At the inn, everyone is gone except Caylee, Aelgir, Valovar, and Lynn. They enter and close the door. Caylee looks at the door, “Where is Kara?” Ava tries to talk but only manages some tears. Caylee runs over and grabs her in a hug, and she looks at Persi and the others, “What happened?” Persi says, “She will be fine. She collapsed; we don’t know why. High Priest Stormhaven is caring for her now.” Kal says, “She’ll be fine. She kept trying to get up, saying she needed to get back here to go over your plans. She was rather determined,” Zaos says, “So boss, what’s the plan?”
Caylee looks at Ava. She sees that she has some of her composure back. She kisses the side of Ava’s head and releases her from the hug, then walks back to the table, “It’s going to change a little now, but still doable.” Glasses, cups, saucers, forks, and spoons have been arranged on the table, “This was going to be Kara’s part,” she says as she looks at Ava. “Ava, you’ll have to do it now. You’ll approach the house from this direction. Your job is to be a distraction. I don’t care how you do it, but we need all these guards,” she points to spoons, “to pay attention to you and only you. Not fighting, just paying attention, at least at first.” Ava says I have an idea and blushes a little. Caylee smiles, getting an idea of what Ava is planning. She continues pointing to different points and assigning jobs for the next hour, making everyone repeat everything she says, “Everyone got it? If so, get some rest and prepare for tonight.”
Aran asks Ava, “What are you going to do?” Ava starts to blush again. “I’ve got a plan; don’t worry about it.” Aran chuckles, “You turn red when you’re embarrassed.” Ava says, “Stop it. I can’t help it.” Aran takes her hand. “No, it's one of the many things I like about you. You and I, it reminds me of how Kara and Camiella used to,,,” He stops, feeling emotions begin to well up. Ava wraps an arm around him, “I know, I envied their friendship. They would fight one second and be laughing with each other the next. Everything between them was a competition. They never walked away angry with each other.”
Persi asks Caylee, “Where did the rest of the people go?” Caylee shrugs, “To a safe place. The fewer of us should know, the better. If this goes south, we don’t want any of us saying where they are, right?” Persi nods. She puts a hand on Persi’s butt, “Want to come “rest” with me? Between us? Those tentacles were sexy?” Persi jumps, “Sorry, not for me. I’m flattered, though. I have elixirs to prepare.” Caylee says, “You don’t know what you’re missing, but no hard feelings.” Caylee walks back to the display on the table and studies it, then removes it all and puts everything up.
Kara’s eyes open, Arden sitting next to her, “Kara, do you understand me?” A look of terror crosses Kara’s face as she sees the priest who cursed her, and then she calms, realizing that it was years ago and she has nothing to fear. He sees the look of terror and casts calm emotions on her. She says, “Yeah, why am I here? I was at the trial. The people we rescued. Then, the carriage. What’s going on, Arden?” He frowns at her, “I have a theory. Let me know if it makes sense to you. After the battle on the mountain, Elirae came to you and gave you a purpose to live. You spent the next two years here, with your frien. . , brothers, but the whole time, you constantly thought of your time as Azura’s host, in the prison, trying to come to terms with it. Then you left and had a new focus, followed by your family, so instead of contemplating your time, you focused on your family and Nexus. You pushed those memories back, maybe even forgot some. Now you’re back here, and this place is dredging those memories back up. You haven’t dealt with them for so long that your body and mind don’t know how to handle them. Plus, you’re carrying a child now, and that is causing your emotions to, well, go a little wild.” Kara can see the same look in his eyes that she sees on her own in the mirror. “Arden, what did you do?” He thinks momentarily, then looks at the others in the room, “Clear the room and shut the door.” Kara looks around. Several acolytes and a priest leave, then quietly pull the door closed.
Arden waits for the latch to fall, “After the curse was lifted on you, Veleris stripped me of my powers.” Kara grabs his hand, “I’m sorry, I didn’t..” Arden puts a finger to his lips, and Kara stops talking, “It was the best thing that could have happened. It made me realize what I had done to you and the horrible fate I had sentenced you to. I did what I did out of pure anger and a thirst for revenge. I had lost my daughter. I should have recognized you as Azura's greatest victim. Looking back, I should have brought you with me and treated you more like a daughter. Would you mind if I considered you a daughter?” Kara shakes her head, not knowing what to say. He continues, “I raged for nearly two years, drinking myself to unconsciousness nearly every night, blaming you for taking my Cyndra, not once, but twice. Thinking of ways I could get revenge. It was an awful time. One evening, I was in a tavern, and a traveler sat across from me. I wanted to warn her away but couldn’t. She asked me what I was angry about. I couldn’t stop myself for some reason, so I told her. She asked me whether I was angry at you or about myself. Then she left. It wasn’t easy, but over the next year, I stopped drinking. I began praying to Veleris again.” Arden chuckles, “She probably got sick and tired of hearing from me. I realized I was never angry at you, but I still needed to understand you, which was beyond me. How you could go from being a host to a devil to being probably the purest soul I had ever met. Then, she showed up again when I was browsing the market one day. She asked me another question, not a complete question, but I knew what she meant, “Do you want to find out?”. I said “yes” without a second thought. She walked away and faded out as if she wasn’t there.”
