Aaron
Part of me wanted to run away. Old Henry was seriously creeping me out. He went from a scary-looking old guy to someone who knew who we are and knew spells. I thought the Elders told us that barely anyone knew them anymore. I thought that we were the special ones, the ones with ancient magic coursing through our veins. Well, the Elders were wrong, because this weird old dude sure knows his spells.
Katherine stood up, one hand on the hilt of her sword. "Wait," she said to Lucian, who looked like he was about to charge at Old Henry. "Mr. Henry, sir, you must be mistaken. What is this about masterminds and spell masters? And the evil lord? What do you mean he's on our trail? We're only just visiting this village."
Old Henry stroked his beard and grinned at Katherine. "Ah, my child, trying to dissuade me, eh? Nice try, Lewis, but it ain't going to work on me." A weird expression flashed over Katherine's face.
"How did you know I was a Lewis?" she demanded.
"I can see it in you, child," said Old Henry. "The same stormy grey eyes, the same fierce expression, even the same way you move about, the way you carry yourself. Just like you parents."
"You knew my parents?"
"Knew? Ha, I was practically their mentor," Old Henry snorted. "A pair of bright, adventurous kids they were. Sometimes took neck-breaking risks that nearly drove me mad with worry, but they were good kids. And now their child is here again."
"Stop. You're distracting us. What exactly do you know?" Rachel cut in.
"I know about the Rosewood Prophecy and that you guys are the chosen seven. I know that you guys barely managed to escape out of the Academy, and are trying to find the evil lord's stronghold before they find you. But frankly, you're already failing at that," Old Henry said.
"Who are you exactly? You're not just the man at the mill," said Katherine, pulling out her sword. "Stop distracting us with idle words. Either spit out the truth or let us go."
Instead of answering, Old Henry's hand suddenly flew open in Indigo's direction. Something silver streaked through the air. I pushed Indigo to the ground just as a small dart whizzed past and embedded itself in the wood wall behind her. Shiiiing! Lucian, Jason, and Rachel unsheathed their swords, the metallic sound ringing through the building. "There's seven of us and one of you," Jason growled. "Do you really want to see what we're capable of?"
"Oh, how amusing," laughed Old Henry. "But you see, I can take care of all of you with just one spell." Before they could react, Old Henry had stood up and flung a circle of silver darts at us. Clang! Clang! Jason shielded Ashley with his body as Lucian knocked several to the floor and Katherine sent most of them flying back towards the old man. Indigo and I leapt up from the floor where we were crouched and drew our weapons. The seven of us stood fanned out, weapons drawn.
Surprisingly agile for his age, Old Henry bent backwards and let the darts glide over himself, harmless. Straightening again, he raised an amused eyebrow at the seven swords pointed towards him and the battle stances.
"Stupefacio!" He shouted as Ashley yelled at the exact same time, "Topplio!" The two spells met in midair and exploded in a shower of sparks. Both of them had their index finger pointed at the other side. Old Henry stumbled back as Ashley staggered a little. Jason's arm shot out to steady her. Old Henry had shot a stun spell at us as Ashley tried to make him topple over.
"Impressive," Old Henry said as he regained his balance. "But can you match this?!" His arms were in the sky waving complicated runes as he shouted out incantations. Ashley tried her best to protect us against the spells the old man was weaving, throwing out shield spell after shield spell. But she could only protect us so much. During a lull in the spells, Old Henry attacked. One moment he was there drawing ancient shapes in the air, the next he was twirling double swords and coming at us full speed.
I was there to block his attacks, along with Jason and Lucian. Together, the three of us tried to push him back. But Old Henry only went faster, whipping out moves I'd never seen before, at a rate I thought impossible. One second a sword would be slashing through the air towards you, the next his other sword would be trying to stab you in the gut. He was unpredictable. We couldn't beat him, even with three of us.
I summoned a gust of wind secretly and tried to blow him away. To my surprise, Old Henry spun in a circle and drew an infinity symbol in the air with his two swords. I was thrown backwards and crashed into the wall near the door. Gosh, that was painful! I lurched to my feet and headed back. I was not going to be beaten by an old man.
Flames appeared in Lucian's free hand. With a flick of his wrist, a column of fire shot out from his palm. Jason sent a burst of ice. The two elements met and a wave of water went for Old Henry. It should have drowned him for sure. But again, Old Henry bested us. With another symbol, the tide turned—literally—and sent Lucian and Jason slamming into the wall, carried by the wave. Rachel and Ashley were trying to get the door open with spells and various ideas. Indigo—wait where was Indigo? And Katherine?
A figure jumped down from the top of the stairs, swooping towards Old Henry. A shower of wheat grains poured out from the sack that Indigo was carrying as she swung by a rope around and around Old Henry. The grains battered him, and he was momentarily blinded. Angry, he waved his sword around blindly and one of them sliced the rope that Indigo was holding on to. With a cry, Indigo fell from two stories up, her arms flailing in vain.
"Indigo!!" Lucian and Jason shouted out in alarm, afraid. Rachel and Ashley whipped around. One of them screamed. Even Old Henry paused, looking up in horror. I ran beneath Indigo and dropped my sword, trying to catch her. Please let me catch her. Please don't let her break her neck and die...
"Oof!" Indigo's weight and momentum made both of us crash to the floor, with me trying to be her landing pad so I would absorb most of the impact. Our arms tangled and our heads knocked together. I thought I saw stars. My back hurt and my legs felt like they were crushed.
