PART I - THE RESCUE
Callie stood in the tower overlooking the castle courtyard. Below her, guards patrolled, watchful for any intruders. This was going to be hard, and she had to get in without raising the alarm. Carefully, using her Eagle Eye skill, she planned her route from cover to cover that would finally get her through the castle’s gate. She double-checked her plan of attack, then triple-checked it to be sure, before committing it to memory. “I’m coming to save you,” she muttered to herself, eyes narrowing in determination.
Turning, she stepped on to the tower’s ladder and began to climb down, sliding the final six meters to the ground. A lone bird called in the tree behind her, seeming as if it was calling an early alarm. “Shh!” Callie hissed, and surprisingly the bird shut up, cocking its head and looking at her funny, before flying off to go somewhere more appreciated.
Flicking out her arm, Callie called forth her magnificent bow from its magical pocket, now stored deep in her belly. Free from its incarceration now, the bow seemed eager to do its part to get through the courtyard. “You ready?” Callie asked the bow. The bow … didn’t answer back. But it did feel like it was ready and that was good enough for the little Gnome.
Callie began her dash towards her first waypoint, sliding into hiding behind a stone barricade. It was quiet, almost too quiet. They had to know she might be coming, but she had no choice. She was the only one that could do this. She peeked around the edge, seeing two guards in conversation, standing between her and the next cover. If they spotted her, this rescue would be over before it even started. Slowly, she put her hand on the bowstring and pulled ever so slightly, the arrow glowing far too brightly into existence.
MULTISHOT
Taking a breath to steady herself, Callie peeked once more around her makeshift cover and loosed. Four arrows flew, two striking the head of each guard. She leapt into a sprint, racing forward as fast as she could. Deftly stepping around the downed guards, she rushed to the next cover, before crouching and taking stock once again.
“Who goes there?” came a voice. Damn! She needed to be quieter. Callie could sense the guard on the other side of the barricade she was crouched behind and she held her breath, trying to will the patrolling guard to go away. Her fingers tensed, not quite bringing an arrow to life, but right on the precipice.
A face poked over the top of her cover, looking right down on Callie! “Who are you?” the guard asked, momentarily confused. Callie rolled back and answered silently with a point-blank arrow to the eye. With a quiet groan, the guard fell back, not moving. She risked a glance ahead, and saw the way was clear.
Callie began her rush to get to the safety of the next cover. But another guard surprised her as she popped up from behind the barricade, having heard the death groan of her dying fellow soldier. “Hey…!” she started to call out, but didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence before an arrow suddenly protruded from her skull. Callie had been surprised by the sudden appearance of the guard, but responded by shooting on the run by instinct alone. Callie slid into cover, heart pounding with adrenaline fueled fear. She’d need to be more careful going forward. Guards were lurking everywhere.
As she took a few seconds to catch her breath, Callie peeked around to see what was guarding the next goal. Nothing was there, but it didn’t feel right after the surprise of this one. She squinted, once again using Eagle Eye to zoom in. There, behind the barricade, a little piece of cloth peeking out and fluttering in the wind. Someone hiding? Maybe an archer? Or a Wizard. Not for long!
SNIPER SHOT
Callie rolled out of cover and waited. She held the shot, worried that the magic would fade before she could even use it. Callie made a quick whistle, almost sounding like a bird call, and the guard’s head began to rise. But Callie was riding on adrenaline and her racing heart now, and the arrow flew a millisecond later. The guard saw nothing before the sniping arrow met his head. Soundlessly, he fell to the ground behind the cover. Callie rushed forward and was deep into the courtyard now, at least halfway to the castle entrance, but it was only going to get tougher from here. She was glad Lhawni had taught her how to whistle. Still, she probably should have used a Piercing Shot instead.
