Chapter 99

There was a sudden explosion of activity. The six people in black brigandine started to rush us and the smarter patrons ducked out of the busy tavern as soon as they were done blocking the door. I pulled Mimi from my sheath just in time to catch the blade that had been going for my head. The action came to me so naturally I didn't even think about the fact I had blocked the attack with Mimi. To the surprise of both of us, Mimi bit back. Large teeth opened up from the edges of the blade and chomped down, biting his blade in half.

The demi-wolfkin's eyes widened as the top half of the blade fell to the ground and I took advantage of his surprise to stab Mimi into the man's armpit, under his exposed guard. I couldn't dwell on the fact I had likely just killed a man because I wasn't the only one being attacked right now.

Spikes of ice formed above us and shot towards the other attackers like throwing daggers. Rather than try to dodge or deflect them, the men raised their armguards in unison and blocked the spikes head on. The icicles crashed against their guard and splintered into icy mist chilling the room around us. By this point anyone who hadn't been rushing out of the tavern before was now bolting out of the door.

After knocking out one of their group, a human spearman approached me more cautiously than his companion had and eyed my sword with suspicion. If it had been me I would have been just as worried. Fighting a spear with a sword was not a winning strategy though and both of us knew it. Fortunately for me most of my party weren't frontline fighters, they were ranged combatants.

A glowing green bolt of magic shot over my shoulder at the one approaching me and the effect was immediate. The man stumbled and turned red, the hands that held the spear started to shake. He wasn't completely knocked out of commission by Bella's poison but the effect was so immediate and powerful that he left his guard wide open. A slash of my sword knocked the spear from his hands but before I could take a more decisive action the man stumbled away from me and ran towards the door. I didn't even have time to consider chasing him before the next one holding a longsword was on me.

She was a tall cat beastfolk with tawny fur and notched ears. She immediately started fencing with me, attempting to quickly disarm me. She was really good. Most of my skills were still borrowed, hardly made my own and I wasn't even using the weapon I was most practiced with. She pushed my skill to the limit and was still so much better than me she was also able to dodge the bolts of poison that shot at her from behind me. They were the only reason I had been a match for her at all. I rushed to cast [Blade Waltz] but the benefits were only minimal against this enemy. It took all of my concentration to hold off her strikes and a small lapse led her to an opening that allowed her to slash deep into my stomach. It could have been a fatal wound had a familiar hand not fallen on my shoulder to heal me through it.

The woman eyed Bella now and grit her teeth, I suspected she had already been frustrated by Bella's involvement in the fight but taking away a near win must have made her even angrier. The woman seethed in rage as she lunged forward at me again. Despite her anger she didn't let it dull her blade. Her strikes were quick and precise and after crossing swords once again I picked up on something. She was extremely wary of my sword, Mimi. Her attacks all focused on quick strikes, quick parries, and I was starting to realize that she was fighting in this way to avoid what had happened to the first guy.

I started to lean into her strikes, hold her attacks against Mimi longer and longer. I felt the frustration building in Mimi through our bond. Not at me but at the woman who hurt me and was staring daggers at Bella any time she could. The fine tip of her blade met my skin multiple times more, none as deep as the first now that I had adapted to her style of fighting. Each time I took a hit, fresh healing flowed through me. Bella had given up on slinging the poisonous bolts at her and was now purely focused on healing my wounds. The woman became more and more frustrated at the two of us and with my pushing, I had put her into a position that Mimi could take advantage of.

Our swords crossed once again and her blade met my crossguard. I was out of a proper stance and we both knew it. That however didn't matter because an arm reached out of the hilt of my sword and seized the woman's bicep. The woman's eyes shot open in horror when Mimi's upper torso pulled itself out of my sword and collapsed on top of her. The amalgamation of creatures with Mimi's dead looking faceted eyes was the last thing the woman saw before its mouth opened much wider than it should have and bit down on the woman's neck and shoulder.

The woman let out a bloodcurdling scream that froze the three others that Silva had managed to hold off with the twins' help. Silva didn't let the moment go to waste and used the opportunity to stab the one in front of her through the neck with a spear. Another ran and the last had his tendon slashed by Silva before he could get much distance. Mimi stood up looking normal again, her eyes were back to normal and her golden skin was covered in blood from the cat beastfolk.

I scanned the tavern, it was completely deserted now. None of the other patrons or staff were still there and all that was left was the corpses and the man trying to crawl away on his stomach.

"We need to get out of here!" Torien called out.

Silva flipped the man over. "Why did you attack us!?"

"We were looking for the girl and you were seen with her at the baron's manor! Please let me go!"

