POV -> Cody

  The evening was more walking. Sariel had practically dozed off on the horse that had joined them, and with the way Cody’s feet were burning hotter than his hair he was tempted to try and fit on the beast as well.

  But the beast wasn’t a fan of his bright hair. It also seemed to drag its feet whenever Maddison approached it. He could live with it hating both of them equally.

  They had reached the Whispering Woods near sun down. The tall dark pines didn’t talk, much to Cody’s disappointment. It was just another name to fill the space on the parchment to avoid calling everything ‘the woods’. They would be in this vast and misty forest until they reached Maddison’s destination in about a week’s time.

  That was, if they stuck to Maddison’s route. There was plenty of time to convince Sariel a city was the last place she wanted to be.

  They finally stopped the brutal walking session an hour after dark. Cody was convinced Maddison would have walked for a few hours more if the horse hadn’t refused to keep going. Maddison was still fighting with a run down tent by the time Cody had all of his sleeping arrangements magically set up. He gave the mercenary his owed smirk as he set up the campfire. And then a second one for good measures as he invited Sariel to keep at her reading practice.

  By the time Maddison was through with his camping checklist, Cody had seized a spot by the fire with Sariel, listening to her read away at the children’s fairytale they had been working through all day. Maddison dropped a big stick in the fire, crushing Cody’s carefully balanced teepee and sending cinders in every direction.

  Cody looked up at him, steeled with hostility.

  Maddison held a strange glint in his eyes as he stared down at the warlock. “These woods are dangerous. If we’re not careful, someone could mysteriously go missing.” He muttered, his gaze settling heavy on Cody.

  “Yeah, that’d be a real shame.” Cody growled back. “Not a lot a sword can do against magic.”

  “Nor cloth robes against a broadsword.” Maddison’s hand moved towards the hilt of his sword. “I have to go to the bathroom.”

  Cody slipped his hand over his tome, accepting the duel invite with a growling tone. “Me too.”

  “Me three!” Sariel cheered, stopping as the two cocked their attention to her.

  Cody forced a smile. “Can you watch Hord’anne, and our stuff?” His smile shifted to Maddison, turning devious. “I’ll be right back.”

  He left Sariel by the fire, keeping his strides professional as he joined Maddison’s side. Neither of them were going to show even a flicker of excitement - even though they both had been waiting the entire day for this. The duel was business as usual. Purely transactional and in their own idea of Sariel's best interest, paid with something a little more valuable than coin.

  Cody raked his gaze around the trees. Silent. Eerie. Secluded. No witnesses. Only one of them was returning to the campsite if either could help it.

  They walked in deadly silence for a few minutes, both of them gravitating to a small flat clearing in the trees. When they reached the empty space, Maddison stopped, turning to gauge Cody’s comfort with the chosen spot.

  “No screaming for help.” Cody started.

  Maddison nodded. “No torture. Quick deaths.”

  Cody squared his stance, his hands poised for a quick incantation. “I’ll try my best.”

  Maddison took his own stance, drawing his blade and pointing it at the cocky warlock. Cody had expected to see some matched excitement on the mercenary’s face, but any emotions were walled off behind a neutral frown.

  And his eyes held a chilling focus. Like he’d done this a hundred times before.

  As soon as Cody’s hand moved, the mercenary charged. Maddison caught the small bolt of fire Cody shot with his cloak, redirecting the spell to splash across the ground.

  Maddison closed in quick, forcing Cody to push the man back with a burst of fire before his sword could reach him. As if predicting the spell, the mercenary jumped back before the wave could splash him, disappearing behind a thick tree with surprising speed.

  Cody smiled. Making distance was the mercenary’s first mistake against a spell caster. He sprinkled a couple shards of flint around him, then went for a more powerful incantation. Just as he reached the last sigil, a whistle met his ears. He flinched instinctively, feeling a sting on his cheek as something whizzed past his face. Cody whipped his attention to the object that had lodged itself in the tree behind him, some panic setting in as he eyed the thin blade.

  The quickened steps behind him drew him back to the fight, every alarm bell screaming as he saw the mercenary closing in and ready to swing. Cody dropped to the ground at the last second, feeling the breeze Maddison’s swing left just above his head. He channeled his magic into the ground, a spell on the top of his tongue as he felt a cold metal point at his chest.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Maddison stared down at the sorcerer, ready to ram the blade into Cody’s heart if he didn’t like the sorcerer’s answer. “Make yourself scarce, or die.”

  Cody cleared his throat, giving the bright red shards of flint scattered at Maddison’s feet an obvious look.

  Maddison stared at the explosive trap he was standing in, grunting in acknowledgment as he pulled his sword away and stepped out of the spell. “Tie.”

  Cody recollected himself, grabbing the shards of flint off the ground and readying himself for the re-duel. He cracked open his tome, flipping to his desired page before paying the mercenary a nod.

  The sorcerer readied for another charge from the man, his hand raised to spell out another burst of flames. But Maddison didn’t approach this time. He stayed within casting distance, slowly walking around him, blade low at his side like a lurking wolf.

