NOVEL NEXT Book 10A - The Auction - Chapter 19
We needed to use the stones.
While we still had a good chance of winning, the odds that we could do it without attracting attention or killing someone was really low.
"I think it's time for us to return." I shoved my hand in my pocket to grab my stone.
Jenne grabbed my elbow. Her breath tickled my ear as she whispered in it. "Don't."
I didn't have time to question her. The first man was on me.
I still had my stick, and it was as long as my arm, thick as my wrist, and solid oak. One swipe was enough to knock the dagger out of his hand and might have also broken his wrist. He howled in pain, but before he could grab his injured appendage, Jenne surged forward, grabbed the back of his head with both hands, and smashed his face into her knee. He dropped like a sack of crystals.
The next one was smarter and tried to grab my stick while two more rushed me. I cracked the one on my right over the head, knocking him face down into the dirt. The one on the left was able to tackle me and knock me off my feet, which allowed the first one to grab the other end of my stick. I elbowed the one on top of me in the jaw as I yanked on the stick. I felt a sting in my side and let go of the tug-of-war that I was in to focus on the guy who just stabbed me.
He sat up and raised both hands over his head, so I punched him in the crotch. His eyes crossed as a soundless scream left his lips. I grabbed both of his arms and pulled myself up to smash my forehead into his nose. I had to duck the swing of my own weapon, but rolling out from under the man that was barely on me wasn't difficult.
I tucked my feet under me and grabbed my stick with my left hand as it swung at me again. I chopped my right fist down, hammering the other man's wrist and knocking it off the stick. With my weapon back in my hands, I swung at his right knee. It bent the wrong way. He screamed as he fell on his rear. Another swing silenced those screams.
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
No one else was coming at me, so I looked around. Oz was in a fist fight with one of the twins, and the other one was groaning on the ground, holding his face. Jenne was squaring off against a man twice her size with a pair of knives to match her own. And Aelin had the green man on his knees by the root of his hair and was punching and kicking him. Green fluid was oozing out of more than one gash, and I had a feeling he was going to regret underestimating 'the blonde' for a while.
The last man was face down in the road and wasn't moving. Considering he wasn't leaking some color of blood on the ground, I hoped that meant he was just unconscious, not dead.
"Anyone want some help?" I touched my side. The knife hadn't gone in more than a finger length, and while I'd be feeling it as soon as the adrenaline wore off, those types of wounds were rarely fatal. Especially once we got back to the park and I could have Gesai heal me.
"I. Am. Good!" Aelin punched every time she spoke.
It looked like the men had seriously underestimated their ability to handle the women that were with me, and if they wanted to drive that point home, I wasn't going to stop them.
There was a loud thud on my left. Oz dusted off her hands. "Done."
The guy that was fighting Jenne realized he was essentially the last man standing. I had a feeling that the man Aelin was using as a punching bag was unconscious. He took a few steps back and held up his hands. "I'm good."
Both he and Jenne had shallow cuts crisscrossing their arms. The look on her face told me that she wanted to win, but she was wise enough to realize that she didn't have to knock him out to do so.
"What's going on?!" A baritone voice came from the other side of the opening door of the building we were fighting in front of.
I turned to see a blonde man with golden skin in overalls throw something at the big man. Jenne's opponent's eyes rolled back in his head as he fell backwards. A pebble smaller than a marble rolled away from the bruise on his forehead.
"You didn't leave any for me!" There was something familiar about the older man as he turned. "Nobody messes with my favorite drinking buddies!"
Aelin dropped the man she'd been beating on and ran towards the blacksmith.
"Fooda!" She wrapped him up in a hug.
He held out his left arm and beckoned Jenne to come give him a hug. The spy chuckled as she ran over and grabbed his other side.
"What are you girls doin' here?" He raised an eyebrow as he looked at me. "And why're you fightin' God's Venom?"