He kept making sassy remarks while we talked. I felt my grip tighten around my Branchie; all I wanted was to jump at him and silence him. But I knew that was exactly what he wanted—to provoke my emotions and make me an easier target.
"You're one talkative dog," I scoffed, pulling the Pedal down to glare at him.
His eyes twitched, but the smirk never faltered. "Am I? I'm just observing what's happening in front of me." He laughed, his face up to the sky, "A little mouse trying to fight me. And thinking she stands a chance?" He gave me a sharp-toothed smile. "It's hilarious."
I gritted my teeth, my body stopped in, and I felt rooted to the ground. I was so ready to just run at him, to shut his mouth myself!
Axel could see right through me, and he turned fully to face me, the hand holding his Branchie resting near his hip. "You wanna talk about me being the forward beforehand? Yet who's the one stalling right now?" He puckered his lips, "What? You think Arden or Apollonia can step in to save you? So cute~"
That's it.
I rushed forward, drawing my arm back to throw the weapon at him. It took him by surprise. He ducked and pushed himself off the ground to avoid the flying branch. The branch hit the ground, digging into the dirt just as I reached the man.
He swung his own Branchie down at me, I pushed my Pedal up to block the hit, and slid on my knee over to my Branchie.
Pulling it from the dirt, I jumped into an attack on the man, who had to turn swiftly to block me. He gritted his teeth, pushing me back with a firm shove. I moved the Pedal into the ground to stop myself from sliding away and ran right back at him.
He had to sidestep my throws, ducking under them to ground himself and deliver his own swings. I was already in motion, blocking his hits with my Branchie, the ear-piercing sound of our weapons scraping against each other filling the air. I rolled under his strike and thrust the Pedal into his chest to knock him away.
Axel pushed his wings up to stop himself, throwing a kick down at me that I blocked with the Pedal.
We charged at each other with equal speed, our weapons clashing dangerously close. The battle went back and forth. I had to leap over a few kicks, aiming to land on his unguarded chest. I used my wings to sweep beneath him, causing him to flip over and away from me.
My heart pounded in my chest, and sweat pooled under my armor. I refused to give up, even though my legs felt shaky. I slipped under his Branchie and aimed a kick at his ankles. He didn't have time to block it and ended up falling onto his back, landing alongside me.
I maneuvered the Branchie at him, but his arm came up, and the sharp end clashed with his armor plate. I growled, thrusting the Branchie back at him, which he easily ducked from. His leg came out and hit my hand, knocking the Branchie out of my grasp. He kicked himself up, flapping his wings wildly to knock me away. My wings came up to flick it off, rolling on the dirt with only the Pedal in my hand.
We stood now, feet apart, with restless breaths escaping our lips. He was still smiling! His eyes caught my Branchie, which was on the ground next to him. He smirked, pulling it out and dropping the Pedal down.
"I wonder how you will defend against two of these?"
Bastard.
I held my breath so I wouldn't curse at him; instead, I shifted my weight against the Pedal and waited for him to run at me.
He let out a laugh, swinging both Branchies to gain momentum as he sprinted toward me. I realized I couldn't afford to go on the offense, so I focused entirely on my defense. I raised the Pedal to block his strikes from the Branchies. The weapons sliced at the Pedal, landing a powerful blow that cut deeper than before, matched only by the strength of the older warrior.
I had to back away, shifting the shield to protect my exposed face. My legs buckled slightly, causing me to stumble back. Axel seized that moment to lunge at me, both weapons aimed straight for my throat.
I rolled away, with the Pedal still in my hand, I wielded it back and smashed it into his side enough for him to stagger away.
Quickly finding my feet, I pounced at his undefended side while he tried to find his bearings, but the warrior was much more skilled in this; he saw it coming, ducking away and swinging both Branchies down at me. I was forced to put my defense back up with the Pedal, which left me unable to land some of my own strikes.
I had to get my Branchie back, but that meant going at him without this protection. I knew I had to take that chance. Staying guarded with the Pedal in my face showed him weakness, and I was scared to fight back.
Axel was relentless. His swings grew more powerful and complex down at the Pedal. My arms stung, and I felt like giving up unless I changed our positions.
When he came down with both weapons in a single strike, I seized the moment and flung the branchie into his face. He had no way to block it. The large piece of metal struck him, causing him to stagger back, which gave me the opportunity to kick his legs out from under him. The branchie slipped from his grip as the warrior fell over himself, desperately trying to ground himself and defend against the attack.
In his attempt, I took notice that I was too far away from the Branchie. If I tried to go for it, I would lose with no Pedal by my side.
I cursed myself for the stupid move, catching Axel's smile as he stood up. I could try to coax him into hand-to-hand combat, but he only held one Branchie while I stood defenseless.
"You need the Branchie to defeat me, huh?" I let out a dry chuckle. "I could defeat you with nothing."
Axel raised a bow, chuckling to himself with his wings stretching out to their full length. "Really?" He smirked, his grip tightening on his Branchie. "Go ahead and try it."
