Beyond The Fangs

Chapter 2

JAEGER

Izel was her name, the Vanquisher who hated me, but I only ever called her Izzy because she hated me even more whenever I called her that, which was the only reason why I loved calling her that.

I leapt off of my tree and intended to get rid of Izzy's Vanquisher friend, Aleksander, before dealing with her, but he was ready for me this time. Usually, I caught him by surprise and knocked him out, but this time he raised his sword before I even reached the ground, forcing me to unsheath my own sword and a resounding clang sounded when our swords met.

"Good to see you again, Vanquisher," I smirked.

"Go die," he snarled.

"No, thank you," I said then raised my free hand and grabbed his wrist, twisting it until he released his sword. Once he did, I spun his arm and held it behind his back and—hearing Izzy approaching—held my blade across his neck and faced her, the threat clear. Her lip curled, but not before the other Vanquisher knocked his head back against my face. I cursed and released my sword, but I didn't release him. Before Izzy could attack I brought my hand to his neck and squeezed. The Vanquisher groaned before crumbling to the ground, unconscious. I stepped over his body and looked up to see Izzy with a pleasing sneer on her face.

"Your friend should be able to counter my attacks by now," I said, "but then again, I guess no one is better than you at countering my attacks."

"You're still alive," she groaned.

"When you say it like that I might think you're disappointed."

"You have no idea."

"It's been a while, did you miss me?" 

"I've been missing having opportunities to kill you," Izzy retorted.

"Opportunities to try to kill me you mean," I corrected her. "You've been failing these past 6 years, what makes you think you'll get me today?"

"One can only try until they get what they want."

"And what you want is your sword through my heart?"

"Precisely."

My lips curved into a grin. I gave up on trying to make Izzy fear me years ago, but I got another emotion other than fear from her. Hate. It was quite entertaining, the way Izzy hated me, to the point where I looked forward to all of our interactions. 

She was the only person I ever interacted with where the conversation didn't end in death. 

"Doesn't one get tired of trying?" I mused, "And aren't you satisfied already? You got to fight today, after all."

"It wasn't enough competition."

"Of course it wasn't," I said, glancing at the bodies. "You managed to kill them."

"And just like how I killed him, I'm going to—"

"Try to kill me?" I asked, interrupting her. "You can try, but you must know that I haven't killed anyone today."

"So what, you want a congratulation? A gold star?"

I laughed despite myself, "you are quite amusing, you know that?"

"And you are quite aggravating, you know that?"

I grinned. "Just do me a favour and die this time around."

"No promises." She told me.

I did enjoy fighting Izzy, she was good—too good sometimes that I got irritated whenever I failed to perceive her attacks. What she didn't know was that no matter how good she was, if I truly wanted her dead, she would be dead. I was only keeping her alive for my entertainment, and once I got bored she would end up like everyone else I ever fought. Dead.

"Ready to fail, Izzy?" I asked, unsheathing my sword.

"Stop calling me that!" She demanded, making my grin widen. "I'm going to kill you today."

"Of course... Izzy," I added with amusement.

And with that, she leapt at me, thrusting her sword and aiming right for my stomach. That was a rash move, reckless if I might say. Attacks like that used to catch me off guard because nobody in their right mind would do that, she had almost got me one time because of it, but now I was used to the way she fought.

I dodged her attack, but she abruptly stopped just as I did, digging her heels into the ground and turning to take another jab at me, swinging her sword across. That was an unexpected move but I managed to deflect her sword, hitting it off course so the tip hit the ground, close to my foot.

"That was close," I commended. "But not close enough."

I grabbed her hand and then kicked the sword out of her grip but she quickly grabbed a dagger from her thigh sheath with her other hand forcing me to release her hand before she could slash me.

I heard the other Vanquisher—who woke up faster than he should have—coming from behind, so I quickly deflected Izzy's attack before grabbing her and turning around with her so that she was in the way of my attack. The Vanquisher, Aleksander, just managed to stop before his sword met Izzy's skin.

"A little faster and you would have killed your partner," I wryly said to him. "So next time be faster."

I hit Aleksander's sword down then pushed Izzy forward and he caught her. Without hesitation, she unsheathed his dagger, spun around, and threw it toward me.

It was aimed right at my heart, but I caught it before it made contact with my chest, blood dripping from my hand as I held the sharp edge of the blade. If I was a little slower than I was, she would have killed me, and if I really wanted to, I would kill her. She always managed to make me bleed, and I suddenly realised that I'd never made her bleed before. 

I sped to her and grabbed her arm, yanking her from her Vanquisher friend. I let go of her arm only to grab her shirt and raise her above the ground before pinning her against a nearby tree.

"Don't," I warned the other Vanquisher when I heard him approaching, and only when I heard him still did I fix my grip on the dagger and hold it against Izzy's neck. "You know I can just kill you now."

"You wish," she said and she suddenly lifted her legs, wrapping them around my waist to pull me closer and headbutt me, but I kept my feet planted on the ground, not allowing myself to stumble forward.

"Predictable," I sighed.

She growled, but it was more amusing than menacing, at least to me. That trick worked once, or twice, but it would 't anymore.

"The only reason you're not dead is because you know how I fight now," she stated.

"And the only reason you're not dead is because I find pleasure in seeing you irritated and upset every time you fail to kill me." 

She snarled before raising her leg to kick me in the ribs but I released her shirt before she could, allowing her to fall to the ground.

"Better luck next time, Izzy," I said with a wicked grin before dropping her dagger and leaving.