Callie finally got under cover and looked quickly again around the edge, reviewing her planned route to the next cover. It looked like a short, wooden barricade wall or something. It didn’t matter, she just had to get there. But it was going to be tough. There were five guards huddled in a circle, simply chatting with each other loud enough that they hadn’t yet heard anything. That was good. It only took one to sound the alarm, though, and she didn’t have a way to get around them. She needed to drop them all at once.
MULTISHOT+RAPID FIRE
The Ranger layered the two spells together, preparing to release arrow hell. She ducked out of cover for the briefest of moments and let fly. A volley of five arrows flew in rapid succession, each one then splitting into four. Callie targeted each Multishot as they split, and in an instant, each of the guards had at least three arrows in them, silently and simultaneously taken out of action.
As Callie snuck towards the next cover, carefully stepping around the group of five downed guards, another guard stepped into Callie’s path. His blank face seemed frozen in confusion, seeing Callie and then seeing five of his friends dead. But before he could even put the puzzle together, Callie snagged him with her bow, tripping him to the ground. She let go of the bow as the swing finished, and it slid several meters across the ground. Reaching for her short sword at her side, she jumped on the guard’s chest knocking the wind out of him before he could scream and jabbed the blade upwards under his chin. There was surprisingly no blood, and the guard was still. Callie pulled on the blade, but it was stuck and she would have to abandon it. Callie resumed her scamper for cover, as the bow silently flew back into her extended hand.
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“Fuck, that was close,” Callie whispered to herself as she got into hiding again. She breathed hard, and was trying to calm herself as she mentally reviewed where she was. Her carefully planned path from cover to cover replayed in her head. Three more rushes would put her at the gate, but she had no idea what was ahead. The guards she saw from the tower could have moved by now, or received reinforcements. She quickly looked towards her next objective, seeing the way was clear, before pulling back. Nobody. That seemed too suspect, but time was of the essence. “Yolo,” Callie whispered as she started to run forward. She was moving fast but ready for anything.
She ran and then saw movement as a head started to rise from behind the barricade ahead. Another archer! Their reflexes were fast and she couldn’t let him make a noise. Her reflexes were faster.
RAPID FIRE
Once again she shot on the run, Machine Gun Callie-style this time, and five arrows flew ahead of her towards the guard. There was a silent grunt, but only that, as the first arrow pierced the guard’s throat, and two more quickly sprouted from his head, the others flying wide.
Callie’s heart pounded in her ears as she hid herself once again. Two more to go. She started to think she might actually be able to pull this off when others had failed, but time was against her. She knew the Monster was inside the gate, just waiting for her, guarding its prize and her mission. She was the last hope of rescue and had to be ready to kill it fast. She shook her head. “Focus! Worry about that when you get there!” she thought to herself. She still needed to get to the next cover and it felt like it was forever away.
She peeked fast using Eagle Eye, seeing nobody along the path she would take. However, the telltale top of a pointed hat was visible behind her next destination. She frowned. A Wizard, and she knew many Wizard combat spells cast instantly, almost without a thought. She might not have time to get a shot off before the spell. She’d have to take a risky guess and hope it worked. This time, she chose the correct spell.
PIERCING SHOT
Callie called the magic, it taking over a second to attach to her summoned arrow. She looked again, tried to judge the right spot and loosed. The enhanced arrow flew, piercing through the barricade and hitting the Wizard with a soft thump. The hat fell from view, her way now clear. Callie took a deep breath and rushed forward, diving into cover, again safe for the moment.
Only one more to go and then she’d be able to rush the gate. Having another moment to breathe, she eyed the next target. It also looked unprotected, but there was no way that was the case. This was the Monster’s last defense and surely its best guard had to be there. Quickly, Callie mentally ran through her list of skills she still had available.
Suddenly there was a terrified scream from beyond the castle’s gate. Oh no! She had to hurry this up! She eyed the next target once again. She needed to flush this guard out. She could shoot it on the run easily enough, if it popped up, but if it waited until after she got close, it could probably get her just as easily. If that happened, she was dead and so was the source of the scream. Knowing what she had to do, Callie began to weave her Ranger magics.
