Several hours of travel later she stood at the bow of the ship, anxious and wanting to be anywhere but on the ship with so many men. She did not suspect they would try and harm her in any way, but they still made her nervous and she found herself looking down into the water, wondering if any sharks were prowling below.
Daemon was still unconscious and Uzo had been bound below deck, and as such it came as a surprise when she heard footsteps approaching her and she ignored it at first, trying to place the pace but then she realised that firstly the steps did not belong to either of her companions and secondly, they were getting faster.
Her eyes narrowed as the figure came upon her and she exhaled a slow breath, hearing the singing of metal on leather.
Had he wanted to sneak up on her, he should have drawn the sword before reaching her, not when her delicate hearing could catch it.
The sword screamed as the air rushed past it and she turned, the sword missing her in an upward thrust that had been intended to impale her.
A glimpse of silver hair, pale skin and white tattoos were taken in as she caught the wrist and slid her foot in under his lunge, tripping him and with a tug, she shoved him unceremoniously off the bow of the ship and he hit the water with a splash, and then a thud as the ship hit him.
Peering down, she lifted her fingers to her nose and inhaled the scent of male elf.
Turning at the soft scuff, she came face to face with four men, all of them smiling grimly at her, all having similar white tattoos that gave off a soft glow, all having silver hair and all wearing nothing but pants, skirts or cloths tied with belts.
The man in the forefront had tattoos on his face as well, his long hair catching in the breeze and his left arm covered by dragon scale and bone armour.
He had a trident, the rest had long, thick, curved swords.
Setting her backside against the railing of the ship, she watched them calmly as they advanced, more curious than anything else.
Two of the others had gauntlets, but the fourth was unprotected and that was what made her more concerned than all the swords in the world combined. He either didn't need a weapon, or his body created weapons.
At least the sight of the four had calmed her of her fear of the ocean below.
"Don't suppose we can all go back to our cabins and pretend this never happened?" she asked and the smallest of the men grinned. He had a rather large scar running down his face, his tattoos mostly being lines and large dots.
The leader had a circle in his chest and the unguarded man seemed to be covered almost entirely in them. Man number three had circles and spirals, allowing her to easily identify them and she found herself able to decide what each headstone should have marked on it.
"Winer sends its regards," the leader said, and her brows lifted.
"Well I know where I'm heading next," she said and pushed herself off the railing, stooping to press down the tops of her boots and revealing six knives she had stolen from the galley.
Spirals seemed surprised, but the leader did not.
Scar face only seemed amused by her thinking she was going to be fighting them.
"All at once or one at a time?" she asked, reaching behind her and sliding two long blades from the small of her back and settling them in her palms.
Something moved behind her and she tilted her head back, finding a fifth, very wet, and very angry looking man looming over her, his hair a pale brown and his markings being mostly circles within circles and it reminded her somewhat of an arrow target.
She knew which parts of him to aim for.
Turning, her knife lifted and she drove it deep into one of the targets on his thigh, earning her a satisfying scream as she leapt back and spinning back, her knife lifting to defend herself from the trident that had been aimed for her side.
It gave him quite the reach and she stepped into it, her next step driving her foot into his ribcage and throwing him into the railing.
Dropping her free hand, she hooked three fingers into the loops of her knifes and flung her hand out towards the unarmed man, but he had dove out of the way, leaving two of her knives in the wood of the ship and the third in the water.
Disappointed that she had only scored one blow, the remaining two were on her and she blocked a heavy overhead blow with her knife thrust upwards, her body bending backwards to absorb the impact of his strength and then recoiling to throw his arms backwards.
Lifting her foot, she slammed her heel into his solar plexus and he fell back, gasping.
She hissed as pain sliced through her side and she spun, backhanding scar face as his sword flashed and blood splattered onto the wood.
It was not a deep cut, but she was still annoyed. Five on one was not good odds.
The leader had come for her again, trident thrusting and blocked again, her defence attempting to get his trident lodged in the wood of the ship, but he seemed very aware of her plan and was prepared for it, though he was pressing her back towards two of his men.
