Sunset of Lantonne Read Online Free Page B

using his weight to knock several of the hunters off-balance. One, he kicked in the stomach, dropping the young elven man. Another he flipped, sending her tumbling into the trees nearby.
    The group slowly shrank, with Raeln picking off another youth every few seconds. Through it all, he maintained the relaxed and almost peaceful expression, as though he could fall asleep, even as he drove the heel of his hand into the throat of one hunter and kicked backwards to drop a second.
    When only a single wildling youth remained facing Raeln, with Ishande and Rolus watching from nearby, the wolven girl began backing away. She looked around frantically for a weapon, but Raeln advanced quickly, giving her little breathing room. Then, before she could fully turn in an attempt to run, Raeln grabbed her arm, spun her around to face him, and dropped to a knee to roll her over his shoulder. The girl landed with a pained thump on her back and curled into a ball, groaning.
    The rest of the younglings either lay scattered around the field in some state of agony, or had disappeared into the woods. Only Raeln and the two older hunters were left.
    Ilarra had slowly come out from behind the tree as Raeln had torn through the challengers. She finally believed he had a chance of winning, though she could see that he was breathing harder than he had at the beginning. Aside from the slow panting and the disheveled look of his clothing, he looked as though he had done little more than stroll through the woods.
    Rolus was the first to act as Raeln tried to get to his feet. The elven hunter slashed at Raeln with his sword, holding nothing back. Raeln dodged and tumbled away, getting some distance between himself and Rolus, somehow even managing to backhand Rolus to force him away and slow him in the process.
    In the second or two Ilarra had been watching the flashes of Rolus’ sword coming dangerously close to Raeln, Ishande had disappeared. As Raeln came back onto his feet outside of Rolus’ reach, the lithe wildling woman reappeared at the tree line, leaping onto Raeln’s back. She hooked his arms, pulling him off-balance with as much practiced skill as Raeln. Then, with a hard kick with her paw to the back of one knee then the other, she forced Raeln to his knees without releasing his arms. That brought Raeln down below her height, giving her the leverage to actually hold him. For all of Raeln’s size and strength, with his arms back behind his shoulders and a grown woman exerting her weight and muscle against the joints, Ilarra could not see how he could possibly free himself.
    Stepping up in front of Raeln while wisely keeping out of kicking range, Rolus lowered the tip of his sword toward Raeln’s chest.
    “Ishande thought you would put up more of a fight,” he told Raeln, looking around at the hunters, then into the woods until he caught Ilarra’s eyes. After Rolus confirmed she was watching, he went back to watching Raeln. “You are good, but not better than a whole group of us. Give me the signal that you are done so we can all get on with our day.”
    Raeln’s ears drooped in a sign that he intended to yield, but Ilarra could see the slight smirk hidden by his thick fur. He somehow thought he still had an advantage, but Ilarra could not fathom what it might be. He was held and at weapon-point. If that was not defeated, she clearly had no understanding of how the hunters did their work.
    Abruptly dropping his shoulder, Raeln partially slid out of Ishande’s grip and drove himself backwards into her to get distance from Rolus. He used Ishande’s momentary scramble for control to hook his arms around her neck, pulling her overtop of himself. Using her like a shield, Raeln prevented Rolus from attacking until he could get his feet back under himself.
    Ishande was not about to give up, either. She drove her knee into Raeln’s side repeatedly, until he was forced to release her and block with his arms. Once she was free of his grip,