Aurrie's step turned into a charge. With her shield still protecting the front of her body, the housekeeper barged at the Cutthroat. A misstep on the bandit's part caused him stumble on dropped mug, giving Aurrie an ample opportunity to catch up. As he fell, he swung his weapon fervently, hoping to deal any amount of damage to the oncoming Purifier. The stray thrusts only landed on the front of Aurrie's shield.
Once the attacker was downed, a blunt from the edge of Aurrie's shield landed square on the face. A single groan escaped from the Cutthroat before he lay writhing on the ground. Aurrie stomped on his gut, taking out the last bit of wind in his lungs before reaching down and prying the belt of throwing knives off his body.
"You said you could make use of these." Aurrie flung the belt behind her. Tamma caught it with one hand and took out one of the knives from it’s sheathe. She held the small weapon in her other hand and felt for its weight with her fingers.
"Yeah, I can make some good use out of these."
Two more drunken Cutthroats approached the formation's rear, one holding a sword and the other an axe. Miwah kept her stance steady as she held her sword upright, parrying each attack with swift swipes of her sword.
"I could use some help!" Miwah cried out after narrowly dodging a lob from the axe.
"I got ya!" Aurrie rushed to Miwah's front, taking lead. The two Cutthroats struggled to reposition themselves in their staggered state. "Which one of ya wants to attack first?"
The axe swung wide this time, again only hitting Aurrie's shield. The impact of metal on metal rang out through the inn. The attacker withdrew his hand, his wrist hurting from the blunt impact. He took a step back to recover from the pain, giving Tamma a free shot to his exposed limbs.
A silver dagger soared across the short distance, grazing the Cutthroat's hand. A trail of blood flew as the edge of the throwing knife grazed his skin. The bandit grunted and released his grip from his weapon as he used his other hand to hold onto the freshly formed wound. The moment he took his eyes off Aurrie, she responded with another bash of her shield.
The blow to his arm was enough to knock him on one of the inn's chairs. The weight of the Cutthroat combined with the force of his fall proved too much for the shoddy furniture to handle. The chair fell apart as soon he landed on it, sending the legs apart in different directions.
With Aurrie focused on his cohort, the remaining Cutthroat lunged forward with his sword. The thrust went wide, missing Aurrie's arm by an inch. Despite the attack missing, Aurrie was startled by the proximity of the attack, breaking her concentration of her defensive stance. Seeing that the Centurion was left in a vulnerable position, Miwah rushed in with a stab angled towards the Cutthroat's hand.
The man jumped back and angled his weapon enough to counter Miwah's oncoming stab. The two continued to duel, exchanging stabs and lunges only to have them cut short by the other’s sword. The Cutthroat's form was sloppy and his stance was lackadaisical. Seeing the weakness in her opponent's posture and technique, Miwah continued her offense, risking her safety by going in for a direct attack. She angled her body sideways and put all her strength in a single thrust aimed at the bandit's chest.
The Cutthroat backed away, but his movement wasn't fast enough to completely avoid the attack. The metal pierced his leather vest with ease and the tip of Miwah's sword punctured flesh. The man let out a cry of anguish as Miwah retreated her arm, pulling the sword out of the fresh wound. His crying soon turned soft as he put both hands over the gash and stumbled on his back. All those that remained standing watched as the Cutthroat writhed in agony the floor, his hand fervently pressing against his injury in a futile attempt to minimize blood from leaving his body.
Wystan rose from his seat without taking his eyes of Aurrie. He slammed his fist against the bar, calling the attention of his men. "Who here has my weapon?" he blurted out. On his face was pure fury as he scanned across his band of disorderly underlings.
One of the bandits reached under a cluttered table and reemerged with a long hammer in his hands. He wobbled towards the leader to which Wystan snatched his weapon from the smaller man's hands.
"Narrita won't be too happy that she's not going to be the one to put an end to our little problem." Wystan rested the handle of the hammer of his shoulder. The metal mass at the end poked out past his head. The craftsmanship was simple yet fearsome; the metal head was a solid square chunk the size of Wystan’s forearm. He spun the weapon by the shaft as he walked closer to the girls.
"I know I said your defense was good, but I don't know if you'd be able to survive a direct strike from Wystan, even if you did block it with your shield!" Yalch whispered to Aurrie. She staggered backwards, making the rest of her formation do the same. Tamma hurled another throwing knife at the rapidly approaching Wystan. The projectile lodged itself into the side of his arm.