Kara again says, “Arden?” Beginning to look as if she is afraid of the answer.
He says, “I’m fine. That night, I returned to my room, thinking about her, asking myself, “Was that Veleris? Is she offering me a chance for redemption? I even wondered if you may be behind the chance for redemption.”
She says, “I did pray for you every day, with Cyndra at my side. You never left my heart. The curse helped me… It’s hard to describe.” He says, “I’m still sorry I did it. We all have regrets; I don’t regret the choice I made that night. Veleris came to me with a journal. Your journal. She said that a dragon you redeemed had loaned it to her. There’s a story there that I want to hear sometime. She asked me again, “Do you want to understand Karael Proudshard and understand why I cast you out?” again, I answered yes. She opened the journal in front of me. I was sitting on the edge of a table with a mug of mead in my hand; I was singing, people were listening, others were laughing and playing, and a festival was going on. It was my name day and Harvest Festival. Then the screams started. My brother grabbed me, rushed me to our house, and hid me under the floor. I reached for him, but there wasn’t enough room for two. He told me to stay quiet, no matter what. I did, and then everything went black and silent. When I could see and hear again, I saw people moving around through the gaps in the floor. They spoke in a strange language; something was pouring on me, getting me wet. You know all the details of what happened. You lived it. In the span of a night, I lived the next two years of your life as Azura’s host, as a prisoner.”
Again, Kara says, “Arden?” He smiles and says, “Yes, I tortured my daughter. During this vision, I could always hear you in the background pleading with Azura to stop, crying at what she said she would do. When I tortured my daughter, I heard you pleading, screaming for her to stop and, finally, give in. I could also feel her thoughts. She wasn’t going to, but she was pleased that she finally broke you. If you hadn’t broken then, she had planned just to start over, but she wasn’t going to kill you.”
Arden pauses for a long moment, collecting his thoughts, “At that moment, I forgave you completely. The vision continued to the point I was looking at myself standing over you, cursing you, and then the days flashed by as you lay next to the cliff asking for help. I,,, you, finally worked up the strength to stand and step out into the void over that cliff, and Elirae pushed you back… Kara, you did what you had to do to survive. You had become so pure at that point. You cared nothing for yourself and gave everything to Elirae and others. It was as if I lived that part of your life. I felt everything you felt, but I couldn’t have survived without Veleris’ protection. When I opened my eyes that morning, it felt like the world's weight had been lifted. I could feel Veleris again. That day, Cyndra contacted me with a sending for the first time. That was the happiest day of my life. If you need to talk about anything, I’m here. I will help you with the memories if I can. I need to know one thing,,, how did you keep your sanity through that?”
Kara says, “I removed my mind from my body. Mostly, it got to where whatever they did to me didn’t matter anymore. I had one hope, then. That they would screw up and accidentally kill me or leave me alone long enough to do it myself, I explained it to Cyndra once; she described when I left my body as “rag dolling.” It was hard to do when Azura wore me; she knew whether I was there. The guards at the prison didn’t care at first, but when they realized it was stopping them from breaking me, they brought in an aetheran mystic to stop me. He could enter my mind and torture me there or drag me out. By then, I didn’t care anymore.” He kisses her forehead, “When you feel those memories coming, try to turn into that rag doll. Protect yourself.” She says, “Arden,,, I still need to get back to the inn Arden, my friends.” She tries to lift her head, but it feels like her head weighs a ton. Arden places one hand on her forehead and the other under her head and eases her back down to the pillow, “It’s almost dawn; anything that was going to happen has already happened. Now we wait and hope.”
