The Way We Fall

Chapter 90 (Tigris)

Tigris was standing by the castle gates gathering a report from the patrol that was retiring for the night when she heard the shouting. A small child burst through the gates and grabbed the hand of a cloaked figure. Tigris instantly felt suspicious of them as they took off.

"Hey!" she shouted as they ran. Behind them, she could see a figure in a dark green cloak fleeing in the opposite direction, more knights chasing after him.

"It's the librarian and scribe!" one of the knights shouted as they approached her, eyes wide. Tigris' mind instantly went on alert. There were two inkbloods, one of which was now entering the castle. The knights skidded to a stop before her, waiting for orders.

"After the scribe!" she instructed, moving towards the adult librarian currently sending out waves of inkblood towards the other half of the knights as he scrambled towards the forest. The merchants were shouting to one another, stumbling over themselves to get away from the inkblood, both the person and the illicit substance. Unfortunately, this hysteria made it difficult for the broad shouldered knights to follow the fugitive. Tigris, thankfully, was a bit leaner than the knights. She darted through the crowd, apologizing over her shoulder as she rammed her way past stalls.

The inkblood ran slowly, his legs deadened by the cold that nipped Tigris' cheeks. Her blood roared, warming her as she chased after him into the snowy forest. Ice crunched under her feet. The inkblood's eyes widened as he glanced over his shoulder and saw her gaining on him.

Tigris instinctively drew her gun, levelling it. Tigris saw his arm move a second before thick, obsidian inkblood hurtled for her. She ducked beneath the sparse globule and her shot flew wide. Inkblood whistled over her head.

Behind her, the knights cursed loudly. She spun around, seeing the substance splatter the faces of the few knights who had been able to follow. For a terrible moment, Tigris feared that it was an enchantment of some kind.

She couldn't lose any more knights. Especially not to inkblood.

She stepped towards them, but one of the knights swore and swiped the inkblood off his face like it was nothing more than slime.

"We're fine!" he shouted, "Go!"

Tigris had wasted precious moments. The inkblood had retreated deeper into the forest, but he'd left fresh footprints behind. She stalked into the forest, following the clear tracks. She kept her gun up as she prowled forward, her breath crystallizing in the air before her. It didn't take long for her to catch up. One hand held her gun, the other hovering over her sword. Swords were the best way to take care of powerful inkbloods, but this man was already exhausted from freezing in the cold for half a day. A bullet might be enough to knock him down.

The trail led to a large clearing. Tigris could hear heavy footsteps cracking through the sheets of ice. She crouched behind a bush, peering through the branches. The inkblood was staggering, exhausted. He pulled down his cloak's hood and panted for breath, revealing rich dark skin and glistening silver eyes. He placed a skeletal looking hand against a small tree to steady himself and then cursed when snow rained down on his head.

Tigris levelled her gun. The man fumbled with the branches of another tree almost frantically as Tigris lined up her shot, his head in her sights. The inkblood sighed, muttering as his eyes teared up with relief. He peeled apart the branches and stepped past the tree, inkblood flowing from his palms and leeching into the ground.

Tigris pulled the trigger. Her bullet pierced the still winter air, hurtling for his head. This wasn't Tigris' first hunt. She knew exactly how the next moment would go. She'd hear the wet crack of the bullet piercing through the man's skull, a quick, painless end. His body would slump to the side, and she'd have to drag his body back to the city to burn on a pyre.

That is how it should have gone.

Tigris heaved herself up, ready to haul away the bleeding corpse. But the thump of a body never came.

She watched her bullet freeze an inch behind the man's head. No inkblood was visible. The bullet just hovered there.

Tigris gaped as the man turned, his eyes widening at her. They both gawked for a few moments at the floating bullet. After another moment, it fell to the snowy ground with a small clink.

The inkblood stood there, eyes wide. Tigris used his shock as a distraction. She leapt out of the bushes, charging towards the man with her sword...

...and promptly slammed into an invisible wall.

Her sword clattered to the ground. The tip of it managed to get past the barrier somehow, glowing brightly as it did.

"You may not pass into this sacred space." the inkblood panted, his voice thin and reedy. Tigris scrambled to her feet, snow falling from her knees. She could hear the thunder of footsteps approaching. The knights. They'd recovered and were coming.

"You are wanted by the Faultless Kingdom for crimes against the city. You can surrender peacefully or be taken in by force." she recited.

The inkblood blinked at her patiently. Even exhausted and half frozen, the man managed to remain impressively calm. He sagged against a pale birch tree. Tigris noticed that the ground around his feet was mulchy and wet, but not at all snowy.

"You cannot enter these grounds. This space worships ink and all that the covens revere. To bring your weapons onto these grounds will destroy the peace the covens have sought to create." he said. His voice was soft and whispery, like the rustle of pages. Tigris swallowed.

"If you do not surrender yourself, I will be forced to apprehend you. Please exit this... space."

"No, I will not." the man replied, blinking languidly. He turned around, "Do not follow me, fyra, or you will bring yourself harm."

Tigris' pride flared. She heard the knights approaching. "Last chance," she warned.

The man glanced over his shoulder with an amused expression. "I've done nothing wrong. It is only your Silvian malice that can harm your people, should you enter."

Tigris' ire turned to fury at his nonchalant insult. "You dare slander my family's name when you endangered the city with your illicit inkblood?"

The man smirked. He turned and walked deeper into the ring of trees. Tigris' blood boiled. She grabbed her sword and swung at the barrier.

A large screech filled the air. For a moment, the inkblood barrier became visible, as did the rip in it that Tigris' blade had made. The inkblood spun around, his eyes widening. His lips parted in shock.

"What have you done?" he gasped, horrified.

Behind her, she sensed the knights crashing through the foliage.

Tigris levelled her gun and fired through the slit in the barrier she'd made. The bullet slipped through the already closing slit. The inkblood leapt to the side and the bullet embedded into his shoulder instead of his head. He howled in agony, his hand clutching the bullet hole. Blood seeped through his fingers, turning the ground red.

He panted, his eyes glazed with pain as he spun around to stare at Tigris. The tear in the barrier had healed already.

"You've damned your precious kingdom, Princess. You will rue the day you defiled this sacred place with your father's hatred." he swore viciously before sprinting deeper into the trees. Tigris roared at the slight against her father and swung her sword again, stumbling when it passed through the air as if nothing was there.

The knights finally raced to her side as Tigris cautiously stepped forward, realising that the barrier had disappeared. The snow before her was untouched, as if no one had ever been standing there in the first place.

A/N: ...yeah, Tigris should probably try taking deep breaths when she's angry or something else. What did you all think of this chapter? As always, happy reading!