Annabelle realized her original plan had a lot of flaws. It seemed simple to use mind-control to confuse guards, but as she pondered it while trying to sleep, she realized that there were a number of things that could go wrong. A guard might resist her mind-control long enough to warn everyone. She could only control one guard at a time, and might face a situation where she would need to control multiple to successfully fool the others.
She finally went to sleep, and hoped she would come up with a better plan in the morning. She knew she had enough tools to pull it off, she just needed planning time.
**********
Sometime in the middle of the night, she woke suddenly. Her defenses immediately went up, her mind geared for eliminating any potential threats. She wasn't sure how she knew, but she knew something was wrong.
The immediate point of interest was that the place was completely silent. Not just quiet, but literally silent. She couldn't even hear her own breath or heartbeat, nor her own panicked whisper.
The next thing she noticed was being stabbed in the chest by an invisible attacker.
Her immediate response was a pulse of telekinetic energy, flinging her bedsheets into the air and sending whatever had attacked her into the ceiling. She felt the vibrations of something being slammed into the roof hard, but she couldn't hear any sound.
It made perfect sense. By combining an invisible assassin with a spell that dampened sound in the area around them, they could sneak into almost anywhere undetected, remain undetected even during a pitched battle against their target, and prevent their target from calling for help.
She rolled off of the bed and staggered to her feet. She clutched at her wound, and felt blood oozing out of it. She could survive a wound like this by using telekinesis to keep her blood in her body (at least until she could get the wounds closed properly), but only if she could eliminate the assassin quickly to avoid having to split her attention.
Annabelle next utilized an unusual technique she called Starsight. She expanded a field of telekinetic energy across the room. But instead of using that energy to manipulate matter, she sensed the distortions in it from contacting solid objects, identifying the location of solid matter nearby even when it was invisible or behind cover. Essentially, it was the sense of touch, expanded over everything her telekinesis could contact. It wasn't perfect, but it was accurate enough to tell her the position of the assassin and let her dodge out of the way of an attack.
She also sensed a blunt object nearby, pulled it to her hand with telekinesis, and then swung at the sassin. But the assassin rushed underneath her swing, and slashed her across the side of her abdomen. She backstepped, just in time to avoid getting her face cut open. Annabelle could sense that the assassin was using a single blade, either a long dagger or a short sword.
Annabelle dodged out of the way of another strike, only to have the assassin outmaneuver her and deliver two quick stabs in the abdomen before pushing her away. In response, she released an uncontrolled psychic burst that seemed to stun the assassin. At this point, even if she won, she would probably desperately need healing.
As the assassin was vulnerable, she readied a counterattack, winding up for a swing supercharged with telekinesis. She swung forward, throwing all of her energy into a swing that should have been enough to destroy his skull.
But her improvised weapon shattered on impact, causing minimal damage. The assassin recovered, dashed in, and slashed open her throat. She rapidly began to lose blood, but still the assassin did not relent.
She released another telekinetic blast, and managed to launch the assassin out of the window. Then, she fell to the ground, her body unable to support itself due to injuries. As the assassin climbed back into the room, she desperately fought the bleeding with telekinesis, but she knew it was a losing battle, even before the assassin got back into the room to finish the job.
Is something wrong? It was a telepathic message, one that she did not initiate. That could only mean one person.
I'm wounded, and there's an assassin about to kill me, Annabelle told Silence. She then sent warning that the assassin was invisible, alongside a mental image of the assassin's approximate position.
Silence then proceeded to burst through a wall and slam into the assassin at a sprint, grabbing him by the neck a wall.
He was followed by Lorso. She wouldn't die, not today.
**********
Lorso was awakened by a message from Silence. She experienced a bit of confusion upon awaking, as she had apparently gone deaf.
Engaging assassin. Annabelle wounded. Please respond. Silence repeated.
Lorso realized that there was a hole in the wall between their room and Annabelle's room. She also noticed that Silence had grabbed an invisible enemy and was now in the process of pummeling them to death. He had been stabbed multiple times, but shrugged off the hits and kept up the assault.
She then noticed Annabelle lying on the ground, in a pool of blood. Heedless of the ongoing fight, she rushed to render aid. She attempted to launch a bolt of healing fire as she approached, but the spell fizzled.
The assassin managed to slip out of Silence's grasp with a short-range teleport, but doing so broke his invisibility. The now-revealed assassin leaped out of the window, and sound returned to the room with a start, just before Silence leaped out of the window in pursuit.
