Aesa slid an axeblade aside and stepped forward, cutting on the pass; the would-be raider collapsed behind her, losing axe and torch alike. The falchion should have been too big for her, but its enchantments made it responsive and easy to handle. To her right, Anica slapped a raider's hand with her shield, driving the woman's torch into her own hair; Anica stabbed her in the gut as her hair caught fire. Two more were closing in on her, but she had the situation well under control. Beyond her, Werendril was dancing through their attackers, leaving deep slashes as he passed. More raiders were moving towards him, too, but for the moment Aesa was...
Oh. The man in front of her was big, broad-shouldered and heavy; he moved like a bull, and was carrying a two-handed axe. Oh, that has to be the leader... They were an oddly mixed bag, these raiders, but then based on what Lady Andiras had told them, this Thesean fellow had probably hired whatever ruffians he could find to create this distraction.
The man smiled, showing the semi-tusks that indicated orcish ancestry, and shifted his grip on the axe. "Oh, little girl," he said, "I am going to rip you in half and you are going to thank me for it."
Amun save me from overconfident men, she thought, and started forward.
Whoever he was, he wasn't subtle. Aesa dodged back from a powerful horizontal swing of the axe, then came in behind it, calling on Amun for strength. The god's blessing flowed through her, and the curved blade of the falchion came down like a stroke of lightning, cleaving through rough armor, collarbone, ribs... It caught for a moment in his spine, and she followed through with a movement that Ruin had drilled into her until it was automatic: step forward, and then kick and yank the blade back at the same time. Her falchion came loose, and the body tumbled away onto the ground as she stepped back to catch her balance.
As the corpse hit the grass, a voice came into her head: Aesa, I need you back in the bedroom. Thesean brought friends, and Tarric needs healing. She focused on the magic there, and thought as loudly as she could manage: Coming.
"Anica! Werendril! I'm falling back!" she called.
"We've got this!" Werendril called back, spinning through a movement that brought his blade around like a scythe and dropping another raider.
Then the garden turned suddenly bright as day as lightning struck one of the raiders and leapt to the next and the next and... Those who didn't fall turned and fled. They didn't get far; a second bolt followed the first.
Lady Emiliana Fontaine had arrived.
Aesa saluted her with her sword, then turned to race back to the bedroom.
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