Tarin, Eagle Inn
The
dagger flipped over once as the masked man sprung out of its path, landing surely within Callum’s waiting grip. He hadn’t really held any expectation that the surprise attack would work out, so much as he was open to the idea of getting exceptionally lucky—
—A proposition that seemed more and more unlikely as time went by.
He didn’t waste any time, quickly moving as soon as he caught his weapon. The air shimmered around his left hand, seeming to harden into a translucent shield the size of a dinner plate. The greater part of the masked man’s spell passed him by as he made a wide step out of the way, the motes that came close enough to worry over quickly slapped harmlessly aside with the shield, made to defend as well against spells as it could against any blade.
”Aye, let’s,” he agreed, holding both dagger and shield forward as though he had a small sword in his hand. Behind, he heard the sound of the door as the innkeeper rushed out, likely to grab the actual city guard. Hopefully they might come in numbers enough to provide more backup than Anabel’s own had done.
But there was no time to wait for help! Callum lunged forwards, the tip of his dagger aimed to slice inward at the man’s free arm and armpit.
“You really are persistent, aren't you…” The masked man growled under his breath as he stepped back, out of range of the daggers' short width.
His eyes had caught the innkeeper fleeing, and he clicked his tongue. Annoying. There would be the city guard to deal with soon. He didn't have time to play games with this young noble, unfortunately.
His fingers raised, and an assault of electrical sparks filled the air around Callum. Thick enough to make edging through them impossible. If touched, these sparks would cause Daze, stunning Callum with a powerful shock.
At the same time, the masked man sidestepped with his captive Anabel, vaulted a table, and dove for the door. Time was of the essence, after all.
Callum grit his teeth as the air around him filled with dancing sparks, built around him almost like a cage. The man had evaded his attacks multiple times over—first with a lucky dodge, the second by managing to throw himself back enough to make space such that a fast cut couldn’t even catch him after the thrust failed. He’d come back into a guard position...
...Just to find that he’d been put in time out.
Unable—un
willing—to step through his new cage and risk whatever fate awaited him for testing the magic, he transferred the dagger to his left hand, gripping it alongside the ephemeral shield that hovered just beyond his knuckles. He spun on the ball of his foot as the man passed him by and hopped over a table. He didn’t need to be
free to hinder this man, he just had to shift his focus...
Not the spear, not the spear...The green gem on his ring glowed, and through the tavern’s open door back to the inn, the sound of splintering wood and shattering glass was unmistakable from behind the desk where the innkeeper met his visitors
and kept their primary weapons secure. A
sword flew into view of the doorway, throwing its scabbard backwards with a single spin, dropped slightly as it did so, following the smallest gesture of Callum’s hand—and the kidnapper would find the end of it cleanly positioned to slice into his diving head as it spun.
The sword spun, almost in slow motion, as it soared towards the masked man.
Before there was a sickening
crunch as the sword sank into the man's head.
He froze there for a long moment. But there was no tell-tale sign of collapsing, no sinking to his knees and toppling over. No. Instead, the man slowly moved his hand, gripped the sword, and pulled it out.
The man scoffed, tossing the sword at Callum's feet.
“Boy, you still have so much to learn.”Despite the slice through his mask, he seemed in perfect health. No blood, no sign of injury. It was strange.
Thunderous footsteps approached the tavern, and the door burst open. Guards of a higher level, wearing arcane robes and hands held at the ready, stormed the room, semi-circling around the masked man and the captured Anabel.
“Halt! Let go of the girl, and surrender!” One of the guards shouted.
The masked man simply laughed, looking over his shoulder at them. He hefted Anabel once, like a shrug, before levelling his masked eyes at Callum.
“Seems our little dance has been cut short. Perhaps I'll see you again, little man.”In a swift, fluid movement, he hurtled Anabel at the guards. In the next instance, he had a small tube in his hand with a latch. He snapped it taut, and it exploded in a flash of light. And, as the light faded, so too had the masked man disappeared.
The sword lifted again into the air after being tossed to the ground; regardless of whatever magic let the man survive a sword burying itself halfway through his skull without damage, it wouldn’t stop Callum from making the effort to cut him apart entirely if it was necessary. With the more adept guards stepping in, however, it seemed the effort wouldn’t be necessary. Anabel was thrown forwards, caught by a pair of the robed guards, and the would-be kidnapper—
—Blinded them all for a moment and disappeared without even the sound of footsteps to mark where he’d gone.
The glowing motes surrounding the red-haired squire disappeared alongside their maker, fading away and letting him step forward to take his sword in hand rather than leave it floating in the air. While he might have preferred that they could capture the man, the fact that he’d not been able to abscond with his target was enough of a win to count for salvaging Callum’s, thus far,
terrible day.