Lorso breathed a sigh of relief. Though silencing effects did not render incantations impotent, it did make it significantly harder to pronounce them correctly. She began pumping healing magic into Annabelle, stabilizing her.
"Annabelle, what did you-" Raiks said, as he walked in. Then, he realized what was going on. "Status report. Now."
"An assassin went after Annabelle," Lorso said, in between whispered incantations. "Silence is pursuing the assassin, I'm making sure she lives."
"Is that why she-"
"Sent out an uncontrolled psychic burst?" Annabelle said. "Probably. I'd say I should have had more control over it, but it seems to have woken everyone up in time to save me.
The assassin's blade is poisoned, Silence told Lorso. Slow-acting mental shock poison. I can resist, but Annabelle is at risk.
"Raiks, I think she's been poisoned," Lorso said. "I'm not sure I'll be able to deal with it, and it might kill her if we don't get more skilled help."
Raiks sighed. "You aren't even that good at healing, are you?"
"My healing expertise is limited to conventional physical injuries," Lorso admitted.
"Can you at least figure out what sort of poison is being employed?" Raiks asked.
"Slow-acting neurotoxin," Annabelle replied. "I know this because it's attempting to destroy my mind at the moment. I can stall it, but I'm not sure for how long."
"Why would Daraken employ a poison that kills slowly?" Darius said, sneaking into the room. "Instead of something lethal?"
"I don't think Daraken is responsible for this attack," Lorso replied. It was possible Daraken did this, but he wasn't the only one with a motive here. The particulars of the poison used seemed to point to a more unusual method of disposal. "It might be Helios' doing. We should bring her to Sanctuary."
"I doubt that," Raiks countered. "And even if it is true, how would we get her to Sanctuary? Yes, we've kept the portal open, but this room is about as far away from the portal hub as you can get, and we'd be crossing about a kilometer of ground to get there, risking an attack anywhere along that route. We'd have more security staying in here and waiting for reinforcements."
"I could fly out to the portal with her," Lorso offered. Maybe, she could exploit the unexpected situation to get to safety. Especially given the walking distraction that was Silence.
Raiks considered that plan for a few seconds. "Unnecessary. I've already contacted the Resistance, reinforcements should be arriving."
At the same time, Silence reported back to her. Assassin subdued. Surrounded by guards. Guards unfriendly.
That might be due to the fact that you've slammed him through a roof, Lorso replied, sensing some of the situation around her ally through the telepathic link. Don't fight them. Return to the inn. She remembered something at the last second. And bring the assassin too, so he can be interrogated.
She relayed that information to the rest of the group.
"The guards should back off once we explain ourselves," Raiks said. "And maybe pay for the destroyed buildings."
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"Here's the thing," Lorso said. "As far as I can tell, this is a plan by the church of Helios to eliminate Annabelle. They have her survive the initial attack, die from poison later on, and then claim that she was unwilling to return when they bring her up for resurrection."
"You are paranoid and wrong, " Raiks replied. "Helios would never do something like that. Earlier today, Julia said that she was not a threat."
Lorso thought otherwise.
"But is this really the sort of attack that Daraken would sponsor?" Lorso countered. "Firstly, he would be unlikely to risk even indirect action in Dustreach, not when it threatens neutrality. Secondly, if he was attempting an attack, he would be aware of the fact that a slow-acting poison would be rendered impotent by the massive array of healers available in the temple of Helios, and he would have picked a different means of attack. Or, given the capacity for resurrection, not even bothered."
"This could very easily be one of his side-plots," Raiks countered. "Something that can't be traced back to him, that he doesn't expect to succeed. Further, he's been known to use devices that trap the souls of those that die, and could have given one to the assassin."
"But then, why would his assassin deliver a slow-acting poison that might not kick in until after his defeat, by which point any such device would be discovered and destroyed?"
The group heard footsteps, as guards marched up the stairs to their room. In the heat of the moment, Raiks made a snap decision. "You know what? I'm probably going to regret this, but you're actually making a bit of sense. And, given your actions to save her life, I think you deserve to be a part of the Resistance. Get Annabelle to the portal. We'll stall the guards."
"What about Silence?" Lorso asked.
"Have him create a diversion on the ground for us."
With a quick incantation, Lorso's activated her flight, and she began to hover above the floor.
I don't think you can carry me, Annabelle sent to her. Can you share that spell?
Yes, Lorso responded. But you'd have to control it. Normally it isn't that hard, but in your condition...
