A loud thump echoed about, as if something exceedingly heavy slammed into the wooden doors. The brittle and cracked wood moaning under whatever pressure came from the opposite side, the act of barring them shut to keep whatever was coming away, an almost wasted effort. For all it seemed to do, was buy the escaping group a meager amount of breathing room. The horde was upon them.
Time to find an alternative route. Wail strained his sight and observed the immediate surroundings – a large, round hall, the light from a hole in the ceiling illuminating its’ interior. It seemed like the hall itself served as some sort of a viewing room, as it was divided into two main layers. The upper one – on which Wail’s group was now present, eyes darting about a couple of rotten through chairs and benches, all arranged in a circle around the lower level. Yet what was there to observe down low, was beyond Wail’s comprehension. All the magician saw was the usual tumbling mist gathered down there, a few pieces of bone protruding from the ever-shifting surface. Oh, the excitement.
As for a means of escape? Two immediate exit points came in sight – a shrouded in darkness archway straight ahead, which led to unknown depths. That was option one. Option two was a broken-down door to the right, which looked like an entryway to some sort of a closet. It looked, simply put, unimportant. Clearly not the way deeper into the dungeon. Though it served to make the choice between the two much easier.
During all this observation - new and unexpected guests entered the vicinity. Four individuals - three blood-soaked Onnion soldiers and a hooded figure, a large bow in hand. They entered, looked around for a moment and pointed at Wail and his happy-go-lucky band of law-abiding citizens. It didn't take long for the situation to escalate. Arrows were fired, shouts were heard and the three soldiers charged at them in full throttle. All three shots were aimed at Wail - luckily he managed to dodge all of them. Though it was more likely that the shots were slightly off their intended mark.
"Bastards!" - He mumbled loudly, as his anger flashed and fireballs flew in response. Wail didn't bother aiming at the far away ranger - instead he chose the Onnion soldiers. Soon, one of them roared in pain - engulfed in flames, he ran around desperately. One magic projectile found its’ mark. A pleasant sight indeed - at least to Wail whose scowl quickly turned into a smile. Revealing a set of crooked yellow teeth. Obviously, he forgot to never do that again.
*******
Willow followed the guards through thick and grim, mumbling under her breath all the time. Orion trio. Those buffoons picked the most treacherous paths - thick with growth, barely accessible terrain. Visibility was terrible as well, even for her. By now, she figured that they did so on purpose - just to drag her down to their level of sight. Considering that they could barely see at all due to those ridiculous helms - extreme circumstances were needed.
Most of the day, they continued on like that - cutting through the forest and its’ inhabitants alike. Their uniforms have long lost their glimmering white - now all covered in dirt and blood. Willow had a suspicion that the trio enjoyed this, in more ways than one. And boy, was she regretful of ever involving herself in this ridiculous quest! Chasing some bounty, taking orders from these primates. Seems like be it outside or inside reality, things just didn't go too well for her. Not recently at least. She'd get through this though and if luck will have it - she’ll see her three companions’ burn. Though how that would even come to be - was beyond her at the moment.
Eventually Willow was led through some narrow cave entrance, like the forest wasn't dark enough. By the looks of it - they entered some dungeon, but asking the three idiots for answers was a futile attempt. They couldn't differentiate west from south, yet they seemed so sure on where to go. A little more and they'd simply go through walls towards their set destination. It frustrated Willow to no avail. Heck, she wasn't far from shooting at them herself. There's only so much a beautiful young lady can take. And she did consider herself beautiful.
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After spending a few more hours navigating through narrow caves and strange corridors, encountering barely any life - they finally came out into an opening. A large round hall.
"Bloody finally!" - She almost shouted, after noticing the piercing rays of the sun that engulfed the whole space. Yet, she wasn't the only one who reacted to the sudden change of scenery. Her lovable companions began their own show. Their thickest stepping forward and pointing at four individuals that stood further away.
"There, brothers in arms! Our long journey is finally over! Let's do the honors!" - He exclaimed loudly, glancing at his two fellows standing on both sides. His trusted friends obviously nodded energetically to that and all three charged.
"Stop right there, criminal scum!" - They shouted in unison, their voices echoing incomprehensibly throughout the hall.
This was the last straw. Willow didn't even care who they were chasing after anymore. For what crime. Are the people she was shooting at now their actual targets? It just didn't matter. She let loose three arrows at the mage, who seemed to be the most aware of the situation. To her frustration - she missed. Seems like walking into such a lighted area after all that darkness handicapped her accuracy.
No matter, she got to see how one of her favorite trio was set on fire. Seeing him running around like some candle, screaming all the while gave her chills. Pleasant chills, of course.
Soon - the hall exploded in a heated melee scuffle - her forces now outnumbered by one. That and the mage was supplying his colleagues with plenty of cover-fire. In more ways than one.
Willow was starting to get mildly annoyed by now - her arrows just kept on missing the mage. Obviously it was his fault for not standing still, not hers. She was forced to change targets and shoot a few arrows at one of the bandits - hitting him in the shoulder and leg. The result? One less bandit to fight, as his impaired fighting ability caused an unfortunate accident. Him being cut down like some sow.
His living companions seemed to put in more effort - delaying the inevitable. Everything was shifting towards her favor, until a fireball managed to graze her - just enough to set her cloak on fire.
"Fuck fuck fuck!" - She shouted after trying to put out the fire - repeatedly pummeling it. Once that failed she took the cloak off and glared at the mage.
This was personal now. That was her favorite cloak! She slowly notched an arrow, aimed, drew and was about to reduce the number of wizards in the world.
Sadly though, it was not meant to happen. As she was about to let loose, a sudden explosion shook the whole hall, as splinters and burning body-parts bombarded its’ temporary guests. Her arrow flew way off the intended target and everyone stumbled to their hands and knees.
Willow turned her head and noticed that the large doors that were barred before - were now one big smoldering hole with a fiery creature in the middle. Bright red flames engulfed his skeletal form - as he slowly walked into the hall. Stepping over charred goblin parts, quite a lovely sight. Or would be - if he was on her side.
"None.Shall.PASS!" - He then roared like a fiery beast from hell, reminding a certain magician of a certain someone that was briefly met not too long ago.
"Shit!" - Was the mage’s reply to that. Quite an apt description of the situation.
His trusted companions seemed to share his point of view - as the two of them scattered to all directions. Seeing that, the mage cursed under his breath yet again and joined his fellows. Around the lower part of the hall he ran - towards the archway.
"Oh no you don't" - Willow mumbled. She slid her bow around the shoulder and drew a fancy dagger. Golden, with luxurious engravings. Like its’ beauty would calm the souls of its’ victims.
By the looks of it - Willow didn't care much about her purpose here, nor about the bounty. Her eyes were fixated on the mage, as she ran at him with remarkable speed. Poor cloth user, the dagger would slice through him like butter. Would - but didn't. As the mage finally noticed her approach, he turned - wide-eyed, a fireball conjured in his right hand as a last resort.
Once she saw his face, Willow joined her prey – her eyes now wide as melons.
"You!?" - She shouted - knocking into him due to the shock, her previous intentions all but forgotten.
Into the lower section they fell, through the mist and into a pit beneath it. A bed of spikes at the very bottom. Not the most pleasant end - the two closed their eyes and braced for impact. It would only take a moment. Hopefully – the pain wouldn’t last.