I let out a growl and dashed forward with nothing in hand. Axel came crashing toward me, his Branchie weapon raised and ready to swing down. I raised my arm just in time, and the weapon clashed against my armor instead of striking my face. Using my knee, I pushed back into the man's chest.
He grunted and staggered from the blow. But just as he stepped back, his arm swung down again with the weapon aimed at me. I dropped to the ground beneath him, rolling in the dirt to face him with my leg outstretched. My kick caught him off guard, sending him backward and loosening his grip on the Branchie. As he stumbled, my wings flared out to push him further away.
He had a firm grip, forcing my eyes to glare and my body to rush forward. With my hand pushed up into his throat, my other hand came and disarmed him. His eyes flashed before he punched at my chest with his now unarmed hand.
I let out a cry, stepping back with a hand placed against my chest. I took a few breaths out, blocking out the slight sting enough for fists to ball up. The armor numbed out the hard punch; Axel sure didn't pull that.
Even with the harsh stinging, I still managed a smirk at the man. "Doesn't feel good to lose your defense, doesn't it?"
I noticed his jaw tightened, and he kept his smile flat in an attempt to stay calm. He soon followed along with my play, pulling his fists up and cocking an eyebrow at me.
Now I had the upper hand over him. The armor made it difficult to engage in hand-to-hand combat since it limited my flexibility to dodge or pull my punches. However, this situation felt more suited to me. I would love to knock that grin off his face!
This warrior wasn't weak, either. He was strong and surprisingly quick for his size and stature. I didn't let that distract me. I observed his punches carefully, deflecting them with my armor while using my smaller frame to swiftly evade the attacks.
I managed to dodge his hit to my chest, grab his arm, and flip myself around to his other side. I pulled at his arm, feeling his tense up before his other arm tried to come around to grab me. He was stuck in this position, allowing me to flip him over my shoulder.
I let out a grunt, landing him on the ground, to which his wildly swinging wings at me. I tucked my wings up at him, still keeping his arm in my hold, and pulled.
He might not feel pain, but he could feel that he was trapped. Unable to wield his other hand and free himself. But he found a way to throw his other elbow into my face. It crushed into my face, forcing me to let go and hold onto my face and squeeze my eyes closed from the pain. It exploded in my ears, pulsating along my skin and making me seize up.
Even now that he is free to strike at me, I burst into a fit of anger, forcing my eyes open to glare at him, despite my body shaking from the pain. "You can't aim for the face!"
He huffed, clearly growing exhausted from our back-and-forth. "I don't see Apollonia or Arden watching this fight." He rushed at me, kicking at my chest, which forced me to jump away and guard with my arm. This left me open for another punch to the side of my face. I fell to the ground, cupping my cheek and clenching my teeth into my lip as my vision blurred and the pain intensified. "So that makes it a free-for-all," he said.
I coughed, feeling blood ooze from my lips. "It's not about the fight, it's about the honor, shouldn't you know about that..!?"
He let out a dry laugh as his footsteps grew louder, approaching me once again. My vision was blurry, and my mind was consumed by pain when he struck me, elbowing my neck and forcing a choke to escape my lips. I clawed at the ground, struggling to stand while he kept speaking.
"You don't listen if that's what you got from that." He brought his foot down hard onto my chest, and I wheezed as my back hit the dirt. I grasped his foot, which pressed into me, feeling my body sink into the mud. "That has nothing to do with honor!"
He pressed down harder, causing the air to come out in a short, quick burst. Even with that, I kept trying to pry him off me, glaring up at him even with a busted lip. "I don't even know why I would tell that to you out of all other warriors." I spat, "You know nothing about honor! Just look at you, knocking someone who is already on the ground. It's pathetic."
He gritted his teeth and glared at me. He lifted his foot to push down harder on me, but I rolled away just in time, causing his foot to land in the dirt. He shouted something, but the sound was deafening to my ears as I aimed for his face. He raised his arms as a makeshift shield, trying to push me off while thrashing his wings at me.
Feathers flew everywhere, and I winced at the movements of my body, feeling pain radiate through my insides. I could hear him saying something, but I couldn't make out the words.
He swung a fist at me, momentarily distracting my anger and hunched-over form. I shot a hand up to twist his arm away. He let out a yowl, desperately trying to pry himself free before I could trap him. I twisted harder, pushing against his arm as I rewound mine to aim my elbow at his face.
I hit hard, hearing a crunch as the man fell back onto his wings. They tried to flare up and catch his fall, but I was on him, sticking my legs out to place them over it so they couldn't flare up. I pressed down hard, sinking him into the dirt with my whole weight, crashing down onto him.
Axel still tried to thrash away, unable to feel the pain, but he could understand that he was trapped. I dug my foot harder into his wigs, my arm coming over to press into his throat. He soon understood he was trapped, my arm was keeping his down, and even with his overpowering strength, he could not use his wings to push me away or off.
He glared at me, gritting his teeth, all the while I glared right back. I shoved my elbow deeper into his throat, suddenly wanting him to feel pain.
I wanted him to feel the same pain I felt. What he did to me, why couldn't he?
Why did I have to be the one feeling the pain?
"Dawson!"
