The Crazy Daughter of the Duke's Family - Book One: Pandora

Chapter 19: Damage Control

It could not be excused, and yet it had happened. It was important to find the Core of a Visitor, otherwise they couldn't be attacked with certain results.

A Visitor was, in a way, a wandering soul with some human Life Force. They accumulated energy and produced new energy, as far as humanity had understood.

Each individual Visitor had a spot on its body where it came together, like a seam. It was often found a bit off their center, in the chest, head, or lower abdomen, where they could protect it. Hitting that suture would cause the whole Visitor to fall apart.

But to feel that clot of energy from a distance, to pinpoint where it was coming from, was something a novice couldn't hope to do. She was preoccupied with her bow and the fact that she couldn't naturally draw it as she was now.

But no matter how much she told herself that it had been inevitable for her to miss the Phantom's existence, she came to the same conclusion: it was inexcusable.

In front of her, it slammed through the iron fence and waltzed over one of the individual walls. It simply tore it from the two posts it was attached to. The piece of metal was bent, but still flat enough for the Visitor to walk over, just the few inches it could lift itself above the ground to get around the flimsy blessing as it was.

The holy ground was spotty at best as it stepped over the metal and inched closer to the person it could reach, as opposed to the girl high up on the fence.

Time seemed to stand still as Rowena made her calculations, fumbling with another knife she had tied to her bloomers. She had thought she would be able to pick up a new branch after shooting the first one down, but now her advantageous position was all she had, and she was out of ammunition.

Lucan stood in front of it, a sword he had borrowed from a guard before returning strapped to his hip. He drew it on instinct, completely overwhelmed by the situation.

It looked like a person, but why did it keep disappearing? It was called a Phantom, but this was not why it was called that.

It must have started using its unique ability. Invisibility? At that moment, his sword sliced through the air, forming an arc with clean precision.

But instead of cutting flesh, it simply cut empty space. What was its ability?

He felt something out of place and swung around. With a clatter, his sword parried a claw that came at him. How did it get there so fast?

He leapt back about two feet, trying to increase his distance, but it was already in his face the moment his foot touched ground again.

It was as if it hadn't moved at all. That's when Rowena understood. It hadn't just become invisible.

Hopping down the fence, she grabbed a new branch by the wayside, hacked a nock into it, and secured the knife to the tip. She needed to make it as quick and stable as possible.

As he did his best to defend, unable to connect any of his blows unless they were meant to be defensive, Lucan's eyes wandered and made contact with Rowena's. The look in her eyes should have reassured him, but instead it made him feel uneasy. She wouldn't just rush into the fight, would she?

"His Core," was all she said.

Knowing already that he had to aim for the Core, he hastily pondered what she was trying to say when his head suddenly spun from a flurry of attacks. He had already found the Core at the beginning of their fight, but he hadn't been able to pierce it.

"The throat," he yelled between blows, "it's in the throat." He finally understood what she was trying to do.

He saw her drawing the heavy string of that very outlandish looking bow with an arrow that couldn't be more absurd. How would that even fly in a straight line?