Margaret: Chapter Ten

Hssss.

Grrrr.

Hssss.

I had to remember that the creatures in front of me were mermen and not snakes. Or green, red-eyed monsters with sharp teeth. My skin visibly prickled from fear and nervousness. Whoever wanted the Key must have decided not to waste time because surely, five versus one would never be fair enough. They all looked like experienced swordsmen as they poised for attack. I didn’t want to think about it but I had a feeling that this would be the day I took my last breath. I shivered and Seirra moved to stand closer in front of me. His skin color had changed and his eyes had gone ruby red yet I felt that even if I didn’t know him beforehand, I would label him the good guy. The others give off a dangerous aura, what with their hissing and growling.

“What do you want?” Seirra asked in a murderous tone. His voice had gone gruff and each word was muttered with a low growl.

Their leader, who stood directly in front of us and had the only different sword among them, answered the question with a snarl. “The Key, Celari. We won’t hurt you if you’d just hand it over to us.”

Well, I sincerely doubted that they wouldn’t hurt us given the fact that they already did the first time they attacked me. I felt Seirra’s body stiffen even more and I decided then and there that I’d die before I give the Key to anyone aside from Seirra.

“You won’t have it,” Seirra said with finality.

“Then you give us no choice.”

He hadn’t even finished saying the last word before one of his henchmen dashed to attack us from our right. Seirra dodged it with his sword but another one immediately followed and unless Seirra had another sword, we would both be sliced in half by the other monster.

And then I remembered that I can wish for material things that can last temporarily. I immediately thought of a sword and within a second, something identical to the Ardus appeared in my hand. Seirra saw it immediately, grabbed it and used it to deflect the second attack.

“At the count of three, jump back and run,” Seirra whispered between gritted teeth.

I simply nodded and hoped that none of those green freaks would catch me before I’m safe.

“One, two, three!”

Seirra swung his arms in an attempt to get out of the defensive as I ran away as fast as my feet could. I heard someone quickly following me and when I looked back, Seirra had already caught up with him and had disarmed him. The sounds of grunts, growls and metal clashing against metal penetrated through my ears as I ran to save myself and the Key. A few more steps and I could make a turn towards safety. Those mermen wouldn’t dare fight in a place with so many onlookers.

Five meters away from the street corner, my pace began to dawdle. I needed to stop and get more air into my lungs so I leaned on the nearest lamp post. My hand clutched my chest in hopes that it would help the drumming of my heart to slow down.

And then the situation crashed down on me.

I just left Seirra in the lion’s den.

It shouldn’t have bothered me because I simply followed his instructions but somehow, I felt like I should have helped him fight at the very least. He was fighting against five swordsmen after all. Besides, I could simply wish on the Key to give me some sort of weapon to use. Maybe, a gun would help. It wouldn’t be too much of an effort to use it, would it?

Without thinking any further, I began to run again towards danger. I hope what I’m doing was right. Yeah well, whatever.

Once I got back to where they were fighting, I made sure that I was as quiet as I could possibly can. There was huge waste container not far from the scene so I hid just beside it. The stench almost killed me but that was a mere hyperbole. If I become careless then I would be dead for real.

I watched as Seirra defended himself from one guy whose techniques seemed at par with Seirra’s. I had never seen him fight but I knew that he was good. My instincts had told me so. Two of our enemies were already dead judging from the fact that I could not see them around. I no longer cared what happened with their corpses. A low grunt brought my eyes back to the fighters and saw that Seirra had bowled over after probably getting hit on the stomach.

And that was when I actually saw his wounded self. One eye was already half-closed and he had wounds all over his arms from the scratches made by his enemies. Although the others also sported wounds, it was obvious that Seirra’s body was beaten worse. Ebony-colored blood started to seep out of his stomach wound.

Before I could think of anything to do however, the fight resumed and the guy in front of him raised his sword in an attempt to end Seirra’s life. Fortunately, Seirra still had a bit of his speed with him and a back roll saved him from his enemy’s sword. For a second, he tried to heal some of his wounds but since he’s in battle, he couldn’t do much except making sure that his wounds wouldn’t be as deep as it would have been. The others were healing themselves too.