”Tsk. Foreigners.”Unfortunately for Callum, his scabbard was back near the innkeeper’s desk where it had been thrown back, past the threshold that the guards now stood in, closer to the outermost door they’d burst in through. Somehow, he doubted they’d let him get past with the sword still drawn, not while Anabel was still recovering her breath from being so bodily hefted and thrown around.
”Bruised, my lady?” he asked mildly, ignoring the guards for a moment and focusing back on Anabel herself.
”You should be alright otherwise, I hope; I know you were surprised, but I was being careful not to put you in any more risk than the situation already held.”Anabel pulled herself up with the help of the guards, a hand over her abdomen where all her weight had been hung from. She quietly gritted her teeth, refusing to cry, squeezing her eyes.
Before her breath settled, and she opened her eyes a bit.
“I… need to get back to Her Majesty. She needs to know…”Her eyes turned up to Callum.
“Will you come with me?”The guards, however, were far more wary. They eyed Callum with distrust, suspicion.
“Drop the sword, young man.”Anabel turned to look at them, wincing slightly.
“This man saved my life. He's with me. With House Furino.”The guards hesitated. One stepped forward.
“You'll take responsibility of him, Lady Furino?”Anabel stood a little straighter, trying to appear taller despite her small stature, and nodded her head.
“Yes.”The guards stared for a moment, looked at each other, before nodding, and withdrawing their swords and magic. One glanced at Callum.
“You best be thanking your lucky stars, young man.”Callum had been about to answer Anabel’s request before the guards spoke up instead, issuing commands and then veiled threats after they were ordered to stand down. Given the effort that he had
just put in to try and delay the kidnapper long enough that he
couldn’t just abscond with the little lady, he was more than a little insulted by it all. He walked through the guards over to where his scabbard had been tossed, carefully sliding the sword back in, before facing the one that had just addressed him.
”I rather think you’re the ones who should be thankful for how lucky you were, no?” he replied coldly. If he wanted to be charitable, he might assume that the one who had spoken up was a junior member, fairly fresh to the field...but that didn’t mean that such injudiciousness should go unaddressed.
”I can’t imagine any of your prospects would have been very bright had he managed to make off with her like he intended. Why don’t you be a good boy and see to those other two, instead of embarrassing yourself trying to threaten me?”He pointed at the first two guards that had run in, Anabel’s personal entourage, who were still lying senseless on the floor, before turning back to the little Lady Furino.
”When do you intend to leave? I haven’t even unpacked any of my things, so I can be ready as soon as I carry them down and grab my horse.”The guard that had addressed Callum had turned a shade of red, turning abruptly and grumbling under his breath. The semi-circle dispersed, guards moving to attend to the collapsed men, while others went to find the innkeeper.
Anabel glanced an eye to her men, her face a careful mask to hide the horror that was sinking in. She had almost been taken, after all.
“Within the hour. If we ride hard, we can take a ship to the Grand Bank from Hathforth before Her Majesty leaves for Athius.”Lady Furino turned her little self to Callum, looking up at him.
“Thank you. I… don't know what would have happened to me had he taken me away. Her Majesty will want to see you, of course. She will likely reward you.”Callum gave a noncommittal shrug.
”A mess like that isn’t something that anybody should just stand by and watch,” he replied—loudly enough that no few of the tavern’s remaining patrons, who’d been present before the fight began, could hear.
”That accent wasn’t anything from Arrowfell. It’s one thing if we’re all at each other’s throats, but letting outsiders try and play their games with us is a step too far.”He was, perhaps, a bit annoyed that Raiden had left town so early, and not been around to get browbeaten into helping with the fight against the would-be kidnapper. He doubted that the man would help entirely willingly—he didn’t seem the sort—but such lofty ideals as mutual respect and honourable conduct were the bread and butter of members of Callum’s chosen profession, and sweeping others up into such high expectations was a matter of course. On top of that, the man
did at least look like he knew how to fight.
He looked around the tavern once more; the robed guards were all attending to their own business, the chastised one pointedly avoiding his gaze, but none of them let Anabel venture out of their line of sight. Compared to before, she likely couldn’t be any safer.
”Well. I’ll be up to gather my things, then. Get a drink, would you? They should have some sort of small ale here suitable for ladies of your stature.”Those parting words, with an accompanying pat on Lady Furino’s shoulder, were delivered with an entirely straight face that he managed to hold until he made it up to the room where he’d expected to stay the night. He unwound the belt from around the scabbard of his sword, putting it back on around his waist, before hefting the pack that held his few sets of extra clothing and travelling gear. The only things left were his horse and spear, both together in the stable below.
He drew out Raiden’s little missive again, looking down at it with a furrowed brow and a sigh.
”Really. Athius? What, has the queen figured out how to turn us all into fish now?” He shook his head. Despite being from a town that was so focused on fishing and maritime trade...
”I hate boats.”
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