Esther’s story had reached the point where Jace blew the head off the Armadillion with a lightning bolt when the barbarian stopped her. Delly had her hands against the stone floor, attempting to find a comfortable way to sit in the cramped cell. “Someone is coming,” she said. “I can feel it.”
Esther stopped talking and instinctively hid in the shadows. “You can feel them?” she asked. “How many?”
Delly could no longer see her friend in the darkness and concentrated on the vibrations in the floor. “Ever since I absorbed Sonan’s power, I have a more intimate relationship with the ground,” she replied. “I feel the footsteps of one heavy individual.”
“A dwarf?” Esther asked, looking around the room for somewhere to hide.
“Bigger,” Delly said. “They are almost here. You need to be somewhere else.”
Esther knew she could hide in the middle of the dark room, and very few characters would have the skill to find her, but she glanced back at the entrance to this alcove and saw the bouncing shadows of an approaching light. She would be seen. In her desperate search of the cavern, she glanced up and saw a hollowed impression right next to the cell were a lump of ore must have been. It lacked a ledge for her to sit on, but she nimbly maneuvered herself into the cavity, pressed her arms and legs against the stone walls of the cramped space, holding herself steady. She wished she had used her last invisibility potion before climbing up into the ceiling, but now, with both hands supporting her, she couldn’t release one to drink it. Plus, the potion would count as an active spell, and a good Detect Magic casting might find her. As it was, she could only see into Delly’s cell and a few feet in front of it. She had no line of sight to the rest of the alcove, which meant any light from the hall also couldn’t see her, and she was in as complete darkness as she could find. With her legendary stealth skill, it would take an advanced player to see her.
{Esther!} Gracie cried into her ears, almost startling her enough to lose her grip on the wall. {If you are still by Delly’s cell, you need to get out of there. Ahbid is coming. He is a level 22 paladin and shouldn’t be taken for granted.}
Esther wished she could whisper a response, but now she heard the footsteps of the approaching knight and knew anything she said might be detected.
{Esther! Are you there? Can you talk?} Gracie paused, and the rogue hoped the smart operator would figure out her dilemma. {If you can’t talk, tap an earring once to let me know you are okay.}
Esther didn’t have a free hand, so she angled her shoulder up and bent her neck down to tap an ear.
{Are you still by Delly’s cell?} Gracie asked. {One tap for yes, two taps for no.}
Tap.
{Is someone else there?}
Tap.
{Can you get out of there safely?}
Tap tap.
{Are you hidden?}
Tap.
{Okay, good. Just stay hidden and don’t do anything foolish.}
Esther sighed and rolled her eyes. Why did everyone always assume she would do something foolish?
She stopped her train of thought when she sensed a mobile light enter the alcove, and the metallic footfalls grew louder. “Ah, I see you are still here,” a voice said. “Perhaps my fears were misplaced.”
Esther could still see Delly, and the woman retreated into her cell as much as possible, looking like a frightened puppy whom its master had mistreated. “Oh,” Ahbid said, stepping up to the bars and into Esther’s view, “don’t look like that. I thought you enjoyed our little talks. Either way, the situation demands we have another.”
Esther already hated this man. Jace had told them that Gracie’s family had a history with this player and that he was cruel, clever, and powerful. Their mission was not to kill him, but if he died, no tears would be shed. Ahbid wore full plate armor perfectly tailored to his body. It was neither clunky nor heavy and looked as comfortable as a three-piece suit. A medium shield rested on one hip while a mace hung from the other, secured to his outer leg so it didn’t bounce when he walked. His dark skin and beard made him look native to these desert lands. His facial features were hard to pick out as he had secured whatever light he had taken with him to a wall out of view, and with it behind him, his front was cast in shadow.
He also pulsed with magic, as every item he wore reeked of power.
There was something else about him that made Esther’s skin crawl, repulsing her on a level she had not experienced before. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it until Gracie spoke in her ear. {I can hear his voice,} she said. {I know you are powerful, and you might think you can take him, but don’t do it. He is an undead hunter, and while you are no longer officially undead, he will be immune to most of your powerful abilities.}
“I would have been down here sooner, but something happened in the mines above,” the knight said, unaware of the conversation happening only a few feet above him. “A fight broke out, leaving over a dozen kobolds and gnomes dead. The two sides are now refusing to work unless the others are punished. That has never happened before. I don’t believe in coincidences. This chaos occurred moments before Jace Thorne arrived in the city.”