Hours earlier,
Persi is preparing elixirs for tonight when Sasha’s voice, in his head, says, “Persival, Kara will not answer me. Why, what is going on? She has never not answered me, four tries. Answers now, or else.” Persi runs out of the room, and Ava and Aran are not there. Caylee gives him a confused look as he runs up the stairs, stumbling once and going the rest of the way on all fours. He bursts through the door, and both jump, “Sasha just contacted me. She’s angry. Kara won’t answer her. What do I say?” Aran says, “Shit.” Ava says, “Oh shit.” Ava asks, “Exactly what did she say?” Persi repeats it, and Aran says, “Big, oh shit, dude.” Persi and Aran look at Ava. Ava says, “What, why are you looking at me?” Aran says, “You’re the bullshitter. You’re the one that comes up with stuff on the fly.” Ava bounces like she has an idea, “I know, we found a new spell that hides you. It lasts for a day. We’re testing it, and Kara is hiding from us; we’re trying to find her, too. It’s supposed to block everything.” Aran frowns. Persi says, “I like it. I better answer soon.” Aran says, “Really?” Persi and Ava look at Aran, “Do you have anything better?” He shakes his head, “Spell it is.”
He focuses on the Sending, “Found new spell hide from magic, Kara testing. We’re looking too; let her know at the end of the test. Your Highness.” Aran says, “That sounded like first-class bullshit to me.” Ava says, “Do you think it worked?” Persi holds his breath, waiting. He lets it out and says, “Nothing yet. Maybe she’s out of Sendings?” Then Sasha is in his head again, “Tell her to wait and let me know next time. I'm glad you’re watching out for her. She’s stubborn. Keep her safe. See you soon.” Ava asks, “What?” Persi repeats the message, then says, “I think she bought it.” Ava says, “Shit.” Aran says, “Okay, I give up.” Ava says, “I don’t think she believed a thing. Give her an update on where we are, and so on. Persi focuses on the Sending again, “In Cragcall. Been working with the temple to help some people. Kara is amazing, leaving here in a few days. Met great group, helping us out.” Persi looks at Ava, “That I believed.” At Nexus, Sasha says to a guard, get me, High Priestess Avvaran, now.”
Anya walks into the Portal Control Room, “I found some things in Persival’s notes. Lots of stuff on cures for Far Realm diseases, research on blocking off the Far Realm, research on effects common elements have on Far Realm entities, rea…” Sasha asks, “What are your conclusions?” Anya says, “There’s too much random data to conclude anything.” Sasha asks, “What is your gut telling you, Anya? Was Persival doing something he shouldn’t have?” Anya holds her stomach and thinks, “I think an entity of the Far Realm afflicted Persival and was trying to find a way to remove the affliction. You seem more agitated than normal?” Sasha says, “Just tried to do a sending to Kara four times, she responded to none of them. I contacted Persival and asked him. He told me a story about new magic they found that hides you from everything, even cutting off communication.” Anya says, “That sounds useful.” Sasha gives her a “what the fuck” look, “He was lying Anya.” Anya says, “Oh, then that’s not good. What will you do?” Sasha says, “I don’t know this Avallie or Aranark good enough to Send to them. I’ve asked for Avvaran so we can try divination.”
High Priestess Avvaran enters, and she bows, “Princess Cinderblade, you’ve asked for my presence?” Sasha says, “I need a Divination; I don’t care if it’s yes, no, or lets me see how people are wiping their rear. I need to know Kara is safe.” The High Priestess sighs, “I’m sorry, there is no way to do that at this moment. It will have to be tomorrow. I will personally prepare the spells.” Sasha wants to throw something but maintains composure, “Prepare the most powerful spells you have. I’m sorry if Nexus must do without for a day. I need to know what’s going on with my wife. That will be all.” The High Priestess bows again, “Of course, Princess, I will return tomorrow.” When the High Priestess closes the door, Sasha grabs a marker from the table and hurls it across the room, screaming. Anya asks, “Did that make you feel better?” Now, she wants to throw something at her, too. Instead, she stamps a foot and leaves. She wants to go to her and Kara’s bedroom, but it is blown away when Nexus falls. Instead, she walks through a hole still in the wall and sits down, watching some birds in the distance.
At around three bells past midnight and having made sure to splash some wine to give herself the odor of booze, Ava staggers past the main gate of the Lord’s manor, “FUCK! Sheeeiit, damnit sta. . noo,, stops that” Her clothes are changing from flames, to lightning, then flashing transparent, then to flowers, she stumbles into a guard, “oh, soo, sarr, thuckit, I apathogize. Thwhere aaam I?” The Crownsguard looks at her and smiles, “No insignia” another guard comes over, “No insignia.” One of the guards puts his hands around her; she drunkenly falls back out of this grip, willing the clothes to go transparent again, and squeals as loud as possible, “I NAKEDS, YOUZ ALL SEES MY NAKENS BODY AND BOOOBIES!” More Crownsguards from the front of the house come to see what’s going on. “No insignia on these two either.” She staggers over to the ditch, which is still filled with water, stumbles, and falls in with a splash, “Ah shet, now I’z all nakeds and we. . w. wa, soaked.”
