“Seems innocent enough.” The Arrow-stallion drew his cloak tighter as the rain battered away at us on the Freeport streets. An arc of lightning on the horizon briefly lit the street as we stood opposite the restaurant the Alya-mare had designated as our meeting point. Siri’s Special Surprise was a Zebrican-style restaurant, its brightly colored sign with flowing script promised warm food in a family-friendly restaurant. The Alya-mare and this one had eaten there on several occasions. Whether this was a good sign this one wasn’t entirely sure yet.
“So it does. Still, I think we both know better than to trust appearances.” This one looked up and down the street for dangers. The sun had set by now, and between the late hour and continual downpour, the area was nearly deserted.
“Plenty of ways to get killed while sitting down for a friendly meal,” the Arrow-stallion remarked.
“Exactly.” This one shot him a sideways grin. “I hope you can help keep an eye out for most of them.”
“This isn't my first guarding job.” The Companions sergeant tightened his grip on his halberd and also eyed the streets for lurking threats. “I'm thinking of leaving someone outside to keep an eye on things just in case. The rest of the squad should come inside in case things get dicey.”
“You know what you're doing, I won't micromanage.” This one moved to cross the street. “Just keep me alive long enough to pay you.”
“Oh, I plan on doing just that.” The Arrow-stallion gave some quick instructions to a member of his squad to stay on lookout before giving this one a grin. “The bonus for keeping you alive is going to pay off my mortgage with money to spare.”
“Glad to hear it.” You got what you paid for, and this one very much wanted to stay alive. Given the dangers presented to this one’s life, it seemed wisest to make sure this one’s mercenary bodyguards stayed put to do their job. As mercs were fond of saying, you can’t get paid if you’re dead, and the prospect of likely death was the second most common cause for a merc to abandon a client. The last thing this one wanted to happen was for its guard to suddenly decide the dangers for keeping this one alive weren’t worth the risk, and so it had offered a generous bonus for those that saw the job through to the end.
When we got across the street, the Arrow-stallion stopped this one with a hoof on the shoulder. “You sure we can trust this zebra you're about to meet? You said you’ve known her for a long time, but... Let’s just say I’ve seen people get funny where things like money are concerned. Money can tear even families apart. One of the nastiest scuffles I got into was when everyone decided to throw down during a funeral over the will.” He pointed to a scar on his cheek that was partially obscured by his plumbed helmet. “She might have been your friend, but friends can make for the worst enemies.”
This one was slow in answering. “A few months ago I wouldn't have had any doubt. Now? I'm not sure trust is a luxury I can still afford, but let's not start anything unless she does.”
The Arrow-stallion nodded. “Right. So be cautious, but don't start cracking skulls until we have good reasons?”
“Exactly.” This one wanted to give the Alya-mare an opportunity to explain things. At the very least this one might get some intel on what was going on with its organization, but talks like these could become very tense. A lack of trust could make even the most innocent of actions or words come across as sinister or insulting. But regaining control of this one’s organization would go much smoother if the Alya-mare cooperated with the process. We had known each other for years, had a good working relationship and mutually benefited from each other. Hay, we were friends, even. Hopefully those things would carry through to the end.
This one took a breath before opening the door. “Come on, let’s get out of the rain.”
This one briefly lamented that the Heartstrings-mare wasn’t here. Doubtless she would have made some off-color joke about being wet, and that might have brought some badly needed levity. Not to mention it would have been nice to have someone whom this one trusted to watch its back. But she was many miles away right then, and this one had a job to do.
The restaurant was a nice and inviting, its decor warm and bright with red, orange, and yellow drapes, pictures of Zebrica’s plains and cities, and floral arrangements. It was nearly abandoned due to the late hour and rainy weather, but after quickly scanning the area for any nasty surprises, this one’s eyes were mostly focused on the mare sitting at a table in one of the corners. This one approached her with its guards in tow.
The Alya-mare had seen better days. There were heavy bags under her eyes, and the left side of her face was marred by a nasty-looking bruise that was only half-healed, and her right foreleg was bandaged up. There were also a couple of new wrinkles on her face this one didn’t remember. Four guards stood around her as she got up from the table and there was a hard, wary look behind her eyes as she watched this one approach.
“Alya,” this one said, keeping its tone formal. “It seems things got rather interesting while I was away.”
“You can say that.” She frowned at this one. “Is it really you?”
