Only two men stepped forward to do the Priest's bidding, and they didn’t look confident.

One had traces of dried blood on his face that hadn’t been cleaned off from a previous fight. He wasn’t much taller than her but he had bulk on his side. The other was slightly smaller in stature and looking to the bigger man for guidance.

They looked even less confident when Lyssa arched an eyebrow and planted her feet on the stone blocks of the bridge. The only difference she could see between them and the others still stood at the priest’s side, was that they wore leather instead of wool. They didn't look like warrior's, or move with the confidence of one.

Leather may be better protection while fighting, but in reality unless it was well made its stiffness only slowed you down.

The woman on the bridge wall turned out to be younger than Lyssa had first thought.

She let out a chuckle. “Now you’re scared, when it’s someone who can beat you all up. You’re cowards.” Her hair was wild in a way that made Lyssa think she was the one who had been fighting. The wind rippled it behind her like a banner following a warrior into battle.

“Be quiet girl.” The priest snapped. He was the most ordinary looking man Lyssa had ever seen. Short hair, average height, average weight and a face that would be hard to remember. The only notable thing about him was that he thought he could wield more power than he had.

“No, what are you going to do, kill me?” The girl laughed again, and almost succeeded in sending herself over the edge into the river.

The men advanced on Lyssa, goaded on by being called a coward by a girl half their size. They had crude short swords in their hands, and obviously no idea about how to hold or use a weapon like that to be effective. She also doubted the sharpness of the blades.

No wonder they thought leather would offer protection against a real warrior. Lyssa hadn’t bothered to put her armor on. It would be hilariously over the top if she had come to this fight dressed as a proper warrior knight in gleaming plate armor.

Not to mention it was too hot, despite the wind rushing across the water, and if these men could get the better of her then she didn’t deserve her titles or armor.

She drew her dagger, which may have been half the size of their swords, but was much better made.

Her choice of a weapon quickened their steps, they were glad she hadn’t drawn the big sword strapped to her back. They would understand soon enough why she didn’t need to.

The closest lunged at her.

She sidestepped using the hilt of her dagger to break his hand and send his sword flying.

He howled in agony. He should be grateful she hadn’t cut it off instead.

The second took this opportunity to swing at her.

Lyssa parried the blow with a clang of steel that had his sword rebounding back.

She punched him in the face.

He dropped the sword and fell to the floor clutching his bleeding mouth. He’d definitely lost a few teeth.

At least it would match his broken nose.

The guy with the broken hand hadn’t given up.

He scrambled to pick up the sword with his other hand.

She put a stop to that with the swing of her leg. Planting her foot on the blade and trapping his fingers beneath the hilt.

He howled in pain as his second hand was damaged.

“I hope you don’t work with your hands.” A mean smile twisted her lips.

“Bitch.” He spat.

She kneed him in the face and kicked his blade behind her.

The warrior turned to look at the man still clutching his mouth.

He looked up at her with wide eyes.

The warrior cocked her head and looked at the sword laying within his reach.

He backed away and took off running.

Satisfied, she turned to the priest, who was raging about incompetence, and trying to push his followers to confront her.

Literally he was shoving them forward and they were trying to move in any direction but at her.

Then a much bigger man pushed his way to the front of the crowd. He was all muscle with a few inches of height on her. When he drew his sword it wasn’t too badly made either. Still crudely made, most likely by a village blacksmith and not an artisan, but it was longer than the other two and could actually be called a sword.

She considered drawing her own sword but the bridge was too narrow to swing a greatsword effectively. Not to mention he’d be very quick to swing that sword with the bulk he had.

She’d stick to her dagger.

He sauntered across the bridge, arrogance lacing his every step. He knew how to hold a sword and that made him better than most men who decided to carry a blade as a deterrent. He might even be the local warrior who protected this area, but that wasn’t going to be good enough to beat her.

He took the first few swings at her and she parried every one easily, keeping him at a distance. She wasn’t in a hurry to end this, no matter how much that priest shouted or the girl goaded them all into pushing her into the river.

He seemed to take this as a sign she was scared or couldn’t match him.

His swings got bolder and less precise as the crowd cheered for him.

She waited for his eyes to take on that gleam of victory and instead of parrying a swing she stepped neatly out of the way.

