2 #2
“If I win, you come with me. If you win, I’ll consider letting you run free and you’ll have to face your commanders.”
“Interesting.” I say, narrowing my eyes and tilting my head to the side.
“Can you fight in that tunic?”
“Try me.” He says with a shrug.
I palm my dagger, gripping it tighter than before as the King watches carefully.
He takes this as me agreeing to his challenge and pulls his hands from his pockets. We start circling, waiting for one of us to pounce.
Gods it would be nice to have powers back.
Whatever bomb they threw stopped the man's levitating powers and my invisibility powers.
I have seen a few contraptions like that but they can all be so different depending on the alchemist that crafted it.
“Since we may be potentially working together, maybe you could answer my question from earlier?” I ask, still circling.
“If I win, I’ll answer all of your questions.” He states sincerely.
“That’s tempting, though how can you expect me to be loyal to you?” I sneer at him.
“I have my ways.”
And arrogance too, but I guess that’s a no on figuring out how long I’m without powers.
I’ve been on a few missions where my invisibility has been taken from me. It was actually one of my firsts with the Agency. I hadn’t even known that it was something that could happen until it did. I was punished for not knowing as it almost cost us the mission, I only got out of there on pure luck.
But it had been worth it, as that’s when I started increasing my training for combat and stamina. I needed to know how to protect myself, in case that happened again.
I make the first move as he circles near his soldier and throw my dagger. Missing the King’s shoulder by mere inches but making its mark in the soldier's neck behind him. His eyes widen as he grunts and drops to the floor.
“You missed.” The King hisses at me.
“Maybe it wasn’t you, I was aiming for.” I taunt.
He considers this and looks back at his soldier, who’s now on the ground. Presumably dead by the lack of noise coming from him.
A small smile forms on his lips, but there’s nothing friendly about the gesture.
With that, the King lunges forward, so fast I almost don’t catch what he’s doing. He goes for a kick to my stomach, which causes me to stumble back from the force and the pain now flooding my torso.
I regain my footing and grab my last dagger from my sheaths, charging forward.
He meets me in the middle, blocks my attempt to stab his shoulder and twists me around so my back is on his front.
“Seen that move before love, try again.” He whispers in my ear.
I grunt at him and pick up a leg and drag my boot down his shin. The King hisses as he shifts his leg back in pain but it's not enough for him to let go. So I heave my head back and headbutt his nose.
He swears under his breath as he releases my arm from his hold. I quickly spin around and kick him in the process he grunts and stumbles backwards but doesn’t fall.
Frustrated, he gets down low and kicks my legs out from under me. Landing me flat on my back and temporarily knocking the air out of me.
I try to draw in a breath, struggling to fill my lungs.
Wasting no time, he gets on top of me, straddling me so I can’t move my hips.
The King brings his hands to my throat with enough pressure to restrict air but not enough to kill me.
I thrash my arms around, pretending that I’m trying to get him off, so he doesn’t suspect my next move.
That’s when I quickly bring my dagger up to his chest, act like I’m still struggling to get him away and swipe at the thread that holds the artifact. It falls down at my hip with a soft thud.
I swipe my dagger across his hands, drawing blood.
The King grunts in a mix of frustration and pain. He moves his hands away from my throat and tries to grab my arms to restrain me.
I quickly pocket the artifact before throwing my dagger and hitting his soldier behind him in the shoulder.
He yells as he yanks the blade out, the blood now coating his hand.
“That’s enough Xander, she’s going to kill all our men.” The King's commander states bluntly, clearly not amused in the slightest.
The King doesn’t take his eyes off me but finally is able to grab my hands and pins them above my head.
“What was your mission?” He demands, leaning in closer to me.
“As if I would ever share that with you.” I sneer at him.
“Was it to assassinate the King?” The commander asks from behind the King.
“You’ll never know.” I grunt out, fighting against the King's hands pinning me to the floor.
The King gets off me and pulls me up roughly, I feel my body start to cave and give in.
Gods I’m running out of adrenaline.
He’s holding me by my clothes, staring down at me with those lethal blue eyes.
My body starts tingling, which at first I think might just be my body's reaction to the hits I’ve taken.
But then I feel it.
My power is coming back.
I feel the thrums of energy beneath my skin, rising to the surface and begging to be used.
I quickly turn invisible and shove his hands off me.
“For fucks sake.” The commander says as the King is looking around furiously.
But I’m already at the tent door, which is held open by the debris.
As soon as I’m out of the tent, I sprint it as fast and far as I can into the bushes where they won’t be able to track me.
I smile slightly to myself as I reach into my pocket and hold the artifact.