Danube.
This was not the broken woman who had crawled out of Ursal.
No, this was Pony, the wife of Elbryan, the same Pony who had defeated De'Unnero in Palmaris' square those many years ago, the same young and strong Pony trained and adept in the gemstones and in the elven sword dance.
The appearance of Elbryan had done this to her, had transformed her into a creature of pure outrage.
De'Unnero understood at once how badly young Aydrian had miscalculated.
Even when Andacanavar joined in beside Midalis, the two of them coordinating their attacks brilliantly and in perfect harmony, Aydrian found that he could more than hold his own. Something inside of him surfaced, some primordial, instinctual response that had him flashing Hawkwing all about magnificently, that had him turning and dodging, ducking a great slash of Andacanavar's huge sword and skipping back deftly from Midalis' sudden thrust.
And all the while, he countered with Hawkwing, sliding his hands down low on one end to swing it like a club, or moving the lead hand up suddenly and thrusting forward.
On one such thrust, Aydrian stopped suddenly, slid his hand back, and pivoted about, launching a wide and strong swing that had Midalis caught flat-footed. The prince gave a cry and fell away, but got clipped on the shoulder and had to tumble down, his sword skidding from his grasp.
Aydrian didn't pursue, but turned fast on Andacanavar.
"Your time is past, old man," he said, and he went in hard.
The barbarian started a sidelong slash, but stopped cunningly and reversed his strength, stabbing straight ahead instead.
But Aydrian was already gone, spinning to the side around the blade. He brought Hawkwing across hard, smashing the man's elbows, then retracted and slid his hands apart, stabbing the man hard in the side.
The barbarian ranger's backhand slash almost had Aydrian then, but he went down low and moved across under the slashing blade. Hawkwing took Andacanavar on the inside of the knee, driving his leg out wide and stealing his balance.
Aydrian reversed and stabbed up with the staff, catching the ranger in the groin and lifting him up on his toes. Andacanavar roared and punched down hard, but Aydrian was already moving, diving forward between his legs.
As soon as the young king got his feet under him, he cut back the other way, rushing back behind Andacanavar as the barbarian turned about, his great sword leading.
Now one clean step ahead of his opponent, Aydrian brought Hawkwing across with all his strength, and heard the crunch of bone as the hard wood connected on Andacanavar's skull.
The barbarian spun, and continued spinning, all the way to the floor, blood spilling from his ears.
Figuring the man already dead, Aydrian went in anyway, but had to pull up short and spin back at the attacking Midalis. The prince, off-balance, his sword not even securely back in his grasp, stumbled by and took a solid hit.
Midalis tried to turn as he hit the floor, but Aydrian was there, his leg solidly placed to hold the prince awkwardly, and helpless.
Prince Midalis looked up to realize his doom, the specter of Aydrian, Hawkwing high before him.
And so it ends, Midalis thought.
Across the way, Elbryan's swordplay with Brynn took on a new dimension as Bradwarden joined the fray, the ferocious and powerful centaur sweeping his heavy club to and fro with wild abandon.
"We'll get this one, lassie!" the centaur promised. His club went past the retreating specter, who then reversed his footing and charged in through the opening.
But then Brynn was there, intercepting Elbryan's sword and forcing him to back away quickly as Bradwarden's backhand nearly caught up to him.
"Ah, but we're a fine team!" the centaur roared, although Brynn, of course, couldn't understand a word of what he was saying.
With his typical lack of finesse, Bradwarden leaped ahead and gave a roar, and Elbryan came forward as well, spinning to the side.
Bradwarden tried to turn to keep up with the quick ranger, but his hooves skidded on the blood-slicked floor. He tried to scramble to hold his balance, but futilely, and his back legs went out from under him and down he went.
"I breaked me leg!" he howled soon after the snap of bone echoed through the room, and then another equine form came charging through, inadvertently clipping the centaur and sending him skidding and spinning away.
That charging horse staggered Elbryan and Brynn back, as well, cutting directly between them. The reprieve didn't last for long for the Dragon of To-gai, though, for the specter of Nightbird