This one couldn’t blame her for being cautious. This one was far from the only shapeshifter in Freeport, and this one wasn’t in one of its typical disguises. What’s more, between all the weapons, armor, wands, gems, and talismans this one was wearing, it was equipped like it was going to fight a war.
“It is.” This one gave her the passphrase we shared to tell her it was indeed who it said it was.
The Alya-mare returned with her own half of the passphrase and let out a relieved sigh. “Good, it is you. I was worried.” She sat down at her table where some food had already been served, and some of the tension left her body—but only some.
This one sat opposite her and placed down a runic stone that it activated. There was a brief shimmer in the air as we gained a measure of privacy from its magic. “So what happened?
The Alya-mare stared at her soup as she slowly stirred it. “Even today I’m not entirely sure. Everything was going okay for a couple of weeks after you left, and then we had one of our regularly scheduled meetings. I got worried when Blackwing and Gustav didn't show, so I got out of there—only to run into Gustav and his soldiers getting ready to ambush the meeting spot. I barely got out of the net alive.” She rubbed her shoulder, still not looking up at this one. “Next thing I knew, Blackwing and Gustav were attacking all our businesses, the ... extralegal ones, anyways, along with my legal businesses. They just started trying to take everything over or, more often than not, burn them all down. The only good news is that they’ve largely left your legitimate businesses alone.”
“Probably because that’d be much more likely to bring the condottieri down on their heads. Some dirty dealings in the underworld is acceptable as long as it doesn’t cause too much trouble for everyone else, but attacking bakeries or merchants is something else entirely.”
“Right.” The Alya-mare’s ears flattened. “Though they’ve really put me through the wringer. Even my bank accounts have been shut down.”
This one’s head tilted. “How did they manage that?”
The Alya-mare rubbed one of her eyes as her fatigue showed itself. “I’m not sure. In the middle of everything falling apart, I got a message saying that my accounts had been selected as part of a random governmental audit and irregularities had been found that resulted in them being locked, pending investigation. That really hurt my ability to fight this street war. If I had access to all the funds I could have hired enough mercenaries to take the fight to Gustav, and buy the services of those with the specialized skills needed to hunt down and deal with Blackwing. Instead I got hobbled right out the gate.”
“Money does make everything easier.” This one would bet a million ducats that the Alya-mare’s bank accounts being shut down by the government wasn’t a coincidence. No, this was all part of a much larger game.
But why had the Alya-mare been targeted? Was it because she was close to this one, or was there another reason? Had this one’s other lieutenants been similarly targeted? Most importantly, who had managed to trigger the audit to start with? This one didn’t think the Gustav-gryph had the resources to pull something like that off. Blackwing might if he managed to convince the right officials to do as he wanted, but it wasn’t really his style. Though considering the assassin this one had attacked, and everything it had found out in the condottieri barracks, this one was starting to think a bigger player was pulling the strings.
This one frowned as it digested this information, being careful to listen both to what she was—and wasn’t—saying. “So they both turned on you with no warning or provocation?”
She shook her head. “None that I detected. Everything seemed fine before it all suddenly exploded. I can only imagine they were planning this for some time, given how suddenly they turned on me and how quick they were to start undermining my end of the organization.”
“Are the two of them working together then?”
“No.” The Alya-mare frowned deeply. “They’re definitely fighting one another, in their own ways. Gustav's been like a bull in a glass shop, and he's done a lot of damage to our money making operations. It's been a struggle to hold his mercs off. Blackwing, big surprise, is playing clever. He’s only attacking in times and places of his choosing—little pokes and cuts to slowly bleed the both of us like setting businesses on fire and assassinating specific targets. All while protecting his people and assets and keeping everything secret from us. I don’t even know where he’s operating out of these days. He isn’t holding any ground, but keeps bleeding us every time we try and hold anything valuable.”
This one rubbed its chin. “Still, that's odd. They had to know I would be coming back, especially as things dragged out for months.”
The Alya-mare shrugged. “I don't know what is going on in their heads. I've tried to form parleys with both of them, but I've gotten nowhere. They’ve just refused to come to the table and talk. Gustav wants me to surrender unconditionally, and Blackwing ... well I don’t even know what he wants. Either my emissaries can’t find him or they never come back at all.”
