Lika’so went berserk, screaming, and in a single swing of her blade cut through the two imps that were attacking her. Alex was going to die if she didn’t end this battle quickly. She turned her head towards Nijo’tika’s direction.

She was walking backward, dodging two imps that were jumping and swiping at her belly, and attempting to fend them off by kicking. They were too close for her to shoot with her crossbow. Suddenly, another imp teleported above her head, emerging from a small cloud of smoke and light.

Lika’so dashed in her friend’s direction while simultaneously throwing her sword, predicting where the teleported imp would fall. The sword spun sideways in the air and cut straight through the imp, exactly where Lika’so had calculated it would be.

Reaching her friend, Lika’so grabbed one of the imps by the neck and held it away from Nijo’tika. It wriggled in her hand, attempting to escape her grasp.

“Shoot it!” she yelled to her friend. She trusted Nijo’tika’s skill with projectile weapons. She had, after all, been a royal spy.

Nijo’tika aimed at the imp and fired. The bolt pierced its chest, killing it instantly. The next step she took, she tripped on Lika’so’s sword. As she fell, she kicked the imp that was pursuing her. The imp was a small enough animal that even Nijo’tika’s clumsy, moderately strong kick sent it flying into the air.

Nijo’tika aimed at the imp and shot a bolt at it before it could teleport away. The bolt hit its foot, making it flip in the air and lose its spatial awareness, disorienting it.

Imps required spatial awareness in order to teleport. Disrupting that would impede their ability to travel without physically crossing any distance. Their brains had a unique lobe that gave them three-hundred-sixty-degree spatial awareness. It was sensitive to quick movement, which included rotation.

The imp landed in the grass. Nijo’tika shot it again, this time hitting its head and ending its life.

The battle was over. Lika’so and Nijo’tika looked at each other, then at Alex’s motionless body, and then each other again.

“Do it,” Lika’so said before collapsing onto the grass. She winced in pain. She had several minor scratches, which would heal in a week, but the main source of her pain were the holes in her shoulder where an imp had clung to her with its claws. She was losing a lot of blood, but Alex was losing more.

Nijo’tika got up, rushed over to Alex and immediately began healing his wounds with biocasting.

“Do not stop healing him, even if I pass out!” Lika’so instructed her friend.

“Okay,” Nijo’tika responded.

Lika’so was breathing heavily, pain and concern for Alex consumed her. She knew he was in good hands, but she still worried. He had saved both her life and Nijo’tika’s, even if against her orders. No child would do that. Alex had an instinctive warrior spirit from what she had observed during the battle.

He needed to be trained. Alex’s fighting spirit needed to be honed, and Lika’so would help do it. Eventually.