Justice Eternal

02 - Switchblade

Justice was good at karate. Really good. Four times she'd placed at national tournaments, and she was one of the star pupils of her dojo. But right now, as she stared at the knife in the man's hand, her mind was blank. All she could think of was how bare she felt standing there in hardly anything at all.

She gritted her teeth and tried to reassure herself. It could only slice or kill her. And, that's not so bad after all, right?

She threw a stupid grin at the man with the hope of unnerving him a little.

"You think you can hurt me with that?" She put her hands on her hips. "I've died more times than I can remember."

Not only did Justice look crazy, now she sounded it.

It worked.

The man frowned and took an involuntary step backwards. He bumped into the fence.

"Look, girl. I don't know what your deal is, but get in the way, and I'll cut you."

Justice wasn't sure what to do. Her eyes flicked between the sharp blade and him.

The bag-thief took advantage of her uncertainty and shoved her aside.

She tried to stop him.

But, metal cut skin.

Deep.

She cried out in pain and flailed backwards against the bins.

A long line of red blossomed across her stomach. Blood flowed out quick, and she instinctively tried to cover the gash that was hilt-deep and the width of her hand. She wrapped her arms around herself, pushing down hard. It was a searing pain, and panic gripped her as she stared in disbelief at the warm red liquid that split out, and painted her arms with the same dark artwork. It dripped onto her feet and splashed across the dirty ground.

"Justice!" Wynn's eyes were wild with fright.

As the man rushed towards the short girl, Justice stood behind, helpless and unable to move.

Wynn held up a hand, a pile of what looked like sand in her palm. She waited until he was upon her, and blew the fairy dust into his face. The man dropped to the ground, unconscious.

"Justice," gasped Wynn as she ran to her friend. She tried to look under the bloody arms at the source of the bleeding, but Justice pressed them harder against herself.

She shook her head and grunted. This was a severe wound and possibly fatal if the bleeding didn't stop soon.

She needed Baulder.

From the entrance of the alleyway rose the sound of someone walking over paper. Wynn spun around, keeping Justice behind her in an attempt to block the bloody sight from view.

The woman who owned the stolen bag stood over the body of the fallen thief.

"Is he...?"

"No, just unconscious," Wynn called to the woman.

With a whisper to Justice, she waved her hand in a complicated movement. "I'll glamour the blood invisible to humans." The air shimmered, and a cool breeze ruffled their hair. She then rose and headed back over the to the fallen man, grabbing the bag from his hands and giving to the grateful woman.

Meanwhile, everything looked, and unfortunately, felt the same for Justice. She could only trust that the fairy magic had worked as she focused on her breathing and pushed through the pain.

All she needed to do was hold on long enough. But long enough to do what? She couldn't walk back to the hotel, like this.

It was stupid - years of karate, and she'd just stood there like an idiot.