Thana Mourningjay

I worked my hands into sigils, fingers splaying and turning as if on their own, building the power that would come soon to fruition. While Milo had been busy dealing with other parts of the group this morning Opcan had passed over some more skeletons and explained some of the spells we were likely to see should any of the major players show up to fight.

One of these was luckily easily enough destroyed by one of my own spells, luckily because it was a large area buff and getting rid of it would really help us overall. I was working on that right now, though I knew it would be an uphill battle to push away their magic.

As I cast the paladins closed in on us, cutting through everyone in their way as their crossbowmen took aim and fired. Bolts whizzed past me, trying to pull my attention away from my magic, one wooshing through my hair and nearly giving me a free ear piercing, but I persisted.

My effort paid off, and like a bubble their protective spell popped, drifting away into nothingness.

“Drop her!” The paladin advancing on our group shouted, pointing. His partner had gone to deal with Opcan and that circle of enemies. All around them lesser fighters on both sides were involved in the melee, though doing little.

Behind I heard Harkan reading some scroll, and flubbing it, cursing as the magic refused to bend to his will. Ahead I saw Milo ready himself to be my shield, setting his barrier in place and holding it firm.

I rushed out a second casting of my spell and it was lucky I did, as a hail of bolts shifted onto my location. I thought one coming near on the first volley had been bad, but on this one I felt the fletchings of two literally brush me and cause my skin to sting in their passing. Three more went wide, striking the floor or other combatants. One final one hit true though, like a streak of lightning it flew, ripping through my new clothes, my armor, and my very tough flesh like paper in, and back out the far side, where it stuck, sending a wave of agony through me.

“Someone kill those assholes!” I screamed as my knees buckled, sending me grasping onto Milo's back, I held there like a child as I willed the skeleton behind me to rip out the offending projectile.

“You alright!?” The guardian asked me, clearly alarmed at my scream.

“Gruugh!” I moaned, gritting my teeth as the undead ripped out the bolt from my insides, the pain a wave.

Someone on our side managed to get off magic, because I felt it roll over us, strengthening, empowering those around me not a moment later.

“Hold on kid,” he replied, apparently knowing understanding that I was conscious.

The paladin must have hit us at that point, because I heard the blows striking against Milo's shield, powerful strikes that only his formidable defenses managed to rebuff. We were struggling, these two leaders were a harder punch than out little mob had fought so far, and not falling easily.

I pushed my hand against my open gut wound and pushed, with a wave a pleasure the pain faded, and I nearly sighed in relief. It was at roughly at that point that another crossbow bolt lanced through my calf.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“I wanna go home,” I whimpered, realizing that I didn't even have one as the words left my throat.

It must have been louder than I thought, because the voice of our enemy snarled. “Pfft, not so fun killing now is it?”

Milo Greyson

I nearly saw red as the paladin snarled. The girl was still young, so young, sometimes cruel? Yes, sometimes she was. Sometimes led down the wrong path? That too was normal for the young, but she hadn't wanted this, hadn't desired to hurt these people. She just wanted to live, as all people did.

I knew this man, Kilig, the head of the low security section of the prison, and I'd not really liked him. He seemed too far up in his own arse for me, but at least until this point he'd also tried to keep order in his area. If he was going to be like that then, well, fuck him.

The skeletons and I all let loose on the bastard as he taunted her, and for a miracle one of them managed to strike him. His return blow crossed my face, leaving a trail there, but I'd survived worse. At least the ranged attacks were slowing, though I had to flick up my eyes to reveal why.

Thana wasn't the only one tired of those guys peppering her, and it seemed that a few of our heavy hitters had decided to do something about it. They were currently wrecking havock on the other troops while our groups dealt with the strongest of the paladins. All of their ranged fighters now had much more immediate problems to focus on.

Another pass while our caster continued to fix herself up and it looked like everyone had severely underestimated the undead. While his focus had been on me, who he viewed as a much bigger threat, they scored even more hits against him, armor or not.

“Enough of this!” He roared, blood covering his shining armor.

For a moment the man's blade shone brilliant white and he struck at the two undead. Somehow missing the first before obliterating the other in a wave of holy energy and pure muscular effort.

There was a snapped series of syllables behind me and for a second I thought I saw fear in the Kilig's eyes, then he shook minutely and it was gone.

“Try harder witch,” he growled.

“Okay,” she responded with heavy breaths, her final undead moving to fill the hole he'd left.

We fought another pass, him trying to kill the undead he now came to realize were a threat. He was stronger by far, but quantity had a quality all of its own. Failing to destroy either this time, he tried to step back.

I then saw something that surpised me. As her skeletons moved forward to keep the press little Thana danced forward, coming near to the warrior.

“You're not going anywhere,” she declared, and there was a little *Pft* sound as a visible wave of energy blased off of her.

Kilig's eyes went wild with pain and he tried to strike her down one last time before we all fell upon him. It was for naught though, she stood through his blows, clearly injured, but still awake enough to watch as her minions tore the man limb from limb.

As that was going on I grabbed her and physically hauled her back away from the fighting. I was supposed to be her bodyguard and she wasn't making it any easier getting up close to a potent paladin, so I solved it for us both. I did notice that as soon as they'd made Killig slightly shorter her undead followed, carrying the grisly trophy.

She was back to her normal self as we made our way to the point where Harkan was tending the wounded. He had a gaggle of people and wands, and was doing all he could for them as fast as he could. We'd only been there for a few moments when the skeletons who'd fled the first wave from the sight of the holy men came back at a run, right back to where they were supposed to be.

“Heal Milo,” Thana said to the man after we'd been waiting for a couple of minutes. She and her minions were now back in fighting shape.

“There are others...” be began, but seemed to notice the two skeletal heads snapping in his direction and the still dripping, decapitated head of Kilig making a wet *Plop* as it was dropped into a pool of its own fluids. “but some surely take precedence over others.”

Nobody said a word as he began to tend to me, because nobody wanted to piss off the small, angry necromancer whose wounds seemed to just knit themselves back together. A few people waiting in line stared though, and some of them very nervously.

I suspected that Harkan here had been ordered not to heal me, but I said nothing as he mended my wounds with one of the magic items. Opcan still wanted me dead, and bringing attention to that fact before I could solve it would only cause issues.

“Harkan, quickly,” the man seemed to know when he was being thought about, and appeared, carried in the arms of one of his creatures. “Ah, Thana my sweet, there you are. Would you mind?” He pointed at the monster carrying him lightly and she began her grim work of putting it back together.

“How are things up there?” I asked, motioning forward.

“Oh, could be better, could be worse. I wasn't expecting the warden to send both of them at us at once. If he'd come too we'd have been sunk, but this... might just be a winning move for us,” the sorcerer opined.

“Your right, there's little left that could stop this mob, at least on his side. What about the Corians?” I didn't even acknowledge his attempts at my life, it would only give them power.

“We'll need to make contact with them when we get low enough, but of course they'll want us out, and I don't believe any of us want anything else, do you?”

“Well then, soon as you're ready I suppose we go back in, eh?” I smiled, meeting the warden might be just the thing to both distract everyone, and deal with this asshole once and for all.