Chapter 13
The Skoleta Tribe was a large group centralized in the Cold Crown forest. They adapted over the centuries of living om the dark forest floor. Their skin got lighter as pigment wasn't as necessary, and their eyes grew bright almost as if they were luminescent. This allowed them to see better in the darkness by taking in more light. One of the founders of the Atomo Clan was a Skoleta, and because the Skoleta eyes were such a dominant trait, it has been passed down with each direct generation.
-Snippet of Platharan history
Nivra and Tuin walked out of Coldcrown forest after weeks of constant travel. They both looked ragged and worn from their time in the forest.
“We finally made it out,” Nivra said in an exhausted tone. They had spent weeks constantly on edge avoiding the massive amounts of soldiers traveling through the forest.
“Where are we now?” Tuin asked.
“We should be in Breezeridge, but we will have to find a town to confirm where exactly we are,” Nivra answered. As they continued to walk the terrain became increasingly mountainous. After traveling for a few hours, Nivra spotted a glint of metal in the distance. Upon closer inspection, it was what appeared to be people in armor marching in formation.
“Well that settles it we are definitely in Breezeridge,” Nivra stated upon seeing the armored soldiers. Tuin became nervous seeing the soldiers beginning to march towards them.
“Should we run?” Tuin asked, his body tensing up.
“No, they have already seen us, and they are not our enemies. Not to mention running would be pretty much suicide as the Breezeridge army is not to be provoked,” Nivra said. Tuin nodded his head but seemed unable to relax. Seeing Tuin’s behavior, Nivra shook his head seeing that Tuin had developed a negative opinion of soldiers. Thinking more about it Nivra did not necessarily consider that a bad notion for Tuin to pick up. Minutes later the squad of soldiers arrived before Nivra and Tuin.
“What are you two doing out here in the middle of nowhere?” one of the soldiers demanded as he approached. Before they could answer one of the other soldiers spoke.
“Looks like a Tokanoba and Jasmine spy to me,” the soldier said staring at Nivra and Tuin. The other soldiers hearing that began to mutter among themselves before the leader spoke.
“Silence! How dare you break rank and speak out of turn,” the leader roared. The soldier that spoke stepped back his face going pale. “When we return you will be disciplined,” he said turning back to Nivra. “My apologies, may I ask what you two are doing?” Seeing the leader show respect increased Nivra opinion of him. The Atomo and Breezeridge people usually got along due to their similar philosophy.
“I am sure you know by now that Tokanoba has started a war.”
“Yes, we are aware that is why we are patrolling the border so heavily.”
“I fled into Coldcrown forest to escape the Jasmine army. They are enslaving anyone they can get their hands on,” Hearing this the squad leader nodded his head before pointing at Tuin.
“What about him? He does not look like he comes from the north,”
“He comes from a tribe that lives in Coldcrown. I hired him to guide me through the forest.”
“That makes sense. We are expecting to see an influx of refugees fleeing the war,”
“Any other question or am I free to go?”
“You're good, try and stay out of trouble as Breezeridge does not tolerate troublemakers,” The soldier said as he turned to leave.
“Wait!” Nivra called out before the soldier could walk away.
“What do you want? We have a job to do.”
“How do we get to the closest city?”
“Head west until you get to the Verkarion Road and follow the road,” The soldiers said as they turned and left without another word. Once the soldiers were out of sight, Tuin let out a sigh as he was finally able to relax.
“That was nerve-racking, they could have attacked and killed us, and no one would ever know,” Tuin said wiping sweat from his brow. Nivra shook his head upon hearing Tuin.
“You don't understand how Breezeridge works. If they were to break military code by killing without a proper reason the best they could hope for would be a swift death.”
“Would the punishment really be that severe?” Tuin asked. Nivra chuckled before answering.
“Remember the soldier that thought we were spies and spoke out of turn?” Tuin nodded in confirmation. “He will most likely be tied to a post and flogged till he is halfway dead,” Nivra explained. Tuin’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Isn't that a bit cruel just for a minor slip up?”
“Breezeridge does not tolerate any slip up in their military. They have the most organized and professional military on Plathara.”
