A Rock and a Heart Place (gxg)

Chapter 7

"Go away," Inez growled. "Now."

"Come on ladies, don't be so cold," the man chided them. "We already bought the girl for the night, but I don't know that she'll last all twelve of us. You both look a lot riper, and we can make it worth your while."

Inez could see Medya's eyes narrow at the mention of the girl and knew this wasn't going to go well. "How much does he charge for the girl?" Inez wondered.

"Oh? So, you like the girl too? That sounds even better!"

"You should leave. The girl is ours. You ride on. If you stay here, I'll gut you," Inez snarled. At the sound, the other men stood up, staring at the corner, and moving closer. Several even pulled out weapons.

"You picked the wrong group to mess with lassie. You'll take every one of us before we're done with you!" the man snickered, reaching out a hand to grope Inez's breast.

He never made it.

Medya moved like a blur. Before Inez could even draw the short sword, Medya had pinned the man's hand to the table with a dagger that Inez hadn't even seen her draw. His scream was still echoing in the room when the Kittani stood up and then spun to the other men, sinking into a crouch, while watching them carefully. Once Inez was up, the first man tried punching her, only to have Inez keep her word and slice him deep, just above his belt, spilling his innards all over the table. Inez then took two steps around the table to stand next to Medya, ignoring the screaming man behind her.

"You should all run now," Medya said in a raspy purr that made Inez's belly melt with desire. She'd known that her friend was dangerous, but this was much more than she'd expected.

"Fuck you!" yelled one of the other men, drawing a sword. Others soon followed as they saw their comrade sinking to the floor, his hand finally pulling free from the dagger.

Inez readied her sword, but Medya just dropped her hands to her thighs, pulling a pair of enchanted wands out and pointing them at the men. Whispering words one after the other, the thief spat greenish balls of acid from one wand, and those of hot red fire from the other. Each time she pointed a wand, another man was screaming. They were either rolling around on fire, or their chest was being eaten by acid. In under a minute, they were all down. Some were already dead, while others just moaned or screamed. Inez was shocked into silence at the outcome of the quick fight, but quickly gathered her wits and walked over to the bodies strewn about the bar. Working quickly with the sword, she put those that weren't dead out of their misery with quick slices, before rifling through their belongings. They needed items for the road after all, and princess or not their gear was her booty.

Medya strode over to the tavernkeeper, who stood stunned at the scene in front of him. "Magic is illegal!" he sputtered out.

"So, I've been told," Medya scoffed. "Do I look like the kind of person who cares? Do you think I should I have just let those men rape me and my friend?"

"They'll lock you up!"

"They'll do nothing. How much for the girl?" Medya asked.

"Two silver for the night," he offered, seeing a way to make some money.

"No, how much to keep her?" Medya persisted.

Behind her, Inez was done rifling through the men's packs and pouches, coming up with quite a bit of gold and silver as well as some dried jerky that would do them well on the road.