Chapter 285: Initiative, Insults, and Interrogation

Blue life essence drifted into the air, weapons had been drawn, and blood was ready to be spilt.

Elero reformed her legs and charged, eager to let out her pent-up frustrations on the small Looter. The tank however, stepped in her path with a smirk and put his full weight behind his long sword. Elero's thin rapier barely withstood the blow, crying a mournful tune as she was sent right back. Cold, dull pain slammed into her back yet she gritted her teeth and jammed her blade into the ice, sliding to a stop. Her bruised cheek twisted into a smile as blood dripped off her rapier.

The tank was still rearing back with a deep gash across his forearm, yet his two companions charged around him, approaching Frey's sides. The Looter's swiped predictably. Frey easily intercepted the small blade with his shield, sending a shower of white-hot sparks through the dark night as the force made him shift on the slippery ice. Cracks spiderwebbed from under his boots.

Frey readied his wooden mace as the Squad Leader arrived at his other side, short swords drawn. The two blades flew into a frenzied combination, swiping and stabbing, chipping into Frey's mace. With the Looter taking care of the shield, Frey was left with little defense, or so they thought.

"Knights use everything." Alexander's words echoed in Frey's head as he spat into the Squad Leader's face. Next, he slammed his mace into the ground, shattering the fragile ice and plunging them all into the frigid water below.

He regretted it immediately. The air left his lungs as the chilling shock nearly paralyzing him. Any more than a few seconds, and he wasn't sure if he could get back up. All three, shivering and cursing, formed a silent truce, clambered out, and resumed the fight.

Thomas almost lept out of his cover to help, but he hesitated. 'No,' he thought, looking down at his crossbow. 'They'd just block it like this.' He frowned, scanned the area for a suitable spot, and carefully shifted through the shadows. His hands shook and his feet struggled for friction. Several times he almost dropped his crossbow, especially when Frey took a hit.

The giant groaned as he slid back. Pain erupted from the shallow wound in his side. Shields could block weapons, but they couldn't absorb the force. His fingers numbed with each blow. The wooden mace was holding, but a lingering fear had planted itself in his frantic mind. "Cheaters," he muttered, taking notice his opponents' spiked boots, which kept them rooted.

No matter how he shifted his stance, the cracking ice still threatened his balance. It was like he was in slow motion, hesitating with each move. Wide, deadly sweeps with his mace kept his opponents on their guard, but also created openings for them to rush in. Slow but devastating. One good hit is all that he needed. They might scratch and tear his muscles and skin, but they couldn't kill him. That's also, however, what made his frown deepen.

They could have killed him, several times at that matter. Luckily, they were all students, students which were under increased scrutiny after Initiation. Frey's hand kept moving to his empty sheath, a cruel reminder that Alexander had taken his spear and Kopis. He glanced over to Thomas's former hiding spot, not able to find him. His expression darkened further when he saw the state of his other comrade.

"Come on angel!" The Tank taunted as his longsword tore the air above Elero's head.

'If I hadn't ducked…' Elero thought.

"Where are your wings this time?" The Tank reeled back, still smirking. Elero spotted an opening but stopped herself. Sudden movement and rolls were her enemy on this battlefield. That, and she wouldn't fall for such obvious bait.

With no other choice, she gritted her teeth as the Tank once again slammed his blade down. Elero's rapier screeched and her muscles bulged as she struggled to parry the force to the side. The ice shattered as she rolled away, nearly falling into the black muck.

The voice called to her, pleading to beat down this meathead.

The tank rubbed his injured arm and bellowed: "You're just a freak and a cripple, just like Jackal said." He charged forward, taking full advantage of his weight, spiked boots, and a burst of his life essence to tackle her to the ground. His shoulder pressed the air out of her lungs. The ice shattered, and she plunged. She almost grabbed for the edge of the ice but stopped.

The Tank would be waiting for her to emerge, like how he tried to bait her. She would rather risk of death than lose to one of that murderer's subordinates, so she let herself sink. "Freak." The word echoed in her head. Jackal had said the same thing when he spat on her brother's casket, right before he carved the word into the back of her wheelchair.

'Salvation,' she thought. 'I'm so close. I won't be denied, not while I have friends to back me up.'

Frey's back slammed into the mossy church wall. The weak grip on his shield was all that defended him now. Fresh blood dripped from deep gashes along his other arm, which hung limp. The Looter and Squad Leader closed in; victorious, cocky, and most importantly, ignorant.

A single dulled crossbow bolt flew out of the vegetation, cracking against the back of the Looter's skull. His unconscious form crumpled as the Squad leader aimed a sword at Frey's neck. "Call your friend off!" He ordered. "You lost fair and square."

"Lost?" Frey coughed as the green moss behind him withered away. The dozens of gashes along his body closed, and his limp arm grabbed onto the Squad Leader's blade with reinvigorated strength. The poor Squad Leader was so confused at the turn of events that he didn't even see the white, flaming aura on Frey's back. Of course the aura soon flickered out, but Frey had succeeded once. Maybe after some training he could find out how to do it again.

"I've lost too many times out here. I'm sick of it." With one smooth motion, Frey shattered the blade. The Squad Leader stumbled back and raised his other weapon. Frey took a step forward on the solid dirt, thankful that he had let himself get pushed so far away, and bellowed: "Thomas, this one's mine!"

Darkness, how many times had Elero been here? She sunk deeper into the cold mud. The chill, the panic, and the pain were all old friends of hers. Nightmares of useless flailing, of falling without landing, had plagued her mind for so long that she had forgotten what it was like to have a dream. Not just some regular old dream but a good dream, one she would try to remember. At long last she had a goal, a new dream. As she sunk down into the icy muck, her panicked thoughts quelled like an ocean after a storm.

'Strange,' she thought as she pushed through the muck, moving along the bottom of the frozen river. 'I shouldn't be able to see under here, not without a clear glass to look through.' Her heartrate slowed. The water subtly vibrated with each of the Tank's steps, and she tracked them. Then the footfalls stopped, and she cursed. 'If I can see him…'

No time to think. She pushed off the ground, using her rapier as a platform, and extended her nails with life essence. She ripped through the ice like a rabid animal only to find that the Tank was weaponless. He scrambled for his fallen long sword with a crossbow bolt sunken into his left shoulder.

"Freak." The word echoed into her mind as she lept on to his back and ripped into his chest, going right through his plain iron breastplate. Her slowed heartrate broke into a discordant, rapid thrum as she screamed: "I'll show you a freak!"

She drove her extended nails through his arm like a pike, pinning him to the ice. Blood spouted out of the wound and into her eyes. She reeled her other arm back, aiming for his exposed throat. "Where is Jackal? How many of you are out here? I need answers!" She pressed her claws lightly into his neck, just shy of the trachea.

"That's enough." Elero recognized Frey's voice. She wiped the blood out of her eyes. "He's beaten." He pointed to the tears running down the Tank's face as he lay crumpled, begging for mercy. "Let's go. I have a place to show you, both of you." He pointed up to the cave entrance. "It's time I told you the truth."