PIERCING SHOT+RAIN OF ARROWS 3 METERS
It took over a second for the first layer to cast, but then an agonizing four seconds for the second. The bow’s rune made the casting faster, but it still felt like a lifetime. Finally, the spell finished, the second layer wrapping itself around the first. Callie crouched low and quickly aimed skywards so the arrows would fall on the targeted area. The arrow flew, arcing overhead. Callie began her sprint, holding her bow at the ready. Reaching its apex, the arrow split into sixteen deadly projectiles, before splitting one more time. The missiles rained downwards ahead of Callie, bombarding the area behind the barricade.
The falling swarm drilled randomly into the target area. Thirty-two arrows, each now armed with the deadly piercing effect, dug deep. “My arm!” something roared. A huge guard rose, probably an Ogre, arrows plunged deep into his shoulders and arms from the overhead downpour of death. None of the arrows had scored a headshot though, so now it was just mad. “Grrrrrr!” the Ogre roared as he saw Callie racing towards him. But that’s all he got to say because Callie had been ready. She dropped to one knee for stability to make sure she didn’t miss any this time, and five Rapid Fire arrows instantly sunk deep into the guard’s face and neck. “Arrrr! You’ve killed me!” the Ogre cried out as he fell.
“‘You’ve killed me’? Really?” Callie mumbled in laughter, shaking her head as she slid behind cover once again.
It was time to confront the Monster and rescue its captive. She had one chance at this and she was going to do it right. Get in fast, attack it fast, kill it fast, preferably in a single strike. Callie quickly pulled a spare triple layer of Rapid Fire, Piercing Shot, and Burst Shot from a Talisman. As hoped, Callie was able to store Layered effects in the magic stone, but when retrieved, they broke back into their individual charges, so the Burst Shot charge evaporated. She’d also determined that the Talisman would hold up to three Iron Tier spell charges, or a single charge of Iron coupled with a single Bronze.
“Don’t you dare blow up my Monster!” a strange, commanding voice called from the heavens.
“Damn!” Callie mumbled as she reoriented her plan of attack. “Fine!” she shouted back to the sky, her voice sounding irritated. “You’ll love this one, then!” She bolted, casting as she ran.
ELEMENTAL SHOT-WATER+PIERCING SHOT+RAPID FIRE
It took almost five seconds to assemble the layered surprise. Five forever-long seconds. Finally, the weapon was ready and the clock started ticking. She was running, charging for the den of the Monster. Callie had only a few seconds now before the layered arrow would fade. Another scream called out, and then it suddenly cut off! She had no more time!
She passed the gate and there it was. At least six meters tall with red eyes and a jaw of sharp teeth. “Roar!” the Monster said as it gazed down at her. “I said, Roar!” the Monster roared even louder. The Monster was huge and scary and could eat her as a simple appetizer, but Machine Gun Callie had come ready to play and she let fly with a swarm of her toys.
Five arrows leapt nearly simultaneously from her bow. They flew true and pierced the Monster, two passing through its forehead like a knife plunging into butter. Another arrow pierced its eye and two more down its throat. There was a moment of nothing, and then a torrent of water sprayed out in all directions, erupting at first from the Monster’s head. Then water exploded from under its body.
“Uh … gurgle gurgle death, I guess,” the Monster finally said after taking several confused seconds to figure out what exactly had just happened to it.
The Monster had been slain! She had done it. Callie walked forward, her arms raised in triumph, before almost gracelessly slipping on the now-muddy ground. Then she saw the prize she had come for.
“My hero!” the water-soaked Catkin with a rock-hard ass said. “You’ve saved me!” She looked down at Callie, and smiled, raising the back of her paw to her forehead and added an overly-dramatic, “I am forever yours! Take me, tiny hero! Take me!”
Callie had won. She’d infiltrated the castle. She’d killed the guards. She’d slain the Monster. Most-importantly, she’d got the girl.
And they lived happily ever after.