Second Chances: Part I

One day earlier.

Silver and Vanessa were slowly making their way out of her cavern dwelling, in the heart of the enchanted forest. Vanessa's repose took place in a hideout at the end of an underground stone maze, zigzagging in many directions to lead potential threats away from her. The hallways were dark and damp as Silver used the flame of his lighter to illuminate their path.

This surprised Vanessa.

“I’m befuddled at how you were able to navigate this maze and reach my location. It was built by the Architect himself” 

She pondered out loud in a smooth mellow tone.

“Befuddled? Listen… just talk normally would ya? And who’s this Architect you’re talking about ?” 

Silver responded, laser focused on the path in front of him. His confidence in navigating the labyrinth was as if he had traversed it hundreds of times before, impressing Vanessa with his level of skill. 

“The Architect was one of the five legendary mages of myth from this past millennium, renowned for his skills in crafting complex labyrinths to entrap his enemies. His modus operandi was to defeat them by attacking from all sides at random as he could teleport around the labyrinth in any way he wished. Another strategy of his was to simply leave his opponents in the maze for eternity, altering the shape of the structure every time they would get closer to the exit. Most of his opponents starved to death inside these mazes, unable to find their way out, and yet here you are navigating it like it's child's play.” 

Vanessa smirked for the first time 

“That’s because it is child's play, look over there, we made it to the exit already.”

Silver pointed up at the exit leading out into the forest. There was a steep ladder that led upwards, connecting this exit to the underground labyrinth. Silver stopped at the base of the ladder, ushering Vanessa to get on his back by pointing at it and turning away from her.

“What are you doing?? Stop that!” 

Vanessa refused, thrusting her arms to push Silver away. However, her attempts were futile as pushing the bulky wizard was like pushing against a stone wall. The force of her push sent her staggering backwards instead as she turned her face away, trying to hide the shades of red forming on her cheeks. The emotionless elf felt betrayed, shocked by her own heart which raced at the simple thought of a mere piggyback ride 

“You won't make it up this slope since you’ve been sedentary for 10 years. I'm surprised you could even walk this far with the amount of muscular atrophy on your legs.”

The wizard pointed out Vanessa’s slender legs that looked like two sticks of bread wobbling in the wind. Seeing the logic in his request, the pure maiden bashfully jumped onto the man’s back.

Silver’s back was a wide, muscular plane topped by broad shoulders.. Vanessa raised her palms to grab the wizard by his traps,  her hands hesitating before clutching him gingerly. Her hands merely rested on him as she was too bashful to take a firm hold, causing Silver to laugh

“You might wanna hold on tighter!” 

He exclaimed, preparing to ascend to the top in a single explosive movement. Vanessa panicked as Silver squatted, ready to jump. The poor elf desperately wrapped her arms around his massive torso, hanging on for dear life mere milliseconds before Silver shot up like a bolt of lightning.

Inertial forces caused Vanessa's head to be pulled back violently, causing her to experience mild whiplash as the two arrived at the top in an instant. Stars circling around her head as she struggled to regain her senses. What followed was a barrage of punches raining down upon Silver as he stood there, shamelessly.

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? HAVE YOU NO TACT YOU BARBARIAN?!” 

The poor lass shouted out enraged, her onslaught only increasing in intensity. Unsurprisingly, Silver stood there unfazed, absorbing all of her attacks. He tried comparing the impact force of her punches in his mind, smirking as he likened them to a barrage of flimsy sponges. 

Just then, his expressions switched, his instincts warning him of an imminent threat. 

“Shhh” 

The wizard put a finger up to her lips and concurrently to his own as his eyes began to dart off in all directions around him, attempting to track the enemy hidden amongst the foliage.

Vanessa realised this, following his lead and focusing her gaze on the forest as well. 

In the next instant and without warning, a kunai flew at the elf at supersonic speed, aimed directly at her head. It approached from Vanessa's blind spot, rendering her incapable of reacting.  

With less than a second to spare, Silver was able to read the disturbance in the air current around the duo, thrusting his left hand reflexively behind Vanessa's head to block the fatal blow.