I'm not out of this yet, Annabelle sent back. She climbed up to a standing position, an action that seemed to take quite a bit of effort from her. This poison's trying to destroy my mind, but I've got enough willpower to resist it. And if I'm correct, flight only requires mental power to control.
Wait, you can just resist a poison with mental fortitude? That's not how poisons generally worked.
Partially. My mind's impossible to break, but the neurotoxin is also attacking my ability to control my body. I'm already having trouble controlling my limbs, and I'd like to get help before my lungs stop working.
The footsteps were getting louder, as the guards marched up their floor. Lorso repeated her incantation and touched Annabelle to give her the power of flight as well.
She paused for a second, seemingly to comprehend her new abilities. Then, she dove out the window and took flight.
"Wait up!" Lorso cried, as she went out the window in turn to follow her. She didn't trust her to get to the portal without passing out.
"Hey! Back off!" She heard from in front and above her, as Annabelle appeared to have drawn the attention of a group of bolter-armed guards.
The guards refused to back down, so Annabelle launched several orbs of purple energy at them. They exploded in bursts of force, knocking them down and scattering their formation.
I'd recommend not killing these guys if we can help it, Annabelle communicated to her. This is a mess of a situation, and it's going to be hard enough to deal with the fallout without us having killed Dustreach's defenders.
The two of them flew towards the city's portal hub. They encountered no further resistance, until they released the portal room.
There, they encountered an arrayed group of several dozen soldiers, lined up and barricading the entrance.
"Lorso Razo, you are charged with the crimes of blasphemy, destruction of Church property, attempted murder, and resisting arrest. You are hereby sentenced to summary execution." The guards raised their weapons, poised to fire if she made any movement whatsoever. She contacted Silence, but he was too far out to help in time.
"Under what court, assholes?" Annabelle countered, in a desperate bid to stall. "Those charges are entirely unjustified." Even though, they were mostly justified.
"These charges are justified by the will and guidance of Helios. No trial is necessary, and no trial can be done."
"You've been duped!" Annabelle exclaimed. "Daraken merely used us as a distraction to allow him to sneak his operatives straight in the temple."
Inside the portal room, a team of Resistance soldiers rushed through the portal. Half of the guards turned their weapons to face them.
"He's trying to turn us against you," Annabelle continued. "Creating confusion, causing a diversion at a key moment."
The guards seemed to waver.
"It's true!" One of them suddenly announced. "Helios has spoken to me! Daraken's agents are ransacking the temple at this very moment!"
That ploy from Annabelle should have failed. But in the heat of the moment, none of the guards questioned why Helios would speak to a random guard. Maybe they truly didn't want this fight. The guards scattered, rushing back to the temple.
With the guards diverted, the two of them were able to head through the portal to Sanctuary. As their flight was disrupted by the null-magic in the antechamber, Annabelle almost collapsed, barely pushing herself through the field, and then immediately switching back to flight as soon as she left it.
She reached the Resistance's healers. Though they were also priests of Helios, hopefully they wouldn't be party to any plots against her.
**********
Raiks opened the door, just in time to prevent one of his new guests from kicking it down. These seemed to be the Crusaders of Helios, elite warriors gifted with divine blessings and strength. They were wearing heavy plate armor, and were wielding longswords and holy symbols. In any other situation, they would be allies, but today they were on opposing sides.
He wasn't actually sure whether the assassin was Daraken's or not. He was still fairly certain that Julia would refuse to take part in a scheme to kill someone when the prophecy stated that it would result in disaster. It was, admittedly, more likely that Daraken was thinking a whole level above all of them, setting a false flag operation designed specifically to spark a war.
However, by having Lorso join the Resistance, it not only gave them additional assets, but also ensured that Lorso did not remain on the field as a rogue asset. Yes, the Temple of Helios planned to execute her in the morning, but she had the power of flight and would have a good chance of escaping and continuing to pose a threat to them. And, she could potentially feed more information to Daraken in such a scenario.
"Where is she?" the lead crusader demanded.
"We came under attack," Raiks responded. "One of Daraken's assassins. My best operative was mortally wounded, and Lorso volunteered to escort her back to sanctuary."
The crusader was angered by this, shoving Raiks backwards and forcing himself into the room. Darius remained concealed in a corner, even as a glowing holy symbol held by one of the trailing Crusaders lit the room up as bright as daylight.
"You were not to allow her to leave under ANY circumstances. This is trickery!"
"There were extenuating circumstances. Due to the direct attack against one of my assets, I was forced to change plans." Then, as he pointed out, "This may not be Daraken's only attack. Your priority should be protecting the High Temple."
