In a blink of an eye, the second one came charging with his dagger. She easily dodged it even though her vision became hazy for a moment and then quickly stepped on the bent leg of the attacker to stop him on his tracks and used it as a base to jump and hit the man's chin with her knee.
"What are you doing?! She's just a girl!"
Who could blame the two guys who fell on the ground? The red-haired lady was moving so fast and it only made it worse how they underestimated her. Every one of her moves were the most effective given the situation and executed with clarity and grace of running water. And to make matters more complicated, inside her head, she was literally reading their minds through their eyes.
The two men staggered to get up and prepared themselves for another attack. The red-haired lady didn't expect a quick recovery. She might have overestimated her current strength.
The two men this time came rushing together in a barrage of synchronized attacks built upon years of fighting side by side. At first, they're combined attacks seemed futile as they're opponent gracefully dodged every attack but as the exchange of attacks dragged on, it became more apparent that they were slowly getting closer to landing a hit.
The red-haired lady realized that it was getting harder and harder for her to read the thoughts of her enemies. She couldn't drag the fight any longer. She pulled back her hands and engaged the base of her palms in a forward thrusting strike, swiftly executing two consecutive palm heel strikes towards her opponents' chests.
The two men were now out of breaths after their fruitless attacks and a hit to their chest. Realizing this, they slowly took a step or two away from their seemingly invincible opponent while still on their fighting stance.
The red-haired lady did the same and then took a slight gulp of air. This was the first time she experienced running out of air but nevertheless, it seemed that what she did was more than enough to worry her enemies. She thought that maybe after her short display of strength, her adversaries would just leave.
"Boss, what now?"
They were referring to the biggest man who was currently holding the brown-skinned lady. His name was Samid. He's notorious among the lower districts of Ark for hustling money from people and is a scum to the very core. But even though he's known as such, many people still came to him for help because of poverty.
Samid, pulled out his dagger and pointed it towards the lady she was holding. "One wrong move and this one will bathe in red."
The red-haired lady looked at Samid in the eyes. Cold sweat ran through her cheeks. She assumed a relaxed stance and then raised her hands.
What she saw in Samid's mind scared her. She discovered that he was someone who wouldn't even have an ounce of regret in killing people. He was more than willing to demonstrate how much of a monster he was by slitting the poor hostage's throat.
"Tie her up…"
Samid now had an annoying smile on his face. He instructed the red-haired lady to come closer after his men finished tying her.
As she approached Samid, the red-haired lady looked at the terrified expression on the other lady's face. She saw on her mind a scene wherein a sick boy lying on a mat in a small square room. She was seeing the other lady's memories as if she was looking through her eyes:
"I can't breathe…" The little boy said.
"You'll be ok. I promise." The speaker assured as she picked up and carried her brother out of the room.
The following images slowly became hazy. The next thing she saw was how the girl bowed several times in front of a white stone building as she cried for help. A man clad in expensive flowing outer cloak made of wool came out, looked at the unmoving boy on the ground and demanded payment.
She promised to pay back immediately and that was how she succumbed for the help of Samid.
The thoughts from the lady suddenly stopped. She took a second look at the girl's face and saw tears of desperation cascade down her cheeks.
"Now let her go!" The red-haired lady demanded.
Samid snickered as he squeezed the red-haired lady's cheeks with his hand that was holding his dagger. "Who in their right mind would do that?"
She stared at Samid's eyes to see what he was thinking but it was in vain. She tried harder and harder to focus but she wasn't getting anything. She completely lost her ability to read thoughts.
First, she found herself in an unfamiliar land, then, was slowly becoming weak and now her last bit of magic disappeared! Something was definitely wrong. She slowly felt light headed but still, she wasn't one to fret. She didn't live for almost an eternity to be bested by mere street thugs. With her next course of actions, she'd definitely end this already long charade.