Dana Wilde looked down at the plain brown package that had appeared out of nowhere shortly after making his order. The still smoldering wreckage of his home since arriving on this island was the only illumination.
He tore open the paper and removed the contents… a pair of cestus he had ordered just minutes ago, gleaming in the dim light. As he carefully strapped them to his hands, preparing for the fight ahead Meira came running from the school, two figures behind her.
“Wilde! We saw the smoke, what happened!” Meira came to a stop next to him as he stood up, Cherri and Yrsettte following close behind. The slime girl and dragon looked over the ruins in shock at the destruction.
“Kasa’s father decided she belonged at home, no matter her thoughts on the matter…” Dana‘s voice was cold, his anger barely kept in check.
“We’re going to get her back,” Laverne said again… she had said little else since the fight, repeating the phrase as a mantra to keep her sane. Meria and the others jumped at the sight of her.
“Don’t worry… she’s not the enemy we thought she was…at least not anymore. As far as I can tell she doesn’t want this place going to hell any more than we do.”
“So then what’s the plan? Are you going to walk up to a whole clan of assassins and ask for them to return Kasa nicely? They’ll carve you into mincemeat.” Meira looked almost scared at the prospect.
“So I should just sit back and let them do whatever they want? Kasa is my student… she trusted me to keep her safe. I can’t just abandon her.”
“Then at least I am coming with you, I’m not about to let you go off and get yourself killed, you still owe me a second date.” Meira unslung her bow, checking the tension on the string and making it ready.
“Us too!” Yrsette called out, glancing at Cherri and getting a nod of agreement. “You kept my secret, I owe you for at least that much.”
“Are you armed?” Dana didn’t want to involve his students but against the odds tonight, he could use any help he could get.
“I’m still a dragon… I could simply change back and see how many I can eat before they stop me… but I also have this.” She produced a staff from her back, tipped with a blue crystal that glowed with an internal light.
“An I ain’t never far from a weapon if I need…” Cherri grinned holding out her arm and changing the slime in it into the shapes of a few different weapons, her pink slime hardening to make them usable.
“The five of us against a trained army of killers… well I always knew teaching would be challenging.” With a grim look of determination, Dana led the group to where Kasa had indicated her family’s hideout was located in the city. Through half a dozen tunnels under the city, he led them to an old door seemingly in the middle of nowhere.
Meria went to the door, her hand on the archaic-looking handle. “Ready?” At everyone’s nod, she turned the handle and with a creak that seemed too loud to be real the door slowly opened
“Do we have anything that actually resembles a plan here?” Cherri asked as they all filed into the building, trying to keep her voice from showing her nervousness.
“We stick together… watch each other’s backs and we bring Kasa back…” Dana’s voice was tense as they made their way deeper into the shadows. “And we don’t stop until we do.”
As they moved farther into the strange area they each could feel a heaviness in the air, like the place itself was trying to push back on their very presence. Their eyes darted from shadow to shadow searching for any signs of the enemy that might be lying in wait anywhere. Yrsette; ‘s grip on her staff tightened, the runes along its length flashing a deep blue
“Remember, this is a rescue mission…” Meira poked at a curtain that had moved in a way she didn’t like. “We aren’t here to destroy… keep the damage to a minimum and maybe the family won’t hunt us until the heat death of the universe.”
A soft laugh rippled through the group, betraying their true feelings of their chances. Laverne tossed her dagger up and caught it with her remaining hand, keeping the limb loose and ready. She felt a change deep inside herself… a sense of belonging that she would fight to preserve.
The first sign of trouble came as a whisper of movement, a flicker at the edge of their vision. Dana tensed, his eyes narrowing. "They know we're here," he murmured. Meira's reply was a curt nod.
"Then let's not keep them waiting," she said, and with that, they charged into the fray.
The battle was swift and brutal. The corridor erupted into a symphony of clanging metal and guttural roars.
