All right, maybe this place has some kind of rundown charm on a bright sunny day that attracts the Guild’s children to it as Art told us, but right now I personally do not see the charm. In the failing light, especially since it’s fading so quickly now the storm clouds have started to roll in overhead and the first sprits of rain are starting to wet our surroundings, this strange, dark, empty structure is mostly just creepy.
The building itself seems surprisingly sturdy, but then it’s mostly just some thick stone exterior walls and a tiled roof, the wood in it perhaps somewhat rotted but still seeming to hold up well enough to keep the weather out. There’s a long, open space running right through the centre of the whole thing, with the stalls for the animals once housed on either side, under the cover of the second levels that I imagine were used for feed storage. The wood in the stalls looks to be faring less well than the roofing, but then Art says this place was abandoned well over a century ago now, so some of it’s rotted right through from long exposure to the summer humidity and no-one left to maintain it. There’s an identically large exit corresponding to the entrance at the far end of the long courtyard, but the doors are missing there too. In a way it makes sense that folk might think to use it as a makeshift shortcut between two streets now.
The courtyard was once floored with hard-packed dirt, but it’s long since been reclaimed by nature, the grass spreading all the way from front to back thick and tall now, sweet smelling even though it’s turning brown in the lengthening autumn. It’s stretched into the building around it too now, choking running riot in places, while airborne seeds have clearly found their way in too because the space has also become generously dotted with bushes and wild plants and even a few trees here and there. I suspect there were a good deal more flowers in the summer, but with the year growing so late many of the more fragile ones have clearly died off now. Like I said, I can imagine this place being quite beautiful when the sun’s out, especially in the spring. Right now, though, it just makes me feel like I’m in some strange ruin lost in the wilderness at night, and it’s not helping my nerves at all.
Kesla’s made us spread out through the building, pointing out the optimum places for each of us to hide and wait, dotted around the edges of the interior. It might have made me more nervous to be alone where I am in this increasingly discomforting place, but thankfully Kesla either sensed my trepidation or just decided on her own I needed company. So I’ve taken up my own place along with Shay. I know Driver 8 is now hidden behind a clump of particularly thick hawthorn bushes growing around the tallest tree in here, a young oak which looks set to start breaking the guttering on the nearest roof once it’s thickened out to sufficient growth-rings. I can’t see him now, even though my nightvision is easily as good as the others’, at least besides Art’s, the vegetation’s thick enough to give him a particularly enviable screen. I couldn’t begin to guess where the others are now, despite having watched where most went once the positions were arranged, they’re all just so well hidden. I can only hope we’re both as discreet now.
Honestly, we probably are. She told Art to find somewhere elevated he could watch from, maybe provide cover if needed, and while he doesn’t have much in the way of ranged weaponry I’ve seen how indescribably lethal he can be with those wicked steel darts of his. Unless they’re wearing plate steel he’s got a good chance of taking a few down before the rest scatter. Shay and I got a similar assignment, so she handed off her own beloved shortbow once she’d established that our new half-orc friend has been trained in her own right with one, and once we were inside we looked for a way upstairs.
Getting where we are was no easy feat, what stairs were left were half-rotten and the rest were perilous enough just from rusting nails, but having grown up in the mountains Shay’s impressively sure-footed and found it easy enough to get up. Then it was just a question of helping me up after her, which I found particularly nerve-wracking, but she reassured me the whole way and I’ve certainly come to trust her enough by now that she didn’t let me down. Gods know how the hell I’m possibly going to get back down again – it’s not too far down from our questionably firm perch on one of the balconies, reasonably screened as it is by some of the taller bushes, that we couldn’t just jump it, but I’ve never been that confident with this kind of stuff anyway. I’m not an overly athletic type, jumping around like an acrobat just makes me nervous. If Shay has to drop down into the fight at any point I really don’t know if I could actually follow her …
The rain’s starting to thicken up, heavier drops pattering on the leaves and dusty, split, cracked decking around us as I pull a little further back to avoid the true downpour as it finally begins. As I venture a glance down the line of the courtyard to the back entrance, where we’re expecting our quarry to follow the other group through, a bright, jagged line of startling white lightning flashes in the alarmingly close distance. The massive following crack of thunder sounds barely a beat later, and I feel it right through my bones. “Bloody hell.” I can’t help breathing it low.
