Blaze

She heaved. Though the poison was slowly spreading through her body, it had already deprived of her sight. Her sense of smell was eluding her. When her hearing was taken away, that was when her body would shut down on.

She could no longer depend on her eyes, but she was trained in the art of fighting where she did not need it. She could hold on her own. After all, she knew this forest by heart.

The smell of earth that a live forest held slipped away and she could no longer scent the feathers, the herbal plants and the horses that were racing towards her.

She could just rely on her ears. When the gallop of the horse was near, she unsheathed her sword and stood. He would bring her down, but she would not go down without a fight.

“Surrender, my darling,” he drawled when the horses stopped. “You are outnumbered.”

He was standing on her right- the side he knew that was still injured from the dagger that had stuck her.

“I never expected this,” he continued. “The poison usually takes about a day to settle in, but it just took a few hours in your case. Is your body that weak, my lady?”

She stayed as calm as she could be. He could never know. Never know that she had a child and that she had given birth to the child just a day ago. To save her child, she had rushed away from the healer’s place as soon as she had given birth. She did not even have the time to check her baby’s gender. But that was for the best.

What if he tortured her and she finally broke and told him about her child? He thought her family’s legacy and bloodline would die with her. As long as her child was alive, there could be hope.

“Weak it may be,” she spat. “But I could still take you down.”

“You can’t even see,” he said in amusement.

She knew how his lips would be curled now. That slight twitch of the muscle on his right.

“You are going to take me down?” he chuckled. “I am impressed. Even given your bloodline, it would be impossible for you to take me down with twenty people around you.”

She smirked. “You thought I am that weak?”

“Well,” he said in mock concern. “Your body did take the poison fast.”

“Isn’t this all to your advantage?” she asked.

He snorted. “Give me the Medallion of Power and I may give you the antidote to the poison running in your veins.”

The Medallion of Power. A single black pearl was suspended in the centre of two crescent moons, overlapping each other. It was a powerful weapon that amplified one’s power. But tragically, unless one mastered it, they could never near it. If that Medallion did not like the one who wore it, it would suck the life out of them.

“I don’t have it,” she said. Her nose no longer served to scent. Just breathe. “If I did, did you think I would be standing here?”

“Then where is it?” he shouted.

“How would I know?” she drawled. “I gave it away.”

“Impossible,” he whispered.

“Why not?” she shrugged like she did not care. “You were chasing me for eight months and I had no money. I pawned it off.”

“What?” he screamed. He came closer. Much closer than she liked. “Where did you pawn it?”

She pretended to think. “I think somewhere in Rothia.”

He pulled her hair. “Where?”

“In Ash City,” she replied.

“How do I know that you aren’t lying?” he sneered.

“You can choose to not believe me or you can,” she said. “The choice is yours.”

The howls of the winds became mere whispers when he said, “You better be telling the truth.”

He let her go.

When the sense of hearing finally failed, she crumpled to the ground. She could not take it anymore. Her body was too tired and her soul weary.

But she did not hit the ground. When she fell, a pair of arms held her in his safe embrace. An embrace she knew too well. A touch she knew better than her swordplay.

Just before the sense of touch left, he traced something on her skin. It took her some time to figure what it was, but her body already gave into unconsciousness.

He kept writing, you’re safe.