On a dark, windy night, clouds suddenly filled the sky, blotting out what little light there was in the canyon. An ordinary warrior would surely have panicked. Facing an invisible opponent in such poor visibility meant having every disadvantage stacked against them.
But Blaidd was not worried in the slightest.
Finding his way? He was no good at that.
Fighting? The Black Knives were no good at that.
His nose caught the scent, and his ears pricked up, picking out the disturbance in the air. Invisibility and silenced footsteps certainly gave an assassin an advantage, but against Blaidd, they were in for a rude awakening.
She moved. The Black Knife Assassin's slender, elongated figure drifted gracefully, like a feather dancing through the air, seemingly weightless as she lightly leaped toward Blaidd. Charging up the knife in her hand for a downward slash, she aimed at the back of Blaidd's neck, clearly intending to sever his wolf head.
But Blaidd moved too, flipping into a leap on the spot. His Royal Greatsword traced a circle in midair, neatly parrying the Black Knife Assassin's jet-black dagger.
When her first strike failed, the Black Knife Assassin drifted backward, seeking to put distance between herself and Blaidd before waiting for another opening.
Blaidd steadied himself and looked toward where the Black Knife Assassin had retreated.
The Black Knife Assassin's heart jolted. He saw me? By the time she landed, she had dismissed the thought. No creature in the Lands Between could see through the Black Knives' invisibility with the naked eye, not even a Demigod, much less a Shadow Beast.
Yet Blaidd charged straight at her. The Royal Greatsword in his hand was longer than a human was tall, and it whistled as he swung it, cold swirling around its blade.
"Die!" Blaidd leaped