Gred said something in Elvish and slowly straightened up. His head barely rose above the grass, but his large face, twisted with anger, was clearly visible.
The elf didn't seem bothered. He spoke a short phrase in Dwarven, slowly and one word at a time, then burst out laughing.
Gred gritted his teeth, let out a roar, and sprang forward. Smiling, the elf raised his bow. His arms were slender, but they held incredible strength. He drew the bowstring all the way back with ease and released it. The arrow shot toward the charging dwarf like a bullet.
Before Jess could even react, Gred had pulled the small round shield off his back and knocked the arrow away with perfect timing.
The dwarf kept charging through the grass. The smile vanished from the elf's face. He took a second arrow, aimed ahead, then let it go without shooting.
Gred was closing too fast. There was no time to draw the bow.
The elf crossed his arms over his chest and smoothly drew two curved blades from his waist, one long and one short. He calmly dodged a thrust from Gred's sword, turned, and slashed with both blades at once. Gred knocked them away with his shield.
But the strike with the short blade in the elf's right hand had been a feint. It skimmed past the shield and stabbed toward the dwarf's waist. Gred reacted just as fast, bringing his raised shield down hard to knock the blade aside.
The elf used the force to spin away and retreat two steps. By the time they faced each other again, his swords were ready, one high and one low.
Gred tossed his little shield aside, cursed in Dwarven, and gripped his sword with both hands. The elf now looked much more serious. He prepared to meet the next attack with everything he had.
Jess was stunned just watching those few exchanges. If he charged into a fight at that level, wouldn't he end up with two or three holes in him before he knew what happened?
But Gred wasn't winning. If Jess didn't help and the dwarf lost, he'd be dead for sure. So he took out his axe and circled around.
The elf noticed Jess moving. His eyes shifted for only a moment, but Gred roared and charged in with his sword raised. The elf frowned and blocked the powerful slash with both blades. The dwarf was so strong that he forced the blades down against the elf's shoulder.
Clenching his teeth, the elf glanced at the fist crest of Stromgarde on the sword's hilt. Jess had already reached him from behind!
Jess swung his axe roughly across the elf's waist. The elf grunted and turned his neck, taking the pressure off the dwarf's sword. At the same time, he shifted his body out of the path of Jess's axe and slipped away as smoothly as a mongoose.
He backed up several steps until both Jess and Gred were in front of him. His gaze followed a loose lock of his blond hair as it slid down the dwarf's sword blade.
"All this over one plant, huh?" The elf looked at them. "You two have a death wish?"
"You're doing the same thing," Jess said. "And you're fighting two against one."
"This isn't about the plant anymore, you pointy-eared rat," Gred said. "Now die like a good boy."
"Yes, yes." The elf looked at Jess. "It's no longer about the plant. The dwarf wants to win back his pointless honor and dignity, and I don't feel like letting him."
"Die!"
Gred roared and rushed in swinging. The elf gave a cold snort, turned the dwarf's angled thrust aside with his longer blade, and retreated two steps. Then he threw his short knife. It brushed Gred's lower leg, cutting it cleanly before burying itself in the mud. Gred groaned and fell.
"Gred!"
Jess clearly couldn't keep up with the other two. Seeing Gred in trouble, he simply threw his axe. The logging axe spun accurately toward the elf, who dodged it with ease.
"Human, is there something wrong with your head?"
Jess looked at Gred trying to get up, then at the elf watching him from the corner of his eye. A stupid idea suddenly came to him.
He started muttering bits of English dialogue he'd memorized in his old life—things like "How are you?"—pretending to chant a spell. He moved his hands in front of his chest, copying how Surena had cast spells in the basement.
The elf was startled. He immediately waved a hand toward Jess and moved his lips slightly. A moment later, Jess felt as if a string had snapped inside his head. A terrible ringing in his ears swallowed every thought.
For an instant, it felt as though the whole world was pressing in on him. He opened his mouth but couldn't speak. He wanted to shout, but no sound came. Everything spun, and he couldn't stay on his feet.
He stumbled and fell face-first into the mud. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gred get up and punch the elf in the jaw. The blow sent the elf flying several yards, and he slid along the ground when he landed.
Jess couldn't help giving a foolish laugh. The elf had fallen for it. He'd thought Jess was about to cast a spell and had done everything he could to stop him.
Jess had expected the elf might throw a knife or shoot an arrow to interrupt him.
He'd never intended to cast anything. All his attention had been on his opponent, so he'd been confident he could dodge the attack as best he could—or at least keep a casual strike from hitting a vital spot—and give Gred a chance to fight back.
Instead, the elf had hit him with a spell that shut him down completely.
So that was what being hit by Counterspell felt like? It was as if someone had slammed the back of his head into a wall.
"Enough!"
Just when Jess thought Gred had won, the elf roared and jumped to his feet. He chanted a spell, and a mass of ice burst from the ground and pinned Gred in place. No matter how hard he pulled, he couldn't free his legs.
"You two idiots... I've had enough."
The elf backed away, pointing at both of them. "I'm taking that plant. So what? Come hit me, then! You pair of lunatics... This has been the worst day of my life. Let's see what else you can do. How are you going to stop me now?"
He was already limping, and even his shouting sounded weak. Rubbing the cheek Gred had punched, he cursed as he walked toward the Kingsblood.
A sudden metallic snap cut off his rant.
"AAAAAH! Just kill me! You damned dwarf! Hairy beast! Blind dog! And that cursed little monkey who'll die young! I'll burn Goldshire to the ground! No, I'll blow up the snow around Ironforge and bury your whole home! I'll kill every last one of you lowborn bastards in this world..."
The elf's insults quickly turned into whimpering. Gred waited for him to finish before speaking.
"If you don't take this ice off me, I can't help you open the trap."
"Open it? Open it? Curse this piece of dwarven junk! It must be broken! That's why it's so hard to open!" the elf shouted, almost crying.
"Brother," Gred said, looking toward Jess, who was still dizzy from being hit by Counterspell, "go see what good stuff he's got in his bag."
At that, Jess immediately perked up.