by Pirateaba
And someone caught his fist.
Urien’s entire body lurched as all his momentum suddenly stopped against whatever had grabbed him. He looked over and saw a grinning Drake, just as big as he was.
“Hey. Nice sword.”
Relc raised a fist and punched Ulrien, sending the adventurer stumbling backwards as Erin gaped. But not for long; she heard a growl and saw Brunkr coming at her. Erin ducked and hammered at the Gnoll’s ribs, but then Brunkr caught her with a fist that made her wake up on the ground a second later.
“You might be a pretty tough guy, but I—”
The Drake ducked just in time as Ulrien punched back. Relc jumped back and then his spear was stabbing at Ulrien, butt-first so the adventurer staggered back as Relc bludgeoned him.
“Hey! Drop your weapon or I’ll have to hurt you, got it?”
Relc shouted, but Ulrien wasn’t about to surrender. He kept swinging his great sword, cutting the air with devastatingly powerful cuts that made Relc leap back. The Drake laughed as he hammered Ulrien’s chest with his spear.
“You’ll have to be quicker than that! You—ulp!”
An arrow flew at his face. Relc grabbed it out of the air, but that left him open. Ulrien slashed upwards with his sword and Relc raised his spear to block.
The thick shaft of wood splintered and broke as the blade swept right through it. Relc cursed and leapt backwards as Ulrien continued his cut and swung at the Drake’s ribs with the flat of his blade.
The Drake stared at his broken spear in his claws. His eyes narrowed. Relc raised the broken shaft of his spear and stabbed at Ulrien repeatedly, forcing the big man to defend himself.
It was a bad matchup. Ulrien’s teeth gritted as he swing faster, but he couldn’t catch the Drake, even as big as he was. And he was wary of actually hitting the Drake for fear he would kill him—
Relc had no such compunctions. As Urien guarded against one of his thrusts, Relc took a step back and twisted. Swung by the momentum of his body, Relc’s tail slapped Ulrien in the face right before he roundhouse-kicked the man off his feet.
The Drake laughed and kicked the great sword out of Ulrien’s hands. He raised his broken spear into the air, crowing with delight.
“Hah! Who’s n—”
Relc twisted as another blunt arrow flew towards his face. Halrac lowered his bow and pulled another arrow out. The arrowhead looked like ice, and it was glowing with blue light.
“Oh?”
—-
Halrac aimed down his arrow straight at the Drake’s torso. He was sure the Drake would survive the shot; the way he’d just outfought Ulrien proved it. The damn Drake could dodge his arrows, but this was magical; it would explode as soon as it got within range of the Drake, dodging or not.
The Drake was watching him, spreading his arms out and shouting something. Halrac ignored the taunting and pulled the arrow as far back as he could. Time to use an activated skill. He spoke as his fingers loosened on the arrow.
“[Pinpoint Sh—]”
Something kicked his bow out of line. Halrac cursed, turned with the arrow still nocked, and froze.
“Alright. That’s enough out of you, Halrac. Unless you really want to get us in trouble with the city?”
A pale woman was standing right next to Halrac, staring down at him. He looked up at her, and recognized her instantly. From the deathly whiteness of her skin to the black chainmail she wore, and her perfectly black eyes, there could be only one person she could be, at least on this continent.
“Jelaqua Ivirith.”
The female adventurer held the three-headed flail at her side as she stood casually next to Halrac. She hadn’t raised it, but he’d stopped moving.
“Halrac. Good to see you again.”
“What in the hells are you doing?”
“Stopping you. I should be asking what you’re doing, fighting the Watch and civilians like this.”
Halrac’s eyes flicked towards the large Drake.
“That’s a guardsman?”
“Liscor’s best. He’s modereately famous in the south part of the continent.”
The Drake was staring at Jelaqua, and he’d stopped smiling. She winked at him, and he made a face.
“Let’s all calm down, hm?”
Halrac wasn’t sure he wanted to obey her, but he was within her range. He looked over and saw Jelaqua’s other two companions had joined the fight as well.
