by Jamie Davis
First things first, though, Cari thought. She had to teach another rude man a lesson. She'd make sure to eat something after her bout with the Duke's guard.
As she rounded the corner to the rear of the grand bazaar, Cari heard the sound of shouting and the clash of steel on steel. She smiled. They must be sparring without her.
Her smile faded away when she saw the first bloodied body lying on the grass. The boy's sightless eyes stared up at the darkening sky. He couldn't be older than fourteen years old. His arms were covered in cuts and slashes. But the killing blow had been a thrust to the throat judging by the huge stain of blood on his collar and shirt.
Four other bodies, all dead, lay nearby as well. All killed by sword or dagger wounds.
"What the hell?"
"Ah the impetuous young girl from the Empress's Rest is finally here," the guard from her earlier encounter said. "I thought we were going to have to go and hunt her down."
There were eight of the Duke's guards present, six men and two women. They all laughed at their comrade's words.
Cari gestured around at the bodies as she stopped moving forward. This wasn't what she'd signed up for.
"You killed them? Why?" Cari asked. She still didn't understand.
"Because they supported the old hag on the throne, just like you. And now it's my turn to send you to join them."
The burly guardsman drew his sword and tested the blade by flexing it a few times before he took a few practice slashes in the air.
"Come on little lady. I want to finish you off quick so I can go and get something to eat."
Cari started to back away but the other guards moved behind her, preventing retreat. She was overcome with the horrifying realization that if the world was real, the combat must be real as well. This wasn't a duel for points or status as she’d expected. This was real combat. It was something she'd always trained for, even dreamed about. In the end, though, it was not something she'd ever expected to do for real. Her hands betrayed her, trembling as she fumbled to draw her sword and dagger.
One of the female guards laughed at her from behind.
"Look, Raden, she's shaking with fear at the mere thought of facing you. Toy with her a bit before you finish her and see if you can make the little girl cry."
"With pleasure," Raden sneered.
Before Cari knew what was happening, the guard charged at her, unleashing a rapid series of attacks. He tested her defenses with several different combinations. Cari knew in an instant from the way he handled his sword, he was one of the best she'd ever faced.
She gasped in pain as one of his attack combos snaked past a late parry and slashed a line of fiery pain across Cari's right shoulder. She couldn't spare the attention to examine the wound but she felt the slow trickle of blood start to flow towards her elbow.
* * *
Health damage - health -6
* * *
"First blood!" Raden shouted. "Gareth, you owe me a silver piece."
"I'll win it back. You'll never finish her in under a minute," the other guard called back.
These animals were wagering over her, betting on her life as if it meant nothing to them. They considered her insignificant, only something for their sport.
Burning anger welled up from inside Cari. Her eyes narrowed as her focus returned.
She wouldn't let this pig kill her. She’d show him what happened when you groped a random woman in passing.
Cari used her dagger to parry Raden's next blow and pressed forward to lock her dagger's hilt against his sword's crosspiece.
This freed her sword up to whip out and down into the guardsman's leading thigh.
His cry at the sudden pain turned into the hiss of a drawn breath as Cari pressed her advantage forcing him to backpedal despite his injured leg.
It slowed him just a bit allowing her to score a second hit on his offhand forearm. This time she noticed something she hadn't before. To the left side of her visual field, a thin, transparent bar filled in green a little more with each hit she'd made.
It was half full now after just two attacks.
"Come on, Raden," another guardsman called out, a hint of concern tinting his voice. "Stop toying with her. You've let her think she can win, now finish her off."
Raden only managed a grunt in reply. Cari's sword snapped past his face, narrowly missing a death blow but close enough to score a thin blood-red line across his cheek.
The guard snarled and began another series of attacks, pushing Cari backward across the grass.
The status bar in her display was three quarters full now. She figured one more hit would fill it and she'd learn what it meant. Of course, she had to live long enough to get there.
She'd let her guard down a little while she paid attention to the heads up display. Now she paid the price with a second hit as the tip of Raden's blade pierced her right forearm. The pain almost made her lose her grip on the dagger she held in that hand.
* * *
Health damage - health -4
* * *
Raden's sneer returned when he scored the fresh hit and it spurred him to press his attacks.
Cari parried blow after blow, using her superior speed to combat his greater strength just as she'd been taught.
An opportunity presented for a different sort of attack. She took it. This was a fight to the death and there was no room for hesitation.
When he leaned a bit too far forward on a lunge, Cari parried it and then rammed her basket hilt forward, bashing in Raden's nose. Blood started running down his face onto his chin and tears of pain sprung to his eyes.
The status bar in Cari's visual field filled to the top and flashed a deeper green.
* * *
Power up active - Unleash special innate skill - Burst of speed.
* * *
Cari didn't know what that meant but she didn't have time to look it up. It sounded like something she could use right now.
Focusing on the words burst of speed, she pressed a new flurry of attacks.
A chime sounded and, without warning, everything slowed down around her while she seemed to keep going at full speed.