“Indeed.” Shay’s crouched nearby, a little deeper in than I am, checking Kesla’s bow over now. It’s an altogether far more modest affair than Yeslee’s immense longbow, which is a little taller than me after it’s been strung, but this still has an inherently dangerous look despite its relatively diminutive size. Perhaps it’s the striking curves of the recurved arms, with the tips flicking out like angry bull’s horns, but I suspect it’s simply down to what I’ve already seen Kesla do with it when she’s drawn it in anger. As I watch Shay gives the string an experimental pluck, listening to the subtle twang for a moment before giving it a quick draw without bothering to load it first.
“So you know what you’re doing with that, then?” In truth I’m partly asking just to cover for my own nervousness, trying to take my mind off our situation and the growing threat of the storm.
“Well enough. I was never really much of a hunter, but we used these enough times on an ambush that I can generally hit what I aim at.” She sets the bow down again beside her, but I notice she also does it as far back from the growing line of rain-splashed wetness as she can reach. Now she draws one of the arrows from the generously filled quiver and starts checking it over. “To be honest I always found a bow most useful whenever we had to run away. We usually specialised with shortbows like this, anyway. They’re great for firing from horseback.”
“Not Yeslee, though.”
Shay smiles a little, holding the arrow two-handed now as she looks down the shaft. “No, Yeslee’s definitely a special case. She is frightening with that great beast of hers, I must admit. But it’s best suited for long distances, if you get into close quarters then something like this is much better.”
I nod at that, but I’m not sure if it’s more agreement or just a rote gesture right now. I lean back against the wall behind me and it creaks significantly, a subtle, cracking pop quickly making me stand up straight again with a wince. “Fuck … I hate this place.”
“Just breathe. The floor’s stable enough, at least here. We’re safe.” Shay slips the arrow back in, then slides another out and starts all over again. “Kesla really does look after her gear, doesn’t she?”
Taking a deep breath as I decide to just follow her advice the best I can, I take s cautious step closer to her, listening for any more uncomfortable creaking and quite relieved not to hear anything particular, before dropping into a crouch of my own at her side. “She’s quite religious about it, actually. She says it’s how she was trained, I understand it’s a mark of great discipline. That being said, I suspect part of it might be a form of genuine worship. To Thorin, I mean. At least unconsciously.”
“I can see that, I’m very particular about my own weapons too.” She slips this arrow back into the quiver too, then, after a thoughtful moment, slips the strap over her head and lets it rest on her corresponding hip. “For me, that was just what my mother drummed into me, more so than with my father. I mean, he cared for his own steel too, but … no, with her it was like you said. A religious thing, really. Thorin loves those who respect their steel, she would always say.”
“Yeah, that sounds like Kesla too.” I have to smile a little at the thought. “Of course now you have a sword that doesn’t actually need looking after, so …”
“Don’t remind me.” Shay’s hand goes to the hilt of Ashsong’s former weapon as she speaks and I suspect it’s largely unconscious. “I’m still a little uncomfortable about learning that this thing drinks blood. Just when I was starting to finally get used to the damn thing.”
“It’s just magic, it’s not actually dangerous. Just don’t cut yourself with it.”
Shay gives me a look, but doesn’t reply. I don’t hold her gaze for long, instead looking out through the balustrade into the courtyard. The rain is torrential now, a constant pattering hiss starting to drown out all other sound, but it’s also making it harder to see what’s going on out there too. “Oh, I don’t know about this. You think this rain might become a problem?”
“More for them than us, I think.” Shay picks the bow up again, letting it settle across her thighs as she rocks back on her heels a bit. She’s just about tall enough that she can peer over the railing from this position, it seems. “As long as we descend on them quickly, we might be able to catch them all without having to spill any blood after all.”
“You really think it’s going to go that smoothly?” I give her an unconvinced look. “Our track record since we arrived has been less than stellar.”
She looks back at me now, warmer again. “Relax. This is a sound plan, and Kesla knows what she’s doing. This weather can only help us right now. So long as you keep your head on straight and trust us to do our part while you just concentrate on doing your own part, this should work out fine. Okay?”
“So you’re sure about that or are you just trying to convince me?”
