Into Darkness

t w o

t w o

THE PUNCH LANDS hard along my jaw, my vision turning crimson and my ears filled with a deafening ringing sound. I open my mouth slightly and gingerly massage the side of my face with my free hand, feeling the almost feverishly hot skin underneath my fingertips and the immediate swelling. I don't give myself time to falter however, and spit out the blood that pools in my mouth, raising my fists towards my opponent in front of me within seconds.

She stands at least a head taller than me with thick matted hair. Her torn up clothing is covered in grime, a mixture of charcoal grey rock dust and the faint golden glimmer of something more precious. She is one of the workers from the lux crystal mines, and as soon as I see combined size and corded muscles that her profession has given her, I know I'm outmatched. I should back down. I should walk away but a fire burns within me, years of pent up anger mixed with liquor, making me ignore reason. Like how stealing a months wages from a seemingly ignorant drunk who is double my size is a terrible idea.

My opponent glares down at me and eyes the coin purse I stole from her that's now hanging triumphantly from my belt, hefting her empty beer bottle threateningly. She says no words, but from her stance I can tell she's waiting for me to yield and end the fight now.

"If you want it," I say in a low voice. "You're going to have to come and get it."

Her eyes light up in a blaze of fury, and she swings the bottle down with a yell. I quickly dance out of her reach, the sound of shattering glass chasing me as I leap up into the bar counter. She starts to turn towards me, grabbing for my exposed legs but before she can, I jump down and tackle her from above.

We both tumble to the ground and I land on top, hitting her repeatedly in the face before I feel her meaty hand grab onto my neck and throwing me down to the side.

Her fist smacks against the side of my face and I see stars, my vision going red for a moment.

We're running down the corridor, Carter in front of me and Damien in the back.

She hits the other side of my face and I feel it crack against my nose, blood spurting from it and running down my face.

Damien stops running and faces the soldiers behind us.

Her fist connects with my temple and my world spins.

My brother yells at us to go and our foes' blades are raised.

"That's enough!"

My attacker freezes and we both look up, staring at the tall figure in the doorway and as I recognize his furious, tight-lipped expression, I groan. He wasn't supposed to find me here.

Carter steps into the tavern, the very epitome of a guardian angel with his fierce stance and glowing persona. Golden blonde hair sweeps across his head gracefully like a halo with light sky blue eyes to match it. The very fact that he saved me from getting pummeled makes him the perfect image of a storybook hero, except one look to his blazing gaze trained solely on me and I know he's less of a savior and more likely to finish the brute's job himself.

He storms over to me, each of his heavy footsteps on the floor making me wince and guilt crawls through me. He reaches us within seconds and doesn't waste any time to push the woman off me and grab my arm roughly, dragging me to my feet. The customers at the stuffy bar stare at us, open-mouthed, perplexed by how the fight was so abruptly abandoned. Full tankards of golden brown ale sit forgotten on the sticky wooden tables, and even the bartender is frozen in place, the smudged glass in his hand with the greasy rag in the other, polishing the glass without even really looking at it or realizing he is still doing it.