"I'm not a rat," the boy whispered with anger. His pulse had noticeably quickened in his hands, and his grip had tightened around my hilt. Was he actually ready to murder these hunters?
"Stay perfectly still," I whispered. I felt a flicker of fear as well, but not for myself. For the boy.
The boy crouched down and slowed his breathing. Good, he needed to focus for what was about to come.
"And if they find us…well, I guess we'll improvise."
"Improvise how?" The boy asked, his arms shaking. "I can't swing you without busting my face on the ground. Magic sword or not, I'll be killed by them in moments. Or worse, taken back to that terrible place."
He looked as if he were about to say more, but the footsteps grew louder again, stopping just outside the door.
These weren't just city guards, I reminded myself. These were Thorne's men. Trained men. This wouldn't be an easy fight.
I could feel their energy. Their Aether, as I liked to call it. I had a sense for it. And every person I'd met had a unique Aether. Humming just outside the door. It felt stronger, more intense than the average person.
The boy's breath trembled. In comparison, his Aether was flickering like a dying candle.
The floorboards creaked as one of the hunters stepped forward. The hinges of the door groaned and snapped, and the door was tossed to the side.
Light filled the small room.
One of the hunters filled the doorway, broad shoulders silhouetted. The veins in his hands, arms, and even neck were dark with some kind of poison.
"There you are, little rat," he boomed. His eyes narrowed on me in the boy's hands. "Seven hells, that's-"
At that moment, we took action.
The boy brought me up and swung, his scream of terror filling the air. The passion was there, I could give him that. But this cut was going to miss by a few centimeters. It wasn't his fault. He just wasn't trained enough.
So, I took over. I redirected his arm up higher and pumped power into it. There was force behind this one.
A clean cut.
Straight through the neck.
The hunter was already dead, his decapitated head splattering to the ground.
The boy gasped, horrified. "I didn't…I…."
"You didn't," I said calmly. "I did."
Now was not the time for him to be panicking. We still had two more hunters to take out first. And this time, we wouldn't have the element of surprise. That would make killing them much harder.
The only question was: did they want the boy alive?
Both hunters had weapons on hand. One was a curved silver dagger. The other wore only brass knuckles.
The one we had just killed, even more curiously, had been unarmed. What was with that? They weren't as heavily armed as I'd expected.
These three must not have considered the boy to be very much of a threat.
They had come unprepared. And I would use that to my advantage.
"Th-that's…the CURSED BLADE!" The hunter with the dagger screamed. Spittle flew from his mouth and his eyes were wide with horror.
So, they did know me.
Good.
The man with the dagger charged forward, panic replacing discipline. I could tell by his eyes he wasn't thinking very much.
But he was fast. Faster than I expected.
That darkness pumping through his veins seemed to have enhanced his movements. Where had this poison come from? Some kind of drug given to them by Thorne?
In an instant, he'd grabbed the boy by the collar and slammed him against a shelf so hard that wood cracked and tools ran down like hail.
The boy cried out, his Aether flaring weakly. He couldn't take much more of this.
Concentrating hard, I yanked his arm forward, slashing a deep cut across the hunter's ribs.
He dropped the boy and stumbled back, holding his fatal wound.
The boy fell to one knee, gasping for air. "S-stop. Please. I can't breathe."
He was burning up what little Aether he had much too quickly.
The hunter in front of us let out his last breath as his body limp.
The third hunter stayed frozen where he was. "I can't believe this. You're real. Lord Thorne must know about this!"
"Stop him!" I shouted as the hunter turned and dashed out the door.
The boy tried. He really did.
His whole body was trembling, and he collapsed back to the floor.
Tears were filling his eyes. Was he really about to cry?
I'd killed thousands of mortals in my time since becoming a sword. This was the boy's first experience ending lives. I needed to remember that.
"Hey. Hey, no time for that," I say softly.
"I killed them," he says, voice cracking.
"You did what you had to survive," I reassured him. "That's what is most important. Now, take a breath and try to stand. They'll be back here within the hour."