Page 92 of Fiendish Delights
Athair stood directly in front of me, still grinning inanely asif all this were a hilarious joke. He’d pulled his punch at the last second, although for the life of me I couldn’t work out why.
I didn’t waste time asking questions. As the last of the flames around his body died down, I thrust Gladys towards him yet again. He dodged the blow. I thrust again. Again he dodged. He chuckled to himself – and that was when I knew I could beat him.
He was over-confident. Sooner or later he would make a stupid mistake because he believed that I didn’t have it in me to bring him down. That was when I’d strike a lethal blow. All I had to do was get him to that point.
I pushed all my grief about Hugo into the pit of my belly, together with my worry about Aine, Hester and Otis. I’d have to maintain a pit of strength for the right moment without letting Athair realise what I was doing.
I forced myself to focus on the drills Miriam had taught me. I would run through them, jabbing at Athair; if he wanted to prolong this fight and play cat and mouse, I’d let him. All I needed was one brief moment when he screwed up and his guard slipped. It would happen; I was sure of it.
I stepped to my right before swinging a low blow to my left, then repeated the movement in the opposite direction. I jabbed Gladys’s tip forward four times, executing each thrust with increasing speed. As I did, I kept a close eye on everything Athair did and every twitch of his body language. I only needed one opening. All I had to do was be patient.
‘You’re not much of a warrior,’ Athair commented after another clumsy swipe.
I didn’t bother answering, I was concentrating too hard for chat and I wouldn’t let him distract me.One, thrust left. Two, step back. Three, swipe right. Four, jab jab.
Athair danced out of the way of each stroke with ease, but I’d spotted something: when he turned the left-hand side of hisbody, he was a fraction slower and his shoulder on that side was more rigid. Given that blood was still seeping from the wound on that arm, he was probably hurting far more than he was letting on. It wasn’t a particularly deep cut but Athair probably wasn’t used to his own blood.
One, thrust left. Two, step back. Three, swipe right. Four, jab jab.
‘Your movements are very repetitive,’ he said mockingly.
One, thrust left. Two, step back. Three, swipe right. Four, jab jab.
He sighed heavily, seemingly bored with my amateur drilling. I felt a prickle as he pulled on his magic before he slammed a violent burst of air in my direction that swept me off my feet.
I was thrown up and back, and my spine collided hard with the ground as I landed. I gasped for air as pain tore through my chest. For a few terrifying seconds my arms and legs refused to work, but then my fingers tightened around Gladys’s hilt.
As Athair loomed over me, peering down from above with his maniacal grin, I swung the blade upwards and aimed for the left side of his body. A visceral surge of joy shuddered through me when I struck gold and Gladys sliced through his exposed forearm. There. His left side would be in even more pain now.
Athair yelled sharply and kicked at me in retaliation, but I was ready and rolled away. Now it was my turn to dodge. ‘Bitch,’ he hissed.
I smiled coldly: I’d provoked a genuine reaction other than mockery. But when I heard a voice behind me, my smile froze and I almost stopped breathing. ‘Nobody calls my Daisy a bitch.’
Hugo. I scrambled to my feet and spun around. There he was. Dried blood coated half of his face, both his nose and right arm looked broken, but he was alive and there was a determined fury glittering in his familiar blue eyes.
He threw out his own blast of air magic towards Athair andI spotted the dimple forming in his cheek. This time it was him; I was certain of it.
I ran to his side – I couldn’t help myself. He was alright, and for this one moment nothing else mattered. As I joined him, Athair’s expression soured further, even though Hugo’s air magic had achieved little more than ruffling his hair. ‘You shouldn’t be here,’ he spat at Hugo. ‘This is between me and Daisy.’
I lifted my chin with delighted defiance. ‘We’re a team, Athair. You’re on your own.’
‘You still won’t win,’ he said matter-of-factly.
At that moment, Hester and Otis emerged from the lair holding the unmistakable shape of the chess set between them while their small wings flapped furiously. Aine must have handed it over. All we had to do was keep Athair occupied for long enough for them to escape with it. It was heavy and they were only tiny; it was clear that they were struggling, but they were giving it everything they had.
I reached for Hugo, my free hand quickly squeezing his. He responded. Then he crooked his finger towards Athair in an obvious taunt. ‘Come on then,’ he said.
I chipped in. ‘Give it your best shot, you cumbubbling fiend.’
And with that, Athair charged.
I’d expected him to come for me, but his attack was aimed at Hugo. Athair thundered towards him, conjuring up a blistering fireball as he ran. Hugo ducked, dropped to his knees and narrowly avoided it.
I threw all my weight behind Gladys to attack Athair’s left side again but I didn’t get close. His right hand reached out across his body and wrapped around the tip of her blade so I couldn’t thrust her any further forward. My jaw dropped as blood oozed around his fingers where Gladys had cut into hisskin.
He yanked hard and pulled her from my grip before flinging her aside. A heartbeat later, he kicked upwards and his heel connected with Hugo’s head. All I could do was watch as Hugo staggered and collapsed.
‘You fucker!’ I roared and threw out a blast of fire. Athair blocked it easily. He turned his back on me and marched towards Gladys, who had fallen to the ground several metres away.
