Nick tensed, ready to leap to one side the instant that he spotted the archer’s position. It was clear from the men’s behavior that this part of their story was no lie. Once he dodged the first arrow, he would rush in close to foul the sniper’s aim, then take out both men as quickly as possible before rushing ahead to deal with Aya.
He couldn’t afford to mess this up. Even with his superior level and attributes, an arrow through the throat could easily kill him. But the promised attack never came. In that moment, Nick decided to change tactics, planning to take out the archer before dealing with the swordsmen.
The next time that they looked away, he threw himself behind the closest trunk, judging the archer’s firing arc by following their gazes. Trusting his ears to track his assailants’ position, Nick steeled himself to turn his blade against others of his kind for the first time in his life.
But even after all that, the expected arrow never landed, nor did the men charge to close the distance. “Aya,” Greg yelled, frustration clear in his voice. “He’s getting away. What the hell are you waiting for?”
“I’m afraid that Aya can’t make it to the party. She’s a bit… tied up at the moment,” a woman’s voice rang out from deeper inside the woods. A familiar voice that Nick had last heard while standing on the surface of another world.
He stuck his head out from behind the tree to see what was happening, immensely relieved that he hadn’t been forced to strike just yet. He caught sight of a hooded figure walking out of the tree line, arriving from a point halfway between him and his would-be robbers.
The woman, who seemed completely unthreatened by strolling into the middle of a tense standoff, looked contemptuously at the men’s bared blades before turning to face Nick. When their eyes met, she raised her hand in greeting, lowered her hood, and said, “Hello Nick. Short time, no see. We really need to stop meeting like this. You just can’t seem to keep yourself out of trouble, can you?”
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Nick’s jaw dropped in astonishment. Now that he was able to put a face to her voice, he realized that he knew the woman after all. He had fought beside her only a handful of days prior, facing off against the fallen rhinoceros in the Grand Arena of Papillion.
“You have no idea,” he replied with a sigh, as a surge of relief poured into his veins. “Sophia, it’s a pleasure to see you again. Your timing is impeccable as always.”
Greg and Shaun were taken aback by the reunion taking place before their eyes. Sophia seemed even less concerned by their presence than Nick had been, treating the swords as if they were no more menacing than theater props. She must have some trick up her sleeve that she hasn’t revealed yet. I should get ready to jump in if something goes wrong.
“Who the hell are you?” Shaun yelled, turning to face Sophia, rage coloring his cheeks even redder than his hair. Greg wore an expression like he had just bitten into something foul when he had expected a palatable meal.
He kept turning his head, dividing his attention between watching Nick and tracking the movements of the newly arrived Sophia. The fight seemed to have gone out of him, although Shaun was still raring to go.
“What did you do to Aya?” Greg asked warily, coming to grips with the evolving situation faster than his companion.
“A lot less than you were willing to do to Nick, and far less than you deserve.” Sophia turned to take a closer look at both men and then asked. “Now, what are we going to do with you?”
“This is still manageable,” Shaun growled. “This is a good thing, Greg. We just doubled our haul. We just need to take her out too…”
Shaun’s words were cut off cleanly, as if they had been severed by a knife. Because at that very moment, a wasp the size of a loaf of bread landed lightly upon his shoulder, barbed stinger pressed against his throat with enough force to dimple his flesh.
He froze in place, afraid that he would be stung if he so much as twitched, which was an accurate read of the situation from Nick’s perspective.
Nick wasn’t sure where the giant bug had come from, but he realized in that moment that he recognized it. The creature threatening Shaun was a frost venom wasp, the same species that he had fought side-by-side with Sophia in their arena battle.
In that moment, his shoulders sagged in relief. It seemed that he might find a way out of this situation without bloodying his blade after all.