[h3]Rionach[/h3]
[hr]

A sidelong glance flew to Ferrian as he commented on the nature of humans.  [i]And you're not?[/i]  Come to think of it, the young man did look a little strange.  Either way, no time could be spared at the moment for such considerations.  Every adrenaline-filled second spent waiting to skedaddle increased the likeliness of taking a full helping of iron to the guts.  Rionach's look turned aghast when Luna suggested that Kazador joined them.  “If they come with, we'll be targeted!” she said through gritted teeth, in a low but urgent voice.  She really did not want to antagonize the dwarves in any way, especially since they'd been so accommodating, but the fact remained that her best chances did not include them.  An attack made the next moment by an Archanean soldier illustrated her point.  Thankfully, Kazador defended himself, and then elected to fight with his own crew.  A brief sigh of relief escaped Rionach's lips, though it turned to annoyance as the overdressed sellsword spoke down on her.  If the situation weren't so chaotic she might have talked back, but for now she zeroed in on the royals siblings of Askr, who were ready to depart.  Given the chance to flee by the troop of dwarves, the bunch of misfits made tracks.

Their path to safety ended up bringing them face-to-face with another melee.  Even Rionach, with her lack of battlefield experience, could identify the Varjans.  With the suggestion of a detour on her lips, the spearwoman turned to look for another route, only to spot another regiment hot on her group's heels.  The words they called out made Rionach's blood curdle, part of it from anger for General Luna's shortsighted invitation of vengeance.  Before anything could happen, the merchant of all people offered a makeshift battle plan, splitting the forces like a seasoned tactician.  Of course, Anna's scheme left out the majority of people present, leaving them to decide for themselves.  As dangerous as it would be to turn her back on armored barbarians, Rionach liked her odds against the sword-wielding Archanean soldiers better, since her spear afforded her an advantage—besides, if the Paladin were to change his pursuit into a cavalry charge to disrupt her team's ranks, they'd need a spear to stave it off.  That much, Rionach knew from her many hours spent chatting up veterans of war in pubs and inns.  Rionach nodded, committed to the idea.  If her choice ever came into question, self-defense would be her excuse, though with any luck she would never need answer for this fighting.

As she hefted her spear and faced the incoming Archaneans with a battle-ready stance, she became aware of fighting behind her and a flash of light.  The sound of raging fire followed suit, but as curious as she was, Rionach could not afford to split her attention.  Isolated as they were, the dwarves had no choice but to fight to the bitter end, and as the last fell the enemy advanced once again, fresh blood splattered across their weapons.  Two approached her, one a few feet in front of the other.  [i]Take the initiative.  Element of surprise.[/i]  Clenching her teeth, Rionach planted her weapon's butt in the ground, pulled, and then jumped.  Her spear's shaft bent before straightening with a snap, sending its wielder up and forward in a flip.  In the heat of the moment she couldn't think of anything more articulate than “Rrragh!” as she slammed her weapon down during the end of her vault, aimed at the head of the first soldier.  With a halberd such a move might have been deadly, but with a spear it wouldn't do much more than stun him, though that meant a quick kick to his chest would keep him indisposed for a moment.  That meant, however, that Rionach was still gathering her balance by the time the second soldier reached her.  She aimed a thrust at Rionach's torso, which the highlander attempted to parry by knocking it to the side, but her desperate attempt to defend meant a likely miss.  [i]Hell!  Is this it?![/i]

From the direction of Luna, axe flew into the other woman from the side, cutting into her studded-leather spaulder and dangling there.  The impact and subsequent wait shocked the soldier enough to give Rionach the chance she needed.  Holding her spear sideways with both hands, Rionach rammed into her opponent, toppling her over.  From there, a thrust to the unprotected thigh should render her down for the count.  Luna appeared to retrieve her axe, but the next moment the pegasus rider from earlier made a play at the enemy leader only to be stuffed by a single attack.  Rionach jumped back, feeling overwhelmed from too much happening at once as well as the arrival of additional soldiers.  As another two swordsmen approached her, testing her extended guard with swipes meant to knock her speartip aside, she found herself driven back toward the wall of the pass.  Jabs could ward them off, but any committed thrust would give the other soldier a chance to get into close range, bring the fight -and Rionach's life- to a quick end.  The soldiers seemed to know it, while Rionach herself had no clue how to deal with this without the element of surprise.