That made it even greater odds against us, as the Kings hadn’t yet managed to slay a single one. As for the brothers, they were now facing off at least the same amount and without anyone’s blade penetrating these phantoms, it seemed we were all hoping for an impossible outcome. As for Lucius, the only outcome he was concerned with was getting me to safety, but without first fighting them back, he just couldn’t get to me.
I knew that I couldn't just sit and hide somewhere in this office, hoping that it would all be over soon and I would be saved by these men. I was after all,
A Draven.
This meant that I got my ass moving and ran over to Trice and without asking, I grabbed one of the blades strapped to his chest and used it to arm myself.
“Hide, lass!” he snapped at me, which is when I told him,
“I wasn't born to hide, I was born to fight!” Then I spun around with my long dagger in hand and faced the oncoming phantom assassin that had managed to slip through where the Kings were trying to keep them back.
“Gods,” I muttered as it was unlike anything I'd ever seen before or faced in a fight. Its entire body was dressed for one thing, darkness and the kill. Because now from up this close, then the only thing you could see on it was the dead of its eyes, white and glowing from deep within an abyss of darkness. As if its face was so far away and what I was looking into when trying to see its face, was a glimpse of horror from the past. As if it was inside there, screaming to get out, to be let free of its warrior chains!
It was as if it was caught between two worlds, half alive and half dead. Which was why, with each movement they made, it was as if there were three of them. Like a memory following in the first’s footsteps, each making the same movements one after the other. The first was the fastest and the two behind moved slower, as if there was a lag behind the ghost of its image. It was like a dark shadowed train, for as it swung out its sword towards me, so then did two others. It meant I was not only defending myself against one but three blows, which meant I had to move three defence steps in quick succession.
Because of this time delay of theirs, they still had the power to inflict damage and I didn't have one weapon to face as it lashed out at me again and again, but I had three all in a quick blur of each other. Which meant only one thing,
I had to be faster!
So, I rolled out of the way of one and slashed through the legs of the other and up the back of the last, each time my blade sliding straight through as if they were made of smoke. I knew then something had to be driving these ghostly figures… these phantoms of the dead. Something or someone had to be controlling them?! Question was, what could it be?
I didn't even know what it was we faced, but it became clear very quickly, that all of the men fighting now knew there was only so long I could keep this up, because they had something that I didn't…
Immortality.
They could heal quicker, move faster, and see the enemy movements before damage could be inflicted. How long they could hold this up for, I didn't know but I did know it was certainly a hell of a lot longer than I could. But then the moment another one got through I held my blade above my head just before it could slice down at me. One hit, two hits and finally the third hammered my own blade closer and closer towards my face, taking me to my fucking knees!
This was when I purposely fell back, so I could kick up at the second phantom that I had originally been fighting, as I noticed now, they only ever fought singularly. I had only a split second to think this odd as surely with their numbers it would have been easier to combine forces. However, they seemed to work in tandem, as one was pushed back another quickly took its place so that way the threat never stopped coming.