Chapter 31: Cat Fight

Later that day, after setting up camp, they sat around the campfire not long after finishing their dinner. Axel, it seems, liked to cook for everyone, and Cilv took the pleasure of hunting any animals she could find in the area. Tonight, they ate pheasant after Cilv brought one back; they never questioned how she hunted as she never failed in bringing something back.

Yet, she never used a bow, and her only weapons were daggers, and there was no time to set up traps around the area. They needed food quickly on the road. If she did not hunt, then they would just eat the bread or vegetables they carried with them, but Cilv refused to eat vegetables alone. She was a hardcore carnivore.

The group relaxed in their seated positions around the fire. The warmth from the flames kept the chill away as the crackling wood continued to snap and pop. Crickets chirped among fields as an owl hooted on a tree nearby, occasionally waking up the surroundings of the quiet early evening.

Ronan was watching Ger and Evanna. She casually hit him lightly on the shoulder after something he said, causing them both to laugh. Suddenly, he felt a twig hit him faintly on the cheek; he looked to the side to see Cilv sprawled out on the ground near him. She stared at him expectantly, then raised her hand and threw another twig at him.

"Yes?"

"Stop pining over her" Ronan looked in Ger and Evanna’s direction after Cilv’s loud comment, but thankfully they did not hear.

"Why, are you jealous?" He smirked back.

Cilv laughed, "You wish. It just looks sad. And sad does not look good on THAT" She waved her hands up and down his body, he chuckled, enjoying the attention.

Axel cleared his throat loudly, causing the group to look in his direction.

"I know we did not have our regular breaks today, but I think I can speak for all of us when I say that I wanted us to be as far away from Kuramji and Dunhurst as possible. I did not expect word to travel so quickly about Evanna’s disappearance from the palace." He glanced at his surroundings as he spoke, paranoia kicking in as he looked at the rising moon and the shadows starting to ascend behind nearby trees.

Evanna nodded her head along with the others who sat around the fire, understanding his decision. Although they were tired, it was better they put more distance between them and Dunhurst. Besides, this just meant they were making quicker progress to Direwood forest and to the Flori, where the gemstone was.

"That is understandable Axel, we do not question your judgement", Evanna replied.

Cilv shifted in her seated position as she stared vacantly at Evanna. This was not the first of the night, and instead of being uncomfortable from her continuous stares, she was used to it. It was similar to how it was back at the palace. Although she knew this was not Cilv’s intent, there was something on her mind, and she took a guess that it may be about today; she did, after all, watch her fight.

It was the first time for all of the group, except Ger, to have seen her handle her swords. But, she could not tell why Cilv stared at her with a strategic look upon her face each time she looked at her. Ger narrowed his eyes at Cilv after he caught her staring at Evanna once again. He was not the only one to notice; he glanced at Axel, who seemed slightly uncomfortable with the tension that was rising in the air. From Cilv. Again.

"I can feel the heat of your anger over here. And it is not the fire. What have I done now, Ger?" Cilv snapped; her eyes were now on him. He glared back at her but said nothing.

"What was that?" She taunted, her hand at her ear as though she could not hear him. Ger fisted his hand by his side, but he did not fall for her bait and kept his mouth shut. Evanna glanced between the pair, worried that there would be another tumble between them.

Cilv smirked before speaking up again. This time though, her attention was to Evanna.

"I think there are more important matters to discuss," The group looked up after hearing the seriousness in Cilv’s voice replacing her usual malice. "Raven." She mocked at her name again. Evanna narrowed her eyes slightly but waited patiently for her to continue.

"We need to talk about what happened today."

Evanna looked at the guys across from her. Her face questioning them for an answer, but their own faces looked just as confused as hers and shrugged. Evanna turned her head back to Cilv, who was now crouched nearer to her but stopped when Ger tensed up.

"You hesitated", She said simply, her head tilted to the side.

"I was not about to murder someone if they surrendered Cilv!" Evanna nearly yelled back at her, she surprised herself with her little outburst, but Cilv looked only amused at her response.

"That was not the only time, Raven." Cilv mocked again. This caught Evanna’s attention.

What did she mean it was not the only time?

Cilv’s eyes gleamed with amusement at the confusion on the princess’s face. The men were now looking intently between the pair, for they were not the ones to keep a check on Evanna’s fighting skills. They were just happy that she could defend herself.

"Then when.." Evanna asked, uncertainty showing in her wavering voice. It was the first time the men saw her unsure of herself. Yes, she had been through what she had been through, but she still held her head high and spoke unwaveringly about what happened to her.

"The whole time."

Evanna’s eyes widened. She killed those men; she was surrounded by bodies the last she checked, her gloved hands and face were covered in the bandit’s blood. But Cilv speaks of her being hesitant? She scoffed before standing up. Nesrin flew off her shoulder and sat on Ronan’s knee as the princess started to turn away from Cilv and the men. She decided that going to the tent to rest would be best.

"I am not done speaking," Cilv’s voice was now deadly as she eyed the princess.

Evanna stopped a few meters away from the campfire. She turned on the spot, looking directly at Cilv, who now stood across from her.