The four guards run over to help her, and a fifth one, a woman in a Crownsguard uniform, shows up. Ava thinks to herself, “That’s the five. Now to keep them entertained without them attempting to rape me and try to get them to disarm. A guard reaches for her; she adds a little extra pull and snatches him down on top of her. “OOOUUUCCHH, thaaat hurted,” she smiles and giggles as she climbs out of the ditch. She sees the female Crownsguard with a disgusted look on her face, “comin, theerrbe more tahan nuf of mee for,” she holds up her fist and starts counting, “1, 4, 5, 8, 20 of I fi handsym guys, oooh, and a girly. I, I bet you boys wood juuust love to seeees me make out, or in wheth a bootifal girl.” She staggers over to the Crownsguard and throws her arms around her; she sees the insignia marking her as friendly and proceeds to try to stick her tongue down the woman’s throat.
Inside the compound is an almost silent thump as an arrow, with Bloodhood fletching, goes through the neck of a Crownsguard. As he falls, Zaos appears and catches him. Zaos drags him into the shadows, and Valovar casts Prestidigitation to clean off the blood. They remove the uniform, give it to Aran, and then hide the body. Aran immediately stands up and begins the patrol this one was walking. Aelgir sends his familiar, a pseudodragon named Desa, ahead invisibly to scout. Kal leads Aelgir so that he can see through the dragon's eyes. The rest of the group continues around the rear of the house; Aelgir says, “Another at the rear, a Crownsguard, no insignia on this one either. He looks drunk and half asleep.” Kal leaves Aelgir with Persi. He sees the Crownsguard sitting and drinking from a bottle; from how he looks, Aelgir was correct; he’s already three sheets to the wind. There are two more shots from Kal and a repeat, and then Persi is wearing a Crownsguard uniform. He sits down where this one was, just in case this is his habit. Aelgir sends Desa around to where the windows to the study are located. Aelgir says, “Another Crownsguard, she’s jumpy, I can’t see an insignia, she won’t stay still long enough.
Kal peeks around the corner, and he sees her. She almost looks like she’s twitching. She jumps. An owl hoots from the opposite side. She looks in that direction. Kal swings out and fires, but she jumps at the sound of the release; only one arrow hits her in the gut. She’s trying to scream, but the arrow stops her lungs from filling with air. She is gasping for air; she probably doesn’t have long. They start stripping her; she grabs Zaos’ arm and manages to gasp out, “Please, I don’t want to die,” Zaos says, “Sorry babe, it’s just a job.” then he notices the insignia. He says, “Shit, we got one of the good guys.” Lynn casts Healing Word on her. The arrow comes out as the wound heals almost completely. Kal looks at her and says, “Sorry, I didn’t see that.” She’s put a hand over where the wound was. There is still a cut, but it’s better than dying. Zaos says, “I’m sorry too, but this has to look good,” before she can say anything more, the butt of his rifle slams into the side of her head. He touches her neck and feels a pulse. They finish stripping her, and Caylee gives her uniform to Zaos. Zaos says, “Why do I have to be the girl?” Caylee replies, “Who knows more about babes than you love?” Zaos gets a satisfied look, “You’re right.”
Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
Kal checks a window and another that is locked. He pulls out some thief’s tools and works at flipping the latch, holding the window closed. He can get a hold of the latch inside the window, but it’s rust-welded. Caylee starts quietly whispering, “tick, tick, tick.” Kal moves to the first window he tried. This time, he feels the latch slide, then he puts his hands on the window, and it opens without a sound. Aelgir releases his senses from Desa and sends her to the roof, telling her to watch Ava and alert someone if Ava gets in trouble. He feels Desa acknowledge the request as she flies away. Aelgir, Caylee, Kal, Lynn, and Valovar slide through the window. The safe is in the basement. Somewhere in this room is the secret door that will get them there.
They quietly start searching for the door, and Caylee and Valovar make more noise in their search than Kal wants. He puts a finger over his lips and gives them a shush look, then motions for them to remain still. Of all people, Lynn is as quiet as a mouse, not making a sound in her armor. They all spot the mechanism to the secret door at the same time; Lord Nutwood is truly a pig. Lynn grips the bronze figurine of a naked woman on his desk and pulls, and a shelf slides open. Valovar whispers, “So far, so…” Aelgir slaps him on the back of the head to shut him up before he completes the saying. Aelgir stands so he can see out of a few windows and watch the door. Kal takes up a position to cover the rear. Caylee leads the way down the steep stairs. About twenty feet down the stairs, they come to a door on the right; with the stairs continuing past the door, Caylee can see that the stairs end at another door about another twenty feet down. She puts her ear to the door; she hears a whimper—Caylee motions for Kal to come forward.
