Tirren’s body rose from the ground in a lithe manner, which surprised the prisoner. She turned.
“You think you can take a blow?”
The boy answered strangely. “Take my ring! It will grant you power.”
“What are you going on about, Tree?” The woman turned away from Tirren and called into the bushes. “Severin, This will be a lesson to you. Watch closely, I will personally instruct you on my fighting technique as I crush this tiny Seidren. Though my mana is bound, and my higher senses closed, no one can take my fighting spirit.”
The Mana-bound opal came toward Tirren’s body. She feinted with manacled hands, then struck out with a powerful kick. The young man read the feint, then ducked under the kick in a fluid motion. He also eluded the follow-up kick, and with a hand grabbed her tunic and pulled her forward, with just enough force to throw her center of balance off. Tirren pulled himself past his attacker in the same motion as he pulled her forward. He turned, leapt and delivered a blow to the throat with a smack that was heard around the roadway. He had pulled the prisoner’s center of balance, then with a straight hand, he chopped down from behind her across the front side of her neck.
The woman let out a strangled cry, but she sprung away and after an acrobatic roll she whirled to face Tirren more cautiously. He was shaking his hand with a pained expression.
“It seems you may be a worthy opponent while I am thus shackled. My name is Tomadi Porcrins, I am the master of the lead feather fighting school.” She bowed to Tirren and announced herself in the formal way of Seidren.
The boy cocked his head in a strange manner before responding. “You follow old traditions indeed, I am Ivarmark …” There was a strangling sound, as the sound cut off, then Tirren’s voice came out again.
“I am Tirren Stjern. I am the personal assistant to the retired regional deputy commander guardsman, and I have a sworn duty to escort you captive to the border city of Varnell. There you will stand trial, face punishment for infringing on the sacred border of Servistis.”
A fire seemed to come alight in the eyes of the manacled woman, and if Tirren would have looked at himself, he would have seen the same fire in his eyes.
Both Seidren advanced to fight, until a man walked onto the road between them, and he coughed loudly.
“Ahem.”
Everyone froze.
The newcomer stood, wearing a tunic of the border guard that was so ragged, it barely resembled clothing. The man had long scraggly brown hair, with piercing eyes and a striking jawline. Due to the state of his ruined clothing, you could clearly see the musculature which lined his frame, and Tirren noticed two fine bracelets as well as an intricate band of metal around one of the man’s ankles.
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He was smiling broadly.
The newcomer was holding Tirren’s mana baton in his hand, and he looked absolutely relaxed. There was a palpable aura of power coming from the man, and when Tirren opened his manasight, he gasped.
The man shone with light in Tirren's manasight. It appeared to shine in several glowing halos of rainbow color. Tirren saw a stylized form of mana hovering above him. This man was even stronger than the captive, and he wasn’t bound. It was like looking into a bright sky after being in a dark room, and the pain of the bright light seared his mansight, causing him to close it quickly.
The stranger was Pearl Seidren.
The prisoner saw him, dropped to her knees, and placed her manacled hands above her head. “I surrender to the justice of Serventis.”
“I am Jefremov Devrius, leader of the Southeast border guard. It’s good to be recognized.”
He walked behind the kneeling prisoner and tapped the rod thoughtfully against her shoulder, eliciting a flinch with each meditative tap.
“The Justice of Serventis is quite severe. Are you quite sure that you want to surrender to it?” The woman’s eyes betrayed fear, but she quickly told him. “I am a sworn liege to the Wizard of ruptured earth. He will not let my death go unanswered. Kill me at your own risk.”
The man smiled again. “I am sure your wizard is very mighty, but he is not here, and would never risk Servistis. What inspired you to try something so brash as to invade the domain of the Runelord?”
“My master fears not threats that do not exist. The Runelord is a sagely crafted legend to keep this country of sheep from the mouths of the wolves.”
Now the mana rod was tapping at the chin of the man Jefromov.
“Interesting. The Runelord is very real, and has declared this land his. You stand in direct opposition to him. We must send this message clearly to those who enter this land.
Tirren, is it?” Jefremov asked.
“Yes, sir”
“How would you, as the acting representative of the local guard, go about making sure this did not happen, with extreme prejudice? If we kill her, she won’t be alive to inform the others of the danger, but if we let her go, she might return with a hundred others to try to plunder and lord over the homeland.”
“Sir, she would likely be imprisoned, endure a public beating, and then deported from Servistis with a kill-on-sight order by the, um… your border guard.”
“That is well said! I agree wholeheartedly. However, I wish to perform the beating now. To those smart individuals who remained in the carriage, bear witness to Tomadi, the master of the lead feather fighting school as she receives punishment for her crimes of invasion of the sacred land, and forcible attempted escape.”
The woman set her jaw and looked at the ground.
“You take care of this one, I’ll get the one in the bushes.” Jefremov Devrius told Tirren. He tossed the mana rod in a slow arc to Tirren, who caught it after a brief fumble. Confusion crossed his face, which matched Tomadi’s on the ground.
The boy Severin, who had been quietly watching from the bushes on the side of the road, squeaked in fear, and ran toward the forest. Jefromov began jogging in that direction quite casually.
Tomadi realized that this was her last chance of escape, and she growled as she threw herself toward Tirren.
