Excerpt: Black and Red

“The mage there, what have you done?” she whispered low and fierce.

“I didn’t do anything.” The mage yelped as Kasei twisted the dagger. The door behind Kasei burst open with a loud bang, and Kasei twisted her head to see Jiao hua stride through the door, face dark with anger. He stalked right up to Kasei and yanked her away from the mage, throwing her almost across the room. Kasei hit the ground rolling, and was up in a flash to attack again. Jiao hua advanced on her, hands up for defense as Kasei whirled into another attack. Jiao hua blocked and kicked, and Kasei dropped out of the way. She spun and grabbed his wrist, pushing it back at a painful angle. He grimaced and dropped to his knees, and then pulled Kasei over his shoulder with little effort. She rolled out of the throw, and was up on her feet when the mage made his presence known.

“Stop!” he bellowed. Kasei froze, and Jiao hua cast a doubtful look at the mage. Highlighter Hair gritted his teeth and yanked the dagger from his shoulder with a harsh cry. He threw the dagger to the floor and stepped away from the blood soaked door. “She’s not dead, you stupid Hero,” the mage snapped. He yanked up his robe, trying to maintain his decency in the presence of the two Heroes. He walked to the table, greatly favouring his injured shoulder, and swept his hand over Nadia’s face. She gasped, the sound loud in the silence of the room. She coughed, choking on air flowing back into her lungs.

“I had to make her appear dead so they wouldn’t actually kill her,” the mage said sharply. Jiao hua moved to his side and placed a careful hand on the mage’s waist for support. “Your mage is with child. They would have killed them both had I not put her under,” the castle mage finished quietly.