He was disturbingly fast and as his trident recoiled, he swiped at her with his guarded hand and the fingers were pointed, tearing the clothes of her stomach and catching skin.
Dropping her hand to her other boot, she drew one knife and as he recoiled from the successful strike, she stepped into him and drove the small knife into his side, grinning as she snapped off the blade and threw the handle at the unarmed man, causing him to duck again.
The leader was clutching his side and she turned to targets and he was struggling with her knife. She was kind enough to rip it out of his leg for him, causing him to howl and aim a punch for her face, which she dodged with an easy step to the side.
He was not a major threat at that moment with his leg wound and she turned into the seemingly nondescript attacker, unable to decide what about him that made him unique but then deciding that his being so un-unique made him unique.
He had lunged for her, timing his attack with scar face and she threw herself backwards into targets and he fell off the railing, nearly ending up in the water again, grabbing a rope to keep from falling.
Mentally thanking him for the idea, she turned and caught the tail of one of the ropes and stepped into nondescript's lunge and spinning the rope twice around his head and neck. Spinning and turning to step around behind him, she heaved forward and his back slammed into hers, the rope pulled tight around his neck.
To keep scar face and the leader busy, she plucked out her last remaining knives and threw first one, then the other.
Scar face seemed to have trouble with his scarred eye and he took the knife to the shoulder, the leader deflecting it easily. She didn't mind all that much, given she was only trying to keep them busy.
The man at her back choked and she scanned for the unarmed man in her peripheral while keeping her eyes on the leader while scar face worked the knife free of his shoulder.
The fight thus far had only taken a minute and yet she had heard no cries of alarm, that fact alone making her realise they had been duped into going on the stupid ship.
She had to wonder how much fun her friends were having below the deck, if she was up there with the five of them. It was somewhat flattering that they had sent five after her.
Finding the unarmed man, a shiver rolled down her spine as she found his eyes to be glowing, his tattoos radiant and frost starting out from around his feet, and his hand where he held the railing.
Cursing, she turned and shoved mister nondescript off the side of the boat, the rope pulling tight as he hung there struggling for breath and targets rushed to save him from choking to death, leaving her scar face and the leader to deal with.
Scar face was grinning and she glanced down only long enough to see that the frost was reaching for her boots.
Thinking it might not be wise to let it touch her, she took two running steps and leapt off the deck and onto the thick pillar that was one of the masts, allowing her to climb up the ropes and metal bands that held it together.
The leader called something and she looked down to find scar face running for the mast, beginning to scale it like a monkey and she growled, placing one knife between her teeth and one in the back of her belt and she climbed faster, the nimble bastard gaining on her.
Pulling herself up onto the horizontal beam, she skipped across and used the rope for balance, watching the slow creeping of the frost as it worked its way down the steps to the platform they had been standing on and spitting her bloodied knife from her mouth.
"Come on, you know that's cheating," she called out and the leader laughed, staring up at her with a wolfish grin.
"Come down and we'll play fair," he called back. She knew he was lying and she lifted two fingers in a rude salute to his lie, turning at a grunt to find scar face had joined her on the beam.
"Five against one, you lot must be good," she taunted and he grinned, pulling his sword from his teeth.
"Got to send the best to beat the best," he said and she laughed.
"Flattery will get you everywhere," she purred and he returned her laugh, stepping along like the monkey he was.
He swung at her and she ducked, her knife flashing up but he knew it was coming, jumping back and slapping away the blade, returning with an overarm parry that she barely caught, her fingers tight around his.
"Can you fly?" he asked as he pressed down on her and she bared her teeth at him.
"Sometimes. Can you?" she retorted, pressing upwards and then taking the cheat's way out. She punched him in the groin.
His eyes watered and he staggered back, toppling from the beam but catching himself in the shroud before he could end up in the water.
"Now who's cheating?" the leader called out and she looked down at him, offering a sweet smile.
"All's fair in love and war," she called out, turning to look at the second of the three masts. Sighing, she gauged the distance and leapt from the beam, catching the rope that she supposed was meant to be a safeguard to keep the mast from falling over, and sliding down it, much to her hand's resentment.