God of Discovery [high fantasy, slow build, mlm]

Arc 3 - 41. God of Fate

D'Argen wanted to run. It was what he was best at. It was what he was known for. Yet all it would do would buy him time and he would be back here again.

Zetha was the first to rise from the fallen bodies. He ran at D'Argen, shield up and sword resting in the notch on the side to keep it pointed at D'Argen's body. The runner easily stepped out of the way, even though his mahee did not respond when he urged it to help him.

Zetha pivoted on the spot and slashed with his sword. D'Argen ducked under it and prepared to roll out of the way. Then, a horrible pain in his ankle had him bracing both arms in front of his head instead. Zetha's shield hit him hard enough that he fell back. The spikes of Sa'ab's whip dug deeper through his boot and into his skin. D'Argen grit his teeth not to scream in pain and then...

The pain slowly faded away. Like it was never there.

His entire foot became numb and D'Argen panicked. If Sa'ab put some sort of poison on the whip's spikes and he was unable to run—

He shifted his foot as much as he could and the whip wrapped around him shattered into millions of tiny ice crystals. D'Argen stared at it in wonder for too long. He almost missed Zetha coming at him with his sword again. The runner rolled out of the way just in time and then he was back on his feet. Both of them. The frost on his boot was visible but he could feel his foot again, except for the pain.

Cana reached him by that point, her dagger still covered in his blood. He ducked under her arm and then came up with a shoulder right to her chest. She huffed heavily into his ear but she did drop the dagger. D'Argen caught it before it hit the ground and jumped away. It was a small and thin blade, but it was made by Adda-on. It was strong enough to stop Acela's sword and even flake some of the gold off its surface. He kicked the approaching Asa under their staff and right in the stomach, then turned Acela's sword using the dagger, forcing two others to step away.

They did not give him room to breathe. Asa approached again and swiped at his feet. D'Argen stepped over the staff and then down as hard and as fast as he could without his mahee. It did not break the wood but it did give him a leg up. He used it to jump and stab down at Zetha, forcing his king to raise his shield in defense and open his stomach. D'Argen let his stolen dagger bounce off the shield and out of his hand. On his descend, he crouched and punched under the edge of the shield, stealing the breath from Zetha's lungs, and forcing him a step back.

D'Argen hated fighting. It was not enjoyable. But if he thought of this as a spar, if he thought of his training with Vah'mor, he could do it. He could maybe even smile when he dodged under Abbot's sword and spun on his knees out of the way. He could mock a glare at where Upates almost shot him with another bolt from his contraption.

He could even wink at Thar, pretending the man was there to observe and provide tips rather than stare at his own hands. Thar was not attacking him and his giant sword was gone from sight. Not like Thar could use it to attack D'Argen without cutting at least three others in the process.

Vah'mor's bladed glaive hid Thar from sight and D'Argen knew that once Vah'mor entered the fight, he had no chance at all.

Fortunately, Vah'mor's weapon of choice required larger swings and more room. No matter how fast Vah'mor moved and how fluid their movements, one attack blending into the next seamlessly, they could not avoid all the bodies surrounding D'Argen. The others slowly backed out of the way. D'Argen turned and ducked and dodged as best he could.

One swipe came so close that even though he avoided the blade, the black staff of the glaive hit him in the temple. He stumbled and fell to his knees. The shorter blade came around and D'Argen raised his arms in defence. Skin and bones could not stop that blade. His old bracers maybe could have.