The Aulins had heard the noise, and fellow screeches were echoing across the city, and the sound of wood and metal scraping against one another.
Ashi broke into a sprint for her rapier, reclaiming it just as the first Aulins begin to emerge from houses around the square.
One of the Aulins fell from an arrow. Rune, at least, hadn't run away, so she gritted her teeth and resumed her dash for town hall. Some Aulins saw her, pointing and screeching, but she ignored them and kept moving. None were fast enough to get between her and her goal.
As she closed in on the nice wooden double doors, they swung open, and an Aulin stumbled out. No, she realized, a Baulin. Perhaps Rune's guess had been right, and this whole endeavor wasn't pointless.
The Baulin was clasped in a simple leather breastplate, and held in its hand a jagged longsword. It saw her rushing directly at it, and swung the sword to meet her. Ashi paused her run long enough for the sword to swing harmlessly in front of her, before she closed the last few feet and swung for the head. It managed to pull its sword back in time to knock her blow aside.
Their swords clashed twice more, and Ashi could hear Rune yelling something behind her. Taunts. He was trying to attract the Aulin's attention. Unfortunately, based on the footsteps she heard, it wasn't working on all of them, and she was about to be swarmed.
In desperation, she kicked the Baulin in the chest, and it stumbled back into the building. Following, she saw that the first section was full of eight benches sitting in doubles, perpendicular to the door, for a sitting area. Shifting her grip on her sword, she changed target and cut off the Baulin's fighting hand, and before it could recover she reached further and her rapier bit deep into its neck.
With a quick glance back, Ashi saw the Aulins rushing for her. She grabbed for the door handles and heaved them shut. Reaching down, she grabbed the dead Baulin's sword and put it between the handles. That would have to hold long enough for her to finish here.
A whoosh of air was the only warning she had, and she fell to the ground as a piece of wood swung over her head. Craning her neck, she saw another Baulin had taken advantage of her focus on the door to approach. This one wielded a huge club.
The sound of a door slamming open echoed, and looking past the Club Baulin's legs she could see a new Baulin had entered the room, this one clad in full leather armor and holding a long spear. She smiled. Her nerves had all disappeared, she could only revel in the violence she was about to dance through.
The Baulin above her was bringing its club back around to slam straight down, and Ashi rolled out of the way, pushing back up onto her feet and stepping onto one of the benches, before turning to face it. It turned to face her, slowly lifting the club again. It was slow, but if it managed to hit her it would probably break all of her bones.
The Spear Baulin was closing in, and looking past it Ashi could see that the area between the benches and the receptionist's desk was clear of any obstructions. That looked like a more promising location for her survival than among the benches. The combination of club and spear promised to be painful, though though if she could get through their guard both would fall fast – and for that, she had to be able to easily get around them.
The club was swinging again, and Ashi flipped over the bench back to avoid it, landing on the next bench over and stepping down off it in one move. The club bashed part of the bench to splinters, and Ashi turned her face slightly to avoid the shrapnel.
The Spear Baulin leapt over the bench, thrusting its weapon down at her. She batted it past her, and lunged forward in turn, but it twisted the spear's shaft and knocked her off balance. They landed past each other, and spun around to face their opponent. This Baulin was clearly very experienced with the spear.
The club was swinging behind her again, and Ashi fell low as the remaining backs of the benches burst into more shards of wood, and the Spear Baulin covered its eyes. Taking advantage of the cover, Ashi dashed right, reaching the open area and turning to face her opponents again.
The Spear Baulin was the first reach her, and it used both ends of the spear to menace her. She held steady as it approached, but as it tried another jab she reached out her left hand and grabbed just behind the tip, using the Baulin's momentum to pull it forward and spin herself around. It stumbled forward, but seeing her sword approaching it let go of the spear and pulled itself backwards. The result was, as Ashi finished her spin, she found herself still facing two opponents – and even worse, she was holding a new spear. With a grimace, she slammed the hilt down on the ground, adjusting her grip down to around the middle of the haft. At least it might help her deal with the Club Baulin, who was lumbering in her direction, club already poised for a swing.
