The Kind

Chapter Ten

The sand beneath her feet fell away as Sarah ran, causing her to slip and catch her balance as she ran towards the lights. All her thoughts were bent on reaching their source, and finding a phone. Right now, Silas was fighting Viralynn. At any moment, one of them would be injured, or die. Even worse, she had no way of knowing how far she had travelled, or how long it would take her to get back to him – if he even survived. The sand gave way to solid rock and she started to run faster.

Two blades collided in mid-air, sending out a shock wave that rattled the nearby windows. Silas pulled back and continued around for a wider swing, but Viralynn blocked low, catching his sword at the guard. The blade left his hand and travelled up, momentarily suspended before beginning its fall to Earth. Silas raised his palm and sent a push towards Viralynn, catching her in the chest. As she flew back, he vanished on the spot and reappeared in position to catch his blade. He raised the steel above his head in time to block her downward strike.
“Who do you think helped you escape the first time!” she shrieked, concentrating her force into the blade. “When they found you, and your human, they wanted to send an army to bring you back!” The two fighters kicked off and half-jumped half-flew in different directions, before crashing into each other again. “I convinced them to let me hunt you down instead!”
“Why help me escape, just to come after me?” Silas’ voice was strained as he searched for an opening.
“If they hadn’t sent me that girl would already be dead, and so would you!” Viralynn turned to swing from Silas’ blind side. He raised both arms and let the blade pass through his body, or at least, the space where he’d been standing a moment before. Appearing behind her, he brought the blade down as hard as he could.

The sound of Silas’ mobile bursting to life invaded the room. Despite the sudden sound, neither of the two warriors moved an eyebrow from where they were set, facing the other. One held his blade, suspended in the air in front of him, unmoving, baring the full weight of his body and power behind it. The other had her arm raised, and was focusing all of her power into the spot where his sword was pressed against it. Neither gave an inch as the innocuous ringtone rang into extinction. Finally it passed, and silence descended.
“My power was always stronger than yours, Silas.” A smirk formed on her lips. “As strong as you are, you can’t even cut me.”
Silas was gone before the last word left her lips. Instant he returned, blade in hand. Again she blocked, this time with her palm. Silas vanished, returned, and attacked. Each time she blocked, and each time he teleported. Sometimes he would hear the sound of her sword hitting his, other times he would vanish before the tone reached his ears. None of it mattered. Over and over he disappeared and reappeared, never letting up, waiting for her to slip.
“You… are… stronger…” he yelled, forming each word as he felt his throat reappear, “But… I… was…always… faster!” His body began to dissolve into a blur, hardly remaining in shape long enough to attack at all before vanishing again. Viralynn reached out and pulled a knife from the kitchen towards her. It sailed the space and delivered itself to her hand. Now she was blocking him with both blades, catching him on one side with the first, then instantly on the other with the second. Her mind raced, unable to tell which thoughts were her own and which were his, his instincts feeding information to her, helping her block his assault.
The glint of steel fell towards the carpet. Before she could reconsider, her arm followed to block. By the time she realised her mistake, it was too late.
Silas stood in the centre of the room, his sword at his feet, one arm raised, his fingers gripped around Viralynn’s throat. Her sword and her knife hung at her sides. She dared not move.
“It’s over…” he growled.
Silas’ mind flooded with the pain. All he could see was Sarah, standing on a beach, watching waves as they failed to reach her, and crying. The power of two Kind minds were reaching out, and he knew Viralynn could see it too.
It was a fleeting distraction, but it was enough. Viralynn brought the knife up in a wide swipe at his arm, cutting a long gash between his wrist and elbow. A final explosion of force pushed her free of his grip and sent them both spiralling backwards. Silas never reached the wall, falling instead into a teleport that took him far, far away.

Viralynn stood alone in the empty house. She had failed in her mission, twice. She let the sword and the knife fall away, and put her hands to her head. Screaming would not be enough, not now. Her body erupted with energy, sending shock waves out in every direction. Furniture fell and crumbled. Her arms were like cannons, her hands guiding the shots which left smoking craters in the walls and ceiling. The fireplace began to shake and was eventually torn apart.
Inside Viralynn, a storm was raging. Inside the house of Sarah Richards, a much more destructive force was tearing everything apart.