“Does that mean they are the strongest country?” Tuin questioned as he started to get confused. Nivra sighed as he started to get a headache at how little Tuin knew. I have to explain everything, he knows nothing about anything Nivra complained internally.
“No, all the countries have their strong and weak points. Knowing which country is the strongest is difficult since the origin accords are in place restricting the higher level tappers from directly taking part in wars.
“I don't understand what accords?” Tuin asked getting increasingly lost. Nivra’s headache intensified at how curious Tuin was.
“You will find out later I don't feel like explaining,” He said rubbing his temples. They finally reached the Verkarion Road after traveling for a few hours. The road was so wide that multiple carriages could travel without feeling crowded.
“If we're in Breezeridge why is called the Verkarion road?”
“Tuin, please stop asking so many questions it’s best to learn from exposure than learn from someone else's mouth,” Nivra rebuked causing Tuin to blush in embarrassment. Traveling on the road was much faster than traveling through the wilderness. Unfortunately, there were some downsides to traveling out in the open. Nivra’s face darkened as he stopped suddenly.
“Nothing can be easy can it,” Nivra snarled as he took out his bone bow. Tuin also reacted by brandishing his wooden bow.
“Hey now no need to get so defensive,” A voice echoed out from seemingly nowhere. Nivra could feel a pressure envelope the surroundings. Feeling the pressure, Nivra frowned at his misfortune of running into bandits that have a tapper. Luckily most of my injuries have healed, Nivra thought as he galvanized his nimora. Nivra then sent out a soul pulse to locate where the bandits were hiding. Illusions! Nivra thought as he saw the location of the bandits was directly in front of them.
“If you leave your belongings and walk away nothing will happen,” The voice echoed out in a threatening manner. Nivra sneered at the threat.
“I'll give you pathetic leeches one chance to scram,” Nivra threatened.
“Hear that man? This little baby is courting death! Attack!” The voice once again echoed out. The air rippled as arrows seemed to appear out of thin air shooting straight at Nivra. Nivra dodged the arrows with ease as the arrows were far too slow to threaten a tapper at Nivra’s level. Nivra’s eyes blazed with killing intent as a phantom of Sura appeared behind Nivra. The giant phantom exploded into a dense mist that cloaked the entire area.
“Run away! It's a soul tapper!” a voice screamed out. Nivra saw the specks of lights that were souls scattering as the bandits all fled. Nivra knocked his bow with a bone arrow as he locked onto one of the light specks. Nivra began to shoot arrows one after the other causing the specks to vanish. As he moved to his next target, he noticed a speck disappear without reason. That must have been the tapper Nivra thought. It's impressive that they can even hide their soul, they truly are good at hiding. After a few moments, the mist cleared revealing corpses lying about on the road.
“Search their bodies for anything valuable,” Nivra said. They searched the bodies only finding a few novals. “Bunch of broke bastards,” Nivra cursed kicking one of the corpses. That tapper that fled must have had the majority of the loot he figured.
“It's going to take forever to get anywhere if we are constantly beset by bandits,” Tuin said.
“We should not be too far from the closest city. We should run there using nimora to enhance our speed. Seeing two tapper running will discourage most bandits,” Nivra explained as he began to run.
After running for a few hours, they finally arrived at the outskirts of a city. They approached the city gates that were tightly shut.
“Halt! What is your business here?” A guard that was standing above the gate shouted.
“We are refugees from up north that escaped from Jasmine slavers,” Nivra gave his sob story.
“We have no need for useless beggars,” the guard remarked. Nivra hearing the guard call him useless was instantly angered.
“Is this useless,” Nivra sneered as blue nimora erupted from his body. The guard instantly went pale as he could tell that Nivra was much stronger than he was.
“Open the gates!” The guard yelled. The gates smoothly open with barely a sound. They walked into the city as the gates shut behind them. The buildings were made out of mostly stone with some wood accents. The city was very tidy and clean compared to most other cities. They walked along tidy brick road discussing their next course.
“We need to find a better way to travel, with so many bandits we can't travel by ourselves,” Nivra said to Tuin.
