Their eyes met, murderous fury facing sheer panic. Rowan's heart sank. He had screwed up.
He glanced back. Talanji was already gone from behind the statue.
Zul had undone the restraints, and the imperial guards looked as though they wanted Rowan dead on the spot.
For fuck's sake, where did all these people come from?
"Don't get worked up. There's no bad blood between us. Why not let go first? We can find some time to talk things over." Rowan treated Zuluhed like an idiot, forcibly dumbing him down to buy time.
Zuluhed had spent so long in the Horde without ever letting anyone's words provoke him. This brat was trying to trick him with such a simple ploy. He really was treating him like a moron.
"Talk? I'll have a nice chat with your corpse!" Flames and lava flew from Zuluhed's palm toward Rowan's forehead.
Rowan hadn't expected much anyway. He had already ducked his head and hidden beneath the shrine.
Otherwise, an ordinary man struck by Zuluhed's Lava Burst wouldn't even have a chance to be resuscitated.
"Stop fighting! Stop fighting! A third party has stolen the Scepter of the Abyss!" Rowan slipped behind the shrine and shouted.
The situation inside the temple was chaotic. Surviving on positioning alone was clearly unrealistic.
When necessary, he had to use his brains, too.
Holding the Scepter of the Abyss, Zuluhed stood dumbfounded atop the shrine, instantly becoming everyone's target.
After all, they hadn't come to the Troll temple merely to spar or pick a fight. Their ultimate goal was still to seize the Scepter of the Abyss.
Now a thief had beaten them to it, hoping to watch from the sidelines and reap the rewards. That was simply intolerable.
Freeloaders who swooped in to steal the prize deserved death most