"RAAAHH! Die you meddling bitch!"
The pair had been taken almost entirely by surprise. Almost. Where her senses not already heightened by the cloak of night and the suspicions raised as they passed through Scorpion's Crossing. The Sultansworn are trained, however, to protect a much higher value target than the low-born son of a lesser lord. She barely jumped aside, avoiding an untimely end, and drew her own blade to face their attacker.
Coatleque placed herself immediately between her ward and assailant and pulled back her cowl with her free hand. She glared at him from under her bangs as he brandished his sword. "Stay back, milord!" the man called out as if yelling past her. He then rushed at her to press his attack with a stab to her midsection.
She noted that his attack was clumsy if not inexperienced. The man did not have formal training. This fight would be decidedly one-sided. Her blade twisted to parry him easily and with much more force than he was accustomed to. As he staggered backwards, Coatleque leveled her blade parallel to the ground with both hands and stepped back to force distance between the two men. "I am warning you... put up your blade. Now!"
"A-Alfonso, you fool! Hold! Both of you! Hold I say!" Dheres called out futilely from behind her. The young Flame reached for the non-existent sword at his side. Alfonso wasted no chance in the mean time. He kicked up the dust and sand from the road right towards the pair. While Dheres caught his own mouthful, Coatleque turned aside and spun away from the predicted low-cut to her knees in order to keep her distance. This unfortunately now placed her attacker between her and her ward.
As the poor boy sputtered, coughed, and gagged, Alfonso looped round behind him and pressed his blade to Dheres's throat. Coatleque froze suddenly, blade still poised and ready to strike. Her eyes half lidded as she peered at the man, gauging what he might do next to present an opening for her.
"BACK!" He demanded of her more than once.
Slowly she circled the pair, and he twisted his captor along to keep her facing.
"A-Alfonso!" The boy choked out in shock.
"Why are you doing this?!" She hissed at him.
"Damn you, bitch! I'll do it, so help me!"
Her weapon did not lower, her poise remained calm. "You might, but you do not want to." Her voice had slowed, become more calming as she tried to suggest to him this was most unwise. She had stopped circling now but kept her gaze steady with his.
"DROP the BLADE, Sworn! You are leaving me no choice!"
She paused. Her blade began to dip slowly.
"I SAID DROP IT!"
A thud followed as steel impacted the hardened dirt below.
"Do not do anything rash." She offered, her hands remained open palmed.
The man snarled now that he had the clear upper hand. His blade slackened ever so perceptibly over the terrified and motionless captive between his arms. "Right. Good. Now, back the fuck up." Coatleque did not step back, but one hand did lower to her side in a clenched fist. Her gaze remained fixed on Alfonso, her opposite hand outstretched in a soothing gesture.
"W-we can talk this out, yes?!" Dheres managed to choke out again.
"Oh, aye, milord. When we get our money! What's he worth to you, Sworn? Clearly somethin'!"
"He is worth more to me than any price you could collect", she hissed. While her one hand remained outstretched as a distraction, the clenched fist by her side began to glow dully. Her concentration was split - it would take just a few moments longer to channel the spell while she kept him busy. Alfonso grinned tauntingly, a rotting tooth showing through. "Then a million gil ought t' be no trouble a'tall, aye? That's what we want! A million!"
"Who is we!?" Dheres hissed through clenched teeth.
"Never you mind, pretty boy!"
"What is one million gil," Coatleque whispered, "weighed against the man I love?" With that she threw her clenched fist upwards and directed at Dheres. Her conjuration complete, the boy's skin and clothes began to calcify over in a hardened, grey shell. Alfonso flinched and stared at the unexpected change giving her just the break in concentration she needed. Coatleque rushed forward and threw her shoulder into the boy unexpectedly. Now at least twice his previous weight and armored, he fell backwards into Alfonso who's blade slipped along his neckline before dropping from his hand.
The pair toppled over just as she had expected. Dheres landed across Alfonso's leg pinning him in place while simultaneously wrapping his own head off a large stone and falling unconscious. Coatleque rounded them immediately and kicked the man's sword away then turned and laid her boot to his face. His eyes crossed and he slumped backwards. "Stay down." She murmured.
She knelt down beside Dheres to examine where the blade had slipped and found he was cut. Deeply so. Her conjuration was all that had saved his life from draining away right there on the road. "Damn it!" she whispered to nobody in particular. Glancing up and down the road as if expecting travelers at this time of night, her heart sank when she saw no one. So she turned back to him and wrapped her hands gently around his neck.
