"Could you do your trick with that crystal?" whispered Chanterelle.
"Maybe. But how do we deal with the second without drawing the rest of them down on us?" said Terran. "One shout and we're done for."
Chanterelle held out the powder.
"But we need that for the Trio," said Terran.
"We have to get in the tower first. Do you have another idea?" she asked.
He blinked before nodding. "We might be able to get to my gear first, and the rest of the powder's in there." He glanced to the Barghest. "Can you get near them without being seen?"
Chanterelle winked. "Once you charm the first, I'll take out the other with the powder."
Terran checked back to the courtyard, and when he turned back, Chanterelle was gone. He didn't see her in the shadows near the tower door, but knew she'd be ready when he acted.
He held the rose crystal in his fist, waking a vibration in it with a perfect note. The two Barghests furrowed their brows in his direction, the wider one taking a step forward as a shape darted in behind him, blowing the hibernating powder in his face. The enormous Barghest clattered to the ground as Terran cast his spell on the other.
A Barghest guard has resisted Silky Suggestion!
The ochre-skinned mercenary in full plate shook his head as if he were waking from a bad dream, grunting in his direction. Afraid that he'd sound the alarm, Terran sprinted forward with Luna at his side. The Barghest went for his broadsword. As the blade slid out of its sheath, Terran threw himself at his hands, but the guard bashed him across the face with the hilt, sending him spinning onto the cobblestones.
Luna grabbed the Barghest's leg, while Chanterelle appeared out of the darkness, twin blades appearing out of her shadowy cloud from seemingly impossible directions. The Barghest's long weapon had difficulty parrying the quick blades of the elf, but his armor prevented serious damage.
Terran checked back to the courtyard. Their intrusion hadn't been detected, but he knew the longer the fight went on the more likely they'd be caught. Since most of his abilities were frighteningly loud, and he had no weapon, he was currently ineffective.
Wiping the blood off his forehead with the back of his hand, Terran dodged the Barghest's head-hunting sword blow and threw his arms around the massive plate-covered barrel chest of his enemy. Once he'd dug his hands into the gap between the breast and backing plate, he found the straps that connected them together, triggering his Stone Touch spell.
The Barghest grabbed him by the head, easily tossing Terran away, but the damage was already done. The weight of the plate armor snapped the now-stone straps, shearing away the plates, leaving his back unprotected. Chanterelle made quick work of the Barghest, the second blow taking him under the ribs.
When the battle was over, the three of them spun around. Terran expected to see a wave of warriors rushing them, as the clattering plate armor had been loud. But as they looked across the courtyard, to the front of the fortress where Crag Trolls loaded wagons, he knew their battle gone undetected.
"Let's drag this body into the tower," said Terran.
"What about the other one?" asked Chanterelle, gesturing towards the snoring Barghest with her blade.
As much as he didn't want to kill a sleeping creature, he knew the Barghest would do the same to him. Terran gave her a nod, and she straddled his chest, making two quick slashes across his neck.
Together, they moved the bodies into the tower, hoping no one would notice the missing guards.
Terran led them up the stairs. They stopped at each door, listening, then flinging it open, hoping to catch one of the Trio alone, but each one was empty. He wondered if they were even in the tower, when he heard humming from the top level.
They burst onto the fifth floor to find Roald sitting with his boots on a stool, munching on a leg of dark meat.
He reacted faster than Terran thought possible, kicking into a backflip, landing on the table with twin swords in a defensive posture before Chanterelle could reach him. She skidded to a stop because of his position on the table, while Luna moved to her left to keep him cornered, growling low.
"I would really appreciate it if you stopped showing up like this," said Roald, eyeing Chanterelle warily while waving his weapons toward Luna. "You're surprisingly resilient for someone who doesn't even know what's really going on."
"I'm starting to get the picture," said Terran.
Roald gestured towards Chanterelle. "You must not if you gave her that weapon. Can't say I wasn't tempted, given its power, but...my benefactor and the Shadowbane don't quite see eye to eye."
