frøm rîçhëš to ràgs {crystal only <3}

[~echo~]

Wren was with the servants and she was smart enough to grab her own knife and prepare to defend herself if need be.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

One of the men approached her, a grin on his face. "Maybe you ought to put that down, little lady," he said. "You could hurt someone with that."

[~echo~]

Her eyes narrowed fiercely. "Yeah, like you. Step away and you don't lose a hand."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

He snorted. "Please. I'd like to see you try."

Upstairs, a pounding sounded at Rylan's door. "Lord Dayne?" a voice called. "There's a commotion downstairs. I think you better get dressed."

Rylan hastily gathered his clothing and opened the door to face the guard. "What's happening?" he asked.

"I think we're being attacked."

[~echo~]

Wren tightened and loosene her grip on the knife. "Try me."

Suddenly, the guard outside Lord Rylan's door was felled. The leader of the gang came inside Rylan's room.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

He stepped forward, brandishing his own knife, and swiped at her wrist.

Rylan jumped back and made a dash across the room to reached his sword. He jerked it out of the scabbard and turned to face his attacker. "You're making a mistake," he warned the man.

[~echo~]

Wren jerked her wrist away and then stabbed at his wrist in turn.

The man smirked. "You killed three of my best men. You need to pay."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

The man yelped in surprise when she nicked him, but he managed to avoid any serious damage. Angry now, he stabbed at her again, this time at her stomach.

Rylan frowned. "I've killed a lot of people, unfortunately. You'll have to be more specific."

[~echo~]

Wren jumped back but managed to grab his wrist, trying to wrest his knife away from him.

"Yesterday. Three of our men. You murdered them."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"Ah, those robbers," Rylan said calmly. "I wouldn't call it murder. More like self-defense."

[~echo~]

"Killing anyone is murder. And I plan on taking my vengeance."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Rylan lifted his sword and widened his stance. "Very well. I just hope you know what you're getting into.

[~echo~]

The man grinned and dashed to Rylan, swinging at him with his own sword.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Rylan stepped gracefully to the side and slapped the man with the flat of his sword as he passed. "Watch where you swing that thing. You could put your eye out."

[~echo~]

The man was inexperienced with a sword so he was clumsy. He swung again, aiming for Rylan's heart.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Rylan snorted and knocked the sword aside with a swipe of his blade. This man sought to kill him? He'd trained half his life in the hopes of becoming a knight, even if he'd known deep down that it would never happen. He'd always been meant to become lord of his house. "You're going to have to do better than that."

[~echo~]

As soon as he was close to Rylan, a dagger came from under the mans sleeve and he stabbed at Rylan. Although he wasn't skilled with a sword, he was deadly up close with a dagger.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Rylan's eyes widened. Momentarily surprised by the dagger, but stumbled a bit in his dodge, but he managed to get out of the way with only a deep gouge in his arm. He hurriedly moved across the room, putting distance between him and the man.

[~echo~]

The man smiled. He had him on the run now. He stepped closer and stabbed again at Rylan's torso.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

The dagger sank into Rylan stomach and he cried out. Despite the pain that radiated from the wound, he brought up his sword and sliced clean through the man's arm, cutting it off at the elbow.