Ahbid paused, hoping to get a reaction from Delly at the name, but Esther could tell she had been preparing herself for it and didn’t flinch. He continued. “You know who that is, right? I assume you’ve met before when he freed you from the Gilded Swan. He has found some way to communicate with you, hasn’t he? Have you seen Esther recently?” Ahbid looked casually around the room, peering into the shadows. He even glanced up, and his eyes passed over Esther’s location. Without a powerful spell, he would never see her, and he only looked around to try and get a reaction from Delly. She didn’t oblige.
“You will answer my questions, or there will be consequences.”
“I’ve never met Jace Thorne,” Delly finally said.
Ahbid smiled and raised his left hand, where he wore the maximum of four rings. One of them pulsed. “You forget, I can tell when you are lying. That is your last warning. Do it again, and there will be pain.”
“I’ve never really met him,” she corrected. “I saw him in the upper level of the Swan, but we didn’t talk.”
Ahbid nodded. “That was when he killed your mistress, right? That was when he got Esther, right?”
Delly nodded.
“How many of you were there?”
“Four,” Delly replied, seeing no harm in the answer.
“Ah,” he said, leaning back from the bars and gently stroking his chin in thought. “That’s right. And who were they?” He paused, allowing Delly to fill in the answer. She didn’t. “I, of course, never visited you. But I heard of your brothel. Quite popular in its time. What were the names of the other whores you worked with? Everyone only ever cared about Esther. It must have been hard to prostitute yourself like that and not get any recognition for it.” Other than the rubies on her choker flaring with magic, Delly didn’t succumb to the taunt.
“Let’s see,” Ahbid continued. “There was the ugly one. I believe she was an artist or something. And then, ah, yes, the mermaid. What was her name? Tamila? Tammy? Ah, yes, Tamar. Yes, I remember now. You were all named after promiscuous women in the Torah.”
Ahbid changed his posture and tone of voice. “Kahleem, search for anything you can find on Tamar.” He was obviously talking to his operator. He paused. “Yes, use Ginesh if you have to.” Pause. “I don’t care what it costs.” After a few more moments, his focus returned to Delly.
“Now, tell me what I want to know. Why are you here? Why did you try to attack Lord Vulder and his companions? What could you possibly hope to achieve? Why didn’t Vulder have you killed?”
Delly stared daggers back at him. “We’ve had this discussion before.”
“Yes,” he agreed, “and it was less than productive. Perhaps this time, we can have it without the whips and chains. Jace is here. I know he will come for you if he hasn’t already made contact. Your quest will be resolved in a matter of hours. Now is your only chance to ensure it succeeds. The others don’t want you. If it is a choice between you and Vulder’s other companions, they will happily discard you. I’m different. I know there is something special about you. If Jace Thorne wants you, I want to know why.”
Delly shook her head. “I have nothing to say to you. I can’t lie to you, but I don’t have to answer either. Go get Paltine if you really want to know. He can force me to do anything you want. I’ll tell you my whole life story while giving you a lap dance.” This caught the knight off-guard, and he leaned back slightly. Delly leaned in. “Oh, yes, I’ve seen your type before. The noble paladin who is above the carnal desires of the flesh. People like you are stoic on the outside, but get you in a private room, with the lights low, and you are into the kinkiest things.”
“Silence, wench!” he shouted. “If you want to treat your body like a consumable good, expect others to oblige you. Where I come from, women like you are worth less than rats. You should be flogged and then put on display in the public square so everyone knows what kind of filth you are. If you desire that fate, fine, I shall give it to you. If you desire something better, then talk.”
Esther’s muscles tensed. He stood only a few feet below her. She could attack from the shadows and, despite his high level, he wouldn’t have a chance. She could snap his neck in seconds. {Don’t do it,} Gracie said. {I hate him too—more than you can imagine. Don’t do it.}
Delly only stared at him, leaning even closer to the bars.
“There is no breakfast this morning,” Ahbid said, changing topics. “The fight in the mines destroyed most of the food. If you want to play this game, there won’t be any lunch either. I can’t imagine you are getting much sleep in this cell. How long can you last without food? How low can your . . .” His voice stopped when he noticed her full health for the first time.
The confused look on Ahbid’s face made Delly hesitate a moment, and in her weakened state, she didn’t have the reaction time to avoid the high-level paladin. The knight leaped toward the bars, his right arm shooting between them to grasp at her neck. His metal gauntlets cut into her flesh as he yanked her forward, smashing her face into the adamantium and her head into the low ceiling of the cell.
