The alley ignited into a blazing pocket of space, swallowing all that could be seen.
Nikolas was staring at me with a deadpan expression. "You could have set me on fire."
I flashed him a playful smile. "But I didn't."
I had set up a barrier of fire to protect us from the explosion. And I was careful not to hit the nearby buildings that weren't made of brick or stone.
I threw balls of flame floated adrift above our heads to provide illumination. They tinged the edges of Niko's hair with orange, making it seem like he dipped it in orange dye.
"Pay attention, Lily." He had found a puddle of rainwater earlier, molding it into an icy sword with his hands. He remained in fighting stance as the blinding brightness receded in the alley.
"Roger," I summoned up my flames again, curling around my palm up to my elbows, holding my ground. The enemy could have survived that force, who knew what tricks they had in their sleeves.
In turned out I was right. There, in the mouth of the alley, stood six cloaked individuals. They were clad in all black, including a mask that covered the lower half of their faces. The fabric was painted with a single white eye. Their pupils glowed in the dark, full of menace and bloodlust.
Their cloaks were smoking, singed by the heat. But it had not been destroyed. I had predicted this, since there were cloths that were made with materials that were invulnerable to fire. Our pursuers had to know that we were both wielders. And maybe they were wielders themselves as well.
I felt a pang of satisfaction as I saw four of their friends lying on the ground. They had not been burned, but it was obvious that they were knocked out by the sheer strain from my power.
"What do you want from us?" said Niko, his voice cold as the ice in his hand.
Without a word, one of them lunged to attack us. I stepped forward, blocking his fist with my fire-coated arm. "Disrespectful fool, he was asking you a question."
He clicked his tongue. "Academy brats."
A knife fell from his sleeve and too quickly he caught it. Niko pulled me back by the collar so that the thug could only slash the air mere inches from my nose.
Niko countered the attack with his sword of ice, cutting the black-clad individual along the shoulder. He hissed and swung his knife around.
Now the others were advancing, outnumbering us completely. It was a three on one battle. But we were nothing if not excellent fighters, bred for battle since we were kids. This was exactly the moment we've been waiting for.
My blood sang as I shot fire after fire, dodging each of their kicks and punches. My feet were as light as a feather, my body moving to the rhythm of an unsung hymn. They couldn't land an attack on me, even as their cloaks whirled and fluttered in the evening air.
This wasn't like the sparring in the academy grounds. This was a real fight. And we had to take this seriously if we wanted to survive.
The enemies must have thought that I could only keep my defenses in long-range combat since I was Fire Wielder. They thought wrong. These idiots. I excelled more in hand-to-hand combat. The thugs did their best to creep closer to my vicinity, ducking my flames and rolling toward me as near as possible. I was luring them to a trap. With the narrowness of the alley, there really wasn't much to move around. So fighting in close range had to be the better option.
I decided to taunt them further. "Come now, that mustn't be all you've got if you people have the guts to stalk us for the whole afternoon."
One of them snarled and ran to my direction. With such an unbalanced footing, I crouched and swept his ankle with my feet. I dragged him up, throwing him to his friend that was launching himself toward us. Quickly, I kicked one from my rear, elbowing the other from the sides.
Bones crunched and twisted, bruised implicated and jaws broken. They were no match for the daughter of Ruby Russels.
I glanced at Niko at the same moment he defeated the last one of them, turning his sword over with an elegant flourish. Not a single strand of his hair was out of place. In the dimness, he shone like a craftily sculpted ice. I nearly laughed, why did he have to do everything with grace?
The ice sword shattered, pieces glittering as they cascaded to the dingy ground.
I walked toward him and leaned down at the goon lying at his feet. "Who sent you?"
Nikolas sighed. "I've been trying to question them. They won't answer."
I smirked. "Probably because you weren't trying enough."
Fire bloomed along my fingertips, swirling to form a bigger ball. I made sure the goon could see what I was doing.
Fear showed in his eyes, his body shaking. He shot up his hands, as if to beg for mercy.
I turned to Niko. "See Niko—"
My knees gave out, and my throat seemed to have closed upon itself. My hands reached for my neck as I couldn't breathe no matter how hard I tried. Niko knelt before me, grave panic in his pretty features. I could only let out pained gasps, my eyeballs bulging.
Nikolas was screaming his lungs out, but I couldn't hear him nor feel him shaking my shoulders. The whole world was tuning upside down, my ears ringing, the ground wobbling beneath me. My blood was so cold it burned. Every inch of me was pain and suffering. I couldn't bear it.
I could barely keep my senses together. Barely keep myself awake. But I realized what the cause was.
With a final effort, I shifted to the man who had raised his hand. It turned out he wasn't asking me for mercy. He was doing something unexplainable to me.
A loud thud was the last sound I heard as my mind went blank.