He would have hit Briorn if the little had not been his ally.
Perhaps Hrafn had given too many instructions, stay behind and hit later, two orders already seemed too many for that brute to consider, he should have simplified and told him only to stay behind. The rest would come on its own, because the hitting part Briorn always remembered without anyone's help.
But they got lucky, Dagny had managed to cross the space between them and the enemies alive. That was the most delicate part of the plan, Hrafn could not burden himself with more weight, so they stripped all the weight from her and left her with nothing but speed, the pouches and courage.
At the instant her shout of surrender sounded through the arena, a wave of boos came in response, the crowd seemed not to like seeing her leave whole. Ahead Hakon was getting up, and Briorn was fighting against the other two voroirs using the gauntlets of his armor.
Hrafn's mace began to spin and he gave himself over to the blessing, diving into the stretched perception, to watch the fight unfold with enough slowness, and be able to read the next step before it existed.
Hakon had the spear in position, the movement would end in a throw aimed at Briorn's legs still firmly on the ground. Small sparks ran along the shaft, the noble's eyes shone in a vivid blue, and the bristling hair made it seem that he was a little bolt of lightning. The other two voroirs were less flashy, by all indications they were whites, shield and short sword.
Hrafn remained a few more instants inside the blessing, choosing which course of action would not get Briorn killed, until the discomfort began to grow with his megin twisting his will. He loosed the ''string'' and the world came back all at once, his mace then completed half of the vertical spin and was hurled forward, he kept running after it. A second later Hakon's spear flew as well, at the same time, two swords came down in Briorn's direction, as he threw himself backward.
Hrafn's mace struck first, right at the moment Hakon's spear would hit the little brute, the heavy iron collided with the shaft and tore the weapon from its course. The spear spun in the air and lost its line, striking the body of one of the older voroirs, giving Briorn the fraction of time he needed to finish retreating.
In the next moment Hrafn was already beside him. The two voroirs moved forward and closed the path between him and the mace fallen on the ground, Hakon came from the side, limping a little after the kick he had taken, with the thigh armor visibly crushed inward.
The five looked at one another in a standoff, there was a lot in the eyes of the three nobles, but above all there was surprise. The two older ones no longer showed so much trace of the initial arrogance, they were alert now, just as they were casting distrustful looks toward the seeds Dagny had dropped during the run.
"Very clever, shorty," said Hrafn, pointing with his chin toward his own mace fallen farther ahead, irritated at having needed to lose it to save the other.
"Figure it out, cripple," Briorn answered, then drew the axe and set a wide stance with his feet.
Hakon walked to the spear, picked it up from the ground and raised his eyes to the two. "Surrender," he said. "And I double the payment."
Hrafn decided not to answer. "Stay behind," he said low, to Briorn.
The lack of response seemed to irritate Hakon, the noble said nothing, but his body began to crackle with sparks and Hrafn answered in his own way, the air around him began to emanate a dense and dark green, it was smaller than the blue, but it contained more presence. They began to circle one another, and the dust rose beneath the presence of five voroirs letting their miracles breathe at the same time.
The arena seemed to narrow, the noise of the crowd turning into a distant murmur, it was the nobles who acted first, being the two older warriors, who ran ahead in measured rhythm with firm posture and shields ready. Hakon stayed behind, waiting for the right window to throw again.
Briorn wasted no time and charged at them with no form whatsoever, when he got close, he let the haft of the axe slide through his palm to the limit of the handle, set both hands and launched a brutal lateral blow, so dense with brown energy that it seemed the steel weapon had turned to earth. The two voroirs raised the shields at the same instant, a thick layer of white megin appearing in front to soften the impact, but even so they were hurled backward.
Hrafn was already coming right after, taking advantage of the opening, he dived into the blessing again. He shaped a right side kick so clean that the other warrior understood the danger before the blow existed completely, making him drive the shield into the ground to protect the thighs.
At the same time, he felt Hakon's spear flying through the air toward his torso, crackling with electric energy. The other warrior farther to the side, was busy holding Briorn's second charge, as the little one was already steaming through the nostrils, spending everything without holding back.
Hrafn smiled and tucked the leg in the middle of the strike, avoiding hitting the shield, then used the interrupted movement to continue the spin. All the weight and all the force fell onto the foot on the ground, to turn as fast as he could, and when he completed the turn, the spear passed by a hair, brushing his armor by a finger.
And his right shoulder where the arm was missing, ended pointed at the shield warrior before him.
"Liv," Hrafn called. And in the next instant, the arena changed.
For something exploded from where his arm was missing. A living and furious energy that burst from beneath the clothes that covered the mutilation, there, hidden beside his body, kept where no one would expect, was the cutest and most terrifying creature Hrafn had ever known.
She was angry.