"Maybe you could enlighten me," said Terran.
Roald relaxed momentarily as if he were going to explain, before throwing himself at Chanterelle, blades whirling so fast it looked like there were twenty weapons between them. But she met his advance, parrying each blow in a blur of her own, then kicking him straight in the chest, knocking him into the table as shadows billowed from her form.
The assassin grunted and lunged to the right, which was blocked by a snarling Luna, before dodging around Chanterelle, right as Terran threw a pewter mug into his face. The heavy drinking apparatus hit him smack in the forehead, knocking him off his feet and onto his back. Before he could return to his feet, Luna leapt onto his chest, and Chanterelle put a blade to his neck.
"Go ahead," said Roald. "I'll come right back, but with our army."
Chanterelle leaned down like she was going to say something, but lifted her hand and blew hibernating powder into his face. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he was snoring within seconds.
"One down, two to go," said Terran. He went straight for the chest under the table, freed the key from beneath it, and after opening it, found his gear stashed within. His stomach dropped when he didn't see the Sonic Staff, but Chanterelle cleared her throat, and he found she had rescued the weapon from the corner.
"Thanks," he said. "I guess we'll have to wait for them to return. Maybe we can ambush them."
"Is it really an ambush if they bring an army?" asked Luna with her paws on the window, looking into the fortress.
Selune and Kratow strode across the cluttered courtyard in long, deliberate strides. The big warrior already had his claymore in his fist. Behind them, Crag Trolls, Barghests, and Centaurs followed, carrying torches and weapons, leaving little doubt about what was going to happen.
"Is there another way out of here?" asked Chanterelle.
"Not unless you can fly," said Terran with a sigh. "Let's go down. At the very least we can get them to kill us."
"Wonderful," said Luna, falling in behind him after he threw a dozing Roald on his shoulder.
On the way down, Terran triggered the signet ring.
"Huzzah," said Lord Ostric. "You've captured the Trio. Are we returning to the settlement for the victory party?"
Terran gave him the disappointing news before shifting to a question. "Any chance you can return to the Mother Tree and warn them that we failed?"
"No, Lord Terran. I'm bound to the ring," said Lord Ostric, his mustache drooping with disappointment.
Terran nodded, reaching to return the ghost to his home, but the centaur stopped him. "Let me at least see this final battle."
Outside the tower, in the corner of the courtyard, Terran set Roald onto the ground as the other two-thirds of the Trio and their army stopped. They were clustered by the supply wagons. Selune held her hand up before stepping forward.
"Did you think we wouldn't find you again? You should have escaped while you could. There are more painful ways to keep you from escaping, but I wanted to be the better person and let you sit in a jail cell in peace," said Selune with her hands behind her back.
She wore light blue robes and her coif of golden hair stood out amongst the heavily armored mercenaries, but there was no question who they reported to, as they glowered behind her, gripping their weapons in expectation of battle, waiting for the signal to be given.
Lord Ostric's ghost poun
ded his fist into his other hand. "I wish I was here and alive with my warhammer. We'd make this a good fight."
Terran smiled at his comment and opened his mouth for a remark when he realized that a group of Crag Trolls with flickering torches stood right next to the wagon full of oil. Through his telepathic link, Terran told Luna, "Get ready."
He took a step forward as if he were going to beg for mercy, opening his hands, palms out. But it wasn't to ask a question, but to get close enough he could use his Sonic Disruption spell. When he opened his mouth, Selune tilted her head as if she'd figured out what he was about to do. She yelled to her Crag Trolls, the moment the displacement from the spell hit the wagon. The staves on two barrels cleanly split, sending out a spray of oil that splashed across the torch-bearing Crag Trolls, igniting the combustible liquid, turning the air into a fiery conflagration. The explosion knocked everyone off their feet, killing a half-dozen Crag Trolls and leaving a wall of black smoke between Selune and Kratow, and the rest of their army.
"Is this what we're doing?" asked Chanterelle, her face contorted with indecision.
