As I shuck my axe from the solar plexus of the folding body of the half-orc fighter, I step aside to let it drop beside me as I take in the corridor ahead, and the sheer chaos unfolding around me. Second level down, now, and it’s as much utter chaos as the one above was, and again I’m a little surprised how many of Jammund’s people there actually are down here. The longer this moving skirmish goes on as we try to press deeper, hoping we might be able to meet up with the others, or at least push through to them if they really are truly hung up, the more I wonder if they might’ve been expecting us. Like maybe Jammund, or more likely Vandryss, just decided to gather as many of their remaining forces down here as they could just in case we decided to come. Given I already killed six making my way down here and maimed a bunch more besides, I wouldn’t be too surprised.
When Lady Naru got that message from Kesla, we were already in the thick of it, I had to jump to protect her when she suddenly went still while her last foe was still slumping at her feet after she cracked his skull with that staff of hers. She wasn’t out of it more’n a few seconds, I’m sure, but when she came to again she was suddenly wide-eyed and a little flustered, like something very big had changed in that short time. Then there was a massive booming crash from somewhere almost directly above us, and the whole structure shook, loose dust from the ceiling wafting down around us while we all picked ourselves up again. The fight started up again the next moment as everyone remembered what we were actually about.
So I didn’t hear about what actually happened until a few minutes later, when we finally had that level sufficiently brought to heel that we could take a moment to regroup. Kesla and Shay had gotten themselves into some major difficulties trying to make their way to us, and had used that little communication stone that Lady Naru made for them to beg for some help. Namely by sending Driver 8 into the building, in the most violent way he possibly could come. I imagine the whole theatre’s in absolute chaos now as everyone panics and tries to get out as fast as they can.
Up ahead, Lady Naru’s spinning her staff as forcefully as the width of the walls with allow her, warding off those around her as she opens ground to keep them from overrunning her. Beyond I see Zuldrad cutting his way through more, while I’m the closest on this side, while Brung and Darwyn are both doing their own work with those who’ve managed to get past.
If the halfling’s still feeling any lingering aftereffects from her wounds and the subsequent wear, she ain’t showing it now, moving with the exact same kind of quick, lethal agility that I’ve seen Art move with before now. It actually took me a few moments, when we first started, for me to realise this is actually the first time I’ve had a chance to really watch her in action, and I have to admit that she is damn good, as nimble and vicious with a blade as Brung, in fact. I have to admit, now I’ve seen just what she’s capable of, that Darwyn really is something special, easily marking herself as just as talented a prowler as her friends.
As I take the moment to check on them both, I also notice she and Brung seem to work well together, almost seeming to move in some kind of elaborately choreographed dance as they weave around each other. Darwyn ducks aside after spilling the guts of one of her foes and then skips left to avoid the sword-swing of the one behind him, only for Brung to leap up at him while he’s still fumbling from the miss and start cutting into him. Meanwhile she’s already moved onto her next target. They clearly don’t need any help from me.
But Lady Naru clearly does. I turn back quick and shove myself up into a powerful crouched run, holding my battleaxe low as I focus on the nearest of the wary, well-armed mercenaries clustered around her. Each still falling back from her spinning staff as she sweeps it about, looking for an opening which she’s working hard not to give any of them, knowing it’s only a matter of time before she falters once and lets them in after all. Which I ain’t about to let happen.
The closest one manages to clock me just a beat before I reach him, skipping back from her swing in such a way that as he twists he must catch sight o’ me coming through the corner of his eye, and he jumps aside, starting to turn my way. He’s a wily-looking human, approaching middle-age with thinning hair and a scraggly salt-and-pepper beard, but clearly still in decent enough shape, more muscle than fat in his worn leathers and old yellowing shirt. He plants his feet and drops his sword low, preparing his defensive stance as he rounds on me now.
So I just swerve hard left a few steps short and jump up into a high running leap, swinging my axe high as I launch myself right past his guard. He’s barely starting to adjust as I come down hard on him, my feet battering his sword arm out from under him the same time I tuck my knees in so when my axe rains down on him it cuts right into his exposed right shoulder. None o’ these folk are wearing armour, if they were gathered to form a defence they clearly didn’t think ahead far enough to actually dress for it, so my blade don’t meet any resistance as it chops hard into unprotected muscle and bone. He folds right away under my weight coming down so hard on top of him, and my axe opens a wide, bloody gash right down through him it finally catches and he’s finally yanked down sprawling when I land.
Hooking my axe free with a sharp twist, I yank it aside while he lands in a gasping tangle, dropping his sword while he gawps up at me, and I almost don’t follow through seeing the shock on his face. But the last thing I need right now is to leave another live fighter behind me to worry about, no matter how badly damaged he is, so I suck it up and turn the axe again, chopping it down on his neck before he can bring his hands up. His head pops free with a single stroke, and I jump over the still twitching corpse quick as I can, tearing my eyes away fast so I can’t think about it too much. Already focusing on the next fight.
The next one’s already caught on, a half-orc veteran who’s clearly seen a bunch of action in his time. He takes a step back, watching me for a moment as he examines this new threat, and I do the same, already figuring this one’s likely gonna be a harder fight. Not just big and cautious, but experienced too. I’m starting to get the impression the ones we’re facing now are Jammund’s serious pros, and they’re going down a lot harder than most we been up against so far.
