“Ban'Koliath!”

Valethalassa’s voice cut through the argument he and Roland were having about the fire that barred the entrance to the market. The minotaur turned to face her. His expression changing from that of impotent frustration to hopeful when he saw the determined look on the ranger’s face.

“You have an idea,” Ban’Koliath said.

Her mind had been racing to find a way through to help Ian and the idea had come to her in a flash. If they couldn’t get through the fire, then they needed a way around it. Her keen ears barely discerned the sounds of combat over the blaze but they were there. Ian needed help now.

“Throw me!” Valethalassa said with a nod of conviction.

Ban’Koliath cast a glance at Roland. He shrugged at the minotaur as if to say, ‘I don’t have a better idea.’ His progress was far too slow against whatever magical abomination Talazar had created in this fire.

The minotaur clasped his hands into a stirrup and crouched down facing away from the burning heap that barred their way.

Valethalassa ran out about thirty paces so that she could build up speed. “Ready?” She called as she drew her bow.

“Go, save Ian and get out!” Ban’Koliath shouted back.

Valethalassa ran at full speed leaping into the hand-made stirrup. With a mighty heave, Ban’Koliath launched her high over the burning blockade. The ranger twirled through the air with acrobatic grace and disappeared behind the veil of smoke. Both Ban’Koliath and Roland anxiously watched as she vanished and then turned back to their fiery problem.

Vale’s keen hunter’s eye picked out the two fighting figures of Ian and Dakon once through the smoke. Ian was standing on wobbly legs, and even from this distance, she could see his arm shaking while holding up a shield. But most importantly he was standing. Off to the right Dakon’s imposing figure stood and he was taunting Ian. Vale and Ian locked gazes as she landed.

“No one else is going to die. Just you,” Ian said, giving her a roguish smile while taunting Dakon.

Dakon’s eyes narrowed, mistaking the smile as a challenge and he rushed forward. He kicked below the guard of Ian’s shield and his sabaton clad foot connected with Ian’s stomach. The blow sent Ian crashing into a wall knocking the wind out of him. The holster claps on his gun broke, and his gun went skidding across the cobblestone.

“I am your opponent, not him!” Vale roared out her challenge. Her voice wasn’t quivering unlike the arrow that stuck in the ground between Dakon’s legs. She had seen what Dakon could do. The night they had been chased through Raxal by him played out in her mind. But in place of, what should have rightly been fear or hysteria she was defiant. From the corner of her eye she saw Ian raise an arm and give her a thumbs up. She felt relief flood through her but she betrayed nothing on her face. She had a fight to win.

Dakon took a swift step to the left attempting to close on Vale. Her bow followed and he barely had time to dodge to the side as the ranger loosed another deadly projectile. She has skill. This should be fun.

He reached for his sword and she fired again but this arrow was different. This time the arrow tip flared up with a golden light. When it struck his hand Dakon, felt a scorching pain run along his entire arm. He flexed his fingers and he eyed Vale with new respect.

Ian caught his breath and felt his ribs cry out in protest. Those’re broken. He shoved the pain aside; he needed to help Vale. He reached for his gun and came up empty. He hastily scanned the area but with destroyed carts, crumbling buildings, and other debris the matte black gun was nowhere in sight. He did find a short sword and it was better than nothing. He figured he’d seen enough movies to have some idea how to use the thing. He picked up the sword and raised his shield preparing to join the fight. Dakon might be a monster but Ian was convinced they could take him together.

Ian’s heroine was darting around the open space. Every time Dakon attempted to close in on her she vaulted to a new place. She fired arrows, threw daggers, and did everything in her power to keep Dakon’s attention on her and her alone. All the while leading the giant away from Ian. An unsettling feeling came over her each time that she struck a vital point and saw no blood from the wound, nor any sign of pain from her opponent. For the first time in decades Vale had to consider she might be outmatched.

Dakon managed to draw his enormous blade and was revealing his superb skill with it. More than once Dakon’s blade cleaved a magical arrow in half before it could strike him. The few arrows that struck sent searing pain through Dakon’s body. But once the pain passed there was little lasting damage.

Neither Dakon nor Vale were paying attention to Ian and he used that to his advantage. He picked his way behind Dakon waiting for an opportunity to strike. It wasn’t long before the perfect target presented itself Dakon’s back. Ian wasn’t experienced enough to realize it was a trap. And Vale was too occupied with the battle to notice Ian’s foolish move until it was far too late to stop him. She tried to use Ian’s bungle to her advantage.

“Utualle aeth.” She whispered and let another arrow fly from her bow.

Dakon whipped his body into a side profile so that the tip of Ian’s sword whistled harmlessly past his back. His right arm brought the flat of his sword down onto Ian’s head and his left caught Vale’s arrow inches from his head, all in the blink of an eye. Dakon tossed the arrow aside and turned to Ian. He extended a single finger and jabbed Ian’s already broken ribs.