“I agree, traveling alone would be too dangerous, not to mention slow.”
“Let's find an inn, there are usually groups of people looking for man power,” Nivra said. They walked along the streets passing a variety of buildings until coming to what appeared to be a lavish inn. The inn was four stories tall and built with lavish materials. The sign board was black with golden letters reading “The Elegant Paradise.” Seeing the inn, Nivra remembered a similar one that resided in the Atomo capital.
“Let's go in, there should be a group heading to Verkarion in here,” Nivra said as he walked into the inn. Tuin silently followed behind feeling apprehensive about being in a city. As they entered the inn, they were greeted by an opulent scene. The room was covered in gold fixtures that held glowing orbs giving the room ample lighting. A receptionist stood by the door waiting to welcome customers. She was dressed in a light red gown and looked very attractive. Seeing the two men walk in ragged and smelling of the road the receptionist looked at them in disgust.
“Can I help you two? Are you lost?” The receptionist questioned.
“I would like a room,” Nivra said ignoring the rudeness. She nearly balked at Nivra’s request, but she was experienced enough to know to not judge at first sight.
“It's five hundred Novals a night for our standard room and eight hundred for our suites,” She said confident the price would scare these riff-raff away.
“I'll take a suite then,” he said taking out a string of novals. The receptionist was momentarily stunned before collecting the novals. She inspected the novals to insure they were not forgeries. After confirming the validity of the coins, she handed Nivra a simple looking metal card.
“Your room is suite number three on the fourth floor. If you have any other request feel free to ask,” She said with a seductive smile. Nivra sneered to himself seeing how fickle this woman was. He took the card and without a word left to go to his room. They found their room on the fourth floor. Nivra touched the card to the door and with a light click the door opened. As they walked into the room, Tuin was shocked. The room was pristine and covered in silks and fine furniture.
“This looks like a palace of the laws,” Tuin said looking around the room almost scared to walk in.
“It's barely passable for me to stay in.”
“What kind of upbringing did you have for you to look down on this room?” Tuin said dumbfounded. Nivra chuckled walking into the room. The suite had three rooms, one for bathing, sleeping and relaxing.
“I am going to take a bath first,” Nivra said walking into the washroom. In the washroom was a large tub that could fit almost a dozen people. Nivra walked over and touched a lever causing hot water to pour out of a golden spicket. Nivra washed himself clean in the massive tub. He exited the tub taking out some fine cloths from his pendant. He dressed himself in comfortable northern style cloths. After dressing, he walked into the relaxation room.
“Go bathe, I will head down stairs for some food,” Nivra said walking out of the suite. Nivra headed to the bottom floor where the dining area was located. He sat down at a table in the corner of the room. A few moments later a waitress arrived.
“Hello sir, what may I get for you?”
“Get me some coldcrown peak tea.”
“Eh, sir we are almost out if that tea, so the price has increased quite a bit.”
“Don't care, bring me the tea I'll pay for it regardless.”
“Right away,” The waitress said hurrying away. Nivra began to observe the other guests in the dining room. Most seemed to be higher class people from Breezeridge. He noticed across the room at a large round table was a group of people that were definitely not from Breezeridge. They had on too many frivolous clothes and jewelry to possibly be from the more reserved Breezeridge. Seeing the opulent display of wealth Nivra was torn between convincing them to allow him to hitch a ride on their caravan or to rob them. I can't travel by myself, but it's hard to give up easy coin Nivra thought. As he was deep in thought, the waitress arrived with his tea. Seeing Nivra’s expression, she place the cup of tea on the table and silently left. He took a sip of the tea as a wave of nostalgia overcame him. This was the same tea he was drinking the night of the massacre. I should join them and decide if it's worth it to rob them Nivra decided as he finished his tea. Seeing Nivra finish his tea the waitress walked back over to the table.
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“Is there anything else you would like to order.”
“No that is it, how much do I owe?”
“It comes to one hundred and fifty novals,” the waitress answered. Hearing the price Nivra nearly choked.
“That much for a cup of tea! I could buy a whole pot for that much!”
