Chapter 19

Elaina woke sometime after midnight, though she wasn't sure precisely what time it was. The light from the fire had gone down considerably, and there was a chill in the air. Had it not been for the warmth of the woman lying next to her, the blanket alone would not have been enough to keep the chill at bay. She squirmed as carefully as she could manage out from under the blanket so as not to disturb Azade. The two of them had returned to Elaina's tent for a few more rounds with one another. The experience still echoed through her body for good and for ill. Parts of her felt free of tension, entirely at ease, while others felt stiff and knotted. Her exertion with the dark-haired beauty had not done her back any favors, but luckily it had not been enough stress to aggravate the wound, just leave it sore.

She shivered as the cold air hit her naked body, and she hastily began putting her clothes on. It had been Anisha's watch, and she wondered why it was that she had let the fire die down the way she had. Azade had stepped away sometime after they had finished having sex to let Anisha know she had to get up and then returned to the warmth of the bedroll with Elaina. Had she not gotten up at all?

From beyond the closed tent flap, somewhere Elaina guessed had to be on the other side of the camp or slightly beyond it, came the sound of a few hushed voices. The swordmage froze in place as she finished pulling on her boots, straining to hear what was being said. Though she couldn't make out any specifics, it did sound as though there were about four or five distinct voices.

"Azade," she whispered, keeping her voice as low as she could, reaching out to prod her with a finger, "Wake up."

After a moment of no response, Elaina poked her a little harder this time, again whispering as loud as she dared, and got no response. She had seen before how Azade enjoyed her sleep and the minimal response she could give to someone trying to wake her, but even that was less than what she was seeing before her. Elaina leaned close and shook her slightly, only to again receive no response.

"Azade," she repeated, hunkering over her to feel if she was breathing. She was, just the same as any other time she was sleeping. It just seemed as though she didn't want to wake. Or couldn't.

Elaina immediately reached for her armor but paused, seeing the little odd spying glass she had kept from the Frog Song. She grabbed it instead and held it to the inside of the canvas wall of the tent. It functioned just as it had with a thick door, revealing the other side of the barrier as if it wasn't there, allowing her to see into the camp plainly. There she saw Anisha sleeping, sprawled awkwardly out over one of the logs that had been functioning as a makeshift bench near the fire. She still had the stick they'd been using to poke the fire in one hand.

On the other side of the camp, she saw a group of ten men approaching beyond the tree line. Each of them wore cloaks to help warm them against the evening chill, and their hoods were drawn up, but she recognized the three in the front as the members of the Orbonne company from the Frog Song. Dieter, the leader of the group, still managed to look smarmy even now. With a flick of his wrist, he motioned for a few of the men she didn't recognize to take Anisha. They weren't wearing weapons of the Orbonne Company. Only the three she recognized were, so she imagined they might have just been some other hired mercenaries to bolster their numbers. Dieter and his two goons were wearing different armor now, more like what the men at Rashuk's place had been wearing though Dieter's had some slightly heavier protection in areas.

"Fuck," Elaina whispered as she watched the mercs lift Anisha and drag her away from the fire, laying her out at the edge of the camp and leaving her. She remained asleep as if she hadn't just been dragged through the dirt.

Dieter yawned and made a sound of frustration, "Alden, can you find that fucking thing before it puts us all to sleep?"

The company member on Dieter's left, the older of the two with a large black mustache, stepped forward and leaned down near Azade's tent, picking a large clear marble the size of an eyeball out of the leaves. It caught the light in a strange way that didn't seem natural, and as Elaina looked at it, she had to keep herself from yawning. Alden, too, yawned a bit as he stood, turning to face Dieter as he rolled the small glass orb into a thick rag several times over.

"Be careful with it. I can't have you losing it. It's our last one." Dieter said, motioning towards the tent next to Alden, "Get her out of there while you're at it."

Alden gave a quick nod and pulled the tent flap open, taking only a second to see that Azade wasn't in there, "There's no one in here, sir."

"The dyke is probably in there with the shemale," the other company man blurted as he motioned casually over at Elaina's tent. The statement turned more than a few heads among the other armed men.

"Dyke? Shemale?" Elaina mouthed silently as she reached for her sword and began to draw it slowly so as not to let off any sound that would give her away. So much for the enlightened attitudes of Zelmescans, she supposed.

"Shemale?" Alden repeated with a raised brow, "You just make that shit up?"

"No, it's the term they use for them." The man answered confidently.

Alden walked over to Dieter and handed the wrapped orb to him, his attention on his other companion, "Yeah, Vass? Who exactly is 'they'? Is it the 'Shemales’ who call themselves that, or is it someone else?"

"I don't fucking know!" Vass spat, "Who the fuck cares? We're offing her anyway, right? What fucking difference does it make?"

Alden spread his hands and shrugged, stepping back as the other men rifled through the two empty tents real quick, searching for anything of value, "Just seems insensitive, is all."

"Give me a fucking break, Alden! You said 'no woman is that fast,' well it turns out she's a fucking man. The cooks from the Frog Song said they saw it with their own eyes."

