"How do we go about rescuing them?" asked Reeve.
"I'm not confident that I can take on the man in the mask", replied Rizaneth. She continued, "However, I can take on those two. They look like easy targets."
"So, let's do it this way. We need a diversion, so you'll act as the bait. Draw away those two, and I will knock out the man in the mask, rescue Esk and Soren. And then we will leave this place."
"Good, but we have one problem. We can't go back to my parents' house!"
"What? Why?"
"Since Soren is here, then something is probably happening at the banquet. This means that he's in danger as long as he's in Sky City. Therefore, we need to leave as soon as possible!"
"There you go with your idea of leaving!"
"Hey, don't forget you're supposed to teach me your fighting method! I don't want to remain stuck with you forever!"
"Fine! Go and find some means of transportation and we'll leave!"
"Let us meet at the fourth road", said Rizaneth, as she went up the stairs and left.
A couple of minutes later, there was a distinct knock at the front door of the room that Eskaria and Soren were in. One of the two men went to answer, but then there was a loud groaning sound, followed by a THUD! The other one grabbed a crossbow, and then went towards the door as well. The moment he went towards the door, Reeve went into the room.
"Good evening. I trust that I find you well", he began, as the masked man turned to face him.
"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" asked the masked man.
"Oh, I'm here to take my wife over there", Reeve responded, pointing at Eskaria.
"You're pretty brave, or stupid. Well, there's a thin line between the two. It's easier to mistake bravery for stupidity and stupidity for bravery. Either way, you're not leaving here alive", replied the masked man, drawing out daggers.
Reeve smirked. He had been beheaded once. Yet here he was, still alive and very well. What could the small daggers do? Well, he was about to find out.
The masked man dashed towards him, and threw one of the daggers towards Reeve. Nothing of note happened there. The dagger hit its mark perfectly. If this was a competition at throwing darts, the masked man might have scored fifty points. However, this wasn't a darts competition, and Reeve was undead. Normal weapons couldn't kill him. So, farewell fifty points.
Reeve ignored the dagger embedded in his shoulder, and then dashed towards the masked man as well. The masked man realized that something was off. Reeve's moves were not sluggish at all. It was as if the poison in the daggers was not working at all. He slowed down, but Reeve had already arrived in front of him. The masked man swung the dagger he had left at Reeve's throat, and it cut Reeve.
Well, no blood came out. Instead, Reeve punched the masked man in the solar plexus. The masked man groaned, before falling to the ground. Without checking to see if his opponent was unconscious, Reeve moved towards Eskaria and removed the dagger in his shoulder. Using it, he cut away the ropes on both Eskaria and Soren.
After the cloth used as a blindfold had been removed, Soren yelled, "Behind you!"
The masked man was up, and he looked pissed. Not just pissed, he looked very very angry. In his hands, there were flames which were burning. However, if one looked closely, he wasn't being hurt by these flames. This was magic. And this was the second time that Reeve had seen someone use actual magic since being reanimated.
"I guess you have some skill. No wonder you could come here to challenge me. It's been some time since someone forced me to use magic. Consider yourself lucky to die--"
"Get on with it already! I don't have time for this!" yelled Reeve. He hated monologues. "Can you move? You have to run towards the fourth road. Can you do it?" he asked Soren.
"I'm sure I can, but I'm not sure if I'm carrying someone", replied Soren.
"Don't worry. Just leave."
As Soren was about to leave, the masked man yelled, "Fire Magic: Phoenix Flare!"
KABOOM!
There was a blinding light, followed by a loud explosion that caused the house to catch fire. It was made of wood, after all. And using a fire spell in a wooden house didn't seem to be the best idea. Raging flames started consuming everything in the building, causing black smoke to rise up into the dark skies.
Reeve coughed, as the air became hot. The smoke wasn't helping either. He had managed to carry Eskaria, and shield her using his own body. Apparently, she was safe, but his clothes weren't. They had been blasted into smithereens. Well, not actual smithereens, but they had been torn badly. As for Soren, he had been thrown into the street. The force from the explosion had thrown him out, somehow.
"You're still alive? You're more tenacious than I expected. However, how many of those can you handle? Shall we find out then?" asked the masked man, as he emerged from the flames.
Unlike Reeve, Eskaria was having a hard time breathing. He wanted to get her out before the whole house collapsed. However, it seemed like the masked man was not going to let that happen. He raised his hands up, and it looked as if the fire burning from the property in the room was gathering into his hands. This time, the flames were bigger.
"At first, I wanted her to be a gift to Pride, but I guess I can always do that later", said the masked man.
"Wait a minute, you're Avarice? The old man with the tattoos that I met in the bandit village?", Reeve asked, as he coughed.
"You're mistaking me for someone else. It seems there's someone who's going around pretending to be me. Anyway, that's another issue I'll deal with later on. As for you, greet the god of death for me when you see him!" as he said this, the fire in his hands started to compress rapidly. He yelled, "Flame Magic: Solar Flare!"