That makes her frown a touch, and she looks at me for a long moment before breathing out a very gentle sigh. “I don’t know. Maybe both?” She tries a smile, which mostly works.
I don’t know why that makes me feel a little better, but somehow it does, so I smile back again. “Fair enough. I’m glad you’re here with me, though. I hate this.”
Blinking, she looks me over for a moment, thoughtful now, then reaches out and wraps her arm around my shoulder as she leans into me enough to give me a little squeeze. “I know, I’m none too fond myself really. But we can do this, okay? Just get your game face on and trust that it’s going to work.”
“Yeah, okay.” I lay my head on her shoulder, and let her just hold me for a few moments, a little happier now. “It’s for da, so yeah. I’ll do my best.”
Smiling, she gives me another squeeze, and lets me stay here a little longer before finally rocking back as she lets me go again. She stands up almost immediately, cradling the bow now as she takes a cautious little step forward, looking out into the rain again. Sensing the mood shifting, I push myself up after, reaching out for my staff, propped nearby against the rotting wall, almost without looking for it first but I still find it on the first pass.
It can’t be long now, surely. The sun’s long gone now, but it think it’s more down to us losing what was left of the dusk thanks to the storm rolling in so quickly, so now it’s just black up there now. Last time Tulen checked in they were getting close, and that was at least ten minutes ago –
“You see that?” Shay grabs my arm a little firmer than I’d really like and pulls me a little back into the relative darkness again, then points out into the storm.
I’m about to answer her that I can’t see much of anything right now with all this rain, when I just catch a glimpse of something shifting across the rain-slicked roof-tiles above the back entrance. The slate’s dark enough I almost miss it, but the shape moving across them is just a literal black shadow and there’s a flash of lightning somewhere out in the coming night just as I look which is timed so perfectly I couldn’t miss it if I tried. Then I realise whoever it is isn’t making too much effort to stay hidden here, compounded when they actually stand up to full height just short of the overflowing guttering and wave a hand over their head.
“What the hell is that about?” I find myself muttering.
“That … that’s Zuldrad. Art’s friend.” Shay puts her thumb and first finger into her mouth and lets out a brief but piercingly clear whistle, stepping up to the rail at the same moment so she can point out into the open towards him. Signalling to Kesla, wherever she is.
“Well if he’s here, then –” The world seems to go away inside my head, all sound just muffling to nothing while my vision seems to dwindle into a blurry distant image at the end of a long, dark tunnel, and I realise I’m receiving a message. A very urgent one given the sudden, jarring extremity of its onset. Given the circumstances, I simply close my eyes and lace my fingers together again so I can respond as it comes in.
Gael, it’s me. Tulen’s voice says in my head, that incredibly subtle echo sounding a split-second after it. I’ve never quite been able to work out why it does that. Sorry to jump on you so hard like this, I hope I didn’t cause you any problems.
Tu, it’s FINE. What is it? We just spotted Zuldrad. Does that mean you’re here?
Essentially, yes. We’ve nearly reached the street, Darwyn says we should be with you in the next few minutes. Some more of them are on their way now, Zuldrad said he’d spotted another four or so making their way in from another direction, but they might be a little longer following this first group. Either way, we’re hustling now, but as far as they can tell it’s simply due to the weather. Yeslee just went on ahead, so she should be with you any second herself.
Yes well knowing her I doubt she’ll make her presence felt. You’re sure they haven’t worked out what we’re doing? Given there’s more coming –
We don’t know, but Darwyn doesn’t think so. According to what Zuldrad signaled to her just before he went in they don’t seem to have changed anything that they’re doing, so he thinks we’ve convinced them. Are you ready in there?
As far as I can tell. To be honest once everyone went in I lost track of them all, it’s very hard to make out much out in here, it’s so wild. And the rain isn’t helping. Which Shay thinks is a GOOD THING.
We’re crossing now. We’ll be inside in a minute. Best let the others know. The sensation eases immediately, and I drop my own responsive spell at once so I can slip out of the near-trance. I have to blink for a moment because of the particularly jarring transition, and Shay reaches out with the intention to steady me as I start to waver, but I wave her off as I settle before becoming unbalanced. “Oh … no, I’m all right. That one was just a little more insistent than I would have preferred.”