A massive man, eight or perhaps even nine feet tall stood in front of Typhenous. The old mage hesitated as the giant man smiled down at him. This new adventurer was wearing patched clothing, but held in his hands a massive staff crowned by an orb that shimmered with light. He nodded politely at Typhenous.
The older mage’s lips curled. He stared up at the small giant, his own wand shimmering with magic.
“Moore.”
“Lower your wand, Typhenous. I don’t want any trouble.”
“You can’t stop me. You’re not half the mage I am.”
Moore sighed hugely, and rubbed at his chin with fingers the size of plump sausages.
“I shouldn’t like to argue that point, but I will stop you if need be.”
He and Typhenous stared at each other, and then Typhenous lifted his wand and pointed it at the other adventurer.
“[Eltraz’s Bin—]”
The giant man didn’t raise his staff. Instead he stepped forwards and kicked Typhenous before the mage could utter his spell. The old man choked and fell down.
Moore sighed and stood over the mage. He planted one finger on the man’s back as he struggled to rise.
“All’s fine over here, Jelaqua.”
Jelaqua nodded as Halrac gritted his teeth. Revi had paused, and he could see her hesitating. Two of her warrior constructs were down, bleeding wisps of magic as she faced off against the angry Drake breathing fire, but she had one hand in her pouch. Halrac shook his head at her slightly. Now was not the time to waste magic or her constructs.
“Wise man. Now, let’s hope your leader is just as sensible.”
Halrac saw Jelaqua pointing, and realized the last member of her group had appeared. A tall, gaunt man covered in what looked like a…a shell across half his body was standing next to Ulrien, holding a dagger in one hand. His other hand, or rather, entire arm was segmented with dark fungus and what looked like a crustacean’s pincer instead of a hand.
“Ulrien.”
“Seborn.”
“I hope you’re not going to fight anymore. It seems pointless, given the circumstances.”
Ulrien glanced at Relc and shrugged slightly.
“Depends. But we won’t fight with your lot unless we’ve got a reason.”
“Fair enough. I doubt our Captain wants any more strife than necessary.”
The two…men…nodded at each other. Ulrien glanced around and raised his great sword slightly as Relc glared at both adventurers.
“You wanna fight? Huh?”
The person known as Seborn shifted slightly. He held his dagger backwards as he turned sideways towards Relc instead of Ulric. Both adventurers eyed the Drake, as Relc glared at both. They were at a standoff, right up until Erin crashed into the center of the trio, swinging at Brunkr as the Gnoll punched back.
—-
“You will regret this!”
Brunkr roared at Erin as she ducked another huge swing from him. He wasn’t quick, but he was so strong and tough! She’d been punching him as hard as she could, but he just kept on coming!
“You’re not going to hurt her! Stop! Go away!”
She lashed out and caught Brunkr with a good kick to the legs, but he just growled and came on. She ran backwards, ducking and dodging away from him.
Erin was vaguely aware that something was going on. She didn’t see any more Gnolls at the door of her inn, and she thought there were more people, but all of her attention was on Brunkr. His face was twisted into a snarl as he came after her.
“You punch like a weakling, no? Who ta
ught you how to fight?”
“A Minotaur! And he was the best fighter in the world!”
Erin shouted as she planted a punch straight on Brunkr’s jaw. He swept his arm at her and backhanded her so hard Erin thought some of her teeth came loose. She staggered.
“Weak. The Minotaur taught you poorly.”
“He did not!”
Her head was spinning, but she couldn’t fall down. She gritted her teeth and ran at Brunkr, ignoring the punch that made the entire world freeze for a second.
“He taught me! Me! Punch! He taught me to punch!”
She was right in front of Brunkr. Erin planted her feet and began hammering him in the chest, screaming. She was out of everything. She didn’t even know what she was saying; all she could do or think was punch.
“Minotaur! Punch! Punch! Minotaur…[Minotaur Punch]!”
Something clicked in Erin’s head. She felt something change, and then felt her fist meet Brunk’s stomach. But instead of harmlessly bouncing off his furred body, this time her fist hit the Gnoll and sent him reeling back.