So I hold my ground, taking a half-step back as I tighten up into my own wary guard, adjusting my grip on my axe as I watch him think. His eyes, still noticeably amber-coloured, warn me he’s worryingly calm right now, meeting mine for a long, charged beat before they start to move over my weapon, but quick enough returning to catch my gaze. Looking out for that little giveaway should I decide to move first after all.
Then Lady Naru knocks one of his companions down and the poor bastard stumbles right into his back as his skull’s split wide, and the half-orc has no chance of a warning as he gets knocked right at me, suddenly off balance. His eyes go wide as he tries to steady himself, but I’m already breaking, ducking to the right now as I start to come in low before he can bring his longsword round. By the time he finds his feet again I’m already swinging.
My axe takes his legs out from under him, the blade cracking hard into his left knee and splitting it with a bloody splintering snap before I bowl him over. He barely manages to whoop in pained surprise as I whip my axe round and swing it high in a smooth, swift motion, finally driving it down while he’s still landing. He almost manages to get a hand up in time to block the stroke but he’s long since lost his grip on the sword so all the blade meets is flesh and bone …
As the blow sinks deep into his collarbone and lays half his ribcage open in a single stroke I see another one coming behind, and they’re coming fast. Another half-orc, but this one’s leaner and a good deal younger, muscular but more like a runner than one of these burly fighters. Shaven undercut beneath cornrows and a long, wildly sweeping ponytail, while their eyes are already turning red, their blood up. They charge me fast, already starting to cock the handaxe in their right hand ready to cut into me, shortsword held back in reserve.
Meanwhile I’m still stuck finishing my business with this guy. My current opponent’s gurgling an ugly death rattle as he twitches at my feet, my axe still buried in his chest. Seeing a new threat coming for me I plant my foot into his gut and give the axe-shaft a good sharp twist, trying to shuck it free, but I can already see they’re gonna be on my before I can recover with this weapon. So I let it go with a frustrated hiss and jump back, already starting to draw both shortswords at once as I try to square up in time to parry.
Except that something hits them in the left shoulder a few feet short and they’re turned hard in mid spring, their feet skidding out under ‘em while what turns out to be a dagger driven deep into the joint draws a significant amount of arcing blood. I jump out the way fast and drop into a wary crouch, cocking my right-hand blade as my would-be attacker hits the floor and skids right across the crappy carpet underfoot, mostly just looking startled right now. I wait until they’ve passed me enough they ain’t got a chance to strike out at me in time, then slice down on the backswing and open their throat before springing back a little further, twisting to keep an eye on ‘em as they start to choke on their own blood. Prob’ly not any kinda threat now, but better to be sure …
I recognise Shay before she’s even properly stepped into view, just from what she’s wearing, even just glimpsed through the corner of my eye while I check the dying merc at my feet. Somewhere between leaving the Temple and all this kicking off she’s lost those crippling heels, already walking with a lot more easy confidence, but the dress seems to be essentially intact, even if I can sort of make out splashes of blood in places. Even if the material is already red. Although now, as I look up properly, I see she’s tied the scarf round her upper torso now, hiding her admittedly extremely distracting cleavage. I’m not at all surprised, but I’ll admit to being more’n a little disappointed.
She’s picked up a sword from somewhere too, a serious broadsword that nonetheless looks a good deal more expensive than any of the other steel we faced so far tonight. The blade’s already streaked with blood like the rest of her, and there’s more speckling her face as she looks me over. “You all right?”
That makes me frown as I regard her for a beat. “Am I … yeah, ‘course. Thanks for the assist. I prob’ly had it anyway, but it’s still appreciated.”
Cocking a brow, she gives me a sassier look as her mouth quirks into a little half-smile. “Oh yeah? I’m sure you’re right.” Then she looks past me, taking in the rest o’ the scene, and some of her remaining tension starts to slip away. “Damn … did you really need us after all? It’s looking like –”
“No, you can still …” I run right over her as I turn to look myself, then my own words peter off as I see Lady Naru standing in the midst of the remnants of her own battle for survival, staff set as she’s leaning into it to catch her breath. One or two of her felled opponents are still breathing, unconscious as they must be given their battered bodies. More so than Zuldrad, now surrounded by corpses a good deal bloodier thanks to his own more inherently lethal handiwork. He’s inspecting the dead now, wiping one of his knives clean with a rag as he does it, seeming unnervingly casual about the whole business.
Biting back an oath, I turn to observe what’s going on behind Shay, only to find Darwyn and Brung seem to have dealt with their own leftovers, although I suspect Shay’s arrival prob’ly helped some. So I turn back to frown up at the half-orc again. “All right then … I s’pose you’re right after all. So how was it up there, then? After you called in your golem, I mean.”
That makes her brows shoot up, I see, and she blanches a little. “Oh … yeah, I imagine that did sound a little … oh, but it was necessary. We needed that. If he hadn’t come, I really don’t think we would’ve made it. Or at least not both of us.”
