The Dream Shifter

Chapter 45

Saki rolled out of the way quickly seeing that her attacked failed and looked questioningly at the sword. The blade suddenly restored its lost shape growing out to return to its normal length. She turned her head over her shoulder catching Ayumi's gaze.

"Don't you know? The further away from the owner the weaker it becomes and the closer to me the stronger my own. That sword will never do you any good at this distance."

"We'll see."

Ayumi pushed closer breaking the vines away held frozen in ice. She cut away a strike of vines trying to make ground towards the man but was blocked again by plants growing up. Some flowers were suddenly growing with the vines making her cautious.

Buds popped up on the vines as well as an opening into small flowers of red and orange. It was only moments before needles launched from the opened buds that Ayumi reacted raising snow to take the hits.

Yuki watched from the back with his fingers biting into his palms frustrated with his inability to help. From his view, he could see Saki getting hurt because of him repeatedly getting cut and wounded for him. He knew that she was losing blood and had to be losing her strength, but there was nothing that he could do.

'Why can't I help her at a time like this? Aren't I supposed to gain strength from seeing her hurt? Aren't I supposed to find my power and save her? Why?'

He dropped to the ground-pounding his fists against the cement ignoring the pain.

'I want to help! Saki needs me! I need to do something!'

Yuki coughed feeling a pain stabbing at him from the wounded sounds of Saki echoing through him. She was visible to him even if he did not look at her. It was clear to him what was happening and every injury she took cut deeper in him.

'Saki! Please… Saki…'

Saki tried to evade the swing of the whip, but her legs were slowing down. She held up the sword hoping that it would take some of the impacts away from the whip before it sliced into her. The number of small cuts she had taken was adding up draining away her life through the blood that dripping and soaked into her clothes.

The sword held against the whip this time as it spun around the blade catching both of them a little off guard. However, while Saki was still trying to understand the man seemed to know almost immediately.

"Focusing on this sword now too, Ayumi? Divide your attention too much..."

Ayumi dropped to the ground throwing her fists into the snow producing a shockwave in the snow altering the entire nearby state into ice throwing around blades and daggers of ice shards ripping the plants that stood before her and continuing through to the man embedding into a secondary barrier of plants.

"You talk too much," Ayumi said standing up from her attack.

"Start fighting and stop with these games."

"Did I wound your pride?"

The barrier lowered spinning quickly around him suddenly changing its state sounding almost like a saw blade as the edges became narrow and razor in form.

"Very well. If you wish for me be serious it is your funeral."

The whip in his hand changed again on Saki growing barbs of metal from the twisted and tightly wrapped leather. It pulled at her sword until it disappeared for a split second causing the whip to fall away before it re-materialized.

Saki stepped away, but only one foot as she felt the air coming off of the spinning vines behind her that she was being trapped inside by the man.

'So many of these things are beyond me, but I've got to focus on what I know and can do. However, Ayumi keeps baiting him into being serious. I don't know how much more of this I can take.'

She clenched her hands around the hilt of the sword tightly using its stability for her own to give a foundation as she stared down the assassin. Blood continued to slowly pour down her arms wetting her hands and the green ground underneath.

Out of the spinning vines came hundreds of needles that Ayumi blocked with her ice wall. However, the attack was not over as dozen of vines launched at her shattering the wall she erected and knocking her back as more needles were released.

'The strikes are faster and sharper than before… My usual tricks aren't going to stop him anymore. Will I have to…'

Ayumi bit through the pain as needles dug into her skin and thick vines ripped through her clothes drawing blood.

Saki was suddenly feeling the sword melt in her warm hands as though the state of the water had just changed. However, she did not have a chance to question it as the barbed whip came at her shattering the blade into dust and hit her across her chest and back as it wrapped her around.

The metal barbs dug into her skin forcing her to grind her teeth together just to bear with the pain. Her pain did not cease as the man sadistically pulled the whip back tearing through her flesh and clothes ripping her skin open spraying blood over the ivy under her as she collapsed screaming.

"Saki!"

Yuki shouted snapping back his head hearing her screaming through the barrier. He did not know what happened to her, but seeing Ayumi laying on her back bleeding into the snow gave him enough of an idea.

"Saki!"

His fingers dug in his palms drawing blood as his eyes widened and pupil shrank in fear and anger.

'I've got to do something now! Saki's in pain! Saki!'

Yuki's eyes suddenly flashed for a moment before fading away as he pounded the ground again having not received the power that he needed to save them.

Ayumi was struck again with vines before she could pull up defenses piercing her as Saki screamed from repeated attacks.

'Damn… he's poisoned the tips of his plants too. I can't feel my body anymore.'

Her field was weakening; she could feel his field encroaching on her strengthening his attacks each time. Everything was dragging for her as she attempted to pull away from the next assault only to fail and receive even more vines piercing through her body. She bit through the pain as her lips tasted blood from internal injuries she was taking.

In the distance, it seemed like Saki had grown quiet no longer visible over the spinning vines that protected and launched attacks for the man. Another wave of vines came after Ayumi to finish her off. The plants flashed at her leaving Yuki screaming for her knowing that she could not take anymore. The strikes hit with snow being kicked up clouding everything around Ayumi.

