Diamondlot

Outnumbered

The three girls continued to run towards the docks in the rain. They kept running until they bumped into a couple of familiar faces from back at the tavern, royals guards Ranak and Aaryav had returned. Upon seeing the royal guard blocking their way, they turned around to run the other way. However, as they turned to face the opposite direction, the two people from the lodge had caught up to them as well.

With enemies in pursuit on both sides, Reina put both her hands on her head and asked in distress, “What are we going to do?” Jiyah and Nadya stared at each other with confidence and nodded. In an instant, they began to hold out their fist towards one another and began to play, rock, paper, scissors. Jiyah threw out rock and Nadya threw out paper.

Jiyah: What?! No fair! Best of three?

Nadya: Won’t matter, I already know what you are going to do.

Jiyah: What? How?

Nadya: You always have your fist ready to battle, so you were mostly likely going to pick rock.

Jiyah: Argh. Fine you win this one. So which two do you want to fight?

Nadya: I’ll take the two creepers from the lodge.

Jiyah: Aww come on. Why do I have to fight the two royal guards again?

Reina was baffled as she couldn’t believe what she was witnessing with her eyes. This was a situation that would be stressful to most people but for some reason her two bodyguards were anything but scared. She told them that they were outnumbered and that they should flee from battle but Jiyah and Nadya stood their ground. “Sorry Reina, running got us into this mess and even if we kept running, I don’t think they would give up chasing you.” Nadya said. Jiyah slammed her fists together in agreement and then she dashed off to face the two royal guards.

Reina held out her hand to try and stop Jiyah but she was long gone. As Nadya was about to leave to face her oncoming opponents, she turned to Reina, “Go see if you can find anyone who can help us.” Reina stood with her head high accepting her command. She wanted to get started as quickly as possible but Nadya had one more thing to add, “However, if you can’t find anyone, just run as far as you can.” Nadya draws one of her swords and begins running to meet her adversaries.

The two royal guards, Ranak and Aaryav came to a halt when they saw Jiyah before them. They still remembered the humiliating defeat they suffered back at the tavern. They both had their spears on their dominant hand and a shield on their off-hand. Jiyah could see their angry faces and decided to add fuel to the fire, “You two didn’t get enough of a beating last time so you came back for more?” Ranak was steaming after that comment but Aaryav held him back, reminding him that losing his temper would not be wise. They remained in formation until Jiyah made the first move.

Meanwhile, Nadya was met with the two fighters that had been following them since they arrived at the Para-Docks. They revealed themselves as Eshaan and Ishaan (pronounced the same), their team name was the Eishaans. Ishaan had two maces for weapons while Eshaan held a long halberd. Nadya wasn’t as quick to fight as Jiyah, what she was after was information. She asked the two why they were following her friends and if they were allies with the royal guards.

Both of them bursted into laughter, “Ha! No way we wouldn’t be caught dead with those guys. We are hired mercenaries from the king and queen in the Kingdom of the West. They were getting impatient with the royal guards’ blunders so they hired us to get the job done!” Eshaan exclaimed with a loud voice. Nadya asked Eshaan to emphasize what the job was and he gladly replied that they were paid to capture the rogue back to the king and queen.

She continued to pry for information but realizing what she was doing, Ishaan stepped in to stop Eshaan from talking. “Just one more question, who’s idea was it to knock on our door and call food delivery?” Nadya asked. Ishaan gave a menacing glare at Eshaan. “What? I’m sorry! I was really hungry and I could think about having some fried chicken!” Eshaan said with joy. Realizing he had talked enough, Eshaan finally pulled out his weapon and Ishaan followed suit. Nadya stood her ground gripping her sword tightly, ready to battle.

The rain continued to pour with no end in sight. The wooden docks of the harbor were extremely slippery which caused Reina to slip as she ran. But she would not let that discourage her, she would always get back up knowing her friends needed her. There were some boats and a couple ships on the dock, so Reina yelled as loud as she could for help. She tried many times but no one answered.

With determination, she continued on but as she turned around this time, she slipped onto a ship that seemed very different from any of the vessels on the dock. This ship was decent size, with proper sails and a giant flag that Reina couldn’t see. As she began to pull herself back up, she saw a pair of boots near her. She slowly began to look up and she saw a person in the rain staring at her. This person was the captain of the ship wearing a pirate outfit with a monkey on her shoulders. She held her cutlass near Reina threatening to take her life.

Aaryav and Ranak held their shields out and pointed their spears at Jiyah. They slowly inched forward remaining in formation, preventing Jiyah from separating them and picking them apart. Jiyah attempted to engage and get in close but the spears were troublesome and she couldn’t get past both their shields. Without much of a blindspot, she was forced back on the defensive.

Nadya wasn’t having much luck either. Eshaan and Ishaan were not as strategic as the guards but their attacks were relentless. Ishaan would come swinging with his two maces which Nadya could handle. However, everytime she thought she had an opening to strike, Eshaan would swing his halberd and interfere.

