The younger brother didn’t hesitate.
His arm snapped forward with frightening precision, muscles tightening beneath the loose sleeve of his cloak. The chain hissed as it uncoiled, and the anchor-shaped dagger screamed through the air toward Eric like a steel hawk diving for prey.
Eric planted his feet.
He’d seen fast weapons before. He’d blocked blades, hammers, spears—
But his eyes widened mid-breath.
The weapon was growing.
What had been a cruel, compact anchor twisted unnaturally in the air. Metal groaned and expanded, stretching outward, thickening, widening—its curved edges elongating until the dagger transformed into a monstrous twenty-foot arc of steel. It cast a massive shadow as it descended, blotting out the light like a falling executioner’s blade.
Mary gasped from behind Kael.
Musk muttered, “That thing’s—”
Eric dropped the branch instantly.
He couldn’t block that.
The massive anchor crashed down toward him, the air pressure alone flattening grass and forcing dirt to spiral outward. At the final heartbeat before impact, Eric thrust both hands forward and caught it.
The collision detonated like thunder.
A violent shockwave blasted outward in a circular ring, snapping smaller trees and sending leaves spiraling high into the sky. Eric’s boots tore trenches into the ground as he slid backward, heels carving deep furrows through soil and stone.
“Eric!” Mary shouted.
His arms trembled violently under the sheer weight. The steel edge hovered inches above his skull, pressing downward with crushing intent.
He roared.
Flames erupted from his palms—massive, furious fire pouring outward in a torrent. Not the compact bullets he favored, but a full inferno. The blaze wrapped around the giant anchor, swallowing it in a blazing column of heat.
The metal glowed.
Red.
Then brighter.
Almost white.
But it did not melt.
It did not crack.
Instead, the heat rebounded.
Eric’s hands began to burn.
The scent came first—the unmistakable stench of scorched flesh. Skin blistered instantly. Flames licked back against him, searing through muscle. His palms blackened, charred skin splitting as blood hissed against the heated metal.
“Stop—!” Mary started forward.
“Don’t interfere,” Kael said sharply, eyes locked on the elder brother.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Eric gritted his teeth so hard a vein bulged at his temple. His arms shook violently, but he forced the blade to halt. Inch by inch, he pushed it upward just enough to prevent it from cleaving him in two.
The younger brother tilted his head, observing with detached curiosity.
“I’m impressed,” he said calmly. “You managed to stop it. You really are strong.”
A faint smirk touched his lips.
“But you know you can’t burn my dagger. It’s fireproof.”
He shrugged lightly, almost apologetically.
“Just wanted to tell you… though your hands aren’t looking too good, are they?”
Eric hissed through clenched teeth. “You talk too much.”
Before he could shift position—
The younger brother flicked his wrist again.
A second anchor dagger shot from behind him.
This one was small.
Tiny-sized.
Eric released one hand instinctively, twisting his body to evade.
For a split second—
He lost sight of it.
It vanished from his line of vision, swallowed by the glare of his own flames and the dust kicked up by the impact.
Then—
Something cold brushed his neck.
Thin.
Delicate.
Almost like a spider’s web.
His eyes widened.
Cold metal thread tightened around his throat.
“Enlarge,” the younger brother whispered.
BOOM.
The small dagger expanded instantly.
Steel thickened and spread with brutal force, the chain swelling like a constricting serpent. The blade bit into the side of Eric’s neck—not deep enough to sever, but enough to tear flesh open.
Blood sprayed.
Eric choked as the chain snapped tight, cutting into muscle.
The younger brother yanked upward.
Eric’s feet left the ground.
“Eric!” Mary screamed.
The world flipped.
Eric’s body whipped through the air violently as the younger brother swung him like a weighted flail. His back smashed into a tree trunk with a sickening crack. Bark exploded outward in splinters. Before his body could fall, the chain jerked again—
Another tree.
Another impact.
Wood shattered. Branches rained down. Dirt burst skyward with every collision. Each strike forced a guttural grunt from Eric’s lungs as air was beaten from him.
The chain twisted once more and hurled him across the clearing.
He tore through undergrowth, smashing through shrubs and splintering smaller trunks before slamming into a massive oak. The impact carved a crater into the bark deep enough to bury half his torso.
The chain released.
Eric dropped to the ground like discarded scrap.
Silence hung heavy except for the soft creak of settling trees.
Blood trickled from the wound at his neck, soaking into his torn collar. His clothes hung in shreds. Burns covered his palms and wrists, skin cracked and blistered. A thin stream of blood ran from the corner of his mouth.
For a moment—
He didn’t move.
The younger brother exhaled lightly. “Durable.”
The elder brother stood unmoving before Kael, eyes calm and unreadable.
“You’re distracted,” the elder brother observed quietly. “That will cost you.”
Kael’s jaw tightened.
His first instinct was not vengeance.
It was protection.
The merchant trembled uncontrollably.
Mary’s shield was raised but shaking.
Musk stood tense, uncertain where to strike.
The spy looked ready to collapse entirely.
Kael exhaled slowly.
His shadow moved.
It slid across the ground like liquid darkness, stretching thin tendrils that crept over grass, stones, roots—reaching for the others’ shadows.
If he could connect them—
He could pull them inside his own.
The elder brother’s lips curved faintly.
“He’s trying to connect his shadow with theirs,” he said, voice low but clear. “Kill the spy. Now.”
The younger brother didn’t question.
The anchor dagger shot forward again—this time compact, fast, precise—aimed directly at the spy’s head.
The spy stumbled backward, terror washing over his face.
The dagger was a blur.
A millimeter from the spy’s skull—
A compressed fire bullet slammed into the blade.
CLANG!
The impact knocked the anchor just off course. It sliced past the spy’s ear instead, carving a deep trench into the earth behind him.
That single heartbeat—
Was enough.
Kael’s shadow latched onto Mary.
To Musk.
To the merchant.
To the guards.
To the trembling spy.
Darkness swallowed them.
They sank into Kael’s shadow and vanished.
The clearing felt emptier instantly.
The younger brother clicked his tongue.
“Annoying.”
The elder brother’s gaze shifted past Kael.
Dust drifted where trees had fallen.
A figure stirred.
Staggering.
Blood-covered.
Breathing unevenly.
But smiling.
Eric stepped forward from the haze of destruction.
His body trembled with damage, shoulders rising and falling with ragged breaths. One eye was slightly swollen. His hands were burned raw. Blood traced down his neck in thin lines.
Yet his grin widened.
“Seems like…” he wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his ruined hand, wincing slightly, “…you forgot about me, huh?”
