Live and Let Lie by F. A. Bentley

Author:F. A. Bentley [Bentley, F. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-05-01T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 35

For once I was thankful my Infernal Adversary had manifested. Partly because I was near my wit’s end with desperation and partly because by slowing down to notice her, I also noticed that I had reached the end of the road, so to speak.

Lis was sitting on a fallen tree, precariously balanced on the edge of a dead fall into the forest far below. She playfully kicked her booted feet over the cliff top, taking in the view as the wind blew her black hair.

“I don’t suppose I can convince you to help me,” I said, cautiously glancing over my shoulder into the rumbling woods.

“What makes you think I’m not another delusion brought on by industrial grade paranoia?” she asked.

“Because I refuse to believe my mind can produce a sufficiently sadistic replica of you.”

Lis grinned wickedly. “You always know just how to tug at my heart strings.”

“Look. None of that matters anymore. It’s over. I’m dead,” I blurted out. “I can’t think of anything. Rather, I can’t think of anything except the various and creative means by which I could be killed at any moment. I’ve got nothing.”

Molten yellow eyes peered back at me, “What are you talking about? This is probably the best place to take that big stump of a Fairy on given the circumstances.”

“What?”

“Well, I mean, it’s a Leshy right? A forest spirit of the highest order. Has all the advantages in the world inside his woods, but here on this cliff’s edge? What’s a king outside his kingdom?”

My eyes widened in recognition. I licked my parched lips and brandished my wand. The crack of dry twigs caught my attention, I took a few tentative steps onto the fallen tree and kept myself low and balanced.

“Stay behind me Lis,”

“My hero,” she replied.

When I turned around, the Leshy was already at the forest’s edge. He scowled at me, his root feet firmly planted on the cliff. Terrifying how stealthy a bruiser that big could be.

“Come fight like a man,” the Leshy demanded. He was smaller than I remembered.

“I was just about to say the same to you,” I spat back. “Tree tricks and roots? Can’t swing worth a damn so you rely on foliage to tie me down. Very sporting.”

“I’m not used to swatting flies. Seems I won’t need to though,” he replied, and with a grunt took his first swing at the fallen tree.

My feet wobbled. The tree trunk shuddered. It was a long way down.

I don’t think the trunk could take another hit. I had to act fast. Seeing the next swing coming I stepped into the blow and swung my sword upwards. The ax head flew through the air, cut off from the grip. As the Fairy processed what just happened, I flung myself between its legs, and grasped the severed ax head. The Leshy roared and swung a backhand to send me plummeting off the edge. Ducking beneath the blow at the last second, I raised the ax high and brought it down.

There was a small thunk sound.

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