Name: Mark (Mark) Redding, Race: Human

Ht: 5'10, Wt: 160, Sex: Male, Archetype: Wizard

HP: 5 / 5 Mana: 39 / 39 MCU: 300 / 300

Stats:

Physical: 2, Moxie: 2, Spiritual: 2, Luck: 2,

Agility: 2, Magic: 3, Mental: 3, Energy: 4.

Relevant Skills: Agility - Dodge, Elemental Magic - Fireball, Force Magic - Arcane Wall, Gather Mana, Moxie – Deceive, Physical - Awareness, Shape Stone

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With control that bordered on showing off, Mark shaped the stone wall in front of him into a face with a six-foot-tall open mouth, a large nose, and eyes peering down at them. A group of four guards stood nearby, watching to the left and right, but one happened to catch a glimpse of the new doorway.

“Fuck…” Mark yelped as he ducked behind a stone wall. Todd rushed through the portal; a clash of metal and battle cries rang out as weapons crashed against armor and flesh.

Jax followed Todd, pushing to the left to clear room for the next person. Jax’s hammer made resounding thunk sounds when it scored a solid hit on armor.

Henderson pushed in after Jax, following with a short spear, stabbing low at the guards' knees and feet. Timing each stab to work with Jax’s swings, forcing the guards to deal with one, the other, or move back.

With only Reggie and Mark left in the tunnel, Mark turned towards the entrance he’d made a minute earlier. He quickly gathered some mana to seal the opening behind them.

The stone didn’t move. Mark sighed and repeated the same steps of gathering and shaping.

The stone reformed around the opening, sealing the opening. Mark felt a hand on his shoulder.

“We gotta come up with a faster route; a few guards were waiting nearby this time,” Reggie said.

“Yeah, and who knows how long till they locate enough pick axes or another mage to counter it,” Mark said. He looked around, trying to devise a faster route as he looked up and down the hallway. Mark didn’t see any other soldiers or guards beyond the four Todd and Jax were dispatching, so he got an idea.

“Misdirection,” Mark said softly. When his friend looked back at him, Mark repeated himself. “Misdirection.”

Mark stepped down the open hallway a few steps and gathered mana. After placing a magical wall blocking off the hallway before him, he looked at his friends. One of the guards was left. Todd had kicked him backward several feet, and the guard struggled to get up.

“Leave him,” Mark said as he quickly moved to near the guard. He gathered mana as he walked.

The guard managed to sit up but didn’t make any threatening motions. Mark tried to create another Arcane Wall. Gently, Mark touched the newly created wall. Making a point to show its existence to the guard. For added effect, he stuck out his tongue and licked it.

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Mana gathered, and he waved his friend away from around him to give him some space.

“Hold on, I gotta make sure this goes deep enough,” He said in a loud but hushed tone.

The stone on the floor moved and reshaped, creating a slim hole that went downward into darkness.

“What about the guard? Won’t he follow once the arcane wall is down?” Todd said, pointing at the now kneeling guard, watching their movements.

“Fuck…” Mark said, trying to fill his voice with tiredness and stress as if it was an oversight.

Mark gathered mana and prayed that his deception worked. Pulling stone from the walls around them, Mark shaped it into a wall blocking the view of the wounded guard. Mark repeated this the other way, trapping him and his friends in a small box surrounded by stone and a deep hole before them.

“We going down?” Todd said.

“No, we’re moving up in the world,” Mark said.

Carefully, Mark pulled stone from the ceiling, creating a rough stairwell. The stone disappeared above them, replaced with wood. Mark pointed upward and sent Todd up the stairs.

Todd stabbed between the planks with his sword and used the blade as a lever to lift it them up. He then poked his head up and glanced around.

“Looks clear,” Todd said. He was able to loosen more of the boards quickly and stepped up into the room. Jax, Reggie, and Henderson promptly followed them.

Mark went last, and at the top of the stone stairs, he knelt and gathered mana.

After gathering mana, he slowly pulled the stone from the stairs, starting at the bottom and using it to remake the floor. As the hole slowly filled, he hoped the ceiling was level enough that no one followed them upward.

When he was done, he helped put the boards back on the floor. Standing back up, he finally looked around. They were not in a room but a long hallway with doors on each end. Jax and Henderson were on one end, and Reggie and Todd were on the other. Mark pointed to the right side that had Todd and Reggie.

“One way is as good as another,” Mark said.

“Is there anything above us?” Henderson said.

“One way to check.” Mark didn’t wait for a response before he started gathering mana.

Mark slowly opened a hole, he needed something about the size of a dime to get an idea if anyone was above them. The hole opened, and the smell of fresh air wafted in from above. Todd and Henderson helped lift Mark near the stone ceiling.

Above, the faint sound of some footsteps and someone else tapping a finger against a stone drifted down to Mark. The footsteps started getting louder; Mark quickly tapped the hands holding him and pointed down.

As his friends lowered him to the floor, Mark quickly tried to seal up the hole above. With nothing happening, he didn’t need to review his combat log to verify it failed. He quickly put a finger to his lips and met his friend’s eyes one by one. Carefully and as quietly as he could, he stepped closer to the wall.

A boot stopping suddenly above them broke the silence. “Thought I heard something, anything on the walls?” a faint, deep voice said above.

Mark reached out and touched the stone wall. He carefully pulled the stone from along the wall to flow up to the ceiling and fill in the hole above. He then pointed a finger at each and then to the door on the right. Before anyone moved, he returned his finger to his lips and gave a soft ‘ssh.’

Todd waited at the door for people to get closer before he opened it. He pulled the door open and peered into the next room. Stepping in, he disappeared from Mark’s view, and Reggie followed. Jax stepped up, held the door, and beckoned Mark and Henderson to follow.

The next room was a long and wide hallway. Little rugs dotted the floor, covering up most of the stone. To Mark’s left, several doors dotted the sides, and an elegant staircase was at the end of the hall. To the right, a curving staircase went down. Mark pointed down the hall towards the stairs going up, then moved his finger back to his lips. Everyone nodded, and they moved slowly down the hallway.

“Intruders!’ someone yelled from behind, then near the stairs going down. A bolt whized by Mark, glancing off the chain links in Todd’s armor.

“Fuuuuck!” Mark screamed as a bolt burst through his right shoulder. Jax quickly moved behind him and grabbed him under his other shoulder, lifting him up as they ran down the hallway.

Energy surged through Mark as Todd healed him, but the wound could not close around the bolt, nor could the fast healing push it out. More bolts whizzed by, several bouncing off as they struck armor.

“Jax, I gotta stop them,” Mark said. The pressure on Mark’s shoulder released as his friend let go. Mark turned around to see Jax standing between him and the archers.

Leaving his hand, a little ball of flame flew past Jax and down the hallway, growing in size. Mark immediately gathered more mana for a second ball. Screams of men burning as the ball exploded amongst them washed over Mark and his friends, and a wave of heat exploded and filled the end of the hallway.