“Perhaps they would be willing to talk with me. My return to Freeport does change the equation.” Not to mention the Alya-mare might be lying or coloring the facts. Little surprise, she would want this one to go after her opponents whatever the truth might be for how everything started. Preferably, this one would get the opportunity to talk with both of its wayward lieutenants. They might have very different stories to tell than the Alya-mare. This one hated to think that about the Alya-mare, that she might be trying to manipulate and trick this one, but this one couldn’t let its personal feelings cloud its vision.
“You can try, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.” The Alya-mare dropped her spoon, having lost her appetite. “They’re not exactly going to be trustworthy after all they’ve pulled.”
“It’s worth a shot,” this one said. “And even if it doesn’t work, this one can at least gauge what each of them is thinking. Options open up if you know where their thought processes are and how their organizations are doing.”
“True.” The Alya-mare rubbed the bridge of her muzzle. “The good news is that they should be worn down by all the fighting. Maybe they’ll be willing to come to the table.”
“We’ll see.” this one leaned forward in its seat. “Speaking of the fighting, this one wanted to ask about its office and what happened to the Penny-mare.” In addition to personal reasons, this one wanted to get the Penny-mare back because she knew several things this one didn’t want just anyone to know.
The Alya-mare’s ears perked and she spoke with a slow and deliberate tone. “What have you found out thus far? The rumor mill says that she was captured at the same time your office got burned down.”
“Not as much as this one would like,” this one said, carefully reading her reaction. “It would seem someone kidnapped the Penny-mare. This one would like to confirm who did it and get her back.”
“Do you have any leads on where to find her?”
“This one is working on it. Though it was rather curious—”
The Arrow-stallion interrupted this one as he stared at a red gem that was now glowing. “Sir, we've got a problem.”
This one glanced at him out of the corner of its eye and felt a growing sense of unease. “What is it?”
“The guard outside is signaling that trouble is on the way.” The Arrow-stallion nodded to his fellow guards, who were now warily looking at the entrances to the restaurant. The Alya-mare was also quickly tossing on her bag, her own guards also glancing everywhere for potential threats.
This one stood from its seat. “What sort of trouble?”
Shattering windows answered the question for him. Armored individuals poked their crossbows through the broken windows and aimed. Not being the first time this had happened to this one, it flipped over the table it had just been sitting at and dived behind it. The Alya-mare joined it not a second later as we heard the thwang of crossbows firing. Bolts thumped into and partially penetrated the table. Most everyone else had taken cover as well, but one of the Alya-mare’s guards was too slow in reacting and paid for it when a bolt slammed into his shoulder, causing him to fall to the ground with a cry of pain.
“Damnit, not again.” The Alya-mare pulled a bottle from a bandolier, stood, and tossed it before quickly dropping back down again. Before the crossbow wielders could reload their weapons, the bottle flew through a window, and an explosion rocked the building, blowing smoke and debris all over the place.
This one hazarded a glance and saw that the crossbowmen were no longer there. “This one thinks you got—”
Having spoken too soon, the door exploded inwards. The cause of the destruction made itself apparent as a minotaur wearing a set of full-plate armor and wielding a warhammer ducked under the doorway and strode forward with smooth and confident strides.
“Well that’s a bother.” This one hurled a spike at the minotaur’s face, but he almost contemptuously raised an armored arm, and the spike plinked off of it.
The bodyguards weren’t slow to respond to this new threat. They spread out as best as they could given the confining nature of the restaurant with its tables and booths, their weapons raised. If the minotaur was intimidated by the mercenaries and bodyguards, he didn’t show it; he strode forward, knocking a table out of the way with his warhammer and then swiping with the weapon. It connected with a meaty thump against one of the Alya-mare’s guards and sent him crashing against the wall. One of the Companions kicked a table at the minotaur, but he simply batted it aside with an armored first. The Arrow-stallion moved in on his flank to try and bring his halberd to bear, but a swipe with the warhammer forced him back.
Seeing that the bodyguards were in the middle of what was shaping up to be a difficult and potentially costly fight, this one acted to change the odds in their favor. This one pulled a wand from its side and aimed it at the floor under the minotaur’s hooves. With a word it activated, and a coat of slippery grease formed beneath the minotaur. His hooves slipped right out from under him and he crashed to the ground. The Companions didn’t waste a moment in taking advantage of their opponent’s misfortune. One pinned the minotaur’s arm down with their halberd to keep him from lifting his warhammer while the Arrow-stallion threatened his throat with the speartip of his weapon.
“Take him prisoner!” this one called out. “This one wants some answers.”
“Got it!” The Arrow-stallion kicked the minotaur’s weapon aside and worked to secure our prisoner.
