The first drow lunged at me and a second one knocked me to the ground. The air left my lungs and whoosh.
Murphy, my dragon, launched himself at the second drow and clawed at him.
Fighting dark elves with no souls. Just an average day for the elf slayer. I leapt up and spun into a kick that knocked the first drow away from me. Grabbing my sword, I sliced the head off the drow and knocked the second one away.
“Are you gonna help?” I called out to Ash.
As my magus, it was his job to help me fight whatever monsters came out of the Nether Realm. Instead, my so-called helper laid back on a deck chair with his hands behind his head. His short dark hair framed his handsome chiselled face and his blue eyes remained fixed on me.
How did he just sit there? Couldn’t he see I needed help?
“Nope. I’m only here to observe. You’re the one who’s supposed kill things.” Ash flashed me a grin.
“You could fight them instead of just sitting there.” I whacked the second drow with my blade.
“That was a sloppy blow,” Ash remarked. “You’re supposed to kill them, not maim them.”
“Yeah, yeah. You could get off your Elven arse and help!” The second drow thrashed at me with his claws. It missed me by inches. I spun around and plunged the sword through his chest. Using a sword wasn’t as easy as you’d think given the size of the blade.
Raising my hand, I threw a burst of purple light. The second drow slumped to the ground and the third appeared and staggered after I hit him with my magic. Damn, why couldn’t my magic just blow him up? It would make things so much easier.
The third one regained his composure and lunged for me. I blocked his blow and sliced his head off. The head and the body fell to the ground with a loud thunk. Black blood covered me and the ground.
“Ugh, I’ll need a good dry cleaner to get this stuff off me.” I groaned. “Now almighty magus, can you help? Sending things back to the Nether is part of your job description.”
Ash got up. “We can’t afford to be sloppy.” He wore his usual leather jacket, dark shirt, and jeans.
“Hey, I am better than I was a few months ago.” My jeans and hoodie were covered in blood. No doubt blood would be congealed in my long, dark purple hair as well. “Told you I’d be damn good after some practice.”
Ash frowned at me. “What is with your obsession with hunting every night? You’re getting kinda bloodthirsty.”
I laughed and leaned on my sword. “Ash, I’ve been out of the game for seven years. That’s seven years without a slayer. Which means I have a lot of catching up to do!”
“Cassie, you were twelve when your mum died. You wouldn’t have become a slayer until you were at least fifteen.”
“I’m not bloodthirsty. A few less drow around keeps everyone safe.” I bent and wiped my sword on the grass. That would probably need cleaning too.
“Sure you’re not just angry about what happened to your sister?”
I winced. Why did he have to bring that up? I didn’t want to talk about my sister’s death, let alone think about it. Maybe slaying had been a good distraction, but nothing would bring Liv back. He knew I hated talking about what happened to my sister last term. Liv had got herself mixed up with a necromancer and some pretty dark magic. That had cost her life and affected a lot of other people, including me. Now everyone viewed her as a murderer. After everything I’d uncovered, I couldn’t really deny the accusation anymore. That hurt almost as much as losing my sister.
“The drow didn’t kill my sister. Any luck tracking down information on the Queen of the Nether?”
I knew my sister had been searching for our birth mum’s killer. That was why she been involved with a necromancer. She’d found the witch and learnt the Queen of the Nether had ordered our mum’s death. Liv stopped the witch, but had been killed herself trying to get into the nether realm.
“It’s okay to talk about it.” Ash put a hand out to touch my shoulder.
I brushed him off. “Don’t. I’m covered in drow blood. Besides, I’m fine.” The last thing I wanted to do was talk.
“Are you?” Ash arched an eyebrow. “I’m here if you need me. Bottling up your emotions isn’t good for anyone.”
“No, I’m covered in blood. Of course I’m not fine. Let’s get out of here so I can get a damn good shower.” I ran a hand through my long messy hair. “I’m not bottling anything up. Nor do I need to talk about it.”
I had spent the last couple of months of the summer holidays working with Ash pretty much every day. We stayed in Colchester for a while, but I was needed more in Elfhame. It was closer to the nether realm than the human one. Ash had rented a place for us to stay in, so we got used to living together. That had taken some getting used to. Even though we were good friends he kept going on about Liv’s death. That grew tiresome.
“Looking forward to going back the academy?” Ash asked as we wandered away from the field.
“I guess.”
