His fighting technique was exquisite. He varied between three different techniques: Sudo, a fairly common fighting technique but no less effective; Ishan, a technique well suited to such close-quarter fighting; and Jonal, a fairly rare fighting technique Gavin hadn’t seen too many others use. It was abrupt, brutal.
And lethal.
Thankfully, Gavin had trained in all of them and knew how to counter them, but he also knew other fighting styles that complemented them that were incredibly effective.
Even in the close confines, he didn’t struggle. He could block, and it was only Davel’s superior—enchanted—speed that he struggled with. Gavin continued to focus, thinking about the nature of the techniques he was using, and he fell into the fighting pattern.
He’d fought faster and more skillful opponents before. He might not have the speed Davel possessed, but he had experience and knowledge. If they were out in the open, he might not be able to withstand the attack, but here in the alley with walls on either side of him, he was protected. He could use the close quarters to overwhelm everything Davel did.
“Not a tracker, are you?” Davel asked.
“I think you would have discovered that had you done more research. Of course, had I looked into you, I might’ve learned a little bit more about you as well.”
“It seems both of us were misled.”
“Only I wasn’t the one who misled you.”
“No? You were certainly eager enough to take the job.”
“I should’ve known better,” Gavin said.
“Yes. You should have.”
“I do have to thank you. You’ve given me enough money to leave Yoran and not have to worry about finding another job for a while.”
Davel shook his head. “You aren’t going to get out of here until I have that egg.”
“And I’ll be honest. I don’t know if I can give you the egg back.”
Gavin blocked a blow that came right at his forehead. It was quick, a sharp jab that was a misdirect. He spun, and the wall prevented him from getting out of the way.
Davel twisted, swinging his hip around. With the speed he operated at, it looked almost lazy.
Gavin knew it was anything but. He dropped, pushing off of the wall, sliding forward and bringing his fist up. Davel rotated, catching Gavin’s fist between his thighs and squeezing. Gavin flipped back up and kicked toward Davel, driving his foot at the man’s shoulder.
The move freed his hand, and he spun around, trying to position so that he could see Davel. But the shift had put the other constables between him and escape.
Davel stood in front of him. Either Gavin was going to have to overpower him, or he was going to have to find a way out. He’d already used energy from his core reserves, and there was only so much power remaining. He didn’t want to risk depleting too much of that power until he knew more about what Davel was capable of.
“I need the egg,” Davel said. “I’m sure you can understand why it’s valuable to us. If you faced a sorcerer in the city, then you understand just how important that is.”
“Obviously the egg isn’t so important to you. Otherwise you wouldn’t have lost it.”
“And I said we didn’t.”
“No? Somebody stole it from you?”
Davel didn’t say anything.
Gavin tried to prepare for anything that Davel might do to him, but he wasn’t sure what it would take. He twisted again, and he focused on his attack. He’d have to find a way to escape by using the energy he had left.
The constables behind him approached slowly.
He was ready for anything.
Or so he thought.
Davel shifted his attack and barreled toward him. Gavin barely jumped in time. Had he not been already calling upon his core reserves, it may not have been enough. He managed to launch in the air, but he didn’t have the space to maneuver and kick.
He grabbed for a low overhang and pulled himself up to the rooftop. Crouching there, he looked down at Davel.
“You aren’t going to be able to get away from there,” Davel said.
“You don’t know that,” Gavin said.
“I know better than you.”
Davel jumped and reached the rooftop quickly, which surprised Gavin again. He was enchanted. Heavily enchanted.
Knowing what he did now and how the jade egg was the key to enchanting the constables, Gavin imagined that Davel used it frequently, drawing upon the energy of more and more enchantments to secure his position. It was the kind of thing someone who wanted to maintain power would do.
Gavin backed away. The roof wasn’t all that sloped, but it also wasn’t stable enough that he could fight effectively. He was going to have to move carefully. He crept along the rooftop and carefully maintained his footing. Then he slipped.
He slid toward Davel, and the constable reached for him. Gavin twisted and spun his feet, trying to spiral around as quickly as he could. The twisting caught Davel off guard. Gavin kicked and caught Davel in the thigh, knocking him down.
Gavin used the leverage to push off. He scrambled back, up the roof, standing at the peak of it. He ran as he saw Davel starting to stand back up.
He didn’t like racing across the rooftops. The pitch was unstable, and he called upon his core reserves as he ran as quickly as possible, but there were limits to that power. Limits to how much he could summon and limits to what he could do.
He slipped again, and he slid down the side of the rooftop. Gavin cried out, scrambling for grip. His hand caught something, and he pushed the pain away as his flesh tore.
He finally came to rest and hurried to his feet. He looked behind him, and Davel was following him at almost a leisurely pace. Still, despite how it appeared, the man moved faster than the average person.
Gavin didn’t know if he would be able to outrun him on the rooftop. Even in the street, he didn’t know if he could outrun Davel, who obviously knew how to find him. He needed to