My lieutenant was firing at the enemy, desperately trying to grapple the man below him and tow him away to safety. He turned, firing blinding into the dust that was soon floating away.
I bolted upright, hearing my comrade yell at me to stay low as the enemy began firing again. Ignoring him, I brought out my gun and shot towards the men I could hear behind the dust. They retaliated, and my lieutenant let out a yell as he fell to the floor, having been shot.
I struggled to contain the panic and the overwhelming urge to drop everything and rush to him. Instead, I pushed forward, positioning myself between him and the enemy as I returned fire. They hit me in the shoulder and arm, and their bullets scraped right through my clothes and flesh alike.
The pain was unreal; I couldn't compare it to reality. It was so far away from me, my mind blurred and vision swaying from black and white-
A hand pulled me out from the dark, throwing me onto the ground before tugging over behind a fallen car for cover.
The bullets struck the metal, providing us with some cover as I instinctively curled my legs up into myself to avoid getting hit again. I let out wheezing breaths, and I could hear the same labored sounds coming from right beside me.
I turned to my side, no longer feeling the intense, crushing pain from the wounds in my body. I locked eyes with Dawson, who looked back at me, blood streaming down his cheek from a fresh cut.
"You were shot!?" He had to yell through the gun firing, his hand trembled over the gun in his hand.
I was shaking, but not from the pain. I couldn't even feel it; the overwhelming relief of seeing him alive and okay after watching him get gunned down was too powerful. I quickly nodded to him, my mouth opening in a wheezy gasp, "Yeah, yeah, but it's not anywhere vital. I-I can keep going."
"No," he said firmly, pushing against me just as the gunfire from our enemies ceased. "We're getting out of this. We're both shot, and Elliot is out cold!" The man Dawson was trying to help lay limp in his arms, his limbs spread out. He already looked gone.
I placed a hand over his neck, feeling for a pulse. Dawson put a hand on my own, gulping in the air like he was gasping for it. "He's okay for now, but not for long if we stay like this."
I shifted slightly, ignoring the sharp pain in my shoulder and thigh from the gunshots. Dawson scolded me when I glanced over the car towards the enemy. The dust had settled, and we were now exposed in an open space with only a partially damaged vehicle for cover. I quickly ducked down, gasping aloud as they began firing again.
Dawson pulled his radio out, yelling incoherent words into it. I could only move into him, the pain unable to compare to the relief of feeling a breathing body right next to me. The man was still shouting, calming down slightly, when the gun's firing ceased once again.
They must be loading up again. I knew we had to come up with a plan. We couldn't retreat to our lookout with the team, even if we had dust cover or another vehicle came to assist us. I stood no chance of firing at them with all the cover they had. Dawson was almost out of ammunition, and I had a minimum of five rounds left. We were facing over four enemy teams, all with unlimited ammo…
I felt my heart rate slow down, the dread and fear of dying sinking in.
Dawson placed a hand on my shoulder and let out a hiss as I turned to him. "I called in some reinforcements!" he said, gulping for breath as he squeezed me. His smile returned, though it was shaky, as if to reassure me. "It will be a while until they get here, so we need to conserve ammunition for when they do."
He suddenly stopped speaking, his eyes widening when a loud thunk echoed in front of us. I couldn't turn to see what it was because Dawson pulled my head into his chest, wrapping his whole body around me like a shield.
It was suddenly, lights flashing, and my ears were bursting. I remember screaming, wrapping myself around the protective man holding me as my body rocked off the ground before flying across the gravel and dirt.
It was painful, but only for a second.
I was once again staring down at the warrior behind me. I felt my feet crushing the bones in his wings. The man's eyes widened in shock as I looked back at him, and my own eyes grew wide as well. Tears filled my eyes, a flood of unexpected emotions shaking my body, leaving me unable to think clearly.
Was I even breathing? I knew I wasn't thinking straight. Why was I having the idea of murdering the angel below me?
I felt myself stop, my shoulders tensed and my mouth fell open in shock. I realized I wasn't breathing now.
Why... why did I want to kill him?
I was thrust backward, my back landing in the dirt before skidding to a stop with my wings unfurling. I huffed, my vision fogging up, but as clarity returned, I realized what had happened, forcing me away from Axel.
I stared back at Arden, her eyes wide with disgust and anger. She was positioned between me and Axel, her feet facing me, but her body turned toward him. She looked furious—more than I had ever seen her display such an emotion. Her nostrils flared, and her intense glare snapped my jumbled mind back to the present.
I shook on the ground, my wings trembling, and my lips felt parted and cold. I remained on the ground, looking away in fear, fearing that I might burst into tears from the emotions inside me.
She could sense my turmoil and looked slightly satisfied by my reaction before turning to Azel. The man quickly stood to his feet, shaking slightly, and gave a respectful bow. I followed suit, almost losing my balance when a sharp pain shot through my chest. My lips felt sore and wet, but I ignored the discomfort as I bowed my head in respect to Arden.
Eyes were watching us, and a whole field of angels looked at us, a mix of emotions showing through all of them. Apollonia stood behind Arden, her expression loud and clear with an amused smirk.