“Sir I already informed you the price has increased, but you were adamant about paying.”
With a sigh, Nivra took out some novals and paid the waitress. I can't keep wasting money like this he scolded himself. Standing up Nivra made his way across the room to the large round table. He walked up to the table that the group of Verkarion merchants were sitting at. He saw that they were done eating and we're now sipping on cups of coffee.
“Sorry for interrupting you gentlemen, may I know if you fellows are heading to Verkarion?” Nivra politely asked. The merchants turned around upon hearing Nivra. The person who appeared to be the head merchant eyed Nivra for a moment before speaking.
“Yes, we are planning to head back to Verkarion. What do you need?”
“I was wondering if I could tag along since it's dangerous to travel alone.”
“We don't need any more people we are full.”
“You haven't even heard my proposal yet,” Nivra said as he flicked his finger causing a bolt of blue nimora to shoot out. The bolt struck the head merchants coffee instantly freezing it. The merchants were all stunned at the sudden action. Nivra noticed a few people get up before the head merchant waved at them to sit back down.
“Looks like you do have some abilities that could be useful.”
“Yes, I could be an additional guard not to mention I won't take any pay.” The merchant's eyes lit up at hearing he would not have to pay for an additional guard. “I also have a companion I would like to bring along as well,” Nivra said.
“Alright we agree, you can travel with our caravan as a guard,” The merchant said reluctantly. Nivra smiled and gave a light bow as thanks
“When will we be leaving?” Nivra asked.
“We will be leaving in two days at sun up, don't be late or we will leave without you.”
“I will make sure to not be late,” Nivra said as he nodded his head. Accomplishing his goal, Nivra returned to his suite. When he walked into the room was filled with steam. With a sigh, Nivra walked into the steam filled washroom. He saw Tuin tapping different switches in a panic. Nivra felt his head begin to throb at Tuin’s ignorance. Nivra walked over and briefly, explained how to use the levers. He went and sat on the couch to wait for Tuin to finish his bath. After a few minutes, Tuin walked out of the washroom wearing cloths Nivra had prepared for him.
“You look like a different person not wearing your savage looking animal pelts,” Nivra jabbed. Tuin face reddened at the playful insult.
“Did you have any luck finding people to travel with?” Tuin asked also sitting down.
“Yes I did, we will be traveling with some merchants as guards,”
“That should be a safe way to travel,”
“Yeah, except I might decide to rob them if anything catches my eye,” Nivra said with a chuckle. Tuin looked apprehensive at the idea.
“Why would you rob them when they are helping us?” Tuin asked confused.
“I don't have the luxury of following some pointless morals not to mention it's not like I am robbing a beggar,” Nivra explained.
“Well as long we don't kill them I can support the idea,” Tuin said with reluctance.
“Don't worry they will just be losing a few novals,” Nivra said confidently. Tuin nodded in agreement as his stomach rumbled.
“Should we head to the dining room?” Tuin asked feeling hungry. Remembering the price of the tea Nivra frowned. With a wave of his hand dried rations appeared on a stand.
“It's too expensive, so we will have to eat this,” he said picking up a dried biscuit. Tuin slightly frowned as he ate the rations. After they got done eating the bland rations, Nivra looked at Tuin. He is too kind and honest I will have to corrupt his heart if he is to continue following me, Nivra thought. First I must understand him a bit to see what path would suit him the most.
“So Tuin, I need to know what is your affinity?”
“According to the teacher you sent I have a darkness affinity,” Tuin said in a somewhat proud manner. He must be proud due to his worship of the night, Nivra quickly realized. Him having a darkness affinity does suit my plans though Nivra thought with a grin.
“If that's the case there are a few points you should focus on,” Nivra said as he explained were Tuin should place his effort. After discussing for a few hours, they finally decided to go to sleep. Two days passed quickly with Nivra teaching Tuin what he could. The two packed their belonging and walked out of the inn. The sun had yet to rise as they met up with the caravan. The caravan had five normal carriages and one armored carriage. As they approached the caravan they were stopped by a gruff looking man in shiny new armor.
