The Exarch & the Errand Girl Ch. 16

Tau retreated, the winding of the bows chasing him out of the door. He pulled the Sorcerer back up to his feet by his collar.

"Fill that room with fire!" he ordered.

"The jade!" protested the Sorcerer. "I'll just exhaust myself needlessly when they break my spells!"

"Guards!" shouted Yvain, without waiting for Tau's order. "Shields at the ready!"

A Guard's shield wasn't much. The necessity of the traditional Vashili axe precluded them from cowering behind tall towers like a spearman might be granted. And they were light, so that the Guard it was given to might sprint to his post and still be ready to fend off an invader attacking the city at the end of it.

But still, the Guards of Tia Vashil locked their shields into a wall and pressed forward towards the doorway. Yvain squeezed in with them. The crossbows twanged and cranked, and he saw men fall, screaming, as the quarrels cut them down. It briefly occurred to him that Heldi would be right. When they told the stories, she'd be the one to have ordered the Guard to die for the Guild, rather than Lord Islan or Sir Tau.

And no one, certainly, would ever say that the Guards chose their deaths.

They pushed into the foyer of the vai Ullan estate. Yvain put his hand on the back of the man in front of him, pushing him, guiding him forward towards the staircases that led up to the higher floors of the estate.

The man in front of him gave way, and the suddenness of it made Yvain think, for a second, he'd fallen off the stairs. But when he looked up, he saw Lord Cail had returned, his blade slashing down at Yvain. He raised his axe, the Lord's sword lopping the head clean off the haft.

Tau pulled Yvain back, and Yvain tripped and fell, tumbling down the stairs. The clash of swords rang out, and he looked up to see Tau raining blows down on his uncle, forcing the older man to stumble back up the stairs. Next to him, a Guard lay moaning, a quarrel sticking out of his leg, his axe lying nearby. Yvain pulled the Guard against the wall, where he might be offered some meager protection, then seized his axe.

Yvain ran to the other set of stairs. Crossbows still fired, but fewer now, and Yvain could see that the Guards had managed to get to the second floor landing, if not secure it quite yet.

He charged up the stairs, screaming wordlessly, the sound slipping past his lips without a thought. A man wearing the vai Keller dog on his jerkin, the same golden hair as Lord Cail and Sir Tau, loomed in front of him, a sword raising up to slash at him. Yvain caught it on his shield, turning the blade into the stair railing, where it bit into the wood. Yvain slammed his shoulder forward into the blond man's chest, the man stumbling back, but still holding the hilt of his sword. Yvain pinned his opponent's arm with his shield, then slashed down with his axe. The vai Keller man raised his hand, the axe biting into it. A scream echoed Yvain's own warcry.

He felt the heat of flame lap at his face, and he leapt back, leaving his axe to the blond man. A jet of fire followed him, and he looked up to see Siara, her hands waving and thrusting, hurling fireballs at him. He shouted as one Guard threw himself over the railing to avoid being hit, taking his chances in the fall. Yvain threw his shield up, doing his best to block the fire. In between the bursts, he slapped at his burning clothes and equipment. When he looked back to where the vai Keller man had been, he saw he'd crawled away and slumped further down the hall.

Across the room, Tau had gained the upper hand on Lord Cail. Yvain couldn't see where Lord Cail's sword had gone, but Tau was slamming the rebel leader's helmeted head against the wall, trying to stun him into submission, while Lord Cail pawed ineffectively at Tau's face.

When Yvain looked back at Siara, he saw she too could see the danger Lord Cail was in. She turned away from him, moving towards Cail and Tau.

Yvain went hurling at her, shouting again to draw her attention. Siara flicked her hand, and Yvain felt like he'd run into a wall of water, the air itself thick around him, choking him as he tried to breath. His feet were sluggish, and his arms and shoulders and head suddenly heavy, weighed down as if by the heavens themselves. He extended a hand, but his finger tips only managed to brush a few stray strands of Siara's hair as she passed him by.

He watched helplessly as Siara pulled weapons up from the fallen, hurling them at Sir Tau. An axe went whipping across Tau's shoulders and he stumbled back, shouting in surprise, looking up in time to see more weapons hurtling towards him. The young knight put a foot behind himself, lost his footing, and slipped down the stairs, landing roughly on his hands.