Seconds ticked by as the snow cloud hung in the air around where Ayumi was collapsed. When the cloud finally cleared the vines were stuck in the ground, but Ayumi was standing on her feet having evaded the strike.

Yuki blinked in shock and relief to see that she was looking better suddenly. Ayumi was cutting away the plants with her sword starting to move towards the man with determination in her eye.

"Yuki…"

Saki said weakly as she was being ripped apart by the whip feeling her life draining away. All of her clothes were soaked and barely hanging together. The barbed whip lashed outgoing for her throat to end it. A dull pinging rang out as the whip came towards Saki revealing the sword in her hand had returned. Saki narrowed her eyes suddenly restoring her spirit.

The assassin stepped back having been unbalanced by the strange resurgence of the two girls. He scanned Ayumi and Saki trying to find his answer but was drawn away from either of them. His vision became centered on the boy on the ground away from them all.

"I see. I understand now."

The man looked back at the two seeing the wounds that they had sustained mending themselves and restore vitality to them.

"I thought he was just dead weight, but you kept him back there on purpose. He's healing your wounds for support."

Ayumi continued forward throwing her ice around to break through the vines that were being sent at her and cutting away what did not get stopped.

'I wish I could say that I planned it. Unfortunately, that is not the case. He's useless still. You give him too much credit.'

"Yuki…"

Saki looked over at him through all of the plants that were between them. She knew that the assassin was talking about Yuki and that her new strength had come from him.

'If only I was stronger I could keep my promise. Yuki…'

"Saki!" said middle school-aged Yuki as he greeted her in the street coming out of the school run. He had a cheerful and excited look on his face like one that had never know tragedy or loss.

Saki turned back not expecting to see Yuki and not having even heard a single word from him for more than a month since his mother had died. He had been like someone that was just simply existing and no longer attached to the world. However, that day something changed in him.

'Everyone had noticed that day how different he had become. No one knew what to make of it. He was going up to students trying to be friendly with them while they ran in fear expecting him to hurt them. Yuki was not the same person that they all knew and I didn't understand what that meant until then.'

The two walked back making it to the convenience store where they took a break to get snacks. Saki offered to go inside as she always did and Yuki stayed out looking like he was daydreaming. She picked out two wrapped snacks and handed them to lady at the front counter when she heard the glass rattle suddenly taking all of the customers by surprise.

"Yuki! He's fighting again!"

Saki ran out of the store as the store owner shouted to her about her money.

"Yuki!" she shouted reflectively expecting to see him dropping a student into the dirt.

"Stop…"

However, when she looked at the reality Yuki was a mess against the glass with a b****y lip and looking half out. There were four boys with wicked grins across their lips pounding their feet into Yuki.

Saki stood there for a moment unable to believe what she was seeing. It had not sunk into her yet.

'I didn't know how to react. Here he was getting the stuffing beat out of him and all I could do was just stand there in surprise. But I couldn't let them just pick on him like that. He had protected me so many times and I swore to myself I would be strong enough to protect myself. So I stepped in.'

Saki spun her leg around knocking out two of the boys immediately with neither of them expecting it. The other two boys backed away in shock not certain what had just happened.

"What do you think you're doing picking on him like that? If you're going to touch him you're going to have to go through me!"

"Since when does Hayashi have girls fight for him?"

"Since now!"

Saki said running her fist through the boy that spoke up knocking him flat sending the remaining boy running. She walked over to Yuki putting out a hand to help him up.

"Don't worry, Yuki. For now on I'll protect you. You won't have to fight anymore. I promise that I'll make sure you don't have to use your fists anymore. Okay?"

Saki focused her eyes on the assassin before her.

'I made that promise to him. I've got to keep it so he doesn't have to fight anymore.'

The assassin was having trouble keeping back Ayumi who was throwing everything at him and ripping into the spinning barrier. None of his attacks were getting through and every time that she barely got cut it healed almost immediately due to Yuki.

Saki used the distraction to charge at the man throwing her sword at him as vines reflexively stopped it from piercing. However, Saki was not ending the attack as she used the sword as a ledge to jump off for a backflip that connected her feet into the man's face knocking him off balance.

Many of the vines became alerted to the attack and drew in breaking the barrier as Ayumi shattered his remaining defenses.

Saki landed on the ground and shrank sliding to the ground as vines slashed at her. She extended her legs out spinning her body around to hit them into his legs knocking him even more off balance.

Once her legs cleared she pushed herself up on her hands bringing her legs up to wrap around his neck as vines scrambled in to keep up with her. She could feel them slowing her down and pulling at her, but she had just enough strength left.

"Ayumi!"

Saki shouted as she pulled on her legs to take the man off his feet and throw him at Ayumi with all her remaining strength. Saki collapsed to the ground burying in plants that tightly wrapped around her.

Ayumi was already prepared to throw up ice spikes from her field that dug into the assassin piercing him in several locations on his body quickly dripping blood from his mouth. The life in his eyes was starting to fade as the plants and field vanished into the air.

Yuki leaped up to his feet running into the both of them suddenly finding his strength.

"Saki!" he screamed as he ran to her body that lay unmoving on the ground in the snow of Ayumi.