For the briefest moment this one thought it was over, but then the door leading to the kitchen slammed open. Two more armored warriors moved into the restaurant, probably stationed to prevent anyone from running away. Even worse, more warriors started filing in through the front door. Thankfully, the Alya-mare had the front door covered as she tossed yet another bottle at the doorway. The resulting explosion made the reinforcements a non-factor.
The Alya-mare’s remaining guards had clustered up around her with their shields raised, a tremble running through them as they prepared to meet this new threat. That left this one to intercept the attackers from the rear. This one pulled out a baton and charged the lead attacker, a pony with a spear and shield. He jabbed at this one with short, expert thrusts, and this one’s baton slapped against the spear’s shaft multiple times as this one forced its way forward. Once this one was close enough, it slammed a hoof against the shield and sent a jolt out from its shock bracer. The attacker convulsed and fell to the ground.
His buddy, a zebra stallion, screamed and slashed at this one’s head with his sword. This one ducked, and blocked with its baton as the sword came back around. But then he caught this one off guard when he slammed his shield against this one, staggering it. He prepared to drive his sword into this one with a thrust, but the Arrow-stallion was by this one’s side. He caught the sword with his halberd and forced its point down towards the ground. This one took the opening and brought its baton down on the sword-arm of the attacker. He cried out in pain and dropped his weapon. The Arrow-stallion immediately snapped up his weapon and smacked it right up against the attacker’s jaw, stunning him and dropping him to the ground.
That attack dealt with, this one scanned the area for additional threats, but none presented themselves. The front of the restaurant was now on fire, the Companions had finished securing the minotaur prisoner while the Alya-mare and her guards saw to their casualties. The guard who’d been hit by the warhammer was dead, and the Alya-mare went about treating the guard with the crossbow bolt in his shoulder. The few customers still in the restaurant quickly made an exit, lucky to be unharmed from the bedlam that had suddenly erupted around them. The restaurant owner and her employees were in a mixture of shock and horror.
The Arrow-stallion took some deep breaths. “Nice moves, sir. I particularly liked how you slipped up the minotaur. That saved us a potential huge pain.”
“Thank you,” this one said. “I do try, and you did pretty good too.”
He nodded to the two attackers we had just disabled. “Shall we take them prisoner too?”
“Might as well,” this one said. “It’d be good to interrogate them too. If they’re just some mercs that got hired then maybe we’ll be able to ransom them back to their companies.” The intel they could give this one was the most important thing, but the promise of an additional monetary reward to this one’s bodyguards wouldn’t hurt either. Given the nature of the merc business and the fact no one could get paid if they were killed, it was common practice for mercs to surrender to their fellow mercs and then be ransomed back to their home companies rather than fight to the death. The winners got a reward for not killing their defeated foes, not to mention an easier fight, and the losers got to live—if with lighter purses.
Still, it begged the question just who these people who attacked us were and why they were here. Clearly there was someone here they didn’t like. Was it this one or the Alya-mare they were targeting, or was it both of us? This one couldn’t see anything on them to signify who they worked for. They had the look and bearing of hardened warriors, probably being mercs, but this one couldn’t prove that decisively without a bit of poking and prodding.
The Alya-mare worked on tying a bandage around her injured guard’s shoulder. “Just like the old days, isn’t it?”
“I wasn’t aware the old days had ended,” this one said as it watched the Companions work on gathering our prisoners together. “It’s been more or less like this for me for quite some time.”
The Alya-mare gave her guard a potion to deal with the pain. “For me it’s the old days. There are very good reasons why I went into the business management side of things. Running around with you and Daring for a few years was fun, but I’m not cut out for this type of stuff.”
“You did pretty well just now,” this one pointed out. “You certainly gave these mercs something to think about with your alchemy.”
The Alya-mare huffed as she finished tying the bandage and stood. “Being able to take care of yourself in a rough situation isn’t the same as enjoying it.”
“That much is true.” This one wondered if the stress from fighting with Gustav and Blackwing was getting to the Alya-mare. It wouldn’t be surprising with this having gone on for months. Having to deal with this kind of stress for a prolonged period of time could affect anyone.
“We'd better get out of here.” The Alya-mare motioned to the front of the restaurant. “For one, this place is on fire. Second, I don’t want to be here long enough that we have to explain to the condottieri why it’s on fire.”
