Accidental Duelist

by Jamie Davis

  Unfortunately, she had used her most recent skill point already and she was still 1200 experience points away from her next level up. Cari would have to make up her plan as she went along — a skill her mother said she shared with her father.

  Cari knew she was a good mix between her parent’s strengths. She had her dad’s ability to be spontaneous in a crisis and still come out ahead while she could also apply her mother’s innate skill with all things mechanical. There had to be a way to use both to get herself out of here.

  Given the quality of the food and her general well-being, Cari knew she had to act sooner rather than later. She would weaken over time the longer she stayed in the cell and eventually lose her ability to fight back and defend herself. Cari made the decision. The next time the guard came with the food, she had to be ready.

  * * *

  Quest accepted - Escape the Duke's palace

  * * *

  It wasn’t long after she made up her mind when the tap at the door announced the delivery of her meal. The gruff voice of one of the guards outside followed the tap as he slid the locking bar back from the wall outside.

  "Back to the wall, girl. Food's here."

  Cari braced herself against the wall. She'd ripped open the front and back of her top skirt and removed all of her petticoats. This freed up the movement of her legs, but left her vulnerable to the cold of the dungeon cell. This crazy plan had to work.

  The door cracked open and Cari squinted against the bright lamplight streaming in from the hallway. The first guard shuffled in a few steps and bent to set the bowl on the floor.

  Pressing her foot back against the wall, Cari propelled herself forward like a rocket so she landed on top of the guard's back as he bent over. When she landed, she looped the chain of her shackled hands over the man's head and leaned backward, pulling with all her strength.

  The guard's companion tried to shout a warning, but he was too late.

  "Hey, watch out!" The guard in the hall followed it with, "I'm coming Bernie. Hold on."

  That was just what Cari wanted to hear. If the guard in the hall pulled the door shut and went for help, the whole plan fell apart. Instead of doing the smart thing, the second guard came to his friend's aid.

  The first guard had stood upright at this point with Cari hanging on his back, slowly choking the life out of him. The sound of the man's choking noises made Cari's stomach churn, but she managed to push it aside for now. Hearing the second guard announce his approach, she twisted around so her back rested on the back of the first guard with her hands in an x over her head. It hurt like hell as the metal cuffs dug into her wrists but the pain helped push away the nausea in her gut as she killed yet again. She knew she had no choice. It was kill or be killed. Despite that, her protesting stomach didn’t seem to get the message.

  The second guard pulled a wooden truncheon from his belt and raised it over his head to strike at Cari. She waited until the last minute then snapped both legs up in a double kick aimed at the man's chin. His head rocked back with a sickening crunch she felt as much as heard.

  * * *

  500 experience awarded

  * * *

  As the second guard slid to the floor, Cari leaned forward, putting more tension on the chain working to finish off the first guard. He'd weakened at this point, falling to his knees while he struggled with his fingers tugging at the chain stretched tight around his neck.

  Cari considered ways she could simply knock the remaining guard out to avoid killing another man, but then she felt a burning pain in her side.

  * * *

  Health damage - health -4

  * * *

  The guard had managed to pull his belt knife and flailed with the blade behind him with one arm, trying to score a blind strike. The hit he'd managed to score, sliced a gash in her side just below her armpit. Luckily the bone corset stays acted as a sort of armor, lessening the severity of the blow. It still hurt though.

  Cari let out a growl, the plans to try to spare the man’s life leaving her in an instant. She yanked forward, pulling hard on the chains attached to the shackles on her wrists. The flailing arm holding the knife slowed and then fell to the guard's side, the blade eventually sliding out of his hand to clatter on the stone floor of the cell.

  * * *

  500 experience awarded

  * * *

  She held this position, horrified once again at what she’d done. A part of her mind kept repeating that she had had no choice. It had been either him or her. She finely managed to push through the shock as the pain in her straining arms and wrists emerged through the thoughts streaming through her mind. Cari leaned back and let her body relax and the guard toppled to the side, taking Cari along for the ride. She grunted as her shoulder was nearly pulled from its socket.

  * * *

  Health damage - health -4

  * * *

  Taking care not to injure herself further, Cari twisted around until she could get enough slack in the chain to slip it off over the man's head.

  It felt good to relax her arms and she worked at her sore shoulder to try to see if she'd done any permanent damage. It felt like it was just a pulled muscle, so she'd have to be careful with any maneuvers using that arm for a while.

  A quick search of the guards turned up a set of keys that opened the outer corridor door and her shackles. Once she removed the metal cuffs Cari let out a sigh of relief. She rubbed at the red welts on her skin for a few seconds even though she knew there was little time.

  The guard she had kicked into the wall was tall and skinny and after a brief pause, Cari stripped the pants from him along with his belt and removed the rest of her skirts along with the uncomfortable corset. Pulling the pants on and belting them at the waist, she was able to tuck the extra length into the boots she'd worn under the dress.

