Nighttime Dealing

[Sparrow]

Having been raised on the seas in the ways of the scoundrel, Erutan was more than capable of seeing that in this brief one second distraction, there was more than enough time for him to get out of this sticky situation. He had almost put out the fire on his pants and even though his entire leg from the thigh down seemed to be subject to third degree burns, the pain was at least alleviating for the moment. His eyes saw that his assailant had now turned his attention ever so brief at the sudden newcomer. The pirate instantly took his chance. His already dirty hand scrounged around the area nearby, searching for his weapon.

Horror filled his face, taking the place of the blood which slowly drained from it. However, his swift mind instantly clenched tightly, grabbing as much dirt as it could within his grasps. It was a dirty trick but as seen from the layer of god knows what covering his entire body, Erutan was not adverse to playing nasty. He instantly swung with all of his might, throwing the mud in the direction of the blond hair. Instantly, he watched as the mage took a few step backwards, his free hand rising to his face to sweep it away. It was all the time Erutan needed.

"Mate, mage or not... sanity or not... You gotta protect the one thing all men protect..."

Instantly, the pirate's leg muscles flexed and he kicked upwards. He watched in sadistic glee as his foot, namely his metatarsals contacted with the elf's groin. What the pirate found particularly amusing was the sight of his face as the disgust at the mud slowly turned to utter, incredulous agony. In a few moments, the tables were turned as the mage slowly fell to the ground and the pirate acrobatically jumped to his feet, spying his rapier and grabbing it as he stood up. He winced slightly at the pain in his feet, but he withstood it.

For a while.

"Bloody hell, that hurts... Well," he chuckled. "Not half as much as what I just did to you. But mate, you have to understand. These are the finest pants that some elven bigwig wore. And I borrowed them off him. Now, if he wasn't already dead, how am I going to return them in this condition? You have to have some empathy for your fellow man."

It was then that the foolish pirate realized his mistake. There was someone else in the woods, the one that had briefly stolen the mage's attention.

And he was still out there. He thought about killing the mage, afraid that he might make another move once his testicles returned to their rightful area but he was no master strategist.

He was just a pirate.

[Lighthawk76]

Pay no attention to this.

[Darkhawk76]

I delved slowly. Speed was needed, but if the man caught on, speed wouldn’t help. His mind was sharp and quick. His thoughts were already on crafting a spell, ready to reach out and make the magic happen. He was dangerous, and I needed to make him not dangerous.

I saw the pirate faintly, a strange mixture of my own senses and that of the elf’s. He was moving, or running, or cringing, my mind didn’t really comprehend it. All was focused on entering the elf’s mind, or finding that which could help me.

Everything suddenly exploded, sight and sound and smell disappearing in favor of the raw sense of pain. I felt it in an odd way, sensing and partaking in the feeling without actually experiencing it.

Still, I took advantage of the situation, diving into his mind quickly and roughly, knowing that he would be too worried about his problems down low rather than those occurring in his mind.

I passed through quickly, seeing the elf’s mind. Pictures of his allies swept past, many painted with hatred, others with loyalty, some with lust. I took a quick turn reading the reason for him being here. They were mercenaries, part of an outfit that trafficked illegal goods between Raiaera and Alerar. I took the information for myself and left.

I had no need to incapacitate the elf. The other man had apparently done enough.

As I left the others mind, returning fully to my own, I felt the presence of the man who called himself a pirate. His mind pulsed outwards with inebriation, his only goal for the moment being self-preservation.

Another mind was felt though. It was malicious and playful, ready to strike.

As soon as I was back in my own brain I screamed a warning to the man. “There’s another!”

I prayed for him to get away in time. The mind I felt was ready to attack.

Sadly, I failed to realize who the attack was truly intended for. I felt the whip encircle my neck and pull me down roughly, my head slamming hard against the ground.

Through my dazed eyes I saw a strong, ebony arm lift and encircle my head, nestling it between two, warm pillows.

“Hands up, or I snap his neck.” Malicious, playful, and female.

[Telum]

His daggers had dropped from his hands after the initial strike from the Malleus Verax, and now Jaxle was scurrying on his hands and knees to avoid another wildly swinging kick from Telum. Jaxle narrowly avoided the strike, but could still feel the breeze of the passing foot, while the momentum from the kick swung Telum around so that he momentarily had his back towards the grounded drow. A soft glint of light caught Jaxle’s eye as he struggled with what to do next, and he realized that his daggers lay directly between himself and the human warrior who was now turning around. Jaxle shot forward.

