The sun beat down on the assembled crowd. Merchants praised their wares with a loud and warm voice, trying to attract potential buyers with flashing shows or even samples. The murmur of the people talking to each other mingled with their voices into an amplified version of the town’s normal sound.
Amidst the buyers and sellers, a third group was active – takers. People who had no scrupules about wether something was theirs or not. Thieves. Cutpurses mostly, but a few groups of thugs were active in the side-alleys as well, threatening people into paying their ‘protection-money’ and providing back-up for the cutpurses.
Alyna knew they were there. Because she could hear the occasional enraged shout from the crowd, and because occasionally she could see a small figure flash by from the corner of her eyes. But mostly because she was chasing one of them. The small boy, he couldn’t be older than twelve, could run like the winds and he gave her a hard time.
When he dissappeared into an alley, she knew there was a chance some friends of his were waiting for her. Well, that would be bad. But returning to Haliette Sedai without either purse and statue, would be a whole lot worse.
Determined to get the purse back, she followed him without giving the subject more thought. The moment she entered the alley, she felt the wind of a club pass over her head. Expecting a larger person, her attacker had aimed for the head, but evidently he missed. Without thinking, she ducked and rolled to the left, knowing she’d have to get on her feet and have a grip on the situation if she were to be any good. She heard sounds of another attacker, but when she stood straight with her back to one of the walls, she could see whom she was facing.
For one moment, her blood froze in her veins. A total of four muscleheads were around her. Two of them wielded a tree for a club, one a short sword, and the other a dagger. She felt the cold chill of death run over her back as she stepped into a basic defensive position and called the Void. Her enhanced concentration seemed to sharpen her senses, unfortunately also sharpening the smell of the alley, which, well, smelled like a backalley.
Quickly, she took in her stuation. Pure offense will have no use. They’re with too many. Defense first, as long as they can’t hit me, I have a chance to hit them.
Relying on her speed, she jumped aside from the swordbearer’s stab. Immediately she ran past one of the clubbearers, a rather chubby guy, dodging his swing in the meantime. She ran towards a dead end of the alley.
Can’t let them get to close.
The man with the ratlike face, who wielded the dagger, was closest to her and he advanced. If not for the Void she would have cursed out aloud, for his movements showed he was a skilled fighter, while the other three looked like they barely knew how to hold their weapon without hurting themselves. She caught his slice on her bracer, and tried to wrap her arm around and grab his wrist, but a swing from the bearded club-bearer which forced her to deflect with her other arm distracted her enough so he could break free. Again, she would have normally cursed, but the irritation flowed of the wall of the Void, as she realised she would have to take them out one by one, saving the Rat for last, as he was the most dangerous and a fight with him could distract her enough to make even his three friends dangerous.
Reacting accordingly, she kicked low at his leg, forcing him to retreat while she spinned around and caught Beard’s swinging arm by the elbow. Pushing at the elbow from beneath with one hand, she grabbed and pushed at his lower arm with the other from the other side, while stepping past him at the same time. He had to step ahead, to where she was pushing him, or she would break his elbow. This placed him between her and Rat, shielding her momentarily.
She felt Chubby and the fourth, bald, guy coming in from her left, previously having been blocked by Beard and Rat, and knew she had to work fast.
Because she doubted she could hit him hard enough to knock him out, Alyna kicked the bearded fellow sharp in the back of his knee, hearing his bones snap. One down, three to go she thought to herself.
Having been warned by her movements and fast disabling of Beard, the others were more careful with her. Circling around with her, Rat was the first to attack, as she expected. She tried to block with her bracer anyway, even though she already expected it was a feint. Not wishing to waste her energy, she diverted the movement of her arm to her left, where Baldy came in with his sword. She saw a raised club from the corner of her eye, and she kicked out as fast as she could. She hit Chubby in the stomach, but it didn’t do much more than stop him.
Most would be at least momentarily out. Must be his fat that caught the force of the blow.
Not willing to face Rat again, she stepped into Chubby’s reach, but as she tried to grab his arm he kicked at her with his knee, forcing her to block it. The force of his kick had her flinging backwards, fortunately against Rat’s body as he had just snuck up and was trying to backstab her. She saw the glinster of his dagger to her right, and without much thought she grabbed hold of his wrist and pulled him over her hip, taking him out for the moment.
Meanwhile, she had not forgotten Baldy. And he still thought of her as well. As she looked up from Rat, he lunged at her with his sword. She caught it between her two bracers, having crossed her arms, and suddenly uncrossed them, effectively disarming him. Retracting her left hand for cover, she let her right fist land on his head hard, and as he looked a little dizzy she retracted her right hand again and punched him in the chin with her left. His eyes rolled up and he was out as well.
She fell to the floor and rolled to the side. Just in time, as a large club landed where she had been before. Jumping to her feet, she looked for Rat, and found him in front of her and to her right, as Chubby was positioned to her left. Deflecting one, two, three times, she saw Rat’s pattern, and the fourth time she rolled her hand around his, grabbing his wrist in a tight grip. A quick step and she stood close enough to him to smell he hadn’t washed himself in days. With her nose wringled, she spinned around, pulling him with her, and pushed him in Chubby’s path. The two men clashed, and for a moment she was free. She jumped to her now free right side, as to catch her breath as she waited for the two men to untangle themselves.
She was doing pretty well against this group, although she knew that was more because of their inexperience with fighting in a group, and general inexperience with fighting, than because she was that good. It’s not like I’m a bloody Blademaster or something!
Rat and Chubby had untangled themselves, and now were advancing on her simultaneously. While Chubby attacked with his club from left, Rat stabbed from her right, and for a while she could barely deflect their attacks, let alone counter them. Tumbling past them wouldn’t help her in this case, because they could just spin around on their feet, and weren’t hindered by the other two.
Finally, she saw the gap in Chubby’s defense which she could use to her advantage. Stepping towards Rat as she blocked his next attack, Chubby’s club flew just past her. Immediately she stepped back, placing one foot on his great club, and flung her elbow in his face. She felt his nose break under her punch, and a left hook following suit knocked him out.
A flash of sunlight on metal warned her before she could even think of the last man left. She jumped back and felt the blade of his dagger cut through the fabric of her clothing at chest-level. Luckily it was only a fleshwound, but mentally she yelled at herself for being too slow or ignorant.
Without his friends to pose a threat to her, however, this skilled fighter wasn’t too much of a trouble, and after sparring a few blows she managed to deflect his jab to her side, leaving him open. A few heartbeats later he lay at her feet as well.
The sun was still shining strong when Alyna resumed her way back to the Tower. The cutpurse was long gone, but the four thugs she defeated proved to carry enough valuables with them to make up for her lost money. Now she carried the statue Haliette Sedai had asked her for in her bag, and a report to the Master of Training in her head.