The Cinders of Dezu

9th: Talia (4)

With a motion of the arm, a glint of light reflected off the surface of a blade. He had produced it seemingly from nowhere. It was a knife the size of the mans forearm with a width to it that seemed excessive.
The boys took an instinctive step back. Julian opened his mouth to say something when the ruffle of tree branches was heard. Another thump struck the ground. It was Talia. She stood with her back to them, facing the man called Firus. Despite her small stature, she stood like a formidable wall between him and the boys, staring the hunter down. Her stance said she was prepared for anything.

Firus sighed.

"You just couldn't stay away, could you?"

"You know I can't stand by and watch this," she said.

Firus shrugged.

"You didn't have to watch."

They were slowly starting to pace together in a stand off now. Their eyes were locked as they slowly stalked back and forth like lions about to fight over a kill.

Firus smiled.

"Come on, little lady... You sure you want to play this part again? It's just the same ol' song and dance."

Talia shook her head.

"I'm not here to play, Firas."

"That's a shame," he scoffed as he stopped in his tracks, "cuz we're about to have some fun. "

A whiz and a thunk was heard. A lock of Talia's hair drifted to the ground. Her eyes hadn't left him but his knife was no longer in his hand. She knew what had happened but she knew she couldn't take her eyes off of him. A noise from behind her forced her to turn around though.

"Aaaggghh!"

The cry was Julian's voice, laced with surprise, fear, and a smattering of pain. Talia turned to see Julian gripping his now bleeding arm just below the shoulder. The knife was lodged firmly and deeply in the tree trunk behind him. Cairo turned around to react to his panicked to friend. Talia whipped back around. The Hunter was gone. Just as she knew he would be. She cursed herself inside and turned back to run in Julian's direction.

Cairo was trying to get a look at the slice held tightly under Julian's hand.

"Hold pressure! Hold pressure!" he told him.

Talia went to the tree trunk and grabbed the hilt of the blade. She yanked and yanked but it was stuck tight in the wood. She held on and put both legs on the trunk to pull again, this time with success. She pulled the knife out clean and handed it to Cairo who looked at her confused.

"Take this," she said.

He fumbled it into his hands while Talia turned around and ripped off Julian's already torn sleeve from his shirt. In moments, she had tied it firmly around Julian's arm.

"It's not that deep," she said, "Just keep it on there and follow my lead or he'll give you much worse."

"How did...?" Cairo began to say as he collected his thoughts, "He was... the knife... I mean, it was like a bullet!"

Talia snatched the knife from Cairo's trembling grasp. Her fingers began to radiate heat as she lifted it to her left hand. She brought the edge of the knife to her palm and the boys watched as she eased her hand across the metal, bringing the entire blade to a white-hot glow.

"I'm going to need you to run, " she said, "Stay together and don't stop moving. You're going to head directly behind me on three."

Cairo whispered to Julian, "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, no I'm good," he said as he examined the makeshift bandage on his arm.

"One..."

Talias eyes were combing the tops of the trees.

"Two..."

She was studying the difference between the swaying of the wind and something more substantial that could be disturbing them.

The boys were still with their eyes trained on the girl. She paused for what felt like a lifetime. Cairo felt his legs beginning to tingle with anticipation. Talia's eyes caught the movement above that she was searching for.

"Three!"