Representing the line of demarcation between the Glimmerstone mountains, continuing north, and the Aether mountains to the south, Stonebreach was the only point of egress that was very accessible to both the Kingdom of Shan and the Simerarian League territories to the west. As a result, while most of the passes were watched by various orders of monks higher up in the mountains, the Stonebreach was more directly and actively defended. He had the idea when they first saw all the catapults set for launch on the north wall, only needing to be loaded. Grym told him these units, properly called mangonels, could easily launch a very heavy stone over five hundred feet.

The wizard picked his way north and east towards the catapults through the heavy foot traffic as quietly as he could. About halfway across, a guard turned unexpectedly to verbally motivate several lagging colleagues, the shaft of his spear catching the wizard squarely in the back, sending him sprawling to the ground. Gasping to catch his breath, Glynfir scrambled to his hands and knees. As he and the soldier locked eyes for a couple of seconds in complete surprise, he realized the unexpected impact had broken his casting concentration. Thankfully he reacted first, hurriedly rising to his feet and running in the opposite direction towards the heavily armed south gate, rapidly gesturing with his left hand while fishing around in his satchel for another resin block. The guard raised the alarm and hurled his spear. As the wizard completed his spell, snapping invisible once again, he made a hard left turn before circling back towards his original destination and the spear clattered harmlessly onto the cobblestones of the courtyard.

Still quietly gulping air, he backtracked towards the siege machines on the north side of the square without incident and crouched down behind the cairn of large stones separating the third and fourth mangonel to catch his breath and wait for Grym.

His exposure had caused quite a commotion. Commanding officers barked orders, and an ever-growing population of guards were frantically waving their spears in the air at waist height between his last known location and the fortified gate, hoping to get lucky a second time The sorcerer couldn’t help but chuckle. Even a couple of casters had joined in using any magical means at their disposal to expose his position.

Surveying the north side of the walled central square, he spotted what had to be Grym. A lone figure, suspiciously wrapped in a tarpaulin, nonchalantly made its way towards their position.

“Took you long enough!” the half-elf chuckled as Grym shed his disguise and joined them behind the ammunition pile.

“Aye. Well, I found myself suddenly and rudely exposed…” He dramatically raised his eyebrows in the direction of his friend’s voice. “…and had to steal a burlap cover from one of the market stalls. At least whatever you did really got their attention, because I don’t think my look would have fooled anyone.”

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Glynfir chuckled again.

“You sure this is going to work,” the dwarf asked him in a more serious tone.

“I’d bet on it”

“Knowing you like I do, that doesn’t exactly give me a wagonload of confidence”

“Only one way to find out!” The half-elf smiled “You take the one to your right, I’ll take the one to my left. Since I can see you, I’ll let fly on your mark.”

Glynfir moved to the mangonel beside him and quietly climbed directly into the launch basin. Looking over at Grym uncomfortably perched in the next basin, he drew on his magic once again to summon a mage hand. One of the first spells he was taught and what it lacked in power, it more than made up for in utility. A spectral translucent hand appeared, and he quickly moved it to grip the release handle for the catapult. As he watched Grym pull a dagger from his waistband, the dwarf turned in his direction and signaled a countdown with his fingers. Three, two, one. Glynfir reached into his satchel took a secure grip around Lunish’s trembling form and whispered, “Hang on tight, here we go!”

As he watched Grym slash the rope that held the tension on his apparatus, he silently instructed his mage hand to pull the release lever on his device.

In nearly identical timing both mangonels coughed out a loud thwack and what followed was the most exhilarating rush he had ever experienced. The two of them hurtled at high velocity over the tower wall and up into the air. With only about ten feet between them, he could hear Grym laughing infectiously as they rapidly rose nearly three hundred feet. Reaching the apex of their trajectory, the wizard retrieved Lunish from his satchel with one hand and pulled a small feather from his pocket with the other. Quickly muttering the incantation as they began to drop, Lunish flashed back to her normal form with the wizard’s grip awkwardly holding her ankle.

Gravity accelerated their drop as he completed the casting creating a pink burst of energy around each of them. As the spell took effect, their rate of descent slowed dramatically, and they floated towards the ground no faster than a feather on the wind.

Grym, still cackling, kept his eyes on the activity at the recently departed fort. Triggering the mangonels had only increased the cacophony of shouting and running as the military crowd converged on their last position. A couple of desperate attempts to hurl spears towards them over the wall fell harmlessly short, snapping branches as they disappeared into the wooded hillside below. One small group, however, began turning and loading stones into the remaining catapults.

“They’re firing on us!” he shouted across to the others

“Not us…” Glynfir shouted back “…just you!” reminding his friend that he and Lunish were still invisible.

The dwarf shot an annoyed look in their direction while repositioning his helmet.

Just as their descent carried them below the sight line of the garrison wall, Lunish spoke for the first time since regaining her normal form.

She shouted defiantly at the top of her lungs “I am NOT a grubby little boy!!!”