The three made their way toward the main gate under the cover of the modified invisibility broaches that Nigel had made. They were on the dilapidated road that led to the old keep. The cobblestones were being pushed apart by the grasses and weeds that were growing in-between each. The sides of the road were hemmed with tall grasses and random trees, none of which had been cared for in some time, giving the approach an earie feeling of death and decay. Even with the clear skies and the sunlight setting behind them.
Fortunately, Nigel had taken shadows into account when designing this form of invisibility, none of the three of them casting any for the enemy to see. This, perhaps, added to the earie feeling. It was weird not casting a shadow, leaving them feeling somewhat hollow.
As they approached the main gate the team broke right toward the first arrow slit, crouching down below it just as the enchantments ended. They all looked at their hands and arms as they became visible again. As the invisibility faded their shadows returned.
Khloe was about to cast a spell that would render them intangible for a few moments when Timothy stopped her. Intangibility would be nice, but the mana cost was higher than the idea he had. Khloe shook her head, looked at the other two, and used hand signs to let them know there was a slight change to the spell she was going to cast. They both gave the signal for agreement back to Khloe. The group had been working together for so long now that they trusted each other implicitly. Even for last minute, unscripted, changes.
Khloe’s gems were socketed to fittings on her belt. As she began to cast the spell the clear and purple gem glowed faintly. Upon completing the spell, she placed her hand on the bottom of the arrow slit, Teagan and Nigel followed her lead, and all three shrank to a tenth of their size. Teagan gave Khloe a slight nod of approval and went through. Nigel gave her a smirk, that was a little difficult to see through the beard and followed Teagan. Khloe took up the rear and followed behind the other two.
On the other side of the arrow slit Teagan and Nigel waited for her. When she got to the edge, Timothy had Khloe cast a small spell to place a pillow of air on the floor below the slit. The white gem glowing slightly this time. As soon as the spell was completed Teagan jumped down, landing silently on the floor below. As soon as he cleared the landing spot Nigel did the same with Khloe shortly behind.
They made their way north through the hallway toward the gate house. As they reached the end of the hall they saw three cultist guards standing watch. Teagan and Nigel both look back at Khloe. Khloe held up five fingers, then four, and as soon as her fingers hit three, Teagan and Nigel broke into a run towards the guards.
The guards, hearing a noise, looked their way but their eyes were looking for something at normal height, not a one tenth scale model. Just as Khloe dropped the last finger the guards looked down noticing Teagan rapidly growing to normal size. As Teagan grew, he drew his blue opal sword, the blade a pale blue color, and ran it through the guard’s chin and out the top of his head. His eyes turning to ice along with any blood that tried to leak out of the wound.
From behind the other guard Nigel grew as well, he was able to position himself behind the second guard since Teagan drew the attention of both guards. He pulled out a small clear pebble inside a round metal cage. He pressed it into the second guard’s back. As he did the guard went ethereal and was sucked into the pebble in the cage. The entire action taking less than a second did not give the guard any time to make a sound.
As for the last guard. As soon as Khloe ran the countdown to zero, Timothy began to cast a spell through Khloe. The cat’s eye gem blinked as Khloe entered the guards’ mind, shutting down the desire to do anything but watch in quiet amazement.
The guard stood there dumbfounded, giving Teagan enough time to casually walk over to him, raise his sword and decapitate the man. Freezing the blood before a drop could spill. The whole ordeal took no longer than five seconds as none of these guards were gem users. Most likely they were only here as lookouts.
Teagan looked at the other two and held his finger to his lips, they nodded. He then looked over the room while Nigel made his way to the hallway on the far side. Khloe checked the near side. They each gave the “All clear” signal and moved to the center of the room.
In a hushed voice Teagan said to Nigel, “Nige, we have an alarm bell on the far wall. You’re up, disable it.”
Nigel moved to where Teagan was pointing. He dropped his backpack to the ground and rifled through it, pulling out a small bell. As he looked at Teagan he tried ringing it, but the bell was silent. Nigel gave him a devious smile and made his way to the alarm.
As he approached it, he smashed the small bell into the larger alarm bell. They both soundlessly exploded into tiny fragments and even as they hit the floor, there was no noise. Nigel turned back to the other two with a grin and started walking back to them.
“I see you haven’t lost your flare for the dramatic,” Khloe said to Nigel with a touch of sarcasm.
“Never,” Nigel replied in a low tone.