"Thanks Aaron," Indigo gasped as she tried to disentangle herself from me. "You saved my life."
"Of course," I replied weakly. "Glad you're okay."
"Indigo! Give me your sword!" Katherine's voice came. Indigo grabbed mine, which was nearby, and threw it across the room. It flew straight and true, right towards Old Henry, who was about to get impaled. He dropped to the floor and the sword flew by, right into Katherine's waiting hand. As Old Henry straightened, Katherine charged, holding both her sword and mine.
CLANG! Four swords met in midair. Old Henry and Katherine locked eyes for a split second. Her stormy grey eyes were filled with determination and fire. His electric blue eyes were of amusement and challenge. Then their swords separated, and they moved in time to a deadly dance. I helped Indigo to her feet. A drenched Lucian and Jason stood, dripping water. Rachel and Ashley tried relentlessly to open the door.
Katherine was indeed the warrior. She managed to block each and every one of Old Henry's attacks. While Lucian, Jason, and I failed to battle efficiently with one blade, Katherine was dishing out stabs at a pace that matched Old Henry's. She twirled, stabbed, jumped, and spun, with the two blades flashing. Old Henry seemed a bit surprised that he couldn't get rid of her as easily as he had did with the rest of us. I could see him getting frustrated. And did fear just flicker in his eyes?
I was starting to wonder why he didn't just draw a symbol and blast Katherine away, but then I took a closer look and understood. With two swords, Katherine was able to stop Old Henry from drawing runes by repeatedly trying to disarm and hurt him. He had to block her constant attacks, with no time to free even one hand to draw a sign. If he tried, Katherine's blade would come out of nowhere and knock him off track. Old Henry had to constantly protect himself from Katherine's fatal blows. How could he risk a deadly stab to draw his symbols?
Kick, stab, turn, dodge, slice...Katherine was constantly moving, never in one place for long. Watching the two of them was making me dizzy. Old Henry was fast. But Katherine was just as fast, if not faster. I'd never seen her wield two swords before, but dang, she's good. Soon both of them became a blur, with flashes as the swords glinted in a slant of sunlight and smudges of colored clothing: Blue for Katherine, gray and beige for Old Henry. In the back of my mind, I was worried that Katherine would get hurt by the moving blades. She's good, but Old Henry freaking knew runes and witchcraft. Katherine could fight, but she couldn't use spells like Ashley to protect herself. If Old Henry manages to get one arm free—
Behind me, I could hear Lucian pulling and banging on the door in frustration. ("Why can't we get this damn door open?!") Ashley was shooting spells at it in rapid fire. I was surprised the door hadn't exploded yet. Speaking of which, it didn't react to any of her spells. How could that be?
"Aaron, look." Indigo grabbed my arm suddenly. I looked at her in alarm. "What is it?"
"Look at Old Henry, then look at Katherine. What do you see?" she said urgently.
"Uh, they're both going really fast?" I peered at the two, still fighting. Chairs were getting knocked over, and they kicked up wheat grains that spun in the air like snowflakes.
"No. Look at their expressions. Something is wrong," said Indigo. I looked closer.
"Katherine looks determined. Old Henry looks...he looks smug?"
"Exactly! He's planning something! He's got something nasty up his sleeve!" exclaimed Indigo. "Katherine is in danger!"
No sooner did those words escape her lips when something happened. I couldn't see clearly what had happened—they were going too fast—but Old Henry faltered, or maybe slowed for a fraction of a second. In that split second, Katherine's blade came flying towards him, swooping in for a death blow. It would've killed him instantly. Except Old Henry didn't even try to block it. Just as the tip of Katherine's sword nearly reached his chest, Old Henry slid to the side and his leg kicked out. Katherine, who was going too fast to stop, let out a cry and tripped. Her arms, flailing, she tried to regain her balance. Just as she was wobbling, Old Henry kicked her again and drew a quick symbol with his free hand. Katherine toppled backwards and one of her swords went flying out of her hand straight up into the air.
Katherine fell, hard, onto the concrete floor. I heard a sickening crunch. Old Henry, who suddenly seemed so tired and frail, staggered back and plopped onto the floor, unable to get back up. Katherine's arm seemed to be bent at a funny angle. So did her leg. She was covered with scratches, and a thin line of blood was seeping through her shirt on her right forearm. Her hair had fallen out of her neat ponytail, and her face was contorted in pain and horror.
"Aaron!" Indigo clutched at my arm. I followed her horrified gaze upwards, at Katherine's sword that flew out of her hand. It was falling, vertically, its deadly tip pointing at the earth. Right at Katherine, who was unable to move. Fear and pain had pinned her to the floor.
"Katherine!" Ashley screamed. A shot blasted from her finger, but in her panic she missed. Dimly I heard Lucian and Jason and Rachel shouting something, fear in their voices. Blood pounded in my ears. Even Old Henry tried feebly to do something, but he was too worn out by that fight. The sword was falling, falling, faster and faster...
Katherine closed her eyes. The sword dropped.
A/N: So, how do you guys like the story so far? How's the action? Sorry about that cliffhanger, I'll try to update next week and not leave y'all hanging for too long...;) Anyway, I'm pretty busy this week because of music tests and school work (ughhhh) but I think I can manage to write a chapter or two. Please don't forget to comment, vote, and share it with your friends! It'll be great if this story gets more reads! Thanks!