Welcome back, good Reader, it's good to see you again. I wonder what it would feel like if my life was in danger? Would I panic and beg for mercy? Wait for my imminent death? Could my killer have it in their heart to show compassion? What would you do? Deep questions, aren't they? One could say many things, that they would win, fight, kill, but it's different when it happens for real. Let us see what Ava will do in such a predicament.

Ava is standing at the edge of the roof, and looking down after pushing Dorothy off the building. Behind Ava is Borin, the assassin that was trying to kill the princess, and won't be able to do so because someone beat him to it. Now, he can relax because he doesn't have to keep chasing a couple of kids all over the city.

“All right, she's dead, you can just leave now. As you promised,” says Ava while turning to look at Borin in the eye.

“Of course, I did say that I don't like killing if it doesn't pay,” responds Borin, which makes her relax. “However, I have to make sure that she's dead.” He takes a step forward, and stops.

“There's no need, we're on the second floor, she doesn't seem to be strong enough to endure a fall like that, and I can see that her neck is broken.”

“You would be surprised how much the body can endure, and even then, I've learned to double check.”

“What? Don't you trust my word?”

“The better question is, how long are you going to keep this up?” They both go silent for a few seconds, and Ava pulls out her sword from the scabbard on her hip.

“Was it too obvious?”

“The very moment you didn't want me to look. Let me guess, she fell on something soft enough for her to land safely.”

“Or, maybe a group of guards were waiting at the bottom and are taking her away to safety.”

“Well, there's only one way to find out.” Borin starts walking forward, believing that he can intimidate her into moving to the side, which doesn't happen. Instead, Ava attacks with a sword thrust, which shoots a mana beam aimed at his face. Borin uses his mana to speed up, moves his head to the side, and dodges the attack.

“That was a warning.” She's enveloped in a barrier made of mana, and takes a fighting stance. Sword pointing forward, and the shield close to her body.

“A very weak one.” Borin continues walking forward, but Ava stays in place. Borin tries to step to the side, but she keeps up and blocks his path. He tries again, and fails to get past her, which annoys the assassin.

“I can do this all day if I have to.”

“So it would seem, which leaves me with only one course of action.”

“Leaving?”

“What made you think that?”

“Optimism?”

“Then let me ask you this, how optimistic do you feel about your chances of stopping me?”

“Considering how much you sucked at killing us during the chase, I have to say very high.”

“Funny, I'll remember that one long after I'm done with you.” He shows no emotion in his face, but his actions reveal that he's livid. Borin starts attacking with a bit more fervor than before, trying to overwhelm Ava with brute strength. She doesn't budge, and is able to maintain ground under such barrage. The assassin tries to bring down a heavy swing down on her, but she sees that as an opportunity. Quickly lowering the potency of her barrier around the her body, and redirecting it to increase speed. With it, Ava charges forward, and strikes Borin in the body with her shield, which forces him back.

“I have to admit it, I underestimated you,” says Borin.

“You did, I've fought many like you, even bigger than you,” says Ava, but what the assassin doesn't know, is that it was a half truth. While she may have been attacked by several people, from the youngest to the oldest, none of them actually fought her, except for Thane. She preferred to run away than to stand and fight them.

“I see, if that's the case,” Borin takes a stance with a middle guard, sword pointing forward, “then I won't hold back.” Ava starts to realize that the situation has gotten more dangerous than expected. Borin takes a quick step forward an tries a quick trust aimed towards her face, but is blocked with her shield. The assassin continues to attack, while maintaining distance, and tries to move her shield away. At one point, Borin attempts to land a cut on Ava's arm, but she extends her left arm and protects her right arm with the shield. Seeing that standing still won't be enough, she starts to walk forward. Its slow and steady because she knows that rushing could create unnecessary openings. It is effective, Borin tries to stop her, but a tight defense and tremendous courage prevents any attempt to stop her. Since thrusts and swings won't stop a moving wall, he goes with another tactic. Keeping the sword on the rim of the shield, Borin tries to slide around the shield and land cuts on Ava, even if they're small ones. This gives the results that he was hoping for, it forces the shield to focus on preventing the sword from going around it.

“So you weren't lying after all,” says Borin.

“Kind of surprising that you find this as the perfect opportunity to start talking,” says Ava.

“Small talk never killed anyone.” When she moves her shield to the left of her body, Borin takes the opportunity to land a kick right on her chest. Ava is pushed back, still standing, no pain is felt, but the barrier loses mana as it withstands such a blow. “Also, I feel the need to inform you that, at this rate, you won't be able to kill me.”

“I won't kill you, I'll just hurt you enough to knock you out.”

“What a surprise, that would make it easier to kill you.”

“Wait a minute, you said that you didn't kill anyone if it didn't pay.”

“I did, but at this point, I see you more as an obstacle than a simple child, and as all obstacles, they must be removed.”

“There's no more point in fighting me, since the princess probably left already, and guards are very likely coming our way.”

“A fair point, but thanks to you, I have no place to go.”

“Well, maybe in another city?”

“No, I meant I have nowhere I can go, since you made me fail the assassination, they will either kill me, or expect me to kill myself.”

“So, you want to take me down with you?”

“Consider it my revenge for sentencing me to death, which leaves you with two options. You either kill me, or I kill you right here, right now.”

The weight of the situation becomes heavy Ava. There's no place to run and no other way to get out of this battle, making this a fight or die situation. A cornered human will do and go to the extremes necessary to survive. The horrifying part, is that she's the one stuck in such a nightmarish moment. Even then, she refuses to go that far.

“I still refuse to kill anyone,” says Ava.

“Then we'll do this the hard way,” answers Borin

We'll stop it here for the day, but if you thought that the action will end here, then you are mistaken. Ava will face something that a child should never have to face, and the outcome should be obvious, but the consequences aren't. I hope that brings you back to hear the rest of the story.

Until next time, good Reader.