“Both o’ you?” My frown deepens as I look down the corridor behind her more furtively, but all I see is bodies. “Then where’s Kesla? If she’s –”
“She stayed behind, after Driver 8 made his big entrance. Mallys was still coming after us, even after he started creating chaos in the theatre, I think she got somewhat …” She frowns now too, looking past me and up, and I’m quick enough realising she’s querying the sorcerer now. “There’s a word for it, or a phrase, when you get over-obsessed with something you really want, no matter what.”
“Hyper-focus.” Lady Naru’s come up behind me now, I realise, even though I didn’t hear her approach. “Given what she told us earlier after her little adventure to visit Hontiresk this afternoon, I get the impression that dragonhalf mercenary has developed something of a vendetta against her.”
“Yeah, I can definitely believe that.” Shay’s nodding when I look back. “Kesla told me to come down here while she stayed behind, she figured she’d probably go after her instead. Another distraction, I suppose.” She sighs, looking regretful now, and a little bitter as she visibly grits her teeth. “I didn’t want to leave her, to be honest I’m not sure she’s really up to it, I know she has very rare skill but I remember what Sonagh said about Mallys, how well trained she’s supposed to be. But she insisted, and you did need help, so …”
While the way she falters now suggests she’s starting to wonder if she’s really read the situation right, I don’t feel like arguing with her now. Not under the circumstances. Maybe I could’ve beat that kid on my own after all, but you never really know, not in a fight, not before it’s over. So I don’t begrudge her help. “You are appreciated. We still got a ways to go yet, looks like. We’re done here, but there’s more to come, I don’t doubt.”
Shay watches me for a long beat, taking that in, and I can tell she’s going over it herself now. Then she looks up again, back to Lady Naru. “So what’s happening? Are the others –”
“Oh!” When I turn back the sorcerer seems to have been caught a little by surprise, and she has to juggle her staff a little for a moment while regaining her composure. “I completely forgot. Hold on.” Tucking it into the crook of her arm to lean against her shoulder, she folds her hands together now and lowers her head, closing her eyes in that manner I’m finally becoming familiar with. Communicating with Tulen, since she didn’t need any of her string for it.
While she’s doing … whatever it is she actually does when she’s using this particular magic, I turn back to the corpses gathered around me now, taking another look at my last opponent, now noticeably still as they lie in a pool of their own blood. Maybe I feel a little bad about this particular kill, they did seem awful young, but they were trying to kill me all the same, so I bite it down as I lean forward. Using the leg of their pants to wipe my blades clean before sliding each one home so I can work on retrieving my battleaxe from the previous kill.
By the time I finally got it free again Lady Naru’s looking up again, frowning a little, and that gives me pause, deciding it can’t be a good sign. “Great. What is it this time?” I barely mutter the words, mostly just giving voice to my own thoughts, but she must pick up on it all the same cuz it just makes her frown deeper.
“Tulen says they’ve broken through, down below. The resistance they were facing, down in the tunnels, they dealt with it. Apparently Sonagh and Dow proved the deciding factor there.”
“Well then that’s a good thing, surely.” Shay’s frowning again too as she regards her. “Surely that means they’re already making their way up to meet us.”
The sorcerer shakes her head. “They’re still held up in the tunnels. There’s a door barring their way. A large one, thick steel, built to withstand quite the bombardment. Art tried to use his tools to break in, but it resisted him. Tulen believes there’s a magic barrier reinforcing it, like nothing she’s seen before. It would seem Tavarrat has been busy again.”
“Shit.” I snarl the word, while Shay just lets a sharp hiss go through her clenched teeth. “That means it’s just us.”
“We’ve got to get through to them, then.” The half-orc looks down at the sword in her hand, pondering it for a beat before taking a handful of silk from her skirts and starting to wipe away the blood painting the blade. “If they can’t get in, we need to try and open it from our side. But that means –”
“There’s still a fight to be had getting to ‘em.” I give my axe a good shake to clear away the excess blood before checking it over after all. It’s still liberally splashed, but clean enough to pass muster moving forward. “If they been locked out, that’s gotta mean the rest of ‘em are still down there, waiting for us. Jammund an’ Tavarrat, at the very least. Vandryss too, prob’ly. ‘Least I should fuckin’ well hope she is. Gimme a chance for a crack at ‘er myself, maybe.”
“Not sure that’d turn out how you’d like.”
Recognising, Kesla’s voice, I’m already preparing my retort to that unfair prediction as I turn to her … then I actually catch sight of her and my words wither in my mouth. Bloody hell … she does not look good.
For a split I could’ve been forgiven thinking maybe she’d just run through a cloud o’ something nasty, that’d be enough to explain her appearance. Her clothes and already relatively dark skin are generously smeared and smutted with streaks and smuts of soot, but once I start looking it quickly becomes clear she’s proper been through it. Not just the over-poofy right sleeve of her shirt, which has been badly charred to blackened, shredded rags. As she hobbles towards us, leaning heavily into the wall while she’s got her left hand pressed tight into her side, I see the pain writ large in her face. She’s favouring her right leg too, moving with a real stiff, awkward limp in the other.
Shay immediately springs to her aid, hissing a worried: “Shit!” as she goes, and while Brung looks on with his usual wary calm Darwyn’s eyes are already widening seeing her like this. For a few moments she just seems kinda shocked by it, but then she springs forward too, getting to her before the half-orc.
“Thorin … you all right?” The halfling reaches out to help her, despite being a third her size at most, but the big woman waves her off pretty quick.
