Polymath Redux

Chapter 19: Congratulations! You win a permanent time out

Having finished with her job a little early, Irina had decided to go back to Vardis inn for the day. Recently her master was away on business but was to be returning today after having tested the mettle of the Hywel Knights. Personally Irina did not understand the need to test such weak individuals but she had once swore to herself to never question her master's convoluted plans and thoughts.

As she closely approached the inn, the air in the area was a little different. If one had to describe it, the most apt word to summarize this situation would be 'displeasing'. The air tasted horrible, thick with the scent of blood and smoke, even though Irina wasn't near the inn she kind of got a general gist of what was going on.

Her master would not like this, this horrendous scent, it was unforgivable for someone to be desecrating the place that her master had currently called home.

As Irina drew close to the source of the scent her dissatisfaction was realized as she saw the burning of the Vardis inn. Her blood started to boil as the corners of her mouth edged downwards. The place that her master had deemed worthy for his stay was burning down, the light that reflected off her eyes were those of rage in knowing this.

She could feel it, the movement of several men inside the inn, they were just about to run out of the burning building. And while it was faint she could also feel the fading pulse of another from within. 'Rena', she thought. It was most likely the matron inside. Irina did not hate the matron, she had provide adequate comfort and served her master well during his stay, but right now her life signs were dwindling from within the burning building.

It was fire, Irina's specialty; it would be mere child's play for her to stop a fire of this scale. She gathered all the mana she could muster to summon a tornado around the building, sucking out all of the fire and smoke. As the winds cleared the only thing left was debris and ash from the building with some support columns remain standing. Inside she saw the stunned expression if six men who gazed back at her.

Off to the side was Rena's fallen body with a sword lodged firmly into her chest. She was still alive but unconscious, if she took any more time in rescuing her she would likely not make it. However before she did that, these men needed to be taken care of first. They dared to assault what her master had come to enjoy; even death was not a suitable punishment for these buffoons.

"Oi, oi, what's going on?"

One of the men asked in a gruff voice. Of course he had some idea of what just occurred, that some magician had summoned a small tornado to extinguish the fire but such magic was rare. The only person that was foreign was a red haired woman but she looked more like a warrior than any magician. 'It couldn't have been her', the man thought as he looked around to see if there were any magicians in hiding.

"To trespass on the domain of my master, you will not be forgiven!"

Irina roared at them and before any of the men could react to her threat, that threat had turned into actuality. One of the men's head was decapitated and fell on the floor. Rolling around for a solid few seconds before stopping and oozing what blood there was.

It was so fast that the men couldn't even register what happened.

"What?!"

They each cried as they realized their comrade's death and all drew their swords. The woman had closed the gap of a few meters in less time than it took to blink.

Irina's sword glowed red as it absorbed the blood of the slain man, a nice and menacing glow that contrasts with the burnt and black background. The men were considerably shaken up, with the subtle shaking of their swords confirming their fears. Unable to wait any longer one of the men lost his nerves and tried to run away but before he could clear even a few meters a sword was thrown and stabbed right through his back, coming out on the other side.