Teagan gave them both a glare, “Enough, we need to keep moving. It is time to hit the turrets. South first.” They both straightened up and looked at Teagan, giving him a nod.
Timothy looked at Teagan through Khloe’s eyes, “Hang tight a sec, I have an idea,” Khloe said. “Pile the bodies up in to the corner over there,” she looked at Teagan and Nigel.
They both nodded and moved fast to get to the bodies, piling them where Khloe was pointing to. Khloe cast a spell over the area where the bodies were. The illusion left the room looking like it did moments ago, minus the dead bodies.
“Not perfect, but it may buy us a few extra seconds. As we all know, seconds matter,” Khloe commented to the other two.
Nigel went to the main gate and unlocked it before the three started moving their way toward the southern hallway. As they went past the first bend in the hall there was a cultist guard standing in front of them. His look of surprise quickly faded as he took a deep breath to yell something. Timothy reacted quickly. The blue gem on Khloe’s belt flared as she pointed at the guard’s mouth. It instantly filled with water that streamed out, as if he was a garden fountain statue, muffling any sounds that he could have produced.
Teagan lifted his sword and stabbed the man through the chest. A second later the water coming out of his mouth began to quickly freeze. Now he really looked like a garden statue, this time in the middle of winter. It was strangely beautiful, while being completely morbid at the same time.
“Quickly,” Teagan said, “We need to clear that tower.” The three bolted down the rest of the hallway to the stairs that led to the southern turret.
They cautiously made their way up the steps with Nigel in the lead. When they just about reached the top, Nigel put up a closed fist. The other two held before Khloe squeezed her way past Teagan. Nigel pulled out a small rope and started spinning it in his hand.
He popped the upper half of his body above the top step and threw the rope at the caster. As the rope left his hand one end attached to his wrist and the other snared the caster’s legs. He yanked immediately and she fell to the hard floor of the turret.
At the same moment Khloe appeared from behind Nigel, Timothy casting a spell. The purple and white gems lit up as a bubble of force surrounded the female caster’s head. The spell removed all the air from the bubble, creating a vacuum inside. The caster fell from Nigel pulling on the rope, blood started seeping out of her eyes, ears, nose and mouth as the vacuum tried to pull her insides out. Khloe let the spell go as Nigel finished pulling her to the three of them.
Teagan placed his blade through her skull as Timothy prepared another spell. This time the clear gem lit up and the cat’s eye blinked on Khloe’s belt as an illusion of the cultist caster formed where she was before the assault. The illusion looked to have a mind of its own as it continued patrolling the turret.
“That illusion should last about six minutes. We need to get to the other turret quickly,” Khloe told the other two.
“That went surprisingly well,” Nigel said. His eyes immediately went wide as he realized what he said. The other two looked at him flatly.
“Why would you say that?” Khloe asked, “Are you trying to tempt the fates?”
From below the group heard someone saying, “Brandon? By the gods! We have intruders!” Heavy footsteps started to fade away as they ran down the hallway.
Timothy turned Khloe toward Nigel, “You know this is your fault,” she said with a wry smile.
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Nigel looked at the two of them, “It was going to go to the dark gods sooner or later anyway.”
Teagan gave them both death stares, “Move!”
At his command the three finished climbing the stairs to the turret. Teagan and Nigel ran to the edge facing the courtyard and jumped. Timothy cast a quick spell, a red gem lighting up on Khloe’s belt as she pointed to the sky on the opposite side of the turret. A small red bead shot forth from her index finger and arced over the road leading to the fort. When it was about fifty feet from the ground it exploded into a brief firework display, signaling Captain Wilson.
The moment that the bead left her finger she bolted for the top of the curtain wall and began running along it. One of the other elven racial bonuses, balance on a string, gave elves an innate ability to balance almost perfectly on any thin surface. Most often used to help them hide and hunt while perched on small branches high up in the trees.
She ran as quickly as possible toward the caster on the other turret. Her long legs and lithe body combined with her level moving her as fast as the top Olympic sprinters could. Her long blonde hair trailing behind her as she ran. She drew the attention of the other caster, which is what she wanted. This should allow Captain Wilson and his men to make their way to the entrance unimpeded.
Timothy said a quick incantation and the cat’s eye gem blinked on Khloe’s waist, allowing her to see magic. Two gems lit up from rings on the caster’s left hand, a white and a red one, as he pointed his right finger at Khloe. Khloe saw the weaves and recognized the spell’s effects. Timothy knew that there was nothing in Khloe’s arsenal that would allow her to ground out the lightning bolt that was about to come, leaving one option, don’t be grounded. The two red gems and the purple on Khloe’s belt flared brighter than any other time today as a jet of fire generated immediate thrust from Khloe’s hands just as the caster’s spell finished.
