The pounding of raindrops hitting the cobblestone street between the two groups seemed to quieten as another flash of lightning lit up the alleyway. In that split second, Kota noticed her hair was a little ruffled. She had a streak of blood coming from the left side of her forehead, running down her cheek. With a gaze fixed on them, the woman's gray eyes contemplated their fate.
Kota moved to stand. He began losing his balance again, but regained it without delay, catching himself on the wall of a stall. Kota reached for his long sword before realizing she had disarmed him. "Who are you? I have never seen a lightning caller before!"
She took a step forward before stopping in reaction to Lukas moving in front of her primary target. He gripped a short sword that he always kept on his lower back as a backup weapon. Crossing her arms, she regained her composure and projected her voice over the weather. "You are nothing short of special, and you carry something significant. One day, you'll view the necessary conflict as just."
Confusion showed on Kota's face as he pondered what she had mentioned. "I am not holding anything of real value but a small amount of gold. I am not even of royal blood, so any gold the kingdom has, I cannot give."
She laughed over the rain before leisurely inching forward to move closer to the two of them. "It's not just about gold or possessions, Prince," she said, wiping blood from her face and noticing it on her hand. "One day soon, you will understand what this is about and thank me."
"I doubt it, but it appears you knew nothing of real consequence about my mother, did you?" Kota asked, staying louder than the rain.
Kota could feel the silence she was giving them before she answered. "I didn't mention knowing anything specific, but we can talk about it later. Unfortunately for your little friend there, he will suffer severely, as nobody makes me bleed without some retaliation. He won't live to witness the sunrise."
He watched as, before she could take another step closer, he reached behind his back and gripped the knife that he had placed in his belt after the previous conflict. In one swift motion, he threw the dagger directly at the woman's heart. As another bolt of lightning illuminated the air, he saw that she had caught the dagger between her fingers. She twirled it in her hand for a second and primed the blade for throwing. "I usually hate using such barbaric tools for combat, but since you seem to have lost your dagger, I might as well return it to its master."
Before bringing her arm forward to throw the dagger, three long spear-like icicles struck the ground from above, shattering on impact just a few feet away from her. Another figure jumped through the destroyed stall beside them, rolling in between the two groups. A mysterious figure spoke with a feminine voice, fixated on the woman wielding the dagger. "You shouldn't have come tonight, or at least, you should've messaged me earlier."
Kota recognized the voice as he noticed her light-brown hair in a tight braid down the middle of her back, resting on her silver plate armor. With spear in hand, she approached the other woman. "Now is not the time, Alexis. She is stronger than she appears. A lightning caller with no need for a channel."
The woman began spinning the dagger between her fingers before addressing Alexis. "So, you must be the protective sister, the Winter Gem of the Damirian capital. I didn't expect such a well-known person to leave her kingdom during this difficult time."
"Anything for family," answered Alexis, looking back at Kota with her blue eyes. "These two are easy to track, especially with all the noise from the battle, even in this storm. Count me intrigued. A lightning caller?"
The mysterious woman moved a step closer before Alexis thrust her spear toward the woman's heart. She pushed the dagger and blocked the tip of the spear, knocking it out of the path to her body before stabbing with the dagger toward Alexis's shoulder. Ducking under the blade, Alexis tightened her grip on the spear. She used her calling to form a spiked mace head out of ice on the end of the shaft.
Kota watched as she then swiped the ice mace toward the woman's side. The woman swiftly dodged just before the mace could hit, but her cloak got caught and torn by the spiked tip. The two tried several more attempts to contact their targets, being evenly matched in skill. Every attempt missed its mark, if only by inches.
Taking a step back, Alexis positioned her spear to her right side, adopting a defensive stance. "You appear to be better than I would like to admit. Who are you, and what do you want from my brother?"
Kota hastily interrupted the conversation. "She won't answer that question. Even if she did, I would not trust her answer."
"Then I ask, why are you toying with them? By now, you could have obtained what you wantedâno offense to my brother's abilities."
Ignoring the question, the woman glanced behind her. Lightning flashed, exposing two figures in the distant stalls. The group watched as the figures moved to stand behind the woman. Tall and looming figures that stood tall against her form.
Alexis turned, looking at Kota and Lukas. "Get Kota out of here, Lukas. I will deal with this woman while you two use the weather as cover. I taught you two better than to get caught."
Lukas nodded in compliance as he grabbed Kota's arm. The two of them started in the opposite direction, making their way through the marketplace. The two dark figures ignored Alexis as they followed. Kota turned and watched. He could see Alexis breathe gently, keeping the focus of her calling on the ice mace, and he yelled at her, "Stay alive, Lex!"
"She can handle herself. Focus on yourself," Lukas exclaimed as he pulled Kota away from the fight.