  She slipped the belt knife from the first guard into the waist of her pants and pulled on guard number two's shirt. She wouldn't fool anyone who got a really good look at her, but out of the corner of the eye, Cari hoped the outfit would allow her to pass through at least part of the palace unnoticed.

  After closing the cell door and locking it to hide the dead guards, Cari tiptoed up the long hallway of cells to the door leading out of the dungeon. She knew once she unlocked that door, it connected to the palace’s wine cellars by way of a small guard room.

  Listening at the door, she heard no voices. Cari turned the heavy key in the lock, wincing as it let out what sounded to her like a very loud grinding noise. There was no response if anyone nearby heard anything.

  Cracking the door open a bit, she peered into the room. It was empty. Those two must have been the only guards on duty. The room held only a table, four chairs, and a wooden cabinet against one wall.

  She checked the cabinet and had to stifle a cheer. Her clothes were stacked on one of the shelves along with her sword and dagger in their scabbards.

  She didn't have enough time to change, so she opted to slip her sword belt over her head, settling it across her chest. She stuffed the rest of her clothes into a satchel she found hanging on a peg.

  Cari figured she was as ready as she was going to get. It was time to make a run for the exit and hoped she could find a way free before the alarm sounded. She had considered a slow, sneaky approach to get out but decided a faster method of escape was preferable. Once the alarm was raised, there was little chance she’d get away on her own. She couldn’t take the chance the missing guards were found before she got away.

  Slipping out the far door and into the wine cellar, Cari moved from rack to rack — all filled with wine bottles. She had almost made it to the stairs when she heard a voice echo down from above. She darted to the shadows under the staircase to hide.

  "I'll be right back. The Duke wants to talk with the girl. He wants to see if she's ready to tell us where the prince was taken."

  Booted feet descended the stairs. As they reached the bottom, Cari recognized the head guard she’d first m
et at the gates the night she was captured. He stopped as soon as he saw the open door to the guard room at the far side of the wine cellar. She let out a muffled curse; she'd forgotten to close it.

  "Bernie? Rand? Are you in here?"

  She had to act quickly before he realized something was wrong and called for help.

  The guard had already put his hand on his sword’s hilt when he got no response. Cari barely dared to breathe. She didn't want to do anything that might give away her position. The man moved away from the stairs towards the open door.

  "Bernie and Rand, if you two are asleep again, the Duke is going to fire you for sure."

  He walked past the final wine rack and Cari made her move. She ran as quietly as she could towards the guard's back, grabbing one of the bottles as she ran past.

  Just as she was about to swing at the guard's head, her foot scraped the stone, alerting the guard to her attack. He ducked causing Cari to miss just by a few inches. The bottle shattered as it struck the rack next to where the guards head had been.

  The man cursed, as he backpedaled, drawing his sword, and leveling it a Cari.

  "Did you kill Bernie and Rand?"

  Cari forced herself to stay emotionless as she drew her sword.

  "I did what I had to do," she responded through gritted teeth as she forced down the increasingly familiar nausea.

  As soon as Cari drew her sword, the "power-up" bar appeared in the corner of her vision. It was already partially filled. It seemed that some progress had carried over from her fight with the first two guards.

  Her opponent made a few quick strikes, testing her defenses. The guard’s saber was much heavier than her own modified rapier. That required her to adopt a more defensive posture than she would have liked, especially given the time-sensitive nature of this fight. She had to end this quickly before anyone came to investigate the clash of steel on steel downstairs.

  She drew her dagger in her off hand even though that shoulder still ached.

  The guard struck again and Cari managed to execute a perfect riposte counter attack, scoring a deep slash across the guard's chest. The power bar filled a little more. She guessed that one more strike would fill it completely.

  Voices sounded from up above and Cari knew mere seconds counted now. She used one of the feint and lunge combination attacks Timron had used against her in their sparring match.

  Luckily, the guard fell for it just as she had and she felt her blade grate along the bone to slip through the man's ribs into his heart.

  * * *

  500 experience awarded

  New skill learned - Feint

  * * *

  The power bar flashed a full deep green on one side of her visual field followed by a text message.

  * * *

  Power up active - Burst of speed now enabled

  * * *

  Two men came down the steps and took in the scene, drawing their swords. Cari didn't have time to deal with them. She had to get out of this cellar before more help arrived.

  Activating the burst of speed ability, Cari ran at the two men coming down the steps.

  Once again, the whole room slowed except for her. The ticking sound started and this time the countdown timer started at twenty-five. This skill must improve by five seconds a level. Cari made good use of the time, remembering the exhaustion that had struck the last time.

  Cari slashed left with her sword at one opponent while stabbing right with her dagger at the other. She connected with each blade, the first cutting open the leading man's throat to the bone.

  The blood fountained out in a slow-motion spurt worthy of her favorite vintage Tarantino film. The sight of it sickened a part of her deep inside but the stress of the fight kept it out of the way.