She backed up slightly, holding her weapons low. The Club Baulin took the bait, rushing for her, club swung above and over to break her skull. Instead of rolling away, she quickly raised her rapier and stabbed it center mass into the club.
The resulting crack, she realized dimly, was from her arm. Before the Baulin could realize what had happened, she thrust the spear under its arm, and it let go of the club wailing. Her right arm was dragged down to the floor, but she ignored the pain and dug the spear deeper, pushing the stocky Baulin over onto the floor. The now unarmed remaining Baulin made to charge at her, but paused again when she extracted the spear and pointed the bloody tip at its former owner. It hissed at her, uncertain of what to do next.
Letting go of her sword, she gently flexed her right hand, wincing slightly. Something had not liked her maneuver, and it was being vocal. Still, there was no time to fret about injury, and she was ambidextrous. Leaving the sword temporarily, she charged the Baulin. It tried to dodge to the side, but she redirected and drove it home into the Baulin's back. It shuddered once.
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Leaving the spear embedded, she went back to her rapier and, with some difficulty, pulled it from the wood. Making her way over to the one remaining Baulin, which was still faintly wheezing on the ground, she drove the sword home.
With a sigh, she looked at the ceiling. Three down, an unknown amount to go.
Outside the barricaded door, which still thumped with impact and shrieks, she could hear Rune continuing his yelling. So he was alive. Which meant she wasn't allowed to give up. Besides, she was feeling a competitive spirit flair up within her. These creatures were stronger than she would have expected. She wanted to fight the rest as well. The harder the fight, the greater the gratification.
The pain had mostly faded, so she flexed her right hand again. Unfortunately, that only made it resurge. She'd have to try to keep the next fights one handed. And to not hurt her remaining arm.
She checked the room the Spear Baulin had come from, but it was empty now. She smiled at the portrait hanging on the wall. She'd recognize that feather plume anywhere. Anywhere in this town, at least.
This meant the Kaulin was upstairs, so she went to the stairs and began to climb. One spin around the square landed her on the second floor, which had a hallway leading off to three doors, nicely lit by a row of windows on the left wall. Judging by the height of the building, this was the last main floor, and the rest of the stairs led up to the bell.
Ashi lingered a moment, debating whether to go up to the bell first, and it was in that moment that a Baulin stumbled out of the closest door, fumbling with a shield it was equipping to its arm. The two stared at each other a moment.
Ashi reacted first, dashing forward in an attempt to win quickly. But the sword was intercepted by its shield, and it snarled at her as it pulled loose its shortsword, taking a swipe at her and forcing her to step back. Heavy footsteps followed the Baulin as it stepped forward into the hallway, and another Baulin followed, clad in extensive metal plating and wielding a large sledgehammer.
The Shielded Baulin favored the slower approach while the Hammer Baulin charged for her. It swung the hammer and she drew back to avoid it, but with superhuman speed it managed to stop the hammer and swing it back, forcing her to retreat again – and she felt a window at her back. The Baulin swung again, and she jumped up to the sill and pushed off it over the Baulin's head, the sound of shattered glass following her. In the air she swung down for its head, only to be met with the helmet. She would turn to strike at its back as she landed, but the Shielded Baulin took the moment she met the ground as the moment to reintroduce itself to the fight, throwing a weak swing at her. She made to retaliate but it held its shield in front of it, frustrating that effort.
As she worked on that problem, the other problem made itself know, hammer swinging around the Hammer Baulin's head and down to hers. In a burst of inspiration, she rolled past the Shielded Baulin, right arm crying from the pressure as she returned to her feet. The Shield Baulin was now between the two of them, a fact it realized as the hammer completed its swing into its shield, bashing it back – a moment too late, Ashi realized it was bashed back into her as well.
