Chapter 185 - 183:Muddy Fall.

Chapter 185: Chapter 183:Muddy Fall.

It must be spectacular up close.

​Then he blinks, and the rain catches up, and Loac, like a flash of lightning, is gone.

​Sound rushes back to fill his ears once more, and suddenly Loac is impossibly deep in Khobi’s space, and his blade is rising so hard and so fast Binny feels an absurd rush of panic clawing its way out of his throat in the shape of Khobi’s name.

​There’s no way to block that.

​There’s no way to stop it.

​(He’s too close.)

​(Too fast.)

Khobi’s fast, too, but it’s not enough, not this time.

Unbelievably, with split seconds to spare, he manages to put just enough space between the two of them to get his sword up in time.

The squeal the two blades make as they meet makes Binny’s ears ring, and he knows the instant it connects that Khobi’s sword will go flying.

​So does Khobi, apparently, because he lets it.

​And instead, throws his entire body at Loac. No warning, no hesitation, no regard for how reckless it is to rush someone that’s armed.

He just plants his feet and charges into a full throttle tackle, completely giving over to his momentum and sending the both of them flying to the ground in a muddy tangle of limbs.

​Loac’s sword skitters free, skidding in the mud. The crowd parts to let it through, and no one moves to grab it.

Instead, they seem eager to see what happens next, and turn their gazes back to the two men slowly rolling away from each other; the fall having knocked the wind out of both of them.

Unsteady, but mission accomplished, Khobi spits out a mouthful of mud, and turns his gaze across to Loac, who is equally a mess.

​They both realise at the same time that neither of them are armed.

And that Loac’s sword is closest.

​What follows is one of the most fantastic sequences of events Binny has ever had the fortune to witness.

​Loac and Khobi both glance at each other, and then towards the sword, glinting in the puddle it landed in.

​They look back at each other.

​As one, they snap into motion, and the crowd around them goes wild as they scramble for purchase in the mud.

It’s quite a stark contrast to the elegant display of only moments before –any and all mystique completely thrown to the wind as Khobi loses his footing and eats shit as he slips, taking Loac down with him a second time.

​Binny shouldn’t –he really shouldn’t –but he can’t help it.

​He bursts out laughing. And he’s pretty sure that he’s not the only one.

​...

​There’s one person who isn’t laughing.

​It’s a bad sign that there are already people at the training grounds.

Soldiers were hardly dedicated enough to tear themselves out of bed on a warm summer morning, so for there to be this many, this early, and with this much rain could mean nothing good.

​Such a shame. Drogger was in such a good mood, too.

​Even with the downpour, he’s not an idiot; he knows a fight when he sees one. And if he was a gambling man, he’d wager a couple of gold on just who had drawn so many onlookers.

There are at least a couple dozen soldiers there who would, under normal circumstances, rather die than be caught out of bed at this hour, especially after a night spent drinking.

​It was so good of them to have made such a special effort this morning.

​As he grows closer he’s able to make out the usual suspects gathered around, most of them looking on the haggard side and more than slightly worse for wear as the effects of drinking to excess start to take hold.

He mentally checks them off one by one with practiced ease, unsurprised by many of the faces he finds.

​Montrel.

​Gandy.

​Rogard.

​Of them all, Rogard sees him first, and it’s a very bad sign that he doesn’t even pretend to look guilty at being caught.

​In fact, he looks pleased to see him.

​(That was going to be troublesome.)

​(But he knew that, didn’t he?)

​"Oh shit," someone else curses. Good, they’ve finally noticed him.

​Almost sheepishly, the shouts slowly start to die, and as the rows part for him, Drogger is greeted to the sight of two familiar faces, at it once again.

​It’s got to be the first time Khobi’s ever been here before dawn.

​A pity that his motivations were so...specific.

​"I might’ve known," Drogger declares stonily, folding his arms across his chest and waiting for them to quit their squabbling.

Because that’s what they appear to be doing, trying to shove each other into the mud like children; swords both discarded like forgotten toys.

​A peal of thunder rings out, as if to announce his arrival, and both of them at least have the good sense to freeze at the sound of his voice.

They’re covered in so much mud that Drogger has difficulty telling where one ends and the other begins.

​He waits.

No one dares say a word. In fact, right now most of them are doing their best to be as quiet, and look as small as possible.

They needn’t bother. He knows exactly who they are, each and every one of them. It’s before dawn, so technically they’re not late, but tardiness isn’t the only thing Drogger has been known to punish for.

​Loac is the first to clamber to his feet, giving Khobi’s face an unnecessary shove into the mud.

He immediately gets his feet kicked out from under him in retaliation and he goes right back down again in comedic and entirely un-princelike fashion, making sure to yank Khobi’s ankle when he makes to step over him so that he gets the same treatment.

​Drogger continues to wait, jaw clenched.

​"Oi, what the fuck!"

​"You started it!"

A couple of the surrounding soldiers stifle snickers.

Some aren’t particularly successful, but at least they tried.