They were outnumbered. Even with Tiltyu's thunderbolts knocking out pirates left and right, they were still outnumbered. The enemy was coming from all sides, and Claude could have kicked himself for not bringing any tomes of his own. Even if he wasn't much of a fighter it would have been some improvement.
He sighed, clutching the Valkyrie staff to him as he kept an eye on the young princess. Only a matter of time before either her tomes wear out or she does. Pirates swung at him and he simply stepped out of the way, Blagi only knew how long he could keep that up.
"Claude, look out!" Tiltyu suddenly cried; he turned around to find himself staring point-blank at the sharp eyes of a swordfighter. Blast it! Swordfighters were much faster and their blows were more accurate than clumsy brutes and their axes. But before he had time to panic, his vision was obscured by white. The next thing he knew, the enemy lay dead on the sand and he stood face to face with a young woman and a pegasus.
"Are you all right?" she asked. Claude blinked, he'd never seen a pegasus up close before and this one looked like he or she meant business. Tiltyu looked on in both awe at the sight of the magnificent creature and relief at not having to do all the fighting anymore.
"I'm fine, thank you," Claude said.
"Good." The woman landed her pegasus. "Come, ride with me. It's much too dangerous for an unarmed man to stand in the middle of combat."
"Miss, I'd hate to be in your way while you're fighting," Claude said. "And I'll be all right as long as I can stay out of the enemy's range."
"You were almost cut down," the rider said matter-of-factly. Her expression told him she wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"...all right." Claude mounted behind her. "I'm Father Claude of Edda. What's your name, miss?"
She turned around and smiled.
"My name is Fury. It's an honor to meet you, Father Claude."
Out of the corner of his eye, Claude could have sworn he saw Tiltyu smirk.