Wincing, she has to breathe in before she can answer, finally taking her hand away from her side as she just lets herself slump. “Oh … honestly, I been better.” Now I can finally get a proper look at her side, I see how the quilted cream linen lining her fancy armoured vest has been torn … no, now I’m looking I see the rent split in the fabric’s too smooth for a rip, it’s clearly been cleaved through with a blade. The iron pieces woven into the layer underneath have been laid bare, and I can just make out a particularly bright indented scar running across each ‘em, instantly telling how barely they managed to save her from being laid open in a single stroke.
“Fuck me … looks like you should be dead.” The words are out my mouth before I can stop ‘em, and they bring Shay up short before she takes hold of her. Her eyes immediately go down to what I already seen, and she gasps.
“Bloody hell …” Sucking her own breath in as she winces in sympathy, the half-orc snakes her arm under her and takes up her weight, shifting her round a step or so before starting to lower her so she can sit down on the floor. “She’s right, that looks … what the hell? I told you … you said you were going to be more careful.”
“Bitch got lucky, what can I say?” Kesla winces again as Shay finally settles her down at the base of the wall before crouching beside her, taking great care as she stretches her bad leg out straight in front of her. “Oh fuck … the jack took the worst of it, but not so much my ribs ain’t still letting me know they regret my decision. To be honest, I did worse to myself when I decided to jump down to the stage before I’d reaches the bottom. Pranged my bad knee good an’ proper in the landing, fucking thing’s locked up on me.”
Lady Naru’s moving back through us to reach her, frowning as she looks her over. “Unfortunately we don’t have a cleric to hand right now, which complicates matters somewhat. I’m afraid I can’t actually heal you, even my magic doesn’t work that way. At best I could use a Mending spell on your ribs, but it’s likely to hurt far more than it currently does while I’m at it. And I would not even try to do that with your knee, that sort of damage is beyond my magics.”
As the sorcerer takes hold of her staff with one hand and adjusts her robes so she can drop into a crouch in front of her, Kesla cocks her head as she looks up at her, frowning a little as she actually seems to be considering what’s just been offered. “I dunno, pain’s never really bothered me over much, not since da started training me. I can’t be out of this right now, you need all the help you can get.”
“With your knee fucked you ain’t gonna be much good though, are you?” Darwyn looks regretful when she says it, but she meets her eyes readily enough.
Kesla gives her a pretty sharp look back, but I doubt she really means to scowl at the halfling for it, reckon mostly it’s just down to her pain making her proper tetchy. She shakes her head and lets a regretful little sigh go as she settles her head back against the wall. “Fuck … yeah, you got a point there. An’ I’d be a hypocrite trying to force myself on after giving you so much grief about your recovery.”
Darwyn don’t say anything to that, but her brows shoot up all the same.
“At least tell me she’s dead.” Shay sounds a little desperate when she asks this, shifting her feet a little to adjust her position, and I start to become keenly aware how her tightly-bunched, well-muscled long legs are poking out through those splits in her skirts. Her thighs at least are quite naked, and wondrously smooth. “Mallys … you killed her before you came down here at least. Right?”
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The way Kesla lets her next sigh go with so much frustration speaks volumes on its own. “It got a bit … complicated up there. I had to disengage in a hurry, the fire spread quicker’n I would’ve preferred. I’d like to hope the fire might’ve finished her off before she could get down, but …” She looks to Lady Naru now. “Red dragonhalves don’t tend to burn, do they?”
“No, unfortunately they don’t.” the Sorcerer answers her with her own far more subtle reticence. “It comes from them being firebreathers themselves, I’m afraid.”
“Shit …” Shay turns to look over her shoulder, back where we’ve already fought our way down from up above. “Then she could be right behind you then.”
Kesla starts to laugh, but it quickly turns into pained, choked coughing as her ribs complain. “Oh … damn it … gods no, Shay, I’m not a moron. I closed the entrance down here behind me, locked it up all the way. They’d need a golem o’ their own to get through that fucking thing, I promise. No way she could on her own.”
Sighing in relief this time, Shay settles back as much as her position allows and looks round at the rest of us. “Well that’s … all right, so what about Big Man, then?”
“I told him to get out quick as he could, while they’re all distracted, doubt he even would’ve been able to get down here anyway. Said to head back to the Temple if he could without getting tracked, otherwise just find somewhere to lay low ‘til we can get back to him. If we get outta here, that is.” She looks to Lady Naru again. “How we doin’ with that?”
I’m a moment realising she’s not clued up on the current situation like the rest of us, and I look down the other corridor behind us now, where we still have to go, according to the floor-plan that vile woman Sal provided us. I see Zuldrad standing by now, listening to all of this with his usual wary stoicism, just frowning the tiniest bit when he notices me looking his way. I give a little shrug and he cocks a brow subtly in response.
“We been fighting our way down best we can.” I add now as I turn back. “From the look of it we just took this level same as above. Still got the one below, reckon that’s where Vandryss an’ the rest o’ hers are, the worst of ‘em. Prob’ly Gael too.”
“The others are stuck, unfortunately.” Shay growls, her own frustration showing through as she turns the sword in her hand over and sets it point down on the floor in front of her, leaning into it a little. “Tavarrat’s blocked them off, in the tunnels, so they can’t get through. That’s why we’re short a cleric.”
