Avena gripped her binder. She shouldn’t be standing here. She had to get in the fight. They needed her help. Ust was here for her as much as the others. She couldn’t just stand still while they died. The bucket of whitewash swam in her mind. The emptiness threatened to swallow her as Ōbhin whipped his sword before him to parry shielded blows thrown by the naked Ust.
His back was to her now as he attacked Ōbhin, snarling in rage. The wound on his side knitted together. A soft orange glowed from between his thighs and then faded. Topaz in his groin?
She rushed forward to join the fray.
Ust’s fist crashed through a balustrade before slamming down at Ōbhin. He threw up his sword. Purple flared, the shield saving Ust’s hand while preventing his attack from striking Ōbhin.
Avena slammed her binder down on Ust’s right elbow as he drew back to deliver another powerful blow. The purple binding sprang around his arm. The band of energy, the same hue as Ust’s shield, engulfed his body and pinned his arm to his side.
He whirled around in a blur of movement. Fury crossed his face. “You think that will protect your quim from me!”
Anger flared through her as she raised her binder to slam it into his legs and knock him down. Behind Ust, Ōbhin rushed in to deliver a powerful blow. His blade hummed. Ust’s free hand blurred and slammed into her chest. Not a punch but a shove that flung her back. She hit the floor and slid across the polished marble into the wall. Pain flared from the crown of her head. A shield erupted around his arm and clashed with her binding. In a flash of violet, the two energies canceled each other out.
His arm free, he threw a barreling punch at Ōbhin, whose feet scrambled to stop his momentum. He leaned back to avoid Ust’s punch and fell onto his back in a clatter of chainmail. Not pausing, Ōbhin swept his blade out at Ust’s feet. The bandit leaped back in a blur of motion and landed a pace from Avena.
Why didn’t he shield? she thought. Why leap back?
*
Ōbhin gained his feet, his right wrist screaming from the fall, his ribs creaking. The exhilaration of battle dulled the throb across his ribs, but every moment built the pain. He had to end this. Something had happened to Ust’s shield. He retreated.
Ōbhin attacked.
He crossed the spaces, boots slapping on concrete, and swiped a hard blow at Ust’s upper shoulder. Fingers rushed in from the left, thrusting the backsword before him. Purple popped into existence. The shield returned. His sword bounced off it.
Fingers’s backsword buried into Ust’s hip. The monstrous man snarled in pain. Fingers already was moving, retreating before the blurring blow caught him. Missing Fingers, the fist slammed into the outer wall, smashing through the plaster coating and cracking the heavy marble block. Blood streamed down Ust’s hip now, but the wound healed, the topaz glowing between his thighs.
There had to be a way to beat this bastard. Ōbhin wasn’t about to let these people down. Jilly sobbed over Smiles, clutching her husband. He couldn’t have survived that impact. Avena scrambled up to her feet, blood spilling down her pale face. Miguil and the gardeners lurked back, their faces pale in fright while Pharon clutched a shoulder, his face a mass of pain.
Avena caught Ōbhin’s eyes. He could see an urgency in them. She had thought of something. Trusting her, Ōbhin slashed at Ust. They had to end this. They were lucky to still be standing. His legs were turning to lead. Fatigue ate at him.
He would make a mistake and end up like Smiles soon.
*
If I can disable that topaz . . . rattled through Avena’s head as Ōbhin made his next attack. His blow looked slower, not as skilled. He used his off-hand. They were losing. This had to work. She had to do this.
She darted two paces, holding her binder low as she rushed at the naked, foul man. Muscles rippled along his back as he responded to Ōbhin’s attack. She swung up between his legs with her metal binder, the rod an effective baton.
It had weight.
She slammed it between his legs, striking his dangling testicles and driving them up to where the topaz glowed. On impact, she felt something hard beneath the skin cracking against her binder. The purple energy shot out, wrapping about his legs as he howled in agony.
A hot, vicious thrill shot through her as he staggered, struggling to stay upright with his legs bound. He broke the binding with his shield and blurred around to face her. His face twisted in monstrous fury as he stared at her. She gloated at the ruin she’d left of his privates, skin ruptured, blood spilling out.
No topaz glowed. She’d disrupted it.
She almost didn’t see him draw back his fist as he howled his bestial rage. Death hurtled down at her. She shifted her weight, struggling to move, to throw herself out of the way. She took the first step.
It wasn’t enough.
A dark shape struck her from the right. She gasped, pushed out of the way of the powerful blow. It struck the man who’d knocked her aside. She twisted in the air as she fell, turned by the attack. She caught a glimpse of Pharon streaking from her. His back slammed into the shattered doorway, bent farther than it should.
The crack of his spine struck her ears as she hit the ground.
“Pharon!”
