The Iron Teeth

A Tradesman's Tools 9

The hobgoblin quickly drew his sword. There were no more obstacles between Blacknail and the skilled assassin he'd just pissed off, only a small section of floor. Blacknail really wished he'd had time to dig a pit or set up a snare trap there. That would have made his survival much more likely.
All of a sudden Malthus lunged across the distance separating them and stabbed towards the hobgoblin's chest. Blacknail side stepped the attack and then countered with a quick downwards slash of his own.

The assassin easily knocked the hobgoblin's attack aside and then launched a flurry of attacks at Blacknail. The hobgoblin hissed in frustration as he blocked and weaved his way around the strikes. Blades flashed and cloaks swirled as the two combatants fought.

Blacknail knew he was in trouble. He was already having a hard time defending himself, and Malthus was obviously just testing Blacknail. He'd seen the assassin move much faster and more skillfully when he'd fought Herad. The difference in ability and experience between them was just too great.

Blacknail jumped backward to avoid a lightning fast slash aimed at his chest, and quickly readied himself for the next blow. It never came though; his opponent relaxed his guard instead of following after him. Malthus grinned at the hobgoblin while Blacknail watched him warily.

"Good, you're only a passable swordsman, but at least you're a Vessel. There's no other way you could have kept up with me just now. I was worried this was going to be too easy, but this might be somewhat entertaining after all," Malthus arrogantly remarked, as he showed off by flourishing his sword through the air.

Blacknail rolled his eyes in exasperation. Who was the human trying to impress?

"If you want-ss a hard fight, why don't you go fight-ss Herad? Oh wait, you did! You fought-ss my mistress, and then you ran away like a rat from a cat," Blacknail laughed viciously.

"I'm going to kill you," Malthus hissed angrily in reply.

Seriously, what was with humans and repeating themselves? It was annoying.

"Enough games," the assassin roared as he lost his temper and charged.

Blacknail jumped aside, so that the large wooden table was between them. Malthus didn't slow down though. The assassin jumped right onto the tabletop and lunged across it as he tried to catch the hobgoblin.

The man was fast; Blacknail had to give him that. Of course he was a Vessel, so he was cheating more than a little. Fortunately, the hobgoblin had just taken some Elixir as well.

As the assassin was sailing over the table towards him, Blacknail dove under it and rolled safely away. If there was one thing that being beaten up by Herad had taught him, it was how to burn the Elixir within himself to avoid attacks by really fast humans.

"But I like-ss games," the hobgoblin laughed, as he rolled to his feet on the other side of the table.

He could feel the Elixir flowing through his body and energizing his muscles. It tickled the inside of his skin.

The assassin's face was twisted into a snarl as he stared across the table at Blacknail. He started walking around it towards the hobgoblin, but Blacknail started moving as well.

After several seconds of following him around the table Malthus tried switching directions, but Blacknail instantly switched too.

Malthus grabbed the table and flipped it on its side, then snarled in rage as he charged again. Blacknail ducked into the blind spot created by the table's top, and then dashed away. When Malthus cleared the obstacle, the hobgoblin was gone and standing several feet away on the other end of another table.