Nine Swords

Slowly so as to not attract attention, Anta got up from her seat. She saw Oswald's ears perk up again and a low growl escape his throat. She quickly motionned him to stay quiet, thinking it was for her. But then she heard the bell above the door announce another arrival.

Argh no, what now ! Steady, Anta, steady. Act casual and leave. Keep the panic down.

However as she straightned up a chill ran down her spine and all her senses screamed at her something was not right ! She whirled around and looked at the door, hand hovering over the pommel of her sword.

"What is this?" Floryn thought to himself. "A staring competition? Why doesn't she shake hands? Oh, god, perhaps she is thinking of ways to hurt me. Have we met before? No, I am sure we haven't. The barrista said 8.5 PAX, right? Oh man, I think my hand is starting to tremble. Oswald's low growl? Something's off. Stop staring at me, for heaven's sake, shake my hand and make up. The other woman is standing up. Oh man, don't leave yet. I put down a 10 PAX note, right? The bell, someone's entering."

Floryn quickly looked at the 8.5 PAX coffee-woman and then past her at the door opening.

She picked up her coffee and threw it in Floryn's face.

He staggered back, crashing into some chairs.

A crossbow bolt thudded into the artfully weathered menu board, having just passed through the space where Floryn's head had been an instant before.

It all seemed like a film in slow motion. Floryn felt the hot coffee in his face. He felt the adrenaline surge through his body as he staggered back. He felt he was losing his balance. Crashing into some chairs he swung his arms violently as he tried to keep himself from falling further somehow. The back of his head first hit a table. His fall finally ended with the back of his head hitting the floor with a big thud.

Floryn's eyes closed involuntarily as he sank into darkness.

In slow motion, Anta saw the door fly open as if a powerful gust of wind had pushed it open. At the same time she heard the distinctive "rat-ta-tat" of a machine gun spewing bullets and the "clink" of a grenade landing somewhere.

Oh shit !

With a loud crack the window next to her burst open and Anta saw the shards flying towards her. Instinctively she threw up her arms to protect her face from the glass and incoming explosion, while also trying to dodge away. She suddenly felt, and smelled, 30 kilos of damp dog landing on her shoulders and pushing her towards the ground. With a loud "bang" the grenade exploded on the curb next to the window. Dog and human cried out in pain as glass, wood and furniture rained down on them. Something heavy landed on Anta's legs and lower back, and the woman knew she was trapped.

Frogsley looked up and sighed.

"Next time, I'm walking the extra five minutes and going to Starbucks", she thought while fishing bits of glass out of her Latte. "What kind of shenanigans are these? They don't even have fruit toast".

With that she gathered up her things, stepped over a coffee-drenched dog that had been farting all afternoon, and disappeared into the rain.