Aegis

Chapter Thirty One--Hunting Hector (Pt.2)

Erianthe dodged the next knife.

"Oh--" Erik cursed. "Oh great, I'm so sorry I said that."

Erianthe glimpsed the top of Hector's head darting away from them. "Should I give chase?"

"Yes, yes, go!" Erik struggled to move on the ground.

"What about you?"

"We'll be paralyzed for a little bit. I'll follow after you once Atalae's recovered," Erik said. "Now hurry, please."

Numbed by the sudden turn of events, Erianthe turned on her heels and sprinted after Hector. Even though the girl was out of sight, Erianthe could follow the sound of her footsteps. Running over the webby, gravel path, Erianthe spotted Hector escaping just ahead.

Of all things, the Rogue had to attack just as they were recovering from a battle with the giant spiders. Hector's actions didn't even make sense. If her goal was to dehabilitate them, it would have been more efficient albeit more dangerous to attack during the spider raid.

Erianthe picked a rock of the ground in a smooth motion and chucked it at Hector. The rock didn't hit Hector, but it startled the girl enough so that Erianthe could catch up.

"Ah, we meet again Erianthe. Or should I say, hero from Delos?" Hector greeted.

Erianthe ducked under a golden javelin Hector threw at her head.

"I'd like to say I enjoy this meeting, but I need to capture you," Erianthe said. "Do you mind surrendering?"

"Yup."

Withholding her knives, Hector threw three more javelins past Erianthe. All three missed and wedged into the webby ground behind her. Then Erianthe noticed the three other javelins on Hector's back. She hadn't had those javelins during the snake attack, and they looked too similar to be spare weapons.

Mellion had said that Colosseum was something that could aid them in a fight.

Hector held up a throwing knife. "I don't want to put any more ill will on you after what happened to your town. You really are a good fighter."

At the knife's spark, the javelins surrounding Erianthe hummed. Even though she didn't know what the javelins could do, Erianthe figured it would be best to stay inside the boundary.

"You were there?" Erianthe asked and readied her blade.

"Nah. My sister was. She told me." Hector smirked. "Let's see how strong you are, wielder of Aegis. Sorry I have to fight you here. At least you'll have the spiders for company."

Erianthe didn't reply. Instead, she used her blade to knock away the knife coming at her face. Aegis glowed. For awhile, Erianthe ducked and blocked all of Hector's knives as she gained a few steps of ground.

Kyros' arrows were much faster.

Then the knives flew back at her when they returned to Hector's hand, where she kept her remaining blade. Erianthe stepped back and dodged the blades flying at her from behind and ahead. A knife whizzed overhead. Erianthe ducked. A knife flew at her chest. Erianthe sidestepped back.

Catching a view of the webbing on the walls, Erianthe entertained the idea that sprouted in her mind. Her mother had told her a long time ago that this type of webbing was strong.

Instead of dodging the next knife, Erianthe knocked it into the webbing, particularly the sticky, globby sections. To Erianthe's glee, the knife tangled in the web and became unable to return to Hector's hand.

"Tsk," Hector said.

The Rogue shifted her weight to the back of her foot, kicking up some dust that sparked when it hit the javelin's barrier behind her.