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Diamant set his teeth, swinging his sword in an arc that his more nimble opponent easily ducked under. When Alear had sent him to investigate the east passage, he hadn’t expected to find a thief sneaking away with some bit of the old ruin’s treasure. A thief who, unfortunately, was fighting to keep ahold of whatever prize she’d dug up.
The thief rolled under his next swing, leaping to her feet to fling a couple of daggers his direction. He deflected one with his sword, the other barely catching his shoulder through his heavy armor, before she was off again. He set off in pursuit of her, ignoring the calls of his companions. It wasn’t that the treasure mattered; he was merely concerned for the safety of their camp should such an enemy remain in the area.
More daggers flew in his direction, out of the darkness ahead. He spun to the side to narrowly avoid the one aimed for his face, but the other lodged itself deeply in his forearm. Diamant wrenched it free and threw it to the ground, the pulse of poison spreading through his blood a warning that his strength was now limited.
He barreled down the darkened hallway; his only guide the slight flutter of the thief’s cloak ahead of him. She was getting desperate now, flinging boxes and barrels into his path. He leapt over a barrel, crashed through a box, and nearly lost his footing on a section of oil-slick stone. Diamant scrambled for balance, practically clinging to the nearby wall to keep on his feet.
With a sudden flare of light, the thief held up a lit torch that illuminated her hooded features. “Stay back,” she warned. The light from the torch shone a ripple of rainbow hues, revealing the spilled oil that covered the floor in this section of the hall.
Fighting to keep his expression neutral, Diamant glowered at her. “You’ll set us both ablaze if you drop it.”
“Maybe,” she countered. “Or maybe I’m fast enough to get free before the oil lights. You wanna try it? You in that heavy armor, and me with a head start?”
His eyes narrowed. “You’re not that fast.”
She shuffled in place. “I’ll drop it!”
Diamant waited. The thief was nervous. He could easily imagine her eyes darting around under her hood, looking for her best chance to get out of here. He waited until she shot a quick glance over her shoulder, his body momentarily obscured by the fabric of her hood, and charged.
The oil hampered him a little, but he was more than halfway across the distance between them when she realized what was happening. The thief gave a panicked cry and dropped the torch as she turned to run, but he had already reached her at that point. As the oil caught flame, he caught her around the waist and propelled them both beyond the oil-slick floor to the dry stone beyond.
He was almost fast enough. The wall of flame reached them before the they reached the relative safety beyond. The thief shrieked as her cloak caught fire. Diamant felt a rush of heat, but his armor turned away most of the flame and he turned his attention to beating out the fire on the thief’s cloak. He’d wanted to question her, not kill her. Maybe hold her prisoner until they moved on.
She had other ideas. While he was still trying to put out the flames, she wrestled an arm free and plunged a dagger into his side, piercing through the weak point between two plates, before she ripped it free. He jerked away from her in shock, hand coming up to cover the bloody wound.
“You should have let me go,” the thief snarled as she lunged at him, dagger in hand.
Diamant caught her wrist, but the poison thundering through his veins was weakening him. With the fire behind him he couldn’t retreat, and he couldn’t get enough distance from her to draw his axe. She swiped and cut a bloody furrow in his cheek. He ducked her next blow and tried to grapple her again. His shoulder caught her in the stomach and she exhaled a pained breath, but her dagger scraped against the armor on his back as she searched for another weak spot.
His knees buckled and she easily danced out of his reach. Head spinning, strength slowly draining, Diamant fought to pull himself back together.
The thief’s hood had gotten torn away at some point, and he found himself staring at a woman with sharp features and close-cut black hair. Something in her face reminded him of Kagetsu, one of Princess Ivy's retainers. Not a family resemblance, exactly, but a similar manner.
“This doesn’t have to end like this.” He was panting for breath, weakening with every moment. And she knew it.
She twirled her dagger, the fire dancing in her dark eyes. “No…it didn’t.” She lunged forward.
Diamant ducked back and brought his forearm up in a futile attempt to block her blade. His only hope was to get her in close again, maybe roll them both back into the flames. There was a slim chance his armor would protect him just long enough—though the greater chance was that they would perish together.
The fwip of an arrow passing by his left ear to thud into the thief’s chest caught him by surprise. The thief staggered back and stared down at the fletching now protruding from beneath her right breast. Her fingers brushed at the tips of black and red feathers as she raised her head, cloudy eyes searching the passage behind Diamant.
Another arrow struck her in the throat, spinning her around as she collapsed to the floor. Diamant scarcely dared to breathe for a moment, as he expected her to rise again at any second.
“Diamant!”
Footsteps behind him. He slowly, painfully, turned his body enough to see his brother burst through the flames, one arm up to shield his face. “Alcryst?”
“I was worried,” Alcryst admitted. “Oh…oh no. You’re hurt.”
Diamant grunted. He tried to put a hand on his brother’s shoulder, but there were suddenly two of him. “I think…”
“I know you probably don’t want to hear this from me, but I think you’re poisoned,” Alcryst babbled. “Hold on. The divine one wouldn’t let me follow you without some supplies, just in case. Here, please, drink this.”
He grasped for the slender vial of antidote potion, but his fingers fumbled with it. If Alcryst hadn’t caught it quickly, the precious medicine would have been wasted.
“Sorry. I should probably…” the younger prince fumbled a little more, but finally managed to hold the vial to Diamant’s lips to tip it down his throat.
The fire was burning out now. In the fading light, Diamant could see the singed ends of his brother’s hair, from where Alcryst had practically stood in the flames to shoot down the thief. He hazily brought a finger up to brush across the tips of Alcryst’s hair, though his brother ducked away from him.
“I’m fine,” Alcryst said. “There wasn’t even that much fire. Here, drink this, too.”
The vulnerary was easier to hold, and a sip from it brought some much-needed clarity of thought to Diamant’s mind. He could feel the effects of the poison subsiding, and a course of strength rushed through his veins as the damage from the battle began to heal.
“Thank you, Alcryst,” he said, a fond smile tugging at his lips. He rested a hand on Alcryst’s shoulder, thankful that there was only one of his brother this time.
Alcryst tried to smile, but there was a telltale tremble to his lips as he looked away.
“What?” Diamant prompted. “What’s wrong?”
“I…I can’t lose you.”
Diamant let out a measured sigh, considering the situation from his brother’s perspective. “I was careless,” he admitted. “I’m sorry I caused you worry. I will strive to avoid it in the future.”
“No!” Alcryst whirled back around. “You shouldn’t apologize to me! I’m sorry I didn’t follow you faster! If I hadn’t stopped when the divine one asked….”
He held up a hand, stopping his brother’s rushed explanation. “You saved my life. Never forget that.”
Alcryst’s face reddened and he dropped his gaze. “Oh no…now you’re going to think I’m reliable.”
Diamant held back a laugh. His brother’s poor self-image was something they were going to have to work on for a very long time. For now, he could just be thankful they had that future to look forward to. “Come on,” he suggested, climbing to his feet with only the slightest wince of pain. “Looks like the fire’s almost out. Let’s rejoin the others.”