Frowning deeper, Kesla goes over this fresh information for a few moments, searching each of our faces in turn as we’re gathered round her. Finally she looks down at her hands, turning ‘em over in her lap now. “Damn it … so this has all gone tits up.” She ponders for another beat before finally looking up, turning to Shay now. “Then it’s all on you now, luv.”
“What?” Shay leans back a little more, and there’s a moment she almost overbalances before catching herself again. It makes her breathe a little harder when she starts speaking again, as if she wasn’t already a little startled. “But … no. You’re here, this is still your –”
“Shay, I’m knackered. Like Darwyn said, with my knee gone, even if Sulin does fix my side I ain’t going anywhere until Krakka can get to me. I definitely can’t fight right now, not like this. I mean I could, but it’d be a fucking mess.” She chuckles a little, and this just gets her wincing again. “Ah … fuck. You better got on, the whole place is burning down above us. I don’t think we’re in any danger from down here, but better not to risk it. Right?”
“But then …” I falter immediately as they both turn to me soon as I speak, feeling my face flush from the sudden regard, but they seem too surprised to pick up on it. I take a breath and lick my lips, working out what I’m actually gonna say as I try not to worry the shaft of my axe with restless fingers. “I mean, if that is the case, then … well, what about all the prisoners?” I wave my offhand around, vaguely indicating the walls on either side, not really knowing how many o’ the rooms behind those locked doors actually are full o’ the very people we been hoping to rescue. “If the fire does spread down here, then we gotta let ‘em out.”
“To where, though?” Kesla sighs, still regretful. “I locked the door up there, and below it’s the same, ‘least until we can get down to open it up. If we can. There’s nowhere for anybody else to go right now. They’re safer where they are at the moment.”
“So what, we just leave ‘em where locked up until –”
“Yeah, we do. It’s pretty shitty, but until we finish what we started down here, they gotta wait.” She tries to shift herself now, working on finding a more comfortable position maybe, but this just makes her wince again. “Oh … shit … I get it, it’s a shitty deal, but that’s what we got to play right now. The sooner we get this done, the quicker we can let ‘em all out, same as with Gael, and their da.”
Shay looks up at me now, looking pretty sorry too now, but don’t offer any solution of her own. I have to bite back an oath as I turn away fast, my next breath an angry hiss all the same, but as I stalk away towards Zuldrad I really can’t find fault in the argument. Kesla’s right, we got no choice in the matter. So we better just hurry up and beat this shit.
The hobgoblin slots his last freshly-cleaned knife back into its sheath as I approach and don’t say a word, just offering up a noncommittal shrug of his own. Maybe it’s commiseration, I don’t know. He’s not much easier to read than Brung, even now. “We moving again, then?”
“Reckon so, yeah.” I look down at my axe as I stop next to him, then inspect my hands. Still speckled and streaked here and there from the fight, but nothing that’s going to foul my grip, ‘least not yet. “This is it for this level, yeah?”
“Yeah. Looks like whoever was left down that way came running when the fight started. The smells are a bit too complicated in here after, but I can’t hear anybody else up here, not even trying to hide their breathing. Not out in the open, anyway. We got folk all round us, but …”
“Yeah …” I growl, gripping my axe a little tighter all the same, trying not to let it gnaw on me any more’n it already has. “You ready?”
“Enough.” he admits, giving another little shrug, then just starts walking down the corridor towards the next corner. I blink, turning back to check on the others, finding Shay still crouched by Kesla, but Brung’s already catching up with me while Darwyn’s moving more leisurely so she can check her gear over. Lady Naru’s hanging back, but I see her watching me still, frowning deep as she considers.
“We doin’ this or what?” This earns a sharper look from Shay now, but then Kesla reaches up and gives her shoulder a grip, sighing as she says something low enough I can’t catch it. The half-orc regards her for a long, loaded moment, then breathes out heavy, leaning forward to give the big woman a kiss on her cheek and whisper something back. They stay there for another beat, both looking more regretful still, then she pulls away and straightens herself up to standing in a quick clean movement, finally giving me a much harsher glare now. I just turn back to the sorcerer.
Lady Naru sighs as she shifts her staff from one hand to the other, starting to follow now. She don’t seem much happier than Shay right now about leaving Kesla behind, but she’s holding her tongue, clearly seeing sense. I almost ask her what she thinks about the plan regarding the prisoners, but kill the urge pretty quick, focusing on what we’re about instead.
Even so, when I find Brung waiting on me now as I turn back, I give him a pointed look that I hope he catches the meaning of. His eyes narrow a little seeing it, but as he just falls into step with me he remains stubbornly silent.
Finally I just give up and speak myself, keeping my voice low as we go. “You found ‘em yet?”
The goblin turns those baleful yellow eyes up to me for a moment before simply shrugging and continuing on his way. “Not yet. No point now. Job to do. Best do it. Right?”
I almost stop on the spot, a little surprised by what, for him, feels like a show of particularly expressive eloquence, but catch myself in time. Instead I give him a drawn out sidelong look, finally hissing back: “There’s times I wish you were a little less ruthless, y’know that?”