“Stop, you are entering a restricted area,” the man said while clutching his swords handle.
“Let them through they are the new guards we hired,” A merchant said seeing the scene. The gruff looking guard nodded as he moved out of the way. Looking around Nivra saw labors loading crates into the normal carriages. The armored carriage seemed to be already loaded and sealed up. Nivra’s eyes flashed with greed seeing how much money this caravan had. All the carriages were new, the guard's armor was new, and there were even a few refined weapons. The only worrying things were the amount of tappers and his inability to sense what was in the armored carriage. The head merchant walked up while Nivra was observing the caravan.
“We leave in an hour so prepare yourself. You two will be assigned to the front left carriage,” the merchant said pointing to one of the carriages. He then walked away to oversee the loading of goods. Nivra and Tuin walked over to the carriage indicated by the merchant. The carriage had seats around the outside while the inside was used for storage. Nivra sat down on one the seats and began to relax. Tuin also took a seat and continued to look around.
After an hour passed all the carriage seats were filled with heavily armed guards. The merchants got into the carriages and without speaking the caravan began moving. The caravan swiftly left the city without incident. Once on the Verkarion road, the caravan moved into a formation. The armored carriage was at the center with the other five surrounding it. The caravan traveled at a decent pace without any obstruction for a few days. A week into the journey the caravan was stopped by some Breezeridge soldiers at a checkpoint.
“Halt, we need to check your cargo,” A soldier said approaching the caravan. The head merchant rushed out of the armored carriage to meet the soldier.
“I have a writ of passage! You have no right to search my cargo!” The merchant screeched while waving a metallic looking paper. Seeing the paper, Nivra eyes lit up with unconstrained greed. He actually has a writ stamped by Verkarion and Breezeridge! I am definitely going to rob them, Nivra thought finalizing his decision. After the soldier validated the write, he waved the caravan onward. Nivra began to plot as to how he would make off with the goods. First I'll need some helpers he thought glancing over at Tuin. Tuin involuntarily shivered seeing Nivra’s gaze. After the caravan resupplies at the next city is when I'll make my move. A few more uneventful days passed before they entered into the city close to the border.
“We leave in three days, don't be late or you will not be paid,” the head merchant told the guards. The guards then scatter to go enjoy themselves. Nivra and Tuin left with the guards into the city. After they were out of the merchant's eyesight, they split off from the guards. Nivra slowly made his way into the seedier part of the city. The surroundings became more drab, and the number of city guards decreased sharply. Nivra stopped in front of a squat, nondescript building. Outside the building were two vicious looking men standing by the door. Nivra did a quick soul pulse and could tell there was quite the number of tappers in the building. There was one he even recognized!
“This is the place we're looking for,” Nivra said walking towards the door. As they approached, the two men glared and released a wave of tapping pressure. Nivra snorted and with a wave of his hand unleashing his own pressure wave. When the two waves crashed together Nivra’s wave tore apart the other wave. The wave continued on smashing into the two men forcing them back a step.
“If you try to block my path again I will directly end you,” Nivra calmly threatened as he walked past the two stunned thugs. They swiftly entered into the building before the thugs could react. The room was dimly lit with the smell of strong alcohol. There were people sitting at tables drinking and gambling. Nivra walked up to the bar and took a seat on a stool. The bartender was a burly middle-aged man with a few scars on his face.
“What are two silk coats doing here?” the bartender said as he looked at the two suspiciously.
“I am looking to hire some people for a job,” Nivra said calmly.
“Best of luck,” the bartender stated before turning away and ignoring Nivra.
“This old gramps is no help I guess we will have to recruit people ourselves,” Nivra complained as he stood up. Nivra walked over to the table that had the familiar soul.
“Remember me?” Nivra said with a grin to a shifty eye man. The man's eyes widen with fear as he began shaking.
“How did you recognized me?!” The man nearly screamed in panic.
“Calm down I'm not here to hurt you. I want to offer you a job,” Nivra explained with a slight smile.
“Why me out if everyone here,” he said his eyes darting back and forth nervously.
