Hunting Haidians

[Jake Narmolanya]

“Oh no,” I lamented, laying my sword along my shoulder. I winked at Selima. “What am I to do?!” I lunged at Dirk suddenly, swinging my sword in a horizontal arc at his neck.

Caught by surprise, the compact man brought his dirk up to fend off the blow and prepared a riposte with his longsword.

I changed the path of my crystal blade at the last moment, swinging it downward and slapping Dirk’s calf with the flat of the blade. He howled in pain and fell awkwardly, the muscles of his lower leg paralyzed by the blow.

Flint came swooping to his brother’s aid like a scavenging gull. As he brought his weapons to bear I pushed off the ground with my sword and spun and kicked him in the sternum with the sole of my boot. He sat down hard, gasping for air.

I laid my blade back across my shoulder and took a box step as if dancing.

“Ladies first,” I chastised as I saw Marvin reach for his mace. Aeranessa shook her long hair back and tied it in a ponytail. Selima slunk forward and cartwheeled across the open space, swiftly putting me in between them. Thankfully she had put on some loose fitting pants. “Slick,” I complimented her. “Don’t you have any weapons?”

In answer, the Fallieni threw herself into the air and performed a triple barrel roll.

“We won’t need weapons to drub you,” Nessa said. She undid the sword belt holding her elven daggers and dropped it on the ground. “We’re going to mess up that cute face of yours.” She stuck her tongue out at Selima.

“Alright,” I chuckled, and flipped my sword aside so it stuck point-first in the ground. “Hand to hand from here on out.”

Nessa came at me fast and hard while Selima cartwheeled menacingly close. The half elf threw a double jab and then a hard straight right, showing considerable pugilistic acumen. If I hadn’t been on my toes, she probably would have broken my nose. I dipped and dodged and then performed a back walkover alongside Selima as she tried to cartwheel-kick me in the head. My head wasn’t there, of course. She continued the motion in a backflip and I took the opportunity to turn and lunge straight into her.

We crashed to the ground together, my right hand using the collar of her loose shirt to choke her. Nessa came at me from behind, but I anticipated the rush and flipped her over my shoulder so I had them both pinned. I adjusted, and managed to lock the half elf’s elbow in the crook of mine, applying a painful hold. They squirmed and fought like caged squirrels, but the could not shake me loose.

“Enough,” Marvin called, “enough of this nonsense.” The giant ginger plucked the mace from its loop on his belt. “You want a real challenge? Pick up your sword!”