Nysta flinched as Torak took another step forward, his macabre grin peeled back across his teeth. He savoured the taste of her fear and she hated him more for making her feel so afraid that she wanted to throw up.
Thought Neckless licked the nape of her neck. A quick flick of tongue that sent ripples down her shoulders. She sucked a breath.
One more step and those hooks would sink into her flesh. She felt a scream ready to birth in the back of her throat. Opened her mouth.
And a thunderous explosion tore through the night, ripping the scream from her throat and crushing it in a cacophony of roaring noise.
At first, she thought Chukshene had attempted a rescue. But the sound was from outside, deep in the heart of the cliffs.
It roared as though the rock itself was shouting defiance to the sky.
The tower, rocked by the sudden noise, shuddered violently. Chunks of stone coughed loose. Several heavy blocks fell from above and the stairwell outside endured a hail of rubble.
Overhead, the wooden beams groaned as they were wrenched and warped in their sockets.
The elf froze.
Torak threw his arms up as a few fist-sized chunks of ceiling dropped in front of him. Stumbled backward, still weakened by pain and blood loss.
Neckless shifted, trying to judge whether it was Nysta or the falling rubble which was the greater threat. Couldn't see much through the gloom and descending puffs of dust.
The blade moved.
Not by much. Maybe only half an inch. But it was enough.
Enough for the elf to pounce on the only chance she figured she'd get.
Pivoting, she slammed her boot down on his instep.
Aimed for his knee, but missed.
Instead, grazed his shin. Not hard enough to break anything, but hard enough that Neckless jerked his leg away in pain even as he tried to slash her throat with the short sword.
His spare hand grappled with her shoulder. But was torn free as she used all her force to reverse her pivot, whipping around to bring an elbow smashing into his face.
Triumph surged in her blood as his nose shattered beneath the blow. He dropped to one knee, arm swinging back for a weak thrust aimed at her guts.
Should have impaled her, but she stepped into the attack with frightening speed and aimed a ruthless kick at his balls.
The kick contained every ounce of fury she could summon as she remembered his hand on her back. He squealed like a pig as a satisfying crunch powered up her thigh.
The sword spun from his grasp. Glittered in the light like a diamond before being lost to the shadows.
She snatched his hair and jerked his head back as he'd done to her. Sneered into his stunned face and growled; "Called me a whore, Neckless. Reckon I'll have to let that go, on account of I can't fight what I did in the past. And I ain't much ashamed of it. Did what I needed to do. Like now. Which means you're gonna die happy." She put her hand on A Flaw in the Glass, preparing to draw and bury it deep in his chest. "Because I really need to do you."
She made to kill him, but froze as Torak screamed behind her.
A scream of hate.
The elf heard the rattle of thin chain and then something flashed past her cheek. Realised he'd thrown the hook.
Spitting a curse, she twisted to face the enraged Musa who jerked hard on the chain so it returned hungrily toward his hand like a whip. Wheeling in horror, she was too late to avoid the heavy hook.
It sank deep into the back of her left shoulder with a ferocious thunk and an arcing spray of blood. Smaller hooks tore at her jacket and marked her flesh.
She couldn't hold the shriek of pain as the one-eyed elf gave a savage tug on the chain to bring her sprawling at his feet on her hands and knees.
He raised his hand, gripping the other hook. Prepared to bring it down. To gouge into her flesh.
He howled in evil glee; "Ah, raghead. Ain't you a catch?"
Something inside her moved.
Her head snapped up, eyes glittering with cold fear. The fear of being trapped. Contained.
But beneath that, rage flared so bright Torak froze. His indecision lasted for just a second. A second which split itself in two as she lunged toward his waist.
With a yelp, he tried to dance backward while hauling desperately on the chain as though it were a leash. Trying to yank her back down to the floor.
Snarling at the pain, she felt the handle almost leap eagerly into her fist.
And roared as she shouldered into him, tearing Fulci's Last Joke from his belt and dragging the blade up his abdomen in one brutal movement.
A rush of warmth spilled over her hand as a torrent of blood exploded from his belly.
They screamed together in hate and agony. His fingers dropped the hook and clawed at her face, trying to shove her aside.
Just seconds from death, Torak put up a struggle.
A struggle which didn't last long as his blood continued to hiss from his body. He dropped to the ground, hands only then trying to undo the damage.
Desperate to hold his intestines in as he fought a losing battle with the wreckage of his body, and the final spark of life inside him knew it.
He looked up.
Nysta glared down at him, panting hard. Bloody blade in her fist. And he knew he should have listened to Neckless.
Should have killed her when he had the chance. Now it was too late.
He looked down at the sodden ruin bundled in his hands.
Far too late.
