Survivors

by Dave Willmarth

  Mace cautioned them. “Arrange yourselves to be most effective. Shields and heavy armor closest to the door. Make a semicircle to keep them contained. Spears and longer weapons right behind them, jabbing from the protection of the shield bearers. Mage… well, you just do what you’re good at. The rest of you, watch for anyone who breaks free and take them down. They will likely have some stealth ability, so keep a sharp eye out.”

  Their instructions clear, the group headed off toward the back door. Mace moved to the side that had the loading dock, and held his hands up. He uttered the trigger word “Frigus!” and thrust his hands toward the doors.

  A sheet of ice began to form over the doors, growing wider and thicker by the second. Mace continued to channel the spell until the entire expanse and a good bit of the wall on either side was covered in a two-foot thick wall of ice. The doors would not open any time soon.

  Mace and his group followed Callahan around to the front door. Two guards spotted them rounding the corner and reacted instantly. One drew a sword and shield and stepped in front of the door, while the other ran inside.

  “Step aside, worm,” Callahan shouted at the guard. His roar startled the human, but he recovered quickly and raised his shield and weapon.

  “You’re a dead man, smith. I recognize you. You dare attack the Black Flame? You and your family’s heads will be mounted on spikes in front of your shop by dawn!”

  The man barely got to finish his speech before Callahan roared at him and kicked forward. His massive boot struck the man’s shield and knocked him backward. Mace heard the man’s arm break from the impact, and the grunt of pain. He leapt forward, not giving the man a chance to recover. Reaching down he stabbed the back of the man’s neck with his enchanted dagger. His victim went limp as his soul was drained into the weapon and Mace felt a rush of power. As Lila looted the corpse, Mace turned to Callahan.

  “You want to do the honors?”

  The smith grinned. Turning so his shield faced the door, he lowered his shoulder and charged. The door shattered as his massive body impacted it, and Callahan pushed right on through, roaring out a battlecry that stunned any nearby enemies for two seconds.

  That left plenty of time for Mace and the others to pass through behind him. Lila and Mace both activated stealth and Layne began to strum on her lute as Shari started firing arrows from just inside the door.

  There were about two dozen fighters visible, with more coming out from back rooms or behind stacks of crates. Shari began working her way left to right, putting an arrow into each of them as she strafed across the group.

  Lila appeared behind one unfortunate beastkin, slamming both her daggers into the man’s back with overhand blows. He went down on his knees as she withdrew the daggers and finished him with a blade to the throat.

  Mace chose a wider approach. From the shadows behind a large box, he whispered, “Infier,” and held his hands together. A burning orb built up between his hands, quickly growing in size. After five seconds, he released it into the most densely packed group of foes.

  It flew forward like a bullet, screaming through the cooler air of the warehouse and slamming into an orc in the center of the group. The orc was incinerated and six or seven of those closest to him received severe burn damage as they were knocked off their feet.

  Callahan, Lila and Mace all took advantage, dashing into the crowd and dealing death blows to those on the ground. Callahan sliced parts off of some with his sword, and simply stomped others to death with his steel-shod boots. Lila stabbed and sliced at vital organs and arteries, while Mace drained soul after soul. In thirty seconds, nearly half the force that had charged them were down or dead.

  The others, seeing they were overmatched and several of them already having one of Shari’s arrows in them, retreated.

  A second group of fighters appeared. This one having had more time to organize, they were formed into a more sensible battle group. They allowed the retreating wounded through their shield wall, then closed ranks again.

  Callahan eyed the group as they waited behind their shields. “This is going to hurt.” He thumped his sword on his shield and prepared to advance. “If I die, you make sure they can not touch my family.” He stared into Mace’s eyes waiting for the promise.

  Mace shook his head. “No one will harm your family, I promise that. But you won’t be dying here.”

  With a grin, he stepped forward and raised the hand that held his spell ring. Shari had only see him use it once, but he’d told her about the various battles where he’d summoned the stone golem.

  She said, “Oooh, this is going to be interesting.” as Mace took a few steps closer to the enemy line. Callahan stepped forward with him. Lila was nowhere to be seen. Which meant she was doing her job.

  “Surrender now and we won’t kill you all. I want information on your base in Graf. The first to tell me what I want gets to walk out that back door. Everyone else dies.” Mace growled at the remaining slavers.

  A small group made a break for the nearby loading dock doors. Two of them dropped their weapons and grabbed hold of the doors, trying to push them open, but Mace’s ice held solid and the doors didn’t budge an inch.

  The leader of the group cursed at those who’d tried to run. “Cowards! You will be stricken from the guild and bounties put on your heads if you do not get back here and fight!”

  As Mace and company were between them and the front door and their former comrades were between them and the back door, they elected to try for the water exit. Five of them dashed into the office and flung open the trap door. They disappeared one by one and Mace’s elven hearing picked up splashes, followed shortly by screams.

  Mace made a quick count of the remaining fighters. Thirty of them. Half a dozen tanks, three archers, three casters, and a bunch of melee including their leader. He shouted, “Last chance. There are only thirty of you left! Surrender and rat out your leader or die here.”

