A Dispute of Sorts
Alex was still in awe, contemplating the wave made out of thin air by Bogath when the building fell.
The young elf looked to the skies and saw the wood, fire, and clay falling over him. He and Tina were just below the place the falling build would hit. He extended his hand to grab one arm of the girl. He looked at the guild member's position and realized that running to them was suicide. Alex started to sprint in the opposite direction as Tina and Rel'Tir did the same.
He could feel the sparks plummeting in his skin and the wood and hot clay getting close. Alex pressed the run, but he would be under the wreckage. He looked at Tina, and she understood. They needed to jump. And they did.
In the middle of the air, Alex felt something grabbing and pulling his hand.
The building fell.
With a sigh of relief, Alex realized they were inta. He looked to his back and saw the wreckage was just a few centimeters close to his feet. When the young man looked to his front, Rel'Tir held his hand. He had just saved them. Alex doubted they would die in the accident, but it wouldn't be pleasant at all. Rel'Tir's help had guaranteed that they could keep fighting.
The other elf released his hand, embarrassed and excited at the same time, but when he met their eyes, he turned his head.
"Thanks," Alex said under his breath. His heart was running inside his chest. Tina wasn't in a better shape. She thanked the other boy, who nodded, too, clearly afraid of Tina.
Alex analyzed the wreckage and heard Bogath's and Ratamir's voices calling from the other side,
"Can you get through it?" Alex assessed the situation, looking to all sides, but the building had made an impassable obstacle,
"No, we can't!" he shouted back,
"Can you clean the way for them, Bogath?" He heard Ravi asking,
"No, I would use all my Arcanite and tokens for something like that. I already used more than half with the water," the orc replied, annoyed,
"We'll use the side street," Alex said, "if we find another alley, we'll get into this street again, but if not, we'll encounter in the City Hall!"
After half a second of muttering sounds on the other side of the wreckage, Alex heard,
"Okay, kid! Just be careful!" It was Ratamir now shouting from the top of his lungs, "Don't die!"
"We'll not die! It's a promise!" Alex exclaimed, repeating his promise to himself and now to Ratamir too.
They headed to their side, climbing some detritus and stepping into the other street. This one was on fire, too, but the wave made by Bogath had been enough to lower the temperature and ease part of the fire.
Running in silence, they continued. From time to time, Alex looked over his shoulder to Rel'Tir. The boy could've let them die on the spot. Alex had humiliated him in a duel, and Tina had threatened his life, and even so, the boy had chosen to do the right thing. The earthling knew he would think twice, maybe thrice, about saving Rel'Tir in the same situation, but perhaps he had judged the boy's character too soon.
Deciding to evaluate it at a better time, Alex decided to keep running and concentrated on new possible threats.
"Eyes open! Maybe there are orcs inside the—" Just as the words left Alex's mouth, an arrow flew beside him, missing his face by a few centimeters and locking on the other side of the street. Alex assumed a fighting position and started to run towards the archer direction, trying to zigzag along the way, but when he was close to the window from where the shot had come, a voice shouted,
"Stop, stop! I'm not an Orc!!!" Alex watched a figure leaving the shadows. It was a woman, probably eighteen years old, with clear skin, red hair, and freckles on her face. She was lean and had a prominent waist. Her green eyes were fueled with fear, "I shot when I saw the armor, but I'm from the city! Please, did you come to help? The empress sent you?" The red-haired woman asked, lowering her bow.
"You can say that," Alex replied, not lowering his weapon. Nothing could guarantee that the woman wasn't part of the orc's crew. Because of that, he wasn't surprised when she lifted her bow again and shot in his direction. Alex tried to dodge, but he didn't need to. The arrow had flown beside him again. He sprinted towards the girl,
"You need to improve your aim!" He shouted, picking his dagger from his belt,
"Valther! Stop!" Tina shouted, and Alex looked over his shoulder, still running. On the other sidewalk, he saw an orc dead on the ground with an arrow leaving his eye. He halted, and the woman stopped lowering her bow again,
"My aim is actually getting better," she said with a mischievous smile, "you're on edge, Valther. Relax, it's just a city invasion with a bandit crew burning everything and monsters escaping a dungeon," she said, jumping the window and walking towards them.
"My name is Liv. I live here in StrongHold and work with the blacksmith." She extended her hand towards Alex, and he shook it,
"My name is Valther, as you already know." Tina got close to them, but she had a grim on her face. She was shooting daggers with her eyes towards the other girl. She glanced at their hands intertwined for a fraction of a second.
Liv slowly removed her hand from Alex's grip but remained with the smile, "this is Tina," The girl's grim only intensified, but the two girls shook their hands nonetheless. "and this is Rel'Tir," the elf shook her hand and bowed his head. "we are from the adventurer's guild, and we are here to help,"
The eyes of the woman glimmered with life.
"Finally! We are hoping for you to come. Is it just you three?" She asked, "I'm not complaining, just to make it clear. You look fearsome and powerful," she said, passing a hand on his arm, "but only three?"
Tina took Alex by the arm and gently dragged him towards the city center, replying to the woman,
"There are more members. We are going to find them in the City Hall,"
"But the city hall is full of orcs!"
"Exactly, and we will slay them, slay the monsters, seal the dungeon, and free your city," Tina said with the posture of a hero, which made Alex smile with pride and with the fact that the girl was flexing her position to Liv. Is this jealous? Alex asked himself. This reaction was totally different from when the dungeon master's dark elf had hit him in the city. Tina had gone from a bit of annoyance to an open jealousy.
He had one or two girlfriends in the past, but never had he been disputed by two beautiful women.
This world only gets better, he thought, releasing his hand from Tina's and walking beside the girl. Behind them, Liv talked with Rel'Tir, who explained their situation.
Alex examined the whole street but couldn't find an alley connecting to the one where the other members were. On the horizon, a colossal building started to appear. It was white and looked like a Greek temple. The city hall! Alex thought as he accelerated his pace. In the distance, he could clearly spot the silhouette of orcs ransacking stores and putting fire to the buildings. Alongside them, a giant creature seemed to oversee the ransacking.
It was clear to Alex that he was looking at a gray, almost white orc 2 meters tall, holding a giant sword at his side that gleamed in the sunlight.