"It's our one chance to save the settlement," said Terran. "If we can knock them out, maybe we can force the others to negotiate."
The anguish that broke across her gaze left him frightened for her. When she pulled out the Nightblade he knew what she'd decided, and he reached towards her, but it was too late, as her body flexed with power. Chanterelle looked back at him with red, baleful eyes, and said, "Make this worth it."
A group of armored Barghests had broken through the flames and were headed towards them in an accelerating jog. As they crossed the space, Chanterelle leapt towards them, her arms expanding until she was no longer a Rock Leaf Elf, but a winged creature of smoke and shadow. Her impact scattered the Barghests, but she kept up her relentless assault.
When Kratow leapt towards Chanterelle's unprotected back with his claymore, Luna rammed him with her head, knocking his blow off course. The brutal warrior lashed towards the lynx with his weapon, but she scampered away, her butt low to the ground, forcing him to chase awkwardly after her with curses on his tongue.
While these other fights unfolded, Selune brought her arms high, and the air was filled with a cloud of insects. The thought of being stung thousands of times gave Terran the shudders. Before she could unleash her swarm, he lifted his staff before his lips and blasted them with a Vocal Slam. The percussive impact exploded the tiny insects and knocked her back a few paces.
He was feeling good about himself until she tilted her head, just so, in a way that was reminiscent of Tabitha. The way she squinted at him suggested that she was figuring out who he was too.
Before they could lose their advantage, Terran sang out a second Vocal Slam, but his voice cracked and he missed his pitch by half a note. The spell barely ruffled her light blue robes and blonde hair.
"Star Killer," she said with derision bordering on laughter as she extended her arm out. "It's you. I should have known. You were always there like a little lost puppy. When you sang that awful, trite song to me, it made me want to puke."
The horror of that moment, and the ridicule that followed, constricted around his chest until he couldn't breathe. Instead of attacking, Selune bent over with laughter. Terran attempted his spell again, but his asthmatic efforts only doubled her mirth.
"What a twit. I can't believe we let you outsmart us at that stupid tree. Of all people, Star Killer."
The battle raged in the courtyard.
Chanterelle, in her shadowy dragon form, harried the Barghests, keeping them twisting and turning as she slashed them with talons of darkness, but her advantage was waning. The Crimson Brigade was rallying behind their captain, along with the Crag Trolls who had avoided the exploding wagon. Behind them, the Steel Hooves gathered behind Captain Nodran, but by the time they reached the battle it would be over. Even Luna wasn't faring well, as she barely kept ahead of a murderous Kratow, cracking stone with his claymore.
Selune's grin split across her face, a wound of hate, turning her beauty into a villainous caricature. She opened her palm towards the courtyard as if to say: Look at all this. See how you're about to lose.
His arm, which had held his staff before his lips, drifted down as will evaporated from his limbs.
Selune crossed the gap, her hands waving casually as she summoned an invisible fist, which clamped around his chest, pinning his arms down. The Sonic Staff clattered to the cobblestones.
He was speared by her laughter, hoisted by his shame.
"Star Killer," she said mockingly. "You're nothing to me."
As she stared him down with her cold eyes, something shifted inside of him. The pain they had caused him, rather than freezing his limbs, lit a fire in his gut, an ember finally catching flame.
"What, now you're going to get all defiant? It's too late, you lost," said Selune. "Look at the courtyard. Your girlfriend's about to die, and so is your pet cat."
Before he could say anything, she squeezed her fist, which collapsed the invisible hand around him until he couldn't breathe.
"And unlike you, Star Killer, I'm not going to give you another chance," she said.
While the invisible hand had clamped around his chest like a vise, giving him almost no room, he shifted to the side enough that he could suck in a small breath. Not a lot, but Jondar had taught him that he wouldn't always be singing in the most ideal conditions.
He didn't have his staff, but he had his voice. If he hit the note just right, he might be able to disrupt her enough to get free.
Before she could immobilize him further, Terran sang-shouted in her face, focusing his will into a potent Sonic Disruption.
"Star Killer!"