Gracie saw Esther barely pass a willpower save and knew something dramatic must be happening. {Don’t! Esther, whatever he is doing, don’t react! Trust me. You need to wait. He won’t kill her.}
Esther’s hands pressed hard against the side of the hollow, her strength almost turning the rock to powder, but she restrained herself, watching as the paladin tormented her friend. Delly’s health had been at full, but it wasn’t anymore as the powerful character squeezed his fist and slammed her body against the cell’s unyielding barriers.
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“Why are you at full health?” he screamed. “When was Esther here? Where is she now? Tell me!” He slammed her body repeatedly, and Esther was moments away from intervening when Ahbid’s head cocked unnaturally. He released the barbarian, tossing her back to the rear of the cell. She hit her head on the domed ceiling and collapsed in a heap, crying.
“What is that?” Ahbid asked no one, and Esther realized he was talking with his operator. He nodded a few times before returning to Delly, who struggled to push her body up from the ground, her health considerably lower than before. “It looks like pirates had captured Tamar. Reports are those pirates are dead, and their old stronghold is up for grabs. No one knows exactly what happened, but Jace and some of his crew were seen on the island. That was only a few hours ago. Again, I don’t believe in coincidences.”
Ahbid took a step closer to the bars. “If he has Tamar with him now, I will get her and bring her down here. Whores like you deserve 100 lashes. Would you like to watch as I cut her apart? As I filet her like a fish? How long will you hold out then? Or perhaps I should just throw her outside the city walls. How long do you think a mermaid will last in the desert sun?”
Delly got back to her feet, stooped under the low ceiling, and stood close to the bars again, daring him to strike out at her. “Do whatever you want to me. But don’t you dare touch my friends, or I will . . .”
“Or you will what?” Ahbid asked. Again, he was quicker, this time grabbing her clothing, nearly ripping the leather top from her body, and pulling her against the bars. “You don’t threaten me, barbarian slut. I have the power here. You can’t imagine the things I will . . .”
Esther failed the next saving throw, and Gracie didn’t blame her.
Ahbid was already in combat mode, so Esther didn’t get her Surprise Attack bonus, but she didn’t need it. With the shadow-scale armor Gromphy had made for her, Esther was one of the stealthiest characters in the game. Combined with her already game-breaking Grappling skill, the knight didn’t have a chance. Esther wrestled him to his knees in a second and had him Securly Grappled by the end of the first round of combat. As good a player as Ahbid was, he still made the mistake of struggling against the attack and was rendered Helpless.
She wanted to drain his life slowly but also understood that this foe wasn’t to be underestimated, so she went straight to break his neck.
[Coup de Grace Immunity.]
Esther wrenched his head around in a move that usually snapped her victims’ necks, but Ahbid only grunted and entered a Stunned condition. Esther swore and kept his neck bent at an awkward angle to find a small patch of exposed skin between the base of his helm and chest plate. Fearing this wouldn’t work, she leaned over and bit down hard anyway.
[Level Drain Immunity.]
Gracie had told Esther her vampire skills wouldn’t work on the undead hunter, but she was too used to her standard strategy to try something else. And while Ahbid wouldn’t give up his level energy to her, his neck still bled. She didn’t have the option to turn the blood into excess mana as she could with levels, but it still dropped the knight's health and tasted good.
Esther was in a blood lust and could barely hear Gracie and Delly screaming at her, so her first indication that Ahbid had not come down to the prison cells alone was when a bare heel struck her on the side of the head. The attack threw the rogue from her victim and slammed her into the side of the cavern. Ahbid slumped to the ground, still in a Stunned condition, and Esther ignored him for now as she looked at her new opponents. Two monks stood before her, female by their slight builds, but Esther couldn’t know for sure because they were covered from head to ankle in bright orange robes that swirled about their bodies like flames in a windstorm. Masks covered their faces, leaving only a narrow slit to see. Dark eye makeup further confirmed Esther’s gender assumption. One glance at their bare feet and light step let Esther know why Delly had only felt Ahbid’s approach.
{Whose there?} Gracie asked, registering the attack Esther had suffered.
“Monks,” Esther replied, drawing her blades and moving to the side away from the wall to give her more room.
{Ah,} Gracie said. {The twins. He still has them. Good luck. Whatever you do, don’t let them both touch you. Your Grappling is better than theirs, but they get to add their skill together if they touch you at the same time, and you aren’t strong enough to escape that.}
As the two female monks spread out, trying to flank their opponent, Esther knew she had to attack fast. In a few rounds, Ahbid would recover, and then she would be outmatched for sure. After feinting in one direction to get a monk on her heels, Esther jumped in the other, slashing both blades at the remaining opponent. The woman was fast, but not fast enough, and both Char and Chill struck home. However, neither did much damage as the magical blades became entwined in the monk’s flowing clothes. Esther felt fabric tearing and ripping, nearly wrenching Char from her hands, but she didn’t register any damage.