The battle resumed and this time, all three of them attacked all-together. My eyes widened, knowing that Seirra couldn’t possibly defend himself from all three. Intense fear gripped my heart as I looked on and watched as if the scene was in slow motion.

If only I had a gun, I thought. Before I knew it, cold metal came into contact with my palm and when I looked down, I realized that I was already holding a gun, courtesy of the Crystal Key of Saol. Okay, so now that I had a gun in my hand, how could I possibly use this to help Seirra? Sounds from clashed swords reverberated and I knew I had no time to think. Without hesitation, I raised the gun, tried to aim it to one of the enemies and fired.

It was silent for a second, all four swordsmen distracted from the sound of the gunshot. I wasn’t able to hit my target but Seirra was fast to recover from his surprise. The diversion I created was enough to give him time to slice one. A flip of his sword backwards and another was stabbed in his stomach. There wasn’t enough time however, to kill the last enemy: their leader.

The two of them sized each other up while walking in a circular motion. They were obviously trying to predict what the other would do and when the enemy made his move, Seirra immediately followed suit. From what I could see with the fight, Seirra was trying to stop the enemy from getting to me. Every time Seirra tried to bring the fight farther, the other merman would make a move that would counter Seirra’s efforts. A few extra punches and swings occurred before Seirra found an opening and disarmed the leader. He didn’t waste time and pushed our enemy onto the wall, raising the man up while using his own body to prevent the monster from moving.

Seirra’s forearm pushed on the leader’s throat.

“You’re not the last, aren’t you? Who’s behind all this?” came Seirra’s venomous voice.

I walked more closely to hear the conversation. I was pretty sure that it was already safe because the other corpses had disappeared into bubbles.

“You shouldn’t try to stop us, Celari. You’re just going to make things worse.” The man then bored his eyes into mine as he said, “For her.”

His words made my insides shake with a sense of an impending doom. It was like hearing a prediction of death. My death in particular.

Seirra got angry and pushed further. “What are you talking about?”

Our captive gave us a mocking laugh. “You weren’t just protecting the Key. That girl’s safety worries you as well. I assure you, the merman behind us knows about it already. If you don’t want her dead, give us the Key.”

“Like Hell. Who’s your master? The Gurges of Marisia?”

“You’ll be surprised to know who wants that Key. What would you do to know, Celari?”

I glanced at Seirra and it was obvious that he was having a hard time with his decision. “I’ll let you live.”

“No. That’s not a good enough offer.”

“What do you want?” Seirra asked with narrowed eyes.

“Turn me into a Huntre.”

“That’s impossible. You need a Huntre’s ritual.”

I was nodding my head in agreement. The ritual was how Grampa became human.

The man shook his head. “It’s possible for a Celari.”

My eyes widened and I glanced at Seirra and found that he was not surprised by the suggestion. He was, however, angry.

“Are you trying to kill me?”

“It was never tried so you cannot be sure of your death.”

I saw Seirra’s furrowed brows as he thought about the situation. I did not think that this man could be trusted. We cannot let him manipulate us.

After a short moment, Seirra looked up and said, “Fine. But you’ll have to tell me who your master is. And until I’m sure of it, I will not turn you into a Huntre.”

“What?” I interrupted. “You couldn’t have possibly believed him, Seirra! What if he’s lying? What if-what if he’s just saying that to make you free him?”

Seirra didn’t answer me and instead addressed our enemy, “Give me the name.”

The merman’s lips curled into a smile but before he could open his mouth to speak, his eyes rolled up and he made choking sounds as he struggled for breath. Seirra was surprised and lost his hold on the other man. We both stepped back as we watched the merman disappear into bubbles.

I swallowed. “What did just happen?”

“Someone must be watching us,” Seirra replied solemnly as he looked around. “Killing a merman without using a weapon could only be the work of the Dark Pearl—a jewel that only powerful Aquanians possess.”

He walked over to me and placed his hands on my shoulders. “Are you alright?”

“Hmph. I should be the one asking you that,” I answered sarcastically, trying to hide my concern from him.

He smiled—assured that I was unharmed. “I’m glad.”

His concern made me warm all over. I was about to tell him that I’ll show him how humans treat wounds when his eyes began to close and his body slowly leaned onto mine.