The first one came in fast on her left and she jabbed the butt of her weapon to strike him square between the eyes. He crumpled to the ground, his sword clattering past her on the floor. When one tried to come from the right, she twisted her body in place to plant her front legs before striking with the powerful hind ones. Her shod hooves landed a driving shot to the man’s sternum stopping him cold as all the air left his lungs. The man behind him ran into the back of him and fell at her feet where she kicked him in the side of the head causing him to fall silent. The next one on the left came in with a diagonal blow and she narrowly pulled back in time to keep from being slashed. Its’ blade struck the post with a deep “THUNK”, embedding itself. He tried to retract it once, twice, three times but found it stuck solidly in place. He and Hoxley traded a swift awkward exchange of looking down at the weapon before she brought the butt of the staff down on his forearm causing him to cry out in pain. He fell back holding the injured limb, leaving the sword to remain. Two men changed their stances and split in different directions to come at her from two sides at once. She favored the one on the left and parried his strike before the other was already upon her with a downward blow. Hoxley barely had time to knock the sword aside and try to get out of the way when the man’s sword trimmed half the length of her tail from her body. She shrieked with fear as it took every ounce of effort and strength to keep the first man pinned against the bar when the second looked like he was moving for a second strike. He squared himself with his back to the door when he raised his sword over his head for a death stroke.
But no sooner was the blade raised than a blade appeared from behind him and caught him at the wrist, severing the hand. He stared dazed at the limb as if fell from the hilt and landed with a plop on the ground. Stunned and frozen with fear, he turned to see who’d wielded the weapon that had taken the limb only to be slashed once again across the head. The soldier fell to the floor dead as a stone. Hoxley and the last assassin remained entangled as they looked to see who’d delivered the death only to find the visage of a filthy pirate with short hair in a mustard yellow vest and short pants step into view.
“Loxo?!” Hoxley blurted with surprise.
“Hoxley dear!” He exclaimed with a wide friendly smile and arms from his side in a stance of bravado. “Whatever are you doing here brawling with this riff raff? Shouldn’t you be off travelling about the countryside with your letters and packages instead of squabbling with these knaves?” Seeing that the new person was an ally of his enemy, the assassin pinned to the bar fought to get free. He finally pushed himself back enough to be out of striking distance from the faun’s spear.
“You don’t want to fight her?” Loxo asked the man with the hidden face as he twirled his sword with playful abandon “That spear is far too deadly. Come! Have a stab at me if you will! Ha ha!” The man looked at the two before looking at his compatriots on the floor. Making the decision to flee, he turned tail and hurried up the stairs.
“Ha! Well played!” Said the pirate. “Well, I guess that settles, that, eh?” he asked. Just then a girl’s scream filled the air, emanating from the top of the stairs.
“Siouxsie!” Hoxley said as she looked to Loxo. “This isn’t over! The others are upstairs with more of those men! If you’re going to stay, I need you to fight!”
“More swordplay? With the gracious faun who saved me from the hangman’s noose?” he bowed. “Why, I‘d be delighted to share such savagery with you! Bravely lead the way and I’ll cover your rear flank as best as I can!”
“Oh, fine! Come on!” Hoxley huffed. She stepped over the moaning casualties and stormed up the stairs with her spear at the ready. When she turned the blind corner, she barely had time to pull her head back and out of the path of a sword that missed her nose by the width of a blade of grass. “A sneak attack? You fiend!” She used the ornate hook-like curve on the back of the blade of the spear to catch the belt holding the man’s scabbard before planting her hooves against the vertical planks of the stairs and yanking with all her might. The man came hurling down at her against his will and slammed headfirst into the wall at the landing. He fell in a heap and she stepped over him before using her hind legs to shove him down the second flight.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Ah! A dashing move!” Loxo said, stooping to talk to the top of the head of the man who was no longer moving. “You’re looking quite tired!” He taunted before relieving the man of his coin pouch. “Your coin is better served in my hands, friend. I’ll see to it that it purchases only the finest foods and wines, of that you may rely! Onward, brave Hoxley onward!” he shouted as she was already trading blows with another man coming down the stairs. Her attackers’ sword came in fast and straight in this time in a deadly lunge. She almost didn’t have time to dodge and knock the blade away with the staff of her spear before it came at her head once again. She reminded herself that she was not just a spear, but a whole fighter. The sword withdrew a second time, determined to come again. Watching it sharply, positioned her head slightly to the side, watching from the corner of her eye. And when the blade came for her head again, she ducked just enough to put the blade directly between her horns. When she turned her head straight, the binding of the blade yanked the handle out of the man’s hands disarming him. Ignatius’ crowns of flowers fell from her head and scattered around her as she advanced upon him.
Before the man could react or retreat, she grabbed him by the neck of the shirt and demonstrated the strength of the thick foreplate in her skull. Some centaurs favor horses and others favor different hooved creatures. To accommodate the weight and solidness of her goat-like horns, faun skulls are reinforced in their thickness to protect their brains as well as support their curved thick appendages. Holding him fast in her fist, she leaned back, her head getting a “running start” before bashing itself against his. The man looked stunned, his eyes crossing before she gave him a second dose to quicken his journey to unconsciousness. His legs became as jelly and tumbled down the stairs as she continued her climb. Loxo followed closely behind looting the men as she felled them.
“You’ve chosen the wrong fight!” he quipped ass he filled his pockets. “Perhaps you’re not suited to be swordsmen at all!” At the top of the stairs a melee was already in full swing as Hoxley witnessed four men having trouble crossing the threshold of the first room. She was about to advance upon them when rhymed shouting echoed within. A flurry of fireballs erupted, striking each of the soldiers, setting them all ablaze. They flailed as they fell back, slapping and yelling to extinguish the magic fire eating their clothes. Hoxley moved in, striking the distracted men with bashings to the head until they collapsed or fell back into the washroom. She tried to sneak a peek around the corner to see what was happening and almost caught a fireball to the face for her effort. The plume hit the wall across the hall, its flames licking at the boards.
“Robert!” she yelled, waving her spear in the doorway. “Robert don’t shoot! Friend! Friend!”
“Put your hands down.” Siouxsie could be heard saying. “It’s Hoxley!” Hoxley peered inside to find the others huddled against the far wall by the window with a single lantern lighting the room. Robert stood in the front, fire pulsing in his palms. The men at the end of the hall were dousing themselves in a tub of water to get the flames to stop eating their clothes. They’d find their courage soon enough.
“We need to get out of here.” She told the group, her eyes flitting back and forth between the rooms.
“Hoxley!” said a voice from behind as Loxo caught up. “I don’t mean to be the bearer of bad news but I couldn’t help but notice by looking through the front window of the end that a sizeable number of soldiers is amassing at the front door as we speak.”
“How many is sizeable?” she asked.
