The Travels of Rose Ashmaw

Chapter 20

Mirimu: I can smell more mages coming, We'll deal with them.

Ennamma and her sisters slithered off toward the tower to cut them off.

Tagashi: Great, that just leaves us Stonefur and his handful of helpers.

Stonefur: You're mistaken if you think that you are going to come out of this alive!

As he lunged at Tagashi he was stopped mid-jump by Valotia's halberd, forcing him to block the swing with his greatsword. Before Stonefur could completely regain his balance Elzohka tackled him away from the rest of his guards, picking him up and running with him for several meters before slamming him to the ground. Valotia watched Rose and the others engage the other Ursine guards before making his way to help with Stonefur.

***

Using her shield Rose had blocked yet another pair of strikes from the Ursines that had engaged her.

Rose: Please, just put your weapons down. I don't want to have to kill you.

Ursine Guard A: Shut up, beast! Once we've dealt with you we'll deal with your friends.

Ursine Guard B: And once that's done we'll figure out where you came from and deal with them as well.

Before either of the guards could react, Rose slammed her shield into the face of one of the guards, breaking their snout and knocking them out cold. When the other Guard looked at her he saw that her worried look full of anxiety was gone, replaced with a look of cold anger. Rose kicked him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. She then proceeded to smash his face with her shield, breaking his muzzle and didn't stop until he had stopped moving, his extremely shallow breathing the only indication he was still even alive.

Looking around she could see that Tagashi and Tsarasa had dealt with the Ursines that had been fighting with each of them as well, which meant that the only one left would have been Stonefur.

***

Stonefur: You two cowards have no chance of beating me!

Valotia: We only fell in line because it was the only way to guarantee that we survived, and that is all our mother asked of us. If you think we can't fight you are in for a rude awakening Stonefur!

Stonefur scoffed.

Stonefur: Cowards are cowards, they don't change. You'll die here just like your mother.

As Stonefur swung his greatsword, Elzohka used his halberd to block the swing, allowing Valotia to get in under Stonefur's swing and attack him with his halberd, aiming at his waist. Stonefur quickly lowered his greatsword and leaped backward, avoiding the strike. Elzohka rushed in with a swing at Stonefur's head. Stonefur ducked the strike before ramming him with his shoulder, knocking him to the ground. When Valotia came in from the side with a horizontal swipe of his halberd Stonefur blocked it before pushing him back and off balance. Before Valotia could regain his balance Stonefur bashed him in the face with the hilt of his greatsword, causing him to drop his halberd and grab his face before falling to the ground.

Stonefur: Pathetic, it's no wonder your mother died so easily if you two were supposed to be her best guards.

Valotia grits his teeth as he watches as Stonefur makes his way over to his brother. As Stonefur stomped on Elzohka's chest he let out a grunt of pain. Valotia did his best to reach for his halberd, the pain in his face and muzzle making him feel like he was moving at a snail's pace.

Stonefur: It's time I got rid of you anyway, now no one will even remember who used to run this place before me!

Just as Stonefur began to swing his greatsword downward he let out an agonizing scream and dropped his weapon as Valotia's halberd bit deeply into his back. As Stonefur fell forward Elzohka got back to his feet using his halberd as a support and made his way over to where Stonefur had fallen.

Elzohka: It's time you got what you deserve, Stonefur!

As he said this he brought his halberd down on Stonefur's neck.