Perched as she was on the edge of her cart, she shouldn't have been able to see him coming. A darkly clad figure crept up behind her on the cart, moving as stealthily as he could. Just as he leaped, knife appearing in his hand, and swung at her throat, she whirled into a graceful, arcing maneuver that flipped her feet up into the air. Most women would not be able to pull this off, but this one didn't wear dresses. She was clad in simple leather trousers ideally suited for travel, heavily worn leather boots, and a simple tunic. She flipped her body up and around, bracing her hands on the cart, and deftly avoided the knife.<br/><br/>What followed was a graceful display of agility versus brawn. The man was quick, tough, and lethal, but she was quicker. She expertly used the momentum of his blows against him, sending him sprawling each time he tried to strike with the blade. Her hair spun out in a wide fan the color of chocolate as she whirled in graceful motions, contrasting with the sharp hard lines of his body.<br/><br/>For the first desperate moments of their fight, they went unnoticed by the milling crowd around them. The scream of a startled lady who was tossed rudely aside by the brawny man shattered the normal chaos of the market. Distracted by the noise, the merchant girl glanced down at the woman for a brief second, then around at the pandemonium that was errupting around them. It was all the man needed to catch her off guard. His knife was as quick as the flash of light that reflected off it as he drew back, aimed and threw. It struck her solidly in the abdomen, burying in her flesh to the hilt.<br/><br/>She gasped and staggered back, looking down at herself in shock to see a wide circle of blood spreading from the hilt of the knife. Her attacker leaped forward, intent on finishing the job. Her hands were just as quick as his had been. As he lunged at her, she pulled the knife out of her own body, and slashed with it. A thin red line appeared across the man's throat just before he struck her body. He fell, dead, on top of her. The knife clattered onto the stones as her grip went limp. She couldn't breathe... all she could feel was the fire spreading through her body from the wound... and worse, the numbness following it. She knew she was dying.<br/><br/>"No... not yet... please..." she whispered to herself, choking on the blood pooling in her lungs.