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"Who?"
I don't like him. I hate him more than steps.
"I am Rakan! The battle-dancer of the Lhotlan tribe. I am the song of the morning. I am the dance of the midnight moon. I am the charm that—"
"It's that vastayan entertainer," another guard interrupts. He too wears boring clothing—clothes I haven't seen in this area before.
The first guard wears a shiny golden amulet on his chest. I snatch it from him.
"Hey!"
"What's this?" I ask. He doesn't deserve this. Whatever this is.
He grasps for it, but I flip it around my hand while still juggling the pebbles in the other.
"Give me that!"
I flick each stone into his face.
"No," I say. Then, as innocently as I can, I ask, "Is it important?"
He draws a pair of hook-swords. I take one away from him before he can raise them.
"Open the gate, I'll give you back this... uh... shiny thing," I offer as I twirl his amulet in my palm, and then send it spinning up my arm.
Instead, the rude fool swings at me! I flip over his attack, and land behind him. He turns to slash again. I dive under his blade, using my rear to knock him off balance. He falls down the steps with a scream.
The other guard watches his friend tumbling away, then looks back to me. I shake my head at him.
"Honestly, how could anyone not know who I am?"
This one stabs at me with his spear. I twist past him, allowing my feathered cloak to envelop him for a moment. Blinded, he stumbles and trips over himself. He falls onto his shield and shoots down the stairway with a clack-clack-clacking sound. Well, until he crashes into his friend on the first landing.
The impact sends them both sprawling. I laugh. Now I get steps.
"You are terrible dancers," I say as I check my cloak for dirt.
The two people stumble to their feet, glaring up at me.
"You okay?" I ask, thankful for the amusement.
They roar as they rush up the steps. Ungrateful bastards.
I leap away from them and ask, "Wanna know the difference between a party and a fight?"
They slash at me with their weapons again and again.
"One is an entertaining day," I say as I send them back down the stairs. "The other is... shorter."
A deafening gong sounds behind me. I smile. The fun part begins.
"You gotta do better than that!" I yell, taunting my pursuers as I run. I do need to get out of here, though. There are twenty guards now. Okay, maybe thirty? More than lots.
Running through their sleeping chambers was a bad idea. However, it did give me a chance to freshen up.
Some of the men have those strange crossbows. They use fire from a tube. They had a name. I'm gonna call 'em tubebows. Their shots explode around me, eating holes into the wall as I dive out of the room.
I slide into the courtyard, performing a full twist to give it some flair. The gate is open. I could run for it, but Xayah needs me.
Hidden in an alcove, a guard swings at me with a large tubebow. Or is bowtube better? He pulls at the trigger. I leap toward him, diving over his shot.