Telum, egger to resume combat also rushed forward, unaware that he was taking part in an action sequence that he had witnessed in countless plays. Undoubtedly he would have laughed. Jaxled did a diving roll and grabbed his daggers as Telum continued to rush forward. The drow righted himself just as Telum brought his rock hard knee forward to meet the Jaxle’s face. Lashing out more due to instinct than any real combat sense, the drow managed to lodge one dagger into Telum’s upper right thigh as his knee cap crunched into Jaxle’s face like a hammer falling onto a nail.

Both warriors collapsed too the ground. The drow was barely conscious while Telum’s leg folded under him when his momentum required him to put his weight onto his leg that had been stabbed.

The trouble for Jaxle was that Telum enjoyed a good ground fight anyways.

[Sparrow]

It seemed as though events were folding out just like how Erutan wanted it, in his favor.

A warning rang in his ears, just moments after he had attacked and gotten rid of that annoying elven mage. Instinctively, he felt his fingers tighten around the grip of his rapier, the weapon's blade vibrating slightly. He didn't know what happened but the pirate soon knew, something behind him quickly catching his attention. A female voice, and quite a sexy and sultry one at that. The pirate blessed his premonition of danger, quickly making a turn in the direction of the threat, pointing his sword at whoever the owner of the voice was.

It turned out that the owner was just as attractive as the voice was. She held someone the pirate had never seen at the neck, in the position to kill him at any moment. Erutan had been in this kind of situation before and was completely unfazed by the situation that was playing itself out in front of him. He slowly lifted his head into the light, revealing his features. His facial hair parted to the side as his smile only widened.

"Sorry, darling... but obviously you weren't around before."

The pirate lifted his free hand into the air, extending his index finger and pointed it at himself. Letting out a soft chuckle, he turned his body posture away from the woman.

"Pirate. Scallywag. Asshole, really."

And at that, he turned and bolted off.

[Lighthawk76]

If I do this again, dock from my score.

[Darkhawk76]

My head cleared slowly. Though not too slowly. As soon as I felt the arm encircling my neck, poised to twist the life out of me, I knew not to move. My eyes focused to see the man standing up. He entered the light, apparently trying to look heroic. I was afraid he would do something stupid. People have a tendency to. I just needed him to fling another handful of mud.

I started thinking about what I could do once the female dark elf was occupied with the man. I probably would only have a few seconds, and I had to use them to get away.

Sadly, the man had other ideas in mind. I didn’t hear what he said, but I saw him bolt.

I made a mental note to make sure he regretted this later.

“Huh,” said the dark elf behind me, a strange sound coming from such a sultry voice, “I thought you humans watched out for each othUHH!”

I slammed my head back into her chest as she spoke, her grip loosening just enough for me to slip out onto the ground.

Allow me to take this moment to explain a few things. When people think of a battle between two warriors they imagine two soldiers hacking away at each other for hours on end with longs swords or axes. Sometimes they imagine a pair of knife wielders, ducking dodging and cutting for hours on end.

In truth, only the first occurs. Two knife wielders do not have the stamina for a long battle. Strikes are quick, normally numbering below ten. Some time in there, you can gauge whether it is healthier to kill your opponent or run.

Following the above rules, the dark elf woman and I entered combat.

My dagger flicked out of my wrist, coming across at her throat, now above me. She rolled back, and heard her draw a weapon, a small one.

I rolled to the side, pulling my legs in and coming up in a crouch. The female had a pointed stiletto in her hand, one created for killing stabs. Her whip lay forgotten on the ground.

She came at me quickly, not giving me time to attack. I stood quickly, dodging a sweeping stab that would have gone right through my stomach. She kept her momentum, turning to come in for another stab at my neck. I twisted opposite her turn, putting my back to a tree. Her billowing cloak masked her from my view for a second, but I moved as soon as I saw her coming out from behind it.

Two darts imbedded themselves in the tree trunk. A third missed me.

She smiled, drawing a dagger much like my own. “You’re lucky.” Not to be outdone, I flicked my own stiletto out. We were matched weapon for weapon.

If you have been keeping count, there have been fours strikes, three made by her. A few more from her and it would be healthier for me to run.