A Deadly Match

---Aaron---

"Indigo!!" Lucian and Jason shouted out in alarm, afraid. Rachel and Ashley whipped around. One of them screamed. Even Old Henry paused, looking up in shock. I ran beneath Indigo and dropped my sword as I tried to catch her. Please let me catch her. Please don't let her break her neck and die…

"Oof!" Indigo's weight and momentum made both of us crash to the floor, with me as her landing pad to absorb most of the impact. Our arms tangled and our heads knocked together. I saw stars. My back hurt and my legs felt like they were crushed.

"Thanks, Aaron," Indigo gasped as she tried to disentangle herself from me. "You saved my life."

"Of course," I replied weakly. "Glad you're okay."

"Indigo! Give me your sword!" Katherine's voice came. Indigo grabbed mine, which was nearby, and threw it across the room. It flew straight and true, right towards Old Henry, who was about to get impaled. He dropped to the floor and the sword flew by, right into Katherine's waiting hand. As Old Henry straightened, Katherine charged, holding her sword and mine.

CLANG! Four swords met in midair. Old Henry and Katherine locked eyes for a split second. Her stormy grey eyes were filled with determination and fire. His electric blue eyes were of amusement and challenge. Then their swords separated, and they moved in time to a deadly dance. I helped Indigo to her feet. A drenched Lucian and Jason stood, dripping water. Rachel and Ashley tried relentlessly to open the door.

Katherine was indeed the warrior. She managed to block each and every one of Old Henry's attacks. While Lucian, Jason, and I failed to battle efficiently with one blade, Katherine was dishing out stabs at a pace that matched Old Henry's. She twirled, stabbed, jumped, and spun, with the two blades flashing. Old Henry seemed a bit surprised that he couldn't get rid of her as easily as he had did with the rest of us. I could see him getting frustrated. And did fear just flicker in his eyes?

I was starting to wonder why he didn't just draw a symbol and blast Katherine away, but I took a closer look and understood. With two swords, Katherine was able to stop Old Henry from drawing runes by repeatedly trying to disarm and hurt him. He had to block her constant attacks, with no time to free even one hand to draw a rune. If he tried, Katherine's blade would come out of nowhere and knock him off track. Old Henry had to constantly protect himself from Katherine's fatal blows. How could he risk a deadly stab to draw his symbols?

Kick, stab, turn, dodge, slice…Katherine was constantly moving, never in one place for long. Watching the two of them made me dizzy. Old Henry was fast, but Katherine was just as fast, if not faster. I'd never seen her wield two swords before, but dang, she's good. Soon Old Henry and Katherine became a blur of flashes as the swords glinted in a slant of sunlight and smudges of colored clothing: blue for Katherine, gray and beige for Old Henry. In the back of my mind, I was worried that Katherine would get hurt by the moving blades. She's good, but Old Henry knew runes and witchcraft. Katherine could fight, but she couldn't use spells like Ashley to protect herself. If Old Henry manages to get one arm free—

Behind me, I could hear Lucian pulling and banging on the door in frustration ("Why can't we get this damn door open?!") as Ashley shot spells at it in rapid fire. I was surprised the door hadn't exploded yet. It didn't react to any of her spells. How could that be?

"Aaron, look." Indigo grabbed my arm suddenly.

I looked at her in alarm. "What is it?"

"Look at Old Henry, then look at Katherine. What do you see?" she said urgently.

"Uh, they're both going really fast?" I peered at the two, still fighting. Furniture were getting knocked over, and they kicked up wheat grains that spun in the air like snowflakes.

"No. Look at their expressions. Something is wrong," said Indigo. I looked closer.

"Katherine looks determined. Old Henry looks…he looks smug?"

"Exactly! He's planning something! He's got something nasty up his sleeve!" exclaimed Indigo. "Katherine is in danger!"

No sooner did those words escape her lips, something happened. I couldn't see clearly what had happened—they were going too fast—but Old Henry faltered, or maybe slowed for a fraction of a second. In that split second, Katherine's blade came flying towards him, swooping in for a death blow. It would've killed him instantly. But Old Henry didn't even try to block it.

Just as the tip of Katherine's sword nearly reached his chest, Old Henry slid to the side and his leg kicked out. Katherine, who was going too fast to stop, let out a cry and tripped. Her arms pinwheeled as she tried to regain her balance. Just as she was wobbling, Old Henry kicked Katherine again and drew a quick symbol with his free hand. Katherine toppled backwards and one of her swords went flying out of her hand and straight up into the air.

Katherine fell, hard, onto the floor. I heard a sickening crunch. Old Henry, who suddenly seemed so tired and frail, staggered back and plopped onto the floor, unable to get back up. Katherine's arm was bent at a funny angle. So was her leg. She was covered with scratches, and a thin line of blood was seeping through her shirt on her right forearm. Her hair had fallen out of her neat ponytail, and her face was contorted in pain and horror.

"Aaron!" Indigo clutched at my arm. I followed her horrified gaze upwards, at Katherine's sword that flew out of her hand. It was falling vertically, its deadly tip pointing at the earth. Right at Katherine, who was unable to move. Fear and pain had pinned her to the floor.

"Katherine!" Ashley screamed. A shot blasted from her finger, but in her panic she missed. Dimly I heard Lucian and Jason and Rachel shouting something, with fear in their voices. Blood pounded in my ears. Even Old Henry tried feebly to do something, but he was too worn out by that fight. The sword was falling, falling, accelerating with gravity…

Katherine closed her eyes. The sword plunged down.