Brunkr coughed, and Erin stared at her fist. He clutched at his stomach, but then roared and raised a fist. Erin raised hers faster.
“[Minotaur Punch]!”
Unlike [Power Strike], this skill worked twice in a row. Erin hit Brunkr so hard even she felt it, and he doubled over and puked up food and blood. Erin staggered back. Her arm felt wobbly, but she stood her ground even so.
Something was happening around her. Erin saw Relc—wait, Relc?—spinning past her, dueling two adventuerers at once. One had…fungi on his face and a crab claw on one hand?
What was going on? Erin looked around, bewildered, and saw the man with the bow who’d shot Toren rolling away from a woman with a flail of all things. And Toren was on his feet and fighting Gnolls at the door to the inn, Lyon was screaming, Ceria was pinned by Zevara and—
What was happening? Erin staggered. The world was still spinning, but her blood was still boiling. Her friends were fighting with strangers, and the Gnolls were still trying to get towards the inn. Erin felt sick. She wanted to throw up, but more than that she wanted everyone to stop fighting.
That urge grew in Erin’s chest, until it felt like a living thin wanting to get free. And Erin felt like she could almost feel that desire in the air around her. It was like heat; and it was all around her inn. She opened her mouth, and screamed.
“Everybody stop!”
—-
The blast of sound made Halrac jerk and nearly caught one of Jelaqua’s wicked flails to a shoulder as he rolled away from her. He raised his bow, but then felt his arms grow heavy.
The air changed as the innkeeper shouted. Halrac’s body suddenly grew incredibly heavy—he could still move, but it was like something huge was pressing down on him from above.
Jelaqua paused as she raised her flail, and stared over at the inn. Both adventuerers saw the entire hilltop had stopped, caught by the same oppressive weight that had struck them.
“Some kind of Skill. Feels like an aura effect.”
“I can still move.”
The dark-eyed adventurer eyed Halrac, annoyed.
“This isn’t your fight, Halrac. Your team is only going to cause trouble for us all.”
Halrac hesitated.
“But the Gnolls—”
“Use your eyes. This has gotten too big. Stop fighting and let’s talk.”
Jelaqua glared at him as she lowered her flail. Halrac had his fingers on an arrow in his quiver, but he hesitated. He could see she was watching him. Slowly, he lowered his bow.
“Revi—Typhenous—”
Halrac turned and looked around. Typhenous was still on the ground, and Revi was very still. He saw she was standing with both arms raised, not moving an inch. That was probably to avoid the two sword blades from cutting into her neck as an Antinium warrior held them to Revi’s throat.
“I would suggest no one move. This battle is now over.”
Klbkch’s voice was loud and carrying, and unlike Erin’s it generated a silence all of its own. Across the hill, Gnolls stopped fighting and guardsmen lowered their weapons. Revi’s magical constructs were frozen in place, and Relc paused as both Ulrien and Seborn halted.
Zevara got up out of the grass, and Klbkch lowered one of his swords, keeping the over level with Revi’s throat. Halrac could see the drops of sweat as they rolled down her face.
The Antinium looked around calmly, nodding to the girl.
“Miss Solstice. Good day. I regret this state of affairs. I will do my best to resolve it with the assistance of my colleagues in the Watch.”
Everyone stared. Klbkch slowly lowered his other sword, and Revi felt at her uncut throat. She raised one trembling finger and pointed slowly at the Antinium.
“You—you’re in the Watch?”
Klbkch nodded. He looked at her with his expressionless, insect face and Halrac shuddered with fear and disgust.
“I am. My name is Klbkch and I am a Senior Guardsman in the City Watch of Liscor.”
He looked around at the others on the hill.
“And it is my duty to inform you that you are all under arrest.”
—-
Erin had never been arrested back in her world. She was…had been…a normal person who didn’t do anything crazy like start massive brawls. She’d certainly never done drugs, and if she had tried alcohol, it had been in chess clubs late at night where the police seldom go unless someone starts flipping boards.
