Live Together, or Die Together

---Katherine---

With no time to lose, Aaron tore the slit apart and threw his knife. I didn't have time to throw mine. Scrambling to my feet, I pulled on Aaron's arm and tugged him along as I ran. The entire campsite was in an uproar. Shouts of "Assassination!" and "Intruders!" echoed around.

Someone yelled something about the Destined Three. Crap, did they know who we were? Were they waiting for us? Torches were lit. Soldiers rushed out of their tents. Aaron and I sprinted for the exit of the campsite, not wishing to engage in combat.

Still, some soldiers attempted to block us, their weapons drawn. Seeing their cold looks made me unhesitant as I drew my sword and fought them, inflicting wounds to disable them. These people would kill me in the blink of an eye. They're lucky I'm on the run and only had time to wound them.

"Halt! Where do you think you're going?" A figure flew in from above, somersaulting in the air and landing on the dirt path in front of us. I skidded to a stop, surprised at how good this person's aerobatic martial arts was. This skill allowed people to almost levitate as they traveled at high speeds, scaling walls and building with ease and "flying" over rooftops.

I always pictured ninjas when my father told me about this type of martial arts. Alas, I never accomplished this skill fully; the most I could do was scale walls not taller than three meters and somersault above someone's head to cut them off in front, which this newcomer just did. In all my life I've only met one person who was an aerobatic martial arts master. Meeting someone here, in the enemy camp, who had this skill was way out of my expectations.

"Did you honestly think you can try to assassinate one of us and then escape?" The young man had his sword out, which glittered menacingly in the cold moonlight. His dark eyes contained nothing but anger. "Put your swords down and surrender, or else you'll answer to my blade!"

From his show of aerobatic martial arts, I inferred that this guy was a great swordsman, and at least my equal. "You take care of the other soldiers. I'll get this guy." I said quickly to Aaron before unsheathing Retribution. The rosestone emitted a faint red glow.

The young man attacked first. I met his sword with mine, and the force sent me skidding backwards. I saw a brief flash of surprise in his eyes; he didn't expect me to be able to hold that blow. In his moment of surprise, I pushed him off and jabbed my sword straight towards his ribs. He dodged aside, his feet kicking up towards my wrist and his sword aiming for my throat. 'So you want to play the hard way?' With a cold sneer, I revealed my best—and most fatal—sword moves.

Twirling around under the moonlight, the guy and I clashed again and again, creating showers of sparks as our weapons struck each other. Neither of us seemed to be winning, which was surprising for both of us. His cloak swished in the night air, bringing with it the breath of death. I matched every strike of his, blocked every attack, but couldn't find a way to penetrate his defenses. It was like dancing, except one wrong move would cost me my life. If it wasn't a life or death situation, I think I would've actually enjoyed dueling with him.

It was taking too long. Aaron and I needed to escape before more reinforcements arrived. Gritting my teeth, I sped up, my attacks becoming faster, sharper, deadlier. I have never used this set of sword moves, not even against Eric at Goldhedge. But this guy wants me dead, so I couldn't back down. I checked for Aaron out of the corner of my eye, but only saw a ring of soldiers and his flashing blade.

Then there was a pained cry, and I saw a concavity in the ring. Aaron went down under the swords and knives of the soldiers. "No!" I kicked at my opponent and turned to run to Aaron.

"Don't kill him! I want them alive!" My opponent shouted as he blocked my attack. He was the leader here. Snarling, I attacked him yet again, trying to disable him momentarily so I could rescue Aaron. He didn't let me. In fact, he grinned maliciously at me as he kept me busy with his successive attacks, taunting me with the fact that my friend had fallen and I couldn't do anything about it.

"Just go! Leave me here and go!" Aaron shouted. I turned towards his voice, eyes ablaze and blood pounding in my ears.

"No! We either live together or we die together! I'm not leaving you behind!" My anguished shout rang out across the clearing, but was quickly muffled by the clamor of soldiers now pushing to surround me. As I attempted to get to Aaron, my opponent's sword sliced through the night air towards me. I dodged, but not quickly enough. A bloody gash appeared on my left shoulder.

I cried out in pain as I fell, but I refused to be defeated just like that. Thrusting my sword out, I managed to cut my opponent on his right calf. He roared in pain, and then kicked my wrist so hard my sword flew out of my hand. His soldiers swarmed onto me, tying me up, battering me with punches, and jeering at my failed attempt to wound their leader. I was hustled away, along with Aaron, towards the tent in the heart of the camp. The young man I was fighting disappeared from my line of sight.

* * * * *

I was roughly shoved into the brightly lit tent, and I squinted, my eyes adjusting to the sudden burst of light. The tent was huge, about the size of a regular bedroom. A desk was placed at the end opposite the entrance, behind which sat the young man I fought sat with a triumphant smirk. On the desk, Aaron's and my swords laid in captivity. Behind him was a large extensive screen made of wood and thick fabric, creating a barrier between the front of the tent and the back. I assumed it was private quarters on the other side. On either side, his trusted advisors and officers stood in neat columns, gaping at us.

Beside me, Aaron tried to throw off the iron grips of his captors. Both of us had our hands tied behind our backs. I glared coldly at the people gathered in the tent, meeting all of their gazes, ignoring the trickle of blood that ran down the corner of my lips and the painful wound on my shoulder. These were all people working for Lord Victor. How do they not feel shame? Are they all evil?

"Kneel, you filthy prisoners! Kneel before our great leader Lionel!" Someone called out. A chorus of voices agreed. The young man, Lionel, widened his smirk. I stared back at him defiantly. A dangerous glint passed over his eyes as he saw how neither Aaron nor I made a move to kneel.

One nod to the soldiers behind us, and I felt sharp kicks to the back of my knees, forcing my legs to bend. The tight grips on my shoulders pushed me to the ground and made me kneel against my will. I bit back a cry of pain as the movement stretched my wound.

Lionel was not in a rush to speak. Instead, his gaze swept over our swords on his desk and landed on Retribution. The rosestone was glowing a dark purplish-red, reflecting my anger. Lionel picked Retribution up and unsheathed it halfway. There was a brilliant flash as the polished blade reflected the many lights in the tent. "Nice sword," Lionel commented. "I could get used to using this as my weapon."

"Get your grubby hands off of my sword," I growled. "You are not worthy of that sword." Lionel raised an eyebrow. His smirk turned into a cold sneer as he slammed Retribution back into its sheath.

"Take off their masks; I want to see their faces," ordered Lionel. The soldiers standing behind us stepped forward and ripped off the cloths covering our faces. Gasps of "They're so young!" and "A girl?" rippled across the tent.

I felt Lionel's stare on my features. "So young, yet so dangerous…" Lionel mused. "Tell me, what are your names? Who sent you? Why did you come?"