Uthgerd and The Breton began circling each other. The Breton with his short sword drawn and one hand on the dagger at his side. Uthgerd with her two-handed sword, which she kept level with him. Uthgerd had the obvious advantage in size, armor and strength, but the Breton had speed. Uthgerd needed to draw him in so she could counter him and kill him before he could withdraw. Or she could wear him down until he was exhausted and then catch him then.
The Breton, of course, knew this, so he was expending very little energy. Keeping his distance and only occasionally taking swings at Uthgerd. He was trying to get under her guard, find some hole where he could quickly duck under and use his speed to quickly kill her before she could recover. In order to win he'd have to knock Uthgerd off balance long enough to slit her throat.
Neither was willing to give in. Klang Klang. Went the steel. Klang klang.
"I saw you fighting our companions." the Imperial mage woman said.
"There your companions, are they? Well, were you dazzled by my fighting prowess?" Yew said.
"Oh yes. Problem is, I don't think you have many spells left. You did seem to be throwing quite a lot around." The mage said. Yew shrugged.
"Maybe. Maybe not. Thing is, you won't catch me without any spells left." Yew said.
"Ha. We shall see." The mage said. Both of them realized the other was buying themselves a bit of time. Neither of them really wanted a fight to the death. Yew was running low on spells, and the Mage herself had resources she had to manage as well. Both of them would like their side to win the fight and intervene before it came to a real battle. But they couldn't just back down now and wait. They had put their pride on the line after all.
"You know, your robes could cover a bit more. Cloth doesn't provide much protection but it is better than bare flesh." Yew said. Her mages robes displayed copious amounts of cleavage and leg.
"Oh? Feeling a bit distracted? We could always resolve things a different way..." She said, pushing up her large breasts. They had to be at least DD's. Yew shuddered.
"No, thanks. I'm not interested in big breasts. I prefer a nice large rear and smaller breasts. No larger than a C for me thanks." Yew said.
"What a bother. I should have known. Breton women don't usually have much going for them up top. And you're from High Rock aren't you?" The mage said.
"Born and raised." Yew said.
"Poor thing. You've been stuck around homely woman for so long that you've mistaken them for beauties." The Mage said.
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What's your name?" Yew said.
"I'll not give you my true name." The mage said.
"Alright. Can't fault me for trying." Yew said. He didn't have any spells that could curse her with her true name at the moment anyway.
"I suppose not, Willow of House Fey." The mage said.
"Impressive. Do you know much about me?" Yew asked.
"Much and more. More then I suspect you know about yourself." The mage said with a sly smile. That gave Yew some pause.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Yew asked. She shrugged.
"We've stalled long enough I think. It's time to put your magic to the test." The mage said.
"You sure about th-" Yew started and just managed to duck a firebolt tossed by his rival.
"I told you we were starting. You can't blame me for taking a shot." The mage said.
"No, I really can't." Yew said, then he quickly drew the sigil and sent a piercing thorn towards the mage. She dodged out of the way.
"You're pretty clever. But not as clever as you think." The mage said.
"Oh?" Yew said.
"I've known plenty of men like you. Most men. And it's been quite some time since they've managed to get one over on me." The mage said.
"To me, that sounds like a bit of a challenge. I'm not like most men." Yew said.
"That's what most men say." The mage said.
"Do you doubt it?" Yew said.
"Strangely...I don't. But you'll die the same." She said and threw another firebolt. It was once again at his head, which allowed Yew to respond even more quickly and dodge. However, she had placed a fire rune trap right where he was dodging. Yew felt tremendous heat and collapsed to the floor, rolling to put himself out. He was also grabbing for a health potion flask on his hip. He grabbed it uncorked it and drank deeply.
He felt his wounds healing, but he felt weak and out of breath. Gasping on his knees, unable to stand.
"Men are never as clever as women. That's the simple truth." The Mage said.
"Then why...do you follow him." Yew managed to get out.
"Who says I'm the one following him?" The mage said, walking a bit closer to Yew.
"He's the one who brought you...along. He's...the one...who's talking." Yew said.
"I let him talk. I let him think he's in control. But he does nothing that is not my will." The mage said.
"You...sure about that?" Yew said. This gave the mage some pause.
Then she stepped forward again.
"I see what you're doing. Trying to buy time. Trying to turn me against him. You're an interesting one. If pathetic as all men." The mage said. She put her heel on his She ground the sharp point right into his back.
"You're pretty cute too. Maybe I could keep you as a toy for a while. Might be fun." The mage said in a voice filled with desire. It made Yew's skin crawl.
"How would you like that? Serving a beautiful woman? Laying with a true beauty for a few days or weeks or months, before you are killed or sentence to slavery or whatever is to happen to you? Would you like that." The mage said, her voice filled with sadistic pleasure. She ended with a course laugh.
"Winter wind." Yew said as he completed the sigil. The mage was blown off of him with a cold and powerful gust. She collapsed on her ass, shivering, wishing desperately that her robes were thicker. Yew staggered to his feet.
"I'll...never...submit to you." Yew said.
"We'll see about that." The mage said, her teeth chattering slightly.
Freya was a whirlwind of steal bringing death to all that came in her direction. five sellswords met their end at the end of her blade. None of them could come even close to matching her skill. As she was going to make her way over to ending their leader she stumbled into someone else.
Ivan.
"You? What in Oblivion are you doing here?" Freya said.
"I could ask you the same thing." Ivan said.
"I made a sacred vow Ivan." Freya said.
"Then keep it." Ivan said. She quickly struck at Ivan with her sword. Klang. Steal against steal. Then again. Then again. The two of them were an even match for speed.
"I have no desire to end your life." Ivan said.
"Good. Then just die." Freya said and struck again.
"Can't do that either. Too much left to do." Ivan said.
So steel continued to clash against steel. Ivan remaining solidly on defense and Freya consistently on offense.