Kal listens but hears nothing; he runs his hands around the seal of the door, beneath the door, and tests the latch; it’s locked, but the lock is on the outside, “Who locks doors from the…” he cuts that thought off as he unlocks it and eases the door open. Inside, he sees six women and a mixture of five boys and girls, all stripped naked. He looks at Caylee, puts his mouth to her ear, and whispers, “First complication, going to Plan B.” She nods. As quietly as he can but still loud enough to be heard, he says, “Stay quiet; we’re here to rescue you.”
He hears some movement, and some of them start crying as he slips into the room. Caylee bends the latch so the door won’t lock, then quietly closes the door behind Kal. The room is pitch black, but he can see in the dark quite well. He looks at the people and sees one woman is an elf, and the rest are human. She is warily watching him from a crouched position. Kal stows his bow and holds his hands up as he makes his way over to her. He quietly says, “Please stay quiet. We’re going to get all of you out of here.” He looks at the elf and, in elvish, asks, “Do you know how to fight?” She nods; he removes a dagger and hands it to her; she’s looking at his other dagger, so he also hands it to her. She twirls them through her fingers and takes a fighting stance. In Elvish, she whispers, “Is the nightsylvan alone?” Kal shakes his head, then quietly, in common, says, “My friends are outside that door; we’re going to leave this room quietly, go up the stairs, and then you will go out the window one at a time. No one is to say anything or make a sound. I have another friend who will help you outside the window. If you understand, nod, I can see you.” Everyone nods. He can see tears of joy streaming down their faces.
He places his hand on the back of the one closest to the door and escorts her. Kal opens the door and holds up five fingers, fist, five fingers, fist, and one finger. Caylee nods. The rest of the prisoners can see now, with the door open. Kal points at individuals and motions them forward as Caylee, Lynn, and Valovar spread out on the stairs. When everyone is crowded in on the steps, Kal squeezes past them and stops at the top of the stairs where he can see Aelgir. He mouths “Plan B” and holds his hand up to indicate eleven. Aelgir relays the message to Zaos. Zaos nods. Kal motions for the prisoners individually, pointing them to Aelgir. Aelgir helps each one out the window, where Zaos keeps them standing against the manor. Aelgir is helping the last human woman out the window. The elf is crossing the room as the door from the hall opens.
A half-orc steps through the door, unfastening his pants. One dagger hits him between the legs, another dead center in his chest, and two arrows hit, one to each eye. The elf is under him in a flash and eases him to the floor. She grabs the two arrows in his skull and uses them as handles to drag him into the room. Kal quietly closes the door, listens for a second, and hears nothing in the hall. She pulls the daggers from his body, flicks the blood off, and helps the human woman through the window. The elf woman steps back to the body and kicks him in the head with her heel before spitting on him. Then she slips through the window without a sound. Kal looks at Aelgir, Caylee, and Valovar and lifts an eyebrow. Caylee puts her hands together, places them next to her face, tilts her head, and batts her eyes. Lynn motions to the stairs. Caylee gives her an impatient look and heads down the stairs again. Aelgir moves back to his position to keep watch.
At the bottom of the stairs, Caylee can see that this door is made of iron. There is no lock on the outside of this door. She motions for Kal to come down. Caylee and Kal press their ears to the door, but neither hears anything. Kal runs his hands around the door. Nothing seems off. He touches the handle and very gently tries to turn it. It’s locked. He opens his tool pouch, kneels, and works on the lock; he feels the mechanism give with a metallic click. He motions up for Valovar to close the entry to the secret stairs. Valovar pulls a lever, and the stairwell goes dark. Valovar pulls his goggles over his eyes and then works his way back down. Caylee motions to Kal to open the door and then begins a countdown on her fingers, 3, 2, 1. The door flies open. A crossbow bolt hits Caylee in the shoulder. Kal barely manages to duck a great club swinging at his head. A caster releases a spell, and a lightning bolt starts to arc from his hands, but Valovar counters it, causing the caster’s spell to fizzle.
Ava whispers to the female Crownsguard she is trying to kiss, “It’s time. Please play along”. The guard’s eyes widen as she realizes what she has just been told. She opens her mouth and joins Ava in the kiss as they embrace. The other guards group around them in a circle.