The two figures barreled through a nearby stall behind them without breaking momentum. Kota directed Lukas toward a path through the stalls, and they split into different paths. Hearing thunder and seeing a flash, Kota glanced back for a second, hoping his sister was still alive as he moved through the stalls, knocking items over to halt his pursuer.
The tall figure following him was not affected by the falling debris, as he ignored all the objects on the ground, crushing them under his feet. As the figure came almost within arm's reach, Kota instinctively reached out and grabbed a metal tray. Moving to the edge of the marketplace, he suddenly stopped while turning around, swinging the tray with substantial force. He struck the taller figure on the side of his face, and Kota's effort made him stumble into a stall. His pursuer crashed into one of the small wooden beams that held up the wooden roof, causing the makeshift stall to fall on top of him.
Kota smiled, pausing briefly to search for Lukas. He glanced at the stalls and saw the figure catching up to his friend, exchanging blows. He jumped through the stall, moving as fast as he could to his friend's aid.
Under the sound of the rain, Kota did his best to stay as quiet as possible while he closed in on the target. When he was close enough, he called out. "Hey!"
Lukas and the figure turned toward Kota, reacting to his voice just as he slammed into the dark figure. Kota leaned into the hit as it knocked him over a stall, and the structure collapsed on top of him.
Lukas looked at Kota, breathing a little more deeply. "Thanks."
Kota nodded as he stood. Their eyes briefly met before the sound of moving wood caught their attention. He hastily pushed Lukas to keep moving through the last stalls. As the two of them headed toward a group of buildings, they listened to another lightning strike with no flash of lightning. Kota stopped and looked back for a second before Lukas placed his hands on his shoulders, getting Kota's attention. "She will be alright. We need to lose these two before we can help her."
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"Fair enough."
Lukas ran alongside buildings, ensuring Kota stayed on task as they turned into an alley. They continued to move swiftly in between buildings, leaving more space between them and their pursuers.
Between two houses, Kota and Lukas paused, searching for the figures. Lukas turned and ran into a wooden beam holding up a makeshift bridge connecting the two houses from the rooftops, causing it to fall over and block the path behind them. Kota picked Lukas up off the ground, giving him a stern look before his friend pointed toward the other end of the alley, where they saw the two figures moving closer to them.
He turned around and tried to find a space between the wooden planks. Kota stopped, realizing any gaps were too small for Lukas and his armor to fit through. "These things cannot be human."
Lukas glanced left and saw a door right beside them. He tried the door handle with no success before he raised his leg and kicked the door in with a loud crash. The tall figures ran toward the two of them, seeing that they had an escape route. Kota pushed Lukas through the door, and they ran inside. They scanned the house for an alternative entrance. Seeing food stored to their right and a door on the far side of the room, they did not hesitate to make it through the house as fast as possible, hurrying through the living area. Kota instinctively picked up a chair that was positioned near a small table and raised it above his head. Letting out a breath of air, he threw it open behind them.
The chair hit the figure, pushing him into the other pursuer. They kicked the door open and ran outside, scurrying through an alleyway in the pouring rain. When they reached the end of the alley, Lukas pointed toward a building with a tall structure near the front. The two of them continued to kick up water with every step, moving closer to the structure with increasing haste.
They ran for another minute, then moved alongside the building with a spire. A lightning flash lit up the end of the alleyway. They paused when they realized the alley ended in a dead end. They turned around to go in a different direction, but the two tall figures stood there, watching their cornered prey. Lukas unsheathed his short sword, only for the two figures to draw their weapons in response. Kota saw they had two jagged-edged long swords.
"Damn! It seems like we will not escape these two. The odds are not in our favor," Lukas replied, staring down the two in front of him as he took a defensive posture.
Kota moved closer to the alley wall, seeking an alternate escape route, while Lukas stood ready for their pursuers. He searched for a wall passage, then spotted a door to his right. Quickly trying the doorknob, before kicking the door. It did not budge, as something was blocking it on the other side. The two figures advanced slowly as Lukas backed up, matching his footsteps with theirs. Kota turned to see another entry and raised his leg to kick it. However, he noticed the door lay slightly cracked before lowering his leg.
"Lukas!" Kota yelled, getting him to turn around and see that the door he was pushing was open for an escape.
Lukas sheathed his sword and ran over to the door. The reacting figures ran after the two of them. Moving inside, Kota slammed the door shut as Lukas looked for something to barricade it. Kota noticed him smile while he moved to a bookcase by the door.
He shifted to the opposite side of the bookcase, lifting and tipping the bottom portion, shouting for Kota to clear the path. The bookcase landed on the ground, spilling the books across the floor with a loud thump, but it stayed intact. Moving his back to it, Kota pushed the bookcase up against the door and held it there. The door remained completely still despite the figures' attempts to push it.
After a few more tries, the door stopped banging and rattling. The room became silent; only the rain hitting the roof entered the large area.
