by Wade Adrian
They probably wouldn't do a hell of a lot of damage, but it certainly had the people's attention.
Tom turned to Max, holding up his thumb.
But, of course, Max was gone. Eira, too.
Everyone in light armor was conspicuously absent from the top of the wall.
Oh well.
They had a mission, but the heavy armor types had plenty to do.
Einar bashed his sword against his shield as he rejoined the line.
The defenders up top lost a bit of ground. Birds distracting them leading to soldiers with kickass buffs laying into them.
More than one of the defenders fell from the wall while trying to shew away birds.
Fun.
Tom shouldered his mace.
Super good at this.
30
Max ran back around the top of the wall. He dropped into stealth, but he could hear footfalls behind him.
He glanced back to see Eira and four other scouts following.
That... hadn't really been his intention, but whatever.
He slowed as they neared the stairs down on the other side. Everyone was still distracted by fighting Tom and the birds.
"Okay." He stopped, ducking and looking down. "This isn't a fancy mission here. It's what we call seek and destroy. You can probably figure out why."
There were a chorus of nods.
"I have no idea where the one leading this rabble is. With no one giving orders out here, I can only assume they're inside. We need to find them and shut them up as soon as possible. As dumb as this is going to sound... we should split up. Everyone pick a floor and scour it. You find them, you drop them. Try to have a plan for getting back out, but honestly... that's secondary."
He felt like an asshole for even saying it...
But they replied with more nods.
Eira had her daggers in hand. "Of course. We'll get it done."
Max pointed at a bridge about ten feet down heading across to the building. "I'll take the top. He'd be a fool to be there, but some fools like to be up high. Defensively, the safest place is the middle floor."
Eira held up a few fingers. "I'll head there."
"Right." Max pointed at the rest. "We need first, second, and forth, too, I guess. Got it?"
They broke away, two moving down the stairs, a third climbing down onto the little bridge.
Once they were more than a few yards away they vanished from sight.
Huh. So that was how stealth worked for friendlies. Neat.
He almost flinched away when Eira laid a hand on his cheek. "Don't worry so much. We're good at this." She gave him a small smile.
"Fifth time's the charm, I guess."
She winked before hopping down and starting across the bridge herself.
He wished he had her faith.
He could see more defenders every place light touched inside the walls. All except the point on the walls where Tom held the line.
Sure, the birds were helping, and some defenders seemed hesitant to approach the line, but there were still way too many.
He shook his head. Dour thoughts weren't going to get anything accomplished.
"Valor." He muttered to himself. The driving force of a paladin.
Valor was about acting when things seemed hopeless. He hopped down onto the bridge, bending his knees and rolling after he landed, daggers in hand when he returned to his feet.
"The valorous assassin."
He could almost hear Corvi's smile.
He ignored her. There was work to do.
The bridge stretched out behind, leading into the wall itself. That didn't matter. The path ahead held a door that lead into the central building on the... third floor, it seemed. At least that's what counting the level of windows told him.
Just inside the door to the building he found stairs leading up. He took them. A cautious man might have waited, but he didn't have time for caution. A ridiculous thing to even think... but there it was.
He rounded the stairwell, passing the landing to the fourth floor and kept on until he hit the next landing.
A quick glance out showed an empty hallway. He darted out and hugged the far wall, daggers at the ready.
Things looked... nice up here.
Shiny.
Expensive.
Ugh, was the idiot really at the top? So cliche.
He followed the lit corridors, ignoring side passages bathed in darkness. People getting around needed to see.
Max ducked into one of the darkened hallways as a group of armored defenders passed. He watched them go for a moment, wanting to be sure they weren't patrolling or something.
A voice caught his ear. Talking, chanting... but just the one voice.
Strange.
He followed the sound until it lead to a heavy wooden door strapped with iron and bearing three locks. Hefty security... if it hadn't been standing open.
Well, he was already hidden... he hazarded a glance.
The room was lined with maps and shelves laden with books. Cartography tools were piled up on a smaller table. There were candles everywhere, the place lit up like a church.
The man sized idol completed the scene.
The only man in the room moved back and forth between the map table and the idol. He was arguing with... himself?
The voice sounded kind of familiar...
Corvi hissed. "Leave. Leave now."
Huh. Max whispered into his elbow. "Why?"
"A powerful god holds sway here. I won't be able to intervene."
Max glanced in again. "It's just one guy."
Granted, he had a few levels on Max, but with the proper use of stealth, poisons, and luck...
Corvi sounded... frustrated somehow. "I can't see him. He is different. Like you, perhaps. But I know whom he serves."
The voice kept on, the man pointing at the map, then looking over his shoulder at the idol.
