Eigil hesitated for a second, he was sure no one had seen him; even if he had been in deep concentration in the conversation, he was sure he hadn’t let anyone see or hear his movements. Knowing hiding would not help him at all he decided to deny everything.

“I apologise, I am so sorry for leaving my post. I have heard so many things about you sir that I could not resist coming here to take a look at you.” To avoid any suspicion, he used an accent he had copied from Cadem when they first met.

He bowed low to the men inside the room. It was a generic excuse but he just needed enough time to leave the area and disappear in the shadows.

Before Eigil could give two steps towards the door Rowan moved and a knife came flying towards his head. Eigil managed to dodge, it was close but by turning right towards the dragon monarch the knife passed harmlessly and bounced on the wall.

The clanking nose echoed though the catacomb, there was no movement at all from either side.

Rowan smiled at Eigil and before anything else could be said, both sprinted towards the exit. Eigil took lead as he was closest to the entrance but Rowan was faster than he had anticipated.

As soon as he exited the catacomb Eigil turned left and threw his needles towards his pursuer. One of them connected, embedding itself into the man’s arm, the second one bounced harmlessly off his pauldron.

Knowing he could not do maximum damage with only one connection; Eigil jumped and gave an indiscriminate jolt of electricity.

Rowan stiffened at the electric shock; he was now moving slower but did not stop. In a swift movement he took his enormous axe and gave it a long one arm swing towards Eigil.

The blow was slowed enough by the shock for Eigil to roll low, passing under it. However, he collided with a stone tombstone that blocked his escape. Standing up he spoke to try and gain some time to come up with a plan.

“What gave me away?” He asked while he signalled to his cloak. “I am even using the uniform of one of your guards” Both of them had started to walk, circling each other.

“You smell of blood. None of our scouts have seen any real combat. That is the smell of a seasoned warrior or assassin. Besides none of ours would have been able to dodge that knife.” His axe was moving from hand to hand like a real dragon wing.

He felt the pressure, there was just a handful of people in the world who could keep up in a one-on-one fight with one of the twenty-two monarchs.

He felt fear for his life, this however, didn’t stop him. On the contrary his mind was racing and his body yearned to move.

“What now? Will you call the guards so you can surround me or are we doing this old school with a duel?” Eigil took out the short sword he had been carrying and pointed at his opponent. He sounded more confident that he felt but he was not expecting to win, just to flee.

“I would love a duel” Rowan stood still for a second. “So, we will have to be quick”

He jumped forward swinging the axe in front of him. The attack was meant to cut Eigil in half but he reacted in time; with a forward jump he managed to avoid getting hit by the blade of his opponent weapon. Instead, he took a nasty hit to the shoulder from Sozeth’s shaft that made him stumble to his right causing a narrow miss of his own attack to the man’s torso.

Once again, he rolled, he hatted being in the defensive but there was no other way at the moment.

Eigil was in a notorious disadvantage. Not only was his reach limited and minimal in comparison to his opponent, he also was running out of time. He doubted the rest of the men inside the catacombs would stay still while he fought Rowan; meaning the cemetery would be filled up with guards in a couple of minutes.

Rowan didn’t leave Eigil much time to think. He was quicker than he had any right to be; the continuous swings had a rhythm to them but each time Eigil got used to it Rowan adapted to maintain his foe under pressure.

Their exchange was like a one-sided conversation; with no weapon to parry his attacks Eigil was restricted to dodging and throwing. A couple of times he guided Rowan towards a tombstone to try and slow a swing to give himself a counterattack window. This however, was futile; the stone got sliced like if it wasn’t even there.

“What was that thing in the catacombs? I have never seen any animal like that” Eigil started to swing one of his needles around to attract Rowans attention. He needed to distract the man.

“I can’t even pronounce the name of that animal, friend. They used to live all around these parts and helped control the population of other species.” He concentrated in Eigils’s left hand, one shock was enough to make it clear, it was a threat.

Knowing he would not have a better opportunity Eigil threw the short sword at the monarch’s right leg and immediately the needle in an arc to his left.

Rowan was fast and managed to block the sword but the metallic thread of the needle tangled itself around his ankle. With a shock and a pull, the large man was out of balance, falling to his knees.

Without a moment’s hesitation Eigil attacked once more. This time he went for the man’s back grabbing his head with both hands and trying to fry his brain.

The shout of pain was like a blast in a quite night like this. Beacons of light started to appear around the cemetery, every scout and guard he hadn’t taken out were coming for him. He needed to disappear; fast, but this man was not done yet.

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Even with the electric shock reaching his limit Eigil felt the other man move. It felt like fighting a moving mountain, slow but unstoppable.

Rowan got the short sword Eigil had thrown at him and in a precise movement stabbed him in his left thigh. The blade went through the leg and exited at the opposite side giving Eigil a jolt of pain that almost made him let go, almost.

Knowing he had no other way he rose the electric current above his limit by as much as he dared. His natural resistance could only protect him to a certain point.

The pain kept him wide awake for some seconds, he kept the current up for a long time; only when the border of his vision started to go black did, he let go.

The electric shock almost knocked him over; it had been years since he had felt pain from his own abilities but this was a special case.

Eigil gave a step back, limping and watched as the Monarch slowly fell to the ground. There were burn marks around his neck and smoke came out slowly from his hair and cloths.

With a smug smile on his face and a limp Eigil began his scape. He had taken out one of the twenty-two by himself.