Dieter leaned down, taking a pack off his back, and placed the wrapped orb inside of it gently while the other two bickered. Elaina considered using the distraction to try and put on her armor, but it was unlikely to be enough time, and she would have instead been ready with a sword in hand when they found her rather than be struggling with pieces of armor.

"Yeah," Alden agreed, "But that was an expression of disbelief like, 'no man could have survived that fall', right? A hyperbolic expression of awe at an event is not the same as whatever this is you're doing right now."

"I don't care what she has between her legs," snapped Dieter as he stood, glaring at each of them in turn, "Makes no fucking difference. She's a warrior, and she's fast. She's clever. So we're not taking any chances. One of you go in there, put a blade in her throat, and drag Azade out."

"Alright," Vass grumbled as he stepped away from Alden, who shook his head in disgust at his companion as he made his way over toward the tent, "What if they're *were* fucking though? You want me to just drag her out here naked?"

Dieter waved dismissively, "Sure, whatever. Once we get them bound up, we'll see which one wants to talk. When we get what we want, you two can do whatever you want with them."

Elaina scooted slowly away from the flap of the tent and put the peephole glass in her pocket. She raised her sword to the ready, not liking at all how "whatever you want" sounded. She supposed if everything went wrong, the man they were calling Alden seemed unlikely to take it to such a dark place.

"I'm calling dibs on the half-elf now," Alden laughed, "I bet her ass is nice n' tight!"

Nevermind, Elaina thought, as she held her weapon at the ready. Vass's laughter told her exactly how close he was to the tent and about what level his head was at as he approached the tent flap, "You got a real fetish for those knife-ears!" he called as he stuck his head into the tent.

Elaina held the edge of her sword to the man's throat as his head came poking inside. She brought a finger to her lips with her other hand. "Shh," she said simply.

Vass's eyes went wide, and he began to visibly tremble. Elaina took a step forward and motioned for him to slowly move back, which he did as carefully as possible. Outside, the men tore the camp apart, breaking it down and salvaging what they could from it. Dieter stood at the center of the camp with his arms crossed, waiting patiently. When he saw Elaina come into view, his arms slowly came down to his sides, rage flashing in his eyes. The redhead took a handful of Vass's short curly hair and spun him around, so his body was in front of hers, just as Alden drew his sword. The sound immediately alerted the others to what was happening, and they followed suit, each drawing their lower grade swords in turn.

Elaina pressed the blade to Vass's throat as she held him close. Dieter's eyes shifted to Alden angrily, "You said that the orb had enough power in it to get all three of them."

"It did! I mean- does! I checked it just before I lobbed it into the camp, shit; it still has enough juice in it!" Alden stammered, confused,

"Pull it out of the bag and take a look yourself!"

"Kill her!" screamed Vass frantically. Elaina tightened her grip and pressed the blade a little more firmly to his throat. A bead of crimson red began to run down his skin.

"Don't fucking move!" Elaina growled into his ear, for all the good it was going to do her.

"Then why the fuck isn't she asleep?" Dieter demanded, motioning for the other men that were with them to hold their positions. Dieter's gaze fixed upon Elaina's, the intensity in his eyes, matching hers.

"I don't know!" Alden flailed a little, looking helpless, "She should be fucking asleep!"

"I'm fae-blooded, you morons!" Elaina yelled next to Vass's ear, causing him to flinch slightly, "The most your sleep orb could hope to accomplish is to function as a warm cup of milk before bed."

That wasn't entirely true. Elaina had been feeling quite groggy until the intensity of the situation had been ramped up. Even now, being as alert as she was, her limbs still felt heavy and her reactions sluggish. But it wasn't really something she felt like sharing with them.

Sleep orbs were fairly standard magical items. They radiated sleep. They had to be left out uncovered, and they simply radiated waves of gentle magic that would carry a person gently off to rest. Once set, they would last a few hours, depending on how many people they were affecting, and didn't function through walls any thicker than a standard wood shack. Evidently, they worked just well through tent canvas, though. When the orb powered down, people would continue to sleep naturally, but so long as they were asleep under its influence, it was complicated to wake them. Usually, sleep orbs were used as sleep aids by people with extra coin to waste on such things and were fully functional again about half a day after they were spent. Elaina had never heard of them being used this way.

"Kill her!" Vass screamed again, squirming a little against her, unconvinced that she would just slit his throat, "There's fucking nine of you against *one* Shemale!"

Alden quirked a thick brow at the use of the word again despite the situation he found himself in.

"Say that vile word again," Elaina warned through her teeth as she pressed her crotch firmly against his backside, "I dare you. I'll make this sword the least of your worries when it comes to getting impaled. You hear me?"

"You see, I told you. Insensitive," Alden motioned to Vass, who had frozen in place, more intimidated by the prospect of Elaina doing to him what they were planning to do to her companions than of the blade at his throat. She couldn't decide if it was more disgusting or pathetic.

"He has a point," Dieter said coolly to Elaina, "There are nine of us and only one of you."

