Fearless (A Mulan Retelling)

Chapter Twenty Nine

The first one lunged for Iris, as she was the closest to them. She caught the movement, and quickly moved out of the way. The sword whistled as it swung inches from her neck. Silently, she said a quick prayer of gratitude to the gods. Iris knew that the blow would have taken her head off if it had actually hit. With three quick steps, she got closer to the other soldiers, who were drawing their weapons.

As soon as her opponent's got within arm's distance, she quickly tumbled behind them, knowing that she would do much better at their backs. She hoped that perhaps that they would disregard that she was there, though she doubted it. However, her quick moves did do well to offset them, giving her an opportunity to strike. Seizing it, she swung one of her daggers at the one who had just tried to kill her, right at the spot he had tried to hit her.

Unlike his swing, hers actually connected. She grimaced as her blade sliced through skin and sinewy muscle. Blood immediately spattered all over her weapon and hand. Upon contact, the Token yelped out and slowly fell to his knees. Iris knew that he would die soon, and she almost felt guilty.

Then, all hell broke loose. With the clashes of swords in the camp, both sides took injuries. Even as fast as Iris was, one still managed to clip her in her side within a few minutes of the outbreak. Even still, she considered herself lucky. After all, the wound wasn't fatal. Not to mention that only one of the Tokens was paying her any mind at the current moment. As the warrior and knights took the attention and the archers shot their bows from afar, Iris danced among the Tokens, leaving injuries where she struck.

After a few minutes, she had killed another one after finding a weak spot in the back of his armor. She could tell that the vulnerable spot in the chainmail was there due to wear and tear, and also because the armor itself didn't appear to be made especially well. This led her to believe that these were likely just typical Token infantry.

Her knives slid easily from person to person, still without drawing hardly any attention to herself. Most of that was thanks to Ra, who was loud and angry as he swung his axe about. With quiet feet, she flanked the one in front of the General, leaving a nasty gash from shoulder to shoulder. Upon feeling the blow, the Token turned to her, ready to fight. Yet, he did not make it far. Zayn thrust his sword through the opponent's torso with ease, and then moved on to one of the final two that were standing in their makeshift camp.

Iris, however, took a moment to wipe her face. After all, Zayn's blow had been a hard one. Hard enough to smatter Iris's face and upper body with more blood than she was even accustomed to seeing. Even though she had not considered herself Iris Gwenneth for a very long while, blood still made her a tad bit squeamish. With a grimace, she moved forward again, not halting her assault.

Ra finished off one with a great swing of his axe before she could even get all the way over to them.

With one alive, it did not take very long at all for him to fall in combat as well. Against three swordsmen, a warrior, two archers, and a rogue... he didn't stand a chance. Iris could tell that he knew that as he took his final swings. The desperation and hopelessness in his eyes made Iris feel guilty for continuing to attack.

It had to be done.

"Well hell yeah," Ra said, sheathing his axe, "Any more o' the shits?"

The comment made Iris want to laugh. Instead, she looked over at a leering Kayde and shook her head. He nodded his in response, as if he were agreeing with her gesture. Ra was definitely different from most of the soldiers she had met. While the rest of them had a somber and calculating look as they battled, Ra fought things with mirth, arrogance, and a slight trace of humor.