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his
chest. Her actions only seemed to amuse him. For the first time,
she noticed how unsightly the man was. His unshaven face bore signs
of physical abuse, most prominently several deep scars on his
lips.
    He looked confidently at his prey with
his green eyes. Those same eyes settled on the crossbow clutched in
her hands.
    “You can’t do it, can you?” he said.
“You can’t kill me.” Nishka took a single step forward in hopes
that his confidence would falter. It didn’t subside in the least.
“Even if you find the courage to pull the trigger, my companions
will avenge my suffering.”
    “You aren’t giving me any options,” she
bitterly replied. She glanced at Arxu again; he was far too
occupied with the onslaught of opponents.
    The bandit smiled, “Lower your weapon.
Perhaps I will let you flee.” He looked over his shoulder at Arxu
killing his men. “I can’t guarantee your friend’s safety,
however.”
    Nishka hoped she could delay the
criminal long enough for Arxu to render assistance.
    “How can I trust you to keep your
word?”
    “Woman, you are in no position to
negotiate your life. I’m offering you one chance to escape.” Nishka
anxiously looked at Arxu again. “My patience is growing
thin.”
    “Tell your men to lower their weapons
first.” She knew it was a ridiculous proposition, and she wasn’t
surprised by the man’s raucous laughter.
    “I told you that you can’t negotiate
for your life. Now you’ve wasted your chance.” A sudden scream made
the criminal spin around. He stared in disbelief as the three men
he dispatched were struck down in seconds.
    Arxu spun the staff intricately with a
single hand and deflected a dagger. He slammed the head of the
staff into a bandit’s chest and inverted the momentum, thrusting in
the opposite direction. The sharp tip impaled a bandit that reared
up with a sword. Arxu retracted the staff and agilely swept the
third man off his feet.
    Upon seeing this display, the leader
scowled in fury and bore down on Nishka. He would kill her quickly
and slay Arxu. He lunged forward and Nishka squeezed the trigger.
He gasped in shock and plunged to his knees. He could acutely feel
the crossbow bolt lodged in his thigh. It protruded from the back
of his leg at an excruciating angle. He cried out in rage, a sound
that signaled his companions to annihilate her. Nishka pointed her
crossbow at the bandits and they hesitated.
    “Stay the hell away from me,” she
commanded.
    They looked to one another for
confidence, perhaps a stalling tactic. Nishka shot another bolt and
it hissed past the nearest bandit. He immediately skittered
backward, and his companions did the same. Nishka hadn’t intended
to strike him, only to emphasize her point.
    “She won’t kill you!” the leader
screamed, rabid with pain and anger. “She had the chance and she
only maimed me... Kill her!” The bandits hesitated despite his
command. “She won’t kill you!” At last, the thieves
advanced.
    “But I will.” The crippled thief looked
over his shoulder. Nishka quickly turned away as the thief died.
Arxu retracted his staff now stained with blood. The remaining
bandits yelled and rushed toward the assailant.
    Arxu didn’t waste a moment seizing
initial blows. The staff’s tip thrust at an upward angle through a
man’s chin and swept across to bash his skull. Seamlessly, the
staff weaved left and right, in mesmerizing blocks and turns. He
struck a man in the side, spun around and plunged the staff twice
into his opponent.
    Something small flashed in Arxu’s hand
but his fingers moved too fast for Nishka to see—and obviously his
victim, too. Suddenly, one of the thieves was clutching his throat
as it rapidly turned red. His eyes were round with terror and he
tried desperately to breathe.
    Seeing this display did not lessen the
morale of the criminals. In fact, the murder only frenzied them
with rage. Six men coordinated an attack against him, darting in
from different angles.