Rise of the Blade - Charles Moffat [51]
"Its possible Pierce, but not for me," the elf said quickly, sparing Pierce the wait. He smiled knowingly. "But together," he said slowly. "If I lower my mental barriers and you lower your feeble ones-" He grinned broadly. "Then together we could use our combined powers to track him."
The Doctor sat up straight. "I didn't know that was possible."
"The mind has no limits, but your sword reach does."
Chev's sword reach didn't have many limits and he drove his blade home through the chest of yet one more warrior. Looking up at the elves overhead, he only smiled as arrows bounced off the invisible barrier shielding him from their deadly fire. Alarms were sounding and more elven guards poured down to swarm the warrior.
Only to be slaughtered as he continued his path upward.
"I feel him!" Petre shouted unexpected and stood bolt upright. His chair fell over with an audible thud in the silence that followed the mage's outburst. "Chev is attacking! Gather weapons and magic!" he roared in a voice that carried throughout the building.
With speed and grace the elves responded to their fat leader's command faster than any loyal soldiers could have to a paladin's order. In seconds a vast arsenal of weapons had appeared and magic using elves were readying their spell components.
"Remember!" shouted Petre. "Time your magic carefully! We don't want the magics to interfere with each other and result in an explosive backlash!" Pierce agreed with that summary, knowing that elven magic tended to be more complex and that these complexities could easily get warped. It reminded him of a childhood story in which the mage turned the knight into a frog, but the mage's spell went awry and the frog turned out to be twenty feet tall. It was strange how his mind worked sometimes.
Drawing his sabers, the Doctor elbowed his way past slim elven guards to the doorway. He stood confidently before the bolted door and didn't even blink in surprise when Chev kicked it down. His twin blades flashed out and the younger warrior blocked both easily with a swipe of his shield.
Chev's longsword jabbed past Pierce's blades and slid harmlessly off bronze plate. The fighter was not finished however and he jerked the tip upwards to nick his opponent's cheek.
Surprised with this unexpected last second move, Pierce fell back with his blades concentrating on defense while elven guards swarmed around to attack Chev's flanks. The Doctor immediately regretted that move as three quick jabs and a booted kick to the neck from the warrior before him felled four elves in rapid succession.
Petre released a string fiery missiles which dissipated like a candle in thick fog against Chev's magical shielding. The buckler, Pierce knew now, was the cause of this protective wall, but was there anyway to remove it? Certainly not with his blades, he quickly decided even as he parried away Chev's attacks and held him in check. Unless he could remove that buckler, the elves would either be slaughtered under a sharp blade or stand in confusion as their spells were proven useless.
A smile crept across the Doctor's face and this puzzled the ex-bodyguard but not as much as it shocked him when Pierce dropped his sabers and held up his fists in a boxing stance.
"What the-" murmured several elves.
Chev sheathed his blade in a flash of steel and met Pierce's armoured fists with his own as they boxed back and forth exchanging quick punches that left their jaws in agony. Whatever anyone could say about Chev, they could at least say he was honourable and enjoyed fighting for the mere feeling of fighting.
It didn't take a mind reader to know that the warrior reveled in expressing his abilities and enjoying the activity. You could see it in his eyes. What Pierce saw in his mind went farther however. He could see Chev's fast paced memories of fighting in the back alleys of Waterdeep in his youth, memories similar to the Doctor's own upbringing. They were filled with the simple joy of being alive