"Sure, and you'll probably kill me. But not before I kill him, and probably a handful of your mercs here. I figure you're not keen on him dying, or we wouldn't be talking, and I figure they're not keen on playing the odds on which of them is going to die in the woods on some random job."

It probably hadn't occurred to any of the men before she'd mentioned it, but now that she had, she could see a few nervous glances exchanged between them. She'd wondered how many of them had any actual military training, and now she knew. The primary concerns were gonna be the trio from the Orbonne company. Though a rush from the rest wouldn't be ideal, the fact she was a swordmage and not just another swordswoman would likely tip things in her favor.

"That's an awful lot of assumptions on your part," Dieter replied, "But it wouldn't be hard to sell the idea of Vass falling in battle to the rest of the guys. You've caught me in a particularly un-accommodating mood today, so I don't see negotiation working out for you."

"You drop your weapons and walk out of here. Once you're gone, I'll send your man out here after you," Elaina demanded despite Dieter's warning.

"No," he said flatly, "You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to have my men bring me the half-elf. And I'm going to make you watch while I open her throat."

A cold chill ran through Elaina as Dieter snapped his fingers, and two of the men nearest to Anisha began to move over to her,

"Don't you-!" she shouted when suddenly Vass's head slammed back into her face. A burst of color filled her vision as Vass knocked her sword away from him and shoved her backward, drawing his own weapon in the process.

The sound of rushing footsteps amid the fallen leaves filled Elaina's ears as she struggled to see clearly. She pushed a portion of magic into her sword and managed to get it up in time to intercept a vertical strike before quickly deflecting a second strike aimed for her chest. Each time she met their swords with her own, she could see that it was more force than they were expecting. Vibrations rattled through their wrist as she stopped their strikes cold or knocked them aside. She twisted and shifted, trying to put as many of the men in front of her as she could and not let them circle around her. The Orbonne company trio remained in the back lines and began to look for the best positioning on her.

One of the men was a little slower than the others and left an opening that Elaina couldn't help but take. Her sword slid in just under his armpit and down through his chest cavity. The motion moved like a hot knife through butter, thanks to the magical energy humming in the blade. The other men looked stunned as the man she had run through coughed up a wet mess of dark red. When she pulled her blade free, he fell to the ground, lifeless.

"There's one," she counted, her green eyes leveling with the rest as she continued to move in half circles to keep as much of them in her field of view as possible. The swordmage could see what scant resolve the men started with was quickly waning.

One of the men at the edge of her vision rushed forward, thinking he was occluded from view., but his thrust was sloppy. She pivoted with her parry, using his momentum to feed him to the men directly in front of her. Most of them moved out of the way, but one of them caught him haphazardly, and the two fumbled with each other while she pressed an advance to the left where the crowd had parted. There were fewer men here, and the others on the right began to shift back to move around the fumbling pair when Dieter's voice broke through the noise.

"Flank her! Advance!" And the men on the right stopped moving back and did as they were commanded. It seemed even a few amateurs would become deadly enough if they had a seasoned fighter directing them on how to move.

Instead of continuing her push on the left, Elaina pivoted again and turned toward the two who were just now freeing up, and came down with a hard two-handed slash as she uttered a word of magic to infuse her blade. Her strike was met with a parry though the man barely managed to keep the weapon level. She recovered immediately with a diagonal swing going from low to high, her sword thrumming with the two clashing weapons absorbed kinetic force. Again the man parried, but his sword was knocked wide with the added pressure as her sword absorbed more of the kinetic energy for the next strike. He stumbled back, and his companion moved forward to defend him as she brought the sword across at neck level. Her sword ignited an eerie blue-purple mid-swing as the man held his sword in a guard with both hands.

Elaina's weapon snapped the sword's cheap steel like a twig and cleaved clean through the man's neck, parting his head from his shoulders in an unsettlingly easy fashion. The body fell to the right while the head rolled off to the left.

"Two," she counted as the glow of her weapon faded, the kinetic amplification spell spent on the killing blow. The body spasmed a few times on the ground, the stump of the neck still sizzling from the magic blade that had passed through it. A bit of smoke bloomed where the heated steel from the broken blade smoldered amid the damp of the fallen foliage.

"Holy fuck!" Vass exclaimed in utter horror as he took several fearful steps backward. Dieter rested a hand on Vass's shoulder before taking a firm hold of his armor and jerking him forward.

"Don't be a coward," Dieter growled, his eyes burning with hatred for Elaina now. The man did not like being made a fool of, and she had began making a fool of him once again.

"B-but," Vass stammered, "Did you see what she just fucking did?"

"She's a swordmage," Alden said with a strangely level tone, though Elaina could see the sweat running down one side of his face, "But she'll bleed and tire like any other."

The other men seemed less confident but not quite cowed. They knew that their steel was cheaper and more shoddy than that which the Orbonne company was wielding. They also knew they still had numbers in their favor, and she'd had to work harder for two kills than any of them had worked up to this point. Dieter himself leaped forward in a move to instill confidence, sending a few quick clean strikes for Elaina. He knew she would defend each one, but he also knew that the others would be emboldened to follow by leading the attack himself. He was right.