“Gods damn it, you're fast,” he mumbled as he rose to his feet.
Pela, getting to her own feet, remained silent. Vegard smiled when she balked slightly now that she saw his true size towering over her. Not letting him intimidate her further, she went to work with a combination of punches aimed at his midsection. None of them were able to connect with any force, and she let fly another high kick to his head. Vegard caught her leg, but Pela had counted on it. Pela jumped with her free foot and brought it around in a roundhouse kick to Vegard's face. He staggered backwards, cursing, and she connected with an uppercut to his chin. He reeled backwards but did not fall. She rushed him again, but realized she committed too much when he caught her in the stomach with a kick of his own, dropping her to her knees instantly as she lost all breath.
Pela clutched her midsection as Vegard warily approached, his arms up in a prizefighter's guard. With one hand, almost quicker than Vegard could follow, she grabbed her tiny pouch of salt dust from her belt and hurled it into his face, blinding him. As he fought to regain his vision, Pela slipped a punch dagger over her right hand and rose to her feet. She was ready to end it. His vision blurred by his tear-filled eyes, Vegard dropped back into a more defensive posture, backing away from Pela. She tested him with three soft jabs with her left, and he was able to bat them away. She led with her left again, which he managed to block, then followed with her right to his face. The glinting blade on her knuckles shone brightly even through his impaired vision, and he grabbed underneath it, clutching her wrist with his massive left hand. With his right, he delivered three devastating punches to what he guessed was her midsection, cracking sounds within her audible. The sheer force from the blows would have dropped any man, but still she struggled in his grip. In one burst of movement, she jumped with both feet and kicked upwards, again catching him in the jaw. This time he fell, hard, and she fell with him. The world was a dizzy, smeared maze around him as he struggled to remain conscious.
A series of quick strikes from Johan kept Kinnese on the defensive, with Johan's ferocity giving Kinnese pause. He was far stronger and faster than Johan remembered, yet Johan had him beat on pure swordsmanship. But despite his cocky comebacks to Kinnese's taunts, Johan knew he was on borrowed time if he didn't end the fight soon. He dropped his guard slightly, feigning exhaustion, all but inviting Kinnese to strike and, as Kinnese took the bait and brought his sword around, Johan slashed upwards with his own. Kinnese, caught off guard, jerked his body to one side, narrowly avoiding the blade. The traitor countered with a straight thrust towards Johan's chest, which Johan anticipated. Twirling his blade down with his wrist, Johan knocked Kinnese's away. The force of Johan's parry intensified as the Outrider put his entire shoulder into the motion, bringing the two blades between them around in a clockwise spin, ending with Kinnese losing his grip on his blade, his heavy sword flying out of his hand. Kinnese looked momentarily shocked, especially after Johan connected to his chin with his elbow. Johan swung his shield, edge first, at the traitor, but Kinnese leaped backwards out of Johan's reach.
Kinnese wasn't disarmed for very long. The traitor extended his hand, and a familiar violet blade formed in his grip in a crackle of Power. Johan remembered that magical sword from his previous encounter with Kinnese. And though it looked like an ornamental blade made of crystal, Johan knew it could cut through wood or flesh as easily as the sharpest blade.
“I don't remember you being so good,” Kinnese said between breaths, swinging his magical sword in front of him.
“Last time Ryker kept getting in my way,” Johan panted, “and you kept running from me.” He banged his sword blade on his shield in challenge. “Come on then.”
“No more running,” Kinnese said, and charged ahead, brandishing his construct sword. Their blades connected, and despite the violet energy that made up the blade, it felt as solid as a real sword.