He overbalanced and collided with the wall. The breath was knocked from his body.

Lyssa stepped up behind him and used the hilt to knock him out cold.

His body slumped to the floor with his head bouncing off the stone.

“Enough of this nonsense.” The priest had abandoned his book and walked to the girl.

Lyssa knew he was going to push her in, but there were too many people between them. Even she couldn’t kill that many people quick enough to save the girl’s life.

She lifted the dagger above her head and aimed to strike him in the back. Not something she wanted to do under any circumstance. There was no honour in killing a man who wasn’t a warrior, especially when his back was turned. The gods would be angry but a girl’s life was at stake.

Before she could strike the girl launched herself from the wall.

Not into the river but at the priest.

He reared back in surprise. All that did was make it easier for the girl’s weight to knock him to the ground.

The crowd were already backing away, but now they parted as if repelled by her very presence as she ran to the struggling girl on the floor, who was attempting to kick the priest with her bound feet.

Lyssa hauled the girl to her feet, but put one foot on the priest’s chest to keep him where he was.

The bound man didn’t seem to understand what was happening. His gaze darted around, landing on each of them before moving on. He kept opening his mouth to speak but never actually said a word.

“Anyone else want to challenge me?” Lyssa didn’t even bother raising the dagger she held in her hand.

The crowd turned and ran as though they possessed one mind.

“That’s what I thought.”

She cut the girl free and then the man. She let the girl get a few kicks in on the priest before lifting her off him.

She turned to find the previously bound man running away across the other side of the bridge. If he could run that fast then he couldn’t be too badly injured.

The warrior turned back to the priest. “If I catch you doing this again, I’ll kill you.” Lyssa said lacing her voice with a growl. The girl took such a menacing step forward that Lyssa had to stop her with a hand on her shoulder. “Or I’ll let her kill you. Depends on how annoying you are.” She kicked him in the arse to get him moving. “Run.”

He took off like a rabbit, tripping a few times but quickly making the trees on the Cahan side of the river.

Lyssa could still see Bouda waiting in the shade. There were no people unconscious at the horse’s hooves, so she could only assume none of them had tried to steal her.

“That was so good.” The girl was excitedly gesturing beside her, trying to act out the pivotal moments and gushing over how exciting it all was.

Her clothes were dusty, and slightly askew from her struggle on the ground with the priest. The band holding her black hair back had snapped at some point and she kept trying to smooth it back to keep it out of her face. It was a battle the girl was not going to win.

Lyssa sighed and headed towards her horse. How was the girl still talking when she had done all that screaming? Shouldn’t she be losing her voice by now?

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Lyssa asked.

“No.” The girl shook her head.

“A home to go to?” Desperation crept into Lyssa’s voice.

“Well yeah but it’s a bit far away and I’ve got something to do first.”

“See you around then.” Lyssa gave a tug on the reins to get Bouda moving and headed back to the bridge.

“Wait, you’re crossing the bridge into Ghanda?”

Lyssa had an awful feeling that she didn’t want to answer that question, but if she didn’t cross here she wasn’t sure she’d be able to cross anywhere else downstream.

“Yes.”

“Good, that’s where I’m going. We can keep each other company.” The girl looked like she was about to try and link their arms or hold hands.

“I don’t need company.” Lyssa stepped away.

“I do. What if they come back?” The girl moved closer but didn’t try to touch her again.

Damn, Lyssa couldn’t leave her alone after saving her. “Fine but we’re walking for at least an hour before we make camp.” Lyssa stalked to her horse and climbed into the saddle.

“I’m Lyssa.”

“Abi.”

“Keep up.” Lyssa didn’t try to lose Abi, but she didn’t keep Bouda to an easy walking speed either. Hopefully being out of breath would prevent the girl from talking.

“Great, while we walk I can tell you about Ghanda and ask you questions about other places. Where do you come from?”

Lyssa considered answering the question by lying, but the brief pause was apparently only to draw breath as Abi studied Bouda.

“Actually, what type of horse is this? I’ve never seen one like her. She’s so big, but I suppose a warrior like you would need a great stead to ride into battle.”

Abi continued talking as Lyssa considered what she would finally say when the girl paused long enough for her to answer. It was going to be a long hour.