Rowan Fómhar
While my focus was concentrated at the entrance of the maze, down the path a blade spun of water punched a hole in the wall of coarse green leaves and the dark intertwining branches that they concealed. My eyes snapped towards the disturbance as I reached an arm out to grab hold of Greysi and pull her behind me. I felt her peering around me to watch as the steam of the blade evaporated into the air and the leaves that had been knocked free settled to the ground around the section of the wall that landed in the middle of the path that we had just walked past.
"W-what's that?" Greysi's voiced from behind me, confusion had it sounding small.
If she had recognized the flash of black that made its way through the newly formed hole, it would have been fear filling her voice with dread instead. But no, she was blissfully unaware of what the black uniform meant.
I wasn't.
Apprehensions snuck its way into my voice in the form of a crack. "Not what, but who."
Another loud crash sounded from down the path in the opposite direction. On the other side of the maze's entrance, another hole appeared in the length of the hedge. From it, another fae male wearing the same black uniform stepped through while a third stepped out from the actually exit.
"Then who is that?" She hissed, her fingers curling into my shirt as she stepped closer, sensing the danger they posed.
"The Winter Guard."
Like a trigger, my words had the three soldiers who had their eyes locked on me spacing their feet, bending their knees, and taking off toward us in action.
Well, more like attack.
Stepping back, I gave Greysi a hard shove before she could recover from the shock that my words had delivered. She landed in a bush, lucky that those within the castle weren't required to have the extra precaution of thorns that those surrounding the outer perimeters of the castle did. This far inside, small precautions like that weren't required since intruders didn't get this far. Typically.
A cry of protest left her lips at the push, but I didn't whatever followed as she hit the ground. No, the shield of wind that I sealed her in for her protection also kept her protests contained within. But most importantly, it would keep any harm from reaching her until I finished dealing with the unexpected situation.
The unexpected situation that was charging towards us from three directions and had already closed half the distance.
Not wanting them to draw any nearer, I send out three fine slashes of wind that could barely be seen as ripples in the air. But a trained eye wouldn't miss them.
And they didn't.
Three blades of ice met my blades of wind to create a burst of snow that sparkled in the light of the closest lamp post lighting the path. A fourth made its way towards me, aiming to down me, but not to kill. I effortlessly evaded the strike, but the two that followed were harder to maneuver past while trying to move the battle away from the human behind me. The human that I was sure they were here for.
They weren't going to get to her unless they made it through me.
Charging forward, I intercepted the fae that had first caught my notice. He was nearest, a result of emerging from the maze's entrance and not a few paces further in either direction. The Winter soldier met me in a clash of ice and wind. His fists surrounded with ice exploded against shields of air I rose to meet each of his strikes.
But his weren't the only ones I had to keep an eye out for.
Finally seeing the chance that I needed to down the first of the three fae, I took a page from my mother's book and slit his throat. I felt the warm spray of his blood before he dropped to the ground like a stone to continue to bleed out.
