by Billy Wong
Their approach slowed, hinting at doubt. Huge laughed still, for no apparent reason. "A friend of ours overheard you talking to the prince, and we watched and waited to see who would get here first. Makes it easier that you did."
"Now we'll cleanse our land of the stain that is your presence," Stubbly added, "imperial bitch."
"Imperial? High Waloros doesn't seek to conquer the continent, or other additional territory." For the time being, at least.
"Don't think we can be fooled by technicalities. You're no different than the cruel empires in the stories of our world's history."
There were some valid reasons for her kingdom's less than beloved image, as no man or nation was without flaw, but envy probably also played a part. "Stories often speak in oversimplified terms. You think it's just to ambush and murder a guest of your king?"
Concern flickered through their eyes, but Long snarled, "King Darius and the people will approve after the deed is done. We will inspire them with our act, by showing it is possible to stand up to the Hierarch."
"Yes, killing me would demonstrate your ability to stand up to the entirety of High Waloros's armies," she said sarcastically. She charged, pulling the spear from her back with the first steps.
She figured if she eliminated one quick, it would change the odds to be more in her favor. Unfortunately, the only opponent who stood alone was the largest and likely most dangerous. They'd probably arranged themselves that way on purpose, too. Oh well, it couldn't be helped. The big one would have to be her target.
Huge prepared to swing his greatsword, but was forced to shift it before himself to defend as the greater reach of her spear allowed her the first strike. He backpedaled, his features taut as he frantically dodged and parried her rapid pokes. Her speartip grazed his cheek, opening a long though shallow cut. But he didn't panic, and while she had the clear advantage, his skills proved enough to save him from a telling wound for the time being. His brothers' footsteps pounded swiftly closer, and she knew she needed to put him down or she would soon be the one on the defensive.
He managed to swing back at her with a counter she had to duck. Though their plan might be cowardly, she admitted grudgingly these men weren't half bad. The others were almost on her, and Huge still hadn't shown her a weakness. If she wanted an opening from him, she'd have to make him give it. She looked back, feigning distraction. "Heh," she heard him say to himself in triumph. His blade swept across at her neck.
She rolled under it, swinging her spear behind her even before she came up in a crouch, and his high voice shrieked higher. She turned to regard him on his knees, grasping at the torn backs of his thighs. "Sleep," she said, and kicked him in the back of the head. Launched forward, he slid a few feet on his face before coming to a stop at his brothers' feet, out cold.
"She beat him like nothing," Stubbly whispered, "I can't believe it! We should just flee, I'm sure we can explain it as a misunderstanding..."
Long scowled. "No. We don't run, much less leave our family behind. We are men of Egrent. We fight."
Even though Huge might be the strongest physically, she got a feeling Long was the strongest mentally. His values weren't all unappealing either. She smiled. "I don't know if you're a good man, but you have some good in you. You should run like your brother suggests so I don't have to kill you."
"What do we look like to you, gullible children to be fooled by fantasies of godlike female warriors? You tricked Hugh"—ah, so her moniker wasn't that far off—"and took him down in a vulnerable moment as anyone can be. You won't luck out again. Two against one, you're still at a disadvantage."
"Are you certain of that?" She held out her spear in front of her. "Then, come and see!"
They rushed her as one. Three on one might have been too much, considering she hadn't faced that many on their level all alone before... but two, it didn't seem so bad. She blocked both their strikes with her long pole, the impact driving her back. She sidestepped a downward chop from Stubbly, kicked him into Long. Long nudged him out of the way and came on. She warded several smartly angled blows from him, pushed his blade down after a clash and jabbed at his eyes. He leaned far back to avoid it, but lost his balance and went stumbling away.
