It worked. Off-balance, Bastro Felgosh tottered and came cra****ng
into Ehlissa hard enough to knock her violently against the far wall
of the small office.
The jarring impact made Ehlissa aware that she was standing in her
undergarments, the back of her head hurt, Tenser was on the floor and
Bastro, first back on his feet, was stomping on Tenser's hand that
still clutched the dagger. As enraged as Bastro was, he seemed to
have forgotten momentarily that he could finish Tenser off with a
spell -- but only momentarily. Bastro began casting a spell that,
while unfamiliar to Ehlissa, had an awful air of lethality to it. Not
seeing her own dagger handy, Ehlissa picked up a thick book from the
work desk and smacked Bastro over the back of the head with it as hard
as she could. It distracted him for only a moment, but it seemed to
buy Tenser time to wrap himself around Bastro's legs and try to trip
him. Between the two of them, they managed to break Bastro's
concentration enough that he lost his spell in mid-casting.
Bastro had clearly had enough of this fighting in close quarters. He
kicked himself free of Tenser's hold and made his way for the exit.
Tenser yelled, "Don't let him leave!" as he struggled to rise to his
feet.
If Bastro was free from their interference…Ehlissa envisioned Bastro
gutting his office with magical fire if that meant ridding himself of
both Tenser and her. She reached out to grab Bastro's clothes, but he
slipped out of her grasp and made it to the hallway. He turned around
to face them, now trapped in his office, but his attention was
distracted by something else out in the hallway.
"Go!" Bastro yelled angrily to someone in the hall while shooing them
off with a wave of his arm. "Return to the main hall at once!"
It was all the distraction Tenser needed to make a flying tackle at
Bastro's midsection. Bastro was ready for him this time, grabbed hold
of Tenser, and brought his knee up hard into Tenser's chest.
Out of immediate danger, modesty overcame Ehlissa and she gathered up
her discarded clothes to hold them around her. She came cautiously to
the door, frightened by the sight of Bastro clearly gaining the upper
hand over Tenser again. Then she noticed familiar voices out in the
hall – female voices raised in shrill protest, shouting, "Stop!" and
"Don't hurt him!" They belonged to Ehlissa's friends Johannah and
Leana.
Ehlissa came out into the hallway and saw, not just Johannah and
Leana, but Eura and Johydee as well. They stood side-by-side,
screaming with un-feminine excitement to see a senior and junior
guildmember kicking the crap out of each other. Ehlissa looked again
to the battle and saw that both sides were taking a necessary
breather. Tenser was leaning forward with his hands on his knees and
panting, but still only a step away from locking himself in battle
with Bastro again. Bastro's face was red as a beet, either in anger
at his plans for Ehlissa being dashed, embarrassed at having an
audience, or some combination of the two.
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