Silva's spear raised but I caught her arm. "Leave him."

Her wild eyes met mine. For a moment I thought she was going to turn on me but instead her expression settled and she pulled away. "Lets get out of here, before more come."

Silva picked up two of the corpses, including the man I had killed by stabbing him through the armpit. I picked up one of the spare swords for myself. I didn't know how Mimi had felt about me swinging her around so much after she had asked me not to, but her intervention had saved me three times now.

We ran through the back of the tavern looking for an exit in the back of the kitchen. There wasn't anyone in here either, everyone had run from the bloody brawl in the front room.

I looked over at Silva who was lugging the corpses over her shoulder. "Why are you bringing him? The one I..."

"You need armor and I don't have time to pull it off of him here."

"So you're taking the whole corpse?" I asked incredulously.

"It's not that heavy."

"I... think I'm going to be sick." I stumbled over to a trashcan and vomited immediately. The impact of killing another man finally caught up with me after the adrenaline of the situation was wearing off. When I finished Morrigan held out a cup of water that I greatly appreciated. Once I finished Silva pulled a set of the black brigandine over my head and began strapping it on me. Apparently vomiting gave her the time needed to get it off the men. She had taken one of the sets for her own and managed to hide it well under the clothes she had been wearing, they weren't in tatters like mine were now.

My eyes trailed across the corpse of the person I had killed. I saw the dead eyes of the man on the ground for only a moment before Silva pulled my gaze away from him.

She looked me in the eyes. "This isn't the time for this, we're not safe. You're strong, even if you've never killed a person before. I need you to keep being strong because we're not safe yet."

I nodded dumbly, it was all I could do.

Torien creaked the door open and peeked into the alley before snapping it shut. "There are others in the black armor out there, I don't see any guards yet."

I shook my head and tried to regain my bearings. "How many of them were there? We can't stay here much longer."

"...Three I think. There are also bystanders hanging around, probably tavern staff. We might be able to run for it." Torien scratched her arm nervously.

I looked across my party, everyone looked tired, much more than usual. Running sounded hard but fighting would probably be more so.

I scratched the base of my horn. "I think we should leave, try to blend in with the crowd before heading towards the stables. We need to find Tarklin."

We heard a banging in the front of the tavern, more were coming now. Silva quietly pushed a box to block the door. "We don't have time, lets just get out of here first. Figure out where we're going second."

"Mimi, I'm sorry but you draw too much attention."

She nodded. "It's okay. Let me help cover you up. I don't want you to look like one of them." She pulled out a cloak from her storage and covered me with it before transforming into a gold necklace that hung from my neck. I took the not so subtle hint and sheathed the sword I picked up in Mimi's sheath. The fit was loose but it would do for now.

Torien peeked out of the door again. "Now! The alley is clear!"

The five of us slid out of the back door and through the alley. Torien was in front peeking around corners and waving us through when it was clear. It was becoming quite clear as we kept going that we wouldn't be able to get near the stable again for a while. The town was crawling with these guys.

"Silva, who are these people?" I asked after a while.

She shook her head. "No idea. They never said anything useful when I was fighting them. When we escaped from Baron Morrister's grounds, they were looking for the girl so I made a point to hide her. I didn't think so many had noticed me that they would look for me here, I didn't leave any of the ones I came across alive."

I hesitantly nodded, aware that I had stopped her from killing that one. But then again a couple of them had escaped anyway. It probably didn't make a difference. I shook my head, I needed to focus. I can sort through these thoughts later. Back on task.

I looked around. We weren't very familiar with this town but we were close enough to its walls that we could orient ourselves that way. "Should we try to get out of the town? I would have liked to warn Tarklin but at his point we'd be just as likely to bring them right to Fae's door."

Morrigan nodded. "I don't think that's an option anymore. It's risky but we should probably try to leave town and camp outside. We can meet up on the road tomorrow morning when they start heading to the capital again."

"Would they just leave us there? There's no way they wouldn't have known what happened. What about guards? Wouldn't they eventually try to find us as well? We did kill three of them."

Morrigan put her hand on my shoulder. "Relax Lilith. The guards are out of their depth on this one. Those six that they sent weren't pushovers, clearly around our level. If the people in black brigandine keep hanging around, the guard will get the capital to send knights. They wouldn't try to stop them themselves."

"What about us?" I asked.

"...I don't know. I doubt they would put bounties on us for defending ourselves but we don't actually know who these people are. It was obvious to everyone that they attacked first... Though people are going to wonder about Mimi."

We eventually made it to the northern town gate. It was lit by only a few torches and there weren't any guards around. Getting out of town in the middle of the night was not going to be quite that simple.