The Girl in the Cloak

The Castle part 1

The girl in the cloak expected to be attacked as soon as they crossed the threshold, but instead it was oddly quiet.

"Watch your step little kitten. I'm not saying this place is full of traps but I'm not saying it isn't either."

"Fa has a good point little one. Watch out." The girl had never had to deal with traps before. She looked around closely trying to see a tripwire or anything that would give away. Just as she took a step forward she felt a vibration through the cloak. She quickly stepped back just as a large sword came crashing down in front of her.

"The trap is actually a person!" The girl shouted to Fa. Fa came jumping over Fa sliced the soldier's throat and continued her slow pace. Every so often a new soldier and the two would have a short scuffle before one of the women would win and continued the process. They finally came to the end of the long hall and entered a large dark room. They couldn't see much more than the length of their arms. Fa took a strange stance the girl had never seen before. She walked with her sword out in front of her. The glow of it lit up more of the area. She kept her shield almost directly next to her chest, ready to block anything coming in. The girl, on the other hand, closed her eyes and completely relied on the cloak. The cloak left the claw form. Having more surface area meant more vibrations to catch. The idea worked quite well. With this strategy, the girl followed behind Fa, completely aware of her location and if something came up behind them she would know. All the while Fa used her increased light source to lead them through the room. They cleared the room without running into a single person. It dawned on the girl then, they can't see in the dark either. Every trap they had to deal with the soldiers also did. Its like this was set up as some kind of game for someone's amusement. At that moment she heard something she recognized and didn't want to. The crazy laughter of a mad man, or better yet a mad Horric. She looked around Fa and saw two Horric men completely armored. One held the mad one by a chain around its neck.

"Kill them." it was faint but the girl heard the command and with it the mad Horric was released. He came spinning through the air in a spiked spiral like a drill. His spikes caught the buckler of Fa and started to melt. This stopped him only long enough for him to look at the armor damage.

"Ahhhhh something enchanted I see. I have heard of that kind of enchantment. This will be so so sooooo much fun." He tilted his head and in a blink of an eye was standing between Fa and the girl. He grabbed on to the girl's cloak and whipped her around through the air releasing it sending her flying towards a wall. She hit it hard.

"This can't keep happening" The cloak seemed furious itself. He returned to the form of the claw and they charged after the two fighting she attempted her usual downward swiping attack and somehow, without looking, the man blocked. Made it seem easy even. It made no sense to the girl but somehow, without even looking at her, this Horric was giving her a run for her money. He never took his eyes off of Fa as he fought the two of them. Parrying and blocking every incoming attack the man-made light work of the girl. As she started to slow down she did catch something thought. To her amazement, it seemed the Horric mad man was having a hard time dealing with Fa. She was actually pushing the mad man back. It dawned on the girl in an instant. She wasn't fighting alone or even back to back like usual. This was something different, almost like a dance, and her partner was the lead, not her. She needed to follow what Fa did not just go in like a crazy person. So she watched for a moment, then when the gap arose she jumped in and made peace with her part. She continued to block incoming attacks and attack exposed parts of the man. To her delight, the plan was working. Without saying a word Fa took her part as the leader of the assault. The two made a devastatingly strong team. How had the girl not found this out before this point? It felt to her that they were dancing, something beautiful and powerful all at the same time. The pushed the mad Horric back until finally he slipped and they had the upper hand. Just as Fa went to impale her sword through him he disappeared. Looking up the girl saw him standing next to the man with the chain from before. The man didn't say a thing. He looked over at the girl and Fa and started walking slowly towards them. Fa charged him. This was a mistake. With one swing of his arm, he sent her flying into the wall. She didn't bounce off as the girl had. Instead, she was buried into the wall. The tall Horric didn't break eye contact with his true target. The closer he got the larger the girl saw he was. The muscular man sat at six feet five inches tall. He towered above the girl. Looking down at her he said one thing only.

"Weak."