An old-fashioned ticking stopwatch sound started in her head as the world slowed around her. Even a bird flying past in the background flapped its wings in slow motion.
A countdown timer next to the now empty status bar start at five and count downward.
Raden barely had time to register surprise on his face when Cari's flurry of attacks struck him four times in rapid succession before he could react to defend himself. The final lunge as the timer ticked to zero took him in the chest just below the Duke of Charon's insignia.
The guardsman clutched at his chest as he slid backward off Cari's blade. He opened his mouth but nothing came out but a spray of blood as he coughed once then fell over dead.
* * *
500 experience awarded
Level Up!
* * *
Cari felt a moment of overwhelming exhaustion, panting and gasping for breath after her superhuman exertion faded away.
The other guards stood dumbfounded, looking at their dead comrade on the ground at Cari's feet.
"She used magic," one of the female guards said. "She killed him with some sort of spell or potion."
The one named Gareth pointed an accusatory finger at Cari.
"He came here for a fair fight and you cheated. Your life is forfeit in our eyes. Tell us how you did it and we'll kill you quickly. You must have a charm or potion, something that assisted you."
Cari bent over, still struggling to catch her breath. She was amazed at what she'd been able to do during that countdown cycle but it was not without a price. Using the skill left her drained for a long time afterward. Too long.
She struggled to stand upright and lifted her weapons as the remaining seven members of the Duke's city guards spread out and circled around her. How was she supposed to explain what she just did?
Cari was sure to the guards
it looked like magic. Maybe it was after a fashion. There was no way to tell them how she did it because she wasn't sure she could replicate it. On top of that, she wasn't really sure what happened either.
The status bar now flashed a dim red and when she focused on it, a new notification appeared.
* * *
Special ability cool down period engaged.
* * *
Cari figured she wasn't going to be doing that again anytime soon. Her burst of speed was a once-a-battle ability it seemed.
Turning in place and trying to keep all seven guards in view at once, Cari struggled to come up with a plan of action for fighting more than one opponent at the same time. She wondered if she should have selected that ability over two-weapon combat.
Cari tried defusing the situation. Her strength was returning, slowly. She had to buy time.
"Look, I didn't want to kill your friend. I was just defending myself. No one else needs to die."
"No one else is going to die, at least not anyone important," Gareth pointed his sword at Cari. "You, however, I'm going to gut like a fish."
"Seven on one doesn't seem like a fair fight to me," a new voice sounded from behind Cari. "What do you think, Thad? Should we lend the lass some assistance?"
Another, deep and gravelly voice answered. "Make's no mind to me. I've got a stein of ale waiting for me right now so I'd just as soon get this over with."
A third voice jumped in, a sing-song lilt to the tone. "I agree with Thad, Liam. Let's get this finished so I can return to my lady friend. She was most upset when I was roused to come out here to this place."
Cari turned to see who spoke, still keeping the guards in view as best she could. She saw three people in blue uniform tabards, trimmed in a deep crimson red, the same color as fresh blood. She didn’t even think it strange that she noticed that comparison right now.
She blinked as she looked the newcomers over. Only one of them was human. Another had green skin and a brutish face with two small tusks protruding up from his lower jaw, similar to the bartender from the Empress's Rest.
The third new arrival had blond hair pulled back in a ponytail to reveal ears that rose up to a slight point. His almond shaped eyes and high, arched eyebrows showed him to be something other than human as well, perhaps an elf?
Beside all three stood a grinning Rodrigo.
When he saw Cari looking his way, Rodrigo winked at her. Her eyes narrowed at the gesture, making him frown. She didn't like it when men winked at her. To her mind, it usually meant something demeaning and condescending.
Gareth had turned to face the new threat along with his comrades. They'd forgotten Cari was even there, it seemed.
"Ah, a few of the Empress's pet dogs are here. Excellent! We'll kill you Dragoons then we’ll finish with the girl."
"Many have tried," the tall thin man named Liam replied, drawing his sword. "None of your ilk have succeeded yet."
"Enough," Gareth shouted at his comrades. He pointed at the newcomers. "What are you waiting for? Kill them!"
The seven thugs from the Duke of Charon’s guard charged forward though two of them fell over dead as the pointy-eared fellow produced a throwing knife in each hand and took both men in the throat with a thrown blade, killing them instantly.
Rodrigo and the other two newcomers took on the surviving guards as they charged in. The tall, thin one, who the others called Liam, spun like a whirling dervish, moving almost faster than she could make out, even with her experienced eye for sword work.
He killed one of the guards almost instantly and backed another one up as that woman struggled to put up a defense. She fought in desperation as she backpedalled.
The green-skinned newcomer, the one called Thad, charged at Gareth and soon the two of them were trading blows amidst snarls of anger from both combatants.
Rodrigo drew his blade and charged one of the remaining guards while the pointy-eared dragoon engaged the final guardsman standing, another one of the women.
