The Foolhardies 133 Blood Alley

Round two against the Masked Rider was something I didn't think I'd be doing anytime soon. Yet here I was about to throw down with the sneaky little drow who'd supported Ardeen Spellweaver in killing his father.

I spent a few seconds scrutinizing my opponent and noticed that she'd changed her look somewhat.

She still wore that same ebony mask and hooded cloak she had during the last war, but she'd traded in her blackened steel chest plate for a snug leather vest and pants that showed off her lithe form.

I fixed my stance into the high-guard—both arms raised high over my head with both my hands gripping on the falchion's sword hilt in order to keep the shadowblade upright.

The masked rider mimicked my movements.

I exhaled a long breath and then did something I hadn't done in any of my previous duels, I sent out my killing intent first.

Well, it might not have actually been killing intent, more of a milder version really. Something like, I'm not going to kill you but I am going to hurt you badly.

Still, I think my message came across, and as the pressure of my not-so-killing intent reached the masked rider, I could see the surprise in her eyes. I don't think she'd expected me to have a much keener blade in the few short months were apart.

However, that was all the reaction I got. And in return, the killing intent she sent back at me certainly gave an I-will-see-you-dead kind of vibe.

But I held my ground as well. I wasn't the Dean of old. I was Dean Two-point-oh.

I gripped tighter on my falchion's hilt and waited for that instant to strike.

A bead of sweat dripped down my forehead.

My opponent stood unmoving save for the calm rising and falling of her chest.

It seemed our battle of wits had begun. But I really wasn't the type to wait around.

I inhaled another deep breath, and after releasing it back into the night air, I took a long stride forward.

In that same instance, the masked rider pushed forward as well.

Our blades formed an arch as they came down ahead of us in that instant that we'd reached each other's range.

We each released a single stroke that promised death to one of us it hit properly.

I heard the swoos.h.i.+ng of shadowblades, felt the wind of my falchion's pa.s.sing caress my face, felt my weapon bite into something soft, and then the pain exploded out of my left arm as a gash was cut into it.

With grinding teeth I continued forward, pa.s.sing my opponent as I did. Despite the pain, my concentration peaked, and in the next half-second, I pivoted around and sent my falchion slas.h.i.+ng sideways.

The masked rider had once again mirrored my movements, and our swords clashed in the s.p.a.ce between us, shadowblades grinding against each other's edge.

Sparks flew.

In those few seconds where we were face to face, I saw the cut I'd made above her right shoulder though it didn't bleed as much as the gash she'd cut into my left forearm.

Our shadowblades flew past each other.

I twisted my grip to the right and sent my falchion slithering back where it came from.

Our shadowblades met again in the center, once more grinding against each other with sparks flying more violently than before as the vibration of my sword increased its pace.

I felt like if we'd stayed in a sword-lock, my falchion would have come out on top. She must have sensed it too because she'd pushed her blade to break contact.

There was a third slash from the both of us. This time, my falchion had come slas.h.i.+ng in on a more upward arc while hers leaned downward.

Sparks flew yet again.

The sound of steel grinding on steel like a chainsaw to a steel beam a.s.saulted our ears.

Yet neither blade broke through the other.

Then there was a fourth slash but this time, it was my falchion that came down from above and hers that rose from below.

This time, though, we'd stepped into the attack and drew closer to each other.

I looked at her face, saw the minuscule movements of her drawing back, giving me insight into her next move. So when she came back in for a head-b.u.t.t, I'd already pulled back.

Spirits, I love Fool's Insight, I thought, although my inner monologue might have been premature.

Pulling away had the double effect of unbalancing me for a second, and the masked rider failed to capitalize on that.

She kicked out at my inner leg, forcing my left leg to buckle and I found myself suddenly in a kneeling position.

I raised my falchion forward just in time to block her next katana slash. Then I pushed myself back up and pushed back against her sword.

She didn't resist my push. Instead, she'd let me move forward while spinning her own body around in order to catch my neck in a backward slash.

Luckily, Fool's Insight showed me it was coming, and so I ducked and avoided the attack that would have decapitated me.

I took this opportunity to switch to a single grip and then slash at her, but she'd pulled her stomach back before my shadowblade could reach her. At the same time, she'd sent the b.u.t.t of her katana cras.h.i.+ng down onto my head. I blocked this with my injured forearm.

"Yowzah," I hissed as she grazed the wound on my arm.

While I had her there, I reversed grip on my falchion and sent it slas.h.i.+ng back the path it had come from.

Unfortunately, she'd used her other arm to slam down onto the arm holding onto her sword like a hammer, breaking my stance and forcing me to withdraw my attack.

I was suddenly bent over, a position that would have been dangerous for most people. But, as my Fool's Insight was still active, even her flickering shadow was enough visual information for me to see guess her next move. So when her next slash came, I was already rolling away to the opposite side.

