The being straightened, revealing a tall human woman with long red hair. Her eyes alighted over the fighters. They paused on him and there was recognition, but then they moved to look past him and she smiled, wicked delight in what she took in. “What the four hells? You got beat? You’re not seriously expecting to be my sidekick after that, are you?”
And Rorth flipped her the bird, though his tone and eyes said he’d expected this reaction. “He’s the Cage King. Give me a break. If it was weapons it would have been different.”
“No excuses. Expect some serious sparring time, Mr. Not-the-King,” and after speaking she threw the axe underhanded to Rorth.
Esh looked back as Rorth took control of the weapon, spinning the weapon in his hand with practiced ease. The axe looked more an extension of him instead of a mere weapon. The giant half orc looked straight at him as he swung the axe a few times.
The woman turned and continued her perusal, the twist of her lips expressing her opinion about their worthiness as opponents. She then turned her face to the stands where Beylor sat. Beylor must have known who she was because he shrunk back in his seat, disbelief and terror on his face for all to see.
Instead of talking to Beylor, she turned back to the fighters surrounding them. Her voice carried, as cold and strong and immovable as her stance. “I’ve got places to be and things to do, so I’m giving all you underlings a choice today. Stay and fight, you’ll die. Run away and I won’t chase you, so you’ll live until you make your next stupid decision. Any takers on running away?”
There was hesitation, shuffling in place, but Beylor had convinced himself distance meant safety because he rose, shouting, “Kill her! Kill them all!”
The slight hesitation the men experienced was lost at Beylor’s words, and they rushed forward. The woman brought her sword up to the ready. “No one ever takes advantage when I offer.”
Rorth moved beside Esh, drawing his attention away from the woman with the sword. “Go get your woman.”
And now the reason for the man being here was so obvious. “You’re Guild.”
Rorth clapped him on the back. “Talk later, go now. We’re fine here,” he said before he ran toward the guards in the other direction, axe brought high and already falling to strike its first blow.
Esh wasn’t going to argue, but then came the screams. Esh looked back to the red-haired woman, and took in the pile of bodies already at her feet and the blood covering her sword.
No, he wasn’t going to argue, but with or without him, they had nothing to fear from Beylor’s men.
Fallon.
Nalah shuddered at the magical signature, slamming against her shields full force. She’d never known Fallon like this, in the midst of war. Power radiated from her in waves, pulsing energy that threatened to topple all in the way, and with her training Nalah could only hold it off well enough to still function. Maybe it was the way Nalah saw the magic, but Fallon’s movements were in slow motion, where light glinted off the blade as it fell against the throat of an enemy, or the swing of her hair suspended mid-air before falling in a stop-motion wave.
“Kill her!” Beylor called again, true fear in his voice. Not that his men weren’t trying, but the swordswoman was cutting a bloody path through the surrounding warriors.
Lian’s attention was on the chaos in the ring. Nalah took her eyes off the fighting down below and returned her concentration to the cuff on her wrist. The magic was fighting her, though whether it was because it was placed by an innate or because of the blackout zone, she didn’t know.
There! The click, the wash of acceptance, the signal she’d broken the magic enough that it would abide her wishes.
Lian turned away from the ring and grabbed her upper arm, but before he could do anything else, another figure fell from the sky. This one landed on the upper stands. It was a female with long black hair streaming behind her, a bow in her hands.
One of the guards attacked the female, but her foot connecting with the side of his head knocked him out, and without pause she twisted and grabbed at her back, bringing the bow up and loading it with the arrow she retrieved. Aiming at the ring, she shot arrows in a quick succession Nalah could not follow, taking out guards in the lower stands.
The black-haired woman scanned the crowd, pausing when her eyes found Nalah. She jumped down to Nalah’s level, landing on a bar that couldn’t be more than three inches wide, and the agility combined with the inhuman speed had to mean this woman was an elf.
Please be Guild. While Lian was distracted watching the archer, Nalah clasped the gold cuff around the wrist of the hand that was holding her.