Curse of the Crystals

Chapter 16: The Fight Continues - part 1

Ambrose woke up from the feeling of being pushed. As he opened his eyes, he was met with the sight of Isra signalling for him to look outside. While he did so, he noticed Olve was doing the same. At first he didn't notice anything, but them he spotted a shadow moving throughout the night. Soon enough, he saw another. Isra tabbed his and Olve's shoulders, then pointed towards the right and held up five fingers. She then gestured to the left and held up four fingers.

Ambrose was shocked. Were there nine people trying to sneak up on them? The tournament was set-up in a way that made it difficult for people that knew each-other to combine their teams into an even bigger team together, but it wasn't impossible. People that managed to trick the Blue Guards into letting them enter the city relatively close to each-other or people that somehow managed to travel through most of the city towards a designated point would be able to meet-up. They were in some pretty big trouble if such a thing had happened. Their first problem was trying to escape the attack by this large group of unknown nightly assailants.

Isra pointed to the back-door, and both Olve and Ambrose nodded. They were soon on their way, trying to hastily sneak towards it. It was too late. The house had already been surrounded, as a fourth team was awaiting them there. On of the men in the team immediately called out the moment they tried to sneak through the door. "We found them!"

Both Isra and Olve drew their weapons, but Ambrose knew this would be a lost cause. Being up against twelve people, this wasn't a fight they'd win. That's when Olve surprised them. He suddenly rushed forwards, slamming his shoulder into the first man and knocking him to the ground. Isra immediately got the hint. "Run!" She yelled out for Ambrose, who soon followed suit. With the newly created opening, they managed to dodge the other two by a hair as they ran after Olve, who continued sprinting. Try as Olve might though, his heavy armour was already slowing him down. After a few paces, they could hear their opponents catching up to them, and it wasn't just the three that had found them. "Keep running, I'll slow them down!" Olve said.

"No." Ambrose stopped running. "It's not worth it. Let's try to reason with them and see if they'll let us surrender peacefully."

Isra stopped as well, looking a bit annoyed. After a deep sigh, she agreed. "Fine."

Soon enough, all twelve of their enemies had them surrounded, so Ambrose decided to speak up. "You win. You've got us vastly outnumbered, so it would be foolish of us to fight all of you. Will you let us surrender?"

One man stepped forward. He was wearing black-dyed leather armour and wielded some sort of spear with an oddly curved end, as well as a duo of swords. Something about the man reminded Ambrose of Qadir. Was he also a desert Elf? He had the same type of tanned skin, jet-black hair and brown eyes. However, he didn't seem as refined as Qadir. He spoke up. "You're that Human healer, aren't you?"

Ambrose figured there wasn't much use in trying to hide it. "Yes, I am."

"Good." The man said, as he readied his spear. "We've been hired to kill you."

Ambrose had no clue how to react to the sudden and bold statement. However, Isra did manage to find the words. "Then how come you're not doing so?"

"That's a good question." Despite his words, the man didn't lower his weapon. "I'd like to know something first. Who are you working for?"

"I'm working for Prince Frode." Ambrose said, a little confused. He hoped the name would carry enough weight for these opponents to reconsider their course of action. Considering Ambrose wasn't attacked, it did.

Even so, the man wasn't entirely convinced. "Do you have an proof?"

Ambrose nodded, as he took out the documents given to him. He needed those to prove his right of passage through the Elven Empire, and such, they were signed by the authority of prince Frode himself. He couldn't wish for better proof of his employment.