She cursed herself again for never having gone back to Jancis to practice her conjury. Of all the most basic spells in Eorzea, that of curing was the one she had most difficulty with. She refused to let him bleed out, however. Summoning forth what strength she could, she directed her flow of aether into him with just enough efficacy to slow the bleeding to a bare trickle. As the soft glow faded from her hands she slumped over from the strain.
Dheres twitched underneath her, bringing her sense back to reality if only for the nonce. She jerked upright. Her hands slid across the light, but now stony armor of his chest. "M-my lord," she stammered. "Are you alright?" There was no response from him, but what she did not expect was the struggling of Alfonse still pinned beneath him.
His arm crossed over out of nowhere, stabbing a long dagger into her arm. Steel pierced leather and flesh clean through as Coatleque cried out in pain. Pain, anger, terror. Her survival instinct caught up a moment later as her left hand balled into a fist and cross over to punch him square in the face. His hand pulled back, taking the knife with him as he held his now bloodied nose with the other.
Coatleque pushed herself back from them. Her injured arm was held close to her stomach as blood began to soak the leather. Her head spun and all time seemed to slow. "He stabbed me... he stabbed me... he stabbed me!'" Her mind had trouble just processing that fact. It was as if this was some dream pulled over her eyes she expected to wake from. She thought he was incapacitated, that she had won the field, yet he pressed on. Scrambling to her feet then, she instinctively grasped the closest weapon from the ground in her left hand. The man's own blade.
Then a new thought flashed through her mind. That of failure. "I will NOT fail him!" she forcefully protested against her weakening limbs. Despite his plea now for mercy, it was over in another heartbeat. Coalteque fell to her knees beside the now lifeless man, her weight pressed forward over the hilt of his own blade that now pinned him to the ground through the chest. She stared. Stared. She could not look away. The smell of blood hung thick in the air almost causing her to wretch.
As her vision slowly sharpened again she remembered poor Dheres. Turning away she crawled back to his side, arm still pressed to her stomach. Still unconscious. She tried to wake him, vainly shaking him by the shoulder with her good hand. She bowed low to be sure he was still breathing then surveyed the area. Settling on a more sparse looking area to the opposite side of the road, she wrapped both arms under his and pulled. Pulled with all her remaining strength, crying out painfully from the strain on her wounded arm.
Once he was clear of the other body she removed her cloak and cut a strip off the bottom to wrap her arm. She pulled the field bandage tight while blinking away her own tears of pain and then propped herself against a boulder nearby. It was near midnight by her guess... and they were going nowhere in this state.
The pair had been taken almost entirely by surprise. Almost. Where her senses not already heightened by the cloak of night and the suspicions raised as they passed through Scorpion's Crossing. The Sultansworn are trained, however, to protect a much higher value target than the low-born son of a lesser lord. She barely jumped aside, avoiding an untimely end, and drew her own blade to face their attacker.
Coatleque placed herself immediately between her ward and assailant and pulled back her cowl with her free hand. She glared at him from under her bangs as he brandished his sword. "Stay back, milord!" the man called out as if yelling past her. He then rushed at her to press his attack with a stab to her midsection.
She noted that his attack was clumsy if not inexperienced. The man did not have formal training. This fight would be decidedly one-sided. Her blade twisted to parry him easily and with much more force than he was accustomed to. As he staggered backwards, Coatleque leveled her blade parallel to the ground with both hands and stepped back to force distance between the two men. "I am warning you... put up your blade. Now!"
"A-Alfonso, you fool! Hold! Both of you! Hold I say!" Dheres called out futilely from behind her. The young Flame reached for the non-existent sword at his side. Alfonso wasted no chance in the mean time. He kicked up the dust and sand from the road right towards the pair. While Dheres caught his own mouthful, Coatleque turned aside and spun away from the predicted low-cut to her knees in order to keep her distance. This unfortunately now placed her attacker between her and her ward.
As the poor boy sputtered, coughed, and gagged, Alfonso looped round behind him and pressed his blade to Dheres's throat. Coatleque froze suddenly, blade still poised and ready to strike. Her eyes half lidded as she peered at the man, gauging what he might do next to present an opening for her.
"BACK!" He demanded of her more than once.
Slowly she circled the pair, and he twisted his captor along to keep her facing.
"A-Alfonso!" The boy choked out in shock.
"Why are you doing this?!" She hissed at him.
"Damn you, bitch! I'll do it, so help me!"
Her weapon did not lower, her poise remained calm. "You might, but you do not want to." Her voice had slowed, become more calming as she tried to suggest to him this was most unwise. She had stopped circling now but kept her gaze steady with his.
"DROP the BLADE, Sworn! You are leaving me no choice!"
She paused. Her blade began to dip slowly.
"I SAID DROP IT!"
A thud followed as steel impacted the hardened dirt below.
"Do not do anything rash." She offered, her hands remained open palmed.