Eigil hesitated for a second, he was sure no one had seen him; even if he had been in deep concentration in the conversation, he was sure he hadn’t let anyone see or hear his movements. Knowing hiding would not help him at all he decided to deny everything.

“I apologise, I am so sorry for leaving my post. I have heard so many things about you sir that I could not resist coming here to take a look at you.” To avoid any suspicion, he used an accent he had copied from Cadem when they first met.

He bowed low to the men inside the room. It was a generic excuse but he just needed enough time to leave the area and disappear in the shadows.

Before Eigil could give two steps towards the door Rowan moved and a knife came flying towards his head. Eigil managed to dodge, it was close but by turning right towards the dragon monarch the knife passed harmlessly and bounced on the wall.

The clanking nose echoed though the catacomb, there was no movement at all from either side.

Rowan smiled at Eigil and before anything else could be said, both sprinted towards the exit. Eigil took lead as he was closest to the entrance but Rowan was faster than he had anticipated.

As soon as he exited the catacomb Eigil turned left and threw his needles towards his pursuer. One of them connected, embedding itself into the man’s arm, the second one bounced harmlessly off his pauldron.

Knowing he could not do maximum damage with only one connection; Eigil jumped and gave an indiscriminate jolt of electricity.

Rowan stiffened at the electric shock; he was now moving slower but did not stop. In a swift movement he took his enormous axe and gave it a long one arm swing towards Eigil.

The blow was slowed enough by the shock for Eigil to roll low, passing under it. However, he collided with a stone tombstone that blocked his escape. Standing up he spoke to try and gain some time to come up with a plan.

“What gave me away?” He asked while he signalled to his cloak. “I am even using the uniform of one of your guards” Both of them had started to walk, circling each other.

“You smell of blood. None of our scouts have seen any real combat. That is the smell of a seasoned warrior or assassin. Besides none of ours would have been able to dodge that knife.” His axe was moving from hand to hand like a real dragon wing.

He felt the pressure, there was just a handful of people in the world who could keep up in a one-on-one fight with one of the twenty-two monarchs.

He felt fear for his life, this however, didn’t stop him. On the contrary his mind was racing and his body yearned to move.

“What now? Will you call the guards so you can surround me or are we doing this old school with a duel?” Eigil took out the short sword he had been carrying and pointed at his opponent. He sounded more confident that he felt but he was not expecting to win, just to flee.

“I would love a duel” Rowan stood still for a second. “So, we will have to be quick”

He jumped forward swinging the axe in front of him. The attack was meant to cut Eigil in half but he reacted in time; with a forward jump he managed to avoid getting hit by the blade of his opponent weapon. Instead, he took a nasty hit to the shoulder from Sozeth’s shaft that made him stumble to his right causing a narrow miss of his own attack to the man’s torso.

Once again, he rolled, he hatted being in the defensive but there was no other way at the moment.

Eigil was in a notorious disadvantage. Not only was his reach limited and minimal in comparison to his opponent, he also was running out of time. He doubted the rest of the men inside the catacombs would stay still while he fought Rowan; meaning the cemetery would be filled up with guards in a couple of minutes.

Rowan didn’t leave Eigil much time to think. He was quicker than he had any right to be; the continuous swings had a rhythm to them but each time Eigil got used to it Rowan adapted to maintain his foe under pressure.

Their exchange was like a one-sided conversation; with no weapon to parry his attacks Eigil was restricted to dodging and throwing. A couple of times he guided Rowan towards a tombstone to try and slow a swing to give himself a counterattack window. This however, was futile; the stone got sliced like if it wasn’t even there.

“What was that thing in the catacombs? I have never seen any animal like that” Eigil started to swing one of his needles around to attract Rowans attention. He needed to distract the man.

“I can’t even pronounce the name of that animal, friend. They used to live all around these parts and helped control the population of other species.” He concentrated in Eigils’s left hand, one shock was enough to make it clear, it was a threat.

Knowing he would not have a better opportunity Eigil threw the short sword at the monarch’s right leg and immediately the needle in an arc to his left.

Rowan was fast and managed to block the sword but the metallic thread of the needle tangled itself around his ankle. With a shock and a pull, the large man was out of balance, falling to his knees.

Without a moment’s hesitation Eigil attacked once more. This time he went for the man’s back grabbing his head with both hands and trying to fry his brain.

The shout of pain was like a blast in a quite night like this. Beacons of light started to appear around the cemetery, every scout and guard he hadn’t taken out were coming for him. He needed to disappear; fast, but this man was not done yet.

Even with the electric shock reaching his limit Eigil felt the other man move. It felt like fighting a moving mountain, slow but unstoppable.

Rowan got the short sword Eigil had thrown at him and in a precise movement stabbed him in his left thigh. The blade went through the leg and exited at the opposite side giving Eigil a jolt of pain that almost made him let go, almost.

Knowing he had no other way he rose the electric current above his limit by as much as he dared. His natural resistance could only protect him to a certain point.

The pain kept him wide awake for some seconds, he kept the current up for a long time; only when the border of his vision started to go black did, he let go.

The electric shock almost knocked him over; it had been years since he had felt pain from his own abilities but this was a special case.

Eigil gave a step back, limping and watched as the Monarch slowly fell to the ground. There were burn marks around his neck and smoke came out slowly from his hair and cloths.

With a smug smile on his face and a limp Eigil began his scape. He had taken out one of the twenty-two by himself.