{Oh,} Gracie added. {They are nearly immune to slashing damage. You need to use blunt attacks.}
“Now you tell me,” she grumbled, rolling out of the way as the monk closest to her swung a kick over her head. Her twin sprinted in from the far side of the cavern, and Esther sheathed one of her weapons to grab the kicker’s other ankle and wrestle her to the ground. Gracie was right, and the rogue overpowered the smaller woman easily. Instead of trying to choke her or drain levels, Esther threw the monk toward her sister. The two women collided in the middle of the room, and Esther tossed one of her dragon fire gems at the pair.
Flames burned brightly in the small space, momentarily blinding Esther. She sprinted from her current position to regroup and blink the light from her eyes. A few seconds later, she could see again and regretted finding the two women standing side-by-side, relatively unharmed, with red lines of magic pulsing through their clothes.
“Protection from fire?” Esther asked herself but didn’t have time to answer as they attacked as one. Esther had to dodge again, swiping uselessly at the monk on her left, her blade once again cutting through the flapping fabric without hitting skin. This time, she came up out of her dodge with an acid spell prepared. A glob of bright green energy hit one of the twins, and she cried out in pain as her clothing disintegrated into burnt rags.
Esther raced toward the injured woman, rolling under the kicks and punches from her sister, and found that her blades now did damage to the partially clothed monk. She got criticals with both Char and Chill and, instead of using their Disarm or Dispel abilities, chose to let the elemental damage flow through them. The fire still wasn’t effective, but the cold brought more screams from the woman, and she fell back against the cavern wall, breathing hard. The other monk was all over Esther, not giving the rogue an opportunity to cast a spell. The black-clad women dove and dodged, slashing ineffectively at the healthy monk for two rounds before the attacker tried something desperate and attempted to put Esther in a chokehold. It didn’t work, and the stronger woman easily tossed her foe across the room.
With some distance between them again, Esther could waste part of a round to cast another acid attack.
“Look out!”
Delly’s cry was too late, and Esther was already Flat-Footed, casting her spell. The mace hit her square in the back, and now she was flying across the cavern. Several critical protections saved her from getting Stunned by the powerful attack, but she still hit the far wall hard and saw stars for half a round. Ahbid had recovered from his Stunned condition, and he angrily stalked toward the wounded vampire, blood streaming down his neck and staining his shiny armor.
Esther recovered quickly, hoping she was up to the task against this powerful fighter and completely forgot about the two much smaller women she had been tossing around the cavern. They came at her from either side. With her back against the wall and Ahbid straight ahead, Esther had nowhere to dodge. Instead, she lashed out with her weapons in both directions. The injured monk took another massive hit, dropping her health below 100, but she survived and Grappled the attacking arm. Esther’s other attack was less successful, and the twin on her right also secured her elbow.
Now, she was trapped. Esther was experienced enough with her own tactics not to struggle against the twins, feeling their combined strength was greater than hers, and her failure would result in a Helpless condition. She could only stand there with her arms outspread as Ahbid closed on her. His mace had a purple gem in the center that glowed so bright it hurt Esther’s eyes. As an undead hunter, his weapon likely did extra damage against vampires, and she was pretty sure she wouldn’t survive this attack.
“Any last words, bitch?” Ahbid asked as he closed the last few feet and prepared to crush her skull.
“Gracie, help?” she mumbled.
{Esther, no . . .} the operator said, but the damage was done.
Ahbid nearly tripped as he stopped his approach and halted his swing. “What did you say? Did you call out to Gracie? Gracie Walsh?”
Esther realized her mistake too late, and the look on her face told Ahbid everything he needed to know. “I’ll be damned,” he said, holstering his mace and reaching out to grab Esther by her slender neck. His truth ring pulsed against her skin. “Does Jace Thorne work for the CIA?” He lifted Esther’s feet off the ground, and the monks kept their grip on her arms. Her Guile nature was no match for this paladin’s magic, especially since she was a vampire.
“Yes,” she croaked. She didn’t know what the CIA was, but she had heard Jace say it before.
“And he works with Gracie and Conor Walsh?”
Esther nodded her head again, though she didn’t know their last name.
“And you can talk directly with Gracie even though Jace isn’t here?” Esther nodded again. “How?”
“My earrings.”