“What is it?”
“They’re here. They’re coming in now. Yeslee might already be in, but she won’t advertise it. There are maybe four more of … whoever it is.”
Shay stiffens up, her fingers creaking a little as she grips the bow tighter, and she shoots a furtive look out into the rainy gloom. “They’ve got wise? Should we be worried?”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“No, from the sound of it they’re more likely reinforcements, coming in from another location. It’s not a lot, I suspect if they had worked out what we’re doing they either would have called in a good deal more of them but covered up their approach much better, or perhaps they would have just pulled out entirely.” I shrug, probably looking as unconvinced as I feel. “At least I think so. I don’t know tactics. Um … should I send all of that to Kesla?”
“Can you?” Shay seems surprised.
“Of course.” I reach into my components bag, take out the bundled length of simple cotton string, shaking it out into my hands and winding it around my fingers before stretching the remaining length of it out between my hands. Finally I stretch the string over either thumb as I concentrate on Kesla. Thankfully I don’t need to do this when communicating with Tulen, but then she’s trained to be able to send back herself – if I want Kesla to respond I need the focal point.
Kesla, it’s Gael. They’re coming in. Yeslee must already be here, but you know we won’t know it. Did you see Zuldrad?
Who … what? Oh … you mean Art’s friend, the hob? There’s a pregnant pause as she must wait for me to respond, and I realise that I’ve never actually done this with Kesla before, she must have just frozen on the spot in terror. Damn it, Gael … you should’ve prepared her better than this.
Yes. Look, there’s no time. There are MORE OF THEM. Four more of whoever it is has been shadowing the others are coming in from another direction. It doesn’t LOOK LIKE they’ve worked out what we’re doing, though. At least that’s the consensus. Um … look, I don’t know what I’m doing here, you know that. What do you want to do? Should we call it off? CAN WE?
There’s another pause, and I think Kesla’s just thinking things over, there’s really no way to tell since all I can do is … hear her voice? It’s not exactly that, either. This really isn’t like anything else, I can’t blame her for being a little freaked out.
What does Shay think?
Mostly she agrees with me, but she’s being cautious. I think it’s smart, but … Tulen said Darwyn thinks it’s still all right. We’re just waiting on YOUR lead, but there’s really no time.
No, I get it. We’ll stick, we’re too far in now. We gotta commit. Pass it on.
I don’t respond, I simply drop the spell and trust that the sudden release of that inexplicable pressure in her head should be confirmation enough. When I look up again Shay’s watching me closely, and thankfully I’m quick enough realising she’s desperate for a judgement either way. “Oh, yes. We’re still on.”
“We better be, because they’re here.” Her voice has dropped to a whisper, even with all the noise of the rain, and as she pulls back a little again she reaches across and pulls one of the arrows from the quiver at her side, dropping to her haunches again as she nocks but doesn’t yet start to draw.
She’s right, as I drop into my own crouch beside her we can just about make Darwyn leading the others inside through the rain, some scattering as they enter. As I watch the halfling herself vanishes into undergrowth with disturbing ease, the grass in here almost tall enough all she really needs to do is stoop and she just disappears from sight. The male dwarf, Dumoli, slinks off in the other direction a beat after, but Tulen and Thelgaewynn continue down the middle of the courtyard, where many years of foot traffic have worn a path through the thicker growth around them. Keeping up appearances, I suspect, just in case anyone’s still watching.
Slipping back into my trance again, I focus as lightly as I can on Tulen so she can just keep moving at Thel’s side. Where are they?
I have NO IDEA. Once Zuldrad came in he wasn’t keeping an eye on them anymore. Oh … wait, we didn’t think about that, did we?
Realising she’s right, I pull right out again, and for a split-second I start to focus on Kesla again instead, before I come to a realisation – we still have a much more useful resource right now. Except I’ve never done this before, I have no idea if I even can. “Oh gods … Shay?”
“What?” She turns to me, looking awfully concerned now. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m about to do something really stupid. Um … look, keep your lookout like you’re supposed to, but if I start to … I don’t know, if anything happens to me, I need you to get in contact with Kesla any way you can. Right away, do you understand me?”
“What … Gael, I don’t understand … what are you going to do?”
