Book 3 Chapter 32

Maria only paused for a moment, her hand flinging out as golden light rose up around Ian. The barrier dissipated whatever effect was holding the boy and he fell to the ground. Ian stared down at the golden light that covered him, his confusion clear on his face, yet he had no time to think on it as Maria swung Bren’s hammer at the thin man.

“Run!” Maria yelled mid-swing. The words were almost swallowed by the whistling wind that followed the hammer’s arc.

The archer seemed shocked by the young woman’s vicious attack. A surge of wind carried him back as he sprung away, narrowly escaping Maria’s deadly strike. “You…” He started as he floated gently down, yet he was cut off once again as Maria caught herself.

The powerful attack was brought to an immediate stop in an impressive display of strength and blew away the wind surrounding them. Maria didn’t hesitate as she flung herself forward once more, forcing the archer to retreat further.

As Maria’s rush continued, Ian finally shook himself from his daze. He looked at Maria and fought against his first instinct to go help. Watching the quick movements and fierce attacks, he knew he would only get in the way.

With a pained expression, he vanished from sight, moving through the silent world that the Shard gave him. He reappeared some distance away, having found a place out of sight but close enough to keep track of the battle. As he came back though he suddenly felt his legs sink as dirt and rock rose to hold him down. He tried to free himself but felt a hand grab his shirt and pull him up from behind…

Maria let go of her barrier as she saw Ian escape, focusing on keeping as close as she could to the archer. She knew that the tables would turn if she gave him too much distance, yet even as she burned with the Blessing of Life, the archer seemed to deftly evade her, his body light and feather-like.

Thinking quickly she swung once more bringing another powerful blow to threaten him. The archer once again flew back as the wind carried him, falling gently back towards the ground. Before he could land though, Maria’s arm whipped back. Bren’s hammer spun madly through the air as it flew directly towards the thin man’s landing spot.

The archer let out a frown, trying to twist his body out of the way when the earth in front of him surged upwards, hardening into a wall of rock just as the hammer arrived. It crashed into the rock wall, breaking through easily and pelting the archer behind with rocks and rubble. But the hammer had slowed down enough for the archer to land and move once more, dashing out of the way.

Maria hid her disappointment as she turned... There the large mountain man stood, holding a struggling Ian with one arm. She moved again, ready to once more free Ian as she prepared a barrier, but stopped as the large man let the child go…

“Hold on, hold on,” He started, holding his hands up as Ian took the chance to disappear and reappear by Maria’s side. “We’re not here to fight you…” The archer approached as well, brushing himself off as he glanced over at Maria cautiously.

“You didn’t explain anything did you Aran?” The mountain man continued, scratching his head with one meaty hand.

“She didn’t give me a chance to…” The archer responded defensively.

“Like you tried that hard, people always misunderstand you…” He turned towards Maria, “Sorry about that, Aran isn’t good at the whole talking thing… I’m Dun, and the twig fellow over there is Aran, I know we’ve been enemies, but we really don’t mean you any more trouble…”

Maria watched him carefully, though Dun appeared friendly enough, seemingly trying to appear non-threatening, she knew exactly what the two were capable of. “Then what did you want?” She asked, preparing to raise a barrier at any moment.

“Well you see, our contracts were broken the moment that muscle brain knuckle died. We have our own sense of honor though, so we finished the last job we had been assigned to. But we had no intention of working with them further. Just now that little mouse man down there offered us another contract and I refused for both of us…” He moved around throwing one huge arm around the smaller Aran.

“You see… Aran and I can see which way the wind is blowing… We have no intention of making permanent enemies with you and that boy, not over some small cash. Plus I’m still hurting from the punch that little guy gave me….”

“So?” Maria questioned…

“So, the point is we’re not your enemies anymore…”

Maria didn’t try to hide her anger, “You attacked us, then raided the place we were staying and kidnapped children before turning them over to murdering psychopaths… How are you not an enemy?”

Dun, scratched his arm embarrassedly, “Look we get that, so listen, we know where they’re gonna put the children. We’ll give you some information about their current forces and positions as… What do they call it… A peace offering!”

Maria stared at the two thinking, “And what do you want in return?”

“Nothing, we just want to go our separate ways without any hard feeling. It's easy enough to tell their desperate down there. The Confederation’s gonna be under new management pretty soon. And both of our homes rely a good bit on the trade here…” Dun put his hand out, “So, we got a deal?”

Maria thought for only a moment before nodding, keeping her guard up as she approached and shook the giant hand…