I was no longer really trying to conceal the airship. I think that the die was cast on any tactical or strategic advantage it could provide in the coming conflict. Time was of the essence and all the choices that I made between me and my return to the Emerald Sea were about speed. After leaving Galan and I snagged some provisions from the kitchens at the board game cafe and headed back to the Treefort to make my exit from town. I was pretty good at living off the land at this point, but not while I was making my best time flying high above the ground in a thermal airship, so the supplies were important to my trip.

I clocked quite a few folks interested in my exit from the cafe the moment that I stepped into the street. Apparently this neighborhood wasn’t as safe as it used to be. The picture that Leirin had painted of the tutorial elves hadn’t been pretty and I had a pretty good idea what would happen when I entered the alley. Apparently Elen and company had made a number of shady connections once the non-fae races arrived. They didn’t seem to have any real loyalties aside from themselves, but still it was quite difficult to puzzle out their motivations. According to Leirin’s spies, Elen, Ruven and Phraan had been able to bring all of the other instructors over to their side but Wynather and, perhaps, Ayre.

I could have tried to retreat to safety, though I expected that with the sheer number of people stealthed in the area they had a plan to cut off that option. I sometimes think about the morality of it all, my choices I mean, and in particular that choice to enter that alley. At the time I understood that there was no going back if I continued on. On the other hand, I wasn’t doing anything wrong and I was prepared to turn the other cheek, but if in the end someone from my party was going to have this fight I was OK with it being me. As things have developed since, this wasn’t anything like the turning point that it seemed it might be, but at the time it was on my mind.

Just before I turned the corner I neatly set down my crate of supplies and pushed to the center of the thoroughfare. There were a couple of archers on buildings down the way a bit and Eldrin, Naesala, Elyon and Caeda were barring my way. Amrynn was behind me in stealth with what looked to be some hired assassins. They thought that they were being sneaky and stayed out of the conversation. They all seemed a little jumpy, but I never did learn what was really going on with them.

I simply said, rather politely I thought, “You all seem to be blocking the way. Please move so that I can carry on.”

Elyon answered me, “Drop your weapons and come with us. If you don’t, we will use force and I cannot guarantee your safety.”

He was short and to the point, which I could appreciate. I was also short and to the point, as I responded, “No.” At that moment, many things happened at once. Caeda activated a device that I think was designed to suppress stealth and roots erupted in the area around me, limiting my options for movement. Elyon and Naesala then both moved forward postured to attack and two arrows struck me from behind, one struck me from the front and another took me from the side. Amrynn attempted a kidney shot with her dagger from the cover of stealth and one of the stealthed assassins tried to hamstring me while the other stayed hidden.

This is where you really get to see the advantages that tactics and strategy provide, at least on this small stage. They had good teamwork, they attempted to neutralize my advantages and put themselves into a superior position. Their information wasn’t as good as it needed to be though. It isn’t like there was no way that they could beat me in a fight, but they definitely didn’t put a good plan together for the situation. We were both operating with incomplete information, but I followed the strategy of appearing strong when I was weak and weak when I was strong. I focused on versatile defense to compensate for my many shortcomings and I leaned into my strengths.

The ten shield discs that I had in my clothes reacted without specific focus from me, easily blocking the arrows and daggers. I was curious just how much my energy armor could block at this point and I needed to experiment, but I wasn’t going to do that in a fight like this. I can say that Kelly hit harder and faster than Amrynn at this point, as I had a direct comparison there. However, I didn’t get cocky, I took this fight seriously and stuck to my script.

Elyon and Naesala staggered for a moment when I appeared unharmed. I took the chance to make an offer myself, “Disarm and surrender. I will make a citizen’s arrest and turn you into the Seelie Court authorities. Otherwise, I will defend myself and I won’t guarantee your safety.” Caeda tried to hit me while I was distracted with his own pistol using some type of fire magic cartridge that left my shield scorched but intact. Eldrin also launched some root spears at me as Naesala and Elyon resumed their charges. Amrynn slipped back into stealth with the other assassin that had been revealed in her attack. The archers that had attacked me closed in to look for opportunities that wouldn’t jeopardize their comrades. That was their choice made and I made mine as well.

