Aelene leaned back against a tree watching her husband as he worked to restore Bennett’s mind. She shuddered thinking about the things she’d seen done to him. Thankfully none of it was permanently damaging but most of it was thoroughly unpleasant.
She’d watched as he was beaten for answers, his toes mangled with various hammers and devices. They’d tried magical truth serums which, thankfully, his father had the foresight ensure would not work on his oldest children early in their lives. It was a different world then.
Watching was painful, but he kept catching her eye to signal her not to intervene. At least, until the hob goblin had come into the room and began his interrogation. She shuddered thinking about it. That goblin had been taught by some of the worst, she recognized some of their specific methods. By the time she realized the situation had changed however she could no longer act.
The hob goblin had been different, he radiated a power that wasn’t his own. Anything she did might alert whatever it was to her presence and endanger them all. The best she could do for the child now was to wait and watch silently hoping they would leave more than a corpse to return to his father.
It had been less than a cycle, but it felt like it had been days. She had much to apologize for in this. She should have stepped in sooner and gotten the boy out before that monster had joined the interrogation whether he wanted out or not. Damn the consequences.
It wasn’t all bad, and she had to give the boy…
The man; she had to stop thinking about these short lived races by the standards of her kind…
She had to give the man credit, he’d taken a hell of a beating and took it like champ never calling out for her or his father to intervene. Though he certainly knew she was in the room with him even if none of the others there did.
At a gasp she stirred from her thoughts looking back towards Kasner and Bennett. The latter was suspended in the air shuddering as a vile black mist was flowing back out of his mouth. The geas which prevented him from saying what had happened the little room by the gate. It was formed from the stuff of power from a some demiplane inhabitant.
She shot forward dumping a jar of jam from her pack in the blink of an eye and captured as much of the smoke as she could. It would be fine even if any tests resulted in a slightly strawberry tinged reading.
She looked to her husband. “So, was this the last to break?”
Kasner nodded, “Yes he just needs-“ he stopped looking at the sky.
Aelene looked up following his gaze, then immediately shot off
“Go protect them, I’ll finish here and we will return with haste!” was the last she heard before she redoubled her speed almost flying through the trees toward billowing red smoke.
—
The blessing would hold for only a few more minutes and he didn’t have the strength to cast it again right away. His children had managed to take out a handful of defenders but he doubted it would be enough.
The smoke had cleared a few minutes ago continuing to rise in a column above them. They had managed to disable one ballista however the team at the gates had managed to shield and man the other. It was currently pelting their last line of defense with gnome sized bolts every tenth of a cycle or so. Apparently they didn’t have enough strong men to keep it firing quickly.
His power had not been the same since he broke his vow and turned his back on the church. The church wasn’t the same either. He didn’t know what to expect when he had called on the power this time. It hadn’t answered his call in years. This time however, he had something the divinities wanted. They granted him the power to protect it. He looked over at Sandoron with that thought.
The boy was almost half the age of his oldest. It was a crime to send someone that young off to battle things even the gods would not sully their hands with. No, he was glad for the choice he made when they boy’s parents were killed. They had decided not to tell him who they were, or that they had been a party much like the one he was now unwittingly traveling to join.
Alaphon shook his head, turning to Sandoron this shield won’t hold for long. I want you to head for the woods. Keep hidden and head back for the farms. Your grandmother will -
“I’ll do what?” - Aelene’s voice from behind him. He spun. “You saw the smoke.” He sighed relaxing.
“This shield will not hold for long. Where is “ - he hesitated glancing towards Sandoron “your husband and Bennett?” he finished mutely.
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“They’ll be along shortly, I ran ahead when we saw the smoke. I guess they know we know the jig is up now. This is definitely not a normal riot. Bennett - ” Aelene paused gripping the wagon so hard it shook “Your son, was tortured in there. And placed under compulsion and geas.”
Alaphon shuddered, turning toward the walls and spit. “It’s time we split this open. I assume there is a reason you didn’t stop them?” he asked angrily.
“Their green fellow is a hob goblin with ties to a master in a demiplane.” She glanced at Sandoron grimacing. “They’re here for… well.. You know why they’re here.”
Alaphon gripped Aelene’s shoulder comfortingly. “We won’t let them achieve their goals. Like old times right?”
She glared at him and turned to look at the walls.
“We need to get this in hand quickly. If you were able to raise a shield this powerful, have you been in contact with…” she trailed off turning back to see Alaphon at the sky bitterly.
“No. I was granted the ability to draw this line in the sand but no more. I’ll only have what little mana I’ve been able to learn to draw and your husband’s trinkets.”