Dana's cestus sang through the air, a blur of lethal force. Meira's arrows found their marks with unerring precision, felling one shadowy figure after another. Cherri's slime limbs morphed into swords and spears, cutting through the darkness like living tendrils. Yrsette's staff crackled with arcane energy, sending bolts of lightning into the fray.
But the family had plenty more to send at them… each assassin they struck down vanished into the shadows without the knowledge if they were even hurt or not. The five formed a tight circle, moving as one all the while keeping each other as safe as they were able.
Then, amid the chaos, a door crashed open. The view of an elder man, face contorted in rage and a bandage on his hand from the would Larvene had given him earlier this night.
“Human! You dare attack these sacred grounds! I will assure you your death shall be one spoken of for centuries to come.”
“We need to move!” Dana shouted over the sounds of the raging battle, his breath frosting in the sudden cold of the room.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
They retreated, backpedaling down the corridor, fighting off the relentless tide. Meira's arrows flew like a storm, each one a beacon of hope in the sea of blackness. Cherri's morphing limbs grew longer, reaching out to skewer the attackers before they could close the gap. Yrsette's lightning bolts illuminated the corridor in stark flashes, leaving the demons reeling and smoking. Laverne's knives whirled in a deadly dance, each throw precise and lethal.
Kasa’s people were fast, their movements a blur of shadows and blades. They struck from every angle, their swords glinting like stars in the night. Dana took a hit to the side, and the impact sent him reeling. He tasted blood and felt the warmth of it trickle down his cheek. But he didn't go down. He couldn't. Not yet.
With a roar, he swung his cestus in a wide arc, the talisman on his chest glowing with a cross of light as he sent an attacker sprawling. Meira was there, her bowstring humming, sending an arrow into the creature's back. It writhed and shrieked before going still. They exchanged a brief glance, understanding passing between them. They had to keep moving, had to find their student before it was too late.
The fight went on for what felt like hours, their breaths coming in ragged gasps, their muscles screaming with exhaustion. The shadows were many, and though they fell, more seemed to rise from the darkness to take their place. Yet, the group's unity and strength helped fuel them, driving them to push past their limits.
They had come this far, and they would not fail now. The glow of light from Dana’s amulet grew to engulf them all, a jolt of energy returning to their tired limbs.
Finally, they reached the chamber where Kasa was being held. She was bound in chains, her eyes wide with fear, but the moment she saw her friends, a spark of hope ignited within her. Her father, eyes gleaming like polished onyx, stepped forth, a twisted smile on his lips. "You think you can best us?" it taunted, its voice a chilling hiss that seemed to crawl along their spines.
Dana stepped up, cracking the knuckles of his bloody hands. "We're not here for you," he said firmly. "We're here for Kasa. Release her, and we'll leave."
He laughed, a sound like shattering glass. "You dare to bargain with me?" it spat. "You have no chance of walking out of here again… but fine… I will give you a fighting chance in the spirit of fairness. Defeat my guards, and you can live. But my daughter will remain with her blood!" With a gesture, a dozen more figures emerged from the shadows, their weapons drawn and ready.
The group looked at each other, their eyes filled with a steely resolve. They had come too far and fought too hard to back down now. Without a word, they spread out, each one ready to face the next wave of darkness.
Dana's heart pounded in his chest as he met the first guard's attack, his cestus crunching into the man's armor. The impact sent a shockwave up his arm, but the guard barely flinched. These weren't ordinary soldiers; they were enhanced, their armor and weapons gleaming with an otherworldly shine.
Meira's bow sang a deadly tune, arrows flying with unerring accuracy. Yet, the guards moved with a speed that defied their bulky suits, dodging and parrying with ease. Each hit she scored was met with a grunt, but they kept coming.
Cherri's slime body morphed into a whirlwind of spikes and blades, tearing through the enemy lines with surprising ferocity. Despite her lack of formal combat training, she had an innate understanding of her abilities, and she used them to devastating effect.
