(Once upon a time, this was a necessary evil. I was very good at it too. Made the mistake of teaching one of my ex's the tricks of that trade....... )
Some sentries were walking down an outer hallway when the wall between them was blasted down by a rending fire. Their eyes told them that two figures came through it at that time as well. In all honesty, they stood there stupidly and watched as the figures stood up and started swinging at each other with fists and anything else at hand. The shorter of the two was being rather surprisingly agile and physical for someone his size. The look on his face made it clear that he was determined to make this fight count. He was muttering names in a memorized list as his fists, feet, forehead, and elbows made contact....
Karsh was very unhinged by the sudden appearance of the Archon, that much was obvious. Abilene wondered about the mental aspects of coming face to face with the one who was responsible for one's death. She backed up as the two rumbled on by, destroying almost anything not nailed down in their collective paths. Ghost though she was, she didn't want to be in the middle of that. Neither combatant spoke much, except that list of names.
"Remember? Remember your blood crimes? Necromancer? " Karsh shook the Archon furiously in one hand. The old necromancer tried to poke Karsh with a knife, but failed in his attempt. He was simply too slow. Karsh had already given him a toss towards the next intersection of halls. A small wave of his hand, and a chair shot towards the Archon along the floor, scooping him up for a ride straight back towards Karsh. Karsh stepped forward and revealed what was in his hands as he turned into the swing. His sword was ringing as if alive as it clove the chair in half. The Archon had ducked under the slash, but lost a few inches of hair in the process. He grabbed his shorn locks in disbelief. He was too slow again, Karsh grabbed him and brought him down on his knee as if to break him in half. The Archon seemed impervious to that kind of damage, as did Karsh himself. But it was soothing to abuse the old necromancer that way... A swift uppercut sent the Archon into the air a foot or three, where he was grabbed and thrown into the floor. He stood up, and brought his own weapon to bear. A quick backhand, then downward strike, and Karsh's head snapped upward, then downward. The Archon smiled, he hoped this was good enough.
It wasn't. Karsh looked back up, he had three lines across his face from the spikes on the Archon's gauntlet. His hand touched the cuts, and he looked at his fingers. At the same time as the Archon stood gloating, Karsh's sword was whipping in a short arc overhead. The Archon noticed and finally moved in time. He put his gauntlet in the way. Steel met steel, and the gauntlet was destroyed. The Archon screamed as his arm burned. He didn't notice a boot coming straight at him as he was too busy trying to put out the flames.
Back in the room, Rathe and Arselen were having their own heart-to-heart with a new intruder. Rathe knew him well. It was his brother. The Archon had brought him along to make his own trouble. And Rathe knew that Rollo could make plenty of trouble.
"Father would like it if you would come with us, dear brother." the last two words were more sneered than spoken. It was also more of a command than a request. Even if it was a request, Rathe had no intention of going back to Karant and being a slave to necromancy. He also had an urgent wish to live. So he gave his brother the only answer that he could.
Rathe's black sword blade came down as hard as he could swing it. Rollo stumbled backwards a few feet in surprise. His own sword was stinging his hand from that hit. He blinked. He had hoped that it would come to blows, but never in his dreams had he thought it would be like this. The one person who could make this a sure loss for him was busy fighting down the hall... as the sounds of destruction attested. He smiled and stepped closer to Rathe and Arselen with a venemous smile on his face. He wondered what kind of slave to make his 'half-sister'.....