CHAPTER 113 Could I Fight While Flying If I Rode Keith from Behind?

Henrietta

[You have been affected by the Perk: Strength of Sound. +2 Strength for 10 minutes.]

[You have been affected by the Perk: Inspire. Your abilities cost 10% less for 10 minutes.]

[You have been affected by the Skill: Idol. When acting in the best interests of Minstrel Bronwynn, Health regeneration is 5% faster for 20 minutes.]

I was as ready as I'd ever be.

Destroy them,I heard my sword sing. They will perish in agony!

She was always a little extra when she was awake. I concentrated elsewhere.

"FORMATION!" the flautist's voice called outside, instructing our enemies. "GODS CURSE YOU, JACK, GET YOUR WHIP AND GET BACK INTO FORMATION!"

I edged close to the hole I'd sliced into the carriage to look outside. Which meant I was in position when a face peeked through. The brunette woman smiled maliciously. "Put the sword down, Princess, and I'll leave your pretty face unscarred."

I didn't deign to reply and just raised the point of my blade. She dodged as her smile grew wider. "Good choice. [Blazing Fist]."

Her hands burst into flames, and she swung with one brass-knuckled fist on fire. I swung Jacqueline up in a block, and my vision flashed white from the roaring flames. Jacqueline protested and flared [Intent], cutting the woman's hand.

"Ah!" the brunette screamed.

In her moment of distraction, I dropped to the floor and swept her feet out from under her, sending her toppling back outside the carriage.

"Stay here," I told Brownie.

"But I'll miss all the fun …" I heard her grumble as I jumped outside and landed in the open, surrounded by enemies. Sunset was an hour away, and hints of red painted across the sky.

I wondered idly how long this was going to take without perks; it was easier to get information out of people if they weren't a puddle.

I took in my surroundings as I dodged an arrow to the face. The carriage had collapsed off the side of the road, and there were five guards surrounding me. Their horses were being managed by another two, who were trying to move their bucking charges out of the way. The flautist was standing on the carriage seat, yelling orders.

Maybe if we were loud enough, Keith would fly by and see the commotion. I imagined flying back home happily snuggled in my Dark Lord's embrace. Could I fight while flying if I rode Keith from behind? Piggybacking, maybe? I was joking to myself, but I really hoped he was out looking for me. And that he was unhurt.

I needed to get out of here to find out.

The brunette slave trader sat up off the dirt. "Ow! My hand, you wretch!"

"Sorry," the words slipped out of me at the same time as I followed through with Jacqueline, and she dropped like a sack of potatoes.

Then all chaos broke loose.

Another arrow whizzed past my face. A poisoned throwing knife missed my arm. A spear thunked into the carriage beside me. My body danced, and I lashed out with Jacqueline as the guards all worked together to subdue me.

A chubby blue-haired man charged in and swung at me with an axe, his [Felling Blow] perk missing my nose by inches as I rolled to the left. His blade sunk deep into the front wheel of the carriage behind me, and he cursed as he tried to pull it out. I got his legs as I swept past, and he fell to the ground.

Three [Rapid Fire] arrows entered my senses, and I blocked the first two, but the third nicked my thigh, introducing poison into my leg. I grabbed the throwing knife from earlier and tossed it back, scratching one of the archers. My [Resist Poison] perk activated, and the poison burned away. The archer wasn't so lucky.

Knight Commander Havork remained on his horse, hand on his sheathed sword, and a sad look on his face. I ducked another arrow and a [Water Ball], then ran the archer through.

"You idiots!" the flautist, who was still on the carriage seat, screamed at the two with the horses. "Leave them and get in here!"

Three down, six to go. The guy with a whip sported an amazing pencil moustache … On closer inspection, I wondered if he'd actually penciled it on. The swirls weren't straight.

He lashed out with flair, and while I was parrying a blow from a halfling woman holding a sword as big as Jacqueline, he managed to loop his whip around my ankle. Its barbs cut into the leather of my nice boots as he attempted to pull my foot out from under me.

It was admirable that he thought he could trip me, but that was never going to happen. I kicked, and he was sent off his feet. Then I rapidly spun to the side as a blonde-haired woman in a cute halter top, skirt, and tights missed me with her [Slash]. I wasn't so polite.

Another one down.

I barely registered the flautist in the background yell out, "You! Knight! Stop her!"

As I rolled, I swung Jacqueline wide one-handed; a risky move, but it did cut the tip off the spiked whip as moustache man was picking himself up from the fall.

One of the horse handlers hit me with a throwing star as I stood. It did little to no damage, but it pinched. I bit the star and pulled it out of my shoulder, dropping it to the side. My [Resist Poison] perk activated again.

Knight Commander Havork stayed on his horse and just shook his head. "I'm afraid I was not tasked with keeping your guards safe, merely escorting the princess."

"One chance to run away!" I told the remaining guards, reassured by the knight's inaction.

No one paid me any mind, and the moustache man attacked me with his whip again. I charged him at full speed, ducking under the strike and following the whip back. I watched his confidence turn to worry as I got within arm's reach. He jumped back, activating a skill that sent him elegantly leaping across the field.

Two pouches sailed through the air from the side, aimed at my legs. I bent my knees and, despite the biting pain in my nicked thigh, backflipped out of the way. The tiny packets exploded in a plume of red smoke that made my eyes tingle even at a distance. I landed beside the horse handler who'd thrown them.

His defense lacked refinement, and I went right through him to get to the next handler, a man with both arms transformed into giant badger paws; a shifter.

The flautist was screaming something again, but this time, I was entirely focused on not dying and missed it.

The halfling with the outsize sword [Charged], which meant she'd be at me in seconds.

I only needed seconds.

The shifter swiped his badger paws at my throat, and everything slowed as I moved my head to the side and activated [Death Parry]. A claw caught my ear. Jacqueline came up, and my sword met the halfling's as she struck. The blades slid down each other, and I flicked my wrist just enough to open a path. The halfling's blade cut into the shifter instead of her intended target.

"You'll pay for this." The halfling pulled free her blade and resumed her stance.

"Or," I offered, placing the carriage to my back, "I just pay you now to go away?"

"Don't listen to her," the flautist yelled, "and you can have the shares of the fallen."

"No deal, Princess." The halfling grinned. "I'll get paid plenty by the marquess."

I was tired of going easy … and in my peripheral [Sword Aura], I saw the whipper running back into the fray.

I missed a sentient Dark Enchanted Forest who took care of stragglers. I wanted to go home.

The halfling swung at me, and a whip cracked beside my head, but I dodged each blow and tried to attack back. I positioned the moustache man and the halfling in line with each other.

I executed my [Aura Blade], swinging Jacqueline in an arc and sending energy slashing across the landscape. The halfling went down for good, and the whipper just barely managed to survive. I took a deep breath and readied myself for another attack. Our eyes locked … and he promptly ran away.

"That's it." The flautist hopped down from the carriage and took a step along the side of its ruined frame toward us. "If you want something done right, you have to do it—"

A heavy set of Veralyn's Enchanted Restraint Manacles came down on his head as he walked past the hole in the carriage.

The man shook from the force of the blow, dazed.

"That's for my beloved Suzette!" Brownie announced, brandishing my manacles threateningly from the hole. Then she jumped down and applied her entire weight on an elbow to the man's forehead.

He dropped like a stone.