POV Fleur Delacour
The enemies moved silently. There was a glow around the enemy's weapons: the paired blades showed a soft blue glow, so faint that it would have been impossible to see in daylight, but around the big man's mace it was as if a cloud had been woven, a menacing, pulsating, bloody light. It was clear that the ambush had been arranged by very serious mages, because Fleur had only heard about such weapons, even her teacher with Gabby — Madame Louise — had only told her about the existence of such weapons, talked about their properties, but she could not afford such a thing.
So she understood the price of such a luxury. The weapon was definitely in the hands of these fighters not for the sake of a case, and once it was demonstrated, they would not leave alive, because it is a trail, a hot, fragrant trail, on which any "bloodhound" will easily stand. Fleur didn't believe that those who should know about this kind of weapon didn't know about it. High education takes points off any political question, and politics, as you know, is anything that affects the interests of two or more people.
And her father was not the last man in France, and he would not allow anyone, not even His Majesty, to stop the attack on his eldest daughter, so Fleur clearly understood the price of what was happening, as well as the direct threat to his life.
The first blow was struck by the wizard, who stayed where he was — he created a cloud of strange blue smoke that began to envelop Sora, obscuring her view; presumably the enemy had the means to see through this obstacle. Then, raising his shield and swinging his mace, the bulky man attacked. The mace rang out, tearing through the air and magic smoke, but the weapon found no target, and in the next instant, the shield struck a bright orb, knocking the shield-bearer back a few steps.
At the moment of impact, Fleur felt as if something inside her had been turned upside down and shook, a very unpleasant, though not painful, sensation. Without delay, the second fighter entered the fray, stepping stealthily toward the boy from behind, ducking, moving a little to the side, the swordsman attempting to strike somewhere in the side — or so it seemed to the girl. The blade hit another ball of light. Another flash, only this time it was a crackle: the sphere not only stopped the blade on impact, but also burst into a tangle of blue and purple lightning that struck the attacking mage.
A new flash, much brighter, that made him squeeze his eyes shut. While her eyes were closed, Fleur heard the clanking of metal, a few thumps, a hiss, and another crackle. When she regained her sight, she saw the swordsman completely stripped of his robes — the remnants were smoking away, but now the mage was gleaming in full silver armor that covered him from head to toe.
The plate armor, apparently from the "Milanese" school of blacksmithing, seemed deceptively sluggish due to the abundance of shiny silver-plated metal, but the moderately burning runes and magical symbols on it clearly denied any possible disadvantages in construction or weight. The second mage had also lost his robe, but his armor was noticeably heavier, more massive, with spikes on his elbows, knees, gloves, boots, and shoulder pads, and his helmet had a metal ridge, unlike his comrade's smooth one.
The armor was simply large and brutal, very different from the refined and delicate silver armor, covered with finely engraved patterns, which even had separate fingers on the gloves instead of massive gauntlets.
All around, as if the newly created volcano had not been enough, new potholes in the ground were revealed, chunks of ice, some of the bushes smoldering weakly, smoking heavily with greasy smoke. In the midst of all this destruction and heavily armed enemies, Sora looked somehow... not serious. Yes, that's right, like a child with a toy wand next to a master of magic.
The battle continued. While the swordsman took a waiting position, the heavier knight needed time to get closer to the lighter and shorter target, and he had to be kept in one place. The mage with the wand took care of this problem by throwing various spells and charms at Sora: he sent lightning, or some colorful ray, or with Transfiguration he created small animals and distracted the guy's attention until they came close to him, or he cast a swarm of insects.
In principle, Sora could handle all this magic without too much trouble, mostly either burning or smashing with lightning (by the way, somehow no one had ever noticed the guy's talent for controlling electricity before, was he hiding it? Even from her?), but when he did, he would stay on a small patch of ground and let the bully get close to him.
Fleur was afraid of two things at once: she wanted to intervene, to help, and she was afraid to see the guy die. But neither dared to do so for fear of spoiling some cunning plan of Sora's. In the end, the heavy knight approached the guy, and the girl did not dare to do anything.
Once again, a heavy and dangerous sound was heard, the scarlet arc of the mace drew a neat line over the head of the crouching Sora. The knight immediately lowered his shield and covered his legs, which, as it turned out later, were of no concern to the boy: several thick snakes lay on the ground, waiting to pounce on him.
A flash of blue light, a wicked crack of lightning — the boy's wand transformed into a translucent, brightly shining sword that destroyed the transfigured creatures in one fell swoop. He did a nimble one-legged twist, flipped the sword, and jumped a good ten feet to the side, somersaulting and regaining his footing, immediately deflecting the mage's spell and sending two weak spears of fire back at him.
The spells only partially succeeded in making the mage dodge. The swordsman stepped in, whirling around the single target. His blades sliced through the empty air with a catching hiss, he was very fast and agile, he managed to dodge the blades of the shining orbs and he managed to catch Sora's clothes twice, leaving cuts that could not even damage the leather jacket underneath the already tattered cloak. Meanwhile, the heavy knight was approaching again, already swinging his mace, when Sora managed to deftly dodge the swordsman, releasing a wave of compressed air into him, distancing herself, and imprinting another lightning ball into her shield.
This time, however, the shield-bearer was ready — he had his feet firmly planted on the shield, and the runes on his shield flashed with a fierce purple glow. A new strike of the mace missed its target, wasting another portion of the knight's strength, and the swordsman approached the boy from the side, also bringing his weapon for another strike. The bright flash made the girl hiss angrily, "How many times can you do that?