“Your method of hiding would be of use to me. I promise it will be worth your effort.”
“Who else are you bringing in on this job?”
“Besides you and my partner, I have not invited any one else. I was hoping you could help point out some good helping hands.”
“I can introduce you to some people, but it will be up to you to convince them to join.”
“Alright lead the way,” Nivra agreed with a nod. The man walked over to the bartender.
“I'm taking him to the underground,” the man informed the bartender. He then walked behind the bat and motioned for Nivra to follow. After walking behind the bar counter, Nivra felt dense nimora suffuse the air. This place is not simple! They have a nimora gathering artifact! Nivra thought surprised at how well hidden it was. I was right at the bar but could not tell until I was behind the counter. Seeing Nivra’s surprise, the man smirked as he walked into a shelf full of alcohol bottles. He walked through the shelf as if was not there showing that it was an illusion. One surprise after another, Nivra thought shaking his head as he followed the man. Behind the fake shelf were narrow stairs leading downwards. They made their way down after a few minutes arrived at a large metal door.
“Open up it’s me,” the man said banging on the door.
“Well if it isn't Cang, finally coming back after getting so scared you almost wet yourself,” A voice laughed behind the door.
“Shove off! Open the damned door already!” Cang roared while kicking the door. The door swung open revealing a large brightly lit room. It was similar to the room upstairs except this room was of a much higher class. They walked into the room as the large metal door closed behind them.
“I'm going to get a drink. You can go ahead and approach pretty much anyone here for a job,” Cang said walking over to the bar. Nivra looked around warily sensing that everyone in here was a tapper. I need at least two more people he pondered looking over the room. He spent a few moments analyzing the people scattered around the room. He noticed two people that did not seem ordinary. One was a dark-skinned man with golden tattoos marking his body. He is obviously from the Jasmine empire so what is he doing all the way over here in Breezeridge Nivra wondered before turning his attention to the other man. The other man was dressed in plain cloth and wore a conical hat. The thing that struck Nivra was that this man's soul was much bigger than the average tapper. That means he either is a soul tapper or he ran into a lucky encounter. Everyone else seemed average, so Nivra decided to try and recruit those two.
Nivra approached the man from Jasmine first. As he approached the man glanced up with a curious gaze.
“Can I help you with something?” The jasmine man asked with a playful grin.
“I am looking for people to do a job and you look capable.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Any jasmine noble that escapes is bound to have some capabilities.”
“How do you know I am not just a spy?”
“They would never send out a spy with the markings of a noble,” Nivra said with a chuckle. The Jasmine man smiled impressed at seeing how knowledgeable Nivra was.
“So, what kind of job are you talking about?”
“It's to plunder the caravan I am currently traveling with.”
“Just a caravan? That's not worth my time,” he said slightly disappointed.
“I haven't finished yet. This caravan has a writ from both Verkarion and Breezeridge!” Nivra said trying to convince the man. The man's eyes widened in surprise.
“Well if that's the case it may be worth my time. Count me in, when do we start?”
“We will start once the caravan is a few days away from the city. I will travel with them while you and the others follow behind,”
“Sounds good, send me a message when you leave, and I will join with who ever else you recruit. My name is Sutek, I'll take my leave as I have to prepare some tools for this job,” Sutek said walking away. Nivra then approached the man with the larger soul.
“You want me to join your little job right?” The man asked before Nivra could even speak. Nivra raised an eyebrow slightly surprised.
“You do have some ability if you overheard all the way across the room. Yes, I would like you to join as your the only other one that attracted my attention.”
“Interesting an Atomo turning to banditry. You have peaked my interest. I'll follow and see if you will impress me,” the man said agreeing.
“How did you know I was an Atomo?” Nivra asked concerned
“Simple, I am also a soul tapper, and only an Atomo would have such a large soul,” he explained to Nivra.
“So you really are a rogue soul tapper! It's incredible you have managed to have such a strong soul without proper training.”
“I have had my own fortuitous encounter allowing me to reach this point. That story can wait till after the job is done. I'll be here when you're ready.”
