"Arin sends his regards," she hissed, her voice sharp and angry. "Kaley, guard Arden and the tablet! Arden, make sure it’s safe! Rayne!"
Her voice cracked like a whip, cutting through the sudden rush of adrenaline.
Rayne had already pulled out his own sword, a fine longsword from Valendale. His face was set in a mask of cold anger. Hearing his traitorous brother’s na in this lonely place made a fierce rage burn inside him.
"West side!" he shouted, confirming Reyes’s warning. "They’re surrounding us!"
Chaos erupted. The deep quiet of the ruins shattered with the sound of clashing tal, the harsh cries of the Shadow Clan, and the surprised shouts of the Elysian and Valendale knights.
Reyes and his knight were already fighting near the entrance they had used, their swords ringing against the assassins’ curved, sharp daggers.
Joel, near the horses at the edge of the ruins, let out a loud challenge as more dark figures appeared from behind broken walls, trying to block their escape.
Viana, Arden, and Kaley were in the most dangerous spot, deep inside the connected rooms, surrounded by fallen stones and debris.
Two Shadow Clan assassins moved into their room with amazing swiftness, not even noticing the broken pottery they stepped on. Their target was clear: Viana.
"Down!" Viana shoved Arden hard towards a broken bookshelf as the first assassin lunged, a dagger aid at her throat. She didn’t have ti to get her bow ready.
Instead, she spun, using her forearm to push the blade away, the hit shaking her arm. The assassin was incredibly fast, pulling back and striking again low, forcing Viana to step back.
The small, crowded space, filled with rubble, made it hard for her to move freely with her bow.
The second assassin moved towards Kaley and the frightened Arden, who held the precious tablet tightly. Kaley, however, did not flinch.
He stepped forward, his usually calm eyes now glowing with an inner light. He didn’t carry a normal weapon.
Instead, he raised his hands with palms facing out. The air around him seed to thicken and shimring faintly.
As the assassin pushed his dagger forward, it hit an invisible wall just inches from Kaley’s chest, sliding off with a harsh screech as if it had struck solid stone.
The assassin stumbled, his eyes wide with shock behind his mask. Kaley pushed forward, chanting a chant with a low voice, the tiny dust particles in the air seeming to vibrate with his words.
He wasn’t attacking, he was creating a strong invisible barrier, a spiritual shield that forced the assassin back step by step, giving Arden precious seconds.
Outside their room, the battle roared. Rayne, with his knight bravely behind him, fought with controlled fury near the western edge of the main courtyard.
Three Shadow Clan warriors pushed them hard, their movents smooth and deadly. Rayne blocked a slash aid at his leg, then pushed him sword forward, forcing one assassin to leap back.
His knight took a shallow cut on his forearm but then slamd his shield into another attacker’s face, the sound sickeningly loud.
"They fight like trapped desert snakes!" the knight grunted, blocking another fast series of strikes.
"Because they are," Rayne bit back, his eyes sweeping across the wild fight. He saw Reyes battling fiercely near the entrance arch, holding two assassins at bay.
Joel was a blur of motion near the horses, his heavier sword cutting through the air, stopping more attacker from getting close.
But Rayne’s attention snapped back to the connected rooms where Viana fought. He saw the flicker of movent through a gap in a broken wall.
’Arin wants us both dead here. Lost in the desert, and will bla on bandits or the ruins themselves,’ this thought made him gritted his teeth.
A harsh cry ca from Viana’s room. She had moved her first opponent near a pile of rubble. She quickly ducked under a wild swing, pulling an arrow from her quiver even as she moved.
The space was tight, but she was fast. She fired from the hip, the arrow hitting the assassin’s leg with a solid thud.
He roared, then stumbling. Before he could regain his balance, she kicked hard, sending him crashing face-first onto sharp, broken pottery. He didn’t get up anymore.
She didn’t watch him fall, already spinning to help Kaley.
The second assassin, frustrated by the priest’s strange defense, had pulled a small, barbed dart from his belt. He faked a move towards Kaley, then quickly threw his hand towards Arden, who was still huddled behind the glowing barrier.
Kaley’s shield flared brighter as the dart hit it, sticking in the shimring air inches from Arden’s face. A thick, dark liquid dripped from its tip. It was poison.
The brief mont of distraction cost Kaley. The assassin, knowing Kaley’s focus had shifted, lunged low under the barrier’s edge, his dagger aiming for Kaley’s leg.
Viana arrived at sudden, then drew and nocked an arrow in one smooth movent, her aim precise despite the chaos. The arrow found the assassin’s arm as he lunged, making him scream and drop his dagger.
She pressed forward relentlessly, using her bow to block a desperate hand strike, forcing the assassin away from the scholar and the priest.
"Rayne! They’re inside!" Reyes’s shout carried over the noise. He had killed one attacker, but another had slipped past him, running towards the sounds of fighting near Viana.
Reyes ran after him, blood trickling from a cut above his eye.
Rayne made a quick decision.
"With !" he ordered his knight. They broke away from their own attackers with a sudden, planned push, leaving them off-balance for a mont, and sprinted towards Viana’s position.
They burst into the chamber just as the assassin Viana was pressing managed to kick a cloud of old sand and dust into her face.
Viana stumbled back, blinded and coughing hard. The assassin saw his chance, raising a hidden dagger for a killing thrust aid at her heart.
Kaley cried out, trying to move his shield, but his focus was split between protecting Arden and Viana.
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