Chapter 13 - Twin Flames

The door burst open suddenly and Selphrin fired a warning shot into the doorframe. Wood dust fell into Zara's hair as she hurried in. Raising a glowing palm, she released the energy she had gathered and it shot into Selphrin's hand, knocking the gun across the floor. Zara headed straight for him with her weapon in hand, but still sheathed. Selphrin pulled a small table into her path, tripping her and giving him time to draw his sword. Zara rolled into a crouching position and fended off Selphrin's first attack. She stood and backed away from a diagonal slice. Zara jabbed out with her weapon, striking Selphrin in the throat with the still sheathed blade.

She began to clearly see that she had a speed advantage over her enemy as she easily dodged a number of attacks made by Selphrin as he gasped for air. At an overhead swing she twisted right and struck him in the gut with a left jab, then released another shot of ki in a loaded punch that sent him falling backwards. Selphrin found a blade at his throat as he shook off the dizziness. "Surrender," Zara said, "and relinquish your throne to one truly deserving of it."

Selphrin rolled left, batting the sword away in case his enemy should thrust suddenly. He was quickly on his feet. "I would never surrender to a dog of the Coryns." His opponent looked confused a moment, and it was only then that Selphrin noticed his brother locked in combat with Damien. Cloak hung back in a corner. Selphrin clenched his fist in anger, then began his attack on Zara anew.

Damien knew his skill with a blade far surpassed Allendrie's, no matter how much Allendrie had trained in the past four years. The two of them seemed, however, to be an even match. Damien's unfamiliar and large weapon made him slow and defensive. Allendrie seemed to become more and more aggressive as the fight progressed, somehow sensing this weakness. In a back corner of his mind, Damien wondered who the girl facing off against Selphrin could be, and why Cloak was dong nothing about the situation.

Just as Allendrie began to become confident, even comfortable, with his tactics, Damien suddenly went on the offensive. The long sweeps from the blade were easily blocked or dodged, but the power and weight behind the attacks told Allendrie that any hit against him would end the battle. Also, Damien's longer blade prevented Allendrie from moving in to strike without great risk.

Damien ignited his weapon and increased the speed of his attacks, forcing Allendrie to block strike after strike. The great heat combined with the force behind the atttacks soon made Allendrie's blade crack at an invisible fault. Off in the corner, both Allendrie and Damien saw Cloak suddenly look towards the fight between Zara and Selphrin.

Zara was losing her speed advantage as she began to tire. Her parries started to become a split second slower, and that was all that Selphrin needed. He had her up against the wall, frantically parrying blow after blow. Selphrin finally found an opening. With a feint that brought Zara's kodachi out wide he pulled back for a killing thrust. The dagger suddenly buried in his left arm dispelled all notions of an attack, however, and Selphrin let out a yelp of pain.

Both fights stopped as all the combatants followed the trail of the dagger back to the door where Toriban stood, looking exhausted. He walked through the room in silence with sword drawn.

Selphrin screamed in outrage. "My guards should be stopping you people!! Where are my guards?!"

Toriban answered emotionlessly without even looking at at Selphrin. "Dead." He made an account of all the people present. "Issin. Where is he?"

Damien extinguished his weapon's flame and moved a fair distance from Allendrie. "He is not here, Childe"

"Then you will have to do." Toriban raised Crimson toward Damien. "Allendrie, help Zara. I want this one all to my self. "

Cloak reached under his robe and pulled out the Sword of Drakmord. He tossed it to Damien with an explaination. "A more suitable weapon for you."

Damien scowled as he unsheathed the sword. "Why didn't you give this to me earlier?"

Cloak chuckled. "Slipped my mind. The sword was created by the ancients to be indestructible. Not even your strongest flame will be able to harm it."

Damien was always distrustful of Cloak, so he chose not to ignite his new weapon as Toriban's came in for his first attack. Toriban rushed in with a sideways slash, using some of what little was left of his spiritual power to invisibly increase the speed and force of his arm movement. Damien barely blocked and staggered from the force of the blow. Shocked, Toriban didn't know how to react for a moment. That attack had never failed to break an opponent's weapon before. Damien took advantage of Toriban's delay and brought his blade directly up from his parry. Toriban leapt back quickly, taking a small scratch on his left cheek rather than the full force of the blow. Wiping the blood from his cheek with his thumb, he flicked it onto the floor, then went in for a cautious attack.

Selphrin had never learned many defensive maneuvers, but he was a quick learner. It took everything he had to keep his two assailants off of him, and whenever he had a spare second he gave Cloak a look of begging. Cloak remained oblivious to his need for aid, entranced by the fight between Damien and Toriban. As the battle wore on, Selphrin tired to the point where he knew he would have to win or die. He waited until an opportunity when his two opponents' attacks were almost synchronized, then struck Zara in the face with his hilt after blocking her slice. This let Allendrie's attack through, scoring a vicious hit on Selphrin's left arm. Zara fell to the ground, unconscious. Selphrin turned to his remaining opponent with a satisfied look on his face that quickly faded when he saw the anger in his brother's eyes. Allendrie began attacking more furiously, withless regard for his own safety. Selphrin was soon more on the defensive than he had been when there had been two attackers.

Toriban and Damiens' blades met between them, and a power struggle quickly ensued, with each combatant putting all their weight behind their weapon. Toriban proved to be the stronger physically, and Damien found his weapon moving back toward him. Damien ignited his weapon in a desperate attempt to shock his opponent away with a blast of heat. Toriban stood firm, but much of his efforts went to creating a small, invisible shield of ki to deflect the heat. Toriban thought quickly, trying to find a way to save himself without revealing his dark powers to Zara, for he didn't know that Zara was incapacitated. Finally, he saw no other way. It won't matter if I'm dead. Reacting without much thought, Toriban copied his opponent, channeling ki through his hands into his blade. Crimson became wrapped in a sheet of black that slowly took on the qualities of flame, flickering and emitting strong amounts of heat. The flames met where Crimson and Drakmord met, creating a dark red flame where the two flames met. The match seemed a stalemate.

Allendrie continued his furious assault against his brother, his fresh adrenaline rush lasting him until Selphrin's fatigue showed an opening. He used every ounce of strength in his one arm to swat Selphrin's blade away, then quickly reversed and plunged his blade into his brother's leg. The sword struck bone and, already weakend by Damien's flame and the repeated betings, it shattered inside Selphrin's leg, scattering shrapnel across his muscles. Selphrin's scream drew Cloak's attention, and Cloak seemed to leap across the twenty feet between them in an instant. Cloak picked up Selphrin while Allendrie searched for a new weapon. Grabbing Allendrie's arm, Cloak whispered something to him that made his eyes widen in fear, then ran towards the throne and the tunnel entrance it hid. "Come Damien, retreat," Cloak said, "We shall send guards to finish them off. The Emperor's safety is key." Damien didn't argue and leapt back from Toriban quickly, cutting energy to his sword as he did so. Without opposition, the flames from Crimson flared out and singed the arm of Damien's shirt.

Cloak and Damien jumped down the trapdoor under the throne, out of sight. Allendrie ran over to Toriban. "Come on, we have to follow them!"

Toriban shook his head. "We can't. Zara needs help," he said, breathing heavily. He gestured to Zara's unconscious form. "And I think I might, too." Toriban's eyes fluttered, then rolled back and closed. He fell like a rag doll and Allendrie barely caught him. From far off Allendrie could hear footsteps and the clink of armor through the still-open doors of the hall.

There were too many footsteps.