Zaos looks at the elf woman and winks; she gives him a disgusted look. He then moves to each adult and whispers in their ear, “Follow me, stay quiet, hold on to the children.” He stops at the elf woman and whispers, “If this goes bad, keep them together. There is a hole under the south wall, midway. Get them to the Temple of Veleris. Ask for Kara.” She grabs the back of his head and presses their foreheads together as a sign of respect. They move along the side of the house to Persi’s location. Zaos motions to Persi, “Plan B.” Persi nods. Zaos brings the prisoners around, leading the way with the elf bringing up the rear. Persi falls behind the elf. So much adrenaline is pumping through his system that thoughts of the naked elf in front of him never touch his mind. His awareness has expanded to every motion and sound around him. He wonders, “Is this how they feel on a mission? How does Ava describe it? “Alive.” That’s it.”
Outside the gate, the guards encircling Ava and Crownsguard are starting to make lude comments, setting down their weapons and undoing their uniforms. Ava starts nibbling at the woman’s ear and whispering, “Get ready.” Ava begins to feel that “Alive” feeling as goosebumps cover her. The Crownsguard moves a hand between them so it is close to her sword.
Zaos motions to Aran, “Plan B.” Aran nods and starts walking toward the front gate as Zaos, the prisoners, and Persi slip by, headed for the south wall.
The door to the study opens, and a woman steps in, “Gunar, you had better not have started already; you know I like to watch…?”. She looks down at the half-orc, then up at Aelgir. Aelgir recognizes her as one of the Bloodhoods. She reaches for her swords and gets them about halfway out when three beams of coherent light rip through her chest. Aelgir hears movement down the hall. He runs to the door, and as she falls and looks down the hall, he sees three men running in his direction. An arrow cuts his cheek open and nicks his ear before he can pull back into the room. He moves back to the desk for some cover. One runs past the door, firing two arrows into the room, and both go wide. Aelgir hears them say something but can’t make it out until the third one moves in front of the door aiming at him, “Shit, they were telling each other where I am.” He releases two arrows. One hits him in the left shoulder, and the other nicks his right forearm and embeds itself in the wall behind him. The man moves out of the door, hiding on the other side. One of them yells, “Come out now, and you live.” Aelgir laughs loudly, “As a slave or long enough for you to kill me.”
Valovar points a wand at the caster, and a swarm of magic missiles launch from it, swirling around, taking different paths, but all seeking the same target. The caster tries to counter it but underestimates the spell's level and fails as eight tiny, purple butterflies slam into the one holding the crossbow.
The world around Caylee turns blood red as she screams a war cry. She slices across the orc with the great sword, drawing a line of blood, then stabs at him, but he moves ever so slightly to dodge it. She grins, recognizing he has some skill, then explodes into the second set of movements with an overhead swing that hits him in the shoulder, leaving a gash and another stab; it goes through his side but doesn’t hit any vital organs. He grins, seeming to gain strength from the pain as the veins in his eyes turn red. He brings the great club around. Caylee tries to duck it, but it contacts her jaw; she briefly sees stars, and her vision clears just in time to see the club coming down; she gets her sword up to block it, and the force of the swing almost buckles her knees.
The man with the crossbow staggers back from the magic missiles, drops the crossbow, and grabs two throwing axes from his harness, hurling both at Valovar. Valovar sees no way for him to escape and throws up a magical shield before him. One ax ricochets off, the other hits the shield, seems to slow for a split second, then it hits Valovar in the leg, burying the blade almost to the bone, then the axes vanish, reappearing in the opponent’s hands.
Kal launches two arrows at the caster. One hits invisible armor, ricochets, and lodges in the ceiling; the other goes cleanly through his shoulder. Kal drops his bow, draws his scimitars, and runs to the caster. The brute with the club sees Kal moving toward the caster and swings at him, catching him in the elbow and sending a wave of pain through him, but he ignores it and makes it to the caster.
Lynn calls for the blessing of the Allhammer for Caylee, Kal, and Valovar.
The four guards around Ava have effectively stripped when Dawnbreaker appears in her hand, “Those gloves of Kara’s I found in the portable hole are awesome.” She asks the Crownsguard, “What’s your name? I mean, we shared a moment there.” It takes a few moments too long for the guards to realize what is happening, as one of their heads turns into a pink mist and sprays the one next to him. The head of Dawnbreaker passes through the space his head used to occupy.
The Crownsguard draws her sword and lunges for another, but he dives out of the way. The Crownsguard says, “Zildi, it was kind of nice.” Ava spins Dawnbreaker over her head and brings it into a defensive stance.