Ahbid leaned in close to the beautiful woman, pressing even harder against her neck until his face was against her right ear. “You have made a terrible mistake coming here, Gracie,” he whispered into the jewelry. “I told you to stay out of my business before. You didn’t listen. Now, you will pay the price.”
Ahbid waited for a moment, wondering if he would hear anything from the earrings. He didn’t.
“She says you’re going to die,” Esther reported, her voice half choked off. Ahbid relaxed his hold slightly. “She says Jace is ten times the player you are, and she will enjoy watching him kill you. Then she said a bunch of curse words that I don’t understand.”
Ahbid leaned back and laughed long and hard. “Yes, that is Gracie, alright. She hasn’t changed since . . .”
“What is the meaning of this?”
The voice was soft yet powerful. All eyes turned to see an albino man in tan robes walk into the cavern. “Paltine,” Ahbid responded quickly, releasing Esther and taking a knee before the powerful mage. “Forgive me. This woman was attempting to free the prisoner.”
The two monks also released Esther and kneeled before the newcomer. Esther knew the name “Paltine” from Delly’s story but didn’t fully understand its implications. With her freedom suddenly restored, she readied her weapons to stab the kneeling knight in the back. She never got the chance.
“Hold,” the mage said, reaching a hand out to stop the rogue. Esther froze in place, having never felt anything that powerful before. Paltine returned his attention to Ahbid. “This woman was trying to free Delilah Sorek?”
“Yes,” the knight said obediently, not looking up from the floor.
“I don’t think so,” the mage said. “She has no skill in picking locks and has no items capable of breaking through the bars. If she was sent down here to break Delilah out, then her master is a fool. By all accounts, Jace Thorne is no fool.” He paused until Ahbid finally looked up at him. “Do you agree?”
“Yes,” Ahbid admitted. “You are right. Jace Thorne is planning something I have not yet discerned.”
Paltine turned to Esther. “Sheath your weapons,” he commanded. She obeyed. “Why are you here?”
“To learn Delly’s backstory,” Esther replied without hesitation.
“And have you?”
Esther nodded. “Yes.”
Beside her, Ahbid cursed. Esther smiled. The paladin still didn’t know what was going on.
“And you have communicated this information to your leader?” Paltine asked.
“Yes, I have,” Esther replied.
“She has earrings that allow her to . . .” Ahbid started.
Paltine cut him off. “I can sense every magical item this woman has. I know her capabilities. She could kill you in a moment if I let her.”
Ahbid wisely kept his mouth shut after this.
Paltine turned back to Esther. “What is Jace Thorne going to do now? Why is he here? What is his plan?”
Esther shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Why not?”
Esther shrugged again. “He doesn’t tell me things, so people like you won’t find out. He is smarter than you are, and he will win.”
Beside her, Ahbid cursed under his breath again and waited for the retribution to fall on Esther. It never came. Paltine only laughed. His spell compelled her to tell the whole truth, and she had been forced to say what she believed. He couldn’t punish her for that.
“Good,” the mage said and looked down at Ahbid. “Perhaps one day, your companions will learn loyalty like this. Though, I doubt it.” He laughed again. “Now it is finally time to sort all this out. I have come down here to fetch Delilah.” He waved a hand toward the prison cell, and the adamantium bars swung open. The barbarian knew better than to attempt an escape given the circumstances and wisely kept the fact that she was fully armed a secret.
Paltine looked back toward the monks. “Secure the prisoner and follow me. All this ends today.” He turned and walked out of the room, with Esther obediently following in toe.
Ahbid rose to his feet, retrieved his magical torch from the wall mount, and helped his companions maneuver the tall barbarian out of the cell. The injured monk took a round to heal herself, and another spell restored her magical clothing. Soon, she was able to take the burden of escorting Delly with her twin, and the group hurried after the mage. Paltine and Esther were almost to the ledge encircling the dwarves’ conical mine when Ahbid’s crew caught up with them.
“If we are to end this,” he asked. “Will we need Sonan as well?”
Paltine paused and looked down at the strong man trudging in an endless circle far below. Delly managed to peer over the narrow ledge as well. She had been unconscious when she had been brought to her cell, so this was the first time she had seen Sonan since she had stolen his power. Tears welled in her eyes at the fate she had sentenced him to. The Albino mage waited several heartbeats before turning to the knight. “The city still needs water. Let him turn his wheel. Our business does not concern him.”
Ahbid was shocked by that and didn’t ask any further questions as the powerful mage navigated the group to a private travel node that would take them to the top of the city where Lord Vulder waited.