Johan noticed that Kinnese had altered his style a little. He was a little slower when wielding his magical blade, but he was hitting just as hard if not harder. Numbness began to spread into his sword hand as well as his shield arm as they rocked from the strength of Kinnese's blows. Kinnese raised his blade up in a two-handed strike and Johan brought his shield up, already planning to strike after deflecting the attack, but any hopes of countering vanished when Kinnese's sword impacted on Johan's shield, the violet blade actually cleaving the shield almost in half, imbedding itself just above Johan's shield arm. Pulling backwards, Kinnese ripped the battered shreds of the shield off of Johan's arm, letting his construct sword dissipate. Kinnese followed up by slugging Johan in the face with his gloved fist, hitting Johan hard enough that he dropped his own sword as he fell backwards onto his ass. He went to grab for his sword but Kinnese's boot stepped on it as the traitor bent to retrieve his own sword.
“Part of me is actually sorry it had to end this way,” Kinnese said. “You're a good man, and gods know our country needs you. But if I'm being honest with myself, I think you and I were on a collision course no matter what. This just ends it sooner rather than later.”
“ENOUGH!!”
The words were shouted with such ear-splitting force that even Kinnese stopped, a shocked look on his face. Johan turned to look and saw a sight that made him laugh despite his looming death. The Underking's men were fleeing the burning house as Garm, Ryker, and Aleksander, with a bound man over his shoulder, walked out behind them, as calm as if they were taking a stroll on a summer's morning back home.
Kinnese stood there, confusion playing over his face when the silver haired woman called out to him, her voice as clear as if she were standing beside him.
“It's over!” she yelled in an odd, halting voice. There was a tremble in her voice that made Johan grin. “We must withdraw!”
“Oh, you are totally piked now,” Johan said to Kinnese and, despite himself, began to laugh.
“What the hell is she taking about?” Kinnese mumbled under his breath. Everything had gone well, and yet suddenly nothing was making sense. As he drew Power in, he looked around the manor courtyard. Almost half a dozen of the Underking's men were fleeing from Ryker and two other men in Outrider garb as they left the manor. Which was now engulfed in bright blue flame. Pela had apparently finished her brawl with another rather massive Outrider after, Kinnese assumed, she killed the other archer. And he himself was just about to finally kill Else. But now the kid had started to laugh, saying that he was piked? What were another three Outrider's going to do without their precious gods damned Commander?
“It's over!” Pela repeated, a touch of panic entering her voice.
“Yeah, I know,” he said, a triumphant smile on his face.
“No, you don't,” she replied, her voice urgent. “We've lost, we must flee before they engage us.”
Kinnese was speechless. What was she babbling about? They had won.
“I know these men,” Pela continued. “The one with the scars is...powerful. And the bigger one, he is the one who...ripped my former client to pieces.”
Former client...Sudden realization hit. Oh gods, Kinnese thought. “Samnusen? That's the guy who finished him?”
Pela nodded. “We must gather Mistress Naria and her coven and flee. We cannot hope to win now.”
Kinnese looked behind him. Naria was still laying prone, her four attendants kneeling around her. He could have sworn that he saw a soft corona of light intensifying from each of them. At his feet, Else continued to laugh.
“So piked,” Johan repeated as he laughed. Kinnese kicked him in the side of his smug face. Mostly just to shut him up. He couldn't believe Pela's words. These two men? He ignored that fool Ryker who hurried behind them both. Kinnese had taken Ryker's measure before, and he was nothing to be feared. But the other two? Granted, they looked like hardened soldiers, but still... He looked at the two of them, at their calm strides, and some small part of him grew uneasy. He was surprised to hear them talking as they walked towards them. Speaking as casually as if deciding what to
eat for breakfast.
“Alright,” he heard Ryker say. “Who wants Kinnese?”.
“You got to fight him before,” the scarred man said. “And Alek has got a dead Outrider traitor to his name already, so I'm taking him.”
“Fair enough,” Ryker said. “Try and keep him alive. Same with you, Alek. Don’t mangle that girl too badly. She’s pretty.”
The big man sighed loudly. “Fine.”
“Tiny, just shut up and let me rescue the Commander, would you?” Garm said.
“Make it quick,” Ryker said to them both as he changed direction. “I’m going to go find Toma. I don’t see him anywhere.”