A guard grabs his sword off the ground and lunges for Zildi, driving the blade through her shoulder. Zildi cries out in pain. Ava calls on Elirae to repay the guard in kind. Radiant energy surges from Zildi down the blade and hits the guard, scorching his arm.
The other two grab their swords, seeing Ava as the main threat: one swings high and the other low. Ava spins to try to avoid them, but both cut into her. She grits her teeth to keep from crying out.
Aran hears the fight outside the gate and breaks into a run. He makes it around the corner in time to see Ava take two hits. She is fighting back-to-back with a Crownsguard. “Why is Ava naked?”
Desa takes off for the south wall, where the escape hole is under the wall.
The man with the axes hurls both at Kal; both hit their mark; the first buries itself in his back, the second in his leg. The caster tries to send a spell at Kal. Kal manages to get a cut across the chest of the caster, and the spell goes off. Kal hurls across the room, slamming him into a wall.
Caylee spins low with her great sword, catching the orc in the shin, then continues the spin as she rises, slicing across his thighs. He bellows with rage as her blade flings blood across the room. The orc starts swinging wild with the great club, slamming it into her shoulder and knocking her toward Kal; he follows with a wild overhead swing, hitting her forearm as she tries to block. Her arm gives and bends at an unnatural angle. Caylee howls in rage as the pain shoots through her.
Kal stands and swings at the enraged orc, getting two deep cuts across his gut.
Lynn calls upon the Allhammer to heal her friends; all Valovar’s wounds heal, some of Caylee’s and Kal’s heal, but not all; their wounds combined were too great for this spell to deal with completely. Then Lynn casts a second spell, and a mystical war hammer appears behind the orc and slams down onto the back of his skull.
Seeing the orc staggered by the spiritual weapon, Valovar sends a lightning bolt at him. It’s just good luck that the ax wielder is in a direct line as both stiffen from the power pouring through them. The orc looks at Valovar, and smoke puffs out of his nose as he changes his focus from Caylee. Valovar frowns, “Shit.”
Aelgir prepares to cast at the first person that appears at the door. An archer swings out, and the last thing he sees as he aims is a man standing at the desk, holding his hands in a diamond pattern in front of his forehead. Then his head explodes, sending gray matter and blood showering over the hallway, and the arrow goes wide right. Another archer spins around his falling comrade and fires two shots at Aelgir; one hits his upper chest on the right side, and the other ricochets off his shadow armor and shatters a window as it passes through. The third archer doesn’t appear, “Maybe watching his friend’s head explode scared him off.”
Ava channels the power of Elirae’s divine might into a swing at the guard before her. Dawnbreaker slams into his ribs; she hears bones crack and sees his skin sear with radiant power as it surges through him. He grits his teeth and smiles at her. He swings up, leaving a gash from her waist to her shoulder, then across her with another slice, this one cutting much deeper into her side. She is unable to hold back a cry of pain from this one.
Zildi spins, places her back against another guard, and drives her sword through his chest. She hears the air leave his lungs and feels the blade grow heavy as he falls. The third guard uses her move as an opening to drive his sword through the left side of her chest; the point exits the right side. Ava looks Zildi in the eyes as she falls to the ground.
Aran comes in from the blind side of the guard that hit Ava, landing a solid hit with his mace in the small of his back. He takes the hit, gritting in pain, and looks at Aran, “You’re mine now, boy.”
The ax thrower hurls two more axes at Kal; this time, Kal deflects one with his scimitars, but the second hits and buries itself to the handle in his side.
The caster looks at Lynn and asks, “Why are you helping the enemy? You should help us, your friends.” Lynn looks at Caylee, Kal, and Valovar. For a second, she doesn’t recognize them, but her friend, the caster,, Lynn thinks, “Why don’t I know my friend’s name?” Then her world snaps back as she resists the spell he tried to seize her mind with
.
The big orc has turned his back to Caylee and, in his rage, has focused on Valovar. Caylee brings the great sword down with an overhead swing that hits the top of his skull, then the blade continues cutting down and doesn’t stop until it exits his groin. The orc stands there for a second like he’s trying to understand something, and then the two halves fall apart, spraying blood across the room, covering Caylee, Kal, Lynn, and Valovar. Being suddenly drenched in blood only drives Caylee into a frenzy. She charges straight for the caster through the orc as he falls. The caster only has time to get his arms up before the great sword cleaves through them, his skull, and stops at his chest. Caylee pulls him in close. His eyes are still moving, trying to look at something. Caylee gives a war cry, then kicks him free of her sword.
