Almost instantly a blade was pressed against Ulgrin’s throat in a shocking display of speed. He gulped, feeling bare steel against his neck. “We don’t know who that is...” He spoke slowly, staring into the dwarven woman’s eyes. “Honest. I’m just as surprised as you are, ma’am.” She paused, the tip slacking. At least he could now breathe without risking a shave.
Granti wielded a longsword with no small amount of skill. Alder and Wind had their hands on weapons, concerned for their leader’s safety, but not willing to risk it just yet. Healing potions could do a lot, but a deep wound would be difficult to fix. The woman stared at him for a moment, gauging his emotions. “Argh, fine! We’ll go see what’s going on. Come on!” She pulled the blade away and dashed for the door.
Ulgrin took a moment to breathe deeply and pull his helmet on. That was exhilarating, he had to admit. Nodding to his allies, he made for the doorway and dashed through.
The scene on the other side was one of pandemonium. Hordes of small, flying elemental creatures known as Mephits were causing chaos. Each was made up of a material, some of earthen mud, others of twinkling ice. Men and women partaking in the gambling hall found themselves assaulted. Ulgrin watched as a man was practically drowned by several of the bastards forcing mud down his throat. There had to be at least three dozen of the damn things just flying around. But they weren’t the real threat.
Saezz clashed with a towering man. Or rather, not a man but an Oni. The blue-skinned humanoid with white hair and red eyes matched his friend in strength and the two grappled for dominance. Long, ragged fingers dug into the lizardfolk’s scale armor but failed to find purchase. Ulgrin knew the inspiration for whoever had designed his helmet now. Rearing its head back, the Oni headbutted Saezz and its horns drew blood.
“Go, Alder!” Ulgrin yelled, charging forwards. His other friends were in trouble as well. Alyss had made a sort of bunker out of hardening foam, sealing a corner of the building away from the bulk of the Mephit horde. They seemed to be led by a strange hound. At first glance it appeared to be some kind of dire wolf, but the Yeth Hound possessed the face of a man and the intelligence to match. A howl filled the room and Ulgrin felt fear run down his spine. Unnatural fear, similar to dragonfear. “Wind, help those two!”
Raelza was keeping it back with jabs of her glaive, but her hands were trembling. Ulgrin watched the Hound slam into their barrier, but it held. Saezz needed help first. The scent of ozone filled the air as Ulgrin began to channel a spell. Alder moved forwards at an angle, making sure to stay out of the way of his incoming attack.
Hold. Ulgrin thought to himself as he muttered the mnemonics. Just a bit more to the left, Saezz! He paused. [Lorekeeper, tell Saezz to leap to the side!] He had forgotten they had access to such a tactical advantage.
[Understood.] They replied. Half a moment later Saezz rolled out of the way, barreling a table full of food out of the way. Ulgrin let the magic flow, and for a moment day replaced night. The crack of lightning came but a second later. Ulgrin cursed as he saw the Oni stepping back and clutching the scorch mark on its chest. Tough bastard. It likely came from the fey’s powerful spirit dampening his magic’s effect.
“That hurt.” The Oni spoke, voice low. “You’ll pay for that.” It instantly charged in their direction. Ulgrin began peppering the creature with bolts of force, but it didn’t even slow the thing down. Saezz ran after it, just a few feet too far to stop. Alder stepped in front of Ulgrin and a loud bang filled the air. Its fist had dented the boy’s shield and thrown him back, flat on his ass. At least he was alive.
Channeling magic once again and thankful for the moment given by his apprentice, Ulgrin let loose with a point blank spray of electricity. The cone of lightning showered over the Oni, causing its joints to lock up for a brief moment. Seeing his friend, Ulgrin stopped channeling in time for Saezz to wrap his claws around the fey’s neck.
A violent jerk pushed him into the floorboards, cracking them. Bucking its limbs, the Oni tried to escape. Alder stepped forwards on shaky limbs and brought his mace down on the creature’s shoulder. Ulgrin followed suit with his hammer, but the fey’s bones seemed made of stone. Saezz’s nose began to bleed heavily as another headbutt hit him square in the jaw, stunning the lizard enough to let go. One violent kick to the gut made Saezz double over in pain.
