The potion smashed on the wooden floors, the noise surprising the nearby guards. The ensuing cloud of gray smoke enveloped the two guards, and they fell to the ground. From inside the study, Aurelia could hear surprised exclamations.
“What was that?” a familiar voice said. It was the voice of whoever commanded the other guard to investigate the outside commotion before giving a report back.
“The smoke is spreading out! Stand back, your grace!” another voice cried out.
Aurelia saw that the smoke was indeed spreading, and she realized she may have made a mistake. The smoke was a convenient solution to taking the guards out of commission, but in this situation, she had also cut herself off from getting into the room. Remembering when Admium had given her the vials, he had warned her against getting too close herself. She didn’t have a way to protect herself from the smoke, which she had learned when getting knocked out by the alchemist the day before.
She stood in the hallway, unsure of what to do next so she decided to wait a minute or two for the smoke to enter the study. Hopefully, it would incapacitate the other guards in the study as well. Aurelia knew that the smoke might interact with the Gray boys, but thankfully Admium had given her a cure to the smoke as well. Aurelia waited in the hallway until she heard a scream from below, which caused her to panic. Samantha! Aurelia turned on one heel and rushed towards the sound of the screaming girl. She berated herself for leaving Samantha all alone, but it was too late now. She ensured her invisibility was still obscuring her from sight, but she wasn’t exactly quiet as she jumped down a flight of stairs and to the main floor.
Aurelia turned towards the sitting room to find a tall man in black armor holding Samantha with one arm, the other pointing a dagger to Samantha’s throat. She froze in horror, looking on as a bead of blood began to run down Samantha’s neck. Captain Northwood gazed in her direction with an angry look on his face.
“I know you are there, whoever you are,” the captain said.
Aurelia didn’t say anything, just looking back at the two of them. After another second of silence, the captain sneered before saying, “If you don’t show yourself, I’ll just kill the girl. Her relevance is only one of convenience.”
Aurelia’s heart pounded in her chest at the words, but she had no desire to see the other girl murdered, so she let her invisibility fall. Samatha looked panicked as Aurelia revealed herself, and Aurelia worried she had made the right decision.
Captain Northwood sneered at Aurelia, “Not a professional then, to fall for that.” Without another word, he took the knife away from Samatha’s throat before punching the girl in the back of the head. Samantha fell to the ground, her body lifeless.
“Samantha!” Aurelia cried out in shock.
The captain walked forward, stepping over the girl’s body. He sheathed his dagger before saying, “Now, who have we here?”
Aurelia stepped away from the man but flinched when she ran into a solid form behind her. Peaking over her shoulder, she saw another of the guards standing behind her, a sword out and ready for a fight.
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Corbin was ashamed to say he gave a shout of surprise when something crashed outside the study. He turned just in time to see a cloud of smoke spreading out around the guards before the two dropped to the floor. The duke and the remaining guard looked over to see the smoke making its way into the study. As the guard motioned for the duke to stand back from the smoke, Corbin decided now was as good of a time as any to make his escape. It seemed that someone out there was in the business of taking out the duke’s guards, and he wouldn’t say no to getting that help.
Corbin shuffled away from the doorway, making motions like he was scared of the smoke. He stopped moving when he was positioned near his brother Sabin. He reached backward to grab the lockpick out of his boot. For some reason, no one had even thoroughly searched Corbin for extra tools or weapons. They had taken the belt holding his two daggers and a coin pouch, but Corbin still had two boot daggers and at least three lockpicks hidden on his person. As the smoke slowly spread into the room, Corbin took the time to unshackle the chains on his wrists and ankles.
A scream from downstairs caused Corbin to falter slightly. He knew that scream just as well as his own. His sister was in danger. Across the room, the duke yelled at his guard to stand back as he used a skill. Duke Gladys had both the noble class and the air mage class. Corbin watched as the duke grabbed a golden wand at his side and pointed it at the billowing smoke. With one spell, a blast of wind shot towards the smoke cloud, dispersing it away from the doorway. The duke ordered his guard to check for any hostiles outside the study, just as the last of Corbin’s locks clicked open.
As the guard peered into the hallway, Corbin began working on his brother’s chains behind his back. He had no idea what was going on, but he needed to work quickly if they were to take advantage of the opportunity. As the guard issued an all-clear, Corbin heard the sound of yelling from below.