“Check the tree line!” the big man called after him as he in turn began to stomp towards Pela.
“Thanks dad!” Ryker called over his shoulder.
What in the hells was the deal with these men? The large man shrugged his shoulders, dropping the tall, lanky man over his shoulder, who uttered curses in an unfamiliar language as he hit the ground. Four Hells, Kinnese thought. Did they almost steal the gods damned Underking right out from under him?
The one Ryker had called Garm approached him, and Kinnese felt that strange sense of unease build. But that unease was countered by his own confidence, and the joy he felt as the Power surged strong within him again. Better not give this scarred fool a chance, he still had a schedule to keep. And killing Else was next on his list. Raising his empty hand Kinnese focused the Power and a white-hot beam of light lanced from the palm of his hand towards Garm. The scarred man raised one of his own gauntlets and caught the beam in an explosion of crackling white and coral energy. Kinnese felt sudden pain in his wrist as some of the Power bled back into him, and he broke off the beam. The scarred man grinned, drew a greatsword from the scabbard across his back and charged.
Kinnese barely had time to scamper backwards and retrieve his own sword. He held his blade in a two-handed grip, preparing his counter-stroke when the scarred man whirled with his own sword, the force behind massive blade almost immediately ripping Kinnese's from his grasp as they collided. But Garm wasn't finished. He struck at Kinnese's face with the handle of his sword while trying to kick one of Kinnese's legs from under him. Leaping back, Kinnese dodged both, but barely had time to bring his sword up to block a torrent of strikes and slashes.
Despite his skill and confidence, Kinnese gaped. The scarred man wielded his greatsword with more speed and precision than a duelist with a rapier, yet he sacrificed none of his raw power. Where Else fought with superb skill, this man fought with pure ferocity, and Kinnese found himself giving ground as the Outrider pressed him. A high swing from the Outrider made the air sing, and he followed it up with thrusts at Kinnese's midsection and legs. Garm gave no time for Kinnese to counter, and Kinnese found himself drawing on more and more of the Power just to be able to stay half a second ahead of this beast. This...shouldn’t be happening.
Their two blades locked together at the pommels, and both tried to gain leverage by forcing the other man's blade downward. With his augmented strength, Kinnese began to win the battle when Garm smashed the crown of his own head into Kinnese's nose. Distracted by the pain, Kinnese lost his focus for an instant, and Garm swung their locked together blades around, ripping Kinnese's sword from his hands, and he followed up by swinging his blade level with his chest. Kinnese leaped back, but not in time. The tip of the Outrider greatsword sliced through both clothing and flesh, leaving an almost foot long slash across his chest. Pain now blossomed across his chest as he drew breath, and he could feel his blood dribbling down the back of his throat from his broken nose.
Disarmed but not dismayed, Kinnese focused and again summoned his violet construct sword. He had to be more deliberate in his thoughts while he held it, lest he break concentration and lose the blade to the Ether. But he was desperate and needed something to fend off this gods damned monster.
Garm, in response to the conjured blade, actually threw his own greatsword to the side, its blade sinking a foot into the grass. Kinnese hesitated as the man's actions confused him to no end. Garm then punched his gauntlets together and an eruption of blue-coral lighting played along the knuckles of each fist.
“Inferno,” Kinnese said between breaths, his sword held forward in a guard. “Just what in the Planes are you?”
Aleksander took three steps towards the silver haired woman who, just for an instant, looked like a fox cornered in a thicket by a pack of hunting dogs. She seemingly composed herself, knelt down to Vegard, whom she had somehow knocked down, and held her punch dagger to his throat.
“Stay back!” she shouted. Her voice had an odd accent, as if she was unused to speaking.
“One more step and I will slit his throat.”
Alek halted and assessed the woman. She had an odd, ageless beauty to her. He didn't think she was old, especially not if she had somehow taken down Vegard. From how smooth her face was, and how slim and taut her body was, she could have been in her twenties. But her gray wolf-like eyes seemed much, much older. And they were wide with fear.