“Talk to Big Man.” I shake the string out again and I’m already focusing as I see realisation dawn in her eyes.
“Whoa, wait, Gael, don’t –”
Before she can finish I’m already gone. I focus on Driver 8 and for a moment it’s just like it always is, there’s no real discernible difference as the world just kind of falls away again, that blurred sensory tunnel stretching out as the outside world retreats and then I close my eyes and suddenly … there’s nothing. For what feels like a few moments I start to wonder if I’ve perhaps made a terrible mistake, and then I start to think that maybe I should just try and pull myself out even though I suddenly don’t have the first clue how …
… and then I feel him, somehow I just know it’s him even without hearing him yet. It feels strange, deeply strange, it’s cold and alien in here, not very comfortable at all actually, but somehow … there’s a familiarity to it all the same that somehow I just know is Driver 8, or perhaps it’s just that there’s the subtlest red glow to everything now that instantly reminds me of his gaze. So I take a figurative deep breath – although I suppose I must do it in real life too, I doubt I can really help it now – and send out a message to him, hoping he can pick up on it.
Big Man? Are you there?
There’s what feels like a long pause, but I’m starting to suspect that, somehow, time is just stretching out around us. Gods … is this just how he thinks? So impossibly fast that he’s just ahead of everything? Is that how he can seem to focus on everything all at once?
GAEL. This is YOU, is it not? You are communicating with me using your magic.
Yes, it’s me. Look … we didn’t quite think this through, Zuldrad was watching the people following us but now he’s in here with us, so –
I understand. It is now unclear to you where they are or if they are still following the other group. There is no need to be concerned, I picked them up a few minutes ago, they are making their way towards the building with some speed. Clearly they intend to keep Thelgaewynn and the rest in sight. One of them is entering now, and the rest of the first group are close behind.
The rest? Oh, yeah, the second group … is it still just four of them? What are THEY doing?
Moving in at a more oblique angle, but they are taking their time about it, being much more cautious in their approach. There are in fact SIX of them. There are also another four who have now entered my scanning radius, they are approaching from the other side with the same care and stealth.
ANOTHER group? Oh … how does it look? Do you think they’ve worked out what we’re doing?
I’m afraid I have no frame of reference to make such a deliberation. As much as I have learned there are still aspects of living sentient nature that I sometimes find difficult to fathom.
Wow … I have no idea what to make of that. This whole thing is one deeply strange experience for me, really, and suddenly I’m acutely aware of just how inherently different from me Driver 8 actually is.
The first group are now entering the structure. They are spreading out but I suspect they are making much less of an effort to conceal their own approach now. Wait … Kesla is moving.
“What?” It takes me a moment to realise that I’ve actually spoken out loud again, but then this strange new experience ends and I’m back in the material world again and I’m badly out of balance. A hand grips my shoulder and pushes me upright as I start to teeter, and I work as quickly as I can to get my feet back under me again. “Oh … that was … oooooh … I don’t know if I should do that again.”
“Please, don’t.” Shay keeps hold of me for another beat, still watching me, and she looks more concerned than ever now. “Seriously, that was supremely stupid. What were you thinking?”
“No, I … there’s no time. Kesla’s moving.” I lean forward and for a second I’m unbalanced again, so I just drop forward onto one knee as I grasp my staff with both hands to keep me from falling down.
Shay shuffles forward at the same moment, so she’s looking out into the courtyard just as I am, searching now for Kesla, and I remember once more that I have no idea where she actually is in this whole mess. It’s not until I look down the other way in the direction that Thelgaewynn and Tulen have gone that I see her, stepping out of the shadows now into the path behind them as they pass by where she must have been hiding. Near the main entrance, I realise.
She just strolls out, moving a few paces forward down the path once she’s reached it, before settling into her usual nonchalant lean onto her left foot, hand laid on Hefdred’s hilt as casual as if this is just a pleasant night out on the town. Even though the rain is pouring down on her and there are enemies approaching.
“I don’t …” Shay’s frowning deep now. “What the fuck is she doing?”
Looking up the other way, I can make out a few of them, moving through the grass down at the other end but starting to move up this way, while one of them is just strolling down the path the same way, seemingly almost as nonchalant now as Kesla. As I watch something large moves into the open in front of the back entrance, and I realise it’s Driver 8. Blocking off their escape, should they suddenly realise their predicament.