They both looked as another bolt struck the barrier, as lines began to form as if it were a crystal struck with a hammer. Bits of divine energy floating away in chunks.
“Can you do something about that? It would buy us more time. Vern wasn’t able to get close enough.”
Aelene looked towards the balista sighing. “If it were night, probably.” She look to the sky “At noon, with the sun blasting away every shadow?” She shook her head.
—
Sandoron leaned against the wagon watching his grandmother and Alaphon talk. He did his best to keep quiet and remain unobserved. He had learned more in the last few minutes about these people he’d grown up with than most of the rest of his life.
‘Like old times’ Alaphon had said. His grandmother and this man he’d grown to think of as a kindly great uncle had been in situations like this before? And from the sounds of things and the way they kept their calm many times?
And this shield? The power on display was unlike anything he’d ever seen before. The whole area smelled well, like nature. Which was odd because they were already outside. But it smelled like there was suddenly more outside here when the shield appeared. It felt like they’d left the road and cities behind and crested a mountain and found a spring in the middle of a forest with breeze gently drifting out of a cave.
He was almost overwhelmed when it had appeared. He vaguely remembered this smell. It was like he’d encountered it before but the only time that came to mind was the odd occurrence in his bedroom. He still didn’t know what had happened there. Not really. A soft woman’s voice, he had lain there thinking about it, when he reached for the ball he had felt… something.. A tingling sensation… And suddenly everything slowed down it felt had felt like… like he was on fire everything all at once and nothing at the same time. There wasn’t a smell that he could recall. But this smell and that time were similar somehow even if he couldn’t understand why.
As he sat not quite eavesdropping he thought about it. How they came about being here in this situation. A town out of control, bandits at the gates, bandits on the road to their homes, odd magic at home, and now his grandmother glancing at him and talking about planes and dangerous plans.
He stepped forward. “I need to know more about what’s going on.” How is what is happening in the town related to the bandits on the road? What does it have to do with the secrets you are keeping? And does it have anything to do with those damned orbs?” he demaned staring his grandmother in the eyes.
Suddenly, there was a crashing noise. A tree behind them falling. They all spun to stare at it. Trees, a lot of them, were toppling one by far in the forest behind they could see a line where presumably there had been trees before and trees falling coming closer to them.
Aelene sighed… “Well, at least we’ll all be together again.”
Sandoron looked back at his grandmother then back toward the falling trees. “What is that?”
“Your grandfather I believe” Alaphon chuckled.
“Gramps… Can do that?” he gestured at the trail of carnage stil drawing closer.
“We’ll talk about it later Sando” his replied. “Right now, we have to make sure everyone stays safe. He will be here in a few minutes and his approach isn’t going unnoticed.” She gestured toward the gates that were opening and a cylindrical metal something was being pushed out.
“Shit. SCRAMBLE AND COVER!” Alaphon yelled.
Wumph a noise, and a puff of smoke billowed from the metal device.
There was a crash like a gong and the shield in front of them shuddered splintering as a metal ball bounced off it to fall onto the road.
“Cannon! The shield’s going down in seconds! Everyone scatter! To the trees!” Alaphon shouted watching as everyone began scurrying off the road. “Pairs, if they have anyone in the forest being alone will get you killed. But no more!”
Grams grabbed Sandoron by his shirt pulling him toward the treeline. “Get down, stay behind a tree, and do not move!”
Another explosion from the cannon, and the sound of a bell rang through the air. The shield shattered. Particles of energy quickly reforming into an image of a woman covered in plants. “The call will not go unanswered. Stand aside betrayers and you might yet live.”
Aelene grunted. “Fool.”
As quickly as the image formed it dispersed this time reforming into a mighty oak tree. The image of a tree fell like the trees still falling behind them. When it collapsed it left a depression across the road as tall as a man and as wide as two.
“Into the trench!” Alaphon roared.
Everyone scrambled, Sandoron’s grandmother dragging him bodily into the hole made by the falling imaginary tree.
“We’ll be safer below the line of the cannon’s fire.” She explained.
They hid there, listening as trees continued to fall, the cannon continued to fire, and men from the wall began calling out. “Cowards, give up the Called and we’ll let the rest of you live. We know you have them. If you tell us who it is and hand them over we won’t have to kill all of you!”
“Called?” Sandoron asked looking to his grandmother who sighed before answering. “You dear.”
As Sandoron sat against the wall of the trench staring at his grandmother his grandfather scurried down from the other side with Bennett close behind. “So, what exactly did I miss? And is that a cannon?” the old gnome asked.