Thana Mourningjay
I was awoken by a commotion, a series of loud booming noises, followed by a wave of paniced yells. It took me seconds to process the first as I jumped from bed, looking for threats. The threat wasn't hard to find.
One of the cells had been breached, a globe, broken down the middle sat there, sides ajar but connected by the thinnest central holder, rope or leather, something else perhaps, its gooey occupant now spilling out of the shell and into the hall around. A man had been sleeping in that cell, and was currently screaming as the creature pulled him in, black slime grabbing and pulling him into itself. Sevveral men were drawing weapons.
“Don't attack it, it will destroy your swords!” I yelled.
The item user Harkan appeared to my side, similarly stirred as I was. “If we can get it back in I may have something. Your skeleton maybe?” I caught his suggestion and only partially accepted it, sacrificing a long term minion might have to happen, but I'd rather not if I had other options.
I felt the magic begin to move through me as my hand pulled up into place, fingers moving, dancing along the lines of it as it spewed out of them, forming a perfect weave of power in the air. I loved casting, it was like touching reality, like a drug that wasn't from outside, but in. I knew the words, they came in dreams, or by nature, forming because that was just how the magic moved, like whistling a tune but with speech.
As I watched the spell went off, and black mist began to coalesce within the broken halves of the delivery shell. Within a few seconds a new skeleton stood there, huddling inside as its bones creaked.
The ooze wasn't smart, and it was pretty well done with its meal. It didn't have the brains to know that the skeleton wasn't a real creature, but one made of magic, and it didn't have the brains to see the trap. As soon as the screaming stopped and the last of the poor man it had consumed was pulled in it turned back to its prison.
“You two,” I said, pointing at two of the men nearby. “When it goes in, shut the shell if you value your lives, you'll only get one chance to do it right.” I turned to several others who had picked up what looked like hunks of chain or wood to use to fight. “You lot, back them up.”
The monster flowed after the fresh meal so close, and one that wasn't even running. It slinked back into the shell and at my nod the men I'd designated bolted forwards, slamming on either side of the shell.
Harkan already had a scroll out as they moved, and read it out in clipped tones, the paper lighting up with brilliant blue light. The symbols on the vellum sheet detatched themselves, and flew towards the sphere, where little bits of the ooze still sat outside. The magic started at the bottom, near instantly flowing, making the broken stone whole once again. As it moved, the tendrils got pushed along, finally meeting at the top where they were sucked inside with a squelching noise.
The men holding it fell back laughing from the nerves and punching one another on the shoulder.
“I can't believe that worked,” one commented.
“Or that we're alive,” the other chuckled.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“Not him though,” the first responded, motioning to the trail of gunk that was the man who'd been too close.
“Sucks for him,”
“What's going on here,” An agitated Opcan said as he approached. “What happened?”
“They sent an ooze bomb, we put it back in the box,” I informed him. “Where were you?” I could see Milo approaching from behind as well, looking relieved.
“Scouts reported a force trying to pincer us, between my spells and another of these.” He motioned at the sphere. “They're no longer an issue. Good work everyone. Now to dispose of this thing.”
“I've got an idea on that,” I said smiling.
Milo Greyson
'The bastard had definitely been planning to kill me.' I thought for the hundreth time.
He'd ordered me to the back barrier, while he was going up. I didn't know how he was going to do it, and was still trying to figure out my escape route when the Corians attacked. They didn't know it, but I owed them one for that. Their move had thrown off his plan so bad he'd abandoned it for the time being. That was only temporary though, he was sure to try again.
I could have told him no, but he'd have just killed me for disobeying him. I could have run when he turned, but I suspected his men at that barricade were also ordered to kill me if I ran. It was a bad place, and I was still surrounded by enemies.
All for the girl, that's what the greedy sorcerer wanted. He wanted her to join him, to work for him, to give him the power she might one day have. I was the fly in the salve though, since I wanted her to be free, happy, and not slaughtering innocents. She of course knew that about both of us, and why she trusted one, and rebuffed the other.
“Hey guys!” the subject of my thoughts yelled down the staircase as the sun struggled to push the the first of its light into the sky. “I um... I found some contraband!”
“Oh is that so?” Returned a gruff voice. “Well why don't you come down here and give it to us?” He was loud too, louder enough that even well down the hallway I could hear him.
“Ooookkkkkaaaayyy!” she called in a sing-song voice.
I heard Opcan casting, but I had my own job to do. I began to push, hard as I could, and I wasn't alone. There was a team of us, in unison throwing our all into rolling the granite ball as fast as we could. It took a few seconds to get it going, but get going it did. As we moved I saw our barricade being pulled away and to the sides with haste, the pre-work to make it easy to move already done.
The magus loosed his spell as soon as he had sight, sending it behind the spear-wall of the guardsmen. They barely had time to register it coming before the orb launched over the top of the staircase, gaining feet of air and hurtling like a meteor into the barridade of the defenders.
Sounds drifted up, screams of surprise and pain, calls for help, and a lot of vomiting. The only noise to join them was the sorcerer, who was giggling like a little girl.
“That was the most beautiful thing I think I've ever seen,” he said. “It'll need a moment or two to cook before we go in.”
I fell in in front of Thana, who'd somehow gained two more of the weak undead warriors as the assualt began. The first wave was undead, since nobody really cared about them. The lines of skeletons were sent just as soon as it sounded like the screaming was fading. There weren't many, but they were backed up by angry prisoners who hated their keepers on a good day, and after being sentenced to die were now out to return the decision back upon the deciders.
It was a slog, battles were always a slog. We charged, pulsing forward to shatter their resolve, taking what we could while preserving our own. The men they were sending against this rebellion now were lesser guards. They were like me, old military men, or those who'd taken this job instead of service there, not priests, not casters, not paladins, or clerics, just common men with weapons. These men were what was left after so many of the strongest had been felled, and they now fell too.
The undead were basically doing a circle, go forward to do damage, return to Thana to be healed, go back forward. It kept the limited number we had from faltering, and with the fact that they felt no fear, and were hard to damage it was a good tactic. They broke lines even if they took blows that would gut a human, letting our men in to finish the job while they were rejuvenated.
An hour or two in, someone got smart, and brought forward some crossbows. That was why I was here. I'd cobbled together a monstrosity of a tower shield, ugly, but huge, and used it to catch the bolts going for the squishy girl behind me. She yelped as the first few landed, unused to taking fire like that, but it was of no worry, with all her defenders only skilled marksmen stood a chance at a clear shot.
“They're here! There here! Two bigguns!” Shouted someone from up front.
It was a signal, a signal I'd been left out on, behind me came the voice of our child necromancer, filled with power and resonating. “YOU WILL STAND FIRM!” She declared, and a wave of dark power burst forward.
A heartbeat later came a pair of potent male voices, also resonant. “ABOMINATIONS IN THE SIGHT OF VITALA, BEGONE!” they answered in unison, a torrent of holy energy surging to meet it.
My hair stood on end as the forces battled. Thana was weaker, that was clear, but her empowering had done at least part of its job. As her magic was pushed back most, but not all, of our frontline fled through the rest of the soldiers, running away, but not destroyed.
The gap revealed two men standing tall in shining full plate. It appeared the heads of the medium and minimum security sections had finally decided to join the fray.