"Good thing I got enough rum in my system," Wystan said while chuckling. With his free hand he pulled the knife out of his arm. Blood spirted out of the fresh wound like a fountain, but Wystan grinned through the pain. "Otherwise, that might have hurt."
Nervous, Tamma threw the remaining two daggers in rapid succession. One flew towards Wystan's face, to which he caught with the palm of his hand. With a strong shake of his wrist, the stuck knife fell out of his and onto the floor. The second projectile drove into his bare shoulder. He shrugged and flicked away the knife with his finger.
"Gettin' ya drunk might not have been the best idea," Aurrie said softly. Wystan raised an eyebrow as he resumed his advance.
"Should have figured the free Rhoda Rum was part of a scam. The first thing you learn when you're a bandit is that if something is too good to be true, it is."
The three girls ran out of space to retreat with Tamma bumping into a wall. Once they moved back as far as they could, Wystan held his hammer in both hands and raised it above his head. He made eye contact with a terrified Aurrie. His smile widened as he brought down his hammer with all his force. The trio jumped and scattered in different directions before the metal head shattered the wooden flooring to bits.
A small crater remained where Wystan struck. He lifted his hammer and let it rest on his shoulder as he reveled in the destruction he caused. The three girls all stared at the splintered wood in the ground with wide open eyes. Words were ready to leave their lips, but the entire room was remained in silence.
"Should have stayed in the closet when you had the chance!" Wystan barked. He placed his eyes on Aurrie who was just a few feet to his side. The head bandit lowered his hammer with one hand to his side before following up with a backwards swing.
Aurrie positioned her shield to cover her front as she backed away. But Wystan's one-handed stance extended the reach of the attack further than the Centurion anticipated. The hammer bounced off the shield's surface. A deafening ring blasted throughout the inn, overcoming Aurrie's anguished grunt.
The Centurion was knocked off her feet and landed on her side. As she was grounded, Wystan dashed towards her, his movement no longer hindered by the alcohol in his body. He lifted the hammer once more, ready to slam the downed the Purifier. Aurrie moved her shield again to protect her face. She closed her eyes and turned her head, bracing for the inevitable impact.
"Aurrie!" Miwah shouted. Before he could lower his hammer, the seamstress slashed at his back. He grunted but didn't wince from the attack. He moved his elbow back in retaliation, striking Miwah in the side of the head and knocking her to the ground as well and sending her short sword soaring across the inn.
"You brats! Nothing but trouble!" Wystan turned around and saw Tamma running to Miwah's aid. She paused when his squinted eyes met hers. "I don't know which one of you to kill first!" The lead bandit placed both of his hands at the bottom of the hammer's shaft and started to take wide swings in all directions. The three girls backed away from the crazed attacker.
"How much longer do ya think I have?" Aurrie whispered to Yalch.
"Not much," the ghost replied with disappointment. "I'd give you a few minutes more. At most."
"That means we gotta end him now. Or make sure those other girls get their necklaces back and finish Wystan off."
"Either one works," Yalch replied. "But how do you plan on getting past that hammer?" Aurrie and Yalch watched as Wystan focused on Tamma. Her nimbleness allowed her to dodge his smashes with ease.
A somewhat dazed Miwah shook her head. She looked at Tamma duck a high swing from Wystan before facing Aurrie. "He has trouble focusing on just one of us!" she called out. She picked up the sword again with both hands. "And I think I can see where he is holding our Beacons."
Aurrie squinted at Wystan. A leather pouch attached to his belt jostled as flailed his hammer almost aimlessly. The two girls looked at each other and nodded. "I think I see it too," Aurrie replied.
It wasn't long for Tamma to run out of space to run away in. She found herself backed against another corner with Wystan towering over her. The hunter took her eyes off the bandit to pick up an empty mug from the floor. A quick and precise toss hit Wystan square in the face. The glass didn't shatter, but the pain was enough for him to take one hand off his hammer to rub his sore cheek.
"Gah!" Wystan was distracted long enough for Tamma to flee and reunite with the others.
"We're goin' for your Beacons," Aurrie said. She panted as she readied herself into another defensive stance. Miwah and Tamma stood behind her shield again as they all watched Wystan stomp closer. "It'll probably be up to you two to end this fight."
