The Blade Witch: Songs of Eldrin, Book 0.5

Chapter Four - Crimson, Emerald, and Ivory

The door tore free from its hinges, sending a cloud of dust scattering throughout the room. The first heretic through the threshold was a hefty redheaded woman whose hair turned a radiant shade of blonde as Estra's released the full force of her magic into the woman's face. The ones following behind the burning woman leaped over her body, careless of their fallen comrade as they closed in on Estra.

"Stay behind the bar," Estra quickly yelled over her shoulder. A surprisingly swift axe blow came down at her, forcing her to slip to the side and return the strike with a slash of her own, taking the man's hand off at the wrist.

While he was bent over staring at his new stump, Estra went at the others with full force. Her blade danced through the air, cutting and stabbing with tirelessly honed precision. Even with all her years of training, all the Blade Witch could do with a sword alone against this many was defend herself. Sadly, for them, she was far more than just a swordswoman.

Estra parried another furious blow, raising her free hand to release a blast of shattering force into a man who'd overreached his stab. The power crushed through his ribs and sent him flying back into another one of his companions in a disheveled heap. Estra didn't allow the rest a moment to regain their composure. Her free hand tapped the table she'd taken care to mark, sending it flipping end over end towards them.

The solid oak clipped one of them in the side with a crunch and shattered her slower friend's skull in a splatter of crimson droplets before it came to a rest against the far wall. Estra pressed her attack quickly, finishing off the injured heretic before ducking into a spin that carried her under the axe cut of another, using her momentum to carry her own blade halfway through his midsection.

By the time she jumped to her feet the man who'd fallen under his companion had freed himself and approached her from behind. Estra barely dodged the man's strike, taking a deep cut as she sprang out of the way. Uncontrolled flames engulfed her arm as searing pain came roaring up from her wounded shoulder.

She wheeled around facing the last man with an outstretched palm that carried enough power to burn down the tavern and everything in it. Just before she released a dangerously intense blast of flames into the cramped confines, a loud crash sounded and her attacker crumpled to the ground with a piece of green glass jutting from his neck.

Estra looked down at the man in confusion as he desperately tried to stop the stream of blood spurting from his neck. She knew from a single glance that his efforts were hopeless. His artery had been sliced open and that would be the end of him.

The Blade Witch looked up at Lency with an appreciative nod, but the girl didn't even notice her anymore. She stood blanked faced over the man with the broken wine bottle in her hands, watching his life fade away. In an instant, the girl's face went from shocked, to hateful.

Lency raised the bottle high above her head and brought it down on the man's teeth with enough force to bring forth an explosion of emerald, ivory, and scarlet. Still, she wasn't satisfied. The girl mounted the man, striking down at him repeatedly until there was nothing left of the bottle to hit him with. When she no longer had an object to use, she struck him with her fists, careless of the glass shards that dug into her knuckles.

Estra watched on for a moment while the girl beat the dead man with everything she had. She reached towards Lency as if to stop her, but couldn't find it within herself to claim that the girl was at fault. If she'd had the chance to do the same to those who'd wronged her, Estra knew she'd be no different.

She gritted her teeth against the pain of her shoulder, muttering the ancient Asruelian words of healing as she strode over to the window to peer into a dim alleyway that held no visitors. Estra stopped her mending for a moment to call forth a quick warding spell before she sat and waited for Lency to tire out. It was only when her hands trembled, and blood ran down her arms from elbow to fingertip that the girl rose from the floor.

Estra looked down at the man's ruined face, wondering what he'd done to deserve such ire from the girl. She walked over to Lency and grabbed her by the hands. "Best if we get these healed up quickly," Estra said, completely overlooking the scene that had just transpired. Her palms warmed around the girl's shaking fingers, soothing her hands with a soft aura. The specks of glass fell to the floor, clinking against the boards like minuscule raindrops as the wounds they left behind began to thin out.

When she was done, Estra held the girl by the shoulders, looking for a smart-arsed jest to lighten the mood before she saw the expression on the girl's face. It was a cold one; the kind of dead visage she'd seen others make many times after they kill their first person. This girl was not only experiencing the reality of her actions but a mixture of virulent emotions that Estra could only guess at.

She pulled the girl's face into her chest just as her uncontrolled sobbing erupted. The tears soaked through her clothes faster than Estra would have thought possible. Lency's hands gripped her cloak, muddling her once pristine whites with more angry scars of crimson.

The Blade Witch stood there with bodies strewn about the floor and a woman still dying at their feet, holding a girl that she'd only just met. Sunlight found its way into the dark ally, slanting a path through the open windows to highlight the strange scene within the dusty tavern. The cooing of city pigeons on the rooftops above rose to drown out Lency's muffled cries.

Estra ran a hand through the girl's dark hair, ignoring the burning in her arm as she tried to comfort the younger girl. She didn't know the right words to say. Aiding others was commonplace for her, but giving true comfort was a practice well out of her capabilities.

She recalled the many times her mother had soothed her before she was torn from the world that she'd once known. All she could think to say was the same thing she herself had always been told in moments like these.

"Don't fret child," the Blade Witch whispered as softly as her hoarse throat could manage. "All will be well in time."