weapon to strike. She threw an elbow into the man holding her and stepped back on his foot. His binding grip holding her loosened just enough, and she broke free. The swordsman came at her, blade low. He darted in to strike Adeenya with his sword.
She sidestepped the main force of his strike, but before she could counterstrike, her opponent fell before her, a shortsword sticking out of his back. Behind him, Corbrinn threw a triumphant fist into the air and tossed Adeenya a wink. The halfling ran over the the fallen man and plucked his sword from the man's back.
'Now, don't go blaming those lads guarding us. I can be persuasive in dire situations,' he said, winking again.
Corbrinn shouted for her to move, and she did so, turning to her left. Her torso stretched over the edge of the wall over the courtyard. The halfling launched a whip around the neck of a man who had been coming to attack her from behind. Corbrinn yanked hard on the whip. His slight weight did not allow him to pull the man toward him, but instead the halfling crashed into the larger invader. Corbrinn looked as though he were scaling a mountain when he came to a stop with his feet on the startled man's chest. The halfling plunged his shortsword deep into the man's abdomen and pushed off with his short legs, releasing the whip at the same time and dropping to his feet on the walkway.
Two of the invaders remained on the wall while four times that many Maquar and Durpari continued to fight. In the courtyard, the fight was not going so well. The barbarians and citadel defenders looked to be evenly matched in numbers.
'Don't stand there. Let's go!' Corbrinn said, darting down the stairs.
Adeenya charged after him, glad for the assistance. In the back of her mind, she wondered what Jhoqo would say when he saw the halfling free. Adeenya stopped at the top of the stairs, her eyes insisting that something was not right. It took her a moment, but she realized that none of the bodies of the invaders she had slain remained where they had fallen. Adeenya looked down to see several dead barbarians on the courtyard grounds, beside the wall. Somehow, they had been pushed off the walkway to land there. Adeenya continued after the halfling and bounded down the stairs. There was no time to worry about dead bodies when there were so many more to produce.
At the sound of the signal horns, Taennen drew his weapon and made for the door. 'Khatib, secure this position! Lock this door, sound the alarm and make sure the gate stays closed and locked!' Taennen shouted.
'Yes, Durir,' Khatib said, his hands already in motion over the crystals at one of the stations.
Taennen paused at the door and said to the man, 'Do what you can from here-just try not to kill any of us.'
Taennen caught a flash of Khatib's smile before the door slammed shut behind him. A low hum emitted from the door and the portal flashed momentarily, indicating it was locked. Taennen vaulted down the stairs. He imagined the formians escaping or the lost Maquar and Durpari company being found in some secret grave. His feet couldn't keep up with his anxious curiosity. Taennen made the bottom of the tower and burst into the courtyard to find unfamiliar figures there. Men covered in hides were engaging the Maquar and Durpari.
Taennen loosened the grip on his khopesh and turned its blade up. He brought his shield close to his chest. There were three of the attackers coming at the tower entrance, their swords low and ready. They dressed like barbarians and wild men, but Taennen knew better. Berserking warriors held their swords high for powerful blows. These men were at the ready with weapons dancing lightly in their hands.
Taennen charged, knowing his only chance was a desperate maneuver, the kind Jhoqo would disapprove of. Taennen grinned a little at that thought but quickly brought his mind back to the moment.
His opponents stood still as he charged them down. He threw his weight backward and to his left as he drew within two sword-lengths of the lead foe, falling to the ground in a forward slide aimed between the two foremost men. Taennen snapped his shield into the knee of the opponent on his left. The man howled as Taennen continued on and sliced his khopesh along the thigh and hip of the man on his right.
He came to a stop on the ground in front of the third man, who brought his sword down in a heavy swipe. Taennen rolled onto his feet. He danced to his right to avoid another blow. One of the first attackers held his injured knee, but was recovering quickly. The other lay on the ground screaming, blood pooling around him.
The man ahead of him came forward in a thrust that Taennen easily parried. He feigned a shield block and thrust out at the bald man with his dangerous curved blade. His enemy was no fool and swung low at Taennen's legs. The Maquar durir hopped over the sword and drove his khopesh forward while still in the air. Again, the man was too clever and stopped his swing short, bending his body backward to avoid the stab. The man drew a dagger from his boot with his free hand and threw it hard. Taennen tilted his head and felt the dagger brush past his ear.
Taennen feigned a straight thrust. His opponent sliced across low and to the right. Taennen jumped again, letting the sword go under his feet, but this time he kicked out toward the man's wrist.
He felt his foot connect and knew that with thinner soles on his boots, he would have felt the bones in the man's wrist break. The man howled in pain, and Taennen brought the blade of his khopesh across the back of the man's neck in an easy, fluid movement that cut between his vertabrae, killing him quickly.
Taennen crouched, only to see the man whose knee he had'damaged moving on the offensive and holding two swords, one long and one short. The long sword sailed toward Taennen from his right, and he knew he would have no chance to parry it.
Before death found him, he expected that his life would flash before his eyes or he would come to some grand understanding of the world around him, but nothing happened. He merely watched, as if everything were slowed by some arcane spell, as the blade that would be his end cut through the air toward him. He pulled his neck low with what little time he had left, hoping beyond hope that the blow might miss his head.
His nose found the dirt and several heartbeats passed. Confused, he rolled to his left to stay low as his would-be killer fell to the ground, an arrow shaft protruding from the middle of his back. Taennen followed the line of the shot to see Loraica standing across the courtyard, bow in hand. Not for the first time, Taennen thanked the Adama for linking his life to hers.
Taennen saw a group of his own men cornered by a larger number of the barbarians, and he ran for them. He would not fail his men again. Never again. Taennen came from behind the attackers as the wildmen attacked a trio of Maquar soldiers. The Maquar durir dragged his khopesh across the back of one barbarian, his blade slicing through the man's leather armor. The soldiers pressed their attacks harder with the arrival of reinforcements. One of his comrades felled another attacker with a series of quick strokes. Taennen bashed his shield into the face of a third enemy, but he took a shallow cut on his shoulder from another at the same time.
A strange noise rang through the air, deep and bellowing. All over the courtyard, the attackers began backing their way toward the open citadel gate, coming together in groups to fend off the Maquar and Durpari. Taennen cursed the wizard Khatib to himself. Why had he opened the gates?
Taennen saw Jhoqo at the front of the defending forces where he was exchanging mighty blows with a man covered in dark animal hides. The invaders continued their retreat, covering one another as they streamed out the gate into the plains. One of their number fell and was picked up by others who dragged his body with them. Perhaps two dozen of them remained. They split their formation well, archers in the back covering their escape.
Jhoqo and his men pursued them for a few hundred paces out the gate, trading blows, until the Maquar commander ordered his troops to desist. Everyone returned to the citadel, closing the gates behind them. Taennen barked orders to the men around him. Those still able-bodied moved to the wall while the injured helped one another to the center of the courtyard for healing.
Taennen looked up at the impressive height of Neversfall tower and wondered about Khatib. Despite his confidence before the battle that he could wield the tower's weapons, Khatib hadn't managed to keep the gates closed, let alone fire off the flurry of missiles he'd promised. Taennen scowled.
He would need to get a better sense of what Khatib could and could not do with the tower before another attack.
'Haddar!' Taennen called. The muzahar trotted over and saluted. 'Send your men out to find Khatib. We need him to help search the bodies of the attackers. You four'- Taennen gestured to a group of Durpari-'go check on the prisoners. There's no telling what happened to them in all that chaos. Secure them and make sure no one's hurt.'