"You speak lies!" the lead crusader said. "Daraken wouldn't dare."
"Daraken achieves his victories by doing things that no one expects him to. He would very much dare, especially if he expects this sort of reaction."
"We are not the only defenders of the Temple," the lead crusader replied, with a foolish confidence. "Now, as your Resistance has stolen one of our prisoners from us, you will be taken prisoner in turn."
"That would be a declaration of war," Raiks threatened.
"You started the war when you sided with the blasphemer."
Raiks sighed. It seems as if a fight was his only option. He was lucky he had smuggled his signature weapon in with a bag of holding, just in case an unusual situation happened. And as a test for Dustreach's security measures, which had just been proven to be entirely ineffective.
Raiks' signature weapon was a customized Arcane Bolter, with little resemblance to the normal bolter design. Rather than having an ammo clip and using elastic tension to launch bolts, an Arcane Bolter loaded bolts from a built-in extradimensional storage space (or, if no bolts were available, was also capable of conjuring them), and fired the bolts with bursts of magical energy. His version was a battleaxe, with the weapon handle serving as the Arcane Bolter's barrel. It could be used as a hybrid weapon, effective both in melee and at range.
He drew his axe from his belt and swung it into the lead crusader's head. The crusader's helmet kept his head from being split open by the axe blade, but Raiks still hit him hard enough to stun him. Raiks took a quick step back, levelled the arcane bolter, and fired a shot point-blank into the crusader's chestplate. The crusader staggered backwards from the force of the hit, and seemed to be wounded as well.
Darius attacked the second crusader, boosting himself off of the wall to give himself enough momentum to drive his blades through the armor. It was enough to wound, but not to kill, and the crusader threw Darius off of him and delivered a sweeping strike with the longsword that Darius barely managed to block.
Raiks changed the ammo type of his arcane bolter, and fired a scatter blast (more of a shotgun blast of pellets than an actual bolt) into the first crusader's head. Even though his visored helmet took most of the hits, the blunt force of the entire blast, combined with a few pellets going through the eye slits, were enough to knock him down and incapacitate him.
As Raiks loaded a third shot, Darius threw a knife into the knee joint of his opponent, disrupting his advance, and then lunged. Unfortunately, his stab glanced off armor, and the crusader shoved him back and slashed him in the chest. He recoiled backwards, found himself against another wall, and rolled to the side to dodge a swing. The second crusader was too focused on him to notice Raiks, and Raiks took advantage of that to fire a bolt straight into the side of his head, dropping him.
Two more crusaders entered the room. The third was in the middle of an incantation, and Raiks closed his eyes just in time to shield them from the bright flash that was emitted. He was only slightly dazzled by that burst, but Darius was blinded by it, rendering him temporarily unable to fight.
The fourth crusader dropped down to attend to the second crusader, as Raiks engaged the third in close combat. The main advantage that his weapon had in melee was that it could score a hit any time its handle was lined up with his opponent, but the crusader managed to lock blades with him and prevent him from doing that for several tense seconds. The stalemate was only broken when Darius recovered and leaped into and off of the crusader feet-first, slamming him backwards and allowing Raiks to get a clear shot. He sent a bolt straight through the crusader's knee, crippling him. But at the same time, the second crusader was already getting back up, and he joined the fourth crusader to engage him.
They couldn't win this fight, not against infantry who could cross-heal each other in the midst of the fight. But they could disengage. Raiks switched ammo to fire an electric field bolt, designed to release an unpredictable burst of electricity that was especially effective against metal armor. As soon as he shot the bolt into the floor, he rolled backwards out the window. He landed hard on the ground two stories below, but recovered quickly. Darius followed him. One of the crusaders managed to reach the window and grab his cloak, but he was then forced to let go when electricity coursed through the room. They would be disabled for a bit, but they would live.
On the ground, Raiks saw more guards, part of the encirclement of the building. It was quite unusual that Julia would go to this much effort to prevent a known ally from leaving.
But even as they prepared to fight their way through the guards, Silence returned, still carrying the assassin's body over one shoulder.
As a guard spotted him and called out his position, Silence slammed into him with incredible speed, knocking him down with an elbow strike while moving forwards to take down more. In just a few seconds, the guards were more concerned with his assault than they were with keeping track of Raiks and Darius. The two of them took the opportunity to run.
He got a message from Sanctuary. Resistance forces had taken control of the immediate area around the portal, and were moving to meet up with him.
They would get out of this mess, at least. But at what cost?