Khloe shot into the air, the caster adjusting his angle slightly. The bolt of lightning hit Khloe instantaneously but passed through her with minimal effect, leaving her with minor burns but the vast majority of the damage was done to the walls of the fort as the lightning arced down and hit the top of the curtain wall.
Khloe dropped down on top of the northern turret about ten feet away from the cultist caster. She looked at him with a deep hatred, forcing her will into the stare. It caused the caster to take a step back, Timothy smiled devilishly through Khloe.
As Teagan and Nigel descended through the air toward the courtyard, they saw the hostages all huddled together on the near side. When they hit the ground, Nigel went into a roll that carried him towards the amassed hostages.
He let the roll carry him into a run as he drew his dagger from the sheath attached to his left thigh. The dagger had an emerald embedded into the pommel of the hilt. The gem glowed softly as he poured his will into it and the blade began to cover itself with a sickly green film. He dove at the first gem wielder, a stocky man wearing leathers under a hooded cloak. Nigel made a shallow cut on the man’s ankle as he dove past him. Rolling to his feet afterwards to face him.
Teagan hit the ground with such force that dust and dirt plumed out from under his feet, leaving a small divot in the earth. He chanced a quick look at Nigel and saw that he was rolling his way to one of the gem users. Teagan looked back to scan the courtyard and found his target.
There was a woman in heavy armor standing in front of the portcullis. The woman was about his size, with wide shoulders and a powerful stature. She took a quick look at the hostages, then turned her attention to Teagan as he began to walk slowly toward her. Just then a guard burst out of the gate house yelling, “Intruders!” before he saw Teagan and Nigel in the courtyard already. He tried to stop himself before he got too close to Teagan, but his momentum was too much to stop.
Teagan flashed his blade out slicing the man across the chest while two other gems, a blue and a white, on his gauntlet glowed brightly. Freezing the cut as the blade passed through his skin. The man’s skin turned blue as his body froze.
Teagan kept walking toward the woman as the guard he just struck with his blade toppled over and shattered into pieces as he hit the ground. Teagan did not look back and charged at the woman.
Timothy did not hesitate. When the caster staggered back Khloe cast another spell as both red gems lit up, engulfing the caster in flames. A moment later the caster regained his composure, but not before the heat of the fires scorched his skin and he cast a spell. A white gem on his collar flared as a wall of wind pushed the fires away and the flames dissipated. He threw a second quick spell at Khloe and a thin line of air shot across the floor and smashed into Khloe’s legs, knocking her off her feet.
She cursed as she toppled down and started to roll to her left to get up. The caster pulled a blade and charged.
He must be low on mana now if he is going for melee, she thought to herself.
Timothy put Khloe’s soul into the white and blue gems as she pushed herself to her feet. A sheet of ice cascading out from where her hands touched the ground. The caster’s eyes went wide as he slipped and fell to his back. Khloe pulled a knife with a red blade from her wrist bracer and stabbed the man in the chest. This caused the man’s blood to heat up, disorienting him. Khloe left the knife in his chest as she pulled a normal knife from the other bracer and buried it into his throat. The man gurgled blood for a few seconds before his body went limp.
Nigel stood there watching his foe, waiting for him to make the first move. The other man held his hand axe as fires wreathed the edge of its blade, staring right back at Nigel.
“Nice blade,” Nigel said, “Did your mom make that for you? It doesn’t look all that sharp, is she afraid you will hurt yourself?”
“You little bastard! How is your father doing? Oh! That’s right. None of you dwarves know who your father is. He must be stuck in a mine.” The man said, trying to lay an insult on Nigel.
“Ah, he is doing well. He has been banging your mom for the past few years.” Nigel jeered back.
This infuriated the man as he pulled his axe back to swing at Nigel. As the swing came Nigel ducked under it and advanced a step toward the man, placing another small cut on his abdomen as he passed by. The man turned to face Nigel again, this time there was a visible limp from the leg where Nigel cut his ankle.
“How’s the leg? Looks like it hurts,” Nigel said with concern on his face. “If you lay your weapon down now, I can stop the poisons before they kill you. If not, you will probably die. That would weigh heavily on my conscience.”