“Especially when it was technically you who set the fire.” The Alya-mare gave this one a sour look, and it added, “If for very good reasons.”
“Come on, I have a carriage outside.” She started towards the door, assisting her wounded guard with walking. “We can put the prisoners in there. I’ve got a safehouse we can go to.”
“Sounds good to me.” This one nodded the Arrow-stallion. “Bring our prisoners, we’ll sort them out at the safehouse.”
“Yes sir.” The Arrow-stallion did just that, hustling our trio of prisoners out through the back of the restaurant.
This one moved to go, but then stopped when it saw the crying owner of the restaurant, staring onwards at the fire and devastation. This one took her by the arm and pulled her up. She continued to stare blankly, not registering what was going on. “Best you get out of here too. Your insurance should help cover the damages, and I’ll make sure to cover your losses later.” This one frowned. “Sorry this happened to you.”
The owner continued to be unresponsive, so this one tugged on her to get her moving out of the restaurant before she got herself hurt. Once we were safely away, this one led her down on the street. The others were working on loading the prisoners into the Alya-mare’s carriage. The prisoners weren’t putting up too much of a fuss, defeat had a way of dampening the spirits of those defeated. Her remaining guards were tying themselves to the carriage, looking about warily for additional dangers.
The Alya-mare stepped up to enter the carriage after our prisoners, but stopped before going inside to look at this one. “You coming in?” She glanced up at the sky that continued to pour on a steady stream of water. “I can’t imagine you want to walk in the rain in the middle of the night.”
This one considered the offer before shaking its head. “I would prefer to walk, honestly. I could use the time to think, and that’s a bit easier when I’m not shoved in like sardines with a group of people that were trying to kill me a few minutes ago.”
In truth, this one didn’t wholly trust the Alya-mare yet. This one dearly hoped that it could depend on her, but too much was unknown right at the moment to say where she stood. For all this one knew, the carriage could be some sort of trap.
The Alya-mare frowned before shrugging. “Suit yourself.”
This one noted the prisoners shoved into the carriage. The minotaur was taking up half the room just by himself. Little surprise, they didn’t look like a happy lot either as they glowered at the lot of us. “You going to be okay in that carriage with them? They look like a rough crowd.”
The corner of the Alya-mare’s mouth quirked with a grin. “I’ve dealt with rough crowds before.”
“So you have.” This one had to wonder if the real reason she wanted to be in the carriage was to interrogate them. If so... well, that could mean any number of things.
“Follow us and we’ll lead you to the safe house.” The Alya-mare looked to the wounded guard, who was sitting at the front of the carriage. “Though first we’re taking a brief stop at the hospital to drop him off.”
“That’s fine,” this one said. “Lead the way.”
Lightning lit up the nighttime sky as we walked along the Freeport streets, and the rain beat down on us as the wind kicked up. After the long day this one had gone through, weariness was starting to beat down on it. The knowledge that it was probably going to be a while before it could get any true rest only made the feeling worse.
We had dropped off the wounded guard at the nearest clinic. While in a pinch we could probably have treated a bolt wound, there were plenty of ways removing an arrowhead could go very wrong. Best to leave that type of work to a fully equipped and trained staff whenever possible. After that slight delay we continued through the rain towards the Alya-mare’s safehouse. This one didn’t have to tell its bodyguards to be wary; just in the ways they gripped their weapons and looked alert for dangers, this one could tell they weren’t taking anything for granted.
We headed into the dock district and ended up in a square surrounded by warehouses and other businesses. Sitting near the shore, this place would normally have been bustling with activity, but the late hour and the rain had long driven everyone away. A statue of Torch Charger sat in the middle of the square, its features worn from the passage of time and marred by graffiti.
The Alya-mare opened the window to her carriage and leaned out. “It’s that warehouse right over there. Just follow along and I’ll tell my guard to let you inside.” Her eyes flicked to my Companion bodyguards and she spoke more quietly. “You sure about them?”
“As sure as I can be about anyone, given the circumstances.” This one looked around at the rain-soaked streets. “We signed a contract, and I trust General Platinum. We go back to before I was exiled from Freeport.”
“Right.” She huffed. “Come along then, let’s get in from the rain.”
We followed her towards the warehouse, but then something caught this one’s eye. Off to the side there was a large splash in a puddle, but there was nothing there that could have caused it—nothing that could be seen, anyway. This one turned and saw the pools of water on the street splash as though rocks were being thrown in a direct line towards us. Guessing what we were dealing with, this one reached into a small bag at its side to pull out some golden dust. This one threw the dust and it darted forward as though carried by its own wind.
