Jane, Defender of Decura Chapter 36

Strength Greater Than Vows

Not eager to experience such a powerful blow, William shifted his head back to avoid Danford's mace. Unfortunately he wasn't quite fast enough and the weapon slammed into the side of his helmet, knocking him down and sending his helm soaring across the room.

Hoping to end the battle, Danford took a second swing at the seemingly disoriented William's head. However much to the dwarf's surprise, William was able to catch his arm with both hands, stopping Danford's mace from smashing in his head. "You're a tough one, William Marshal" the Oathbound commander snickered before throwing a hook with his shield.

William quickly released his right hand's grip on Danford's arm and used it to grab the jaelium shield. "I can say the same about you, Danford the Unbreakable" William chuckled while slowly pulling himself back to his feet. After noticing his weapon laying on the ground next to him, William spun around and tried to throw the short but heavily armored dwarf away. Despite mustering as much strength as possible, William was only able to hurl Danford back a few feet.

Realizing his opponent wanted his weapon back in his hands, Danford rushed back toward William. Unfortunately he wasn't fast enough and William had already grabbed his maul and swung it forward. While Danford was able to raise his shield fast enough to block the attack, the blow still stopped him in his tracks. Both combatants gave each other a smirk and before leaping away.

While William and Danford's scuffle had been mostly contained in a small section of the throne room, the neighboring battle seemed unwilling to stay in a single spot as Jane continued to pursue Glome around the room. Despite throwing powerful punch after punch, Jane was unable to lay a finger on Glome due to his swift and agile footwork.

Suddenly, Glome found his back against one of the throne room's support pillars and was forced to dive and roll to evade Jane's punch. As Jane's punch smashed through the column like it was made of cardboard, Glome used the opening to slash at his much larger opponent. Despite her momentum, Jane tried to move her leg away. But Glome was too quick and he still managed to give her thigh a shallow but long cut before jumping back to avoid any retaliation.

"Funny how little height and strength matter in a battle" Glome snickered before looking up at Jane and grinning. "Well, time to end this."

"Damn it" Jane grumbled under her breath as Glome once again rushed forward, intending to give her a much more fatal wound. Despite the pain in her leg, Jane quickly turned and much to Glome's surprise, managed to blocked his blade with one of her gauntlets.

Glome's eye widened as he watched one of his favorite blades break in two on Jane's iron armor. "No way..." he muttered before wisely chose to fall back several yards. "Has she been holding back against me? That was no fluke."

"That was a complete fluke..." Jane thought while breathing a sigh of relief. "I can't believe I actually blocked him." Jane slammed her fists together, causing Glome to flinch. "I have to try something different. This isn't like fighting those golems. They were just as big and slow as me." Jane blushed and gave her forehead a light tap. "Did I seriously just call myself 'big and slow?' Thank god I didn't say that out loud."

Despite Jane's guard being dropped for a moment, Glome couldn't summon the nerve to attack her. "Is she trying to bait me?" he thought before tossing his broken knife aside before drawing another one to replace it. "Damn her..."

Now that both of his Oathbound had ceased attacking their opponents, Vanrig sprung out of his throne in a rage. "What are you both waiting for?!?" he barked, his face burning with anger. "Stop standing around like a pair of idiots and do your duty!"

As Glome and Danford continued to ignore their emperor's tantrum, Jane surveyed the throne room for something to assist her. Her eyes lit up when she noticed the many soccer ball sized chunks of several destroyed columns scattered around the room. One was even right by her feet. "Hey Glome" she said before lifting her leg back. "Up for another test of your skills?"

Before Glome could ask her meaning, Jane kicked the nearby piece of rubble as hard as she could, sending it rocketing toward the Oathbound sub-commander. Despite being surprised, Glome was able to evade it by ducking at the last second. The dwarf had no time to relax as by the time he returned to standing, Jane had already picked up another chunk of debris and tossed it straight at him, forcing Glome to leap aside.

"I know it's a big step up from arrows" said Jane before lobbing another piece of stone. "But I'm sure you can handle it."

"Different weapon, same results!" Glome grunted while just barely avoiding another stone projectile. "You won't hit me!"

Eager to prove Glome wrong, Jane tossed two large chunks at the same time. However these ones flew harmlessly over Glome's head, causing a smirk to appear on the dwarf's face. "Your aim is poor" he snickered before easily dodging another piece of rubble.

As Jane and Glome continued their high stakes game of dodgeball, Vanrig kicked his throne so hard he almost broke his foot, his patience had reached it's limit. "Where the hell are the rest of my Oathbound?" he thought while holding his now aching foot. "Haven't they found the crone yet? Every single one of them is useless." Vanrig quickly ran to the wall behind his throne and pressed one of the stone bricks in with his hand. "If you want something done right..." he grumbled as a hidden door opened up.

