THE BATTLE FOR FORT BLACKTHORN
The fortress shook with the weight of war.
The Iron Hounds fought desperately. Swords clashing against claw, arrowheads sinking into thick, monstrous hides. But it wasn’t enough.
For every ogre that fell, two more crashed through the gates.
For every wolf they cut down, another leaped onto the walls, dragging a man down screaming.
For every arrow fired, the skies only grew darker with the swarm of insects consuming the fortress inch by inch.
It was a losing battle.
And high above the carnage..
Sitting in the eye of the storm, untouched, unnoticed...
Isaac watched.
His chair creaked slightly as he leaned back, the flames of torches flickering wildly behind his mask.
Somewhere amidst the chaos, a part of him thought..
Thank the gods I bought that potion.
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THE POTION OF THE UNSEEN
Isaac’s fingers idly tapped against his knee.
Long before he had bought the monster-attracting potions from Duggan, he had made a different purchase.
From the shifty-looking elf in their black-market stall.
“Don’t ask where it comes from..” the elf had whispered. “Just know that monsters won’t see you. Won’t hear you. Won’t care about you.”
Isaac had stared at the bottle of dull-blue liquid in his hands and asked only one thing.
“How long does it last?”
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The elf had grinned.
“Long enough.”
Isaac had no idea what was in it. He didn’t care.
All that mattered was that he could sit here—in the middle of hell itself—completely untouched.
A lone spectator in a war of his own making.
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THE IRON HOUNDS BREAK
The fortress walls trembled.
The Iron Hounds were running out of options.
Their archers were dead or retreating. The walls had become a slaughterhouse, with wolves tearing into anyone too slow to escape.
The front gate was splintering, only minutes away from collapse.
And inside?
The monsters had breached the lower levels.
The streets of Fort Blackthorn ran red with blood, the air thick with the scent of rot and death.
Garrus Ironjaw stood at the war table. Sweat glistening on his forehead as he listened to the reports pouring in.
“We can’t hold the outer wall!”
“The north tower’s gone!”
“We need to retreat to the keep NOW!”
Garrus’s fist slammed against the table.
“This wasn’t a siege.” he snarled. “This was a damn execution.”
And Relay had orchestrated all of it.
The walls had fallen.
The Iron Hounds had one option left.
Retreat deeper into the fortress.
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Isaac sighed as he saw the fighters pulling back.
The outer wall was his favorite seat.
Now he had to move.
Standing up, he grabbed the chair, folding it with practiced ease before stepping forward.
His footsteps made no sound as he walked through the chaos, passing raging monsters and dying men alike.
He climbed the broken stonework, reaching the edge of the fortress wall.
From here, he had a perfect view of the inside.
A battlefield of desperation.
Iron Hounds barricading doorways.
Mercenaries dragging wounded allies into defensible positions.
Flames licking at the wooden supports of the inner buildings.
It was a slow collapse.
And it was exactly what he needed.
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THE NEXT STEP
Isaac reached into his satchel.
Pulled out another potion.
The same rotting, festering concoction he had thrown over the walls earlier.
His masked face tilted slightly as he rolled the bottle between his fingers, watching the thick, foul-smelling liquid swirl inside.
This one would be used differently.
The Iron Hounds thought they were fighting for survival.
They didn’t realize..
They were already at the bargaining table.
Isaac’s fingers tightened around the potion.
And then, softly.
He chuckled.
“Time to negotiate.”