Tess was not taking the passing of her comrade well. She’d gone from the brink of defeat to a full on fury that no one could overcome. She was leaking far more than the average humanoid would prefer to be, but that didn’t seem to be close to enough to end her. Moe and Larry had actually backed off, their heightened speed and instincts telling them that getting close was too much of a risk right now.
Valkar, his energy spent from achieving his kill, had been forced to back away to take a position guarding Len in case the desperate Sister made a final attack at the one responsible for her collapse of fortune. This left Keseryn in the dubious position of needing to provide support but having no actual experience with the task. She had the enhancement going for her but didn’t know enough to be able to use it effectively.
Reaching out with her awareness, Len could feel the tensions in everyone. Valkar was on his last legs. Definitely about to pass out, possibly about to die. Moe and Larry were in better shape, but still not great. Keseryn, she was on the verge of breaking completely. Too many complex emotions flooding through while mixing with adrenaline and her already fragile mind was getting bombarded well past the point that any normal person would be able to deal. Frankly, it was rather remarkable that she was managing to keep her face so still.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t a situation where Len could do any more than she was doing. It still took all her concentration to keep from giving in to the pain and passing out and that meant that the two goblins and the human child were the only things standing between her and her death. It wasn’t an encouraging feeling. Still not fully understanding how the connection worked, she did her best to nudge Keseryn towards drawing the sword out of Venar’s body. It’d give her a bit of an advantage in a fight where she needed every one she could get.
Kes’ eyes widened for a moment, as she realized what was going on and then did indeed go over to the corpse of the man who’d killed her parents. It took effort for her small frame to draw the sword made for a large Orc, but she managed it and was even able to hold the sword somewhat normally, assisted by her connection to Len. Most of Tess’ attention was focused on the two goblins who were working in unison to dodge, parry, and deflect her blows as the situation warranted. They were a match for her fury, but couldn’t overcome it.
Eyes steeled, Keseryn stalked behind the Orc, waiting for just the right moment to pounce. Len guided her as best she could, soothing her out of leaping too soon and spoiling the opportunity. There’d be time for her to feel miserable about using a child to do this later, but right now, they needed the Orc down. A hit from that axe would likely be the death of any of the smaller statured combatants, and that was before the poison was factored in.
It was agonizing, the waiting. Every moment that passed felt like a missed opportunity, another risk of the lives of some of the people closest to her in this world. But it couldn’t be rushed. Tess’ fury wasn’t dwindling. For all that the wounds had to have taken their toll by now, this was a berserking rage well beyond the normal measure of things and it wouldn’t be ended as long as her foes were in sight. She’d have to be put down.
Inevitably, as always happens, someone screwed up. It was a little thing, a slight misstep on terrain that was just a bit uneven. Larry stumbled on a bit of loose ground and lost his balance. For one sickening moment, Len feared she was about to lose him, but as Tess’ face broke in joy for the upcoming slaughter and her she moved for the kill, Moe stepped into her path, bringing his blade up just in time to catch her hatchet at the top of its haft. Len and Keseryn saw the opportunity together and Len almost felt herself sprinting forward as the girl did. The aim was true, would pierce the heart and end the traitor’s life in an instant.
Or it should have.
At the last moment, Tess twisted violently, catching Kes in the side of the face with a powerful backhand, sending her sprawling to the ground. The blade had cut through her leathers and bit into her, but wasn’t enough to slow her down. Len swore and wished desperately to have something more she could do as Tess began to rain blow after blow down on Moe, who was still buying time for Larry.
She could see how it would play out, almost as though it were in slow motion. Even strengthened as he was, Moe couldn’t hold out long. Larry wouldn’t recover fast enough to save him. Two, maybe three more blows and he’d be dead. If only Valkar weren’t on the brink of death, maybe he could-
She realized that the Orc wasn’t kneeling beside her anymore. Their link wasn’t as strong as the others, and her attention hadn’t been focused on him, she hadn’t noticed him moving. Unarmed, heavily wounded, and on top of it all, poisoned, the old Orc still managed to put himself in further harm's way for a bunch of people she could tell he didn’t particularly like. Right as Tess brought down the hatchet in final strike that would’ve ended Moe’s life, he was there catching the blade with the only defensive tool he had access to: his right arm.
