Phantom Thunder

Chapter 17

Weapons materialized. I took a breath and focused. Energy slid from my hand until I held a perfectly balanced sword. We inched closer together into a battle formation. I gripped my weapon. A real fight. I'd been itching for one since I'd began training. Now was my chance. No way in any universe was I going to let my friends get hurt under my watch on my failed mission.

The phantoms were fully developed. Sunken eyes absorbed the light, and failed to reflect it back out again. Dark hoods covered their scorched black skin, and dark lips hid sharp teeth that were more like grey fangs than regular pearly whites. They each held signature long black blades.

They hesitated slightly when they realized what we were, but it wasn't enough to scare them away. I assumed the smell of three open bodies lying on the side walk had stirred their appetite, and they hungered for more silverblood feast.

They approached, sliding rather than walking. Their long black ropes slithered around their feet. My heart pounded.

"Now" I whispered.

There was a moment of silence, filled only by the soft echo of my whisper, and the faint sound of Lilian's arrow piercing the morning chill before the twang of the bow string erupted like the sound of a bomb beginning a war.

The phantom barely had enough time to create a small shield before the arrow struck it. Knives was on the creature in an instant, her weapons swirling like wildfire flickering.

Before the other phantoms could rush to their buddy's aid, we were on them. A black blade came crashing down towards me, but I blocked and counter attacked. My sword moved in perfect sync with my thoughts, and followed every command that my wrist issued. But it wasn't just my servant, it was my teammate, an extension of my potential.

The phantom slowly pushed me away from the others. I could see Knives terrorizing the first phantom. Seth and Blake had taken one on, and Spark was fighting the other while arrows zipped towards the air, pummelling the phantoms.

I caught the phantom's blade on my sword, then, seeing and opening, I sent my foot into what would've been his knee cap if he were human, but I didn't quite understand phantom anatomy.

Its blade slipped, and I jumped back to avoid getting my leg amputation. One breath, two breaths, then the creature was on me again. I faked a stab, and brought my sword flying towards its head.

It blocked, then spun and pulled it's blade out from beneath mine. I hadn't expected that, and it took me a moment to gain control of the downstairs movement of my sword. That moment almost cost me my life. The phantoms weapon sliced at me, and I was forced to roll away to avoid being beheaded.

Idiot I scolded myself. The phantom was a few meters away, and before he could get in striking range I glanced around to see how my friends were faring. It wasn't going quite as while as I'd hoped.

Knives had been disarmed. That was huge indicator of the fight we were up against. A creature who could disarm a fighter like Knives was something to be reckoned with. Somehow, she was still alive. She moved faster than my eyes could follow, dodging, and occasionally striking. But the phantom gave her no time to recreate a weapon. She managed to catch the flat of her enemy's blade on her left forearm, which gave her just enough time to create a small knife in her right hand.

Spark was struggling too. I'd never seen him struggle in a sword fight, but he wasn't as composed and graceful as he was when he trained. For things made of cloud puffs, the phantoms were incredible fighters.

At least Blake and Seth were faring well, but it wasn't enough to beat the phantoms. Each of Lilian's arrows was flawlessly blocked. We were loosing.