The Protector’s pawns

The first attacker steps forward, and you swat his clumsy swing aside with your shield. You’ve been training with Clarissa and Uzume a lot lately, and although you’re hardly a master, you quickly realize that these men are outmatched. The sounds of footsteps approaching tells you that numbers will be an issue, however.

You hear Lynn murmuring behind you, and you glance and see her talking into her bracelet, which glows a soft green. You don’t have time to wonder about that however, as the other two men step forward, swinging. You parry one blade, but fail to dodge the other, and it thumps off your armored rib cage, though it rebounds off the dwarf-forged scales.

As you see more armed men stepping out of an alley, you decide to stop playing fair. You activate your first power, and you feel strength flowing into your body. You’ve grown tired of always losing the battle of strength, and absorbed a strength enhancing spell. While you still would be outmatched by someone like Uzume, these are regular humans, and the effects are impressive. You attack, and though the man parries the blow, the impact causes him to lose the sword. You follow it up with a savage kick to his knee, which folds in an unnatural direction, and he drops to the ground, clutching his leg. As you block the next attack with your shield, you silence the downed man with a kick to the head. Judging by the crunch when you connect, he won’t be getting up.

The next man goes down almost as easily, as you smash through his guard with repeated blows, finally dropping him by punching the hilt of your sword into his face. By now, more men have piled into the street, and you don’t want to risk someone getting lucky, or getting around you to hurt Lynn.

You consider your spells as you block and parry the incoming attacks. With a twist in your mind, you combine a pair of spells. You take a deep breath, and when you exhale, a yellowish mist issues from your mouth. The combination of a mist spell and a paralysis spell engulfed four men, and they cease moving. You take advantage with quick thrusts of your sword. Normally you wouldn’t kill them while helpless, but there’s no chance to do anything else as more people join the attack. The leader shouts at you.

“You can’t kill us all, deviant! We will end your sick reign!”

You growl, lashing out with your shield to **** several men back, kicking another in the chest. You feel his ribs break under the impact, and you focus on the largest group, dismissing your shield and pointing your left hand at them. Black flames lick your fingers as you concentrate, and a burst of black fire engulfed several men, the leader diving clear just in time. The men don’t even have time to scream, as the fire reduces them to ash and bones in seconds.

You snarl at the leader as you contain the black fire once again, but he just grins as you approach. “Even if you kill me, more will come! We will be victorious!”

The remaining four men leap to defend their leader, and **** you to step back. You hear footsteps approaching, and the man laughs, running towards them. As he reaches the alley, however, he bounces back, having run into a grinning Uzume, who catches him by the throat, easily lifting him in the air. He attempts to slash at her, but her casual swat with her free arm causes his arm to fold midway along his forearm. His sword clatters to the ground, and Uzume smiles. Clarissa and Maya step out beside her, claws and axe wet with blood.

Uzume chuckles. “Sorry we took so long, Lynn. Ran into some idiots up the street.”

You notice they’re all wearing glowing green bracelets like Lynn. The remaining four men try to flee, but find one path blocked by fast growing vines, and when they turn, they are blasted with frost and lightning, as Anna, Sadie, and Ruka step out onto the street. Anna smiles. “We figured six of us was plenty, master. It looks like you handled most of them.”

You nod, sheathing your sword and dismissing your armor. Uzume shakes the leader in her iron grip. “And this one? Alive or dead?”

“Alive. He’s the leader of this group. We should question him.”

Uzume grins, and gives him a slap that would probably dent a tank. The man goes limp, and she stares a moment. Then she nods. “Done. I’ll bring him to the dungeon.”

Maya sighs. “I guess I’ll get the guards to come clean this mess…”

You smile. “Thanks, girls. It’s nice to have backup. I’ve worked up an appetite, though. Do you still want to get dinner, Lynn?”

Lynn smiles and takes your hand. “Of course! Let’s go, my hero and my king.”