The dust settled over someone under invisibility magic, revealing something vaguely equine in shape. That was charging us.
“Invisible attacker!” the Arrow-stallion cried out, and all the Companions turned to face the new threat. He jabbed with the speartip of his halberd, and there was the sharp ring of steel on steel. The illusion over the assailant fell away, revealing a changeling in scalemail as black as night. All about his body were weapons and pouches for all manner of items. He wielded a longsword that had parried the halberd, and he grinned as he faced off against us.
“So, could you all do me a favor and tell this one which one of you is Puzzle?” Blackwing asked in a mocking tone. “Not to sound specieist, but us Free Minds all look like everyone else. This one could kill you all just to be sure, but that seems a little excessive don’t you think?”
“Take him!” the Arrow-stallion ordered. He leveled his weapon on Blackwing while his fellow mercs moved to try and flank him. Blackwing wasn’t content to let them do that, however, and he skillfully skipped back and to the side. Once he managed to outflank one of the Companions, he struck forward. The Companion took a step back as they were pressed back by a flurry of strikes that they only barely managed to slap aside with their weapon. But their fellow Companions were quick to move forward to give them relief. The Arrow-stallion jabbed repeatedly with his speartip, and Blackwing deftly parried each blow to the side. The third Companion took the opening to launch the hook of her halberd at Blackwing’s leg, but Blackwing swiftly raised his hoof and slammed it down on the head of the weapon, while his sword lashed forward at the Companion’s throat. The Companion’s fellow merc she’d rescued returned the favor and deflected the blow to the side, twisting their weapon to try and tie up the blade. Blackwing swiftly withdrew his weapon just in time to parry a blow from the Arrow-stallion intended to run him through.
Having trouble concentrating on any one of the Companions, Blackwing started skipping back and to the side once again, his grin never leaving his face for a moment. “So you all want to make this difficult, do you? That’s alright, this one has all night.”
It was clear to this one his plan was to try and string out the Companions before finishing them off one by one. Each of this one’s bodyguards were skilled fighters, but already this one could tell they weren’t a match for Blackwing on even terms. Training and experience could get you far as a fighter, but Blackwing was a one-in-a-million prodigy. This one had seen to that itself and had paid for his training with some of the best martial arts teachers in Freeport. But then this one wasn’t one to fight on even terms when it could be helped.
Moving around to flank Blackwing, this one pulled out a wand, pointed, and activated it as this one’s lieutenant was about to get into another exchange with the Companions. The tanglehoof wand spat out a sticky grey substance out at Blackwing’s legs, but Blackwing had seen the attack coming and shot into the air to take flight, causing this one’s shot to miss. Blackwing had his own tricks and he threw a vial down on the ground among the Companions. Instinctively, this one threw itself to the side as a noxious green smoke exploded out when the vial shattered on the ground. Even being well outside the cloud, the smell of the alchemical mixture nearly made this one gag, and the sounds of retching could be heard from within the cloud’s depths.
The Alya-mare opened the door to her carriage. The guards pulling her vehicle had stopped, and unhitched themselves. But instead of joining the fight or staying by their mistress’s side, they were fleeing towards the safehouse. The Alya-mare tried to take in the scene before her. “What’s going—”
“Hi Alya-mare!” Blackwing interrupted with far too much cheer given the deadly situation, and he pulled out a gem from one of his pouches. “Bye Alya-mare!” He tossed the fire gem.
The Alya-mare tried to run, but she only made it a couple of steps before the gem landed within the confines of the carriage. The carriage exploded, and the Alya-mare was violently thrown forward, tumbling when she hit the ground.
Something ugly burst up from within this one at the sight of the Alya-mare lying on the ground amongst the burning debris of the cart. This one snapped up a wand at Blackwing, this time a thing of gnarled wood it had taken from the Ephemera-mare’s corpse during one of its adventures with the Do-mare. This one was going to kill Blackwing, and green lightning flashed from it and struck Blackwing. But instead of frying the traitorous lieutenant, a protective talisman around his neck burst, having absorbed the worst of this one’s attack.
Only momentarily staggered, Blackwing dived at this one, rolling and flipping to make himself difficult to hit. This one fired again, but missed him by inches. Blackwing threw a pair of spikes, but they were deflected by one of this one’s charms. The final distance between us was closed, and this one unsheathed a dagger in time to deflect a blow that sent a shockwave up this one’s arm.
