The days that came after that one afternoon never had a dull moment. Shael and I would lay on the bed for hours and engage in vigorous kissing sessions. However, to my disappointment, Shael wouldn't allow us to go further.
Many days had passed and it was now sword's day, one day before Saint's day. The day when those men would arrive. We both decided to calm down our intimate escapades and focus on the mission. The anxiousness of those men arriving finally returned. Shael and I were at the window sill. She sat in the chair, while I leaned on the window.
My eyes were fixed on every person that exited and entered the tavern; not a detail would be missed. My concentration was broken when Shael spoke to me. "Zarek, there is no point in staring at the tavern, we already know when they are going to arrive, right now we should be preparing," Shael advised. She was right.
I got up from the window sill and stretched. "Ok then, let us prepare."
I took up a very long wooden broom that lay tilted on the wall close to the bed. With a grunt, I broke it in half. I took the piece that still had the hay bristles attached and gave the other to Shael. "It's been a while, I'm beginning to get rusty," I said pulling the bristles from the broom.
Shael spun the broom between her fingers before taking a hanging stance–the broom was held with both hands to the side of her head. Shael was being cautious. "Anyway! Let's start."
With a clear mind, and hesitation gone from my body, I charged at Shael. I swung overhead leaving my body open. Just as I predicted, she attacked where I wanted her to. I moved my body to the left dodging her attack. With my open palm, I hit the hand that held her wooden weapon, sending her tumbling. I was ready to strike her on the head but to my surprise, she nimbly regained her balance barrel-rolling on the ground away from my attack.
She stood crouched in the position I was originally in with her stick in her right arm pointing towards me. We stalled staring at each other for what felt like minutes. I quickly tried to predict where she would attack next, but they were many outcomes---too many to quickly analyze.
With violent speed we charged at each other, our feet thumping hard on the wooden floor. With heavy swings, our sticks clashed. A flurry of attacks was dished out by both of us. Shael began to grit her teeth in desperation as I increased the power of my swings; I was tiring her arms. In a last desperate act of trying to hit me, she threw her stick with a grunt. What was she trying to achieve?
I quickly twirled away; the stick landing harmlessly where I once stood. Shael charged at me with a smaller piece of wood broken from her original weapon. To assist her jump, Shael used the bed as a catapult, launching herself toward me, she struck at my head with her left leg. I barely was able to dodge her unexpected attack; her feet brushing the top of my head. She spun in the air changing the foot she attacked with. Her right foot struck me in the chest sending me tumbling toward the wall. I regained my balance. Shael charged toward me once more but I was ready for her attack. She struck straight, hard and fast, but her attacks were becoming wild. I grabbed the arm she struck and pressed my wooden weapon on her stomach.
I held her arm tightly and smiled. "You're really good Shael...but I'm better," I said boastfully.
Shael panted and panted before pulling her arm from mine. She threw her stick on the ground. "How did you get up? That kick I gave you would've put a grown man to sleep." I raised my eyebrows and walked towards Shael holding her waist. "So, do you think I'm a little boy–is that it?" I said while gently kissing her neck.
She wasn't excited by my charms. She pulled herself from my embrace. "I'm not in the mood," she said while walking towards the bathroom.
My attention was now fixated on the door. Thunderous knocks sent my heart racing violently. Quickly, I scrambled to find my rose eye cover. I finally found it strewn over the pile of clothes in my chest.
I ran towards the door and unlocked it. The old man stood there with a slight hint of fear on his face. "Is everything alright, I could hear tumbling as if someone was fighting." He said nervously looking over my shoulder.
"Everything is perfectly fine," I assured.
"Are you positive?" He asked unsurely
"I'm positive. Shael! My love, everything is alright is it not?" I shouted.
It was a couple of nerve-racking seconds before Shael answered. "Yes! Is something the matter?"
"Nothing to worry yourself about," I said not moving my head from the sights of the old man.
He nodded. "Ok then, sorry to bother you."
I returned a nod and closed the door.
It was now late noon, and outside was becoming gloomy. The clouds were thick, casting a heavy shadow on the city. The squeaky sound of carts passed, and unintelligible chatter began to drown out other noises. I sat at the window cleaning my weapon with a rag and sharpening it. When I held it to the orange light, it shone brightly on it, and I could see myself clearly as if I stared at a mirror.
Shael sat on the bed staring at the maps of the city intensely. "Found what you're looking for?" I asked while putting my sword in a black and silver scabbard. She switched papers and nodded before answering me. "I found some routes, but I don't think it would be as easy as it seems when I envisioned it in my head."
I nodded and sniffled. "No matter, if you can't manage to find something, we can improvise, and if that doesn't work, we'll go with your plan."
She raised an eyebrow and whispered under her breath. "Or we can just kill them, we wouldn't have to deal with all this," She said annoyed. I wanted to retort but I didn't want to create any problems that would hinder our cohesion.
Saintsday...
My night was restless. I barely got a wink of sleep. My head ached very painfully; everything was annoying. I didn't have time to dwell on my tragic state of affairs.
After a bath and breakfast, Shael and I sat next to the window in our armor going over our plan. I looked at the paper for some time before speaking. "Ok, let's go over this again. When the men arrive... which could be at any moment, we will be exiting through this window," I said while pointing at the window next to us. From there, we will move from this roof and drop into the alleyway beside the tavern. If there is anyone in the alleyway, we will dispatch them immediately."
"So are we finished with the capture plan?" She asked.
