A Thousand Lives I've Seen

8 - Twisted Freedom

The smugglers wasted no time in rushing straight toward House Wolffort once they were ordered to do so, and Rudolph quickly weaved in between them to reach his allies that much faster. It was strange in more ways than he could hope to articulate with words. He never would have thought he would have a reason to work with people from Glenbrook in a fight like this, though he supposed there was a first time for everything. He did his best to shake it off, instead concentrating on handling each smaller battle as it came up. 

The smugglers were much stronger than Rudolph had expected. None of them were mages, and all of them used physical weapons that could only be used up close, but Rudolph still knew they were dangerous. They were cornered, and that was when anyone was at their most dangerous. Rudolph did his best to keep his distance, firing arrows to cover his retreat until he had fallen into pace alongside Anna. 

Rudolph hadn't even realized she was there until they were fighting as a pair. It took him a moment to process that she was actually beside him once they started teaming up, and Rudolph couldn't help staring at her in shock for a few flickers of a moment before forcing himself to concentrate again. He didn't know where he had learned how to fight so well with someone like Anna, but it came to him as instinct anyway. He didn't have time to ask questions about it right then even if he wanted to, so he remained silent and turned his attention to the battle first and foremost.

Roland pulled his spear back before he lunged forward and pierced through two enemies in a single strike. The first of the two smugglers cried out in pain from the stab, but Roland offered him no time to recover. Instead, he just went in for the kill while Hughette turned her attention to his second target. She and Flugie had settled on the rooftops of the nearby buildings, putting them in the perfect position to pick off any enemies before they had the chance to try and escape. Her arrows were frighteningly accurate too, always striking just on target before anyone registered what she was doing. Rudolph was impressed, but at the same time, he wasn't surprised in the slightest by her prowess in a fight. 

Rudolph set a trap down as he pulled back behind Serenoa to catch his breath. He wasn't made for close quarters combat like this, and he was fully aware of it. He was better at it than he had expected, but he couldn't quite put a finger on where he had learned so much about a fighting style he had never actually mastered. He was sure he would have remembered honing his skills for something like this, and yet, he did not. It was odd, but at the same time, it was keeping him alive, so who was he to complain about it?

Serenoa launched himself up into the air before coming down hard on one of the smugglers, and Rudolph could have sworn he saw a few hawk feathers trailing after him when he landed. As strange as it was, Rudolph once again forced himself into silence. He nocked another arrow on his bow and sent it flying toward an enemy not far from Serenoa. Benedict rushed in for the kill soon afterward, pulling a sword free of his cane and slashing with it diagonally before sheathing it once again. For someone so old, Benedict was surprisingly agile. 

As strange as it was, Sycras seemed to be one of the weaker fighters there. Geela wasn't made for the battlefield, and that was one thing, but Sycras seemed to be doing even less to help out than the group's resident healer. To say that bothered Rudolph was a grave understatement, but he didn't want to ask any questions and risk disturbing the balance of the universe along the way. They were in a delicate situation fighting against soldiers of Aesfrost, and that was a dangerous position to be in. They needed to be careful. 

Before Rudolph knew it, he felt himself being moved through the air, pulled back across the battlefield to land behind Frederica just as she released a massive blast of fire magic that shook the ground and struck three Aesfrosti soldiers at the same time. Rudolph only realized too late that he had been pulled out of the way to avoid being struck by a particularly powerful blade from an enemy swordsman, and he went to thank his savior on instinct. Somehow, he already knew the one responsible for this was the youngest member of House Wolffort, the strange Quahaug with his tired eyes and sharp wit.