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The blade tore through flesh and bone, but didn’t cut all the way through, lodging itself deep in his forearm. Len felt the pain as he did, and gasped at the hotness of it. Instead of flinching back, Valkar wrenched his arm to the side, tearing muscle and sinew as he did, but also tearing the axe free from its wielder. Tess, who’d been too stunned by his sudden appearance, roared a challenge and wrapped her arms around his throat, intent on choking the life out of the new threat in her path.
Her attempt at strangulation was short-lived for, now that they weren’t facing a constant assault from a maddened foe, the two goblins found the opportunity to use the tactics they’d perfected prior to the grand proving. It took barely a moment for them to deftly sever the tendons in her heels and wrists, rendering them useless and causing her to collapse in utter astonishment. She flailed and struggled, but could make no more reaction as she continued to bleed on the earth.
With a sigh of relief, Len let the connection fade. The searing pain gave way to the almost familiar dull misery that she knew would be with her for days to come. She’d have loved to pass out, but there wasn’t time for it. She ran to Valkar, who’d fallen to the ground beside Tess and pulled his belt free before wrapping it around his arm above the axe and wrenching it as tightly as she could, cutting off the blood flow with a makeshift tourniquet. That would at least keep him from bleeding out, but left another problem. No telling how much of the poison he had running through his system, and only one hope for helping him fight it off.
Too focused on the task at hand to be revolted by the idea, she began rummaging through Venar’s corpse. It didn’t take her long to find a small vial of what she hoped was the antivenom that all Sisters kept handy in case they needed one of their victims alive after they nicked them (or in case they nicked themselves, though they’d never admit that). She poured it into the Orc’s mouth and sent up a silent prayer to anyone who might be listening. She instructed the goblins to finish patching him up as best they could and got on to the next grim task.
Keseryn was staring at the flailing Tess. The berserker’s rage hadn’t faded, but with her limbs now useless, the Orc just looked a pathetic mess. It didn’t take any special connection for Len to guess at what the girl was thinking.
“Well, what will you do now?”
“What? You’re letting me decide? I thought this was because they betrayed you. Didn’t you want to make an example of them?”
“I didn’t WANT any of this,” Len snapped, harsher than she’d intended. “I wanted to have a simple bureaucratic task of getting a small outpost in order. Instead, I got this.”
She gestured in disgust at Tess, feeling some of her own rage starting to boil up.
“But guess what, kid. We’re also here because of you. You wanted them to pay and congrats, they’re doing it right now. It would’ve been easier if we’d killed her while she was still fighting, but we weren’t that lucky. Too bad. That means that you get to make the call. They killed your parents, you have every right to whatever revenge you want to take on them.”
“You won’t stop me?”
“Nope, this is something you’ll have to decide on and live with by yourself. I’m one of the bad guys, remember? We’re not known for being paragons of moral virtue. I will say this, though. Don’t do it because you think it’ll bring you peace. It won’t. Your parents will still be dead, and you’ll have taken a life that you didn’t have to.”
“Well what am I supposed to do?! She laughed as he did it, did you know that? Laughed as he butchered them in front of me. She didn’t kill them, but she was every bit as involved as he was.”
“I get it. And, like I said, I won’t stop you. But…” Len paused. “I know you don’t like being treated like a kid. No one does. But dammit, Kes, you’re too young to have blood on your hands. You’re going to have nightmares about this for years either way, but you shouldn’t have to carry that too.”
“If I don’t kill her here, what’ll you do?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe I’ll just leave her here to die on her own. Maybe I’ll kill her myself. I might patch her up and send her on her way with the threat of instant death if she ever dares return. Regardless, she won’t be your problem ever again.”
Keseryn struggled with that. Len could see the thoughts play out across her face as she tried desperately to work herself up to just striking the blow. Eventually, her shoulders sagged, and she dropped the sword.
“Can we just go back to your place,” she asked, barely a whisper.
“Sure, kid,” Len said with a smile.