“Not ruthless. Just pragmatic.” He returns my look for a beat, like he’s making a point, and I almost want to give him an angry little shove. “Get ready.”
Damn it … he’s got a point, unfortunately. Looking up now, I see we’re already approaching the bottom of the last corridor, finding Zuldrad waiting ahead at the top of what I realise must be a small staircase leading down towards what I can just see is another big door set in the wall below. Going by what we found up above, this’ll lead into the main stairs heading down to the bottom level, an’ likely more trouble if they are planning to make a fight of it now. Which would seem most likely right now.
When I look back this time I find Shay weaving through the group to join us, still holding her scavenged sword low at her side, at the ready, frowning deep as she takes in what’s ahead. No more reluctance in her now, she’s sharp and ready as the rest of us. It’s enough to make me pull in a deep breath and get my own shit together as I focus on what’s coming too.
Looking round at us for a beat as we gather around him, Zuldrad takes his own breath and draws one of his longer knives again, setting his jaw as he turns back without ceremony and starts down the steps. He slows as he approaches the door, finally leaning into a half-crouch as he listens at it for a long beat, his tufted tail flicking back and forth with a somewhat jerky sharpness that speaks of greater apprehension than I could ever catch in his face. Finally he turns the blade over to hang underhand and takes a slow step back, reaching up now to test the handle.
When he turns it the latch clicks and the door shifts easy enough, and I don’t know if I find the ease of passage a relief or cold warning. I tense all the same as I bring the axe up, making ready for a potential attack as he pulls it open, but as the door swings wide and he crouches lower in front of it nothing springs forth. Honestly, I’m not really sure what I expected, but this is making me nervous.
“Just … wait here.” Zuldrad hisses low, almost under his breath, before slipping the other knife free and starting a tight, crouched descent into the staircase beyond. Moving slower and a good deal more wary now as he turns the corner and drops out of sight.
More nothing happens for perhaps a minute, and eventually the tension becomes too much for me and I have to inch forward to take a look for myself. It’s no darker down there than it’s been so far, light from below showing they’re clearly burning the same ensconced little oil lamps, and while my nose is less sensitive than others’ I can’t pick up anything unusual on the air. Mostly it’s just the silence that’s getting to me now, like a warning I can’t quite fathom.
“Thel?” Shay whispers, closer behind me than I expected. When I chance a look through the corner of my eye I find her tightened up too, watching me warily. “You good?”
Baring my teeth as I clench my jaw, I let my breath go in a harsh puff through my nose and growl: “I don’t know.” before stepping down onto the stairs after the hob, holding my axe low but ready now as I start to creep.
Turning that first corner once I’m through the door and on the landing beyond, I peer over the top of this next staircase in a low crouch, tense and wary as I grip the axe a little tighter and clutch it a lot closer to my chest. Zuldrad’s at the bottom now, stood just inside the open doorway leading off to the side, pressing himself tight against the wall in the shadows. Taking another breath, I hiss at him as subtly as I can, but he’s a few moments responding, making me think he ain’t heard me until he finally turns his head to look up. Eyes narrowed, jaw tight, clutching both knives in tight, pale-knuckled hands.
He don’t say one word, just raises one hand, still gripping his knife, in order to uncurl one finger to place to his lips, then beckons me down. Easy enough to work out what that means, so as I come down I try to step light and silent as I can, although in full armour that’s an uncomfortably difficult prospect indeed …
‘Least I don’t trip and take a noisy tumble on the way down, I’m trying so hard not to make a ruckus I make it down in one piece. I give him a pointed look as I stop on the bottom step, and he just points to the open door beside him, frowning deeper as he does it, again making his point clear enough. I shift closer to him first before finally taking that last step down, so when I lean toward the frame I can do it as tight into cover as I can, and barely peek through when I do it.
Even so, in that brief glimpse I catch enough to get why he’s being so wary. There is a fuck-load of ‘em out there, maybe a dozen of Jammund’s pirate types, all armed to the teeth as they’re lined up along either wall, facing the door with cool, stoic patience. The four at the front are each on one knee with bows nocked and half-drawn, ready to raise and shoot the second they get the slightest hint. Given they surely caught a glimpse o’ me before I pulled back, that’s already raised to a proper certainty.
“Shit …” I breathe low enough I almost don’t hear it, pulling back as I turn to look back up the stairs. Seeing the others starting to make their way down, moving slow and quiet as they can given what they already picked up on. Shay’s in the lead, but I immediately focus on Lady Naru, pointing to her now and beckoning her down before raising a hand towards Shay and waving it down. Telling her to stay put and, by extension, the others.
Narrowing her eyes, there’s a beat I think she might ignore me and keep coming, but then she turns back and silently passes on the message to the others before dropping into a crouch on the spot, still halfway up the flight. The others quickly follow her example. Meanwhile the sorcerer reaches the bottom and pauses just behind me, already dropping into a low crouch too so she can lean in close, offering her ear for me to whisper close into it as she holds onto her staff for support.
“There’s a whole bunch of ‘em, right out in the open. Just waiting. Including four bows, ready to shoot. No chance we can rush ‘em, whoever goes is gonna turn into a pincushion in the first five feet. You got anything?”