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From her time in the dungeon, Aurelia had learned that she couldn’t hesitate when danger was near. The now-healed bites and scratches she had received could attest to that. The only difference now was that she wasn’t facing mindless monsters, instead, she faced two men who grew up in a world of fighting and killing. And Aurelia knew they both had killed people before. That fact alone made her shudder.
Aurelia wore her blue cloak around her shoulders, the hood down so she could see clearly. As the prospective rescue had progressed, Aurelia kept her wand in one hand the entire time. Now presented with a clear danger, she gripped that wand firmly under the cloak. The guard behind her was poised to strike with a sword raised above her head, but the captain motioned for the guard to stand down.
“The girl is mine, Neran. Stand back,” Captain Northwood said.
As the guard took several steps back, Aurelia readied herself to let loose a spell. Reminding herself that if she didn’t fight back, she might not leave this home alive. So, with that in mind, she pointed her wand at the captain and sent a lightning chain to his chest.
The next several seconds happened so quickly that Aurelia acted only on instinct. As the captain was blasted backward, the guard behind her yelled in outrage. Aurelia knew the captain was still alive, but she turned around to face the other threat. She raised her wand and sent a mana bolt directly into the guard’s chest. With the increased skill levels and the extra boost the wand gave her spells, the mana bolt was enough to kill the guard instantly.
When Aurelia turned back to face the captain, she found a dagger racing towards her face. She let out a shriek of fear as the dagger impacted her mana shield and fell to the floor. Captain Northwood finished getting to his feet and pulled his sword from his belt. As Aurelia readied to send another spell towards the captain, a shout from the top of the stairs distracted her. She looked to see another guard ready with a crossbow aimed at her head. She yelled in surprise and crouched low to the ground, missing the bolt by inches.
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As the guard from above readied another crossbow, Captain Northwood rushed forward at Aurelia, his sword posed to strike down. Prepared to take the first blow on her shield, she let loose a mana blast at the captain. This time, the magical skill didn’t make contact like the lightning chain had. She watched as the mana blast dissipated on the captain’s raised bracer. The sword came down on Aurelia as she finally stood up, the blade bouncing off her shield.
Captain Northwood cursed at her angrily as Aurelia tried sending a spatial slash at the captain. This time, the gauntlet wasn’t enough to stop the spell. Instead, the spatial magic went right through the gauntlet, as well as the captain’s forearm. Aurelia watched in horror as the hand fell to the ground, and Captain Northwood screamed in pain. As Aurelia pedaled backward, another crossbow bolt impacted her shield, this time finally dissipating the magic.
The spatial mage lifted her wand upwards and let loose a mana bolt at the offending guard. The man dodged to the side, missing the spell aimed at his chest. Aurelia sent another spell at the guard, this time getting him in the leg. The guard screamed in pain, clearly still alive, and Aurelia readied another spell. A shout from beside her made her jump, and the mana bolt meant for the guard’s chest flew to the side and into a wall.
The captain was still coming for her. The stump where his hand used to be was not stopping him from continuing the fight. Aurelia turned her wand to the captain but wasn’t fast enough, as the older man used one of his skills to close the distance between him and her in a split second. The only thing that saved her from being skewered was the arrow that impacted the captain in his neck. The arrow had come from behind Aurelia, so she couldn’t see who had taken the shot. Captain Northwood jerked back from the arrow's force but kept his sword firmly in one hand. Aurelia took the chance to blast the captain back with a close-range blast and watched as he flew backward into a wall. This time, the captain did not stand back up again. Aurelia heard the sound of whistling air, and heard the thump as the other guard fell to the ground. She looked over to see the downed guard and then, behind her, saw who had shot both arrows.
Justin gave Aurelia a grim smile, “I couldn’t let you do this alone, knowing that the captain had gone back inside.”
Aurelia rushed forward, attacking Justin with a crushing hug, “Thanks.”
Justin gave her a few pats before saying, “Don’t we still have to save Corbin?”
Aurelia jumped back, “Samantha!”
She turned back around and entered the sitting room, racing to Samantha’s prone body. Aurelia looked the girl over, using her identify skill.
Name: Samantha
Age: 24
Race: Human
Rank: Lord
Class: 2/2
Main Class: Noble
Level: 15
Secondary Class: Mage
Level: 4
Health: 120/300
Mana: 700/700
Stamina: 200/200
“Oh, thank goodness,” Aurelia said, “she’s still alive.”
Aurelia took a health potion from her inventory and poured some of it into the girl’s mouth. Justin came over, standing above Aurelia.