The man snarled now that he had the clear upper hand. His blade slackened ever so perceptibly over the terrified and motionless captive between his arms. "Right. Good. Now, back the fuck up." Coatleque did not step back, but one hand did lower to her side in a clenched fist. Her gaze remained fixed on Alfonso, her opposite hand outstretched in a soothing gesture.
"W-we can talk this out, yes?!" Dheres managed to choke out again.
"Oh, aye, milord. When we get our money! What's he worth to you, Sworn? Clearly somethin'!"
"He is worth more to me than any price you could collect", she hissed. While her one hand remained outstretched as a distraction, the clenched fist by her side began to glow dully. Her concentration was split - it would take just a few moments longer to channel the spell while she kept him busy. Alfonso grinned tauntingly, a rotting tooth showing through. "Then a million gil ought t' be no trouble a'tall, aye? That's what we want! A million!"
"Who is we!?" Dheres hissed through clenched teeth.
"Never you mind, pretty boy!"
"What is one million gil," Coatleque whispered, "weighed against the man I love?" With that she threw her clenched fist upwards and directed at Dheres. Her conjuration complete, the boy's skin and clothes began to calcify over in a hardened, grey shell. Alfonso flinched and stared at the unexpected change giving her just the break in concentration she needed. Coatleque rushed forward and threw her shoulder into the boy unexpectedly. Now at least twice his previous weight and armored, he fell backwards into Alfonso who's blade slipped along his neckline before dropping from his hand.
The pair toppled over just as she had expected. Dheres landed across Alfonso's leg pinning him in place while simultaneously wrapping his own head off a large stone and falling unconscious. Coatleque rounded them immediately and kicked the man's sword away then turned and laid her boot to his face. His eyes crossed and he slumped backwards. "Stay down." She murmured.
She knelt down beside Dheres to examine where the blade had slipped and found he was cut. Deeply so. Her conjuration was all that had saved his life from draining away right there on the road. "Damn it!" she whispered to nobody in particular. Glancing up and down the road as if expecting travelers at this time of night, her heart sank when she saw no one. So she turned back to him and wrapped her hands gently around his neck.
She cursed herself again for never having gone back to Jancis to practice her conjury. Of all the most basic spells in Eorzea, that of curing was the one she had most difficulty with. She refused to let him bleed out, however. Summoning forth what strength she could, she directed her flow of aether into him with just enough efficacy to slow the bleeding to a bare trickle. As the soft glow faded from her hands she slumped over from the strain.
Dheres twitched underneath her, bringing her sense back to reality if only for the nonce. She jerked upright. Her hands slid across the light, but now stony armor of his chest. "M-my lord," she stammered. "Are you alright?" There was no response from him, but what she did not expect was the struggling of Alfonse still pinned beneath him.
His arm crossed over out of nowhere, stabbing a long dagger into her arm. Steel pierced leather and flesh clean through as Coatleque cried out in pain. Pain, anger, terror. Her survival instinct caught up a moment later as her left hand balled into a fist and cross over to punch him square in the face. His hand pulled back, taking the knife with him as he held his now bloodied nose with the other.
Coatleque pushed herself back from them. Her injured arm was held close to her stomach as blood began to soak the leather. Her head spun and all time seemed to slow. "He stabbed me... he stabbed me... he stabbed me!'" Her mind had trouble just processing that fact. It was as if this was some dream pulled over her eyes she expected to wake from. She thought he was incapacitated, that she had won the field, yet he pressed on. Scrambling to her feet then, she instinctively grasped the closest weapon from the ground in her left hand. The man's own blade.
Then a new thought flashed through her mind. That of failure. "I will NOT fail him!" she forcefully protested against her weakening limbs. Despite his plea now for mercy, it was over in another heartbeat. Coalteque fell to her knees beside the now lifeless man, her weight pressed forward over the hilt of his own blade that now pinned him to the ground through the chest. She stared. Stared. She could not look away. The smell of blood hung thick in the air almost causing her to wretch.
As her vision slowly sharpened again she remembered poor Dheres. Turning away she crawled back to his side, arm still pressed to her stomach. Still unconscious. She tried to wake him, vainly shaking him by the shoulder with her good hand. She bowed low to be sure he was still breathing then surveyed the area. Settling on a more sparse looking area to the opposite side of the road, she wrapped both arms under his and pulled. Pulled with all her remaining strength, crying out painfully from the strain on her wounded arm.
Once he was clear of the other body she removed her cloak and cut a strip off the bottom to wrap her arm. She pulled the field bandage tight while blinking away her own tears of pain and then propped herself against a boulder nearby. It was near midnight by her guess... and they were going nowhere in this state.