Within a minute, three more of the Duke's guards were down and the others were backing up, clearly looking to retreat. That all stopped when a troop of ten more guards in the Duke's livery jogged around the corner of the grand bazaar. Several of them carried long thin objects in addition to their swords. It took her a few seconds to realize they were some sort of musket firearm.
Cari called out to her new allies as she ran forward to join them.
"Hey, they've got new reinforcements coming and they've got guns I think. What do we do?"
Liam, who appeared to be the leader of the blue and red clad men, thrust his sword through the leg of the woman he was facing. She fell to the ground, her leg crumpling beneath her. He backed away rather than finish her.
"Follow me. If there are more coming behind these, we'll never disengage. This way."
He turned and ran for a copse of trees at the edge of the field. Cari followed, flanked by a grinning Rodrigo and the elf. The one called Thad with the green skin and tusks brought up the rear. The newly arrived guards took in the scene and Cari heard shouts behind her.
"Halt, in the name of the Duke of Charon. I order you all to halt and wait for arrest."
The elf laughed a reply in his lilting voice.
"Fat chance of that happening."
Rodrigo let out a shout of triumphant laughter and ran into the cluster of trees. Cari darted in just behind him. It was dark inside the small wooded area as the sun had just about set. Behind her, a series of long bangs announced the guards were firing their guns.
It took her eyes a moment to adjust. As they did, she saw Liam heading to a tall, stone wall bordering the far side of the wooded lot. He yanked open an iron gate.
"Everyone, in here."
"They're shooting at us!" Cari shouted.
"Those things aren't accurate at this range and they'll take at least a minute to reload. We'll be long gone by then. Come on, girl. Get inside and out of sight.
Cari and Rodrigo ran through the gate into a covered stone passageway leading to stairs down into darkness. She slowed down because she couldn’t see where she was going.
The elf followed behind her and squeezed past to move to the lead. When he reached the stairs, he snapped his fingers and held up his hand. A dim light appeared hovering over his fingertips.
Liam nodded. "Good work, Chance. Be a good fellow and lead the youngsters down into the catacombs. I'll help our orcish friend secure the door and we'll be right behind you."
Chance, the elf, nodded and pointed to Cari and Rodrigo.
"You two heard the sergeant. Follow me and stay close. It's easy to get lost down here and I don't want to spend the time trying to find you again."
He held his hand with the blue-white light up in front of him and started down the stairs. Cari and Rodrigo followed.
The grinding screech of twisted metal sounded behind them. Thad, the orc, had caught up to them. He grasped a bar from the iron gate and wrenched it free at one end then wrapped it around and through a ring set in the stone wall. It made a perfect locking mechanism to hold the gate closed.
She turned around and started forward at a barked reminder to keep moving from Chance. She hurried along and caught up to Rodrigo.
"Who are these guys? I'm not sure I should be following strange men into dark tunnels."
Rodrigo laughed.
"You're funny. They're from the Empress's Dragoons. Each of them are members of her personal body guard. They're on our side. You don't have to worry about them, I promise. I knew them through my uncle. He helped me find them to assist you."
Chance looked back at them.
"It's a good thing he found us when he did. We would have been perfectly happy to go on and attend to our own business rather than rescuing a young puppy in trouble. You were in way over your head, missy.”
"Don't tell me you didn't enjoy that little distraction, Chance," Liam said as he and Thad caught up. "I've been looking for an excuse to cut up some of those green-cloak
ed bastards for months now."
"Yes, Liam, I suppose you’re right,“ Chance said over his shoulder as he continued walking forward. “Still, the young lady I had plans to meet this evening will be disappointed when I don’t show up. Plus, now we are going to need a place to hide out until the search for us dies down. I'm sure there's a good enough description of us out there that someone will guess who we are."
“The Captain will manage to smooth things over for us, Chance," Liam replied. “He always does. After all, those guards were essentially out hunting down impressionable young supporters of the Empress and killing them in cold blood under the pretense of it being a duel."
"You pretend this is no big deal. You do notice it is us running and hiding in the catacombs and sewers while they get to stay up in the fresh air above. I'm not sure this is a win for us."
"You don't hear Thad complaining, do you?"
"That doesn't count. Thad rarely says anything."
"I'm not saying anything because I'm trying to listen to see if we are being followed,” Thad said from the rear of their group.
Chance stopped and turned back to the group.
"Well?"
"Well what?" Thad asked.
"Are they following us?"
"How can I tell?" Thad complained. "The two of you won't shut up."
The conversation paused. Cari strained her ears to try and listen. She couldn’t hear anything other than their own breathing. She had no idea if others were coming or not.
"It is clear," the orc said at last. "They are not pursuing us."
"Good, perhaps we should meet the young lass in distress we were tasked to rescue," Liam said, turning his eyes on Cari.
She forced a smile as she scanned the faces in the dim light of Chance’s magical whatever it was he did.
"Um, thank you, I guess. I have to say, though, I don't take kindly to being called a lass in distress. I did manage to kill one of them in a fair duel after all."