The figure approaching Kesla slips the broad-brimmed hat off their head as they come, seeming as cool and collected as she is, which would make me nervous enough if it wasn’t for how they look in the first place. I’m pale, I’ll acknowledge that, but nothing like so much as this one, she looks worse than a bloodless corpse but she’s walking about like she’s hale and healthy. Skin white as driven snow, and while the rain’s giving it a certain slick sheen it still looks pretty sickly. Her hair’s white too, but more like bone, even as the rain starts to darken it as it gets wet. Cropped to her jawline, most swept behind her ears but a few stray bangs falling across her face, the cut similar to mine but straighter. She’s dressed in dark leathers like the rest, but there’s more matt grey buckskin in the mix, and her long leather coat looks far more expensive than anything else I’ve seen any of them wear. There’s a longsword on her hip, but I doubt that’s all she’s carrying, knowing the company she keeps.
Seeing the way her green eyes literally flash as she focuses on Kesla, I recognise that this is the infamous Vandryss. She’s very striking, beautiful in a somewhat feral, sharp-angled way, something deeply predatory in her features, and I can see why her ears might have made the boy mistake her for an elf – they are indeed pointed, but too broad, protruding a little too wide on either side of her head, so they look a little more like Yeslee’s. Certainly there might be some passing similarities here, but I really doubt she’s a Fir Bolg. For one thing she’s too small, a few inches shorter than Kesla, it looks like. Lean, athletic, moving with a particularly feline grace that just adds to her dangerous look.
She flashes a wide grin as she stops a few metres short of Kesla, and it’s instantly clear in that moment that she has far more long, sharp teeth in her mouth than she has any right to. “You must be Kesla. Kesla Shoon, do I have that right? A name that carries much weight, historically.” Her accent’s thick, reminding me very much of Yeslee’s. She’s from Tektehr.
I can’t see Kesla’s face from this angle, but the way she cocks her head tells me enough – she’s intrigued, but I know she’ll be hiding it as well as she ever does. “And you’d be Vandryss. That your real name, by any chance?”
“I suppose it’ll do for now.” She cocks her own head, her smile narrowing, becoming more shrewd. “Can’t say I’m particularly surprised to see you here. Given what I know about your father, it makes sense.”
“You didn’t know my da.” There’s a subtle note of warning in Kesla’s voice, but mostly she keeps her tone light, as I would’ve expected. “Whoever you are, whatever you are … you don’t know me. Not really.”
“Perhaps not, I suppose we’ll find out.” Vandryss looks around, and her eyes seem to flash again, the blazing green seeming to leave strange track-lines in the air as she moves her head. There’s something … it’s almost disorienting looking at them, I think. It’s very strange.
“Any chance I can convince you to come quietly?” Kesla wonders, shifting her stance just a little. To a casual onlooker it could be mistaken for simply getting more comfortable, but I recognise her preparing for … whatever’s next. “Might even be able to make it worth your while, that way.”
“I don’t like this …” I barely hear Shay whisper it as the bow gives the subtlest creak, and through the corner of my eye I see her drawing the arrow at last, bringing the flights flush to her cheek as she picks her target. Taking a chance to scan the surroundings of the pair below, I can see the black-clad newcomers who entered with Vandryss spreading out through the grass and leaves around Kesla, clearly intending to surround her.
“Neither do I.” I start weaving a sigil now, keeping my hand low to the floor so hopefully no-one can see it from down there, and as I prep the spell I focus as much energy as I can into the staff gripped in my other hand. “But wait for Kesla. She knows what she’s doing.”
Shay’s breath hisses between her teeth as she draws it in, but she doesn’t let it go yet. Clearly holding it to steady her hand. Waiting for … something to happen, like me.