Yvain could hardly breath under Siara's spell. Every attempt at inhaling simply left him coughing. Someone had once told him that drowning was peaceful, but if this was what it was like, it seemed more like torture to him.

And then he was breathing freely, and his feet were light again, and he was moving forward. When he looked around to see what had caused it, Rouran was standing next to him, holding her looted dragon jade dagger against him.

"We have to help Sir Tau," he gasped at her.

"That's what I'm doing!" she shouted at him.

She took off without waiting for him, too early, sprinting towards Siara.

"Siara!" Yvain shouted, drawing her attention to him a split second before Rouran collided with her.

They landed in a heap on the floor, striking blows against each other. Siara had Rouran by the wrists, keeping the dagger from striking her, but Rouran was not the sort to simply attempt to brute strength her way through a fight. She drove her knee into Siara's stomach, the Sorcerer grunting as the air rushed out of her stomach.

But Rouran pressed her advantage too hastily, and in an instant, Siara had her flipped onto her back, the knife twisted around in their hands so that it was coming sideways at Rouran's head.

Yvain grabbed Siara by the shoulder, pulling her away so he could wrap his arm around her chest and waist and haul her off her feet, her legs lashing out, striking his knees.

Siara shouted something, her hand on Yvain's shoulder, twisting in his grasp so that she was spun around, facing him. She brought her hands together sharply.

There was a clap of thunder in echo and Yvain tried to shout, but no words came out. It felt like two great stones had collided with each other, sandwiching him in between the faces. His grasp left Siara, and she landed on her feet in front of him as he collapsed to his hands and knees. She kicked him hard in the face, and he could taste blood in his mouth as he fell back up against the balusters of the staircase railing.

"You've quite outlived your usefulness, Sergeant," said Siara. He looked up to see sparks flickering in the air around her, watching as fire gathered near her fingertips. She lifted her hand and a ball of flame rose up along with it.

Yvain threw his hands up, trying to shield his face.

And then just held them there for a moment, waiting for an immolation that never came.

Yvain dropped his hands and looked back at Siara. The Sorcerer had a vaguely shocked expression on her face, and she was reaching one hand behind her to touch something. When she pulled it away from her back, Yvain could see her fingertips were covered in blood.

Siara took a step forward, and her knees buckled and gave out, and she tumbled, rolling her ankle, then falling onto her face.

Rouran gave a curse and fell after her, having tried to keep a hold of the hilt of the dragon jade dagger sticking out of Siara's back. She caught herself, roughly, on the ground, and looked up at Yvain.

There was a piteous wail and he looked over and saw Lord Cail on his knees in front of Tau, staring back up the stairs. The knight hastily put his sword up against his uncle's neck.

"It's over," said Sir Tau.

Lord Cail raised his hands, and Tau tightened the sword blade against his neck. Lord Cail dropped his sword on the ground. Tau kicked it away.

"I see that, Tau," he said. "Let me up."

Tau frowned, but stepped back slightly and Lord Cail rose to his feet, undoing the straps on his helmet and tossing it aside. He looked down at Siara and Rouran.

"The Widow Metil," he sneered. "I'm not surprised it was you, at the end. How disappointing that this whole endeavor has been stymied by Lord Ked's Joian cunt."

Yvain's fist clenched, but even as he rumbled to his feet, Lord Cail's expression changed to one of shock as Tau's fist collided with the side of his head. Cail stumbled, twisted, then tumbled onto his back on the ground.

"My apologies, Widow Metil," said Sir Tau. "I should've known he'd only further dishonor our House."

"Thank you, Sir Tau," said Rouran. She reached a hand out to Yvain, and pulled him up to his feet. She touched his chest, just light enough that it was more like a caress than an attempt to support him, her eyes searching. He shook his head.

"I'm fine," he whispered.

She smiled, then looked around at the wreckage of the fight. She looked at the railing. The sword that Yvain had pinned was still sticking into the bannister. She grabbed the hilt and pulled, awkwardly freeing it from the wood. She glanced at the sword, then tossed it aside.

When she looked back at him, Yvain raised an eyebrow.

"Lord Ked will be furious," she shrugged.