The man snorted his rage as he went for a downward chop on Nigel. Nigel took a half step to the left as he held his dagger out at an angle to deflect the blade to his right. The axe buried itself into the ground as the man looked at his chest. There was a black hilted knife sticking out of his chest where Nigel’s other hand had stabbed him. Nigel twisted the hilt and the blade snapped off.
A moment later the blade in the man’s chest broke apart into tiny fragments that entered the man’s blood stream. Nigel gave the man a forlorn look as the fragments made their way to the man’s heart. He slumped and toppled to the ground.
Nigel leaned over him, “I gave you a chance, remember that,” he said as he used his fingers to close the man’s eyes.
The woman drew her sword as Teagan charged. She stomped her foot on the ground as a brown gem on her boot lit up, causing the earth to explode out at Teagan as he charged in. The purple gem on his other gauntlet began to glow as a translucent purple shield appeared on his left forearm. He managed to get the shield up in time to catch most of the rocks and earth flung his way. One of the smaller rocks did manage to catch him on the right thigh, causing him to stagger a bit.
He let the stagger carry him into an awkward spin, flashing his right hand out to catch the woman with a backhand strike. The blue and white gem glowed as a thin sheet of ice began to cascade down her face from where the blow struck. A red socketed gem on her armor immediately flared and the ice melted away. The two took a step back from one another in an attempt to assess each other.
Teagan made a faint with his sword for the woman’s leg. She altered her stance to dodge the strike, using the opportunity to counterstrike at Teagan’s left arm. Teagan raised his shield to block the attack, catching it squarely on the shield as he raised his sword to cut the woman under the arm. She shifted a half step closer to him so only the hilt would hit her. Teagan used this opportunity. From his slightly crouched stance he used every ounce of power he had in his legs to propel him into a headbutt, smashing her in the face, breaking her nose. Her eyes teared up instantly. Teagan box punched her on the temples, dazing her. He swung his blade down on her sword hand, cutting it off at the wrist. The woman staggered a step back from him in horror as she knew what was next. Teagan plunged the blade through her neck. Cold was all she knew as her life faded away.
Captain Wilson led his men through the gatehouse and into the courtyard intime to see Teagan headbutt a woman in front of the portcullis then quickly punched her on the side of the head and finished by amputating her sword arm. Teagan paused for half a second before putting his sword through her neck. The captain stopped a moment to take in the scene.
He commanded a few of his men to secure the hostages. The rest split into three groups, one with him and the other two with each of his sergeants. They moved to start clearing the rest of the non-gem using cultists. The captain gave Teagan a nod of approval as he looked back at him. Teagan did the same before he noticed Khloe floating down from the northern turret behind the captain.
Khloe rolled off the cultist and onto her back as she tried to catch her breath. Her chest was heaving as she breathed in deeply. After a half dozen or more breaths she sat up and then got to her knees. She pulled the knives out of the cultist’s chest and neck and whispered a quick spell. The purple and clear gem faintly glowed, it was almost imperceivable, as the blades were cleaned of any blood, dirt or sinew. Once they were clean, she placed the knives back in her bracers and made her way to the turret wall facing the courtyard.
Khloe cast another spell, she made a small cushion of air under her feet and leaped over the wall. Khloe slowly drifted down to the courtyard floor. As she floated down, she saw the captain and his men split into four groups. One to the hostages, the other three started clearing the other cultists. She saw the captain and Teagan nod to each other and off to the far right, by the hostages, Nigel pulling himself up from a body that he was leaning over. As her feet hit the ground she rushed over to Teagan and saw that Nigel was doing the same.
Teagan looked at the two of them, “Everyone good?”
Timothy said through Khloe, “A little singed but I will be okay. You?”
“A little banged up on the leg, but I will survive,” Teagan replied. They both looked at Nigel.
“What!?” Nigel exclaimed, “Not a scratch. I do feel bad for you guys though. Whoever taught you two how to dodge must really suck at their job,” giving then a devious smirk.
Khloe rolled her eyes as Teagan growled at him. Nigel slid back from Teagan before continuing, “Before he smacks the crap out of me, I think we need to get through the portcullis and into the ballroom. What do you say?”
Khloe gave him a shove, “You lead the way. Maybe I will dodge better with you as cover.”
Nigel looked over his shoulder with a hurt expression as he started walking through the portcullis entryway. Khloe followed behind him. Once neither of them was looking Teagan smiled, shaking his head, and followed behind Khloe.