Jim Armstrong and the Goblet's Curse

Chapter 29: Mi Amour Is Bloodthirsty

I didn't move for a moment. The bag of Sand, the only thing that would save everybody at GreySlash, it was gone. Just like that.

  Something hard and metal hit me in the head, bringing me back to my senses. I felt my grip on everybody else outside the cavern loosing. If this didn't end soon, I wouldn't be able to keep them frozen much longer.

   I rolled over in time to see Kyle raising his sword again, and I rolled out from under him, narrowly dodging his blade. As soon as I was even remotely in a state to fight, Kyle was swinging his sword again, cutting my arm. I jumped away from the chasm and hit the wall, the sharp rock scratching the crook of my elbow. I dived to the left to avoid a knife that Kyle had just flung in my direction, but was surprised to see that Kyle had appeared in front of me. I stumbled backwards away from him, back towards the chasm. I changed my course of direction so that I was heading back to the wall, but Kyle vanished and reappeared in my way.

  This guy was really starting to annoy me.

  "You cannot win this, boy," Amour's voice reverberated through the cavern, seeming to come from everywhere at once. "You are losing your grip on the others you have frozen out there." At my incredulous look, Amour laughed. "Yes, I know, boy. Amour knows everyone and everything."

  I dodged another blow from Kyle, but the tip of his sword managed to snag my shirt sleeve, ripping it apart. I dove out of the way of another swing, tripping over my feet and falling to the ground, where the sharp, rough ground cut my knees. Lumière flew out of my hands, hitting the wall and skidding across the ground, away from me. I backed up on my hands and knees, only thinking of getting away from Kyle and to my sword. Kyle lifted his blade and swung downwards.  

  And I did something both daring, and stupid.

  Before the sword could hit me, I grabbed it.

  I'm an idiot.

  But what was I supposed to do? I was up against the wall, and I couldn't go sideways, because Kyle was just going to reappear in my way.

  So, my solution was to impale my hands on the sword instead.

  The blade sliced into my palms, and the pressure from keeping it away from my chest was making the blade slice further. He kept pushing the sword closer and closer to my chest, and I kept trying to drive it away from me. My palms were stinging, but to let go was to be impaled, and that wasn't really an option.

  I couldn't hold on anymore. My grip was slick with blood, and my hold was slowly loosening. I rolled to the side, letting go of the sword, which drove itself into the rocky ground. I rolled further from Kyle, who was trying to dislodge his sword.  I dove for Lumière before Kyle could straighten up and swung towards him, but at the last second, he pulled his own sword out of the ground and turned to meet my blow.

  Once again, his strength was surprising to me. I knew he was strong from the fight on the Edge Walk, but not this strong. Amour's influence was adding to Kyle's strength, and the two forces together were too much for me. I still felt my hold on the others outside slipping; soon they were going to be active again. If they unfroze, James and Cecy were sure to be overtaken by Amour's minions. And I couldn't let that happen.

  But then a thought hit me: I didn't even have the Sand anymore. So why were we still having this fight?

  Once again, Amour's voice answered my question.

  "Yes, you don't have the Sand anymore," he said. "But I can't have you and your friends, running around telling people that I want the Sand. My secrets are not to be put on display for anyone to see."