From Night On: Magdalene

Chapters 9-10

Chapter 9:

Tides on the Euphrates

As the commander and the troupe rested in the inn, their sleep was interrupted by the heavy crash and sound of breaking wood coming from the stables. Every last man flung into action, grabbing their swords as they rushed to the commotion only to find things well in hand.

Bandits swarmed around the stables as the centurions arrived, but they weren't waiting to get in. They had just escaped. They were waiting and watching as the others inside were being beaten and tossed about like straw dogs. The scene was so terrifying to them that they even looked to the centurions for help in saving their friends.

After one bandit pleaded with Mateus, he peeked around the corner to see Meira,ducking and dodging while punching and kicking her attackers so hard they they flew through the air. He looked back to the bandit and began laughing loudly.

"Meiri," he called out, "what did I tell you about protecting the criminals from you?" He and the other men roared with laughter. "Would you like some help?" She didn't answer. As he looked upon her face while she gave the bandits the thrashing of their lives, he witnessed a pain riddled rage as tears streamed down her face. Mateus almost attempted to jump into the fray, but was held back by his own fears of being mistaken as an enemy. Meira was trapped somewhere between the fight at hand and the fights she had lost.

The bandits who were cowering outside began to shake in their sandals, murmuring amongst each other, "She's a monster." The would-be criminals couldn't believe what they were seeing. Being a skilled and trained fighter, their blades couldn't catch her. Being as strong as some legendary heroes, entering her space was a request for a brush with death.

"By the gods," one bandit turned to Mateus, "what is she?!?"

He didn't even bother to answer with anything more than a surprisingly compassionate hand, that held the bandit back, and a whisper, "Just stay out of it if you know what's good for you."

This carried on for some time as the men inside fought for their lives, the fear clouding their judgment from the fact that they could have just ran and been safe. Meira was only responding to those who were attacking her. What brought it all to an unexpected end was the call from a sharp voice, emerging from behind the group outside.

"What is going on here?!?" a voice penetrated the commotion as a dwarven man made his way through the pack. "You weaklings can't handle one woman?"

"Sir," the bandit responded, "she's not a woman. She's a monster! She kicks like a horse and moves like a ghost! We can't even hit her!"

"Get out of my way!" the dwarven man grumbled as he hobbled toward the stables.

Mateus and the others watched in amused curiosity as the tittle person made way as if he was about to join the fight. "Knock it off! Knock it off!" he hollered as his men began to retreat, but Meira wasn't done quite yet. With tears blurring her vision and rage distorting her reason,she continued to lash out and even chased after a man who ran towards his boss. "I said, KNOCK IT OFF!" the little man barked at Meira as he shot her a glance that stopped her in her tracks. He didn't flinch at her advance, but stood his ground with the same, intense stare that she was so famous for among the centurions.

"Now I know why Mustaf wants you all out of town so quickly," the dwarf announced. As his men began to light the lamps of the stables, Meira and her guard saw that he, himself, was a foreigner. At roughly three and a half feet tall, he had a head full of curly, golden hair and bright green eyes that appeared to shimmer in the flames. "Are you going to tell me what that was all about?!?" he growled at her, completely ignoring the troupe of Roman military behind him.