Stubbly took his place. He slashed wildly at her, driving her back. She waited. Ah, there it was. He lifted his sword too high and she sliced his chest with her speartip, making him yelp and stagger aside. Long returned to the fray, tried to pressure her with big, heavy swings he must think were fast based on his determined and increasingly confident expression. She let one whoosh past her face, stabbed him in the bicep of his sword arm. "Ah," he breathed, held in place for the moment. She punched him, ripping the spear free from his flesh as he was knocked down hard. She plunged it down to finish him only for Stubbly to block, his blade against her crossbar. Long wobbly gained his feet, switched his grip to his off hand.
"You're determined." She stared down the bleeding siblings whose expressions had turned grim, perhaps wondering how much longer that determination would last them.
"You are very good, I acknowledge," Long said. "The day we brought you low will be a proud day in our family's history."
"It's good to strive for high goals. But maybe not ones you'll die seeking."
They advanced together, Stubbly with a thrust, Long a downward cut. She twirled between their attacks towards them, sliced Long's flank and hit Stubbly with a spinning elbow that smashed him to the dirt. Long hobbled away cringing with pain, and she followed bringing up the spear. He closed his eyes with the realization he was about to die.
Claire sensed something moving towards her from behind. Had Stubbly recovered that fast? No, it was the other, back awake already dammit. She ducked in time to avoid decapitation, but Huge adjusted his swing and she felt his sword crash down on her back, ripping through flesh, breaking ribs. Hot blood poured down her skin, and agony made her knees weak. She hissed, but didn't scream. Even if she might die, she wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing her weakness. She turned and attempted to ram her spear through Huge's heart. He blocked and she continued forward, driving him back, back, just holding her point from his chest. His eyes widened at her strength, being able to push him before her despite his much greater size. The injury to his thighs helped, granted. He put a foot back and finally managed to stop her anyway, and she heard two pairs of feet running albeit unevenly towards her from behind. Not good...
She gave up trying to force her spearhead into him strength against strength and pulled it back. Huge grinned, more a hopeful grin than a confident one as she still saw fear in his eyes. He drew his sword back, and she lowered her spear towards the earth. While he began to swing, she used it to vault over him. He spun to face her—just in time to catch her spear through the throat. His eyes bulged, staring at her in confusion which was soon replaced by terror, and he gurgled.
"Hugh?" Stubbly asked in a small voice, turning pale.
Claire twisted the blade, then pulled it out. Huge crumpled clutching his neck, no stopping the fluid as it pumped out from the massive wound. He stilled within seconds, his lifeblood forming a small lake around his head.
She wasn't in the best shape either though. She grimaced from the pain in her back, and felt the wetness running all the way down to her legs now, tickling her butt on the way. Long and Stubbly had hesitated even after their brother fell, their wariness overriding the desire for vengeance, but they saw her weakening now and rushed. She swatted Stubbly aside with her spear before he could reach her, couldn't pull it back in time as Long thrust at her. She moved enough to avoid an immediately fatal wound, but he still pierced her upper chest. Defying all her efforts, a soft moan escaped her lips. She realized her arms had dropped to her sides, dangling with no resistance. Damn, she'd thought she was tougher than this. Stubbly ran in, sword raised to end her.
She imagined them killing Lily after they were done with her, and some of her strength came surging back. Or maybe she just had more left than she'd feared f
or that moment after the steel entered her. Her spear swung up. The pointed end of her crossbar slammed into Stubbly's cheek and went right through it. He fell away grabbing his maimed face. Long twisted his blade out of her, making pain shoot through her breast. He ducked a desperate swipe from her, darted in and slashed deep into her abdomen.
They were close now, close enough to kiss. He smiled while she gasped stupidly with mouth hanging open, her body full of pain, too hurt to try to look dignified. "Your young face... it looks so much gentler when you're dying," he said, maybe even a little sad.
Claire headbutted him in the jaw, heard a pop sound as it dislocated. It would have knocked him back, but her fingers gripping his shoulder prevented that. She pulled him down a bit and butted him again, breaking teeth though they cut her forehead. Again, flattening his nose. She felt him sag in her grasp and heard his sword thump onto the ground, but even though the impacts dizzied her too she wouldn't let go until he went limp. Or at least, that was the plan until he drew a dagger and stabbed up at her armpit. She shoved him back, making it miss—and threw a punch so hard the bones around his eye visibly gave as her fist crushed them.