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I had a magic shotgun under my cloak, a hunting knife enchanted with sharpness dialed up to 11, a magic particle gun, a pistol with some magic shells and my ten shield discs. Elyon would hit me first, but Naesala was pretty high on my list of targets as a healer who was also rushing to try to bash my head in. I launched a shield disc at Elyon’s head and equipped my magic shotgun. Elyon had exceptional mobility, speed and skill at fighting humanoid targets, but the speed that he could move was only a fraction of the speed that the shield disc could move propelled at close range by a magic particle lattice. Elyon also did not wear armor in favor of his body enhancement techniques.

I don’t know if Elyon understood what was happening because I was focused on Naesala, but the shield disc made contact with his head without being deflected. His skull was smashed and it was most certainly an instant kill. Naesala was a few steps behind Elyon and still far enough from me that the shot in the magic shotgun shell would spread a bit before reaching him. With his heavier equipment, there may have been a question of delaying the shot to ensure enough penetration with other ammunition, but my gun was loaded with blue crystal shot fashioned from the material that I brought back from the Giantspire Mountains. The explosions from the blue crystal shot tore through Naesala’s gambeson and the mail underneath like they were made of tissue paper.

I weathered a few more ranged attacks from the archers behind me as I pushed forward. Naesala was very likely dead already, but as a healer that could empower himself, I had to be sure, so I hit him again and then unloaded the rest of the shotgun at Caeda and Eldrin. With their frontline fighters down, they had limited options for defense between them. It was a stupid formation for their team if there was any chance that I could survive the initial assault and they paid the price for that miscalculation. Eldrin tried to block the shot with a burst of roots. This may have been effective under other circumstances, but the explosions tore the roots apart, making them into bits of wooden shrapnel. The four shots I launched were enough to blanket the area. Caeda’s energy shield was completely overwhelmed by the scale of the damage. It was a gruesome enough scene that there was no doubt in my mind that both elves had perished in the attack.

I dropped the shotgun and got one of the archers in front of me as I drew the magic particle gun. This pistol version wasn’t the most powerful, but the human archers were not equipped with any type of defense for it. The second archer in the direction that I had initially faced had dropped to the ground and was trying to sneak around me, but my next shot punched through the corner of the building that he was using for cover and he too was down. Amrynn, the other assassins and the other two archers behind me were all that was left and they weren’t backing down.

I turned around and started firing at the archers like I couldn’t see the three stealthed assassins as they approached. I winged one of the archers, but they were both still firing at this point. How many arrows did they bring? Did they have crates full on the roof because there were dozens of arrows littering the alley, though they weren’t the worst of it. The alley was going to need a major cleanup following this fight and several buildings would have to be repaired.

Once the assassins were close enough that I didn’t think that they could react, I launched a shield disc at each traveling at maximum velocity. Used to relying on stealth, the attack was unexpected and the two hired assassins were caught unawares and instantly met the same fate as Elyon, but Amrynn managed to dodge the disc I sent at them by a hair's breadth. Amrynn disengaged, but she didn’t flee. I dispatched both of the remaining archers, who continued to take potshots at me, with a few more volleys from my magic particle gun. Then I turned to where Amrynn was standing in stealth and said, “Any chance you want to surrender?” Amrynn just charged.

I was prepared to block the strike with my shield discs or my energy armor, but Amrynn’s behavior was a little odd and I wasn’t sure what they had up their sleeve. I slipped into my maximum stealth and dodged to the side. I exchanged my magic particle gun for my regular pistol and hunting knife. Amrynn was dazed for a moment and I took them in the chest with a shot that was clearly fatal. It was more of an execution than a fight at that point, but I focused on the justifications for my action in self defense, my attempt to turn the other cheek after an ambush and their commitment to this course of action.

I was swimming in emotions and a healthy dose of self-doubt. There were some complex issues at play here, but my rational pragmatism carried the day. I grabbed my shotgun and reloaded it, before heading back to the board game cafe for another chat with Lierin.