Siren

Siren - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Heading towards the stables, the guards left behind, they were well ahead when the four stopped short of a man with his sword drawn and ready.

"We meet again your lordliness. Is my boot print still red on your arse?" Eyes narrowing, Mallach was less than amused. His pulse raced and his heart galloped at the opportunity of battle. Killing this man would be sweet, as revenge usually was.

"Yes. Fate has odd ways about her, does she not?"

"Not as odd as your whore there." he motioned with his chin and grinned.

"Your fight is with me, leave her out of it." The guard looked at the ground a moment before raising his eyes and meeting those of the prince.

"I would, you see, but she attacked me guv. And that makes her just as much as my fight as you."

The three men withdrew their swords. Standing at the ready, they waited for an advance.

"No, gents. This is my fight. Clara, stand back." said Mallach tensely.

"I want to help you, just let me do what..."

"I SAID STAND BACK!"

Clara flinched and pushed herself against a wall of the stable. She held her breath as Mallach and the haughty guard stepped toward each other. She had never seen Mallach fight before. She had never seen someone killed, either. The worst she had seen was her father struggle to die. Pushing that thought away, she shook her head, and bit her lip nervously as the two locked their wrists tight around the hilts of their swords.

Mallach took the first swing, and the guard parried. The sound of metal clashing together echoed throughout the stable. Standing back from each other, Mallach motioned his hands, beckoning the guard to fight. Swinging his sword, the guard roared as he tried to run Mallach through. He laughed, stepping aside and smacking the guard hard on the arse with his sword.

Turning around quickly, the guard seethed.

"You'll die for that one."

"Likewise."

Coming together again, their swords a flurry of parries and blows, the battle waged on. It was when the guard took a foul shot at Mallach's face that he crumpled to the ground. Moaning, he held his face in his hands.

"So it ends!" the guard cried, tasting victory.

"No!" Clara cried. Running past Octavious and Raven before they could hold her back, she rushed at the guard as he raised his sword for the final blow. Knocking him to the ground, she wrestled with him for a moment before he threw her off him. She went tumbling against the ground, and stopped abruptly in front a stable door.

"You are just a fly buzzing about my ear," he hissed. "Putrid and annoying. It is high time someone got rid of you." Attention focused on Clara, Mallach stood. He roared and the guard turned. The last thing the guard saw was the small gash that would become a scar on Mallach's face as he was beheaded. Standing for a moment, his eyes rolled back and his head fell with a thump to the ground beside Clara. Shrieking, she scrambled away from the head and underneath the belly of her colt that stood nearby. Shivering violently, she closed her eyes tight and tried to steady her breathing.

"Get up, lady Clara!" pleaded Octavious. "We must leave at once."

"Ahh..." was all she could manage. Reaching beneath the horse, and grabbing her wrist, Mallach yanked her up, and held her by her shoulders.

He turned his head slightly to the men standing behind him.

"It was myself who was like this not a few hours ago, when the dragon roared her rage at us. She is in shock. Help me get her upon my steed."