assault of throwing stars that has me backing away.

"To get to the boy, first you have to get through me." Lucius says, ducking as I throw a dagger at his head. Rage fuels my movements, and I fight back with more ferocity. I channel my anger into steely efficiency, kicking his scim away and making him fall. As his hand makes contact with the floor, I step on it, feeling the satisfying crunch of bone underneath my foot. Lucius grits his teeth, but doesn't cry out.

I lean my face close to his, relishing the fear that spikes through his eyes for just a fleeting moment. "How does it feel," I hiss, "To have your fingers broken like this? Hearing the bone crackle and snap? Did you know, Lucius, that with the pressure applied just right, a set of pliers can be used to break every single bone in your hand? Perhaps you can be my first tester of this theory, seeing as you've already got the experience."

"Damn you," Lucius spits, as he struggles to get his hand out from underneath my foot. I press down harder. "Damn you to the hells." His scim comes out of nowhere, and I don't move my leg away fast enough as the steel cuts into my flesh. This time, I yell out in pain. Lucius takes the moment to wiggle his hand out from under my shoe and sends a vicious swipe up to my head. I deflect it with my own scim, but just barely in time.

"Your blood was so sweet," Lucius murmurs. "That I remember. The one week when our centurions cut off our daily blood supply at Bloodcrest, so many of us died. I almost did too, but you gave me your own blood to help me survive. Is the mark still there, Tae? The mark of my fangs?"