Yrsette's eyes blazed with determination as she raised her staff. The air around her crackled with energy, and a jet of lightning shot forth, engulfing one of the guards. His armor melted away, revealing charred flesh beneath. He screamed and swung his sword at the dragon girl, she barely brought the staff up in time to block his sword, it cutting deep into the wood of her staff.
The guards regrouped their leader bellowing orders. They had underestimated their opponents, but now they approached with caution, their movements calculated. The air was thick with the smell of burnt flesh and metal, and the sound of clashing weapons echoed through the schoolyard. Dana's heart raced as he took in the grim scene.
He saw Meira gracefully leaping from one guard to another, her bow forgotten as she engaged in hand-to-hand combat. Her elven agility was a sight to behold as she twisted and turned, delivering precise strikes that left her adversaries stumbling back. Yet, they kept coming, their numbers and augmentations making each victory feel short-lived.
Cherri flowed around the guards, her morphed limbs whipping and slicing through the air. The guards, initially shocked by her fluidity, soon learned to fear the slime girl's unpredictable attacks. Her slime body stretched and snapped back like a whip, the makeshift weapons on her ends leaving trails of gooey destruction.
Laverne, despite her missing arm, was a formidable presence. Her left hand threw knives with a precision that would make any knife-thrower envious. The guards approached her with trepidation, and she used that to her advantage, her throws becoming more daring as she danced around the battlefield, her knives finding their marks with a gruesome finality.
Their leader had not been idle, during the battle he had snuck through the shadows into Kasa’s cell. His desperation showed as he threatened his own daughter. “If you do not leave no one will have her!” His voice pitched almost in hysteria as he called from inside the cell, a blade to threaten Kasa with in his hand.
“That is quite enough of that dear!” A woman’s voice cut through the hall, freezing everyone there in their tracks. “What are you going to do now Hash, kill your own daughter? I won’t have another minute of this foolishness!” A woman appeared in a high window overlooking the fracas… her poise and posture were immaculate as she looked down on everyone gathered like a disappointed parent.
“You had to know she was growing up and would leave home eventually… keep this up and she will never come home to visit.”
“But dear!” The man cried out, his face torn. “It’s too soon! It’s too dangerous out there for her to be alone! I won’t allow it.”
“Neither did my father when you came to ask for my hand, did he? Thank god he was not near so pigheaded as you… we would never be welcome back for holidays.” The woman, Kasa’s mother Dana guessed continued as he looked in confusion to Meira who simply shrugged.
“It’s not right!” He stamped his feet petulantly, dropping the sword.
“Maybe if you hadn’t been such an ass she wouldn’t be shacking up with some human. Now you just have to deal with what has happened… preferably like an adult.”
“We’re not shacking-“ Dana started, only to be cut off by Meira’s elbow hitting him in his ribs.
“Kasa dear… please see it in your heart to forgive your father… he has no idea how to cope… your brothers getting older and leaving her was fine with but you getting older has nearly caused him to have a complete breakdown.”
“Fine, mom…” Kasa stood up in the small cell, the chains falling from her hands and pooling on the ground as she slid a lock pick back into her sleeve. “But Dad better apologize for blowing all of this out of proportion.”
“I’m sorry sweetie…” He began.
“To Mr Wilde dad, not me.”
Grumbling under his breath the chastised man unlocked the cell door and came out to where Dana was standing among the fray. He held his hand out, face tight with a forced smile on it.
“I… am… sorry… you fight fairly well… for a human. I suppose there is a chance you could keep my little girl safe.” He shook Dana’s hand stiffly, robotically.
“Dad, I can protect myself… how many of your goons did it take to bring me home… and you better fix the hotel. Sweet little Wilben has put his heart and soul into that place and you just knock it down… and another thing…”
Meira just looked over at Dana, her face breaking into a smile despite the blood and injuries she had suffered. “Family… am I right?”