"No! We're not! Just wait, we'll get to that part soon," I said annoyed. "Right, we don't know what the leader or the men look like, so, we'll have to tread lightly. Before we do anything rash, we'll identify, and then go in for the kill or capture depending on the situation. Now! For our escape, if we somehow manage to capture the main ringleader, our only chance of getting out of this city is horseback or carriage, we will make our escape across the bridge heading straight for the gate. Those that sound good?"
Shael shrugged. "Not the best plan I ever heard, and I don't think I could do any better, so, it'll do."
I was about to respond to Shael when we saw many Seledianon soldiers entering the hotel. "Shit!" Shael said with widened eyes. "Why are they here?" She asked nervously. I didn't know what was going on, but if they came looking for someone, we were dressed to be prime targets.
"Shael! Grab anything important and put it in your sack," I commanded nervously. I put on my rose eye band. I grabbed a cloth and wrapped our weapons inside. Heavy and metallic footsteps got closer and closer to our door, before finally stopping. I could hear very rough voices outside our door, but the chatter was incoherent. The talking became silent before heavy knocks shook the door. "Open up!" A raspy voice said. "I won't ask again!"
Shael finally put any evidence of our operation in her sack. "Alright, make sure they can't see our armor," I whispered, putting on my black cloak.
I rushed to the door and opened it quickly. I opened the door to men readying to tear it down. They all wore red and black–the colors of the Seledianon flag. They wore barbuta helmets. "Good day to you fellows, how can I help you?" I asked trying to sound not as nervous as I was.
"Good day to you mage," the soldier said. I nodded. "The owner of this establishment has suspected you of criminal activity and would like us to search your room."
I had a look of intense confusion. "I'm sorry sir but I assure you, we are doing no such thing."
"Sorry! But we still have to check," the soldier said trying to push pasts me. Shael stood by my side and blocked the soldier from entering. "I'm sorry sir, but I can't allow that," She said firmly.
Runes began to appear on the gauntlets the men wore. "Move! Are I will move you!" He commanded.
I analyzed how many soldiers they were quick; seven in total. One of them who was the tallest stood at the back. He wore a great helm and on his back was a huge messer; he was the most dangerous here.
I sighed and looked at Shael who looked at me as if she was surprised I would give up this easily. I look at her and raised my eyebrows letting Shael know I was not going to give up. The soldier began to enter slowly and I backed away as he did so. He seemed to let his guard down a little; this was perfect.
I poured magic into my arms and with all my strength I grabbed his face and pushed him out the door, the armor he wore clanged as he fell on his comrades. I slam the door shut and locked it. "Shael! get your weapon, we're leaving. I opened my chest making sure I left nothing else important. At any moment they were gonna break through that door.
I grabbed the pouch filled with coins and was ready to go. Sure enough, the soldiers broke through. The tall soldier entered with his messer pointed towards us. With a roar, he swung and missed slicing the coat rack in half. He stabbed his sword at Shael, but he was too slow. With a mana-filled kick, she hit him straight in the breastplate sending him across the room. "Run!" I shouted.
We ran towards the window; our feet thudding on the floor. With my sword wrapped in cloth held tightly, I jumped. I could feel the support for the glass begin to break. I flew out far, my heart raced as I rapidly descended. The thought of the pain searing through my body made my heart race even faster.
I finally hit the ground and the pain I felt in my legs didn't hurt as bad as previously thought but it still hurt. I turned my landing into a roll softening the impact. Shael landed next to me with a grunt. "Are you ok?" I asked surprised at how she landed.
"Yes!" She said groaning.
People stared at us and screamed. "Are you mad?!" One old man asked. I could hear the soldiers coming. "Let's go!" I shouted.
We ran through the street and we got a couple of houses away before in the distance, I heard a rough voice Shout, "Get them!"
We were now running further into the city and it looked even worse than the others we passed the first time we entered. Tall buildings looked like they were under construction for years and instead of cobbled streets, the ground was filled with mud. Civilians gave us confused and scorning looks. I could still hear the soldiers running behind us. "Dammit!" I shouted.
I pushed people out of the way and unfortunately, knocked some food stalls down. In front of us, I could see more soldiers headed in our direction. They now had us trapped. I looked ahead and Shael looked to her right but I didn't pay any mind, I was trying to think of a way to escape. Shael grabbed my arm and led me into an Alleyway. "Shael! What are you doing?" I asked confused as to why she led us to a dead end. "We're getting away what do you think we're doing?" She retorted.
With a leap, she grabbed onto the wood that was connected to the stairs of one of the houses. She jumped to the ledge of the other house before jumping again and climbing onto the roof. "Zarek! Your turn!" She commanded.
I looked at her and then at the entrance of the alleyway. Shael! I'm not going to make that!" I said while securing the string around the cloth that concealed my weapon. "Here! Catch!" I said pointing the sword at Shael. With a grunt I threw my weapon at her; she caught it with ease.
"What are you doing-"
I cut her off, "No time! Find me later!" She sucked her teeth and the sound of her steps got farther away.
The Seledianon soldiers now entered the alleyway. They charged at me with the tips of their weapon pointed ready to kill me. The first man ran screaming, with the runes on his arm. I tightened my fist and held them in front of my face. He struck hard, and I stepped to the side dodging his attack effortlessly. I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him towards me. I outstretched my legs making him fall to the ground. The second soldier swung overhead, I held his elbow stopping him from completing his strike. With a punch filled with mana, I broke his nose. He fell to the ground holding his nose and screaming while blood flowed from between his fingers and palms like a river.
"That's enough!" A very elegant voice commanded. The soldiers made space for a man with black and gold armor and a piece of red fabric elegantly wrapped around his right arm and tucked into his scabbard straps. "The man has no weapon, detain him and escort him to our prison for questioning."