Flor closed her eyes and slunk down in her chair, pretending to look drugged or asleep. Lady Rosa had slumped over the table. The rest of the team started doing likewise.

  “Excellent work, team! You have all exceeded my expectations and I shall see that you are well rewarded. It seems as if sleep has overcome them all. Come along, let’s survey and bind them to move them to the experiment room.”

  Flor heard Maximin stand up next to her and wondered if it was he who had bound her and transported her to the dungeon previously.

  There was scuffling around, and Flor wondered if that meant that Alastair had shown up. It was time, regardless, to act. Flor opened her eyes, looked around, and saw several guards and nobles chatting in the middle of the hall. They pointed at the drugged individuals. Even without Alastair and the others, it was time. Flor looked around her to ensure there wasn’t anyone behind her, then stood and flexed her fists. Certainly, there was no way that Flor could take them alone.

  One of the guards looked in her direction. Surprise came over his face, and he yelled, “One of them woke up!” Others followed his hand as it pointed in her direction. “Subdue her!”

  Two guards moved toward her while pulling out their swords. This was not looking promising. Fortunately, Lord Oliver also stood. He proclaimed, “Lord Meritxell, I charge you with treason against the crown and the Lord Necromancer.”

  The Lord Chamberlain laughed. “Of course you misunderstand, Oliver. Guards, to work!” The Chamberlain then walked up to the dais and sat on the Necromancer’s throne to watch as the guards and minor nobles cleaned up the resistance.

  The two guards still walked toward Flor, swords drawn, and started around the table from either side. Flor took advantage of them separating to charge forward and her interface flashed into the gem combat. Flor had an easy five-gem attack combination set up and used the guard’s surprise to her advantage. Her fists flew out and she hit him with her right jab directly under his eye. She then jabbed him in his mouth with her left before a right jab to his cheek and an uppercut to his chin. Flor wasn’t sure, but his eyes seemed to spin around like an old cartoon.

  One turn until the enemy is reinforced.

  Flor quickly considered staying in the combat or engaging separately. She decided she’d be lucky to defeat this guard in one additional turn. Still, she pressed the attack, combining another four red gem combinations. She swung again, hoping to land at least one hit, and the guard seemed to try to block her strikes with his sword arm. Still, one of her strikes hit him again in the eye, and were this not a game she was convinced that he would have a black eye.

  The enemy is reinforced.

  The other guard appeared in the window, and Flor was glad he didn’t attack her from the back.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  You have been reinforced.

  A cartoon of Sparks showed up in her interface and gave the same goofy wave that Alastair’s character had done so long ago.

  With the reinforcement on both sides, Flor didn’t think she needed to force the combat even if it might be worthwhile to be done with it sooner. Hopefully, Oliver and Francesc were holding their own. Irving and his thugs were hopefully occupying another one or two guards; even if they were just struck down, they’d at least cause a delay to additional reinforcement. Alastair’s team should already have been along. Unless they had died along the way. She almost felt a shred of concern for him, which she hadn’t felt in ages.

  The pressing matter was a visibly angry guard. Flor combined four blocking gems. Despite his facial bruising, the guard prepared to swing his sword at her. The second guard deferred to the first as Flor stepped into the swing and raised an arm, stopping the swing, before stepping back into a fighting stance.

  With health still full, Flor again selected an all-out assault. The cartoon of Sparks flashed red as Flor flowed forward, punching the first guard in the nose again, then dancing out from under his clumsy block. She backfisted the cheek of the second guard. She looked down as a skull appeared over the first guard and he faded out of view. The second guard looked disgusted and sneered at Flor.

  Both Flor and Sparks anticipated that the guard would attack, so Flor used the opportunity for a full five block and Sparks glowed blue. Sure enough, the guard rushed forward to impale her with his sword, but she hopped to the side and the attack fully missed. Flor made a block and attack combo, and the guard swung his sword up and thrust forward. The upward swing caught her arm but the thrust missed, and Flor smashed her arm into the guard’s exposed armpit. Flor saw that the cut had taken only one health, but even one lost health jeopardized completing this game. She knew this combat needed to end fast but was thankful that no new reinforcements were en route. She hoped that meant all the other guards were occupied. Flor figured the guard still had three or four health and wanted to be done so she could figure out how the rest of the assault was going.

  She saw a five-red gem combo. She guessed the guard would defend after his last couple of attacks. So she did likewise. There was a combo that could have restored her one health by swapping a blue gem for a green, but it would have adjusted the gems and removed the possibility for the five-red combo next turn. Cartoon Sparks glowed green and snapped. Sure enough, the guard stepped back and raised his sword defensively while Flor did the same, raising both fists to either side of her head. With Sparks’ snap, Flor was back to full health. She hoped a full assault would end this combat. She combined the five red gems, Sparks glowed red, and Flor rushed forward, throwing punch after punch at the guard. He dropped the sword and fell to his knees, then, kneeling, a skull appeared over his head as he slumped forward and disappeared.

  Combat complete. +1 to combat.

  Attempt again? Yes/No?

  Of course not. The combat interface disappeared and Flor blinked as the hall appeared back around her. She quickly looked at Sparks before looking around the room. Oliver and Francesc were still engaged in their combat. They were each fighting off a guard while a minor noble armed with a sword ran to reinforce the guard attacking Oliver. Flor glanced at the throne and saw that the Lord Chamberlain was still sitting in observation, flanked by two more minor nobles, but annoyed at the unpromising outcome.

  Flor looked for Irving, but couldn’t see him or his thugs. She noticed a separate guard wiping blood from his sword as he stood up. A moment passed and Alastair, Maelstrom, and Galoots appeared from the stairwell. Galoots rushed the guard, who seemed unaware of the new arrivals. Galoots landed a solid warhammer hit on the guard, who stumbled forward and fell over Irving or one of his thugs.