This whole time Vandryss has simply been thinking, her eyes locked on Kesla’s own. Does she not realise she’s surrounded? She seems so calm, there’s almost no emotion in her face at all now. Motionless now, almost like a statue, like she’s just carved from alabaster. The way she looks under that dark leather, I could almost believe that –
When she moves it’s so fact I’m amazed I even caught it, it’s so uncanny I almost don’t believe I’m actually seeing it at all. One moment she’s stood almost perfectly still, maybe the slightest tilt to her head for a moment, then she just flickers forward, going straight for Kesla. I think if she’d been closer she might actually kill my friend before she has a chance to react, she moves so quickly. That sword at her side is drawn and flashing out in her right hand before I quite realise it …
But Kesla was ready, that much is clear given the way she just takes one long step back and turns, drawing Hefdred in that beautifully executed signature move of hers and intercepting the incoming blade before it can bite. The ring of steel is louder than I would have expected, especially in the storm, and it’s enough to break any trance that might have taken hold of me, along with the others, I suspect.
Shay looses a single beat later, and I’ve completed my sigil in the same moment, raising the staff once and bringing it down as hard as I dare on these floorboards. The subtly cracking pop it produces is almost entirely lost as the ground directly under two of the shadows flanking Kesla suddenly erupts upwards, a great blast of disturbed soil and greenery engulfing each as they’re each flung into the air with great booming sounds. At the same moment Shay’s arrow strikes home, a third one stumbling back with the shaft stuck deep in their chest, and two more are immediately hurled several feet across the wild turf as they catch Yeslee’s distinctive long black arrows.
Now there’s only one of them out there beside Vandryss, and she’s fully engaged with Kesla right now. She’s wicked fast, each and every stroke of her sword should be swift and deadly enough to end our leader in an instant, but somehow she’s managing to keep up with the pace, responding to each move with startling precision. I’ve rarely seen Kesla move this fast before, she’s genuinely matching Vandryss as they wheel about, but right now I can’t tell which one’s actually winning here.
The one remaining hood, clearly rattled by seeing most of their party taken down almost as one, turns fast, hands questing inside his cloak for weapons now, and then I barely catch something … no, several somethings flitting out of the gloom of the balcony on the other side, each striking him hard in quick succession. I couldn’t see what they are if I tried, but I already know they’re those same small, nasty steel darts that Art uses, and the way he slings them hits his target as hard as another arrow from Shay would have done. Whoever they were under the hood, after two beats that last remaining would-be attacker doesn’t so much fold as just straight drop to the ground, and they don’t move again after.
“So … what, is that it?” Shay breathes at my side, letting the slack off her second arrow which I suspect was ready for that last one before Art took care of them instead. She almost looks disappointed, but I can’t help thinking she could be right – Vandryss is all that’s left, and while she’s clearly giving Kesla a run for her money, the way she’s keeping up with her suggests it’s just a waiting game now. Perhaps she’ll see sense once her situation occurs to her and she’ll just come quietly like Kesla originally requested. Somehow I doubt she’ll be so accommodating in the end as to actually let her go, but still …
Except there were two more groups coming, and something’s niggling at me … “Hold on. Just wait for me.”
I barely hear Shay start to ask me what I mean as I slip the string out again and pull it taut, focusing on Driver 8 again. I dive deep, but it’s probably the sudden urgency I feel that fails to check me in time as I do it, I just drop into that strange dark red emptiness again.
Big Man, what are the rest of them doing?
Gael … a moment please. The red glow seems to dissipate a subtle fraction around me for a moment, but then it rises again as his voice returns. Both groups have stopped. Wait … one has disappeared. NO. I believe it was a portal. I have seen this before –
This time when I pull out I do it so quickly I actually stumble backwards, I’ve landed on my backside before I can right myself and Shay’s not quick enough to react in time. I barely register the momentary pain, however, I’m already focusing on the courtyard below as six more shadowy figures suddenly just drop out of a rift in the air. One I recognise the moment I see it, but I really hoped I’d never see its like again …
“Minerva …” I breathe as I force myself up, springing to my feet a good deal more clumsily than I’d like but rally not caring much about decorum now. “Whatever you do, please don’t shoot me.”
“What?” Shay starts to protest as I take a step forward. “Gael, what are you –”
A second rift opens in the air on the opposite side of the yard from the first, closing just as quickly after four more figures tumble from it and land with less sure feet than the first group, but I’m already moving now. I mutter the incantation under my breath while Shay’s still getting her words out, then I feel that strange inward pull as my portal spell activates and I jump into the middle of the courtyard below.
I set my feet and swing at the nearest target the moment I’m aware of where I’ve landed …