Looking down at the floor for a long moment as I pull back, she ponders what I’ve said, likely going over her options, fingers idly tapping at the stave gripped between ‘em. Finally she nods, raising her head again with a shrewd look, not saying a word ash she stands up to her full height and raises one hand, which immediately starts to draw a sigil in the air. A particularly complex one too, I notice.
Finally she speaks another of those weird magic words and the floating blue sigil flares bright for a brief moment before she whips her free hand through it and seems to whisk it into the staff. For just a split the whole metal shaft seems to flash bright, then starts to quiver in her hands as she takes a tighter grip on it, settling her jaw tight now as she takes a step past me. Facing the door now as she takes a deep breath, then jumps out into the open while bringing the staff round to point it out into the passage beyond in a single swift, fluid motion. Like she’s done this a hundred times before. I mean she prob’ly has.
I catch the subtle creak of four bowstrings tightening almost all at once outside, but none of ‘em get a chance to loose as the violently shivering staff flares again, far brighter this time, bucking in her hands so hard it almost throws her right back into the wall. This is mostly soundless, but just a split after there’s a bright flash in the corridor outside and a great deafening crack, and several people cry out in pained shock or simple surprise. And now I hear the unmistakable shunt as at least two bows are sprung after all …
Lady Naru brings her hand up barely a blink before the arrows hit home, and I see three shafts just stop dead in mid air barely an inch short of it. She’s deathly tense for a long moment, the arrows visibly quivering in space, before she starts to relax with a subtle huff and the arrows drop to the floor. And she follows right behind, falling to her knees as she starts gasping for fresh breath.
“Whoa! Hey, my Lady!” I spring forward fast, dropping into a crouch in front of her now, dumping my axe as I reach up to take hold of her shoulders while she grips onto her staff as if for dear life. “Lady Naru? Sulin? Are you okay?”
“Oh … goodness, it’s been … a while …” She raises her head slowly, looking awful tired, and while she’s still the same beautiful, smooth and svelte woman she’s always appeared to be, somehow she seems so old at the same time. Mostly behind her eyes, but still …
“Have you … you’re okay though, right?” I’m so worried now that she might’ve just burned herself out, that we just lost the only mage we got left for the duration.
Blinking a few times, she focuses on me now, and frowns. “Oh … no, I’m … I mean yes. I am, of course … just give me a minute or two. The spell just took a bit out of me, that’s all …”
“Bloody hell …” I hear Zuldrad whisper behind me, sounding genuinely shocked, and when I turn round, starting to scramble back to standing, I see what’s got him so spooked as I look into the corridor.
There ain’t a single one of ‘em standing out there now. At first glance it looks like something massive just swung right through here fast and impossibly hard and ploughed ‘em all down in one fell swoop, many of the bodies flipped over to land in jumbled tangles after being blasted several feet back. But then as I start to step out, taking it all in, I see that some o’ the bodies – and that’s all most of ‘em genuinely are now, just bodies – have been twisted and broken during their flight, bent into impossible shapes for anyone to actually survive. There’s blood on the walls and soaking into the cheap carpet, mostly from smashed skulls as they hit on landing, but others are just broken. Maybe a handful, particularly those near the back, might still be alive, but even these won’t be in any shape to move anytime soon. If ever again …
“Gods … what did you do?”
Lady Naru steps up behind me, still having to lean heavily on her staff as she comes, and it’s all I can do not to flinch away from her now as I look up into her eyes. But she seems so sad now, like she’s regretting the call she’s just made, and it softens my regard significantly. “The best I could, under the circumstances. Perhaps we should move while we have the opportunity.”
“She’s right.” Shay mutters as she steps past me, barely turning as she does to shove my axe back into my surprised hands. When I look up at her I see she’s regarding the damage in front of her with a tight grimace, like she’s fighting real hard to stay objective seeing what just happened in here. “This won’t be all of them. Keep your eyes open, the same as your ears.”
Zuldrad clears his throat now, wiping the back of his tightly clenched hand across his mouth as he looks round, then takes a deep breath as he visibly steels himself, compartmentalising just like she’s doing. “Right …” he breathes low, still sounding a little choked. “Um … yeah. On it.” He steps out almost immediately, making his way at a brisk walk down the length of the corridor.
“Cut throats as we go?” Brung ponders as he regards his surroundings, seeming as unfazed as ever. “To be sure.”
“What?” Darwyn almost chokes the word out as she stares at him with wide eyes.
“I doubt you’ll need to.” Shay breathes, sounding pretty hollow now as she keeps her eyes locked on the hob. Clearly making an effort not to look at the bodies now.
Following her gaze, I watch as Zuldrad pauses just before the corner, stepping close to the wall as he can with one of the bodies in the way. He regards it for a long beat, but he’s too far away now for me to properly gauge his expression, then tightens up into a half-crouch as he starts to creep forward to look out into the unknown.
An instant later he’s stumbling backwards, unbalanced now, as his shoulder savagely jerks him round. The way he twists I’m slow seeing what’s actually happened to him, but then I finally catch sight of an arrow driven deep into that shoulder … just as another catches him high in his back, right between his shoulder-blades. He jerks as it hits, stumbling forward, and now he drops his knives as he arches his back. Just in time for a third arrow to jam into him, a little below the last one.
“NO!!!” Darwyn breaks now, just as he starts to fall, her first few steps stumbling and clumsy as she almost goes down she’s so desperate to get to him, but she catches herself quick, starting to run hard without any regard for herself.