Hands wrapped around Saezz’s arm and threw him into Alder, sending both of them flying back. Ulgrin was alone to face the Oni. But this creature lacked skill. It was pure violence in humanoid form. A textbook right hook was sent his way and Ulgrin sidestepped, cracking his hammer into the Oni’s hand. It’s fast, but obvious as a fox in the henhouse! Ulgrin grit his teeth.
One misstep and he’d be in for a world of hurt. At least he was confident his armor would soften the blows. Even as it slowed his steps he trusted the steel to hold. And hold it did as he watched the Oni take a step back and become invisible. Pain erupted from his chest as he tried to see any form of movement. He got a moment to look down and see an illusion disintegrating before Ulgrin was sent flying back and crashing into the bar.
“Argh… That hurt…” Ulgrin muttered, suddenly feeling wetness on his skin. Was that his blood? No, it didn’t hurt enough for that. It was alcohol. A cask of the stuff had broken against his plate. Droplets of the stuff dripped into his armor and Ulgrin stuck out his tongue. Not a bad swill.
Opening his eyes he watched as Saezz and Alder fought hard against the Oni. It had begun fading in and out of invisibility with attacks. It took a few seconds to change, but both of them couldn’t take advantage. Too injured and it was too strong. Each shift meant a free hit against them which caused even more damage to pile up.
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“Lorie…” Ulgrin grunted, clutching his chest in pain. “Gonna need a hand for the spell calculations. Head’s swimming.”
[Of course.] She replied, lending her aid. Together, the two of them reached out with arcane force to one of the barrels nearby. Kinetic energy lifted it into the air and into a static position. [Two degrees to the left. There. Target locked. Ready to loose.]
“Launch!” Ulgrin yelled, having waited for just the right moment. The cask of alcohol sailed through the air in a perfect line, striking the Oni directly in the chest and covering him with alcohol. The confused fey looked around, not injured by the attack in any way. Then he wisely shifted into invisibility to avoid Saezz’s charge.
Or so he had thought. Saezz could now see rivulets of alcohol seemingly hovering in air in the outline of a humanoid. His fist caught the Oni in the jaw so hard its illusion snapped. Suddenly not quite on the back foot, he and Alder began pressing the Oni back, injuring it more than it injured them.
“Thanks,” Ulgrin said to Lorekeeper. She sent a pulse of warm emotions through their link and he stood back up. Bruised heavily all over, but still standing, he charged to aid his other friends. The Yeth Hound had everyone around it quaking in their boots. At this point he could see the foam beginning to crumble. Saezz could handle the Oni, or so he hoped.
Taking a moment to build power, Ulgrin launched a trio of angular, spinning bolts of force. Each struck the Yeth Hound in the rear, causing it to yelp, bleeding from several spots. Penetration was low, however. Quite tough, these fey. The odd-faced fey turned to him, hackles raised.
A deafening howl filled the air, but Ulgrin was ready for it. He quickly created a barrier of force around himself to keep out the sound. It would shatter with a touch, but proved perfect in blocking sonic waves. Ulgrin finally got a good look at the Hound as it began charging towards him. The creature was large, easily the size of a horse. Similar to a dire wolf, it was canine in nature, but its fur was incredibly matted and dirty. Long, loping strides ate up the distance quickly.
Ulgrin leapt to the side just in the nick of time. The Yeth Hound smashed naught but tables and chairs. “You three need a hand?” Ulgrin asked his allies. Wind had leapt behind the barrier and had worked to keep the other two calm. He had a natural measure of resistance to other fey, and seemed to have prevented them from panicking. His cold-iron knives had hurt the Hound quite a bit, but it was tough.
“Yeah, just p-peachy,” Raelza said, red eyes wide. “Uh, that thing’s turning around, boss!” She unholstered her crossbow with shaky fingers and fired a shot. It took the Hound in the shoulder, but failed to slow it down.
Turning, Ulgrin crouched down and channeled as much magic as he could. A pane of magical force was generated at an angle. Clawed paws stepped onto the shield, but it managed to hold. The shocked Yeth Hound rocketed over the edge and into the air, flailing for a moment before crashing into yet more tables.
“Attack!” Charging forwards, Ulgrin smashed his hammer into the Hound’s jaw, breaking a tooth away. Wind joined him, leaping onto the creature’s back and stabbing deeply with his daggers. They sunk into flesh like butter, the cold-iron managing to ignore the fey’s natural resistance to weaponry. Raelza soon joined them with her glaive, lashing out with long cuts up and down the fey’s body.
