NEVER SPLIT THE PARTY: The Adventures of the Creeping Bam (BOOK 4: The Hunt)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: ART

Once again I'm reminded just how fucking scary sharp Shay's sword actually is, the way she manages to cut Granzun's wrist clean in two even though the blade was jammed right through the steel of his bracer. She gives it a particularly rough twist as he keeps whipping her about while screaming in very clear pain, and I guess between this and her pure momentum it's enough to cleave right through armour, bone and mahogany-tough muscle altogether. Suddenly he's reeling back, mostly unbalanced, and she goes flying. I can't tell if she pitches her sword on purpose as she tumbles to keep from stabbing herself or just loses her grip, but then she lands, and she does it hard. Coming down face-first.

Fuck ... that had to hurt. I don't even think about what I'm doing, I just break off the attack I was preparing to make and instead rush to her, tossing aside the sword and knife she gifted to me before we left the mountains as I land on my knees and skid to her side. I reach out quick, already worryingly aware that she's just sprawled facedown, limp now with her limbs just thrown out haphazard, and I'm scared to death he's just fucking killed her on the spot. So I take hold of her arm and shoulder and almost gingerly try turning her over, almost dreading what I'm gonna see.

Her face is a mess, her nose visibly broken with blood gushing from her nostrils while there's an ugly gash torn deep in the now twisted bridge, but at least her jaw looks intact, and she ain't bleeding from anywhere else. She's right out, though, looks like it. I shuffle closer as I flip her over onto her back, tangentially mindful I can hear chaos erupting right behind me and knowing I'm being supremely dumb not keeping an eye on my back right now ...

Still being extremely wary in case I hurt her even more, I give her face a gentle tap, vaguely hoping maybe she's really just stunned, but it don't illicit a response beyond a slight puff from her lips as she lets a vague gasp of air out. But she also breathes in again too, which is a fucking relief. She's still alive, just knocked fucking cold. Great ...

"Is she all right?" The voice makes me jump, I actually cock my right paw ready for an unarmed strike with my claws extending as instinct takes over, but barely manage to hold back at the last when I realise it's just Lady Naru dropping to her knees right next to me, one arm up high as she holds onto her propped staff. "Gods, that hit –"

"She's alive." I manage to growl, my voice raspier than I'd like as my throat catches, feeling uncomfortably thick right now. Fuck, I was even more worried than I thought I was ... "It's fucking bad, though. What about ... shit, is Yeslee –"

"Also alive, but she won't be helping out much either, I'm afraid. Whatever he threw at us managed to shock her with something very much like a lightning bolt, she's lucky it didn't burn her to a crisp. It might have done if it had been a little more powerful. As it is she's entirely incapacitated." She looks fretful over Shay, clearly, but there's an edge to her all the same, like a cold anger too. "Something tells me that nasty little gift from Tavarrat was intended for me."

"Get Krakka. Right now. Quick as you can, get him up here, he needs to fix Shay, and Yes too." I get a foot under me now, preparing to push up again. "If you can, I need you to back me up right after. I really don't know if I can beat him."

Her eyes widen as she seems to realise what I mean, but I'm already turning away as I push myself up into a crouch. For a moment I regard my sword and long knife, still lying where I tossed them, but then I realise if I am gonna try and kill my one-time friend, I'm gonna need something a whole lot more serious than them. So I turn back round and cast about for a moment before I spot Shay's sword. The one she earned when she helped us kill Ashsong, the one he killed Gael with, back in the mountains. The one that can cut right through plate steel armour ...