William spotted Vanrig disappearing into the secret passageway and tried to pursue. Unfortunately, Danford was quick to bar his way and unleashed a flurry of attacks with his mace. Despite Danford's speed, William was able to either evade or block the blows with his maul's handle. Danford seemed unfazed at his opponent's impressive defense and continued his barrage, forcing the old knight to slowly back away.

"He's got to have an opening sooner or later" William thought while beginning to struggle to keep up his guard. "Or else I'm in a lot of trouble."

Unfortunatelty for William, that opening didn't come fast enough and one of Danford's attacks managed to strike his chestplate. Despite his armor taking the brunt of the blow, William was sure he felt some of his ribs break.

With his opponent now reeling back, Danford readied a final attack that would shatter the human's skull in a single blow. However before Danford could make such an attack, a chunk of rubble that almost matched him in size, came flying out of nowhere and crashed into him. While Danford's jaelium armor prevented him from taking any serious damage, it did not stop the impact from knocking him into the wall.

"Will! Over here!" Jane called out while still using the debris to keep Glome jumping around the room. "Hurry!"

William fought through the pain from his aching chest and hobbled over. "Vanrig got away" he said before coughing up a little blood. "I tried but I couldn't get past Danford. I'm sorry miss Jane."

Jane threw her second last piece of rubble at Glome. Her aim was so bad the sub-commander didn't even need to dodge, opting to just shrug instead. "Don't worry Will, I got us covered" Jane assured before picking up the last but also largest bit of debris. Curious, William took a second to scan the room and cracked a smile when he realized what Jane was planning.

"Only one left" thought a relieved Glome while watching Jane easily hold up the big chunk of stone with a single hand. "I shouldn't worry, she'll probably miss anyway."

Danford quickly ran to Glome's side and raised his shield, ready to block Jane's projectile. "Glome, be ready to strike the instant that rock hits me" he whispered. "We need to work together if we're going to beat these two."

Glome chuckled. "Relax commander" he said. "I admit, I was worried for a moment but now I see that big girl is really just a big joke. She's done nothing but miss with those rocks."

Jane smirked. "Actually, I've hit every time" she assured causing Glome to raise his eyebrow. "Who ever said I was aiming at you?"

A few small pebbles bounced off Danford's helmet. Concerned, he studied the throne room, immediately noticing that Jane had used the huge chunks of rubble to destroy all the throne room's support beams and the roof was on the verge of caving in. Before Danford could warn Glome, Jane threw the final piece of rubble straight up as hard as she could.

The massive chunk of stone smashed into the roof, instantly causing it to collapse. Danford braced himself for the impact while the smug Glome never even saw it coming and just watched Jane grab William and run out of the throne room as fast as she could. "You won't get a-" was all Glome had time to say before he and Danford were buried under a ton of rubble.

As a huge dust cloud shot out of the throne room, Jane quickly shielded William with her body. Once the dust settled, Jane released her friend and helped brush him down. "Are you ok Will?" she asked.

"Just a few broken ribs" William grunted after placing his hand on the big dent in his breastplate. "Don't worry miss Jane, I'll be fine."

"That's good to-" Jane cut herself off with a gasp when she noticed the hallway was littered with dead dwarves belonging to the rebellion and the Oathbound. "Oh no..."

"Come on miss Jane" said William before putting his hand on her shoulder. "They paid the ultimate price to hold off a more skilled and numerous force. We shouldn't disrespect their sacrifice by wasting time."

Suddenly after letting out a powerful roar, Danford burst from the rubble, startling Jane and William. The Oathbound commander began to stumble toward William. "Not done yet..." he growled. However after only taking a few steps, Danford collapsed.

William quickly checked the dwarf's pulse. "He's alive" he said. "That jaelium armor never ceases to impress. I need to get my hands on a set."

"What about Glome?" Jane asked when she spotted the sub-commander's hand poking out of the rubble. "Is he..."

William removed the rubble covering Glome and when he saw how broken the dwarf's body was, he knew it would be superfluous to check Glome's pulse. "He's gone miss Jane" he said before placing the rubble back on Glome's deceased body.

Jane fell back against the wall and stared down at her hands. "Because I killed him..." she muttered as a tear dropped from her eye. "I wasn't even thinking that could happen... I just... I just..."

"You did what you had to miss Jane" assured William before giving Jane a hug. "You saved my life just then. Miss Jane, I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Jane sniffled and nodded before returning William's hug. "I should be the one thanking you" she said. "You're an amazing friend Will."

"As are you miss Jane" assured William as his face started to turn blue. "But do you mind not hugging me so tight? I can't breathe and I don't want anymore of my ribs broken."

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" gasped Jane after quickly releasing her friend.

"Don't worry about it miss Jane" William wheezed before resting his maul over his shoulder and pointing toward the secret passage Vanrig had used to escape. "Now then, let's go catch us a tyrant."

TO BE CONTINUED....