Slumping, he let go. Watched his guts slither out like a busted sackful of eels. The chains and hooks coiled on the ground glistened repulsively amid the Musa's steaming entrails.
The elf called Nysta drew her mouth back into a brutal grin.
Ignored the gore as she squatted close to drill his gaze with a cold stare he could see even in the dark.
Fulci's Last Joke quivered in her hand like a steel-fanged adder.
The tower continued to shake as the earth ground its stone teeth. Heavier chains rasped beneath the thunderous rumble, echoing Torak's own as, somewhere below, some ancient mechanism still struggled at its task.
Heavy stones and dislodged mortar tumbled down onto the level above, torn from the ancient walls and crumbling roof.
Dust swirled like ghostly clouds, and the wooden beams began to bend too much beneath the shifting weight.
She figured she had to be quick if she wanted to see the two mercenaries dead by her hand.
She glanced quickly to where Neckless lay on his side, still clutching his balls and moaning.
But he was recovering, and one hand sought the comfort of his sword. He wouldn't find it, she knew.
Which meant she had time to deal with Torak first.
Despite the pain spearing into the elf's brain, she reached over her shoulder and grimaced as she pulled the hook free. Dropped it onto his torn stomach with a grunt.
Managed, somehow, to keep her voice steady as she said; "Heard you were real hungry to see me, Torak. Can't say I'm hooked on the idea myself. Fact is, I don't like it at all. So, let's agree you won't look me up again?"
Dazed and dying, but clinging to any offer of life, the one-eyed elf stared at her in hope.
Managed a slight nod.
"Good," she said grimly. "Glad we see eye to eye. Ain't gonna kill you for trying to kill me. But I reckon you still owe me and, seeing as we ain't got much time, I'm of a mind to collect. Seems I screwed up the first time with you, Torak. Didn't mean to half-blind you. Had intended to kill you for what you did to my husband. Want you to know, this ain't for me. It's for him."
Fulci's Last Joke struck hard, diving through Torak's blinking eye as easily as a stick through water.
It drove into his brain and took that final spark of life with a crisp wet crunch and a lone spasm.
"Torak!" Neckless screamed, finally wobbling to his knees as more rubble rained down around him. Clutched his mashed face with his right hand, blood streaming between his fingers.
His left hand snatched awkwardly at a dagger sheathed on his right hip. Managed to almost draw the blade, but the guard caught on his belt so only a sliver of steel reflected the shallow gulps of light.
The roof gasped as the thick wooden beams finally splintered under the weight of too much stone.
"Shit," she breathed, realising what was happening.
Diving for the doorway, she narrowly avoided a heavy chunk of stone the size of her head. It shattered where she'd been crouching, sending shards of rock skittering across the floor.
Neckless snatched awkwardly at her as she slid past, still tugging at the knife trapped in its sheath. "I'll kill you! You fucking Tainted bitch!"
She flipped as she rolled, hand moving with blinding speed. Bamboo Bones snickered in the air. The blade delved through the sudden eruption of dust and gloom even as stone rained down from above.
She heard him shriek in pain, then an avalanche of rubble obscured his body from view.
Choking and writhing in fresh waves of agony from her damaged shoulder, the elf dragged herself to her feet and waved clouds of dust from her face as she sought to ensure she'd killed the other elf.
Saw only a mound of debris which had surely crushed the life from him even if he'd survived the blade.
The rumbling ceased as abruptly as it had begun, leaving her staring at the wreckage in silence. Waiting to see if more of the tower would collapse. Waiting to see if Neckless emerged from the rubble.
But nothing moved, and nothing would.
A thin line of blood dribbled loose. She watched it form a quiet puddle.
Touched her fingers to the latest hole in her back and felt the shy throb of blood squeezing out of her body. Figured she was lucky it hadn't driven into the bone.
The tough wyrmskin had prevented most of it from penetrating too deep and saved her from a wound which might have rendered her arm useless.
But the bruises were spreading, opening like bloody flowers under her skin. Her eyes closed and she wanted to fall to the ground. Wanted to rest there.
Just for a minute.
Close her eyes, maybe.
Take a few moments to breathe.
But she had to keep awake. If she slept now, she wasn't sure she'd ever wake. So, she chewed hard on her lip and forced herself to move.
Hunched and limping, dragged herself back toward the stairwell. Leaning hard against the wall, she left a thick trail of red as she headed back down.
Step by agonising step.
Nerves gorged on pain.
Looked back only once.
This to aim a bloodstained globule of spit at the room which had nearly claimed her life.
The elf's thoughts were of Neckless and the anxious weight of his belief that someone was always trying to kill him. "Reckon you had too much on your mind, feller," she murmured, managing a crooked smirk. "Guess you let it all get on top of you."
***
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