Aegis

Chapter Sixteen--Battle at Delos

As Erianthe sparred with the man with the two spears, Ares, she berated Chris in her mind.

She and Atalae had told him not to rush out. Erianthe had held him back and told him how the Rogues were too strong for them. She distinctly remembered struggling to keep him quiet while he lunged forward to fight.

It wasn't that they shouldn't fight. They would lose if they did. The Rogues had Ares and this woman on their side, not to mention the hooded figure who just fired at her.

Erianthe had warned Chris, but he charged in anyway like a wild bull.

"We need to beat these guys. It can't be right to let them get away," Chris had said.

Then he had rushed in blindly at the woman while Erianthe and Atalae were left with no choice but to stay back and let him die or charge in right alongside him. Which was how Erianthe had ended up sparring in an uneven match against Ares.

When Ares struck again, Erianthe blocked the blow with her sword. Her arms thrummed from all the lightening her blade was feeding her muscles.

"Atalae, they have an archer," Erianthe shouted.

"On it," the woman replied.

Erianthe hoped Atalae could take care of the archer. At the moment, it took all of her concentration to keep Ares at bay. She couldn't even spare a glance to check the archer's identity.

"You're the man from that night," Erianthe said.

"And you're the girl," Ares replied.

A few paces away, Erianthe heard Atalae engage with the archer.

Erianthe stepped back and fended off a strike from above. Over and over again, Ares alternated between his two spears. Despite all the power it took out of Erianthe to block and dodge them all, Erianthe had this feeling that the man was not using all of his strength.

Proving her point, Ares glanced away from her towards Chris and the woman.

"What are you doing in Delos?" Erianthe asked.

When she struck at Ares with her sword, the man hit it back with his spear. The two blades met in a stalemate.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Ares answered.

Erianthe frowned. The Rogues were obviously here to find something for the Orichalcum. The only thing in Delos that was even related to the Orichalcum was the mechanism that she and the others were after.

Erianthe tuned out the other battles and focused on Ares. She needed to have faith that Atalae and Chris could defeat their opponents.

Cool anger seeped into Erianthe's voice. "Whatever it is, I won't allow it. I will fight you."

"I do not doubt that," Ares replied. "Mijon trained you well."

With great speed, Ares stabbed his shorter spear at Erianthe. Her sword glowed white. Then the girl struck it away from her and out of Ares' hands.

Ignoring the spear's crash behind her, Erianthe pointed her sword at Ares.

Her confidence soon wavered. With the loss of his other spear, Ares swung the black spear Rupture. As an Imperis weapon, its blows hit hard.

As Rupture, each blow felt like it was enough to rip Erianthe's sword from her hands.

"Girl, I suggest you run," Ares said. "Before it's too late."

Erianthe had run away before. Crying and hurt, she had left Kyros on his own to defeat the Rogues. He had sacrificed himself for the sake of their oath to defeat the Rogues. With a great deal of guilt, Erianthe knew they wouldn't have finished their quest if she had stayed behind.