The five men surrounded me in a circular formation. None attacked alone or in haste. Their eyes were sharp, watching every movement of mine carefully. They’d been well informed about what I was capable of and were acting accordingly. With opponents this cautious, it would not be an easy fight, enhancer or not. They intended to draw the fight out, to make me use my enhancer as much as possible until it failed. It seemed Renyi wasn’t the only one who had been watched and studied carefully.

  Wei was the first to take a step forward, and all four of his cohorts moved in perfect unity. They’d trained for this. I didn’t know whether to be genuinely terrified or flattered. For the sake of my composure, I’d have to choose the latter.

  Aggression was the only option, and I couldn’t afford to be gentle or spare anyone’s life. I twisted, kicking back with an enhanced leap. I flipped in the air, swinging my sword down as I did, catching the neck of the soldier who had been directly behind me. He struggled briefly, doing his best to stay in the fight but succumbed to his injuries in seconds.

  They were determined, but I wanted to get through to them—more for my sake than theirs. I could already feel the enhancer not behaving properly. I had to improvise that attack and almost leaped too far over the man to strike him.

  I held up my sword so all of them could see the blood coating its blade.

  “I don’t know what you were expecting. Whoever sent you clearly wanted to get rid of you. I know all of you must have family, friends, or people in your lives who will miss you. I’ll give you one more chance to leave. Either all of you leave now, or none of you leave at all.”

  It was a waste of words, and I should’ve expected as much. They’d already begun to surround me again.

  I’d considered using that brief opening to run away, but in order to outrun them, I would’ve had to keep the enhancer running nonstop. It would almost certainly fail before I reached the palace. The best option was still to fight.

  “Are you refusing?”

  I asked.

  “Ignore her tricks,” Wei said. “It is either her or us.”

  So, that’s how it would be.

  I activated another dash just as I saw a leg move forward in my periphery. With one step in his direction, we met halfway. A swing of my sword severed his leg. As expected of trained warriors, he did not scream out. He collapsed, clutching at what remained in futility. With that artery severed, he’d be dead in seconds unless someone helped him. No one even seemed to consider it.

  “Do you think three of you can do better than five?” I said, leaning hard into the bluff. In reality, I didn’t like my chances. My head was already swimming. I felt warm liquid flowing from one of my nostrils, dripping from my chin. If they forced me to activate my enhancer with every attack, I wouldn’t be able to go the distance. If I was going to gamble with every activation, then…

  As the three began their unified attack, I decided to go all out. The world slowed to a lazy blur. I swung the heavy Twisted Key gracefully, rolling my wrist with each slice. First, behind my back, I cut off the hands of the man to my left. Then, to my right, I sliced through the stomach of another man. Finally, I attempted a decisive blow to finish off Wei.

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  Something went wrong, and I lost speed as the sword came down.

  He retreated with a parry, sending me off balance. I nearly passed out, stumbling to one knee. As he approached to take advantage, I thrust my sword forward, catching him through the hand. He gripped the blade with all his strength, pulling me toward him as I attempted to withdraw it. A hard punch caught me in the face, making me lose my grip on Twisted Key and fall to my back.

  I was nearly knocked unconscious. It took a moment to regain my composure and scramble to my feet. However, I was barely standing. Suddenly, I found myself distracted by a thought. Why hadn’t Ghost made it back yet? I knew how far away the palace was and how fast Ghost could fly. What if they’d trapped him, or worse?

  I tried to use the long-range communication in my enhancer, but it failed completely. I turned to run but stumbled to one knee. It wasn’t working at all? Because of Wei’s punch? No. Frelya had programmed this one with failsafes to try to prevent the exact thing that was happening. Without regular maintenance, I had subconsciously learned to override them little by little.

  Two more men appeared behind me, nocking arrows in their bows. More backup. I was already done for. This was simply overkill. Still, I wasn’t about to go down without a fight. Somehow, I’d have to reposition myself so Wei was between them and me, preventing them from firing.

  I took a step forward, stumbling again. This was it. My enhancer was failing completely, and I lacked the strength to take another step at that moment. Much less do something fast enough to get behind Wei.

  Arrows were released, narrowly missing me. Both struck Wei in the chest. He continued reaching for me. Two more arrows flew by, hitting him again. Finally, it was enough to stop the man. He dropped to his knees, slumping over and holding himself up with one hand.

  Prince Dao appeared between the two archers. The last person I ever expected to see.

  “Take him into custody. Do everything you can to save his life. He’ll talk. He doesn’t think he will, but I’ll make sure of it.”

  Wei sneered, looking as though he’d rather kill Dao than me if he had the chance.

  “All traitors will be dealt with soon enough. This doesn’t change anything.”

  “If anyone is to kill my brother, it’ll be me. The throne belongs to the royal family, not usurpers. I’d rather see him on it than foreigners or their sympathizers.”

  What could he mean by that? Was this some kind of coup orchestrated by Adversity Management?

  Oh, who was I kidding? I should have expected it all along. They’d never surrendered power before, so of course they weren’t about to start now.

  “Adversity Management’s doing?” I asked.

  “What should we do with her?” one of the soldiers asked, nocking an arrow and pointing it at me. So much for saviors. “Should we kill her?”

  Dao stood silently for a moment, mulling over the question.

  “She was in the process of clearing my name, even with Wei’s interference. She is troublesome, but she is not one of our people.” He paused again, looking at me. “I will offer you a chance to flee. Wei has been dealt with, so the threat is over. You are only endangering Renyi by staying. Not that it matters. Your two choices are to accept my offer or die.”

  I rubbed my face, then spat blood on the ground.

  I didn’t care much for these ultimatums but struggled to find any leverage in the conversation. Two soldiers had their arrows pointed at me. Wei was incapacitated—either unconscious or dead.

  Dao smiled, as though he’d been reading my mind. “You’re probably thinking there’s a third option. You could fight, couldn’t you? Do you think we rushed here and swarmed this clearing to save you, all in a big rush? We’ve been here since shortly after the fight began, enjoying the entertainment. My brother seems to like you, so I don’t want your blood on my hands. Leave, and save us both the trouble of your death.”

  “Think for a moment, Your Majesty. Do you really believe this is the extent of it? If Junwei was able to find out every detail about a food vendor, don’t you believe he’d have sniffed out Wei’s plans? This isn’t my first time dealing with a military coup. A man like you is smarter than this.”

  Dao stroked his beard as he paced for a moment.

  “As much as I believe you’re stalling, there’s no arguing with the point you’ve made. General Junwei is one of the most competent generals this kingdom has ever seen. That he would fail to notice Wei’s actions… Men, take Wei into custody. Leave the foreigner to me.”

  The two men followed his orders, dragging Wei away by his arms.

  “Glad you came to your senses,” I said.

  “Oh, I’m certain you are.”

  PanTech Chronicles trilogy and the series, both available on Amazon.

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