Yay! Fighting! Woohoo! I've come to the conclusion that one of the scenes that are the most fun to write is a battle scene. So read! Read read read read read read. (And for those that have forgotten, Griffin is what Kel named her sword at the very end of Squire.)

Combat

The nine Scanrans halted after spotting Kel and Neal waiting calmly for them, both with their swords drawn and hard expressions on their faces. One man, who seemed to be the leader, turned around and began conversing with the rest of the group in a harsh, guttural language. The man spoke with a tone of joviality, and as he finished the rest of the raiding party broke into loud raucous laughter.

"It looks like they think we're going to be easy prey," Neal muttered to Kel.

"Yeah, well, they have another thought coming," Kel replied in a harsh voice.

"Nine against two is not good odds, Kel."

"We fought worse odds than that when we were pages."

"Yes, when our side had more people, and we were wielding both magic and bows. Here, we have neither."

"The Scanrans don't have them either . . . I hope." There was a short pause.

"Do you think we can win?" Neal asked slowly.

Kel paused before answering. "I hope so."

"That's pretty much what I thought, too," he told her.

Grinning widely, the Scanran leader advanced toward them, followed closely by his eight companions. Underneath Kel, Peachblossom shifted, his ears pricked forward as he readied for battle. Kel re-adjusted her grip on Griffin. She had been through the silence before combat before, but it was still a little unnerving.

With a sudden movement, the leader raised his sword above his head and whirled it in a circle. Kel watched the blade move once, twice, three times around. Screaming a bloodcurdling war cry, the man pointed the blade forward, and he and his men surged to attack. Kel and Neal cried "Tortall!" in unison, and the battle was joined.

Three of the men galloped to engage Kel. The first one to reach her thrust his blade at her, but she parried his unskilled blow with ease. Quickly, the man withdrew his arm, then raised his blade to deliver a heavy blow, and Kel sliced his side deeply. Howling in pain, the man glared hatefully at Kel before he died.

One down, eight to go, she thought grimly, and swung her sword in a wide butterfly sweep to block the other two men's blows. Kel was fighting two at once, and although she was keeping them from hitting her, she was slowly being forced to back up into the trees. Griffin flashed in her hand, never letting her opponents through. Her blade never stopped moving as she sought the inevitable opening that would allow her to fight back. There it was! Moving swiftly, she thrust Griffin into the split-second opening available to her. The Scanran choked and died.

Now it was just one-on-one, and Kel was able to attack in earnest. She brought her blade to the man's, coming body to body with him. The raider strained in his saddle, trying to force her to give. Kel gritted her teeth and held.

The man broke the body to body and, in an impossibly quick strike, grazed her left arm in a long shallow cut. Kel yelled in pain. Peachblossom, hearing his mistress's cry, reared as he had been taught. One of his hooves caught the man straight in the forehead, the other in the shoulder. Kel heard bone crack. The man fell lifelessly from his horse.

"Thanks," Kel whispered to Peachblossom before turning and moving to Neal's side. She saw two bodies lying around him, and three more Scanrans assailing him. Neal's blade was flashing in the early afternoon light as he fought back, but he couldn't hold them off for long. The leader was shouting what sounded like commands from his position in the rear. Coward, she thought angrily.

Kel swung Griffin in a wide circle, catching one of Neal's attackers' blades and drawing his attack to her. He growled, and came in with a complex overhead pass that would have chopped her from head to waist, but she blocked it — barely. This man was a different sort than the first three had been. It was obvious from the way he fought that he had been trained in sword fighting, and the pain from her left arm was taking her concentration from the fight.

I am stone, she reminded herself while watching the man's torso for his next move. Pain is not bothering me.

The man feinted to the right, then attacked on her weak left side. Kel blocked and immediately lunged forward in the saddle, aiming for his chest. He twisted in the saddle so her sword flew past him, then brought his sword hilt down on her fingers. She yelped, and despite her training, her fingers loosened and Griffin fell to the ground.

The Scanran chuckled evilly. He hefted his sword in one hand, assuming she had no other weapons. He lifted his sword high into the air, grinning and preparing to strike a mighty blow at neck-heighth. Kel's hand shot to her boot, and she drew a throwing knife and hurled it at the man. He stared disbelievingly as a red flower bloomed on his shirtfront and grabbed feebly at the hilt before slumping forward lifelessly.

"Kel!" Neal's shout caught her attention, and she flung herself forward on Peachblossom's neck. The blow that would have knocked her head from her shoulders instead sliced across her back, cutting her from her right shoulder to the left side of her waist. Kel gritted her teeth and wheeled Peachblossom to meet her new attacker.

She grabbed two daggers from her belt as she spun, and met the Scanran's unskilled lunge on crossed hilts. The cut on her back sent waves of agony shooting through her body as she blocked. The man withdrew and lunged three more times in quick succession, each time Kel barely meeting his blade with her hilts. The fourth time, she caught the man's blade between her daggers and twisted, hard. She heard bone crack in the man's right wrist. His sword flew in the air, and she caught it easily and chopped deeply into the unarmed man's side. She didn't wait to see where he fell. Looking at Neal, she saw that he had dispatched one of the men attacking him, so only one was left.

"Neal!" she called wearily, suddenly dead tired. "Can you handle him?"

"Yeah," Neal shouted. "Get the leader!"

The leader had turned when Kel's man fell, and began galloping back into the woods. Kel threw her daggers, both at the same time. The left hand's dagger fell pitifully short, but the right hand was on target. It pierced the Scanran leader with a sickening thud and he fell to the ground. A few seconds later, she heard a guttural yell and a loud crunch. Turning, she saw that Neal had knocked his opponent to the ground, and the unfortunate man had landed straight on his head.

Exhausted, Kel dismounted, sliding down Peachblossom's blood stained withers. Her back was throbbing in agony, and white dots were clouding the edges of her vision. "Are you okay?" she asked Neal faintly, worried for him despite her own pain.

"Yes. I think I have a few cuts, but they aren't very deep," he said. A bloody scratch ran down the side of his face. "What about you?"

"My back," she whispered, and things went black.

So? What did you think? Was it a good fight scene? Or was it stupid, and I should take it out? Hmmmm? Well, let me know! More soon! (And is it just me, or is Griffin a really dumb name for a sword? I mean, I know the meaning behind it and everything, but am I really the only one that thinks it doesn't fit?)

Also, I HAVE THE NEXT CHAPTER WRITTEN. And believe me, if you like K/N, you will LOVE the chapter. But . . . . . . . (yes, there is a but,) I want reviews. NOT THAT HARD. Just one little eensy weensy review -- from everyone -- and I will post within the next day.

Tell all your friends to read my stories!