Ascended

Val was moving before I could say anything.

Darren looked like he was expecting her to charge. He drew his stolen weapon and waited for her to close the distance between them.

I could hear the clank of metal on the stone. Soldiers were coming. Our fear tactic had worked for a little while, but the fear we had used had worn off. We needed to gain the upper hand soon or this time we would die. I had no doubts that they’d use arrows on us instead of risking getting close.

Steel rang as their swords crashed into each other. I could tell that Val had a lot more training with a blade than myself, but so did Darren. My stomach twisted as I watched them clash. Val’s victory wasn’t assured.

I had a sword myself, but it wasn’t going to be much help in the space we had to work with or against an actual swordsman. I left my weapon on my belt and decided to use something else.

I still had about a dozen knots in my vest. As the two fought, I began to untie them. The strips were only about the length of my hand, which weren’t much by themselves, but when tied together they became a five-foot-long strip of knotted cloth.

I closed the distance and flicked my whip at Darren. The wrangler swatted at the cloth, knocking it aside and leaving himself open to Val. She stabbed at him, drawing a cut on his arm as he jumped back.

He scowled at us and drew a stolen dagger from his belt.

“Two against one?” He growled, “I always knew Bokor had no honor.”

“You murder innocents in their sleep!” I cracked the cloth at him, spraying him with zombie blood. “You don’t deserve honor!”

Darren wiped his face with the back of his sleeve. His eyes widened as he realized what it was.

“Zombie blood!” He screamed, “You infected us?”

“Not us.” Val pointed her sword at him, “Just you.”

I cracked the cloth at him again. He raised his swords, but they couldn’t stop the mist.

“Stop!” He screamed, “Stop it!”

I flipped the cloth around and snapped it a few more times. He tried to block it with the sword, but he wasn’t fast enough.

The sound of boots was getting closer. We needed to end this before they got here. I moved closer so I could hit him with the cloth. He saw what I was doing and stepped forward, slicing at the whip. The cloth wrapped around the blade, with the knots grabbing it. I pulled back, locking us into a tug-of-war.

Val moved in, slicing at his arm. He started to block with the dagger, but decided against it and let go. The sword clattered to the ground.

Darren began backing up with the dagger out, slashing at the air to keep some distance between himself and Val.

I pulled the sword back and unwrapped it from my whip. I saw the soldiers filter through the archway behind us.

“Lay down your weapons!” A familiar voice ordered.

Val knocked the dagger out of Darren’s hand and slid behind him, pressing her sword to his throat.

“He killed my sister!” She screamed.

I didn’t wait for an answer. I flicked my whip at the torch behind me and then to Darren. The strip erupted in flames, casting an eerie glow on the walkway. That wasn’t the biggest distraction either. Once my whip touched Darren, he caught on fire.

His screams never escaped his lips as Val slit his throat.

The soldiers gasped as Darren dropped to his knees. Val pushed him to the side, knocking him over the wall.

I looked at the guards, “Who’s next?”