Blackwing landed and leveled the tip of his blade at this one’s head. He smiled as he prepared to spring forward. “Puzzle, there you are. This one would recognize that wand anywhere, and it knows you wouldn’t give it to just anyone. You’re too sentimental for that.”
“When and why did you become a traitor?” this one demanded as we faced off in the rain, each of us a coiled snake ready to strike. Time played in this one’s favor, it hoped, and it wanted to know why he was doing this. Once it knew the truth, then it would avenge the Alya-mare.
“Surrender and this one would be happy to tell you.”
This one's eyes narrowed. “We both know that isn’t going to happen.”
Blackwing chuckled ruefully. “Yeah, this one knew, and that’ll keep things from getting boring. Good thing this one doesn’t have to take you alive. Speaking of...”
He launched himself forward, his sword striking like a scorpion’s stinger. This one barely parried aside the strike with its dagger and stepped forward to point the wand right at Blackwing’s chest. Firing at point blank range, the lightning bolt staggered Blackwing back a step, but once again one of the talismans hanging around his neck absorbed the worst of it. His sword swept outward once again, hitting the wand with enough force to knock it out of this one’s hoof.
This one pulled out a second dagger in time to meet Blackwing’s next assault. His blade moved through a series of expertly coordinated combos that used his weapon’s superior reach to keep this one on its heels. This one saw an opening as he finished a combo and darted forward. This one’s left dagger struck towards his chest, but it was deflected to the side with a sweep of the sword. As intended, the right dagger flashed forward and caught his weapon by the crossguard, and this one pressed forward to lock the weapons together. This one aimed the dagger at Blackwing’s eye and with an effort of will activated the enchanted dagger’s magic. The tip of the dagger shot out like a crossbow bolt, the dagger extending to the length of a longsword.
It almost got him, but Blackwing just barely avoided getting his brain tickled by jerking his head to the side. Still, the blade struck the side of his helmet with enough force to create sparks and he staggered a step from the hit. This one pressed its advantage and slashed at his neck with the left dagger, but he got his blade up in time to stop this one from opening his jugular. This one kept up the assault with sword and dagger, but Blackwing had his balance back and met this one head-on.
Our blades became little more than blurs in the night as we slashed, stabbed, feinted, deflected, and blocked as each of us sought holes in the other’s defenses. There was no time to think, only act and react with reflexes born out of nature or years of hard training. In the end it was hard to tell how long the exchange went. It could have been but a hooffull of seconds or half an hour, so deep had this one fallen into the meditation of battle. This one had hit Blackwing only once during the whole exchange, and his blade had touched this one three times. None of the landed blows had been serious, our armor protecting us from the light attacks, but Blackwing still grinned as we stared at one another at the end of the clash.
“Now this is more like it!” Blackwing’s eyes flashed with excitement. “You have any idea how hard it is to find a real challenge when you’re the best?”
“You’re making a big assumption that you’re the best,” this one said through heavy breaths. “From where this one is standing, you haven’t surpassed the master yet.”
Blackwing chuckled, his eyes twinkling from the thrill of battle. “Maybe, but this one knows just the thing to prove how far it has come.”
His grin spread as he prepared to re-engage. Despite the rational part of this one’s brain telling it that it was in mortal danger, that it should try and escape this extremely dangerous situation, this one’s heart pounded with excitement. Its blood sang for battle, for the thrill of the fight where a single mistake could mean disaster. Not that this one was about to throw away all good sense. To go along with that thrill from the fight, this one also wanted to win, to feel the euphoria of victory.
We charged each other. This one threw its dagger at his face, and he deflected it with a bracer. Using the moment where he was on the defensive, this one slashed with its sword, committing his blade to the defense. This one threw its right hoof in a hook at Blackwing’s jaw. He raised an elbow to block the attack, but this one transformed its arm into a hippogryph-like talon midswing, twisting its fist and arm at an unpredictable angle so that it slipped past Blackwing’s defense. The fist slammed into his jaw, and this one activated its shock bracer, sending out its full power to fry its traitorous lieutenant.
But instead of electrocuting him like it should have, the power went straight to an opal sealed to the front of Blackwing’s armor. It started glowing and there was a high-pitched whine as it crackled with electricity. Before this one could react, an explosive shockwave slammed into this one and sent it flying. This one hit the cobblestones with a jolt, stunned by the sudden impacts.
