Corrupted Love| XIAOVEN

Chapter 18: two monsters (4/4)

 Again and again, the two clashed together and separated. This prolonged game between attack and retreat was repeated several times as Xiao feinted left with his spear and then approached from the right.

Columbina was not fooled by this but used it to her advantage. With a skillful lightness of foot, she moved to the left, directly into Xiao's supposed attack, and took advantage of the millisecond that followed. In which Xiao held his right flank open.

With quick elegance, she formed a blade of flawless ice and jammed it into Xiao's side. The yaksha had already deduced her attempt beforehand, but could not dodge it quickly enough, as the blade still cut deep into his flesh.

The large cut quickly filled with deep red blood and the warm liquid slowly ran down Xiao's stomach and waist. He bit his lips and groaned in pain.

The wound was not fatal but would hinder him in battle. He ignored it as best he could since he didn't have time to stay on one spot for more than a second...

Any little thing here, no matter how tiny, could make the difference in victory, he realized. An animal eating behind a tree, a distraction. The yaksha spun around, unaffected. His spear leaped forward.

Columbina stabbed at it, Xiao shot back the attack, then thrust again. Emerald crashed onto clear ice, and the spearhead slid down the girl's chest, slicing through her torso and leaving a long, bright mark on the white cloak beneath.

Both bent their knees while keeping their upper bodies upright- feet parallel, both pointing straight ahead, right foot in front of the left foot. So it went on for what seemed like a long time.

Back and forth they moved across the meadows, spiraling around, Columbina slashing the air while Xiao's spear struck her arm and leg twice.

Xiao gasped from time to time, and once was heard muttering a curse, but otherwise, he fought in sullen silence.

The spear was two feet longer than Columbina's sword, more than enough to keep her at an uncomfortable distance.

He attacked the shaft whenever Columbina lunged, while the latter tried to cut off the tip of the spear. Though she might as well have tried to split the air in two.

Suddenly Columbina was close enough to strike, her icy sword shining in the darkness. With the last of his strength and burning wounds, Xiao fended off the sword with his arm, causing a long deep red cut to form there and drop after drop of blood to flow out of the wound.

For a tiny moment, the sword was stuck in Xiao's arm, when he turned around and ram the spear into Columbina's stomach.

He cried out loudly as the cut deepened and the sword slid out of his wound with burning pain. It had worked, however, and the young girl lay on the ground.

Columbina tried to rise. The emerald spear had passed through her and pinned her to the ground. She wrapped both hands around the shaft and breathed calmly, but could not pull it out. Beneath her was a spreading pool of red, scattering in the grass.

Pinned to the muddy ground, her small body lay in the grass, growing weaker and weaker.

With a groan, Xiao then pulled the spear out of her weak body while her blood, sticking to it, slowly dripped down on her.

"Finish it. If you have even a bit of honor in your body, don't let me bleed to death slowly and painfully." Her voice was still calm and tender but she was so hurt that she could only whisper.

He rammed the spear into the grass beside her and knelt next to the almost unconscious body. For a long time, he looked at her and then cursed. Without asking her, he tore apart her snow-white coat and roughly bandaged the deep wound.

With inhuman speed, he ran over the grass, the girl's unconscious body in his hands.

After a few minutes, he arrived breathlessly in front of the illuminated Dawn Winery and knocked hastily. He was bleeding everywhere and looked like a monster even in the best of light.

A maid opened the thick wooden door and screamed when she saw the two, she already wanted to close the door quickly, but Xiao held it tightly. "Get out!" she screamed in panic and wildly tried to close the door.

The bloody figure gently put the young girl down and then said to the woman: "Please take care of her. She will be dead in less than half an hour if you don't help."

The woman in the doorway looked at him, disturbed, and then at the girl. "Leave!" she said again, but more calmly, and opened the door enough to carry Columbina inside.

When the two girls were gone, Xiao ran as fast as he had ever run before.

Not even half an hour later, he was standing in front of the tower of Stormterror's Lair.