Standing up, Kota moved away from the bookcase and turned around, looking at the door. Tapping the bookcase, he surveyed the room to figure out their whereabouts. "Now that is some sturdy craftsmanship. Now, where are we?"
Lukas looked around, only hearing the pounding rain on the wooden structure, before walking further in, noticing a high number of chairs and pews placed around the space. Glancing up, he noticed twenty-foot-tall arches stretching across.
"I guess this is a hall or church," Kota pondered, walking between chairs to understand the layout.
The ceiling loomed over the wide-open area as they walked toward a stained glass window above at the front of the area, which the chairs pointed toward. Lukas moved behind Kota, looking around for himself. "Great, it looks like we broke into a church."
Kota observed the area, noticing a second level while they wiped water from their clothes and hair. The chairs were not placed under the higher level above the outer sections. Moving closer to the middle walkway, in between the two rows of chairs and pews, Kota answered Lukas. "The door being unlocked may not be as terrible a sin as you believe. We did not break in per se."
The two continued to walk down the center aisle before Kota gestured his arms out wide. "Either avoid our new friends or prepare to fight them now that we're separated."
Lukas glanced at him, on the verge of speaking, when a shattered window sent glass flying into the chapel behind them, towards the front of the church. The two of them reacted quickly and hid behind one pew near the middle of the rows. Hearing footsteps on the broken glass, Kota peered around the edge of the bench to locate the source of the sound. In a flash of lightning, he glimpsed a tall, dark figure swiftly crossing the front row of pews before vanishing behind a pillar.
"I only see one of them," whispered Kota as he pulled away from the figure, staying behind the pew.
Kota waved for Lukas to follow him across the room while staying low to avoid detection. The dark figure's footsteps gave a slight echo, as he wore metal greaves, while Kota and Lukas stayed quiet against the floor. Pounding rain resounded in the hall as the broken window let in more noise from outside, covering their light footsteps. The two of them continued down the row between the pews until they reached the middle area, where the benches were separated by open space. Before crossing, Lukas looked over the chairs and pews to see if the figure was visible. When he couldn't see the figure, Lukas nudged Kota to signal him to move.
Kota scurried across the open space softly and with purpose. He crouched between rows and signaled for Lukas to move across. A flash of lightning filled the area with light, revealing the figure walking in between the chairs, two rows in front of them. Kota signaled Lukas not to come across, and Lukas's sudden stop made him lunge forward and fall over. Due to his armor and weight, the pew moved somewhat, making the sound of scraping wood echo in the area.
Kota looked over at the figure as he stayed hidden, seeing that it had noticed the sound and was moving closer to investigate. Kota rapidly waved his arms, telling Lukas to move out of the row. Swiftly, it went towards the noise, sword in hand. Kota, realizing the figure was in front of him, moved to the end of the row he was in as he watched the figure tighten its grip on the sword. The figure glanced at the row, then reached down to touch the pew, observing its movement despite the absence of anyone.
Kota watched as Lukas moved to a side pillar to stay hidden from the center of the room. He moved behind the outside of the row just as the shadowy figure turned toward him, seeing an empty blackness, before moving further down the row toward the pillar Lukas was hiding behind now. At the other end of the church, Kota discovered a set of stone stairs leading upward. Glancing back once, he spotted the figure turned away. Not sure of his friend's location, Kota aimed for higher ground to improve his view. He paused for a second, taking a deep breath before heading up the stairs, careful not to make any noise.
Creeping up the stairs, he remained as silent as possible to escape the notice of his pursuer. He moved to the last step. Kota saw multiple windows along the left side and plenty of cabinets and tables holding what appeared to be artifacts and religious items. Hastily, he moved over to the banister facing the area below, where Lukas and their pursuer were located. The darkness stretched across the space below, blocking his vision, and he only saw vague shapes with no sign of movement below. Darkness obscures friend and foe.
Kota tapped the wood, then moved from the banister to avoid being seen during another lightning strike. He kept low to the ground and continued being as quiet as possible. He paused before glancing at the few spaces between the tables. After moving across the area, he stopped in a flash of light, seeing two small, shoeless feet underneath a table. He watched as the figure moved just as soundlessly as he did. Looking above the table, he saw the figure might be different from those who chased them. Kota moved for a clearer view as the figure approached the banister.
As he crossed the landing, Kota felt the creaking floorboards, but rain drowned out any other sounds. The person leaned closer, forcing Kota to act swiftly in the absence of weapons. The figure then moved to the stairs back where Kota was located. Kota briefly paused, noticing a white or grayish dress, and realized this figure wasn't among the hunters. As the figure moved across the higher level, he swiftly snatched them and pulled the person into a crouched position, moving their face closer to his.
"What is the big idea?" the figure immediately yelled in a feminine voice.