Fire of Magic (Soul of Magic Book 4)

FIVE

Contrary to what someone might think at first glance, Freya hadn't missed her mark when she hit the cart's wheel with her arrow; in fact, that was exactly what she had meant to do.

Thing is, the wheels of the cart were made from pure iron which wouldn’t be damaged by a wooden arrow such as Freya's; but there was also a little space in between the tire and the rim which the arrow would be able to penetrate. And that was why the pale-blonde archer had shot the arrow against the wheel at a certain angle which would cause the arrow to snap and one of the splinters lodge in the space, causing the wheel to wobble and the cart deviate into the bush; which was happened exactly.

Immediately the cart landed in the bush, the previously hidden men jumped out of their hiding places and rushed at the soldiers with a battle cry. "The rebels!" one of the soldiers- presumably the captain as he was the one leading the party- when he saw the men coming. "Kill them all!"

The twins didn’t hesitate as they too joined the charging men and ran onwards into battle; Freya already felling the soldiers with her arrows even before she reached the fray and Morgan cutting the ones in his path down with his battle axes, his favourite weapons of choice.

All of a sudden, the sound of a horse neighing rent through the air, everyone turning to see the Knight riding in. In the snowfall, his armour appeared a shade of silver, the soft rays of the winter sun reflecting off it giving him an almost divine look as he unsheathed his sword and charged in at the enemies. The two soldiers closest to him were the first to taste of his sword, he cutting them down before they could even fully orient themselves to his presence.

The shouts of "The Knight!" erupted from both sides of the fight but for different reasons. To the people of the settlement, he was their hero, their hope of a certain victory. But to the soldiers, he was a nightmare, the cause of all that had gone wrong for them in the past few weeks; and that was why they knew they had to put him down.

Unfortunately for the soldiers however, they were no match for the Knight’s might and prowess. Even they attacked him in all their numbers, he dispatched of them as easily as a child would rid himself of a bug before they could establish themselves against him; and that only spurred the people of the settlement to ravage through them all the more ferociously. The soldiers were in caught in a battle they were undoubtedly going to lose and it didn’t take long for them all to realize it.

Just then, Freya turned and saw the man she had presumed was the captain running into the bush with a chest firmly clutched in his hands. "Oh no, you thief," she said, quickly nocking her arrow and taking her shot at him.

Unfortunately, the man was very quick on his feet and the pale-blonde archer missed him; the arrow hitting a tree where his head was but a few seconds earlier instead. She made to nock another arrow and retake her shot but she looked up to see that the Knight was already going after the Captain; and not wanting to leave her quarry to the mysterious swordsman, she took off after them too.

"Freya, don't!" Morgan shouted behind her when he saw her running after the duo ahead, but she didn’t listen to him; her mind was set and she wasn’t planning on changing it for anyone, not even her twin brother.

Now, an average person would have had a hard time keeping up with the speed required to chase the extremely quick-fitted swordsman that was the Knight and the captain in front of him, especially through a treacherous forest; but Freya was no average person.

Thing is, from a very young age, the pale-blonde archer had been travelling through the Barren lands and that experience gifted her the ability to understand the forest's insane terrain as much as anyone who regularly passed through it; and that coupled with the fact that she was also an athletic girl gave her the advantage she needed, allowing her to keep her quarries in sight as she weaved her way between the trees.

Just then, she looked up and much to her surprise realised that the Knight was nowhere to be seen; only the Captain was in front. But just before she could ascertain anything, she suddenly saw a flash of metal come out of nowhere and slam into the Captain, effectively knocking him off his run.

To say that the captain was surprised by the body slam would be quite an understatement; he was absolutely puzzled. Truth is, initially, when he had turned back to see that the Knight had disappeared from behind him, he had been happy. He thought that he had finally lost his pursuer. But that happiness didn't last long as he suddenly felt something collide with him; the force of it causing him to scream in pain as he unceremoniously hit the ground and tumbled away.

His first point of concern was the chest however when he regained orientation, quickly scrambling for it before getting back on his feet only to see the Knight standing in front of him with his sword at the ready. "Hand over the chest and no one gets hurt," he said to him.

"I can't," the captain replied and almost sounding apologetic too.

The captain contemplated running back the way he came but almost immediately, a pale blonde girl took up space there with her arrow pointed at him. "Drop the chest, Captain," she said to him also, the look in her eyes telling him that she wouldn't hesitate to shoot if he didn't comply.

"I can't," he replied just the same way he had before.

All of a sudden, the Knight made a move for the chest; but the captain was ready and swerved out of the way just as the former came jumping at him. Immediately, he went on guard as he unsheathed his own sword and got ready for a fight which was becoming more inevitable by the second. "If you want the chest," he said to both the Knight and the pale-blonde archer, "then you’ll have to kill me to get it."

The Knight went on the attack immediately, going straight for the captain's hand holding the chest. But the latter wasn't planning to be so easily defeated and parried the strike before it could make contact. Unrelenting, the Knight went again and again on the attack, trying to catch the captain in different places; but he showed that he was equal to the task and dealt expertly with all that was thrown at him.

However, just as the fight looked about a stalemate, the captain went on the offense, attempting to stab the Knight in the chest in what he thought was a moment of vulnerability. But the latter saw the attack coming too before it even began and he sidestepped just as the sword came by. Before the captain could realize his mistake and withdraw his sword arm, the Knight grabbed hold and kicked his sword out of his hand; holding him in close quarters as they began to struggle.

"Just give up the damn chest already!" the Knight shouted at the other man. "Is it really worth your life?"

“You have no idea, Knight!" he returned.

All of a sudden, the captain grabbed a dagger he had hidden in his belt. But before he could have the opportunity use it, Freya let her arrow fly and caught him right in the throat, a whimper escaping from his lips as he fell to the ground; he was dead.

"I had it covered," the Knight said to the pale-blonde archer as he looked down at the cold body of the dead captain at his feet, his voice coming out very harshly in a clear evidence of his displeasure at what she had just done.

"Well, you're welcome anyway," she returned, her stern tone matching his harsh own. "Now, if you don’t mind, let's go and return the chest back to its rightful owner."

"Freya, what in the world were you thinking coming here all by yourself?" Morgan ran into the area just then, panting in such a way that suggested that he must have been running for a while.

"I was..." Freya’s voice trailed off as she turned incessantly around as if suddenly looking for something.

"What is it, Freya?" Morgan asked, not quite understanding what was going on.

"The Knight," she replied, looking at where the mysterious swordsman had been standing some seconds ago but wasn’t anymore. "He's gone, and he took the chest with him."