35
Melee
They were big. They were muscle-bound. They were stripped to the waist, and wore tight leather leggings over sandals. They were ugly, or at least wore ugly masks showing faces distorted by unnatural growths of horns or multiple noses and eyes, and grimacing in expressions of exquisite agony. They carried long, curved swords of black steel that nevertheless shimmered along the length of their honed edges. They came in pairs, two out of each building surrounding the square.
And they all charged straight toward Julian and Tolburt.
"Crap!" Julian said again, at the exact same time as Tolburt did. He wasted no time, having judged the situation in a glance: if they let their attackers join forces, they were dead.
So he charged forward to meet the two closest fellows head-on.
