Chapter 33: Swordplay

Irin saw the initial surprise on the faces of the group she was sprinting towards. Then they snapped out of it, and one of them reached for his bow and an arrow. Irin hoped her shield would block the arrow she was sure was coming her way. Then there was a rumble, and the ground began to shake. Irin focused on not falling over as a giant wall of soil split the group in front of her in two. The wall blocked the mage and the shaman from her view, which also meant they couldn't see her.

"What the fuck!" the man with the bow shouted as he tried to keep his balance.

"Don't worry about it. Eldar and I will deal with this. You take care of the one with the dagger," Irin heard someone on the other side of the wall shout. Irin smiled; she was almost upon the group, and their bows were nearly useless. The man holding the bow recognised this too and threw it aside, pulling out a small sword. His friends had an assortment of swords and clubs. Irin's smile grew brighter; it was time. She rarely got to use her sword, but it was her favourite way of fighting. She put away her dagger and drew the sword from her back instead.

"In the holy name of Alesseja!" she shouted, and the shield she had put up vanished as her magic was channelled into the sword. It ignited with pale green flames.

"What the fuck! Who are these people?" the first man in front of Irin shouted.

"What now?" someone from the other side of the wall called.

"She has a freaking burning sword!" the man, now staring at Irin with fear, replied.

"So? It's just a fancy sword. Kill her! You're a fucking man, she's a woman. How hard can it be?" came the reply from the other side of the wall. Irin didn't have the focus to rein in her temper with everything happening, and she let her anger fuel her magic. She would show them what a small, human woman could do. The first man who came for her was a huge human, almost as big as Koth, and he wielded a giant wooden club studded with iron nails. He looked confident as he rushed towards her. Irin raised her sword into a battle stance and felt her years of practice kick in. She was working on muscle memory now. Her sword flowed down in front of her, cutting the air, missing the man with the club by an inch. It wasn't a miss; it was deliberate. The blow served two purposes. The first was to make her opponent skid to a halt. If he hadn't, he would have impaled himself on the now extended sword. Irin was pleased to see her opponent wouldn't be able to hit her with his club at this distance, meaning he needed to move closer where her sword could inflict harm. That had been the second purpose of her swing: establishing a safe zone for herself and making her opponent understand that he wouldn't get an easy victory, even if he was larger than her. The human grunted as he re-evaluated Irin. He swung his club, and she parried it with her sword. His blows were as tactical as her first swing; they were getting to know each other. Irin would have found it fun if it weren't for the fact that three other individuals were advancing towards her. She would have four opponents to fight at once. The only way she was getting out of this alive was if she could take down one, preferably two, of them in the first clash. Irin was aware that there was no magic being used on her. She hoped it meant Koth was doing well and keeping the druid and mage busy.

"Who wants to die first?" Irin asked her opponents, trying to sound braver than she felt. They laughed as an elf with a one-handed sword launched his attack. He was skilled with his weapon, but so was Irin. She backed off a couple of steps and let her flaming blade meet his silver one. The elf looked like he expected a quick fight. Arrogance she could use, Irin thought, and changed her stance from a high guard to a low one, trying to make it look like her arms were tired and that was the reason for the change. The elf smirked, thinking she had left her head and shoulders unprotected, and attacked her head. Irin smirked as she quickly let her sword flow upward, slicing the elf from his hip to his shoulder. The look of surprise on his face as he dropped his sword and fell to his knees, using his hands to try to stop the bleeding and keep his insides where they belonged. Irin sent a quick prayer to her goddess for his soul and then focused on the others. Her little trick of pretending to drop her guard wouldn't work again, but she had other tricks up her sleeve.

The fighting was hard and tricky. Irin had taken out her first two opponents quickly, which was good, but it had made the two others more careful. They didn't fall for her traps as easily as the first two had. The grass field had been trampled as they moved in circles over a small area. The ground was still wet from melting snow and fresh blood, turning it into a mud field. Irin had felt herself slip more than once in the sticky substance that covered the bottom of her dress and her boots. Every now and then the ground shook, and the wall of soil changed its shape, making fighting more difficult, but Irin was happy every time she felt it; it meant Koth was alive and fighting. Irin moved to her left, pretending to attack the human with the club, trying to make him move to a patch where she had seen the ground was almost all mud and no grass. When he stepped onto the slippery patch, she launched her real attack. Her sword swung forward as she followed through, moving diagonally to stay behind its protective area. She hit his arm, and he bellowed as a large gash opened up. His friend, an agile gnome with more blades than Irin could count, attacked her when he thought she was distracted. Irin swung her sword to cover her side, and his attack was blocked. She wheeled the sword in an arc and attacked the gnome from below, almost hitting him, but he managed to back away at the last second. The human was now coming at her on her right, able to swing his club with only one hand, as the other arm hung limp at his side. Irin completed her upward swing and then let the sword fall in a downward motion to her right, hitting the human where his neck met his shoulder, and he fell in a heap.

"You bitch! I will kill you!" the gnome screamed.

"Three of your friends have tried and failed. I don't see you being the exception," she told him, feeling confident. She only had one opponent to focus on for the first time since the fight had begun. The gnome was fast, and he tried to use it to get around Irin's sword. To Irin's advantage, she knew how he fought, as they had been at it for a long while. She tried to be smart about her attacks and blocks, not swinging her sword uncontrollably and losing the ability to change its direction. The long fight was taking its toll, and she felt her energy draining, not her magic, but her physical strength. She needed to end this and then she needed to help Koth. For a second she was distracted, and the gnome used the opportunity well, closing within striking distance and swinging a dagger at her heart. Irin acted on instinct and blocked the dagger with her arm, feeling the pain as it pierced her lower arm. She let her sword swing diagonally in her hands, coming up from below and dealing a fatal blow to the gnome. For a moment, Irin just stood there, breathing, fighting the sharp pain in her arm and trying to gather her energy to get back to Koth. After a deep breath, she started jogging back, her eyes searching for him. When she found him, she felt relief wash over her. He was almost in the same spot where she had left him. He had taken off his cloak to use the symbols that adorned his skin. He looked powerful, and Irin felt a spike of something she didn't want to think about. He also looked tired, and despite the cool spring air, he was sweating. His focus was on something on the other side of the earth wall. Irin hurried her steps to get to a point where she could see around the wall and help him. A movement behind Koth drew her attention. There was another gnome, and he had sneaked up behind Koth. Irin felt herself go cold as she saw the dagger in his hand.

"Koth!" she screamed, summoning a prayer and sending a bolt of magic towards the gnome. Koth looked in her direction, and Irin thought he looked relieved as he saw her. Then his face distorted in pain as the gnome sank his dagger into Koth's back a heartbeat before the gnome was hit by Irin's magic. Irin's world stopped as she watched Koth fall to his knees.