Kathryn ducked to the side as a glowing fist jabbed past her head. She ducked back and forth the blows coming like lightning. Another one came fast, faster than she could move and she took it, her head sent reeling backwards and against the wall. They lunged after her and she shoved herself away avoiding their fist as it blew a chunk out of the wall.
Spinning her staff around she stepped forward going on offense. Thrusting the staff she wiggled the staff back and forth but they dodged and weaved around the strikes like an orange blur. They lunged forward going underneath the staff thrust and punched her in the chest.
She fell to her knee clutching her chest and gasped leaning against her staff. Throwing herself backwards she swung it wide creating a wall of blue light. The orange fighter started at it before punching it twice but it didn’t crack under the blows. Just shook.
Kathryn took that as a good sign and held a hand to her chest. She almost fell down as the pain radiated outward. The armor felt cracked which worried her even more. Her cracked mask tried to lock onto them but came back with nothing.
“So I’m just getting attacked by a random wanna be knight huh?”
A boom echoed inside the tunnel and her head jerked upward. She watched as they punched her shield. A slow deliberate hit at the same spot that at first did nothing. But after the fourth hit the shield cracked, cracked hard enough that she felt it. The next punched cracked it even harder and she watched them spiderweb from that initial impact zone.
“Oh come the fuck on,” she mumbled.
They hopped backwards and then lunged forward, their fist glowing orange. It shattered the shield in one heavy blow sending shards flying across the tunnel and a shockwave over her armor. They raced forward another blur of orange movement but this time she let her shield expand all over her body like a third skin in this instance.
Her shield caught the blow and she grabbed the piece of shield with her hand letting it wrap around her fist. Stepping around their next attack she swung the staff low and watched them jump over it. Breaking the weapon apart she flicked one of the pieces upward and it wrapped around their leg. Dragging them back to the ground she slammed her first into their shoulder.
The stored energy in her punch flew back at them and sent them flying into the train. The metal crumpled and glass shattered into pieces. They were stunned for the barest of a moment and she took that as a sign that she could catch her breath. She shook her hand out her gauntlet feeling raw and sporting damage.
“Who the fuck are you?” she shouted not expecting an answer but just needing to air her frustration.
Metal creaked and finally snapped as they dug their way out of the rubble of the train. Cracking their neck back and forth they looked at themselves. After that last hit their armor was showing some cracks and wear. Which was a confidence booster for her because that meant that she had actually managed to do some damage.
They started to raise their hand and flinched. When she looked closer the shoulder that she had hit was almost entirely broken through and by extension the arm was hanging loose like it was dislocated. They grasped their arm and tried to shove it into place but stopped mid movement and she knew pain when she saw it.
They stared at her and she could feel the weight of the glare on her but they remained silent. Turning on their heel they started running in the opposite direction. She waited in place, hearing the footsteps echo in the tunnel until those faded away as well and everything was silent. Limping her way over to the wall she pressed her forehead against it.
Taking several deep breaths she looked at her helmet and saw it flashing signs that she was definitely not okay. The weird alien language didn’t need to get specific to show that red flashing lights over her chest and her arm were likely not good. Drawing her staff in front of her she propped herself against it and looked at the train.
It was in bad shape definitely but it was stationary. No fires, no electricity, and no screaming. The people were safe then. She started to walk back toward it but she could hear a commotion down the opposite side of the train. Voices shouting along with the pale beams of flash lights.
“Good. Help’s arriving. Which means I need to make my great escape,” she mumbled. She started moving then paused looking at the middle of the ground and raised her eyebrow. Lying there was her backpack. It was definitely worse for wear, large cuts and gashes and she was sure her homework was shredded but at least she had the thing.
Sliding it along her shoulder she started going limping down the train tracks in the opposite direction of the beams of light. In the back of her mind she was worried about running into the other guy but something told her he was long gone for the time being. Partway through her long trek she powered down and let her power warp away back into her choker.
She didn’t have to go far before she found what she was looking for. A service ladder going straight up to street side. Grasping the wrung she recoiled at the wet and rusty feeling of the metal but accepted it and braced to climb. Balancing herself she climbed slowly one hand above the other, one step after the other, ignoring how much pain she was in.
She kept going until she got to the sewer grate and pressed her hands around the edges of the metal. She pushed and it resisted like a stubborn man. Grunting she touched her stone again and felt it warm at her touch. Taking another deep breath, she shoved and hit the grate blasting it off with a burst of blue energy.
Climbing rapidly out of the top she rolled onto the street and was greeted by sirens, ambulances, fire trucks and police. A cacophony that was deafening but she realized pretty fast that no one was paying attention to her little escape from the sewers. Getting to her feet she walked as far as she could, going to a nearby Starbucks and getting her phone out.
She could only imagine how she looked and ignore the barista or any other patrons that might have looked at her. Instead she went to a corner table, sat down and dialed Seth’s phone. It rang for a few minutes longer before she heard him pick up.
“Hey Kat. Please tell me that wasn’t you,” his words were teasing but she could hear the worry.
“It might have been. Come pick me up and I’ll tell you about it. Please Seth.”
That made him pause mid comment and he asked, “Where are you?
“Some random Starbucks.”
“I’m on my way.”
The Harlequin Library 