As They Fall [First Draft] ~ Currently Editing ~

Fourteen

A/N: Once again I'm so sorry about the large delay between chapters. I've had a bout of writer's block that I've only just managed to overcome. I hope you all enjoy reading this chapter and as always vote if you like it and comment your opinions below. Thank you so much for continuing to read As They Fall! X

I threaded my way through the crowd of people, my eyes fixed on the noose around Charlie's throat. I would need to be quick. Quicker than ever before. I raised my right hand, wielding my larger dagger, and sent it hurtling through the air. Almost as soon as it had struck my target, I sent the other smaller dagger chasing after it. With my first throw I severed the rope, a few feet above where it was wrapped around Charlie's neck. The dagger collided with the wooden frame of the gallows with a satisfying thud, the tip of the blade deeply wedged in the hard timber. With my second throw I had hoped to kill or at least injure the Captain, but the younger guard pushed him aside and caught it with his shoulder. The crowd became a seething mass of terror as people began to flee from the platform. Despite the chaos I strode through the swarm of people, my sword drawn and my gaze fixed on the Captain.

The moment the rope around his neck grew slack, Charlie had leapt to his feet and barrelled into the executioner beside him. I sprinted forward and leapt onto the platform, intercepting the Captain before he could reach where Charlie and the executioner were now struggling on the ground. I braced myself for impact as the Captain brought his sword down to meet mine. It was a devastating blow that sent jarring pain coursing through my arm, down to my injured ribs. I gritted my teeth to stop myself crying out in pain and managed to fend off his attack but I was weakening rapidly. As my hulking opponent continued to rain blows down upon me I began to falter. One wrong move and I was dead. If your opponent is bigger than you, you need to be nimbler. If your opponent is stronger than you, you need to be faster. The words of my mentor began to echo in my mind as I narrowly dodged another of the Captain's swings.

Charlie's father had taught me everything I knew about combat, particularly how to survive in a fight when my opponent was bigger than me, which they usually were. Over the years I had bested a variety of opponents, no matter their height, weight or gender. The only difference between then and now was that the Captain had decades of experience, I was an infant compared to him and he knew it. The same sickening smirk he'd worn when he knocked me unconscious had begun to spread across his face, making my skin crawl. There was something wrong with this man, he harboured something inside him, something twisted and malevolent. I steeled myself and lunged toward him, catching him off-guard, my sword piercing his hip at a vulnerable point in his armour. Before he could react, I wrenched my sword free and darted back once more. He howled in pain, stopping to clutch his side in attempt to stem the flow of blood that was oozing from the deep gash my blade had left.

During the Captain's momentary lapse in concentration I aimed a number of quick cuts and jabs at different, precise points on his body. He began to shake with pain and rage, causing his movements to become clumsy and careless. Every muscle in my body screamed in protest as I aimed a final, desperate swing upward. The tip of my blade opened his face from the right side of his neck to his left temple, covering me in a spray of warm, sticky blood. Kneeling, I ripped my leather pouch from his belt and reclaimed my dragon tears before rising to my feet once more. I choked on the bile beginning to rise in my throat and retched, the contents of my stomach mingling with the pool of blood that had accumulated beneath the Captain's motionless corpse. I wiped my mouth on my sleeve and tore my gaze from my victim, focussing instead on where Charlie was still battling with the executioner. The man's black mask had been torn from his face and replaced with one of blood and bruises, the rope from Charlie's noose wrapped around his neck. Charlie's hands were still bound but he had successfully wound the severed rope around his opponent's neck, suffocating him. I looked away, my heart saddened by the atrocities we had committed. I didn't want to kill people, nor did I want anyone else to kill for me, but I was prepared to do anything if it meant saving my uncle.