74. Clash of Stone and Steel #2
“You might want to press your advantage before she can get to the weapons rack and arm herself,” he said as he winked at her.
Talyn’s head whipped around again to look at the long rack of weapons that stood mostly empty about a hundred feet across the yard. Almost fifty men stood between her and the rack.
She turned back to him and held up her wrist with the caronium cuff on it in question.
He crossed his arms and shook his head.
“I’m going to slit your throat in your sleep tonight,” she said as she glared at him.
He only chuckled.
“And forget about ever getting between my legs again,” she added.
That made him scowl.
“I suggest you stop talking and get moving,” he said. “It’s a long way to that weapons rack, and there are a lot of men you need to get through.”
Talyn scoffed. “I don’t need to get to the weapons rack,” she said. “I just need to get to him.”
She gestured to a man close by who was swinging his spear with great flourishes and who looked all too eager to engage her.
Talyn turned and shot straight for him. The man looked shocked to have her bearing down on him, but then he smiled and raised his spear high, ready to bring it swinging down on her.
Samhail sighed. Clearly the man had learned nothing in his time here. Raising his weapon like that left his entire midsection open to attack, a move that would get him killed or taken over by the symbionts.
Samhail expected Talyn to punch the man in the gut, but she dropped down to slide feet-first on the grass toward him.
The man’s eyes widened as her slide took out one of his ankles, and with his body unbalanced from holding the spear aloft, he went crashing forward onto the ground.
The spear was jarred loose from his grip, and a moment later Talyn had snatched it up and was on her feet again.
She knocked him across the back of his head with the butt of it.
It had all taken seconds, and there was dead silence in the yard as the men took in what she’d just done. Then a roar went up as half the men surged toward her. Talyn sprang into action and began to fend them off, the blade of her stolen spear flashing in the sunlight.
Samhail stood on the side and took note of which men backed away, recognizing they were outmatched, and which men barreled at her with only male bravado driving them. Only a small few stood to watch her fight, taking in her moves, and waiting for their opening.
He hadn’t sent the soldiers after Talyn with any particular purpose in mind, but it was a useful exercise nonetheless. It gave him an idea which soldiers were overly cautious, which ones were reckless, and which ones might actually have some good battle sense.
It also told him who might have an issue with women on the battlefield, which was important, given that he expected a cohort of female volunteers next week.
After a period of separation, he’d been hoping to mix them in with the men for training, but he’d have to keep an eye out for potential troublemakers.
Samhail knew Talyn would put on a good show for the men, but even he was surprised at how handily she took care of his troops.
He hadn’t appreciated just how fast she was, even without her ability to port, and she seemed to have a sixth sense about when a weapon was swinging toward her.
He watched in amazement as she blocked blow after blow, even diving out of the way once just in time so the two attackers charging her from opposite directions nearly ended up running each other through with the blunted spears.
The only other fighter he’d seen come close to her skill was Maziren.
Bressen and Axenus were both good warriors, fast and skilled, but Maziren was better than them both, and based on what he saw now, Talyn might be even better than Maziren.
The captain of the guard had strength on her side, which had been an equalizer against Samhail himself when they’d sparred in Derridan during the lord trials, but Talyn made up for her limited strength with raw skill.
He’d assumed at first her stealth was what made her dangerous and that she had little beyond her porting ability, but he was learning more and more just how wrong he’d been.
Thinking of Maziren reminded him he needed to talk to Talyn at some point. Given how much she dwelled on his involvement with Cyra, it was probably better to tell her now rather than later that he and Maziren had been together – in a way – as well.
He knew Maziren would never say a word, but he didn’t want there to be secrets between him and Talyn. He’d have to find a way to tell her that didn’t make her want to kill him or Maziren. In fact, he should probably warn Maziren before he said anything to Talyn, just in case.
Samhail was pulled back from his reverie when he realized the sound of clanging weapons had stopped. He’d missed the last few minutes of the fight, and Talyn now stood alone in the center of the field, the bodies of groaning men strewn about her feet.
Damn it. He’d wanted to see if any of the men who’d watched Talyn first before engaging her had given her a challenge. He’d have to ask her if she thought any of them were particularly skilled.
Samhail stepped forward, motioning his training captains in.
“That was incredible,” one of them said to him. “Please tell me she’s on our side.”
Samhail wasn’t sure how to answer that. Instead, he gestured to the men standing around the edges, the ones who’d been too nervous – or perhaps too smart – to engage Talyn.
“Anyone still standing runs five miles,” Samhail told the captains. “And starting tomorrow, they’ll all work in the same group until we get them over their hesitancy to act.”
The captains all nodded and two broke off to round up the men who’d be running.
“Get the rest of these men up, and see if there are any major injuries,” Samhail went on to the remaining captains. “Anyone you think gave her a good fight runs a mile. Everyone else runs the gauntlet.”
The captains hurried off to enact his orders.
Samhail turned to see Talyn still standing in the middle of the field, the spear she’d taken from the first man hanging by her side. He walked toward her, stepping over a few men who still lay on the ground, and stopped in front of her.
“That was impressive,” he said. “I really thought one of them would eventually land a hit.”
“I’m going to kill you in your sleep tonight,” she said again.
Her voice shook, and at first he thought she really was angry at him, but then he noticed her legs trembling.
“You’re tired,” he said as it hit him that she’d just taken on about thirty men. And won.
Her answer was to collapse onto the ground to sit there with the spear across her lap.
He smiled. “Is the assassin not used to fighting for long periods of time?” he teased.
“I will kill you,” she said again, just barely above a whisper.
Samhail chuckled, and his giant leathery wings sprang out behind him. There were gasps and murmurs from the men around them, but Samhail only pulled the spear from Talyn’s hand to drop it on the ground next to her. Then he scooped her up and launched into the air with her to head to Tide’s End.