Randal bridged half the gap before the guards spotted him and was bringing down his baton before they responded. But the sentries were pros, better than the guards he had faced before. Already the man brought up his own baton, deflecting Randal’s blow at his head. And the guard brought his arm over, deflecting the second baton’s strike at the gut.

Not losing momentum, Ran brought his first deflected strike further down, hitting the guard in the back of the knee taking him to the ground.

But the second guard was already on the offensive, and Ran had to respond.