Ian collapsed around Dakon’s fist wheezing for air. Dakon crooked his arm as Ian fell and hefted him up and over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Then he spun to face Vale.

“Put him down,” Valethalassa said her voice ringing with cold fury as she nocked another arrow. Valethalassa hadn’t stayed with Ian this long to see him captured now. Over the course of their time together, she had grown to care deeply for Ian. He was a good man, an honorable man, and he did not deserve whatever fate the Harlequin Court had in store for him.

Dakon’s demeanor changed now that he had his target. He could unleash his full inhuman strength with his goal safely in hand. He reared an arm back and slammed his fist into the ground hard enough to create fissures. The cracks spread out all around him and chunks of rock rose and shifted as a crater formed at Dakon’s feet. The sheer force exerted from that one punch was enough to knock Valethalassa off her feet. Her arrow shot off wildly as she fell.

“Stay down, elf,” Dakon growled. As he stood Ian hung limply from his shoulder. A two-foot-deep divot had been struck in the center of the market, easily fifteen feet across.

Valethalassa snatched up her bow and jumped to her feet. Her eyes kept darting to Ian’s prone figure and back to Dakon. She had to get the armored brute to put Ian down and she was running out of options. Inside her quiver remained a single arrow and the Star Chart. It will be enough.

Killing the woman was not his mission, but she refused to stay down, had ignored his offer of surrender, and even now he could see her planning. He decided it was time to end this. He set Ian down in the center of the hole and pulled himself over the edge.

“I told you to stay down,” Dakon said his voice returning to its usual tone of placid boredom.

Valethalassa timed it all flawlessly. While Dakon climbed out of the hole, she quickly tied a flat silvery disk to her last arrow. When the metal-clad monster heaved himself over the edge of the crater, she fired. Caught flat-footed Dakon had no time to react and the shot landed. The arrowhead sank into his armor and the wind-bomb attached latched onto his side.

Valethalassa ran for Ian. Dakon dove away from them as the bomb’s timer ticked down. She half slid, half tumbled into the hole and landed at Ian’s side. She put his head in her lap and laid across him waiting for the explosion.

“Help is on the way,” she whispered gently in his ear, “hold on a little longer.”

Not far above their battle storm clouds took shape, thanks to Roland’s handy work. The cool drops of water rained down to douse the flames at last. She emitted a small laugh of relief as the droplets fell around them. Behind her, she could hear Ban’Koliath shifting the smoldering debris aside.

There was a rush of heat as the wind-bomb exploded and a resounding crash from above. She closed her eyes and sat back up, looking down she found Ian’s gaze upon her. He cracked a smile which she wholeheartedly returned. She reached a hand down to brush the hair out of his eyes, “Our friends will be here soon. Relax, you are safe now.”

And then she screamed. Pain lanced through her body accompanied by the sizzle of burning flesh. Her head snapped back where she found Dakon gripping her ankle. Dakon rose up behind Vale like an unfolding nightmare, his armor glowing white-hot from the effects of the wind bomb. With Vale’s ankle held in an iron grip, he dragged her off Ian. Then with an almost casual flick of his wrist sent Vale hurtling away. She collided with the far side of the crater. The harsh impact forcibly drove the breath from her lungs.

For Ian, time slowed.

“You should have left him,” Dakon said flatly.

Ian’s vision faltered but he fought to stay conscious. Have to help her.

-Blink-

Dakon moved like a blur. Before Vale had time to right herself Dakon’s fist connected with her stomach. Blood bubbled out from between her lips as stars danced in her vision.

-Blink-

Vale drew the blades from their sheaths on her back and slashed back at him, even as she doubled over in pain. Two clean strikes to Dakon’s neck, but they did nothing. She fell forwards and Dakon jerked his fist away and brought his other fist down on her back.

-Blink-

She went down, landing with a splash in a puddle. Dakon bent over, the rain sizzling as it struck his body, and hefted up the prone figure of the elf with one hand around her throat holding her like a ragdoll.

“Goodbye, elf.”

-Blink-

Ian stretched out a hand and reached for Vale. His ribs burned, his head throbbed, and every movement threatened to bring on the darkness creeping at the edges of his vision. But he had to get to Vale, had to save her.

One moment she had been kicking and struggling. The next Dakon squeezed her neck in his oversized grip and her struggles ceased. He plucked the Star Chart from her quiver and then discarded her without a care. Her shattered neck bent in a way no living things could. With his entertainment gone, he focused his attention back on the task at hand; Ian.

Ian fell back onto the ground in shock. She can’t be… His vision blackened and the pain overcame him. He fell limply back onto the ground with his outstretched hand reaching for his fallen friend. On the far side of the market Roland, Ban, and Mal came charging through the path they had cleared. They barely had enough time to ascertain the scene before Dakon snatched up the unconscious Ian. Then in a blur of motion, both he and Ian were gone.