The Baulin and her impacted the wall, the Baulin falling to the floor motionless and Ashi disoriented. Still the metallic footsteps approaching her forced her to refocus and step more towards the middle of the hallway, feeling very aware that the remaining Baulin was between her and the stairs.
Looking over its armor, she could see that since they were a disjointed collection, they had no real connections, and the points between would be best suited for her thin blade. She just had to close the distance without getting hit.
A new horizontal blow made her cede some ground, and Ashi realized this Baulin always swung horizontally. This gave her an idea.
She turned and sprinted to the end of the hall, clumsily managing to open the door with one hand and dart inside. The room was, by appearances, another office. Judging by the desk plaque, it was for the mayor.
She went to the side of the door, before stepping on something. Looking down, she saw a pile of metal objects piled up on the floor and against the wall. This seemed like it was a valuables cache.
The Baulin entered the room hammer first, to Ashi's delight. As soon as its arm was in better view, she lunged forward and plunged her sword into its elbow. It growled and the hammer slipped from its grip. Ashi took the moment to continue forward, bowling the Baulin over and sticking her blade into the helmet's visor, stilling the monster.
She flopped back onto the floor, breathing heavily. A lifetime of lazing around as much as possible had not prepared her well for this. Using the desk as support, she lifted herself back to her feet and went around it to the chair.
Rolling the chair to the window, she looked out into the square. There, to her surprise, she saw Rune, taking refuge atop a wagon, using the spear to hold back the tide. He seemed to be holding his own, though how long that would last was impossible to say.
With a groan she stood again, ears hung low. She should have asked how she would identify who was the Kaulin. Maybe it was the one with the hammer and she was done now. But to be thorough, she had to check.
The two other rooms on the floor were a library and what looked like it might have been a dining room before it got covered in bedding. And no Baulins.
Buoyed with a faint sense of hope, she made her way up the stairs and towards the top of the tower. However, that hope fell back down the stairs as she heard shrieking at the top of the tower. Reaching the top of the stairs, she saw that the platform at the top was dominated by a huge bell that almost hung to the floor. The rest was open air, four corner columns supporting the roof. And, in the narrow space between the bell and the floor, Ashi could see two pairs of feet facing the courtyard. It was from them that the yelling emanated.
Her boots afforded her the ability to approach without alerting them, so Ashi made her way around the bell carefully. She paused as the first came into sight. It was looking away from her, down at the fight, silent; the large sword hung across its back denoted its strength.
Not giving it a chance to turn, she lunged forward and plunged her sword into its back. It gasped, before toppling over the side rail and onto the roof a few stories below.
The one remaining Baulin turned to face her, and Ashi saw that on its head was an iron circlet – an imitation of a crown. This was the Kaulin, the one who had been yelling, but now silently readied its weapon, a long and wicked-looking glaive. It regarded her with what might have been respect, or perhaps disdain, as they stood there. It croaked something garbled to her; she said nothing.
Then, in a sudden flurry, it charged forward, glaive held like a lance, and she knocked it to the left, impacting the bell and making a loud clang. She lunged forward in turn, hoping to get fully within its reach, but the shaft swung back and impacted her in the head, throwing off her aim into the railing and, to her horror, past it. She flopped over the railing as the bell completed another arc and tolled again, falling down a story onto the tiled roof. She lay stunned, head aching from the two heavy impacts, vision swimming.
As she tried to steady herself, the Kaulin leapt over the railing itself, glaive held point down as it fell towards her. In a moment of instinctual desperation she rolled over, Kaulin landing behind her as she completed her roll – which went over the side of the building. The cobblestones impacted her body, a sharp one bashing into her forehead. Her vision was red, but that was because of the blood soaking the stones.
Footsteps landed behind her, the Kaulin come to finish her. Defeated by falling off a building. Defeated by being tricked into heroism. The humor of the situation would have made her laugh, except a body fell on top of her and forced all the air out of her lungs. Her last thought was dyed Indigo.