“Silver!!!” 

Vanessa shouted out horrified, trying to swallow the bile in her throat. She grabbed Silver’s hand, rushing to engage in the application of healing magic to heal the ghastly wound. To her shock however, Silver pushed her away before she could touch the wound.

“Don’t touch it!  Join your back to mine and look out for more surprise attacks! Hurry!” 

He ordered sternly, causing a terrified Vanessa to comply. The Kunai was lodged deep into his hand, Blood gushing forth onto the ground. 

“This weapon was poisoned..”

 Silver lamented. 

Upon hearing this, a shadow began to emerge from the foliage, clapping its hands together in a slow and menacing tempo.

“Bravo!! you saved her twice in a row! You’re quite the marvelous fighter Silver! Your reputation precedes you. They weren't joking when they said you're a beast!” 

Silver and Vanessa turned their heads towards the origin of the voice, ready to engage.

The figure was now visible, ready to engage in battle rather than hide. Upon witnessing the enemy however, Silver began to laugh unexpectedly.

“What are you supposed to be a clown?!” 

The Wizard had a good reason to laugh as there was a unique theatrical flair to the assailants attire. From head to toe, it was a combination of lace, sequins, ornate beading and bright colors! It was an extremely elaborate ensemble to say the least. 

“I'm a juggler, you ignorant scum. Do you really want to spend the last 3 minutes of your life talking about this? The poison on my Kunai will kill you momentarily. Don’t you want to . take a swing at me before you go?”

The juggler laughed hysterically. Silver on the other hand stood there unfazed, confidently removing the Kunai from his hand before throwing it at the juggler's feet.

“You really didn’t do your research on me did you?” 

Silver’s eyes burned a hole through the juggler, his unshakable resolve causing doubt to creep up in the enemy's mind.

“You’re only acting tough!  The poison should be taking over your body soon and that’s when I will have all the glory! That elf behind you is the one the Queen commanded to assassinate, is she not? If you’re trying to get the treasure for yourself, then we have a problem. I don't know why you’re protecting her but once you’re knocked out, she’ll be mine!” 

The juggler cackled as Silver rushed him with a punch. The Juggler was light on his feet and jumped up and away into the branches of a tree.

“Oh-ohh, hold on there buddy, I'm not dumb enough to take you head on. Why do you think I laced that Kunai with poison? “

“This won’t kill me, so either you run away or come down here and face me like a man.”

Silver challenged the Juggler who wasn’t about to be disrespected

“You think you’re a hot shot who has won this battle don’t you? Well, look behind you if you’re so confident.” 

The juggler smirked, causing Silver to look back in shock. Vanessa was nowhere to be found.

Dammit there was more than one!!

Silver lamented in a fit of rage, stemming from the realization of his incompetence and lack of combat vision.

“We’re smarter than an ignoramus like you. Now, let’s see how long you can keep being cocky like that.” 

The jugglers face contorted into a devilish grin as he leapt away as Silver  gave chase.

The Juggler who was as swift as the wind, moving with an incredible speed. However, Silver was not to be left behind as he used his brute force to propel himself forward. With every stride, the wizard injected more and more force into the ground, thrusting himself into the air like a heat seeking missile.

The juggler looked back and panicked slightly as he almost got caught by Silver, his hand stretched out and almost around the neck of the assailant. However, the enemy had yet another trick up his sleeve.

“What the?!” 

As soon as Silver was about to grab a hold of the Juggler, it was as if 10 tonne weight was suddenly pinning him down by the hand

“There you go, nice and easy, just keep resting there.” 

The Juggler laughed as he saw Silver struggling on the ground to get up

“That’s the result of the magic that’s been enshrined in my weapons. Once the weapon comes into contact with any object, I can increase the gravitational pull on that object as much as I want! However, it requires a long incantation which is why I needed some time to say the words. Good thing you didn’t catch on while you were chasing me like the idiot that you are!! Adios loser.” 

The Juggler gleefully skipped away as Silver shouted out in agony on the ground, unable to follow him.