But now she was under arrest, only…not?
“I believe this incident was not entirely your fault, but considering the damage done and violence, it is my assessment that your inn should be placed under guard temporarily.”
That was Klbkch’s explanation, which essentially just meant a bunch of scary Drakes with swords and bows were standing around her inn looking threateningly while Zevara shouted at people. The Drake had taken her turn with Erin, even though Erin had explained what had happened.
“I don’t care why you decided to pick a fight with half the Gnolls in the city! But thanks to you and that damned thief, I’ve got over thirty wounded civilians and guardsmen here!”
“It wasn’t my fault! They were going to kill her!”
“We have every right! She has done much damage to our clan!”
Brunkr shouted angrily at Erin as he clenched his fists on the other side of Zevara. He was being held by two Gnolls, both of which were as battered and bloody as he was. Relc raised his fist threateningly, but the Gnoll didn’t seem the least bit intimidated. He snarled at Erin and the guardsmen, causing several of them to raise their weapons.
“We demand justice!”
“Justice has been done! You Gnolls are in defiance of the law! And you!”
Zevara spun and jabbed a finger at the sullen adventurers sitting together.
“Why did you decide to join in the fighting?”
One of the adventurers, a man wearing dark leather and holding a bow, raised his head and glared at the Drake. He pointed at Erin.
“We thought that the Gnolls were attacking the girl. And we’d just seen a skeleton come back to life after we destroyed it once. We were concerned it was Revenant of some kind, and we were tracking it.”
Zevara turned and stared hard at Toren. The skeleton was still wearing his armor, although it had been horribly mangled by the great sword that had cut straight through the middle of it. He stared at Zevara and she turned away in disgust.
“Ancestors save me from idiotic Humans—and you? What’s your excuse?”
She pointed at the three adventurers who’d helped end the fighting. Erin stared at the pale woman with totally black eyes before she shifted to the half-crab-fungi man and the giant with the staff. The female adventurer inclined her head towards Zevara.
“Watch Captain. We heard about the fighting and were spectating until we saw Griffon Hunt entering the fray. We decided to help stop the fighting.”
Zevara s
hot Jelaqua an icy look, but apparently she didn’t have much to say about that. Instead, it was Brunkr who lurched forwards, forcing the two Gnolls holding him to strain hard to keep him back.
“We demand vengeance! We will have the thief’s heart, Watch or not! You cannot stop us!”
The Captain of the Watch turned on Brunkr with fury in her eyes.
“If you try to attack someone again, I will arrest you and every Gnoll who joins you!”
The Gnoll snarled at Zevara.
“Try it. If anything happens to me, the Silverfang tribe will go to war against this city! We will not be stopped!”
“Oh really? This is something that I wish to hear. It is news to me. How is it that we will be defying the law in Liscor, hmm?”
Brunkr paused. Erin saw his angry expression suddenly shift, and his ears suddenly flattened down hard. He turned, face apprehensive.
Krshia stood behind Brunkr, arms folded, face like iron. Selys peeked her head around the Gnoll and on her other side, Erin saw a woman dressed in armor.
Yvlon nodded at Erin and smiled. She was wearing the silver armor Erin had spotted in her room. She was also looking a lot healthier—her face was nearly healed, and she looked completely steady on her feet.
Brunkr shrank as Krshia walked forwards until their faces were inches apart. He was taller than his Aunt, but he cowered in front of her. He raised placating hands.
“Aunt—”
She seized him by one ear, and Brunkr yelped like a dog as Krshia began to twist.
“Brunkr. My eyes and ears and nose must be deceiving me, no? Or else why am I seeing many Gnolls here, when they should be in the city? That should not be, no? Because I distinctly remember giving orders not to go after the thief, no? Or is my word no longer good enough for you? Do you want to become Chieftain already, hm? Is that what you are thinking?”
He whined and started to protest, but Krshia bent down and whispered something in his ear. Erin didn’t hear, but it made Brunk go wide-eyed and silent. Krshia dragged him off and suddenly—
