The Escape - Part 4

"What are you doing? We are trying to flee." was the stern voice that Octavia slithered back to after having purchased the pack of cards.

"I know, I know. I just had to buy them. Right, let's go."

"What did you even get?"

"I'll show you once we are out of this place."

They headed through the crowd, trying to keep as low a profile as possible. They moved at a reasonable speed, not wanting to draw attention to themselves by running, looking around as they did. To many a passer-by, they just looked like the rest of them, perusing the stalls and seeing the festivities. Aside from one being green and having half a tail of course.

Eventually, they came to a turn in the festival, it following another street that was heading away from the exit of the town they were moving towards. The festival had done a good job at keeping them hidden, but it looked like this was the end of the road for that plan. Now, they had to turn off and head away from the crowd, back into the back streets.

Well, they would have, if they didn't see another of the masked men coming towards them from that direction.

"Damn, where do we go now?" Sylvia asked.

"…Let's continue through the festival and find another way out."

They kept going, passing many, many people, most of whom were much more focused on the entertainment and other stalls to notice the Lamia passing by them. The only problem was that they were heading away from the exit, and so far there was no discernible route out on the side of the road they were on.

It took some time before the next one showed up, and so they quickly dashed out of the crowd, not seeing another masked man by that exit and so dipped into the street that branched off.

What they didn't see, however, was the masked man just a little further down the street the festival was taking place in.

Who spotted them.

…

There were no other members of the public down any of the streets they moved through. It was getting later, and as far as they could tell, people were either in their houses or at the festival. There didn't seem to be an in-between. She guessed it wasn't late enough for people to be on the way home yet.

So, when they suddenly heard footsteps behind them, there was only one possibility of who it was.

Turning around, Octavia saw one of the masked men walking towards them. But once he was spotted, he sped up, his walk turning into a full-blown sprint.

Dashing through the street, he took hold of the pommel of his sword and hefted it into the air, readying it for an attack.

He was still a good distance from them, but with no one else around, in the middle of a street where the only exits were the way they came or where they were heading, there wasn't much they could do.

Octavia and Sylvia scanned the area, putting their brains to work as fast as they could, trying to formulate some way out of this mess. But, neither could think of one. So, Octavia quickly pulled the crossbow from her back and started firing in.

Whether it was sheer dumb luck or just the surprise of it all, the man heading towards them ended up taking a bolt to his shoulder. It's likely he didn't expect the Lamia they had been chasing to even know how to fight properly. Coupled with the descending darkness, it would have been hard to spot the bolt on its trajectory. But he would not be making the same mistake again.

Octavia continued to fire bolts at the man as fast as she could. The training she had received greatly helped her in doing this, but, she definitely needed more practice. That, or for her opponent to be less skilled. None after the first surprise shot made it anywhere near the man, where he dodged left and right effortlessly.

But after a while, she knew it was time to change tactics. Quickly dropping the crossbow, she then took the first weapon she found from her back. Her poleaxe.

'Let's hope I can apply all that training with the staff to this weighty weapon.'

As the man continued towards her, there was only one thing she was feeling.

Terrified.

She knew this man was a well-trained fighter.

Unlike when they were attacked in the room, it was only part way that she realised the skill of the one she was facing, but here, it was already known and he was heading straight for her.

The only consolation she had was that they seemed to want to capture her, rather than kill her. That though didn't take away from the fact that there was all manner of pain they could inflict before taking her away. That and it probably didn't include capturing Sylvia. She was just an obstacle to them.

She readied herself, taking hold of her poleaxe in a similar starting position to how Althea had done so.

Then he arrived.

While not saying anything, not even a war cry like she would expect someone to do, he hefted his sword up and swung down.

Octavia could thankfully see it coming and was able to bring her poleaxe up to block. The force of his swing sent shockwaves through her arms as the sword collided with the shaft.

Pulling it back, he then went to stab at her, much faster than she could react to, but with the darkness and possibly his goal not to kill her, the blade went into her side rather than straight through her centre.

"Ahh!" she cried out from the pain, her human half being less resistant to pain than her snake half.

The man pulled his sword out, and with it came another cry from Octavia.

She knew that a one-on-one battle would not work out in her favour. She needed to find a way to limit his movements. But the only thing around her were houses.

With wooden doors. In an age before locks were commonplace.

An idea sparked in her head as she slithered back remaining on the defensive against this man. He had thrown a few more attacks at her, and she barely managed to dodge and block them. Another ended up with his blade skimming along the side of her arm, peeling her skin away as it did.

She needed to get him in a confined space and quick, and in these houses, there was bound to be some.

As she continued backwards, now in the direction of the nearest house, she had the opportunity to fight back. After she blocked an attack from the man, her pole axe was in the prime position to try and take out one of his legs.

So, with as much effort as she could muster, she slammed the spike at the end of her pole axe downwards, heading straight for his left leg.

But, he saw her coming and shifted it away.

Not one to just give up, she proceeded to sweep her poleaxe along the ground, trying to take a stab at the other one.

It would seem that while he was expecting the first stab, he did not expect the sweep, and this allowed her to send the blade into the side of his foot.

The man made no noise as the blade hit it. He just pulled his foot away that had been cut. The lack of blood also told Octavia what she didn't want to know. It was barely a flesh wound.

Heading back, she neared the entrance to the house. All she had to do was get inside.

As she felt behind her, she spotted Sylvia desperately looking around. Likely trying to find someone or something to distract or attack the man with. But Octavia knew that if she did, it would probably only end with a blade being run through her. When she caught her eyes, she shook her head, telling her to not follow through on her plan.

Grabbing the doorknob, she pushed it open.

"Guess I was right about not having locks," She thought.

But, as the door started to open, the man did not just sit still. Whether he realised what she was doing, or saw it as a way to deal some damage, he pivoted on one leg and swung his other out, extending it straight and sending his foot right into her chest.

The force of his kick knocked her over her half-tail, falling into the door, and sending it flying back on its hinges. The door smashed into the wall behind it, and splinters burst off the edges that collided.

Octavia, now having tumbled onto the ground, quickly looked around, trying to get her bearing as she heard the man's footsteps coming towards her. From what she could see, she was in a rudimentary hallway. It was quite narrow and beams were scattered across the ceiling, being part of the support structure for the building.

She managed to quickly get back onto her…tail and brought her pole axe to bear. The only problem was that while this environment would make it hard for the man to swing his sword, it also didn't help when using a pole axe. Somehow, she had forgotten that in the hasty plan.

She held her pole axe diagonally, as best she could in the narrow passage, and slowly moved back further into the house. Thankfully, no one came running towards them having heard the smashing of the door, so it was reasonable to assume the occupants were at the festival. They would not be happy about the sight they would return to.

Not that any of them would be around to see their face in the mess. But hopefully, it would be the man at the entranceway that they would find lying on the floor and not herself.

All she had to do was put him there.