  The leader spat on the floor and shouted “Kiss my-”

  He didn’t finish the sentence as Mace muttered “Wyvern,” and his ring flashed with blinding light. A creature the size of a school bus flew from the ring. Its scales were a dark red, and each one was the size of a Mace’s hand or larger. It had two legs on the forward part of its torso with wicked claws that shone purple-black. Its two leathery wings were furled, but would extend out ten meters when opened. Its head looked just like a dragon’s, with bony ridges leading up to twin horns that tilted back over its skull. Another bony ridge ran down its back to its tail, where it formed a jagged bladelike growth. The monster looked to Mace, who pointed at the group and shouted, “Kill them!”

  The massive beast flapped its wings once while shoving off with its two legs and got enough lift to clear the shield wall before crashing to the warehouse floor. Its body began to thrash about, wings and tail slamming fighters into each other, while others were crushed under its weight.

  The shield wall was shattered from behind by a blow from its tail, and Callahan leapt into the breach. He cut the head off one tank with a single swipe of his two-handed sword, then stabbed another through the chest and stomped on the edge of another’s shield, causing the curved surface to roll upward, breaking the man’s elbow as he screamed. Another stomp on the man’s throat silenced him.

  Callahan had to back up as he was nearly caught by the thrashing tail of the wyvern. He looked over his shoulder at Mace. The drow shrugged and called out “You were the one who mentioned the heart of a wyvern…” The orc rolled his eyes before turning back to the fight.

  Shari was still putting arrows into the enemies with every opening she found. She was being careful not to hit their wyvern ally. Their enemies were doing plenty of the that. The dozen or so fighters that were still on their feet had surrounded the wyrm and were hacking and stabbing at it.

  Mace faded into stealth and dashed toward the leader, who was near the wyvern’s head. He spotted Lila moving in quietly behind their enemies as well.

&nbs
p; The beast was still giving more than it got, though it was getting sluggish from loss of blood. Shari and Mion began to heal it as quickly as they could.

  Mace was about to stab the leader in the back when he noticed an opportunity. The wyvern’s open maw was swinging toward the man. Mace quickly stabbed him in the spine, draining some, but not all, of his soul energy. He withdrew the dagger and quickly kicked the man in the back. His body flew forward and into the waiting jaws of the dragonkin.

  The man screamed in terror as the thing bit down, severing his body into the three parts. His upper torso and lower legs fell to the floor, while the main bulk of his body went down the wyvern’s gullet.

  Splattered in their leader’s blood and with their numbers dwindling quickly, the remaining half-dozen that were still on their feet tried for the back door. Mace let them go. They were all wounded and weakened, and he had faith in the anger of those who awaited them outside.

  Lila was making her rounds, finishing off the wounded and looting the corpses. Mace called out “Hold on! I need a couple of them alive. I have questions.”

  The dark tone of his voice caused some panic among the survivors. Two of the casters who’d been playing dead leapt to their feet to break for the back door. The wyvern instantly grabbed one and lifted him screaming into the air. Mace dashed toward the other, angling to cut off the much slower human before he reached the door. Lila, who had been closer, hit the mage with a running tackle just as he managed to get off a spell. A bolt of magic sped toward Mace, who was still charging forward. Without time to dodge, Mace took the hit square in the face. The force of the impact knocked him backward to hit the floor hard, cracking his head against the floorboards. His face burned, and he screamed in pain. His UI showed a severe drop in his health, a bleed debuff, and stunned debuff.

  The critical hit to the face had shaved off more than half his health. He instantly felt the refreshing sensation of heals from both Shari and Mion. He stopped screaming and rolled to his feet even as the wyvern finished off the mage it held, gulping the gnome down whole, staff and all. Mace grimaced. That staff might have been useful.

  Lila sat atop the last remaining mage. Each time he struggled to rise, she poked him in a sensitive area with a dagger. He cursed and spat and threatened, but he eventually learned to quit moving. Mace kicked the man’s staff away across the floor, then kicked him in the face for good measure. Just hard enough to get his attention.

  “Let’s be clear. You are going to die here tonight. My friends and I are going to cleanse this place of every last Black Flame shithead, then we’re going to Graf to do the same. You have the opportunity to make our fight in Graf go a little easier for us. If you do, I’ll kill you quickly.”

  The mage didn’t look impressed, growling at Lila before starting to whisper a spell. Mace kicked him in the face again, hard enough to rattle his teeth. When the man’s eyes focused again, Mace crouched in front of him, holding the enchanted dagger out so that it was within inches of the mage’s face.

  “The alternative is that I can drain your soul with this. Not all of it. I’ll leave enough of it intact to keep you alive while my wyvern rips you apart and eats you.”

  He motioned over his shoulder where the dragonkin was consuming a corpse that Lila had just looted.

  As the man considered his options, Callahan said, “I’ll go check on the back door.” and headed that direction. Lila got up from atop the mage and returned to looting corpses, wanting to get to them all before the wyvern consumed them.

