No, it’s up to us.
Marcus presses something into my hand: a dagger, long bladed and sharp edged.He has a short, leaf bladed sword, similar to the wooden one he was using to practice with me.
I can see the figures outside moving closer to the main house now, maybe half a dozen in total, all wearing dark armor and carrying weapons.One kneels to spread something on the ground.It’s only as the first flames lick up that I realize it must be oil.
Marcus curses now and seems to concentrate, reaching out a hand to the night sky.I realize what he’s doing as clouds roll in, rain starting to pour down in a storm that’s almost blinding in its intensity.It’s easy to forget that Marcus’ powers aren’t just about lightning, but about the full fury of the storm.
The sudden storm is enough to quell the growing fire, but it does more than that, too.It’s so clearly the product of magic that it gives us away.It shows the intruders that Marcus is awake and aware of their presence.
I half expect them to turn and run, scared off by the use of magic against them.Instead, they draw blades, one of them moving to kick the door.That suggests something more determined and professional than simple criminals, or even a few thugs hired at random.
“We need to move,” I whisper to Marcus.“We can’t be trapped here, and if they get inside, your servants are in danger.”
He nods.The door to the villa is holding for now, but I doubt it will last long in the face of the assault it’s under.Already, another man is moving forward, and the glowing image of a key seems to be forming before him.
I slip out of the window, hanging by my arms, knowing that I can’t simply leap down the way I would if I had my full powers.With them, I would steal climbing ability or grace from some nearby animal, landing lightly.I would borrow the eyes of an owl or the stranger senses of a bat, learning everything that’s going on around me.As it is, I’m forced to drop and roll, coming up and looking around with eyes that are limited to a normal human range of vision.
Marcus follows me, but I’m already moving in the dark, making my way to the spot where he and I have been training so I can pick up the staff I’ve been using.I tuck the dagger into my belt, readying the longer weapon.Even in a fight in the dark like this, I don’t want to kill unless I must.
Marcus lands with considerably more noise than me, and that sound is enough to draw the attention of the men attacking the villa.One of them points Marcus’ way as he’s clearly framed in the glow from one of the magical orbs around the villa’s grounds.
“There he is,” the man says, pointing.“Kill him!”
Figures charge forward through the darkness at Marcus.Above, the storm is still raging, obscuring everyone’s vision still more than the dark of the night, even as the rain soaks me to the bone.I’m grateful for the storm, though, because it muffles my footsteps as I come at the charging group from the side.
I swing my staff, cracking it against one man’s skull and then disappearing into the darkness again as the others turn towards the direction I came from.With the full powers of a beast whisperer, I might have been able to simply charge into the men and bring them down in a fury of speed and strength.I might have been able to manipulate their animal instincts to make them flee in terror.I could have set creatures on them from every direction.
As it is, I must slip into the dark, hoping not to be seen.
Even as I have their attention, a blast of lightning comes from Marcus, striking one of his would be killers and leaving him twitching on the ground.I know as well as anyone how much that attack hurts.
I takethatopportunity to charge back into the remaining four.It’s a risk.Four against one is always a dangerous prospect, simply because of the number of angles enemies can attack from.I’m hoping Marcus will be able to help me with at least some of them.
I spin my staff in a blur of attacks that keeps my enemies on the back foot.A couple of them break off to go after Marcus, but the remaining two work with careful coordination, each covering the openings the other leaves.Both of them clearly have magic.One breathes out and noxious gas fills the air, forcing me to hold my breath as I dive clear of it.The other throws a small dart of power that grazes my shoulder, making me wince in pain as it cuts me.
I deflect the sword stroke that follows it, sweeping my attacker’s legs from under him and bringing my staff down hard to knock him senseless.I glance back in time to see Marcus thrust his blade through one attacker’s armor, plunging it deep into his heart.I have no time to see more than that, though, because my own remaining assailant is already swinging his sword at my throat.I knock it aside, then dodge another blast of that noxious breath.
I leap back, but even as I do so, I thrust my staff forward, jabbing the end of it into his throat like a spear.It’s almost as effective.The assassin gasps and coughs, seeming to swallow his next batch of noxious gas.I assumed he’d have immunity to his own magic, but judging by the way he claws at his own throat, his face turning first green, then purple, that isn’t the case.The assassin keels over on the grass, convulsing as he dies.
Above me, the storm is abating, so I spin back towards Marcus, hoping to find him standing over a last, fallen foe.Instead, I see one of the assassins standing over Marcus, a line of shadowy power connecting the two.That power seems to be draining the very life from Marcus, turning him ashen faced as energy flows out of him along the strand of darkness.
There’s no time to run over there.By the time I get to Marcus, he might already be dead.I draw the knife from my belt instead, feeling the weight of it in my hand.
“Stop!”I call out to the assassin.
He glances at me and grins in the light of the glow globe, not slowing his attack on Marcus even for an instant.I have no more time, and so I do the only thing I can think of.I throw the knife, so that it turns end over end between us, all my strength behind the throw.
The assassin’s eyes widen as it slams into his throat, embedding itself deeply.He grasps at his neck as if he might be able to hold his life inside himself, but blood is already pouring between his fingers.He falls to his knees and then collapses sideways.
Even as he does so, the men I stunned with blows of my staff are starting to stand.I run to Marcus, snatching up his sword in my left hand.I snap my staff in half, holding the jagged end of it in my right.Adrenaline is pumping through me now, and the need to protect Marcus at all costs.If they come at me again, I won’t be striking just to incapacitate, but to kill.
Perhaps the assassins somehow sense that, or perhaps they simply see a beast whisperer and former champion of the games standing bloodied and furious, ready to fight.Whatever the reason, they turn and run, heading through an open side gate, out into the city beyond.
My first instinct is to chase them, the way a hunting cat would take off after mice, but I hold that instinct in check.Marcus is more important right now.The connection between him and the assassin I killed has faded, but I’m still terrified for him as he groans and sits up.
“Marcus, are you all right?”I ask.
Marcus manages to nod.“I’ll be fine.”