It flailed, paws clawing outwards in pain. Ulgrin saw it suck in a breath and pushed forwards. A heavy paw slammed into his shoulder, but he ignored the pain and brought his hammer down on its throat. All sound was cut off in a choking gasp, the fey stunned. “Now or never!” Ulgrin called, flipping his hammer around. The spiked beak punched through the Yeth Hound’s eye, blinding it. Fleeting Wind had begun stabbing repeatedly, his daggers flashing in and out.
Raelza seemed to take pity on the creature, stepping around to the side and raising her glaive. She put all her strength into a final swing that managed to cut into the Hound’s skull, killing it. Silence would have fallen over the gambling parlor were it not for the horde of Mephits who were still all alive. Or, well, not quite all alive. Granti had spearheaded her own counter-attack against the elementals, leading the charge and saving her patrons.
It seemed for a moment like the elementals would regroup and begin their assault anew, but a loud roar filled the air. Ulgrin turned to see that Saezz had kicked the Oni over and had mounted his back. His claws tugged on the fey’s neck as he roared, and a moment later a pop could be heard. The creature’s head had been torn right off. Brutal. Milky-white blood flowed onto the floorboards. Each of the Mephits turned to one another before deciding this wasn’t worth it anymore.
They fled, flying through windows and out the door. Blessed silence returned to the parlor, save for the moans of the injured. Ulgrin took a moment to relax, only for an annoyed yell to fill the air.
“My parlor! You fucking shitlords!” Granti stomped over to Saezz. He recoiled, ready to battle, but stopped as she began hacking away at the Oni’s corpse. “Fuck you, Fahlo! You lying piece of shit! Cock! Sucking! Asshole! I hope you never return to the cycle!” Each curse was emphasized by another cut.
Ulgrin turned to his allies. Alyss had emerged from her alchemical den, still affected by the fear somewhat. “Is it over?” She asked, wincing. “I guess that’s a stupid question. Of course it’s over.”
“Seems over to me.” Raelza drawled, strapping her glaive and crossbow once again. “That was a bit of a doozy, boss. Think that miss gambler over there is gonna be mad at us when she’s done painting the floor white?” She watched for a moment, grimacing. “Gods, she’s pissed.”
“I guess we’ll just have to find out. Take a moment to rest. The fighting may continue in a moment.” Ulgrin stated, turning to walk towards Granti. He arrived just as she stopped. The dwarven woman panted heavily, continuing to curse under her breath. “Do you know this fey?”
“Know him? Yeah. Fucker was extorting me. Don’t ask about the details.” She gave him a stern look. “But I guess it was inevitable for him to come here on the warpath, it’s as good an excuse as any to kill the bastard. Suppose I should thank you for that. Probably wouldn’t have won on my own.”
“You’re, ah, welcome.” Ulgrin replied. “I hope we didn’t cause too much damage in our defense of the place. I may have used a cask of alcohol. My apologies.” The woman snorted, shaking her head in response.
“No big deal. I can get replacements for all this shit easily, especially now that fifty percent of my income isn’t going to feed those Fallen bastard’s pockets. They killed my bartender which sucks. Guess I’ll need a new guy to fill that role in. Annoying.” Ulgrin was shocked at the demeanor of residents of this slum. Her man had died and she didn’t feel anything but annoyance?
He paused for a moment. “Right. I don’t suppose it’s too late to ask for information anymore?”
“Au contraire, my beautiful dwarven friend.” Granti said. “I can do you one better. I can give you the location of their hideout here in the city. I’ll warn you, it’s packed to the gills with all kinds of fey. It won’t be easy breaking into that place.” She waved a hand. “The sooner you get them out of my hair, the sooner I can get back to business.”
That was convenient. “Where exactly is their base located?” Ulgrin asked, raising an eyebrow. His chest hurt. This was going to be a long night. But they had to put a stop to the Fallen Court’s actions here, at least as best as they could.
“An abandoned church and graveyard. Doesn’t that sound fun like a fun time? They’ve infested a whole crypt, too. Converted it into their main base of operations here in Andire.” Her voice was filled with schadenfreude as she spoke, practically oozing the stuff.
It did not sound like a fun time.
The party's time in Andire is coming to a close. Arc 02 will be longer than the first by a good deal, at least at this rate. Granite had about 25 chapters total, but I'm thinking of doing at least ten more. Thank you all for reading. See you all next chapter.