Stubbly, still alive though he'd be horribly disfigured if he survived, caught Long as he tripped over his feet. They both fell, Stubbly too weak now to hold him up. The only fighter left standing, Claire set her feet farther apart to improve her chances of being able to stay that way. Yet her body felt so heavy, and her head so light... she yearned to topple over, but did her best to put on a strong front.
"We should run," Stubbly mumbled, words barely recognizable due to minding his rent cheek and the blood in his mouth. "She's still standing strong, and you've lost your sword. There's no way we can win."
Lying barely conscious in his brother's arms, his features just as mangled, Long replied in similar garbled manner, "But Hugh... and our family name... and the kingdom... we can't..."
Claire noticed tears flowing down Stubbly's face, not that she blamed him. She might be crying too from the anguish, but wasn't sure. "Please," he said, "you have to help me help you away from here. It looks like maybe she can't move that well; perhaps if we don't attack anymore, she won't chase and will let us go for now."
"She can't move? Then we should-" Long suddenly sprang up and lunged at her, but lost his balance and flopped onto his belly in front of her. She could easily have thrust her spear down and killed him then, if she didn't fall trying. But for some reason, she didn't.
"T-thank you," Stubbly croaked. He grasped his brother under the shoulders and dragged him painstakingly upright. Long didn't resist anymore as Stubbly turned him around to limp towards the door. She waited in silence until they were gone.
"Lady Claire!" Lily cried, running out from behind the training dummy she had hidden behind. "Are you all right?"
She sank to one knee, the waves of pain and drowsiness at last too much, barely able to feel her arm hugging the gaping wound in her middle. Her frame shook, and she saw that a startling amount of red soaked the dirt under her. "No, I'm not."
"What should I do? I don't think I'm strong enough to carry you for long."
She attempted to stand up, but her legs buckled and she dropped right back into her kneeling position. She had to put a hand against the ground to keep from falling down completely, and tasted warm saltiness in the liquid now welling up her throat. That last blow had struck deep. "Get h-help."
#
Theo had just left his room, having taken a while to pick between two of his favorite shirts, when Lily almost bowled him over coming around a corner. "What's wrong," he asked as she ran into his chest, "is Lady Claire having second thoughts?" Then he saw the fear in her eyes, verging on panic.
"She's hurt! She's really badly hurt..."
He sprinted through the halls towards the training yard, Lily instantly falling behind. No time to ask how it had happened, no time to do anything before knowing her condition. He opened the door to spot Claire lying facedown, a nasty gash down her back and a pool of blood under her. There was another, big body nearby, but he paid it little heed while he knelt at her side. He gently rolled her over and winced. The puncture in her chest looked bad, though not half as bad as the great wound in her stomach. Her eyes were closed, but she still breathed—shallowly. Despite expecting logically to find a scene like this, it shocked him to see her look so weak and vulnerable. Her aura had made her seem larger than life, but it turned out she was mortal after all.
Who had done this? He looked at the corpse now and stared. Hugh, of the triplet captains. And where he went, so did the other two. Theo glanced around and spotted a great trail of blood leading out of the room. He returned his gaze to Claire. So she had killed one of the triplets and seriously injured at least one more, even though they presumably attacked her at once. Amazing. He could beat at least two of the brothers individually, though he'd never dueled Hugh, but both matches had been close. For her to stand against the onslaught of all three and make them pay dearly, even possibly driving them off as he doubted they wouldn't have finished her otherwise... he didn't have to fight her now to know she was likely far above him. But she needed help soon. He tucked his arms under her to lift her, then heard footsteps behind him and froze.
It was Lily, having finally caught up. "Can you treat her," he asked, "with your healing skills?"