The blast snapped her head back, releasing the spell. His ribs ached, one of them might have even been dislocated, but it didn't stop him from scooping up his staff, and before she could attempt another spell, he swung the petrified wood at her head, catching her right in the temple. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she collapsed as if her strings had been cut.
Terran looked up as the shadowy winged Chanterelle flowed back towards him in retreat as the Steel Hooves came rushing towards the fray. He thought they were set on ramming her, until he realized the centaur Aeresteel was at the front, not Captain Nodran.
Rather than pursue Chanterelle, the Steel Hooves crashed into the backs of the Barghests and Crag Trolls. They hit hard, knocking them down, but then continued to Terran's location.
Aeresteel came up to him with a grin on her face. "The Steel Hooves pledge themselves to you, Lord Terran."
The reversal of fortune brought energy to his limbs, but he knew that they needed to escape the fortress with the Trio or everything would be for naught.
A reformed Chanterelle appeared at his side as the Crag Trolls and Barghests regrouped behind Kratow, who looked ready to stage an assault.
"You're hurt," said Terran as blood dripped from Chanterelle's arms. The fire in her eyes dimmed, and she looked near collapse.
"I'll be fine," she said, fighting to stay upright.
"Luna. Head into the tunnels and free the elves in the foundry," said Terran.
Chanterelle shook her head. "I'll go. It's about all I'm good for now." She looked to Kratow. "What are you going to do about him?"
After a moment of thought, he gestured for everyone to step out of the way. He strode towards the approaching Kratow at the head of his band.
"Two down, one to go," said Terran. "I left the easiest one for last."
Kratow bared his teeth. "You've gotten lucky, Star Killer. That's right. I heard Selune. You're the little prick who thought he had a chance with her."
"At least I know now what she is," said Terran. "You're the one who's stayed with her."
Kratow's expression faltered for a moment before he lifted his claymore with one hand defiantly.
"How about we end this," he said.
"Sure thing," said Terran. "A one-on-one battle. Best m
an wins."
Kratow's whole body shuddered with laughter. "You? Against me? Without all your friends and those traitorous centaurs?"
Terran lifted a single shoulder. "You afraid?"
Kratow shook his weapon at him as he strode forward. "I'll have you dangling on the end of this like a piece of meat."
"Dangling?" asked Terran as he casually strolled forward. "I think you meant speared, assuming you wanted to make a meat stick out of me. But words have never been your strong suit. You're the strong and dumb kind, a perfect tool for blondie back there."
"Damn you," said Kratow. "Death'll be too good for you."
"Exactly. At least we both can acknowledge that I won't be dying today," said Terran with a smile.
The host of Crag Trolls and Barghests behind Kratow broke out in laughter, which brought crimson to his cheeks. He looked ready to spit. The big warrior held his weapon before him in both hands and opened his mouth for a rage scream. His muscles flexed as he bared his teeth, the echo of his shout bouncing off the walls of the ancient and terrible fortress.
As Kratow lifted his weapon over his head, continuing his yell as he charged forward with murderous intent, Terran lifted his flat palm to his lips and, with the precision of a blow dart, blew a face full of hibernating shroom dust right into his open mouth. The enraged warrior cough-snorted once before his knees gave out from underneath him and he hit the cobblestones face-first, his claymore clattering across the stones.
As the burning wagon licked flames and black smoke into the air over the Crimson Brigade, the echo of Kratow's shout faded to silence. As calmly as Terran could muster, he gestured towards Aeresteel.
"Before they realize what we're about to do," he said softly, "can you pick up those three and help us carry them out of the fortress?"
The centaurs followed his orders, and the Barghests and Crag Trolls stayed curiously still, watching and waiting, making no action to move against them. Around the time the Trio were loaded onto the backs of the centaurs, Chanterelle and the freed Rock Leaf Elves appeared from the tunnels.
"Would you like a ride?" asked Aeresteel, gesturing towards her back.
The Crystal Bard: A LitRPG Adventure (Kingmaker Saga Book 2) Page 20