The sound of her blade cras.h.i.+ng against the stone floor reached my ears, and with another exhale of breath, I leaped to my feet and raised my falchion high in preparation for another attack. But when I gazed out into the alleyway, I realized that I'd lost my opponent.

The earlier maneuver had forced us to switch places, and now I was at the far end of the alleyway and she was deeper inside it with nothing to stop her from attacking the people who were previously behind me.

This is exactly what she did. Instead coming back toward me, she'd run the opposite direction and toward Aura and the twins hiding just inside the back door.

"Coward! Come back here and fight me!" I roared.

My challenge fell on deft ears.

"s.h.i.+t," I began to run toward them. "Aura, watch out!"

Not that I needed to warn her as there was no way she'd miss the murderous drow charging at her.

"Spirits of the sacred flame defend me from those who mean me harm," Aura chanted as she placed her Hearthwood Staff before her. "Breathe life into my s.h.i.+eld of flame!"

An arcane pattern of molten lines blazed to life in front of her and expanded itself into a round s.h.i.+eld whose edges grazed both sides of the wall.

"That's brilliant, Aura," I called to her.

"Spirits of hardened earth turn my rage into power," the masked rider chanted in accented common. "And make my fist into a Mighty Hammer."

Her left fist began to glow a bright green color.

"Holy Sh**," I breathed.

Instead of stopping to avoid Aura's fiery s.h.i.+eld, the masked rider pulled back her left fist, and as with a mighty heave, launched it forward right as she collided with Aura's s.h.i.+eld.

There was a resounding boom as both fairy magics collided against each other. The air pressure of the impact exploded outward, cracking the walls on either side, and rus.h.i.+ng through me as it pa.s.sed through the alleyway.

I fell to my knees as the pressure of the impact hit me. When I tried getting up again, I heard a second boom, and I glanced up to find that the masked rider had punched Aura's s.h.i.+eld a second time.

The wind came rus.h.i.+ng out toward me, and I covered my face with my arm to protect myself, but not before seeing the spidery cracks form across the surface of Aura's s.h.i.+eld.

"Dammit!" I yelled. "Move, Dean!"

I jumped to my feet just in time as a third resounding boom exploded out of yet another impact between Aura's flame s.h.i.+eld and the masked rider's magical fist.

This time, however, Aura's s.h.i.+eld flickered weakly. It was losing out in power against the hammer being struck against it.

Air rushed toward me again.

I raised my falchion high, and in the next breath, I sliced downward.

The pressure of my swing negated the pressure from the air rus.h.i.+ng toward me, and I was finally free to run forward.

However, by the time I'd closed the gap, Aura's s.h.i.+eld had already sputtered its last breath. There was now nothing between her and the masked rider.

How quickly I forgot that it was Aura who'd first trained me in the art of fighting fairies. And as she twirled her staff around, unleas.h.i.+ng the shadowblade hidden on its other end, I realized that I was panicking like a fool for nothing. Aura could most definitely handle things herself.

She thrust her spear forward, but the masked rider managed to dodge her attack by a hair's breadth.

She sliced down toward Aura with her katana while pulling her fist back at the same time.

Aura blocked the katana with her staff.

The masked rider began to launch her fist forward.

"No, you don't!" I leaped forward with my falchion raised high.

I slashed downward; catching the masked rider's left arm mid-flight and cutting a deep gash into her triceps area.

She screamed in pain, but at the same time, sent her katana slithering toward me.

Now, the old Dean would have been unprepared for this counterattack, but Dean two-point-oh was more experienced now.

I'd raised my sword just in time to parry her attack, and in the next breath, launched an attack from on high.

Fool's Insight had proven useful yet again, showing me within that short exchange the tiny cracks forming along the middle of her katana's shadowblade.

I didn't hesitate to capitalize on this. I sent my falchion careening down the flat of her blade and finally broke it in half.

As if she were in tune with my thoughts, Aura took this moment to attack. She stabbed her speartip into the masked rider's right leg, forcing the drow to scream a second time.

"You know, if you hadn't run away from our duel, you would still be just be fighting me," I joked.

She spat a mouthful of spit and blood into my face.

"Whoa, gross!" I yelled as I dodged the projectile.

It was my mistake. The masked rider had taken that time to back away from Aura and me.

Aura stepped in to stop her from running away, but the masked rider threw the broken katana at Aura, forcing her to stop and block the shattered blade.

This gave the masked rider enough time to turn around and run to the other end of the alleyway.

"Stop running away from me!" I yelled.

I began to chase after her but it was too late as she'd just melded into the shadows and disappeared from my sight and not even Fool's Insight could find her again.  

"She ran away from both of us, Dean," Aura reminded me.

I glanced over to her and noticed that her cheeks were flushed.

"I lack training," she complained. "Remind me to ask Azuma for some pointers."

"Sure," I said, grinning. "What's say we grab our dead and get out of here."