  Mace allowed the mage to sit up and lean against the wall. “If you speak other than to answer my questions, or move your hands, I’ll cut you.” He held up the enchanted dagger. “From what I can tell, it’s quite painful.”

  “What do you want to know?” the man practically spat the words out.

  “First, who is the leader of the Black Flame? And where is their headquarters?”

  The man looked sick. He tried to speak and his throat seemed to swell. Mace watched as he struggled to breathe, then passed out. Looking to Layne, he asked “What was that?”

  Layne played a sad, discordant tune. “He’s probably another Oathbound. The moment he tried to betray his master, the oath’s magic took effect and disabled him. Is he dead?”

  Mace put a finger to the man’s neck, feeling a pulse beating there. And he seemed to be breathing again.

  “Alive. Is there a way to get around the oath?”

  Layne looked thoughtful. “Depending on how thorough the oath was, maybe? He might be able to answer yes or no questions. Or nod or shake his head. Or blink for yes and no?”

  Mace kicked the man in the gut to wake him up. When the man was lucid again, he asked, “Are you oathbound?”

  The mage opened his mouth to answer, but couldn’t. Mace said “Nod your head for yes, shake it for no.”

  The man nodded his head, though it appeared to cause him pain. Mace continued. “Is the Black Flame based in Graf?” Another nod. The mage began to sweat profusely. Mace didn’t think he could answer many more questions. So he decided to get specific. “Are there more than a hundred members in Graf now?”

  Another nod and the man coughed up a bit of blood.

  “More than two hundred?”

  This time his head shook left and right before his eyes rolled up in his head. He fell over, unconscious. Deciding the man wouldn’t be able to answer any more questions, Mace stabbed him in the heart with the enchanted dagger. He died quickly, and possibly without pain. Though Mace doubted that.

  Lila looted his body, then whistled for the wyvern. The mini-dragon responded to her call and moved to her side before grabbing hold of the mage and tearing him in half.

  Lila patted the wyvern’s body just above the wing as it chowed down on the mage’s corpse. Then she began to poke about, peering into boxes and looking at labels on crates.

  “Since we captured this place, does all of this belong to us?”

  Mace chuckled at the little loot monster. “Not just us. The others who helped us here should get an equal share. But that can wait. We’ll leave the wyvern here to guard the place while we hunt the rest of the slavers down; I want to have cleared them out and be ready to sail by dawn.”

  Mace looked at the wyvern. “Stay here. You can eat anyone who comes in before dawn.”

  The big winged lizard nodded its head and curled up in the center of the warehouse, its stomach visibly bulged with the weight of the several corpses it had consumed.

  Mace led the group to the back door, where Callahan was speaking with the group of citizens. There were five corpses on the ground and Mace looked at the orc with a question. “They say only five came out. So either one was stealthed, or they’re still hiding inside.”

  Mace turned to look back the way they’d come. There was a short corridor with two doors on either side leading to offices. “Close this door behind me. I’ll be back in five minutes. The rest of you, time to go hunting. Stay in your group and head for the sailor bar. You know the one?”

  The merchant dressed as a rogue nodded his head. Mace said “Grab the kid and the others who were covering the trap door and head up there. I’ll meet you. Same plan. We’ll go in the front, some will cover the alley in the back or other exits.”

  Mace activated his Stealth ability and stepped back into the corridor as Layne, Shari, and Lisa joined the others outside. As soon as the door closed behind him, he simply stood and listened. His drow hearing was better than even the surface elves, as life underground with species that hunted by sound had forced them to evolve.

  He slowly advanced toward the first door, making no sound as he moved. He could hear the wyvern in the main room breathing deeply. Likely it was already asleep. He could hear the water lapping against the pilings below.

  Slowly, he opened the first door and looked inside. The room was small, containing a desk, two chairs, and a filing cabinet. He moved around and checked behind and under the desk before leaving the room and closing the door
behind him.

  Smiling to himself, he moved to the next room. He knew how to flush out his prey if they were still in this part of the building.

  He crossed the hall to the opposing door and kicked it open. Not entering the room, he just stood and listened. He’d heard a gasp of surprise from further down the hall.

  “Not this room, then,” he said aloud. The noise broke his Stealth, but he didn’t care.

  Moving to the next door, he kicked that one in too. He was pretty sure the slaver was in the fourth room, but he wanted to make sure this one was clear. In case more than one had gone into hiding. After checking the room quickly – this one contained several crates of wine and a cot – he moved to stand by the last door.

  “I know you’re in there. I’m a drow. I can hear your heart pounding!” He couldn’t, but he was pretty sure whomever was on the other side of that door didn’t know that. “You have to the count of three to open up and surrender, or I’ll simply burn this place down around you. After we clear out all the loot, that is.

  The door burst open and a long blade shot out, aimed directly at Mace’s face. He ducked below the sword and kicked out toward the wielder. There was a grunt and a body fell backward.

  The room was pitch black, but Mace could see just fine. The outline of two people stood against one wall, while a third was getting back to its feet in front of him. He launched forward and plunged his dagger into the one closest. A man screamed as he dropped the two-handed sword he’d just tried to poke into Mace’s eye. A moment later he slumped dead.