  * * *

  500 experience awarded

  Level Up!

  * * *

  Her dagger strike sunk home in the second man's chest with similar results. Neither had a chance to react with more than a groan before they crumpled dead to the floor of the wine cellar.

  * * *

  500 experience awarded

  * * *

  Cari didn't stop to watch them fall in slow motion as if suspended in gelatin above the cellar floor. She raced up the steps and into the broad hallway with the black-and-white checkered floor. Unable to get her bearings, Cari made a guess and turned right to run down the marble-lined hallway.

  She caught sight of a familiar door ahead of her. It was the entrance leading to the courtyard and it almost made her cheer. She held in her elation and continued running at full speed. The clock on her power-up display had only ten seconds left. She had to make it count.

  It was dark outside when she flung the door open and ran into the central courtyard. Someone had left a saddled horse tied to a post by the stable nearby. Without missing a beat, Cari used the last of her speed burst to vault into the saddle and kick the horse in the flanks with her heels while she pulled the loosely tied reins free of the post.

  The horse whinnied but bolted ahead towards the open gate and the street beyond. The clock ran out and Cari heard shouts of alarm behind her. She gasped for breath as the aftermath of the speed boost gripped her. She lay forward against the horse's neck and let it carry her forward while she fought off the exhaustion that followed the use of her burst of speed skill.

  Cari smiled at the message displayed as she rode away.

  * * *

  Quest completed - Escape the Duke's palace

  2,000 experience awarded.

  Chapter 15

  By the time the fleeing horse took her out of sight of the Duke of Charon's palace, the effects of the cool down had worn off and her strength started to return. She loved the rush of the burst of speed ability but the cool down period afterward reminded her there was a downside to everything.

  She glanced back while she rode on down the avenue. She couldn't see any signs of pursuit but she was certain the Duke's men would be out in force looking for her soon. She had to be off the city streets as soon as possible. A lone woman on horseback racing through the streets in the dark would draw attention. People would remember her passing.

  Cari decided the best option was to ditch the horse and proceed on foot. She waited to dismount until she was well away from the palace district of the city and into an area of smaller, more closely packed buildings.

  Walking the horse around behind a line of row houses she went down an alley behind the homes and stopped in the cover provided by high wooden fences on either side. In the shadows there, Cari changed back into her own clothes, praising heaven above to put on her normal, comfortable clothing again, including her spandex sports bra. She wished she had more of those with her than just the one. It was worth its weight in gold.

  Back in the outfit she wore when first arriving in Fantasma, Cari let the horse loose to roam and find its own way home. She decided she was never putting on another dress again, at least not if it was part of a plan that left her all but defenseless when a plan went south.

  Now she was on foot and could move through the city without drawing as much attention. Making a snap decision and selecting a direction, Cari started towards the southern edge of the city. That was where she assumed she'd find the Caravans Gate and the tavern known as The Last Retreat.

  On the way, Cari dodged into a hiding place in a hurry as a patrol of mounted guardsmen rode past. She saw others in the distance on three different occasions. They roamed the city in groups of four or five and appeared to be searching the few pedestrians out and about on the late-night streets. She had no doubt it was her for whom they searched.

  Taking care to avoid detection, Cari was able to reach the southern gate where she saw travelers of all sorts entering and exiting the city, despite the late hour. She also saw more people of different races including more goblins, orcs, and elves than she'd seen in any other part of the Crystal City. This had to be the Caravans Gate for sure.

  The relative hustle and bustle of this dis
trict in the middle of the night disoriented her for a bit. She wasn't sure where to start looking for the tavern in question so she just asked a few passersby.

  "The Last Retreat? Have you ever heard of it?"

  An orcish guard finally answered her in his gravelly voice. "It's over that way on the right-hand side of the street. Look for the sign with a broken war banner painted on it."

  "Thank you, friend."

  "No problem, miss. Be wary. It can be a rough sort of place."

  "I can take care of myself. Thank you again."

  The orc flashed her a grin around his protruding lower tusks and went on his way disappearing into the crowd again.

  Cari marveled again at how the people who most would consider the scariest were the friendliest here and the so-called pretty people like the Duke, and even Timron, were the ones she must be wary of.

  Walking down the street in the direction the orc indicated, The Last Retreat was just where he’d said it was. The sign stuck out above the door, suspended from a crossbar extending out from the second floor of the tavern by a few links of iron chain. It did indeed have a painted picture of a wooden staff sporting a horizontal, triangular banner. The banner tilted to one side above the place where the staff was broken.

  Cari pushed open the door and went inside. A wave of raucous voices and music met her as she walked into the common room. If an establishment's quality was to be gauged by its popularity, The Last Retreat must serve excellent food and beverages. Cari's stomach growled loud enough she heard it over the rumble of voices in the common room. She remembered how hungry she was. Her escape caused her to skip her evening meal and the Duke's men hadn't been feeding her very much anyway with the other two meals she had.