Aramora

Chapter 30: Trial of Honor

She ducks out of the way and rushes down the steps to clash her blade against Val'Ruzzar's dual short swords. She ignores his confident smirk and glances to her right to see two of the Tus'Felnis approaching. One of them has a broadsword and the other has his hands raised as he prepares to cast an Elemental spell.

"Gansheer siloth!" the Elemental Tus'Felnis hisses.

Val'Ruzzar nods and glances back at him. "Soreth, faanar!" he shouts and pushes Nesosa back before rolling out of the way in time for a gout of fire to fly at Nesosa.

She manages to raise her shield just in time to deflect a good portion of the flames, but her shoulder got a little burned. She brings her shield back down and looks to her left now and sees two more spies. One is the one who sealed the entrance, and Nesosa can tell that she also has Summoning Magic by the ethereal shield glowing on her arm. Then there's two Tus'Felnis, a male and a female, who are mimicking each other's fighting style and both wielding sets of daggers.

"Joreen seer!" the woman shouts to the man.

He nods and they don't even need to look at each other before the woman does a twisting flip through the air towards Nesosa and the man rolls under her. They try to strike Nesosa at the same time, but she manages to kick the man back before he can stab her side and she turns her body in time to avoid the woman's dagger from piercing her, but she does leave a cut on her flank.

Nesosa hisses and swings her greatsword towards the woman, but she grabs onto the blade and lets it throw her through the air, landing her further up the stairs and she starts sprinting for Lavern.

Lavern flinches as she gets near and he jumps to the side as he prepares for her to take a stab at him, but instead she just tries to grab his arm, but he kicks her back and rushes around her to put some distance between them.

The woman glances over to the man who she seems to fight in unison with and they nod to each other. "Siloth!" she calls out.

He nods. "Soreth!" he goes to start sprinting up the stairs, but Nesosa charges at him and shoves him down before he can get to Lavern and once he's on the ground, she lifts her greatsword and prepares to stab it down on him.

The man glances back towards the shadows. "Icarri nan!" he shouts.

Nesosa starts to plunge the sword down on him, but she suddenly feels an arrow pierce her shoulder. She recoils back and grips her arm with a stinging hiss, trying to gather herself.

The man resumes his sprint towards Lavern and the woman, but the Adaliaen swiftly rolls out of the way and moves down a few steps before turning to Nesosa.

"Just finish the trial!" he calls out.

Nesosa remembers the question and tries desperately to think of the answer.

'What is the true price of honor?'

She isn't given a chance to stop and think as another arrow soars her way, but she ducks out of the way and charges at Val'Ruzzar. He leaps to the side just as she would have made contact and he perches atop a stone pillar with a gleaming smile on his face.

"Come on, Nesosa. This one knows you can do better than that," he snides and holds his blades ready as he lunges down at her.

She spins around and bashes him back with her shield, yelping against the pain in her shoulder but her adrenalin covers it up enough to make it at least somewhat bearable. She recalls the last time she fought these spies and how they got the advantage over her by jumping on her back, so she quickly backs herself into a corner where no one can run up behind her.