“What happened to Samantha?” he asked.
“The captain knocked her out, but thankfully, he didn’t do anything worse,” she replied. “We might have to carry her, I don’t know how long it will take to wake her back up.”
“Okay, move out of the way, I’ll-” Justin stopped as a loud voice interrupted him.
“What is the meaning of this?” an outraged voice behind them cried out, “I’ll kill you for this!”
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As the final guard rushed out of the study to see what was happening, the Gray brothers were left alone with the duke. Duke Gladys looked like he had been given a sour lemon and seemed ready to burn the world around him. Corbin continued to work at Sabin’s chains as the duke seemed distracted by the fight downstairs.
“This is unbelievable. Are they all incompetent?” the duke muttered to himself. Duke Gladys seemed to be ignoring Corbin at this point as he leaned over the desk, his back to the young man.
When the sounds of yelling and crashing noises died down, the duke turned his gaze to the door. “Do I have to do everything myself?” the duke said before storming out of the room.
Corbin couldn’t believe his luck and redoubled his efforts to free Sabin. His brother had his eyes completely open now, sitting up as the last lock clicked open. “What is going on?” Sabin asked his brother.
“I have no idea, but whatever it is, it has given me the chance I need to unlock our chains,” Corbin replied as he began to open Robin’s chains. Now that he didn’t need to try and obscure his actions, he could finish the job in record time.
Robin was still out of it, so Corbin urged Sabin to pick up their brother. “You’re much stronger than I am, so we can get out of here quicker if you carry him.”
Sabin didn’t even argue, merely throwing Robin over one shoulder, “Should we go downstairs?”
Corbin clenched his jaw, “We have to. Samatha is down there, and we can’t leave her behind.”
Corbin rushed over to his father’s desk, claiming his belt back. It had been left there along with both Robin’s sword and Sabin’s wand. He took both of his brother’s items, wanting to allow Sabin to keep his hands free. They rushed out of the study and down the hall, in time to hear the duke yelling at whomever was downstairs. From the sounds the duke made, his guards hadn’t been on the winning side.
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Aurelia watched as spit flew out of the duke’s mouth with every raging word he spoke. The noble was older and a bit robust, his red and gold clothing splattered with dark blood. Aurelia clenched her fists in anger at the sight, hoping Corbin was still alive. She rose to her feet, leaving Samantha on the ground.
The duke had a golden wand in one hand, indicating he used magic. Aurelia took a second to reapply her mana shield, then prepared to aim a spell at the awful excuse of a human being. Justin stood by her, an arrow knocked on his bow.
“I don’t know who you are, but you will pay for what you have done,” the duke said and raised his wand towards Aurelia and Justin.
Before he released the spell, the sound of shouting voices from outside caused him to pause. Aurelia couldn’t help but look outside through the sitting room window and spotted dozens of guards racing towards the house. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized it was more of the duke's men. It seemed more of them had arrived in town, and the rebellion’s people hadn’t been enough to stop them all. In a few more minutes, the mansion would be surrounded by hostile guards.
The duke smiled, “It seems you have nowhere to go.” He turned back to Justin and Aurelia and said, “Goodbye.”
And before the duke could send a spell their way, a whistling noise preceded a thump, and the duke fell to the ground. Aurelia’s mouth fell open as the open doorway showed Corbin still posed in a throwing position. She looked down to see a knife embedded in the duke’s spine, right at his neck. Aurelia could tell the duke was still alive, but he was down for now.
“Tell me you have an escape plan?” Corbin asked Aurelia.
Shaking herself out of her stupor, Aurelia nodded, “Yes, I do have a way out.” She motioned for Corbin and a second man, whom Aurelia assumed to be Corbin’s other brother, to come closer. “We need to be in close proximity to each other, so please hurry. The other guards will be here soon.”
Justin picked Samantha up in his arms, and the Gray siblings crowded around Aurelia. She pulled a faceted crystal out of her inventory, and Sabin gasped in surprise, “Is that what I think it is?”
“Yes, it is,” Corbin said, “We can talk about it later.”
Aurelia ignored the two and concentrated on the crystal, “Okay, now everyone needs to grab ahold of me.”
With a crash, two guards barged their way into the front entryway of the home. The group jumped in surprise and rushed into position. Sabin, Corbin, and Justin each placed a hand on her arm or shoulder, and with a flash of light, the group disappeared.