Guardian (Sequel to Fearless)

Chapter Seventy Six

One minute, he was still... serene. And then, Kayde exploded in motion. He tilted away from another assault and came in with a swing, and three consecutive jabs. The swing lopped the sword arm from his attacker's body, and the jabs stuck two holes in his trunk and one in his throat. Kayde went still again, leaving his enemy to fall at his feet and perish before he had truly known what had happened.

Where Hench's fight was brutality, his was a dance. He perched his body on a balanced gait, ready to face another. Two came to challenge his blade this time. His arms and torso shifted again until he took on his defensive stance of dual storms. He now played the role of a cautious fighter. He indeed wished to live to see the dawn. One man carried a two-handed sword, the other held a lighter blade.

The world around Kayde seemed to slow. The giant blade came cutting down for Kayde's midsection. Kayde's posture permitted him to spring away, the explosive power in his core turning him into a side somersault. He landed on a steady foot and immediately threw his sword out to bat away the small rapier that came after him. The motion threw the man's blade out wide, and Kayde went for the chest. His opponent was quick, retreating backwards two steps.

Kayde would have followed forward, but the great-sword swept at his knees. Another vault had him turning backwards through the air. Halfway through the motion, he felt his heels slam into his opponent, who was shoved backward by the impact. He landed the flip on his feet, slightly crouched at his knees. Flipping his sword backward in his palm and adjusting his body back into place, he stabbed the space right behind him.

The pointed end shoved itself right through the disoriented soldier's nose and back through the other side of his skull, not that the guardian actually saw that. Kayde yanked it out just in time to twirl the weapon back the correct way and block another two swipes from his other challenger -one for his neck and the other for his gut.

Kayde's third swipe slashed open his abdomen, spilling viscera all over the ground.

He did not revel in the victory. Instead, he regrouped with the front line of guardians. He couldn't lose focus, and he'd have to give it his all to keep the bulk of the baron's men from pouring past to the archers. Again, he set his stance to combat what was going to be a very long night. It was hardly a good thing that they fought near the guardian camp rather than at the fortress.

The loss of control might cost them greatly later.

From the back, it was time. Iris wasn't yet faced with an enemy, but she sought to change that as she moved through the mass of guardians. Once battle had settled and the sides had clashed and intermingled, she moved up toward the front line. She wasn't the first line of defense, per se, but that front force would hold up much better with her at the flank. Maybe that wasn't particularly honorable, but it was her specialty.

Especially in heavy battle, she was better as support.

Her form wisped around battling guardians, and her daggers were active in minutes. Her first three kills were made to men unaware of her presence. From behind, her blades had slipped right into the cracks of their armor and stole the light right from her eyes, assisting front line guardians of which she was not on a first name basis with. It felt good to fight alongside them, even still. It felt even better because Hench was also close-by, battling with hell-fire in her blood. Iris consciously stayed in her sister's area in case Rhalla needed assistance for any reason. From where she stood, though, she could see that Hench was clearing enjoying herself. That maul was an adjudicator.

The first real fight came to Iris. The man had heavy armor, a shield, and a sword. She steadied herself and focused. This man was likely to fight like Zayn Rothstead fought. Whether or not her opponent was very good at his vocation, she couldn't know. But she'd never underestimate anybody, not even after a hundred years of experience. His eyes flicked to the left. Iris sprung right in response, swift as a jumping hare. She came in with her own attack, her arm a blur of motion.