They'd made a plan. Vanya is a quiet man, but he was conscientious. They've not been approaching any part of this assignment whimsically, and their hushed conversations prior to each raid have taken more or less everything into account. And it had been going smoothly, for a given definition of smoothly, thus far.
Thus far being the crucial turn of phrase.
It's gone wrong this time. Ellis had a moment to think: We should have more than the two of us, except they hadn't so far. Except they aren't here to pillage the way Ellis had done once, and it had been enough so far, the efforts the two of them have put forth.
Except this time, there are armed guards. There are two merchants and their guards and this is no longer such an easy thing.
Neither of them had spoken about what might be done in this situation. Ellis catches sight of Vanya across the mess of bodies, but they are helmeted and armored and there is nothing of his face to read.
So, Ellis turns his attention from defending to ending this scuffle before the chaos spirals out of their control.
It had been a good plan, or at least not a shoddy one. But there was no amount of planning that could allow for every possibility, and the guards had been riding far enough ahead that it hadn't been clear they were connected to the merchants and by the time it was clear, they were already up to their elbows.
"Don't get caught" had been more or less the only firm order Commander Flint had given them. Vanya grimly assumes that dying, among its other drawbacks, would violate the order.
He and Ellis have worked together well before thus far. Vanya isn't sure if Warden and Templar training are generally complimentary, or if it's just Ellis's style in particular that suits his. Either way, he's grateful for the small mercy. The guards are trying to apprehend them rather than kill them outright, which makes sense, but isn't something that they can allow. Still, he and Ellis are helmeted and nothing visible on their armor or their gear gives their affiliation away. Maybe they can ... render everyone unconscious and tie them up long enough for Vanya and Ellis to get a head start?
The plan sounds weak even in his own mind. And it isn't going to matter if he doesn't actually best the man he's currently fighting. Vanya has more training, but the guard is a good decade younger than he is, and he needs to end the fight fast before fatigue becomes a factor.
It's a good rule. Ellis has operated under such an edict before.
Vanya is doing his best. (They have done this together long enough that Ellis has a sense of his endurance, how long he might manage at this pace.) But they are two men in a bad position.
Ellis cannot ask. There is no respite for them to confer over their approach. So he chooses for them both.
That first crunching connection of mace to armored skull is grotesque, spatters blood in a wide arc upward as the soldier crumples into the dirt.
And so the course of this engagement is set. No one leaves alive.
He doesn't have the leisure, yet, to look back, she can just offer a silent prayer that it wasn't his ally's skull that just crumpled. Either way, though, the path forward is equally clear. No one leaves.
So when the guard he's fighting thinks he sees Vanya flagging and moves to take advantage of the perceived opening, Vanya doesn't hesitate to exploit the resulting sloppiness. His blade finds the man's hip, the joint where leg connects to body, and bites deep. The scream is such that the merchants, he imagines, may be calculating whether they can run for it.
They can't allow that either.
(He is, however, relieved to see that Ellis is still on his feet, when he's able to turn and check.)
Here is an unforeseen difficulty: they cannot call to each other.
Ellis sounds very Fereldan. Vanya sounds very Nevarran. The uniforms can only smooth over so much.
So Ellis cannot confer with Vanya as to what might be done about the merchants, who will need to be dealt with. What he can do, for the moment, is grab the guard Vanya has gouged and yank him backwards. Hard. All the easier to be dispatched, once on the ground.
A mace does terrible things when brought down upon the head. But it's perhaps better than bleeding to death, so—
No time for ruminating on the matter. There are still guards, and they are still armed. Their work continues.
There is, at least, time for a small nod in the moment between dealing with that guard and moving for the next. Thank you, perhaps, or maybe I understand. Regardless, he doesn't wait for any sort of response.
Instead, he starts moving toward the wagon, where the remaining guards have fallen back. The very evident deaths of their fellows — no one is going to mistake those injuries for nonlethal, even at a distance — has not evidently broken their resolve, though one of them does look a bit shaken. Vanya stops out of their reach and far enough forward that one or more of them will have to move away from the wagon to close with him. Either he'll succeed in breaking them up or the pause while everyone decides what to do will give him a second wind; he'll gladly take either outcome.
Or Ellis will close with them first, he supposes, and then it'll be a more even match.
There's clearly discussion in the wagon, though not loud enough to be easily overheard. Vanya is less worried about that, at least on a practical level; they have horses, they can catch anyone who makes a run for it on foot.
Ellis feels that knowledge like a splinter, though what can be done? There weren't meant to be guards. The Commander had sent them in twos, and neither of them had objected.