She looked frightened, unsure. "I don't know, her wounds are awful... and I don't have my tools. I didn't bring them thinking you probably wouldn't hurt her that bad."
He wouldn't want to, but accidents did happen. Still, he could hardly blame her. "So where are they, in your room?" She nodded. "I guess we'll have to take her there fast. Lead the way."
Lily started towards the door, Theo following with Claire in his arms. Before she reached it, a man appeared in it. He was short and stocky, a huge hole in the side of his face covered with dark blood. Rufus, he realized after a second, the smallest of the triplets. In one hand he carried his sword, and the other a throwing spear.
"Prince," he said flatly.
"Rufus, no. I know what you mean to do. Don't, she's helpless! Is this what it means to be a man of Egrent, to murder injured women unable to defend themselves?"
Without hesitating, he raised the spear. His eyes looked crazed. "Even you won't stop me, Prince. Stay out of my way or die with the object of your childish infatuation." He threw, the shining point streaking at Claire's side.
Having no time to dodge with his burden weighing him down, Theo did the only thing he could think of. He turned away, felt an impact like a punch to the right of his spine followed by sharp pain. He gasped and fell forward, the strength leaving his legs. Claire flew from his arms, rolled limply across the floor and came to rest on her back.
"No!" he heard Lily yell, and looked over his shoulder painfully to see her run at Rufus drawing a small knife. She stabbed overhand at his neck, but he caught her wrist easily and punched her. She crumpled backwards and lay there out cold.
"Should have taught your friend better, great warrior, First of Spears," he mocked as he walked over, eyeing Claire's still form like a vulture.
Theo tried to grab his ankle as he passed, but Rufus shrugged him off. "I order you, no, I command you to stop!"
"I resigned myself to death after I speared you. Royalty or not, your words have no power over a dead man." He pulled his weapon from Theo's back, making him scream.
Theo reached despondently towards Claire as Rufus aimed the spear down. "No, please don't..."
Claire's red-stained lips moved. "You of all people came back?" she asked in a whisper.
Rufus sneered. "My brother died, you foreign witch! Your demon's head and demon's fist must have pulped his brain inside his skull. He spent his last words begging me to kill you for our country. So since both my brothers are gone, I'll grant their final wish and join them."
"Stop talking about your country. It's a disgrace to your country's honor for three of its accomplished warriors to ambush a small woman
. I should remove you all to erase the stain on it." She chuckled. "You brought that spear so you could throw it into my body from afar, didn't you? Even in this state, you're scared to come near me."
"So what if I am?! You won't have that smart mouth when you're dead!" He hurled the javelin.
From her apparently helpless position, Claire caught it. "Now you've made me mad."
Rufus ran forward, swinging his sword down. "Shut up and die!" She rolled away while his blade bit into the dust and came to her knees with both his spear and her own in hand. He tried to cleave her neck. She blocked, but the impact sent her sprawling. She lurched up, waving her weapons clumsily to ward his blows. Even parried they knocked her around in her weakened condition, and Theo thought it a matter of time before she would lose. Rufus sent her reeling with a heavy slash, grinned as she caught herself against a practice dummy. He drew his sword back for the final strike.
With unexpected speed, she pushed off herself off the dummy and caught his blade on the spear taken from him with an aggressive block. She thrust her spear deep into his left shoulder. "Guh..." While the pain hampered him, she wrenched his sword aside and down. Before he could bring it up again, she stabbed into his other shoulder. She stood, pushing him back by the poles until she pinned him against a wall.
"Claire?" Theo said in a small voice. He managed to get up, though his back hurt immensely. "What are you going to..?"
"Not deep enough yet," she muttered. "Deeper." She shoved the spearheads in until their widest points had disappeared into his joints. The blade fell from his now slack fingers. "That's better."
Rufus spat in her face. "Cruel, like an agent of the Hierarch should be." He seemed to know what was coming, and though Theo had tried not to comprehend, he too began to get an idea.