"I am. I do not know what you speak of, Cilv. There is plenty of blood now spilt on my hands from today" Evanna’s voice came out stronger than what she felt. The blood on her hands was not something she wanted to brag about.

Axel stood and made his way to Ger’s side, watching the girls as their talk became heated. Sitting down, he noticed that all eyes were on them, as though they were watching a play. All three of them were unsure of what Cilv spoke of; they saw the countless bodies at Evanna’s feet. If it weren’t her, then who else would have fought them until their deaths.

Cilv took a step forwards. Ger tensed at her slow, intentional movement towards Evanna and watched as a slow smirk rose on her face.

"I think you do, and we need to do something about it, Raven. You could have put the group in danger because of your naivety." Cilv’s voice purred quietly.

"What do you suggest we do then?" Evanna challenged, tilting her head to the side. This caused Cilv to break out into a full-fledged smile; it was chilling.

"I’m going to put you to the test", Cilv responded; Evanna frowned in confusion. What did she mean-

Cilv lunged towards Evanna, taking her by surprise. Her reaction was too slow to sidestep out of the way; instead, they both fell onto the slightly damp earth. Evanna kicked her over her head and rolled to the side before standing. Cilv was smiling as she prepared her daggers in her hands, spinning them as she eyed Evanna up and down.

"You are mad!" Ger shouted, but neither woman paid attention to anything other than their opponent in front of them.

Evanna kept her eyes on Cilv as she pulled her cloak off and threw it to the side, where Ronan caught it. She started to remove her swords from behind her back but only to put them on the ground by her side before grabbing the two daggers from her boots. Cilv’s eyes gleamed at the princess’s action.

"I would stick to using the swords", She spoke to Evanna as she took a step to the side, watching the princess’s every move.

"I thought I would level the playing field. Make it a fair fight," Evanna replied; although she said it was so their fight would be fair, she knew how nimble daggers were to swords. From what Evanna had seen of Cilv fight, she was just as agile as her, if not quicker, and the swords would only slow her down.

Cilv tsked at her response, "Who says I play fair?"

She quickly lunged towards Evanna, daggers stretched out in front of her. Evanna deflected both blades before side-stepping out of the way. Cilv turned immediately, defending herself from the princess’s attack, their weapons clanged, held together by either woman pushing against the other, but Cilv was only playing with her. After a little more struggle on Evanna’s part, Cilv decided to push both blades back, causing Evanna to take a few steps back from the power behind her push. Her eyes widened at the unnatural strength Cilv had.

Without another thought, they leapt towards each other, blades out ready, steel clashing against steel. They dodged, sidestepped, rolled and attacked at incredible speeds. Cilv made a close swipe at Evanna’s face, but she twisted out of reach, avoiding it. As her back was turned, Cilv attacked; she wrapped both arms around the princess’s unprotected back, one blade near her neck and the other by her stomach.

Cilv smirked, but that one second of victory just shattered; the princess lifted her leg and kicked her boot into Cilv’s face, causing her to release her hold and take a few steps back as she clutched her head.

All three men’s eyes gaped at the princess’s flexibility. She kicked Cilv by doing some form of the splits! Ronan hissed his teeth at the thought of him trying to do that. All the while, Nesrin sat with her hands over her face, not wanting to watch but at the same time, not able to look away as she peeked through her fingers.

Although they all thought Cilv was insane, and they did not understand why she felt the need to fight Evanna, they were also enjoying the spectacle in front of them. All three of them had seen each other fight before, from the two years they spent together slaying monsters and anybody that caused them trouble. But before their eyes, they watched a very nimble fight between two women. Of course, they would interfere if Cilv ever became out of control, but for now, they would watch the show, or forcibly watch in Ger’s case, as he was being held back by Axel.

Evanna turned back around and swung her dagger in front of her, making Cilv leap backwards and out of reach. As Evanna advanced again, dirt was thrown into her face,

"Ah!"

Evanna wiped one hand across her eyes as the other swiped her dagger in front of her in case Cilv would attack her. With her eyes still watering and her vision blurred, she gritted her teeth before she felt a boot kick into her stomach. But before Cilv could have the upper hand, Evanna neatly dodged out of the way of an oncoming blade and done a backflip, creating space between them. After blinking profusely, her sight was back to normal.

Evanna advanced again. They blocked and attacked each other well, then suddenly, they turned simultaneously. While Cilv made another swipe forward, Evanna kicked her from behind her calves. Striking her leg from underneath her feet and causing her to collapse onto her back.

At the same time, she released her daggers that flew across the ground behind her. Before she could jump back up, Evanna was on top of her, a blade pointed at Cilv’s throat. Their chests were heaving as neither looked away from the other, sussing the other out.

Evanna then lifted herself off from Cilv. She put her daggers back in her boots as she continued to watch Cilv on the floor. As she turned her back, she felt herself fall back hard onto the ground. Cilv had swiftly swung her own feet underneath Evanna and jumped on top of her.

Before she could react, she saw Cilv’s nails extending sharply towards her neck into long claws. Her eyes widened, and she looked up to Cilv’s face; the eyes staring back at her were gold in colour, and the pupils were slitted.

Cilv’s eyes were those of a cat!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read