The Unknown Daughter

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Later in the week, it was finally time for the weekly capture the flag game, this one led by the new swordmaster Quintus. It wasn't quite capture the flag either as he explained we would be in teams of two decided by him. I had been paired up with Clarisse, something I had not expected but really didn't mind all that much. Clarisse was great in battle and I'm sure whatever we were going to be doing was going to need some sort of fighting skills.

"Great now that we are all in pairs let's go over the rules. Collect the gold laurels without dying. The wreath is wrapped in a silk package, tied to the back of one monster. There are six monsters. Each has a silk package. Only one holds the laurels. You must find the wreath before the other teams. And, of course... you will have to slay the monster to get it, and stay alive."

Besides me, Clarisse had a bit of a scary smirk on her face as she crossed her arms. She was intimidating and I was happy to be on her side for once instead of against her.

"Alright let's go, I intended to win this thing," Clarisse said, grabbing my arm to drag me after her. For now, my two swords were strapped to my back so I was able to pull them out quickly if I needed them.

"Do you have any idea what we are even looking for?" I asked looking around the woods for any bit of moving.

"Tracks," Clarisse said simply pointing to some tracks in the mud in front of us.

We followed them for what felt like ages and I was starting to lose hope before Clarisse held out her hands stopping me. Placing a finger to her lips she motioned for me to listen and motioned into the woods.

Slowly the two of us made our way towards the noise, both of us pulling out weapons preparing for whatever was to come. As we made our way Clarisse took the front and I stayed a few steps behind making sure to watch the sides and behind us. And then she stopped and I almost ran into her back but managed to stop just in time. Just ahead of her was what appeared to be a scorpion just five times the size.

"How do we want to handle this?" I asked.

"Just go for it, you're skilled with a sword if I remember," Clarisse said stepping forward and charging the monster.

Only a second later I followed not wanting her to try this by herself. Clarisse's spear was electric and the range she got with it was exactly what we needed right now. Within a few seconds of moving closer, the scorpion seemed to have heard us and spun around quickly hissing as it saw us.

"Well just go for it," Clarisse said running for the monster her spear out in front of her.

I watched for a second as her spear hit the side of the monster whose tail stiffened as if it was about to do something. That's when I finally made my move quickly blocking the pincher that has been heading towards Clarisse.

"Watch out," I told her.

"You are supposed to have my back, just do your job," she shouted back.

We fought well together with her doing a lot of the attacking and me following behind with blocking any moves it made. Though I couldn't help myself when the pincher came down again blocking it with one sword and with a swift swing I took the entire thing off. At the same time, Clarisse finally scoured the perfect shot, her sword breaking the shell and causing it to squeal.

It disintegrated quickly leaving behind a golden pouch that Clarisse made her way towards quickly. "Well look at that, maybe we do make a pretty good team," she said showing the golden laurel that was inside.

"We might need to work together a bit more."

"Especially with those new swords you got. You're pretty good with those," she said.