Vegard, still dazed, looked up at her, a strange tiny smile on face. “You're pretty,” he mumbled as blood trickled down both sides of his mouth.
“No,” Alek said, trying to drown out the sounds of clashing blades as Garm and Kinnese dueled behind them. “No, you won’t.”
“Won't I?” she snarled. “He's the only thing between us.”
“That's true. He’s the only thing keeping you alive. I'm not planning on killing you,” Alek said. “If you let him go, you'll live. There's even a chance a resourceful person like you can somehow escape.” His face darkened, and he scowled like his memories told him to. “But if you kill him, there will be nothing that stops me from tearing you to pieces. I'll find you no matter where you hide.” The words came without his permission, but they had the desired effect. The woman gaped at him, the blade in her hand lowering slightly. Everything was silent but for the sounds of the duel between Garm and Kinnese.
“What are you?” she breathed.
“You smell nice,” Vegard babbled, distractedly running his fingers through the woman's long silver hair. “Is that coconut?”
Despite his threat, Alek couldn't help but smile at Vegard's nonsense, and the woman's grip on him seemed to slacken. Maybe he was going to end this without bloodshed after all, he dared hope. And then, without warning, Alek saw a bright flash of light and felt a strange pressure on his left shoulder, as if someone had tried to shove him. He looked down at his shoulder confused and and saw a second blast of white light hit him, this time a little harder. He looked for the source of the light when a third blast hit him and he was hurled upwards into the clear morning sky.
Kinnese fired another beam at Garm, who again blocked it with his gauntlet. At the same time, Kinnese thrust forward with his construct blade, but the bastard actually caught the blade with his other hand. The coral lighting danced up Kinnese's construct blade and into his arm. White and coral sparks scattered from Garm's gauntlet as the magical blade ground against magically-infused metal. A familiar searing pain in Kinnese's wrists broke his concentration and both his beam and his blade vanished. With a snarl, Garm connected with a punch to Kinnese's temple, the gauntlet exploding against his face with a small burst of Power that dropped him to the ground and almost knocked him unconscious. Blood poured out of his nose and the gashes on his face not cauterized from the energy released in the blow. Despite feeling consciousness draining out of him, Kinnese managed to make it to one trembling knee. As he looked up, he saw Garm about to bring another devastating punch to bear on his face when a thin tendril of white energy struck the scarred man in the shoulder, sending him flying towards the manor house. He slammed into the ground near a burning wall and fell to the ground in a heap.
Kinnese turned his head and saw Naria, propped up between two of her attendants. All of them looked pale and weak, Naria most of all.
“We have to get out of here,” she yelled, her voice trembling
and hollow.
“Oh gods, look!” one of her attendants yelled, pointing to the forest.
There was a loud crashing sound, and the creaking and groaning of breaking wood. Two large, dead trees toppled outwards into the courtyard with the hulking Outrider, Aleksander, standing behind them, his mail shirt and clothing blown off of his left shoulder, the edges still smoking and smoldering from Naria's blast. He was breathing heavily, but there was murder in his eyes when saw Naria and her girls. More movement caught Kinnese's eye as Ryker emerged from the woods, a younger Outrider behind him, their scout. Both were armed with bows. Off to his side, Else had risen to his feet and had his sword in hand.
“Pike me,” Kinnese muttered. He was too weak to summon his construct sword, or harness any of the Power at all. Garm must have concussed him with that punch. “Pela!” he called out, his words slurring, “Grab the Underking and let’s get out of here!” The weakness in his own voice scared him. Something was definitely wrong upstairs.
Pela dropped her hostage and flew to the bound figure in the sack. She bent to pick it up but couldn't manage it on her own. Out of nowhere, Undis appeared from behind their pack of horses and helped her carry the figure.
Chasing Down Glory: The Outrider Legion: Book Two Page 25
