Path of Lightning: Origins

Chaptre 17: The fox

Silence lingered in the room, as the fox and the author observed each other for what felt like eternity. No one was willing to land a hit.

Bob kept his composure, though his body was itching to make the first move.

People give off auras, some are stronger than others, and this woman's aura was about to suffocate him. He couldn't see her eyes hidden behind the masks' lenses, but he still felt like they were digging into his soul.

And then, in the blink of an eye, she was dashing towards him. Her speed was hard to follow, so he quickly wrote something on his notebook, creating a line before him just in time to shield him from her blade. His eyes darted to the other hand. The assassin raised her other sword, and with a swift move, Bob made another line to block it.

She silently leaned forward, as if challenging him, before pulling away and bending down, and sweeping his legs.

The author barely had time to react, and as he was falling backwards, he saw her arms outstretched to her sides, ready to cut him in two. She swung both her swords towards him, and he clicked on the tip of his pen, making it light up.

A blue light circle showed up behind him, and he let himself fall into it, letting it swallow him, and avoiding the tips of the katanas by an inch.

The assassin jumped backwards, looking around for the author. The circle was gone the moment he fell into it, and she had no indication of where he could be.

There was nothing but silence, no sounds of breathing, no footsteps, no presence. He was gone.

The assassin knew better than to relax though, and she was right, because she swiftly turned around, gliding in a circle, and cut a ray of light that was heading towards her.

"Impressive." Bob walked out of another circle, and smirked, his pen brushing against the notebook's paper. "You're not an intruder I should underestimate. I am quite intrigued by you." Dozens of blue circles appeared around the room, surrounding them both. "However, you've made your choice, and now I must write you off the story."

A circle appeared in the space between them and the woman backed away and raised both her swords in defense. The blades lit up for a moment, with purple energy surrounding them, then disappearing.

Bob's pen brushed against the paper, and a ray of light burst out of it and towards the intruder, who cut through it with her weapons.

Without losing his focus, the author kept writing and more circles surrounded the woman and fired magic at her. She cut all the lights with her swords, but it was all in vain. Cutting the magic only served to multiply it and all the lines that she cut froze in space around her.

Her eyes widened, and a shadow enveloped her right as all those lights around her exploded.

Bob watched as the room lit up for a few seconds, only to be dulled by all the smoke created by the damage.

He stood there, keeping the tip of his pen on the paper. There was no sound of movement, and while his attack was not enough to kill, it should have knocked the intruder out.

He felt something. It wasn't sound, or even aura, in fact, there was nothing at all. It was mere luck that he looked up.

The woman was falling towards him, with her swords raised up to strike him down.

He let his pen slip through the blank page, creating a portal that absorbed the woman, only to spit her out through another on the other side of the room.

"You don't know when to quit, do you?" He frowned, panting from the sudden attack. Lights appeared behind him, taking the forms of arrows. He launched them at her, as she ran towards him.