The Truce is Off!

The hours passed by and neither prince nor princess gave into slumber, though it pulled at them. Pride was a much more palpable motivation than weariness.

Shyana kept her attention trained on the enemy before her, memorizing even the most minuscule movements he made. Everything in her wanted to spring across the open flame and gut him herself.

Vikas shifted a bit, an unfriendly root poking into his back. He was keenly aware of how Shyana continuously stared at him, making him feel like prey in front of a large cat. "Are you waiting for me to do a trick?"

Shyana startled slightly at his voice. "I am waiting for you to try and trick us, yes."

"You are really in no position to speak of trickery, yeni."

Shyana growled; she'd learned enough of the Thurucaln dialect to recognize the foulness he just called her.

Shyana gripped her blade. "You aren't making this truce easier."

"Can you blame me? Just the look of you makes me want to puke. I wonder what the old general would love so much about you, that would make him be able to stand you for more than five minutes? Maybe he wanted you more than just a pupil?"

"What?"

Vikas smirked. "Maybe he was only training you up, so that you'd follow your beloved teacher into his bed? Loyal to the end. At least when you're humping, you won't be talking."

Shyana shot to her feet, blade pointed at her enemy. "You'd be wise to watch your tongue or I will cut it out."

Vikas gave her a patronizing glare. "You wouldn't be able to touch me and we both know it."

"Do we? Why don't we find out, right here, right now?"

Vikas got to his feet, whip cracking out quicker than the human eye could follow. "Ladies first," he sneered.

Shyana crouched into a spring and lunged across the open flames, her blade slitting down his left bicep. Vikas snarled and brought his whip down to slice her right calf muscle with the metal tip. She hissed in pain and felt the warm trickle of blood down her leg.

The commotion roused both sides' warriors from their slumber.

"Truce is off!" Vikas shouted.

Shyana barked. "Akiem, we end this, now!"

The advisor sprang to his feet, energy renewed from his rest. They were about to come to blows again causing Revarian to yell from his perch. "Stop it! Both of you stop!"

But the hatred was too loud for his objections.

Zei and Boran made ready, one man with two daggers he pulled from dual sheaths on his sides, the other brandishing a curved sword on a chain that was wrapped around his left hand.

Akiem circled, taking in both warriors with a strategic eye. He wouldn't transform again if he could help it, but the advisor kept his wilderness close.

He pulled out his broadsword and prepared for battle.

Meanwhile, Vikas and Shyana circled, their shadows dancing with the fire light off the dark trees around them.

Revarian continued to cry out, "Stop this madness now! Stop before it's too late!"

Vikas curled his right arm up and lashed his whip out so fast, that Shyana barely had time to react. It nicked her again, metal tip striking her collarbone this time.

She grimaced and focused her eyes not on his whip, but on his feet. Her gaze narrowed, memorizing the pattern Vikas made whenever he was ready to strike.

"Left foot back, ankle arched, right strike!"

Using her sword as a shield, Shyana took the brunt of his whip and watched it curl around the blade.

Vikas gasped, as she pulled the sword back and he tumbled forward with it. Unfortunately, Shyana woefully overcorrected and the momentum sent the prince flinging further than she had intended. They collided, her hitting the ground hard, with his frame on top of her, their weapons springing out of their hands.

It took a moment before either warrior realized what happened, but when they did, it sent both into a frantic scramble.

Shyana kicked her boot into the exposed flesh of his abs, releasing a wet cough from Vikas.

His hands came to her hair, pulling her head back.

She used the momentum to execute a reverse headbutt, slamming into his nose and making it bleed.

Revarian abandoned his perch and landed deftly on the forest floor, grabbing both weapons and holding them out of reach. "Do either of you realize what's happening?!"

Akiem and the other warriors stopped fighting to look in the forest walker's direction. The advisor's eyes widened when he called out. "Shy! Stop!"

Boran tried to reach Vikas to warn him of the upcoming danger. "My prince! Look around us!"

But it was to no avail as both Shyana and Vikas were too caught up in their own battle.

Vikas threw the woman away from him, furious about his throbbing nose, but Shyana extended her hand and flipped to her feet.

Vikas grabbed a fallen branch and made ready to smash the agile woman's head in.

At the same time, Shyana grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it up into his eyes. This distraction gave her time to lunge up and grab his long hair while he took hold of her breast plate.

"My lord!"

"Shyana!" Akiem grabbed Shyana's arm to pull her off, while the other two secured Vikas.

The furious woman flung about in her advisor's strong grasp screaming. "Let me go! Let me go, damn you! I'll kill him!"

Vikas spat at her while Zei tucked his head into Vikas's lunging abdomen. "My prince, please look around you!"

It was at this time that both warriors stopped struggling long enough to look up and around them. Shyana's eyes widened when they rested on the giant, spider like creatures emerging from the tops of the trees.