“Shit … Darwyn! Wait!” Shay calls out to her, starting to move after her, but I’m already ahead of her, starting to chase the halfling down as I start sprinting fast as I can manage. Which still feels painfully slow given all the weight I’m carrying right now …
Then Zuldrad takes one more arrow lower in his back, right where his liver is, I realise, and now he drops with particular finally, going loose and limp as a ragdoll at the last so he just faceplants. This just provokes another scream from Darwyn, just a wordless shriek of horror this time, and I push myself to race faster, spurred on as much by the shouts behind me from the others. I can hear Shay coming after us now, but I don’t think she’ll get there fast enough. I don’t even know if I will.
In the end I give up trying and just toss my axe aside before throwing myself forward, piling all my weight on top of the halfling barely a metre short of exposing herself to whoever’s sniping from round the corner. She gasps as I bear her to the floor, winded for a moment, but she starts to struggle immediately, soon enough cursing me as she fights to get out from under me while I just wrap my arms round her. “Get off me! Lemme go, I have to help him!”
“Just stay down, you stupid little idiot!” I hiss in her ear as I tighten my grip the best I can. She’s surprisingly strong for somebody so small, but even so I’m still bigger, and definitely more powerful. Mostly she’s just hurting herself right now. “For fuck’s sake … just hold still, for you daughter’s sake at least if not your own!”
This is what finally gets through to her, even though I fucking hate myself for saying it in the first place. Meanwhile I look up from where we’re bundled up together on the floor, checking on Zuldrad, and I can see he’s trying to push himself up now, even though he can only move one arm, the one without the now broken arrow driven through the joint. And he’s already so weak, I can see … fuck, he’s in a real bad way.
Darwyn’s sobbing now, whimpering his name as she shivers in my arms, and I roll over onto my back, keeping her hugged tight to me as I look up at Shay as she skids to a rough stop a few feet short of us and drops to her knees. Her eyes are wide, and they get wider as they see the state o’ the hob and then take in what I’ve got to deal with. For a long moment she tries to speak and fails miserably, looking from him to us and back again while her mind must be racing to try and find a solution.
“Fuck …” I growl under my breath, looking back towards the corner now as I ponder what’s actually beyond it. There ain’t been any more arrows since, but then Zuldrad’s already down, whoever that is don’t need to shoot him again, he’s gonna bleed out stuck as he is now, ‘specially if that last shot really did catch him in the liver. Now they’ll just be lying in wait, prob’ly already nocked and ready, just waiting for one of us to try and rescue him so they can up the body count in their favour. I’d have to be a moron to fall for this trap.
Except I got to like that hobgoblin, he’s a smart kid and he’s got a good heart, and Darwyn’s already going to pieces over what’s happening to him. I can’t hang back, not now. So I suck it up and turn back to Shay, taking a beat to stretch out best I can with one hand to drag my axe across the floor as I clear my throat. Already hating myself for what I’m about to put myself through. I keep my voice good and low, a bare whisper, hoping the archer ain’t close enough to catch it. “Soon as they’re distracted with me, you grab him, drag him back fast as you can.”
Shay blinks, frowning deep as she opens her mouth, no doubt to ask what I mean, but I’m already sitting back, throwing Darwyn roughly into her arms before I scramble up just enough to shove myself forward. I’m already starting to wind up with the axe as I don’t so much run as just stumble round the corner, so when the first arrow hits me it just pings off my right pauldron and skitters away over my head, mostly harmless. The force is still enough to make me stagger, so I end up weaving like a drunk until I finally plant my feet and try charging in earnest with a growing roar.
Just in time for the second arrow to strike me square in the chest, which means it just ricochets from one of the overlapping breastplates to spin up over my shoulder while I propel myself forward. Fighting to focus now as I fight the stumble this time despite the hit, even though the wheeling arrowhead nicks my cheek, opening a fine line of stinging fire under my eye. I just use the stinging pain as I push myself into a rush, raising the axe above my head.
Managing to take in the archer now, maybe twenty feet down the corridor and already nocking another arrow. Now I see it’s that fucking halfling, chubby faced and almost dark-skinned as I am, black hair bound up in a pair of buns while she’s dressed simple and practical in gambeson and bare feet, more the great outdoors-type like Yeslee than a real fighter like us. The bow in her hands is near big as she is, but she handles it well, speaking as much about her clear skill as the lethal shots she’s already made. She shoots at me this time, even with my armour I might be in trouble.
So I drop to my knees, skidding to a stop in a few feet on this crappy carpet as I reel back and, just as she takes aim, throw my axe at her hard as I can overhead. She barely sees it coming in time to start to dodge, but she still looses in the process, and I don’t even think about it as I just throw myself aside so it just prangs off my other pauldron. When I go down I roll, already drawing both my swords as I find my feet again, preparing to charge again, hoping I can get on top of her before she can shoot again and maybe cut her down.
Except now I see she ain’t alone back here as I finally take in what’s behind her, although while I can sort of make out other figures here most o’ my vision’s taken up by the massive fucking armoured ogre already bearing down on me. Charging past the halfling as she throws herself aside and coming with full bloody force and some serious fire in its eyes …