Charlie was still alive. Somehow.
For who knows how long, he was beaten and kicked around the village road, fighting for his life against the Tengura leader. The tall warrior was stronger, faster and more skilled than he was, so it was a literal miracle that he managed to avoid being killed.
On the plus side, he was so used to fighting the leader now, he was no longer afraid of the blows. Charlie predicted the force of every strike, every attack that knocked him to the ground or smashed the teenager's weapon aside. He completely anticipated the follow up kick which usually booted him to the dirt – except this time he darted aside.
The leader missed and Charlie countered. He swung the longsword into Tengura's head.
Clang.
The blow was parried aside as if it was an afterthought. And the leader wasn't impressed or even angry. He wore a look of impatience. Like the face you had when you stepped in something disgusting and were trying to wipe it off. Charlie was just a pest to him. Some bothersome nuisance he needed to exterminate.
The leader's sword came flying down. The boy barely succeeded in blocking it. The power of the attack bought him to the ground and Charlie slammed in to the dirt, feeling his sword slip from his fingers.
His vision went hazy. The world was looking strange.
In the corner of his eye he saw Malik and Luke. The pair of them were leaping between Tengura warriors, dispatching one after the other, like they didn't even matter. Up the road, he saw Sophie and Chris. They were fighting their way down to the village, leaving a trail of corpses behind them. And then to his right, he saw Nick and Emma, battling off a trio of Tengura riders.
Emma, thought Charlie, how did she get so good at fighting?
The Tengura were dropping before her. Piling the road, one after the other.
How did everyone get so good?
Sophie was sliding around the road like a viper, cutting down her opponents with such speed that Charlie couldn't believe it. Meanwhile Chris was ploughing through warriors, wielding that greatsword like a mallet.
What was...
A burst of flame distracted him.
He watched a rider and his mount fly into a wall, consumed with fire. Rushing toward them were Michelle and Steve. The tall girl's hand was seething with flame.
Charlie couldn't find the words to express his thoughts. His mind was filled with a billion questions and theories. This was amazing...
Something hard pressed him to the ground.
It was a boot. One belonging to the Tengura leader. The warrior pinned him to the dirt, leaving him unable to escape. Charlie struggled and grimaced, looking up to see the giant man was readying his blade to finish him.
'No...' he grunted.
This time the leader laughed.
'Yes,' he corrected him. 'I've had enough fun for today.'
Something silver burst through the warrior's abdomen and he gasped in pain. Charlie could see it was the familiar rune-inscribed blade of the longsword he had been using.
'What...'
Behind the leader was Aston, the sword's owner. The man was dazed and still groggy from his arrow injury, but he was holding the sword defiantly.
But the leader wasn't done.
He flung an armoured elbow behind him, striking Aston in the chin. The village champion fell back in pain, collapsing on the ground.
YOU ARE READING
Our Destiny: Bearers of the Dagger
Fantasy... Emma felt the confidence start to seep away. Her earlier thoughts were not pleasant but she couldn't ignore them. 'What's going on?' the questioned burned through her mind. 'Where are we? How did we get here?' Charlie's smile vanished at once. '...
