PANACEA-Book One-By Hell or High Water

29. Taking the Spear in his Chest

It took multiple run throughs for me to understand what he wanted me to do. I had to admit, the performance he had in his head was impressive. I hoped we could do it. Nyx and I practiced, and I hadn't been burned, luckily. The glass shards cooled in the air fast enough as they zipped at me that I could easily smash them with my whip. The column of fire was easily blown away by a gust of wind from my whip.

Once we had run it through a few times, we took to the streets, and found an unoccupied corner. I noticed the collection of looks we received as we went. They came from women and men alike, mostly directed at Nyx. People couldn't seem to keep their eyes off of him. It was expected. He towered over the crowd. He was too busy complaining about the hot sand under his feet to notice.

A few people noticed we had stopped, and saw me unfurl my whip. People crowded around, although the numbers were scarce. I cracked my whip against the sidewalk, and attracted the attention of a few more bystanders.

I gave Nyx a nod, and he stepped back from me, to give us the distance we needed. He unwrapped one of the many bandages wrapped around his forearm, and held it tightly between his curled fingers. There was a collection of confused murmurs. I waited anxiously, hoping Nyx wouldn't mess up his leg making the first move. He'd managed back in the alleyway, but that didn't mean something couldn't go wrong in this moment.

Legs close together, he twisted his body and stepped forward into a turn with his bad leg. Following through with the motion, his fingers let go of the bandage, and it flew into the air. As it drifted down, he turned back the way he had come, and gave a powerful thrust into the air with his leg. The thin fabric engulfed in flame, shooting at me.

Just as we had planned, I swung my whip down, cutting through the fire. Nyx willed the flames to part around me, circling back up. People were screaming, and I heard footsteps headed our way. The circle of people was thickening.

I watched the tail of fire spiralling up above me. It went high above my head and spiralled down. I jumped to the side, tucking and rolling. My recovery was quick, and I was on my feet to hear cheering.

Nyx reached down and collected two fists full of sand. He threw the first one at me, and the sand clumped together, glowing hot orange in the air. The glow disappeared as they shot at me, like tiny daggers. I spun my whip in around with me as I turned, smacking the shards out of the ground. They shattered, ad hit the ground. Louder cheers erupted from the sea of people.

Nyx turned into the next throw, lowering his body as he flicked his wrist, like he was flinging a real throwing dagger. The sand formed a large glass spire, aimed at my midsection, as it neared me, I turned on my heels. The whip swept the ground, came up, and coiled around the spire. The glass dagger swung around with me, and the whip unwrapped from it as I turned back to face Nyx. This was the part I was really worried about.

The dagger was headed straight for him, and I fervently prayed his leg didn't choose to collapse now. Last second, he threw himself at the sandy ground, turning so he rolled on his shoulder. All his weight shifted to his good leg and he got on his knee. The dagger hit the sidewalk, and the screams were deafening. I walked over to help Nyx up, and heard coins being dropped on the ground in front of us.

Nyx waved a bit to the crowd, and the coins collected on the ground glowed with an orange warmth. Slowly, they lifted up into the air, and I opened my hands. Nyx let them cool and dropped them. The crowd seemed to have fallen head over heels for it. I held the money we had acquired in my hands, and leaned over to Nyx.

"Let's go," I said. "We don't want anyone asking any questions, because once they start, they won't stop."

He nodded and started pushing his way through the crowd, and I followed him. People moved for him. They may been trying to speak to us, but Nyx was resorting to just shouldering people out of his way. Once we were out, we went through an alley to cut back to where we left Nyx's belongings. No one bothered following us.