The plan was simple, and Lent was more than prepared to carry it out. He had his men position themselves all around the front gate of the manor. As expected, several Wizards began targeting them from a distance, ready to unleash their attacks as soon as the invading forces came into range. Lent's forces consisted of 30 well-armed men, all in the second and third ranks of the body.
Some even had minds in the second rank, which was quite impressive for simple human forces. Still, their opponents were Wizards and were capable of more than what regular humans could normally manage. However, Lord Fayaldin had given them the best Wards money could buy in the form of charms. They would be protected from the worst of the many spells that would soon screech through the sky towards them.
Obviously, there would be losses during this attack, but all the same, each and every man and woman here was ready to lay down their lives for this cause. One might think it strange that commoners would be willing to die for the nobility of their homeland. After all, the nobles more often than not looked down upon those of common birth.
However, the difference here was that these soldiers were all indebted to Lord Fayaldin in one way or another. Fayaldin was quite different from his fellow nobles. In part, that was why they were reluctant to act and sent in reinforcements to back up the effort to recapture Windhowl Manor.
From what Lent had seen during his time serving under Lord Fayaldin, the lord appeared to be kind to those living within his fiefdom. Where other Nobles taxed their citizens heavily, Fayaldin always made sure to collect only what the Royals demanded. In this way, his citizens hardly ever suffered from hunger or extreme poverty. As a result of that, they were more willing to send larger offerings to the Royals of Farnor.
Lent and his soldiers kept this in mind as they readied themselves to attack, but a sharp pain ran through their minds their thoughts lingered on those good deeds and those motivations. Many of them were able to shake off that sudden migraine but others were left squeezing an eye shut or clutching their heads in response.
Lent shook the pain away and his thoughts cleared. Still, something he couldn’t place was nagging at him. He shook his head again. Now wasn’t the time to worry about that. Most of Cypher's plans relied on them providing an adequate distraction and if he wasn’t focused, he wouldn’t be able to carry out his part of the plan properly. Lent led the troops down a hill towards the front gate of Windhowl Manor with a triumphant battle cry.
Within seconds the Wizards began to cast their spells. Syntinnial had also helped in the effort, and as spells rained down upon the rushing troops, his powerful protection activated. Most of the spells were deflected into the surrounding ground and trees. Many went completely unharmed, and the Wizards looked on in disbelief.
With their first assault foiled, they began to rush out of the gate and crowd around the entrance to fight off the incoming forces more effectively. They charged towards Lent's soldiers, weapons drawn and the battle began in earnest. Sword met sword, and shields deflected maces while whips and arrows cracked through the air.
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The fighting carried on for several harsh minutes as the two forces clashed. However, thanks to the various Wards provided by Fayaldin and Syntinnial, Lent's forces began to make headway. Several of his men and women fell in that first assault, but more of the enemy Wizards died or suffered heavy injuries in the exchange. As it was things were looking good for the attacking party.
The Wizards inside were forced to send out more reinforcements to bolster their own ranks, which served to clear out the inside of the manor even more. With that done, Lent looked content as he waited for Cypher to make his way to his own entry point.
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With the battle raging in full, security was finally lax enough that Cypher could slip in undetected. Despite most of the enemy Conductors busy with Lent's forces, there were still quite a few left to keep watch over the rear of the manor. These Conductors weren't stupid after all. They imagined that someone might attack from the rear during the frontal assault.
They were prepared for that. However, they couldn't have imagined someone like Cypher being sent to handle a band of rogues like themselves. They simply weren't worth the effort for the Royal family to send professionals to stop them. That had been the whole reason they had chosen this particular estate.
Cypher stayed low as he dashed across the ground and quickly reached the wall. He silently leapt over it at a spot the four wall guards wouldn't be able to see him and landed near a cluster of bushes. He then worked his way towards a back door leading into the manor. He remained undetected the entire time and managed to slip inside without being seen.
The Conductors outside weren't worth killing since soon enough; they would be called to the front to deal with Lent's forces. Those left inside, however, would be the ones he would have to handle himself. He had carefully crafted his plan based on what he saw during his original casing of the estate.
Most of the forces fighting outside were the expendable Conductors whose job it was to handle such an attacking force. The ones inside would be more powerful and likely would help break into the vault. According to the intel Lent had provided the estate had been captured for a little over two weeks before Lord Fayaldin had asked Cypher to intervene.
At that rate, they would have cut fairly far into the protective Wards around the Vault. This assault was the last chance to stop them before they made it inside and claimed the goods within. Cypher knew he couldn't afford to fail here if he wanted to claim his reward and advance his Centers of Power.
The entire layout of the manor was etched into his mind as Cypher worked his way toward the areas that would be less patrolled. Most of the main hallways would likely feature two or three Conductors each. However, the entire mansion was interconnected. Every main hall and route could be reached through separate means. With such a small force, the enemy Conductors would be forced to limit their patrols to certain areas.
Cypher cleanly made his way through several halls on his way to the vault. He killed two unaware Conductors along the way with bolts of lighting to the heart. They fell to the ground and died quickly, but Cypher was unable to prevent them from making noise despite his best efforts.
Still, it wasn't too loud, and with the commotion outside, he was sure their deaths went unnoticed. Nothing about this really concerned him. It would be easy enough to reach the vault. However, there was only one route to the vault itself, which would most likely be heavily guarded. It was, after all, the last line of defense.
Sure enough, Cypher dashed out into the open hall leading to the vault and came face to face with ten Rank-Two Conductors. The men stared at him, confused for a few seconds as they struggled to figure out what was going on, but Cypher set to work immediately.
Wreaths of flame surrounded his arms as he cast his first spell, and the gouts of fire shot towards several Conductors at once, signaling the start of his troubles.