I leapt in front of Justice as a bolt of fire shot over my head at Jarrec. Soralee stepped more casually forward, the point of her rapier dancing between us. 

Jarrec shot an arrow over my head. I had to assume Justice could do their part and avoid being hit. Fighting a duelist was going to take all my effort. 

I held both of my daggers before me, one reversed, stepping forward and hoping to find a gap in the defense of someone trying to use their reach to my great disadvantage. 

“Jarrec’s a harrier! Watch your joi-yak!” Another arrow came, this time to my left.

Soralee’s blade tried for my eye and I deflected. I tried forward and she stepped back poking again at my defenses. I was circling around her, slowly. Something was off about her form, but I couldn’t tell if she was just using a non-standard technique.

The problem with facing Duelists was that they are ultimate reactionary defenders. If I pressed too fast, she would cut me to ribbons. 

I circled around her though, her smirk intent on being aggravating while bolts and spells flew between the others. She advanced on me one step, and had to take two to retreat. 

“She’s a dervish, low brawn!”

Her smile vanished and I clacked my jaw in excitement and leapt at her, shoulder to her chest. She raised the point of the rapier as her other hand retrieved a short sword from her back. She scored a small slice along my cheek and my blade managed to knick through her sleeve. I felt flesh give. Gathering my feet on her, I didn’t stay long as I used her as a springboard to throw myself at Jarrec, who was taking aim at me, hoping to catch me by surprise. His eyes lit up and the bolt went wild. I used my reversed blade to pull down his wrist with the shortbow. My other blade dug deep into his side, where the grey was stained dark with my other blade.

He made a small noise and I kept latched on with my limbs where I could, my feet gripping into his thighs. I could have bit him, but it was considered the barbarian sort of thing for kobolds. I wouldn’t stoop to it here.

Behind me, Soralee screamed. 

Justice yelled, “She’s coming for you!”

I scrambled to leap away, felt a blade dig deep into my tail and tumbled into a crouch too close to the duo for my own comfort still. Soralee’s blades whirled at me and I scrambled backwards as I gestured my menu screens up, luminously goldenrod and stacked high, to block her from seeing where I was exactly. 

Jarrec seemed to be done playing ranged games with Justice, pulling two wicked looking krises from somewhere on his body and advancing through a hail of stunbolts. 

Soralee seem only slightly offput by my sudden shield of light, unlike any spell commonly on the market, but still advanced, her blade stabbing at the slit I’d placed for me to still see. If she’d ignored the barriers, I’d have been finished.

She was quick and strong, my daggers barely deflecting the blows as I realized I was being pushed into a corner. Having to gamble somewhere, I tossed my screens to the left, making it look like I was trying to flee that way and leapt forward and low. Her blades traced the screen just a little too long as my weight hit her legs. I pulled my self up beneath her battle skirts, using my blades stabbed deep into the backs of her unarmored shins. She cut at me but my head was protected by her own skirts. Blades did dig into my back and tail and I had to bite back yelps of pain as used one blade to begin cutting up and at her inner thigh, a well-known weakpoint on humans. 

She tried scrambling back and fell, yelling “I surrender,I surrender!” as my blade began to sink in. I instantly pulled back and reached for my pouch to offer a heavy clean rag I always carried. 

“Put pressure on that,” I said as I dropped the rag on her chest, even as the referee shuffled backwards from the side to take a look, while keeping the rest of the fight in focus. 

I didn’t think I cut into the artery, but I didn’t want to bleed out an opponent and break one of the rules. She was probably worried she’d be exsanguinated before the referee could get to her too. 

Jarrec and Justice were on the other side of the arena. One of Justice’s arms hung uselessly, blood welling from somewhere, but from the angle I was, it looked like Jarrec’s face was losing at least as much blood. 

I started forward and found I had a limp, some muscle or joint damaged by Soralee’s thrashing. I didn’t feel the pain yet, so I threw myself forward anyway. I threw one of my blades as Jarrec raised his for a wide slash at Justice. It failed to sink into the well armored cape, but it drew his attention away for the moment Justice needed to cast a spell that put up a luminous barrier. 

Jarrec’s blade bounced off the Light Shield and as Jarrec turned to try to keep his eye on both of us, Justice bounded forward to throw another fist into his jaw. As I pulled my spare blade, and Justice shifted back to begin spellcasting again. Jarrec raised his hands, dropping the blades. He tried to mumble something but mostly blood came out of clenched teeth. 

I halted, swaying a bit as I put too much weight on my right leg.