“Come on, Puzzle, give this one some credit.” Blackwing wiped the side of his mouth, ichor trickling as he stalked towards this one. “Did you really think this one would tussle with you without being ready for your favorite tricks? Despite what you sometimes seem to think, this one did listen to your lessons, especially the part about being prepared for the opponent you’re about to fight.”
Blackwing raised his weapon, readying to drive it home into this one’s body as it tried to push itself to its hooves with far less success than it liked. But then Blackwing stopped in his tracks and turned his head. He frowned deeply as he saw that the Companions were recovering from his poison gas cloud and were starting to approach us.
“That’s annoying.” Blackwing pulled out another vial of noxious gas. “We can’t have them interfering, this one is having way too much fun for that.”
He pulled back to throw, but before he could toss it this one threw a spike that struck the vial. The glass shattered, and a noxious green cloud burst out all around us. This one immediately closed its eyes and stopped breathing, kicking off the ground and starting to fly away from its opponent. Still, this one caught just enough of the smoke for this one to start coughing violently and cause its eyes to water. Luckily, this one still managed to get out of the cloud, even if it fell back to the ground on unsteady hooves. Fighting through the vertigo and nausea, this one pulled out and tossed a firegem right into the cloud. It was a klutzy throw, but you only needed to be close with a firegem, and this one had a big target.
The firegem exploded and lit the cloud ablaze, the force of the explosion knocking this one off its unsteady hooves as the heat felt uncomfortably warm as it washed over this one. This one continued hacking, blinking through blurred eyes as it tried to regain its bearings. The smoke from the explosion cleared, but this one didn’t see Blackwing anywhere, alive or dead. No way he was disintegrated by that blast, but he had to be somewhere.
The Companions ran towards this one, and the Arrow-stallion called out. “He’s gone invisible again!”
Ah, that would explain it. This one pulled out a vial and started choking down the potion, an unpleasant experience when this one was still coughing thanks to the noxious cloud. Still, this one drank enough of the potion for it to be able to see through invisibility spells and common illusions. This one spotted Blackwing. He was flying away, if in an extremely drunken manner. He had taken a dose of his own medicine and, considering even he couldn’t fight while puking his guts out, was making an escape. This one couldn’t let that happen.
The lightning wand was lying a little ways from this one, and it scrambled over to snatch it up. This one aimed and fired, but between the rain, nighttime darkness, the tears in this one’s eyes, and Blackwing’s erratic flying, this one missed. This one tried to chase after him, firing off more shots that missed, but this one’s legs wouldn’t cooperate. Being blown off its hooves twice and after being hit with the gas had rendered this one’s legs into jelly.
This one stumbled, but the Arrow-stallion caught this one. “Whoa, careful there, sir!”
“He’s getting away!” this one growled as it tried to get its hooves under it.
The Arrow-stallion spoke with perfect deference to this one, but this one could see the displeasure in his eyes. “And with all due respect, sir, you’re in no shape to go after him.”
Dammit, but he was right. Blackwing was flying out of sight, and the opportunity to catch and stop him was slipping through its hooves. But there wasn’t anything this one could do. Theoretically this one could send its bodyguards after him, but that was likely to end up with Blackwing ambushing them from whatever hiding hole he crawled into. Then this one would be alone, hurt, and in a poor condition to defend itself.
This one took a deep breath to calm itself, only to regret it when it was hit by another coughing fit. Still, this one pulled its thoughts together. “The Alya-mare?”
“She’s alive!” called out the Companion who’d gone over to check on her. A wave of relief swept over this one, and this one motioned for the Arrow-stallion to help it walk. The Alya-mare groaned and sat up as we reached her.
“Are you okay?” this one asked.
The Alya-mare rubbed her head. “I-I think so. I drank some protective potions before we met at the restaurant.” She grimaced when she looked at the burning wreckage of the carriage. We wouldn’t be asking any questions of the mercs who’d been caught inside when it’d been hit by the firegem. “Good thing I had, too.”
“That’s putting it mildly.” A quick look showed that the Alya-mare had several scratches on her back, and a few clumps of fur had been burned away, but as long as she didn’t have any internal injuries she looked like she’d be fine. “Let’s get inside, it’s not safe out here.”
“Also putting it mildly.” The Alya-mare was helped up, and we were escorted to the safehouse. All we could do was flee the streets that were no longer safe for this one.