With Aetherin positioning herself in the way of the incoming attack she was able to deflect most of the damage using her parasol. Most. The nature of the weapon used, meant it was extremely difficult to deflect entirely. As it was, the last meter of the whip curled around the edge of her parasol and ate into her arm. Blood gushed out of the wound and onto the floor.

I didn’t have to see the attack to know the damage Aetherin had sustained was my fault.

As it was Aetherin didn’t flinch. She scooped up Ameri and jumped backwards to where Beth and I were still sprawled out on the floor.

I glanced at the deep wound on Aetherin’s arm. “You’re hurt!”

She looked down at her arm before looking back up and smiling at me. “I can see that. Don’t worry this is nothing. It’ll soon heal.”

I could see that the edges of the cut were already closing, but that wasn’t the point.

“We can’t stay here…”

Aetherin looked towards the room she had burst out of only moments before. “Quick, in there. She won’t be able to reach us for a moment.” She opened her parasol and held it to the side shielding the rest of us. “Move!”

All four of us rushed across the hall and through the door into the adjacent room. The door that now only consisted of the few pieces that still clung to the hinges swung back in place.

The room we had just entered was even darker than the corridor we had left behind. The lights were out in here too, but unlike the hallway the window here must open out to the back of the building where there were few streetlights.

I could barely make out the three girls in front of me.

We needed to prepare for what was going to happen next, but first I had to check on Aetherin. “Your arm, let me have a look.”

Aetherin shook her head. “No, I’ve almost healed completely. You should attend to her first.” She motioned to the far corner of the room.

My eyes followed her gesture and now that they were a little adjusted to the room’s light, I could make out the silhouette of a person laid there.

“Altria?”

Aetherin nodded. “Yes, she’s hurt. I only just made it in time.”

No longer worrying about our situation I dashed across the room and dropped to my knees next to Altria. I tried my best in the poor light to work out where she was injured. I just couldn’t see well enough though.

Realising I wasn’t going to get far visually in this light I activated “Special heal” on its lowest level while I gently tried to ascertain her wounds with my hands.

As I touched her, she groaned. “Ugh Theo?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“I thought it was you.”

“Can you tell me where you’re hurt?”

She shuffled a little. “My arms, my left leg and my head.”

“You should try to stay still at least until you’re healed a bit.”

I quickly felt her arms and legs for the wounds. She had cuts all along them, but none of them felt like they would be life threating. I decided to focus on her head first and upped the power of “Special heal” as much as I could without affecting the others.

As far as I could tell the wounds were starting to heal up now, I had turned the power up. The noises Altria was making had switched from pain to pleasure.

After a minute or so, she pushed herself back and propped herself against the was behind. “Thanks Theo, but that’s enough of that for now. I need to keep sharp, any more healing and I’ll start losing it.”

“Sure, I understand. How are you feeling now?”

“Great… Still a little sore and drained. Do you have any potions?”

“I do, hold on.” I reached to the potion pouch at my side and pulled out a healing and stamina potion. “Here.”

Altria slowly leant forward and took the potions from my hands. “Thanks.”

She quickly took the potions. Once she was done, she gave me a concerned look. “I’m sure you can have a guess who it was out there?”

I nodded slowly. “I didn’t get a look at them, but I’ve seen that attack before.”

“Yeah… It’s the woman we spared back on that meadow. Looks like our sympathy has come back to haunt us.”

“I was the one that wanted spare her. If I hadn’t of convinced the rest of you then…”

“No Theo, we all agreed with you. None of us are executioners.”

“But now you’re hurt.”

“I wasn’t badly and now I’m healed. We just need to work out how we deal with her. Last time we just got lucky that Rosa was able to sneak up on her. But at least we have Aetherin with us now.”

“Yeah, even with Aetherin it going to be difficult. If she is trying to protect us as well, she can’t fight at her potential. She was caught out back in the corridor.”

“She is sharp no denying that. I wish I knew who she was… Still, there’s five of us now. We’re at a disadvantage while we’re pinned down in the corridor, but I have a feeling she won’t wait for us forever.”

“You think she’ll come to get us?”

“Yeah. I think she’s coming for me… This is the second time she’s attacked and this time I was alone.”

Altria was right. The others hadn’t been attacked by anyone of her calibre. Our group was clearly being targeted, but it seemed like she was being treated like a high priority target.  

“Well, we’re all being targeted, but only you got someone this dangerous. Looks like they think you’re important.”

Altria burst out laughing for a moment, until she caught herself. “Sorry Theo. Of course, they do, my mother is the queen of the catkin and I’m a summoner too. If they kill or capture me, it will be a big win for them. Not to mention the damage it’ll do to my mother.”

Altria pulled herself to her feet.

“Are you sure you’re okay to stand already?”

“I’m fine.” She looked to the other girls that were watching what was left of the door. “Any movement out there?”

Ameri shook her head. “None, but we didn’t spot her before we entered the hallway earlier either.”

“Yeah, she’s a tough one.”

“I heard you two talking, you and Theo have fought her before?”

“We have.”

“And you won. How did you overcome her?”

“With a stroke of luck.”

“Luck!”

“Yeah.” Altria laughed. “I think we’ll manage this time though.” She looked at Aetherin. “Can you see her weapons movements?”

Aetherin gave a nod. “I can.”

“Great, we’re doing better than before! If you’re not trying to protect one of us or Theo, do you think you can get through her defences?”

“I think so.”

“Good.” Altria switched her look to Beth. “She’s fast with a knife too, do you think you can match her speed up close?”

Beth shrugged. “I don’t know. I only just detected the whip in time, but it’s dark in there. Maybe?”

“That’s good enough. I don’t want you to go toe to toe with her alone… If Aetherin can distract her for long enough for us to get close, then the three of us can finish her. With some help from Theo that is.”

I stepped in between the two girls. “Hold on, last time my skills didn’t really have an effect on her!”

Altria turned to me. “Oh, they had an effect, just not a strong as you’d hoped. She knew you’d done something she was just able to resist it. You’re stronger now, and even if hey don’t work completely I’m hoping you can buy us enough of an opening.”

Ameri coughed. “And what about me?”

Altria grinned. “You’re going to make sure Theo can get close enough to her and be in one piece of course.”

“Me?”

“Yes, we can’t be watching his back next time we go out there, especially Aetherin.”

Ameri almost seemed to wobble. “We’re going back out?”

“We are.”