It wasn’t long before Nadya was forced to play defense as well. She kept deflecting their attacks with her sword and backing away until her back bumped against Jiyah’s. They both had their backs to one another but they had enemies coming from all fronts.

As their enemies converged upon them, Ranak and Aaryav finally saw Eshaan and Ishaan on the other side:

Ranak: Hey what are you two doing here? The king and queen tasked us to capture the rogue!

Ishaan: Ha! You and your partner were taking too long! The king and queen got impatient with the both of you and hired us to take over your job!

Aaryav: Hey no fair! We have everything under control!

Eshaan: Hey Ishaan forget these two. Let’s hurry up so we can claim our reward so I can get me some fried chicken!

As they argued, Nadya and Jiyah used this as an opportunity to sneak away. However, both the guards and the mercenaries noticed what was going on. They decided to call a temporary truce to deal with the two girls. Realizing there was no escaping this battle, Jiyah decided to charge in but Nadya tried to call her back.

As Jiyah engaged the guards, Aaryav swung his spear that Jiyah was about to dodge but she wasn’t able to avoid the second swing coming from Ranak. The tip of the spear cut her left leg causing her some discomfort. That allowed Aaryav to bash her against the ground with his shield.

With Jiyah on the ground, Nadya jumped in front to protect her. She was now staring down four enemies without the full assistance of her comrade. Nadya took a deep breath and with her left hand, reached for her other sword. She was now dual wielding two swords, something she had never done before.

Ishaan came swinging with his two maces which Nadya stopped with both her swords. She was able to push back Ishaan but Eshaan came in to support him. He swung his halberd at Nadya which she deflected aside with her sword and she was ready to strike back with her other sword but Ishaan returned and blocked her attack. Eshaan and Ishaan then use their combined strength to overpower Nadya and she too fell against the ground.

Despite their injuries and fatigue kicking in, they both got back up to their feet to face their opponents. Jiyah was favouring her left leg and Nadya was struggling to hold up both her swords. As Aaryav stepped forward to continue their assault, a monkey jumped onto his face, obstructing his vision and causing him to drop his weapons.

Seeing his partner struggling with the furry creature, Ranak attempted to help but was confused. Jiyah had no idea where the monkey came from but she knew this was her golden opportunity. As Ranak was distracted trying to help Aaryav, Jiyah got behind Ranak and landed consecutive punches against his back. She then finished him off with a roundhouse kick to the gut.

Eventually, Aaryav was able to get the monkey off his face. He could see again but now Ranak was on the ground and Jiyah was standing right before him. Without his weapon, he asked Jiyah not to hurt him and begged for mercy. Jiyah considered the thought for two seconds before surprising him with a punch to the face.

With the two guards on the floor, that left Nadya against the two mercenaries. Thankfully, someone jumped into the scene to join the fight, it was someone Nadya had never seen before, a girl in a pirate outfit. The lady charged into battle armed with her cutlass going straight for Eshaan forcing him to block with his halberd. This left Eshaan defenseless so Nadya came in and kicked him to the ground.

Ishaan, wanting to avenge his partner, began charging with his maces in rage. Nadya and the pirate each blocked one of his maces with their weapon and then combined to kick Ishaan against the ground. The tide of battle had swung in their favour but Jiyah and Nadya were extremely exhausted.

Knowing that the guards and the mercenaries still had energy to fight, the pirate lady told Jiyah and Nadya to head towards her ship. The pirate helped Jiyah up and began guiding her to the ship. Nadya stayed vigilant with her swords still out, in case the guards or the mercenaries decided to pursue them.

Eshaan would not settle for failure, he got back up with his weapon and charged full force at Nadya. She was able to stand her ground and hold back his attack. However, she didn’t notice Ishaan was hiding on her blindside, reaching for a long needle in his sash. He ready his aim to throw his weapon directly at Nadya.

Having just got on the ship, Jiyah took a look at what was happening on the battlefield and saw Ishaan about to throw something at Nadya. Jiyah called out to Nadya to warn her but it was too late. Eshaan pushed Nadya where he wanted her and Ishaan threw the needle with pinpoint accuracy. The needle made its way towards Nadya but before it could make contact, Reina jumped in front of her and took the attack with her back.

The needle stung Reina a bit but she was able to easily shake it off. Nadya put away her swords and began to run towards the ship with Reina. Ishaan and Eshaan both attempted to chase them down to the ship but the pirate lady blew a whistle with her fingers. Upon hearing the signal the monkey rolled a few smoke balls beneath their feet creating a smoky cloud. This caused the Eishaans to cough profusely.

With the mercenaries caught in the cloud of smoke, the ship was able to depart from docks successfully and the three girls narrowly made their escape. Once the smoke had cleared, the ship was out of their reach. Ranak and Aaryav had just gotten up and were in a rush to find a ship to chase them down. However, as they were scrambling, Eshaan said to them, “There’s no point in following them.” Both Ranak and Aaryav were confused as to what Eshaan was talking about. “The needle was coated with a deadly poison, the rogue won’t last very long.” Ishaan said.