The bolts shot through the air. Nedric watched as his hit the target and made a mess of the guard’s skull. Bethan had the harder shot and only injured his target but Daiga hadn’t waited and was on the second guard before he could emit more than one cry of surprise and shock. It was fairly pitiful but they waited to see if it would produce a response from within.
When there was no immediate evidence of further guard activity they prepared themselves before rushing onwards. They reloaded the crossbows and made sure that all their weapons were easily to hand.
Daiga still held the dripping dagger as they went through the thick, oak doors and into corridors identical to those above. What differed were the noises. The door had blocked most of the sounds but now they could hear the odd whimper and once a piercing scream.
They hurried along, the carpeted floors silencing their footfalls but making it hard for them to know if anyone else was patrolling the floor. They reached the corner before the guardroom unchallenged and made ready to rush the room.
With as much speed as possible they rounded the corner, shouting at the guards not to move. The five men in the room were seated around a table enjoying a card game and only one of the men stood before Daiga reached him and hit him over the head with the base of his crossbow. The man sprawled on the floor but remained conscious.
“Stay where you are or my friends will shoot you.” Daiga used his dagger to indicate Bethan and Nedric who were facing the guards with the loaded crossbows. “You will come with me into the next room, one at a time,” he continued.
Daiga indicated that the first man stand up. Despite the blood flowing from his scalp the man looked like he wanted to fight. Daiga locked his arm behind his back and held the knife to his neck. “You can die now or be sensible.”
The man seemed to relax and then tried to throw himself out of Daiga’s grasp unfortunately the ranger was just too strong for him and he got nowhere. The guard gave in but it was too late, the dagger sliced through his neck sending blood gushing over the other guards.
“Now you know to be sensible.” Daiga indicated another guard, “stand up slowly and don’t be foolish.” The guard complied and Daiga dragged him into the next room. There was a thump and Daiga emerged from the door to indicate that another guard rise.
Perhaps Nedric should have kept his eyes on the guards but he looked over to Daiga to see a look of alarm on the older man’s face. Nedric turned in time to see a flicker before someone was slamming into him trying to get the crossbow. The bolt fired, hitting the ceiling and Nedric released the weapon as he and his assailant fell to the floor.
He could hear the other bolt being fired as he fought to reach his dagger. His assailant, who by now Nedric had realised was the sixth and presumably patrolling guard, was stopping him and also trying to get his own weapon. There was movement from the table and suddenly bells were clanging everywhere.
It seemed like hours as Nedric fought. The foul breath of the guard assaulted his nostrils as both tried to strain their arms to launch an attack. Nedric squirmed and managed to bring a knee up and into his opponent. They were now lying on the floor side by side.
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The guard broke free of Nedric’s grip, he grabbed Nedric’s throat in a way that seemed to tear the air from his throat. Nedric tried to pull away but was unable to do so. He brought his legs up to push the guard away but the guard used his legs to stop this attempt.
As he fought for breath he was also reaching for his dagger. He stabbed at his assailant and managed to bury the blade in his side. The guard grunted but maintained his grip on Nedric’s throat. Nedric tried to pull the dagger out but it seemed to have stuck and he didn’t have the strength to try harder.
Things might have gone badly for Nedric if Bethan hadn’t stepped in to slit the guard’s throat from above. “Why are you lying there? We have people to rescue.” Nedric pulled himself to his feet. He took a second to sort himself out.
The guardroom now had four dead bodies taking up floor space and one supine but alive guard. The only guard in the room who as still breathing was the one Bethan had shot; the others had slit throats. Nedric was appalled at the amount of blood lying around the room but not stunned enough that he didn’t move when Daiga directed him.
“We need to get to the others before the other guards reach us.” Daiga led the way towards where they hoped the prisoners lay. Nedric couldn’t believe that the guards weren’t already in the room bringing an end to there rescue attempt. He moved as fast as the others as they fled the room.
He noticed that Daiga’s side was covered with blood. He wasn’t sure whether the wound had opened with the ranger’s efforts or if the blood came from one of the guards. Daiga seemed to be moving fairly well but the ranger was not one to let a little wound bother him.
They knew they were outside the right room when they heard another scream. Entering, the first sight Nedric had was of Rialto, chained to a table, whilst a man pressed a burning iron into his skin. He could hear the hiss of steam as the iron touched the skin and reacted to his friend’s need by leaping at the torturer.
One of his daggers was imbedded in the side of the guard he had fought before but he found another in his hand with no knowledge as to how it had got there. Anger gave him strength and he hacked at the man, slicing through the bicep as the man brought up his arm to protect himself. Another slash and he exposed the ribcage; cutting through the cheap tunic the man wore. A third and the knife went between the ribs, puncturing a lung and jamming on the way out.
He released his knife at the same time that the man dropped the iron and had another in his hand before the torturer could react. He drove the knife upwards through the top of the stomach and in under the ribcage, pulling it downward to retrieve it and in the process allowing the man’s intestines to spill out of his stomach. The man slid to the ground.
The other two had been less messy and more humane in their treatment of the other men. The clerk and second torturer were unconscious rather than messily dying. They lay, out of the way, behind the door.
Neither Rialto nor Scabad were in any state to move. Apart from chained to their respective tables, they were both covered with cuts and burns. Scabad had some sort of caustic substance coating his upper body. Daiga cursed as he tried to scrape it off. Perhaps fortunately Scabad lost consciousness at this point.
Bethan used one of the torturer’s instruments to prise the chains apart. Nedric seeing this came back from the strange place his mind had gone and searched the bodies for keys. He found a set and dropped them in a pocket as he saw his companions each lift one of their comrades. Stopping only to retrieve the knife he had left in the torturer, he followed his colleagues out of the room.
In the distance they could hear the shouts of the guards as they entered the guardroom and saw the remains of their colleagues. Nedric regretted the fact that they had not taken the time to silence the last guard as the shouts came closer. He hoped the exit to the sewers existed and Daiga could remember the location of it. If it was guarded then they were finished anyway so all Nedric could do was follow the others and pray.
He had the presence of mind to load his crossbow and hope that he would have no need of it. They turned several corners and reached the promised exit. Which fortunately was unguarded but locked. Daiga’s foot made short work of the door but the guards were getting closer.
Nedric shot at the first to round the corner and the guard retreated whilst his companions caught up with him. Nedric launched himself through the door. They had escaped the guild headquarters! Now all they had to do was survive the guards whilst wandering a sewer, with no map and no light.
They made it round the first corner with no sign of pursuit from the guards but Nedric didn’t think it was that easy. Suddenly there was a roar from behind them and the guards rushed into the sewer. They carried torches in one hand and swords in the other.