The Path of Ruin

The old man's back was turned and everyone else was asleep.

Kael gripped the daggers tightly in his hand. Again and again, he filled himself with determination. He would not stop, even if it felt bad, disgusting even. Maybe it would haunt his dreams, give him nightmares... but he would do it.

And so, he began to create a warmth in his heart.

But, this time, he held nothing back. He didn't keep the heat below a certain level, he didn't simply spread it to his limbs. He increased it as much as he could, spreading it throughout his body to the fullest extent he could.

Under the dark night, a glow began to envelop his body that even the light of the stars and the moon failed to hide. It was quite pale, not easy to recognize... but he could see it because it surrounded his own body.

Still, he didn't care. He turned his eyes towards the old man, squinted... and dashed to him.

It had been a long time since he had been able to use everything he had. And over the last month, he had really fed his curse a lot.

In short, he had improved, even if he didn't realize it. So much so that... he had a hard time keeping up with his own speed for a moment. He almost tripped over himself, but quickly regained his balance and pushed his mind to the limit to overcome the problem.

He saw the old man stop abruptly, then watched as he turned his body back. He had been noticed, or the man had realized that something was wrong... But it didn't matter.

Kael swung his dagger at the man's neck. He expected his head to be severed instantly, dead before the man realized what was happening...

But it didn't work out the way he wanted.

With only a few seconds between his dagger and the old man's neck, he met his blue eyes. Immediately, he realized something was wrong.

Where was the man's spear?

'Oh...'

Kael tilted his body to the right. He saw the spear that would have pierced his abdomen if he had been only a few moments longer.

Under normal circumstances, the old man would not have been able to react to his speed, and in this scenario, he actually hadn't. But by simply directing his spear behind his back, he had managed to set a dangerous trap for Kael.

And it was enough to slow down the enemy, Kael, who wanted to take his life.

'Holy-!'

Kael saw the old man moving quickly. His spear jerked back, the veins in his arms bulging, his eyes even sharper than they already were. With a hard thrust, he brought the spear full circle around his body and swung it at Kael's right arm.

Using his flexibility and relatively small body, Kael used his two daggers to meet the spear in one swift motion. As the spear and the blades of the daggers made contact, his whole body trembled under the enormous strain.

But he gritted his teeth and resisted. Yes, it was difficult... the force exerted by the old man was really too much, even if he had strengthened himself with that 'warmth'... but it was not impossible.

As soon as the old man realized that his strength was not enough, he tried to step back to open the distance between him and Kael. Meanwhile, his blue eyes were on those sleeping behind him.

'No!'

Kael didn't give the man a single moment to breathe. He couldn't let him wake the others, at least not before he died, or his whole plan would go down the drain! And so, he moved towards the old man again, not even taking care to keep his balance.

The old man was surprised by Kael's speed. He couldn't keep up, it really wasn't possible... It was basically impossible to follow his small and too-fast body.

But he did not panic over this, he remained calm. He accepted that the boy in front of him was faster than him.

So, he left everything to his instincts. He tried to guess the attack pattern and direction of the silhouette he could only barely see. He swung his spear in front of him at a diagonal angle... and bingo!

Kael could see the spear coming at him, and the only thing on his mind was that...

'It's dangerous!'

But... he did not run back. He did not even try to dodge the man's attack.

Because, even if the attack was dangerous, he had to face it directly. Even a few more seconds of this fight could have been the end of him.

So, he twisted his body slightly to regain some of his balance, which he had not taken care to maintain in the first place. With the last step towards the old man, he spun his body slightly to the right. The spear made a scratch on his cheek, but slipped over his shoulder before it could continue.

Kael threw one of his daggers directly at the man, gripping the spear hard on his shoulder with his free hand.

He combined the momentum of his spinning, all the strength of his body, and the old man's own force. He pushed the spear further in the direction of the attack, freeing it from the old man's grasp.

The old man moved to defend himself from the dagger that was about to enter his eye. But that left him vulnerable to Kael, who was about to fly past him.

Kael grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him with himself in the direction he was flying. The man lost his balance and fell on his back with Kael on top of him.

The sound of the man hitting the ground echoed through the area, but Kael didn't allow any more. With the old man's blue eyes wide with shock, he raised the hand that still held the dagger and, without giving him a second to react, swung it directly at his throat.

The dagger met no difficulty. It sliced through the man's throat as easily as if it were cutting a piece of paper, causing the man's blood to spurt instantly onto Kael.

But Kael did not stop, he swung the dagger once more. This time, he aimed not at the man's throat, but directly at his skull. He plunged the dagger above the man's right ear and pierced his brain.

The last glimmer of life in the man's eyes faded very quickly. His blood continued to water Kael's clothes.

Kael didn't even think about him. He turned around as fast as he could, only to find... a woman named Alya pointing her bow at him.

'Knew it!'

The sound of the man hitting the ground was loud enough to wake up experienced mercenaries. And so it was!

The woman's arrow left the bow. It didn't even need a second to pierce Kael's forehead, it was that fast!

But Kael's reflexes were superior. Once he had witnessed the draw of the bow, it was not difficult for him to predict its course. And so it was. All he did was tilt his head slightly to the left, and the arrow stabbed into the bark of the tree two meters behind him, caressing his hair with a gust of wind.

Kael moved quickly. He would not give her another opportunity to use another arrow, he would finish her off as quickly as possible!

But just then, he caught sight of a shadow in front of him, then the reflection of metal he could catch out of the corner of his eye.

'Ishnar!'

Kael raised his dagger high, blocking Ishnar's dagger as it almost took his life. But just as he was about to retreat, he noticed the arrow next to the man.

'Fuck!'

He drew back the dagger he had used to block Ishnar and swung it at the arrow. But in doing so, he was deprived of the one thing that was supposed to block Ishnar.

Still, Kael did not lose his composure. As soon as he felt the incoming arrow touch his dagger and its direction changed, he swung his free hand in front of Ishnar. He felt the dagger pierce his palm, a sharp pain spread through his whole body, but he didn't stop. He gritted his teeth, swallowed the pain, and closed his trembling fingers to trap the dagger as it pierced his hand.

He dropped the dagger in his other hand, clenched his fist, and swung it at Ishnar's stomach.

The man tried to step back to avoid the attack. But he was delayed only a few seconds as Kael trapped his dagger in his own palm. And that was enough time for Kael's fist to reach him.

Kael saw Ishnar's right eye widen, the mask covering his mouth wet with his saliva. But he did not care. He pulled the man in front of him to use him as a shield for the next arrow that came at him.

As the arrow lodged in his back, he threw him aside without further care, then stretched his legs and lunged at Alya, ignoring the dagger still lodged in his palm.

He saw the panic in her eyes. She had stopped drawing her bow and was pulling a dagger from her waist.

But there was only one mistake she made.

And that was to panic.

It took two seconds or less for Kael to appear in front of her. He drew the dagger still in his palm when he saw the one that was swung awkwardly at him. He dodged her attack with a simple move. Then slashed her throat with Ishnar's dagger.

He saw her eyes widen, she was trying to say something. But he did not stop, he clenched his fist and drove it hard into her face. And as she fell on her back... it was still not over.

Slowly, he turned around. He saw Ishnar break the arrow in his back, then turn one slightly teary eye on him.

The only obstacle in his way now was the strange man, a dagger wielder like himself.

But... he did not look panicked at all. On the contrary, he was quite calm. Very calm...

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