Frozen Summer

Chapter 16

Right after he got into a fighting stance, Richard ducked under the huge fist of the man. " I need to either get in close to take him out first or get rid of his friends first " . He rushed towards him and jumped as high as he could to kick him in the chest. The man fell over and Richard used the momentum he gained from the recoil to slide backwards towards the other 3 men. He quickly got up while rolling backward and pushed on his hands to be back on his feet. The man on the right was the first to charge in, he tried to throw a light left jab that Richard evaded easily and responded with a rush of fist to the guts. Before any of his friends could help, Richard took the man's head and smashed it on the nearest table. " one down ". The second man hesitated but Richard saw the boss slowly standing up again, he had no time to think. He ran to the man and when he tried to swing at him Richard punched him so hard in the stomach his whole meal ended up on the floor, he then rolled on the man's back and grabbed his neck between his arms ready to snap it.

" RICHARD ! " Richard looked behind him, Malik was waving his arm around while getting out of the kitchen " DON'T KILL ANYONE IN MY TAVERN ! ".

" What a pain in the a- " He barely had time to finish his thought that he got tackled to the ground by the one with the fresh scar. It was a bit of a dire situation, the two men started to kick Richard as he tried to protect himself and crawl out of this tough spot as best as he could.

" Hey ! " Richard looked up and he saw Malik jump on one of the thugs and smash a bottle on his head. " This one is on the house cunt ! " .

" Malik behind you ! "

Malik ducked as a reflex and barely evaded a chair thrown by the boss. Richard managed to get up just to get tackled again onto a table by the man with the scar. Malik was beating down the man which he had broken the bottle on. The boss then decided to get into the fight and backhanded Malik so hard he fell on the ground. This whole situation was getting more and more chaotic. Richard managed to push away his assailant and then as he got up kicked him again over a chair. Malik was getting pummeled by the boss and the other remaining man. Using a table Richard jumped on the boss back to get him off his friend, seizing his chance, Malik grabbed a nearby glass and used it to hit the other man. As the scared man backed away from the hit, Malik shoulder bashed him to the ground and kicked him multiple times in the head. But behind him the last man remaining that Richard kicked away had grabbed a knife and was rushing towards him. Malik couldn't dodge and only had time to see the man run towards him. But suddenly the man got stopped by a bottle that flew from his right into his temple, the hit knocked him out cold. Malik looked from where the bottle came and was surprised to see that Jessamine was the one who threw the bottle, he nodded at her and ran towards Richard still struggling with the boss.

The boss managed to grab Richard off his back and threw him on Malik. The two men were on the ground thinking how to take down this mountain of a man. Richard turned toward his friend to whisper a plan.

" Malik, you remember this one ogre back in Slirgandr ? "

" Oh Rich', no please ..."

" It's ok he is even smaller ! "

" Last time we did this I almost got stomped to death ! You take low, I take high this time ! "

" Deal ! "

They both got up and started running towards the man, Richard on the right and Malik on the left. Just before they reached him they switched sides and both started running on tables. With a perfect synchronisation, they switched sides again but this time Richard did not stay on the table but slided between the legs of the man, while Malik jumped on him and threw a punch aimed for the throat. Richard kicked his knee and the attack made him fall backward. Richard and Malik then kicked him down until he stopped moving. They were both quite exhausted and sat down to catch their breath. The place was now completely empty except for the four thugs and some waitresses watching from the kitchen. Malik groaned in pain as he tried sitting up straight.