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Helen rushed up the steep incline, her breathing heavy as she carried her spear and shield. She barely had time to get her gear on when the first explosion rang out. It was only after the sound of thunder that she was on her way.
Even after only ten minutes passing, Helen was halfway up the mountain. She silently thanked the endurance training she had put herself through these past months. If it weren’t for that, she doubted she’d get this far this fast.
‘Got to get there, now! Who knows what happened!’
Helen hoped to all the gods that the explosion was just a result of the cursed artifact combusting randomly. Or maybe—hopefully—Malik had finally gotten himself smited by a pissed-off deity. She was hoping for that especially.
‘Or maybe… Maybe he took the artifact himself?’
Helen shook her head. That was the absolute worst case scenario. A necromancer of his level with something so powerful? Fuck that. Helen had no desire to deal with such a scenario. Then again, it was her job. Her duty. Also, there were guards posted up there. The last thing she wanted was for them to get hurt, or worse, die.
“Can’t let anything happen to them!” Helen panted as she climbed the mountain path, her legs and chest burning with exertion.
It wasn’t long before Helen finally reached the path’s end, the view of the island—and even Yorktown—clear from this vantage point. She didn’t focus on the view though. The veteran instead shifted her gaze to the entrance that was carved into the mountain.
Smoke billowed from the narrow passageway, forming a pillar of gray that reached high into the heavens. Helen could spot no one nearby, signifying to her that the guards had either run off or went into the cave. She hoped they weren’t stupid enough to rush in but she knew better.
Helen had trained these men to never abandon their posts unless it was absolutely necessary. Even though this situation called for them to leave, she knew that these were young naive men that were probably stupid enough to not recognize it as such.
“Bloom!” Helen shouted the code word into the cave, hoping to get some sort of response. None came however. She grew increasingly worried.
“Bloom, dammit!” she called out as she approached the entrance, her spear and shield raised.
A silhouette suddenly appeared in the dim passageway, the figure physically hunched as it approached the entrance.
“Horcus! Hor–cough–Horcus!”
It was one of the guards, his arm raised to cover his mouth and nose as he stumbled out into the open. Helen lowered her spear as she moved to drag him away.
“Where’s your partner?” she asked.
“He–cough–went to get help!” the guard managed. “While I… While I went in to help Malik!”
Helen frowned. She didn’t encounter the other guard on her way up here. Then again, it was possible she missed him when she took that shortcut earlier.
“What happened?” Helen asked. “Where’s Malik?”
“We… We were ambushed by—”
Helen felt the world around her stop at that moment. She didn’t even have time to hear what the guard was saying. Instead, her focus went to the sense of danger that was emanating from the passageway. Without thinking, Helen tackled the guard to the ground.
“Arcane Lance!!”
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A lance of purple energy flew from the passageway, its trajectory flying out into the open air before it exploded into a purple shower of sparks past the cliff’s edge.
Helen recognized the voice to be Malik’s, which at first made her believe the necromancer to be behind the breach. Before she could even consider defending herself for another incoming lance, however, something emerged from the entrance.
It was someone else entirely, a young woman, Helen recognized. Her cloak was swept over the right shoulder, revealing her clothes—which were clearly kasani in origin—and the forearm-length dagger she held.
The long knife was a kasani blade, its straight edge polished to a near mirror-like reflection. The woman’s clothes looked to be nothing out of the ordinary, until Helen noticed the silver runes that were stitched into the seams of her tunic, boots, and even her cloak. It was hard to notice but once she saw them, it all made sense.
This woman was a Kasani assassin. She fit the description almost perfectly. Helen tried to remember the name Tahir had given them the last time she conversed with him.
‘Shinobi.’
“Night Spray!” Malik’s voice boomed with power, his callout followed by a flurry of purple orbs. They all rushed the shinobi, who quickly dodged it all with speed that surprised Helen. She moved with the gracefulness of a dancer while keeping up with the Night Spray casting.
Malik soon made his appearance, the necromancer rushing out with a small dagger as he tried to stab at the stranger.
“Wait!” Helen shouted a warning as she stood up, her spear and shield raising as she rushed ahead. She caught both of the fighters off-guard, allowing Malik’s Night Spray to finally hit its target.
Multiple fireflies made contact with the shinobi woman, their magical flames setting her aflame as she tried to dodge them all. At the same time, Helen watched as Malik attempted a stab, his dagger aiming for the young woman’s throat.
Just as the sharp tip was about to make contact, the intruder disappeared. Vanished. Blinked out of existence. Helen stared dumbfounded at the sudden change, her feet stopping her advance. She watched as Malik was hit with his own fireflies, his robes set aflame.
“Shit! Freezing Winds!” Malik quickly cast a spell, his surroundings being engulfed in a miniature cyclone of snowy winds. It only lasted a second, but it was enough to put out the flames and nearly freeze Helen’s toes off.
The veteran stopped in place after the sudden change of events, her gaze moving around to search for the intruder.
“What…?”
Right behind her was the panting form of the shinobi, her only eye wide in shock and her left hand on her heaving chest. She looked shakened, her expression more of fear rather than surprise.
“I… I was hoping not to use that,” the young stranger muttered, her free hand clutching the left side of her head. She quickly straightened herself, her head shaking as if to will away a migraine. As she did so, Helen recognized the small cylindrical glass tube that was tucked into her satchel. She had stolen the artifact.
Helen also got a better view of the perpetrator now that her hood was down. It was a young woman, with short auburn hair that swayed in the breeze. Nearly a third of her head and face was wrapped in white bandages, covering her left eye and upper cheek.
“Wait, I know you,” Helen muttered. This was the same girl she bumped into back in Yorktown. It seemed like her instincts were right to be suspicious of her.
“Yeah, I was hoping this would go over quietly,” the young woman said. She patted down her clothes, almost like she was making sure she still wasn’t on fire. “But you guys made this much harder than it had to be.”
Helen raised her shield, her spear wavering a bit as she contemplated on what to do. Should she negotiate? Attack? She wasn’t sure what the right course would be.
“Why are you here?” was the most obvious question. It had left her lips before she even decided on what to do.
“I’m here to correct some wrongs,” the shinobi answered. “And unfortunately, it seems like your Jarl has done a lot of wrongs.”
Helen was about to refute this, but quickly stopped herself. It would be difficult to even to begin defending her position, especially when she was standing next to a fucking necromancer and fighting for the protection of a demonic artifact that was bound to be worthy of a holy smite.
“Well, it’s a long story,” Helen muttered.
“I’m sure it is,” the young woman sighed. “But unfortunately, I’ve heard more than enough of my fair share of necessary evils. Especially from other Outlanders.”
“So I guess there’s no way to talk this out?” Helen asked. She already knew the answer for that question, but it was more or less time until more reinforcements came. Every second counted after all.
“No,” the shinobi said simply, her knife rising. “I’ll do my best not to kill you. No promises.”
With that, the kasani assassin rushed the veteran and necromancer, her speed more than enough to catch both off guard.