“Glad to have you on board! I'll contact you when we are ready,” Nivra said walking away. Now that I have some manpower I just need to find the right time, Nivra thought. I should have Tuin lead those three, so he can guard against them betraying me.
“Tuin, I want you to lead those men and watch out for anything suspicious. In three days when the caravan leaves you will follow behind with the men. I will send you a message when I want you to attack,” Nivra thoroughly explained.
“I understand, I will not fail your trust,” Tuin swore.
Three days passed quickly as Nivra returned to the caravan. The head merchant was so concerned about making good time that he didn't even notice Tuin’s absence. The caravan traveled for a few more days and was about to cross the border to Verkarion. It was night, and the caravan was stopped for the night. Nivra was sitting around a fire with some other guards eating. It’s time, Nivra thought as he stood up.
“I've got to take a piss,” Nivra told the guards as he walked away. Once he was behind a tree, a small portal opened up as a small snake made of nimora slithered out.
“Sura go find tuin,” Nivra ordered. Sura quickly slithered away. Nivra then returned back to the caravan and began patrolling it making sure to stay close to the armored caravan. Suddenly a guard screamed as he clutched a swelling arm. All the guards were instantly aroused by the scream. As the guards rushed to see what was wrong flaming arrows shot out of the dark. The scene was thrown into chaos as the arrows landed setting the area ablaze. More guards began to fall to the ground screaming in pain as their limbs began to swell. Seeing the turmoil, Nivra ran to the armored carriage. Nivra put his hands on the back of the carriage as blue nimora poured out. Nivra removed his hands after a few seconds revealing the frozen back of the carriage. He then took out his fang spear and thrust it at the frozen spot. With a crack, a hole was blown open in the armored carriage.
“Die!” A voice from inside the carriage roared out. A cleaver-like blade swung out through the hole heading towards Nivra’s neck. Nivra reacting on instinct jerked his spear in front of the blades path. The giant cleaver struck the spear shaft causing it to crack and forcing Nivra back. An elderly man charged out wielding the massive cleaver. Nivra could feel a dense nimora radiating off the old man. Without a word, the elder rushed at Nivra swinging his blade. Nivra galvanized his nimora to the limit coating his spear in icy nimora. He thrust out with his spear colliding it with the massive cleaver. With a sky shattering crack the spear finally shattered sending Nivra and the old man sliding backward.
They actually managed to hire a master lever tapper to defend their caravan Nivra thought surprised at how deep this merchants wealth ran. Too bad it useless Nivra sneered to himself as the old man once again charged at him. Before the old man could react, a shadowy phantom appeared behind him. The old man came to a stop with a lurch before falling down with a heavy thud.
“Perfect timing Tuin!” Nivra said as he walked over to the now dead old man. Tuin was standing over the dead man with a bloody dagger. Nivra briefly glanced at the dead man before looking at Tuin.
“The first time is always the hardest it will get easier as time passes,” Nivra said patting Tuin’s shoulder. Tuin nodded his face was pale. Nivra quickly entered the armored carriage while Tuin stood guard outside. In the carriage was a single large metal chest.
I have to be quick with this I am running out of time. He placed his hand on the chest as nimora seeped out of his hand and into the chest. Damn! It’s locked with a nimora seal! Guess I'll have to use force to open it. A white and blue glow sprung up around Nivra for a moment before it condensed into small scales covering his hands. Nivra then smashed down with his scaled hand. With each strike more and more frost formed on the chest before cracks started to form. With one final strike the top of the chest shattered. Without looking Nivra stored everything into his pendant. Nivra was surprised to see something not stored in his pendant. He picked up what appeared to be some kind of large egg. With time running out Nivra did not have time to study the egg so he put into a sack since he could not store it.
“Let's go meet the others and get out of here,” he said to Tuin. Nivra and Tuin fled easily with the caravan being in complete chaos. They met up with the others just outside the caravan.
“Did you get the goods,” Cang asked anxiously.
“Yes, I was successful but let's put some distance between us and the caravan before I take out the goods,” Nivra said. The others nodded in agreement as the group slipped into the shadows successfully escaping with the caravans fortune.