  Waiting for something.

  Cody held the man’s glare, trying to discern his next moves so he could cast something to counter them. But Maddison patiently kept to his pace.

  The game of patience wasn’t something Cody played much. He turned to a new page of his spell book, a fire whip would work to rip the blade out of his hands.

  As soon as his hand moved to spell the first sigil, Maddison’s shoulders squared.

  Cody stopped, holding his stare. He eyed the glowing sigil in front of him, then the mercenary.

  Could he read them?

  He kept to the spell, smiling as Maddison charged to interrupt him. As soon as the mercenary came within distance, he swiped the half done sigils out of the air and shattered them, blasting out a quick bolt of fire instead. The mercenary had no time to react at such a close range. It was a direct hit.

  Cody started on a new spell as the ball of fire roared forwards, ready to blast the mercenary if he ducked at the last second. But he kept his charge, swinging his blade down on the spell. The fire was supposed to wrap around the weapon and carry on with blasting the man. But Cody’s face shifted as he saw his spell stick to the blade, and follow Maddison’s swing.

  Cody squinted at the faintly glowing sword, watching his magic wither away into the runes now glowing on it. “Uh…”

  Maddison carried on his charge, and Cody quickly shifted tactics, throwing up a forcefield to stave off the strange blade and spell out his next attack.

  The mercenary stopped mid strike, moving his left arm to swing. Cody saw a glimmer of metal in his hand, the enchanted glow on it unmistakable.

  It was the nullifying dagger.

  He swore as it cut right through his forcefield, finishing his incantation as he felt Maddison’s leg strike his feet and throw him to the ground.

  Cody lay on his back, his open palm hovering at Maddison’s stomach as fire teased his fingertips. There was a complete incantation glowing on his armour, ready to blast a hole in the mercenary’s stomach.

  Maddison frowned at the spell, his grip still tight on the blade that hovered over Cody. Another tie.

  POV -> Maddison

  He hissed out a frustrated sigh.

  Maddison prepared to pull back, catching movement just beyond the shriveled bush Cody’s head was near. With the cover of night, it would have been near impossible to see the dark blue hide of the creature, but the flicker of Cody’s hair lit up eight glowing red eyes.

  Maddison stepped forward, driving his blade into the spider’s body as it let out a shrill shriek.

  Cody ripped the incantation off Maddison’s armour and threw it to the mercenary’s left, plastering it on another spider that had lurched to strike his side. The explosive magic imploded its skull, sticky green goo sizzling in the leaves as the body curled up.

  “Can’t you see we’re in the middle of something?” Cody spat, accepting Maddison’s hand as the man pulled him to his feet. They both eyed the bushes for more lurkers, a few twinkling red eyes retreating into the dark forest.

  Maddison eyed the dog-sized spider in front of him. The creature bore a distinct resemblance to its kin in Bervolt. The Spinner was apparently a sore loser, and had sent some of her clutch. He caught the realization in Cody’s eyes, the two of them exchanging a reluctant nod. “Lovlos?.”

  Cody pursed his lips, rolling his eyes in defeat. He was delusional, this Maddison was sure of, but still smart enough to fir together the pieces. If they injured or killed eachother, that would just leave Sariel defenseless to the rest of the Spinner’s clutch. “We’ll part ways there. Sariel chooses who she follows.”

  Maddison nodded.

  They stared at each other for a moment, before realising it.

  They’d both just left Sariel alone at the campsite.

  ━━━━━━ ? ? ? ━━━━━━

  POV -> Sariel

  Sariel had proved yet again that assistance wasn’t something she often needed. There, by the campfire, was in fact a dog sized spider. It was splayed flat, dead from the tough bedroll that had been used to suffocate it.

  At one of its legs was a pudgy little purple creature, Hord’anne munching away at the beast with a wiggle of glee.

  Sariel locked on to the two of them with a cheery smile, jumping to her feet and grabbing Hord’anne, much to the creature’s confusion. “Our turn!”

  “Don’t go too far.” Cody warned, “call for help if you need it.”

  “Right Cody, appreciate it. Haven’t needed help with that since I was a babe.” Sariel replied, waving them farewell as she disappeared into the bushes.

  Cody watched the trees for a moment, satisfied with the lack of twinkling red eyes or movement. “Expected worse from a demigod.”

  “Should have seen the one in Bervolt.” Maddison mumbled, nudging the corpse with his foot. “Scouts probably.”

  Cody grimaced at the spider that was already too big for his liking.

  They both shot their attention to Sariel’s crunching steps as she returned, relieved at their unscathed and cheery companion as she nestled back to her spot by the fire.

  “Hord’anne will keep watch, he doesn’t sleep.” Cody announced.

  Maddison stared at the small creature that had gone back to nibbling on the dead spider, the warlock clicking in at the new size of his friend.

  “Sariel take the first watch. I’ll go second. You go last.” Maddison ordered.

  Cody cocked his head in offense. “I hate getting up early.”

  “Then switch with Sariel.” Maddison growled, already halfway into his tent with a blanket in hand