20x04
Surely there's not a way out down there... Mena thought, as the intruder she thought of as Bloodthirsty Guy disappeared into the darkness of the lower level.
Suddenly a man-sized shape swished through the air above her. It was Tavi. Lofted by magic, he
flew above the stairs, above Cranky (who, although distracted by Nyoko’s arrows, looked suitably awestruck), and across the room to the other doorway. Tavi landed at a run and vanished after Bloodthirsty Guy into the lower levels.
That was something new.
From near the top of the stairs, Savina prayed and cast
Consecrated Ground: warm blue light flowed from her hands in ripples and formed a glowing area with Arden at its center. Arden stirred, opened her eyes, took in the blue light around her, and then glared up at Savina. "You never just let me go," she growled. "Godsdammit. Again and again and
again."
Wise woman, Mena thought, realizing that Arden's ingratitude was an attempt to keep her cover identity intact just in case Cranky did escape. She trusted that Savina would realize the same thing. To bolster Arden's effort, Mena barked back at her: "Godsdammit yourself, Arden. Get up off the godsdamned floor and pull your godsdamned weight." Arden staggered to her feet and tried a swipe at Cranky, who stepped aside almost disdainfully: it was clear that, while Arden was no longer in immediate danger of death, she was still far from well.
A blaze of flaming green light and some alarming clattering came from down the stairs where Tavi had chased Bloodthirsty.
Cranky seized the distraction to hurl a throwing star at Mena, and for the first time in this fight, Mena was hit. It was only a small poke in the scheme of things, but she felt a very strong, very
Ehktian feeling of annoyance. She had been enjoying the idea that she would escape this entire fight unscathed after standing boldly in the thick of it the entire time—if that wasn't some kind of perfect accomplishment she wasn't sure what was. Now Cranky had ruined it, and she felt very, very . . . cranky.
Well, she thought,
even if I can't have a perfect fight, I'll still bloody well have one with no loose ends.
"Ladies," she said, "let's end this man."
Twiggy unleashed an
illusory ambush, causing Cranky to clap a hand to his head as if in terrible pain. Nyoko shot him in the ribs and the shoulder. Savina sent a
lance of faith straight at his eyes, and Mena raised her sword and punctured him in the gut. He turned and staggered through the far doorway, down the stairs to the lower level.
Hmm, thought Mena, preparing to follow him,
I hope Tavi's on his guard.
###
Tavi had raced down the stairs after the particularly bloodthirsty man into a room much like the one above, except here the cages were all raised and empty—and there was no door other than the one they'd come in. Tavi felt full of exaltation that his first flight in combat had gone so well: his new magical armor had functioned perfectly. Phoebe, of course, was even more excited, but she contented herself with spinning loops around Tavi's head, humming enthusiastically.
The other man wheeled, at bay, took in the sight of Tavi, his green-flaming sword, and the tiny gem-colored blur circling Tavi's head, and… grinned. A little crazily. Then he charged Tavi, pulling him into a grapple. As they struggled across the floor, bodies locked together, the man's dagger plunged into the shoulder joint of Tavi's armor and deep into the flesh beneath. As Tavi briefly lost his grip, the man dragged him sideways and slung him headlong into the pit beneath the middle cage. Tavi plunged into the darkness and hit hard.
Tavi! Tavi, are you all right?!
Fine. Just a little more bruised than I'd ideally prefer. Tavi glanced up and saw the man peering down at him.
Phoebes, give me one second…
Tavi concentrated, cast, and teleported out of the pit, landing just behind the man.
"Hello," Tavi said, and as the man turned, Tavi swung his flaming sword in a perfect arc and cut into the man's side. The man somehow held his ground and slashed at Tavi with his dagger. He missed. His grin faded and he sighed audibly. Then Tavi kicked him into the pit. He hit hard, and the only thing still moving after that was the smoke curling up from his still-smoldering garments.
Behind Tavi came a frantic thumping, and the last remaining intruder came leaping down the stairs. Tavi turned, his blade flickering.
###
Mena watched Cranky vanish into the darkness of the lower level. There was a brief pause. Then:
thump thump thump thump thump. Cranky came leaping back up the stairs, eyes wide with terror.
Behind him came the green-flaming blade, spinning of its own accord through the air. It took Cranky's head off.
Behind the sword came Tavi. He caught the sword as it returned to his hand and looked at the corpse before him. "I guess we're done here," he said.
As Savina hurried down the stairs to heal Tavi and Arden, and Twiggy extinguished her fireball from the doorway, a feeble voice asked, "Please, let me out? Please?" It was Kawazu, still in his cage. He was, Mena allowed, a piteous sight: all rags and filth.
Savina stepped closer to him. "I—I would feel sorry for you," she said. "I would. Part of me does. But you have caused so much suffering. A
peasant girl died because of the heresy you promoted."
And with that, she turned her back on the cage. "We should lower him back down," she suggested.
Tavi did so. Savina, meanwhile, healed Arden fully. As she helped Arden to her feet, Arden said, "Thank you for that, Blessed Daughter. Sincerely."
They went back up the stairs.
At the arrow slit, they collected Nyoko, and at a landing a few more steps up, they found Kormick slouching against the wall with a couple of guards, all laughing and taking turns pulling on a flask. "Well fought," said Kormick, wiping his lip. "These fine gentlemen and I were lying in wait here in case any of those intruders escaped your clutches. Truly! We were
in no way merely loafing around and drinking!"
Mena lifted a skeptical eyebrow, but Kormick smiled in that disarmingly charming way of his. "Dame Mena, Dame Mena, do I lie? I never lie. It was tactics. I was keeping close tabs on the action. Regardless of what these fellows here may or may not have given me a sip of, I would have walloped any of those malefactors had they gotten past the fearsome yet strangely attractive roadblock that was you. Which, I observed with pleasure, they did not."
Mena smiled. "No, Justicar," she agreed at last, "they did not."