When the World Falls to Darkness

Fight

Lukas threw himself aside, already bringing out a short sword to defend himself. Almost instantaneously, Ryuu leapt forwards and swung a punch at Lukas' face. Somehow he managed to duck beneath the strike, but was defenceless to Avalon's knife, coming straight towards his chest once more.

There was no pain.

Glancing down at his chest, Lukas was surprised to see that no blood was seeping through his clothing, no crimson stain to show his demise. Instead, the knife hovered inches away from his body, only to be pulled back slowly and sheathed in a clean, fluid movement.

"You have good reactions, Louki," Avalon grinned. Lukas slumped to the floor, as Ryuu regained his calm composure again.

"You almost killed me to test my reactions?"

It sounded somewhat like a question, a threat and an accusation rolled into one. Lukas himself couldn't say which he meant it as.

"No," Avalon replied. "We know what we're doing. So no, we didn't almost kill you."

He glared up at her, but the girl seemed unfazed; amused, if anything. "Get some rest," she advised, laughing. "You'll need it."

Night had crept up quickly for some and slowly for others. For Lukas, it was a slow, dragging time, spent leaning against a tree for rest, the very tree Avalon had climbed into for her own respite, sleeping on a branch she claimed was actually fairly comfortable. Ryuu had done the slightly more normal thing - the same as Lukas.

But he couldn't sleep. No matter how hard he tried, Lukas could not allow sleep to claim him, despite the exhaustion covering him from a day of travelling to reach the village.

When the night finally did come, they remounted the horses, guiding them slowly through the trees in their groups.

Avalon and Ryuu lead, meaning Lukas was in front with them - a position of attention that he did not greatly enjoy. The other elves were observing him. Not directly, of course, but still... The more these people knew, the greater the danger. A simple fact.

They left the horses tied to trees where they could easily find them upon retreating, then moved into their attack positions, coordinated by Captain Shou.

Lukas could feel the anticipation building inside him. But not, strangely, so much fear as determination.

He'd seen too many things to be scared of this. Maybe that was why he was determined - his own losses had made him realise that it was only right to stop it happening again.

Beside him, Ryuu gave him a sidelong glance of reassurance, and Lukas wondered how many times Ryuu and Avalon had fought before. Avalon seemed knowledgeable in the art of war. How many times had they gone into battle against the humans, dwarves, and those from the elven realm who supported their army? How many times had they fought to defend the race of angels, fighting alongside barely a third of the elven race?

The call of an owl rang through the night air - indistinguishable to a dwarf. But to an elf? The call was evidently too long, the pitch too high, if only by the slightest.

The signal.

Ryuu and Lukas dashed forwards, their feet making no sound as they skimmed the forest floor. Arriving on the outskirts of the camp, they waited for the next signal. Shooting arrows wouldn't work here - their targets were inside tents, and hidden from view. This required melee skills.

Another 'owl' called out, the sound echoing through the night.

Go.

Lukas surged forwards, slicing open the tent with Ryuu beside him. Before the dwarves inside could even react, Ryuu had killed two and Lukas the other. Above, Avalon would be shooting any that escaped from the tents, ready to swoop down and help any of the elves who didn't manage a successful ambush.