At least they can manage these unexpected developments.
Which is why Ellis breaks for the front of the wagon. Vanya will have to manage for the moment, while Ellis cuts the horses loose from the harness. If the owners of this wagon object to that too, he'll deal with it then. Vanya isn't the only one who can hear the rising, fearful argument from within the canvas-covered wagon.
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no subject
Thus far being the crucial turn of phrase.
It's gone wrong this time. Ellis had a moment to think: We should have more than the two of us, except they hadn't so far. Except they aren't here to pillage the way Ellis had done once, and it had been enough so far, the efforts the two of them have put forth.
Except this time, there are armed guards. There are two merchants and their guards and this is no longer such an easy thing.
Neither of them had spoken about what might be done in this situation. Ellis catches sight of Vanya across the mess of bodies, but they are helmeted and armored and there is nothing of his face to read.
So, Ellis turns his attention from defending to ending this scuffle before the chaos spirals out of their control.
no subject
"Don't get caught" had been more or less the only firm order Commander Flint had given them. Vanya grimly assumes that dying, among its other drawbacks, would violate the order.
He and Ellis have worked together well before thus far. Vanya isn't sure if Warden and Templar training are generally complimentary, or if it's just Ellis's style in particular that suits his. Either way, he's grateful for the small mercy. The guards are trying to apprehend them rather than kill them outright, which makes sense, but isn't something that they can allow. Still, he and Ellis are helmeted and nothing visible on their armor or their gear gives their affiliation away. Maybe they can ... render everyone unconscious and tie them up long enough for Vanya and Ellis to get a head start?
The plan sounds weak even in his own mind. And it isn't going to matter if he doesn't actually best the man he's currently fighting. Vanya has more training, but the guard is a good decade younger than he is, and he needs to end the fight fast before fatigue becomes a factor.
no subject
It's a good rule. Ellis has operated under such an edict before.
Vanya is doing his best. (They have done this together long enough that Ellis has a sense of his endurance, how long he might manage at this pace.) But they are two men in a bad position.
Ellis cannot ask. There is no respite for them to confer over their approach. So he chooses for them both.
That first crunching connection of mace to armored skull is grotesque, spatters blood in a wide arc upward as the soldier crumples into the dirt.
And so the course of this engagement is set. No one leaves alive.
no subject
He doesn't have the leisure, yet, to look back, she can just offer a silent prayer that it wasn't his ally's skull that just crumpled. Either way, though, the path forward is equally clear. No one leaves.
So when the guard he's fighting thinks he sees Vanya flagging and moves to take advantage of the perceived opening, Vanya doesn't hesitate to exploit the resulting sloppiness. His blade finds the man's hip, the joint where leg connects to body, and bites deep. The scream is such that the merchants, he imagines, may be calculating whether they can run for it.
They can't allow that either.
(He is, however, relieved to see that Ellis is still on his feet, when he's able to turn and check.)
no subject
Ellis sounds very Fereldan. Vanya sounds very Nevarran. The uniforms can only smooth over so much.
So Ellis cannot confer with Vanya as to what might be done about the merchants, who will need to be dealt with. What he can do, for the moment, is grab the guard Vanya has gouged and yank him backwards. Hard. All the easier to be dispatched, once on the ground.
A mace does terrible things when brought down upon the head. But it's perhaps better than bleeding to death, so—
No time for ruminating on the matter. There are still guards, and they are still armed. Their work continues.
no subject
Instead, he starts moving toward the wagon, where the remaining guards have fallen back. The very evident deaths of their fellows — no one is going to mistake those injuries for nonlethal, even at a distance — has not evidently broken their resolve, though one of them does look a bit shaken. Vanya stops out of their reach and far enough forward that one or more of them will have to move away from the wagon to close with him. Either he'll succeed in breaking them up or the pause while everyone decides what to do will give him a second wind; he'll gladly take either outcome.
Or Ellis will close with them first, he supposes, and then it'll be a more even match.
There's clearly discussion in the wagon, though not loud enough to be easily overheard. Vanya is less worried about that, at least on a practical level; they have horses, they can catch anyone who makes a run for it on foot.
no subject
Ellis feels that knowledge like a splinter, though what can be done? There weren't meant to be guards. The Commander had sent them in twos, and neither of them had objected.
At least they can manage these unexpected developments.
Which is why Ellis breaks for the front of the wagon. Vanya will have to manage for the moment, while Ellis cuts the horses loose from the harness. If the owners of this wagon object to that too, he'll deal with it then. Vanya isn't the only one who can hear the rising, fearful argument from within the canvas-covered wagon.