The ax wielder tries to back away, but he has nowhere to go as Kal drives his scimitars through his chest. Lynn moves to Caylee and places a hand on her chest. She jumps at Lynn’s touch but recognizes her as a friend and realizes the immediate threat is gone. Caylee calms herself. Lynn sends healing energy through her, sealing the worst of the wounds.
Kal drinks a potion as he walks over to the safe. It’s made of solid steel and is much bigger than they thought. Valovar pulls out a portable hole and motions to Kal to help. Getting the idea, Kal helps Valovar open it and place it on the floor directly in front of the safe. Kal says, “May as well take the whole thing rather than wasting time trying to open it here.” Caylee says, “Everyone knows the plan. These were Bloodhoods.” Caylee and Lynn start removing Crownsguard items from their Bags of Holding and placing them around the room. Nothing is too obvious: a dagger here, a torn rank insignia there. They remove all evidence they were there, shooting the same crossbow bolts the Crownsguard uses into the arrow holes left by Kal. Then, when Kal and Valovar have cleared a space in the portable hole, Caylee, Kal, and Lynn tip the safe into the portable hole. Kal grabs the two throwing axes off the crossbowman.
Aelgir decides not to wait for the archers. He focuses on a tiny spot on the floor just outside the door. That tiny spot wants to consume everything. He flicks a small loadstone to the place. He sees time and space begin to distort around it, the body of the dead archer makes popping and sucking sounds as it’s pulled into the micro singularity that has spawned, and another archer is sucked down to it. He’s trying to resist, and bones begin to snap; Aelgir sees the look on his face when he finally realizes it’s too late, and his body is twisted into a mass of flesh and bone before the spell ends. Aelgir takes a breath and relaxes, then he feels two thuds in his back, “How?” He sees the third archer outside the window they entered through; Aelgir feels a moment of rage as Hellfire consumes the archer; the archer barely has time to scream as his flesh melts away. Aelgir braces himself against the desk and fumbles for a potion before he blacks out. Valovar puts a hand out to Aelgir and helps him stand; Aelgir slaps him on the back of the head again, “Hey, what was that for?” Aelgir says, “Don’t ever say that again.”
Ava catches Zildi as she collapses, “No, no, no, you’re going to be okay.” Zildi’s eyes are fixed on Ava’s as she sends healing energy into her through her hands. Ava looks at the guard and growls, “Fearless” in infernal.
Seeing his immediate threat occupied and a new threat on him, the guard turns his attention to Aran. He stabs at Aran with a quick thrust; one goes through his side and out his back; he pulls the sword out and then thrusts again. Aran manages to deflect it from his heart, but it goes through his chest, puncturing his lung. Aran can’t use the shield without hitting Ava and the woman she is holding; he swings and manages to hit the guard in the thigh with the mace. Again, the guard grits his teeth and smiles. He already knows who’s going to win this fight.
He doesn’t see Fearless silently step out of the ethereal behind him. Fearless hits the guard with two flaming hooves and knocks him forward a couple of steps into Aran. He growls to Aran, “This ain’t over, boy, I’ve still..” two holes appear in his head, and he slumps against Aran. Aran has no idea what just happened. Ava sees two flashes in the darkness down the street outside her vision, then hears, “Boom, Boom.” She digs into her Bag of Holding for a potion as Aran goes to his knees. She finds it and turns it up in Aran’s mouth as Zaos comes running up with Persi following.
Not knowing the whole story, Zaos sees the Crownsguard moving. He aims his rifle at her head, her eyes go wide, and she throws her hands up in front of her. Ava yells, “NO! She with us.” Zaos lowers the rifle; he looks at Ava and asks, “Why are you naked?” Having forgotten, Ava turns red and makes her clothes turn red.
Kara looks at Arden, “It’s dawn; we haven’t heard anything, Arden. Can someone…” The door opens, and a very bloody Ava, being supported by an equally bloody female Crownsguard and Aran, walks in, followed by several women and children she doesn’t know, wrapped in blankets, then Persi, and other than Zaos, a very bloody, tired looking group of Nameless Shields.
Outside, bells begin to ring, and alarm horns sound. It takes effort and some help from Arden, but Kara sets herself up on the bed, so happy that tears are streaming down her cheeks. Ava, Aran, and Persi run over to Kara when they see her setting up. Ava asks, “Are you okay? Is anything wrong?” Kara takes a wet rag sitting next to the bed and wipes some blood off Ava’s face, “Am I okay? Really? All of you are a mess. I will be, thanks to all of you worrying over me, getting me here.” She looks at Arden, “Look at them. They want to know if I’m okay.”