He was armored neck to toe, and there was a helmet sitting on the table, too. Might be a problem getting through that tin can.
Max blinked when the voice clicked in his head.
He stood up, dropped out of stealth, and put his daggers away.
"What in the world are you doing, fool? Flee!" Corvi practically screeched at him.
He ignored her. "Dave?"
The man at the table stopped on a dime. He slowly lifted his eyes to Max.
He looked... different. But on some level it still looked like Dave's old ranger. He had close cropped hair which was the wrong color and some new scars.
Talren had similar differences from Gaius the paladin, as did Caddrach the cleric from Castien the ranger.
It made sense.
"Dude, holy shit." Max laughed softly as he stepped into the room. "Man, is it great to see you. We haven't seen another soul for days. Maybe a week or two now. Crazy."
Dave stood up from the table. His armor clinked. "There was once a dream... a foul dream. A weak man forced to labor in the bowels of a great fort for wizened old fools."
Max tilted his head slightly. "Yeah, sounds awful. It's okay now, though. Tom is outside. We'll figure this thing out and go get a drink or something."
Dave held an armored finger up beside his temple. "Tom... Thomas. And you..." He pointed. "Maxwell."
Max nodded. "That's right. Are you feeling okay?"
Dave's fist slammed against the table, his hand grasping the hilt of a giant flail. "It all makes so much more sense now. The pieces have fallen neatly into place."
Max stopped.
Something was wrong here...
Dave hefted the flail, pointing at Max. "You stand before me, not even attempting to hide your allegiance. Your collar." He laughed.
It sounded...
Broken.
"Slave of Corvi, the trickster."
Max frowned. "Slave is a strong word. I'm more of a temp, or maybe an intern."
Dave didn't seem to get the joke. "The horrendous dream that was David has been washed away. Mehtan purged it fr
om me." He stood to his full height, a deep breath puffing his chest out. "Farres, herald of Mehtan, sees through your falsehoods."
Max's eyebrow crept up. "Yeah, sure, very funny. Look, we'll trade quips later, man. Right now we've kind of got a situation, and I could use your help. After, we're planning to meet up with the other players and figure this all out. We've got a few leads."
The table smashed into splinters as the flail sailed through it, the chain dragging a chunk of wood along with it before Dave yanked the flail free and pointed it at Max again. "I grow weary of your wagging tongue, little crow. If you've come to surrender, know that I will personally kill any man of yours that lays down his arms. Mehtan will have this kingdom. There will be no terms."
Corvi's voice was quiet, but stern. "That is no friend of yours, Max."
Dave stepped over the broken table, flail spinning.
"Did Mehtan do this to him?"
"It hardly matters. Flee, Max. Please."
Max stepped back as the flail came down where he had been standing.
It clipped his chest, throwing him off balance.
That chain was longer than it looked...
If Mehtan had done this, maybe it could be undone. He didn't want to fight Dave, not when it might have very real consequences. Yar had told Tom death was permanent. He didn't know if that meant Dave would be kicked out into the real world, or he'd end up a vegetable.
He wasn't keen on finding out.
Max drew the estoc from his side and held it in a defensive stance. "Dave, I need you to wake up now. Believe it or not, I think even Tom will be happy to see you right now."
He dodged further back and held his sword up to parry another swing.
The flail knocked chunks out of the stone floor.
"Cease your mockery, crow!" Dave hefted the flail, starting it spinning again. "I sought only to kill you, like all your weak people, but the more I listen to your pathetic voice the more I think I shall break every bone first."
"Well that's not very nice."
Dave smiled, but there was nothing wholesome about it. "Fear not, little crow. Mehtan has granted me the power to keep you in this world until I see fit to have you leave it."
Well, this wasn't working.
So much for the paladin approach.
He hadn't exactly been idle. He'd been watching, counting. It took Dave a few solid seconds to get the weapon up to a dangerous speed. He could use that.
Maxed stepped aside when the next swing came, darting closer rather than further.
He jabbed forward with his estoc, both hands lending what little strength his rogue frame had to offer.
The chisel like sword was designed for precisely this. It skidded across the heavy plates until it found its way into a thin gap.
It came out bloody.
Dave winced and started trying to swing his flail, but Max jabbed again, sending two hits against the underside of Dave's right arm.
Max barely dodged a blow from Dave's empty left hand. He gave ground, holding the bloody needle sword up between them. "Any time you feel like talking, let me know."
Dave winced, but golden light played over his left hand as he lifted it. When his fist clenched all of his health returned. "Your threats are empty, little crow." He started the flail again. "And now I have seen you up close. Your raiment is pathetic, like you. It won't take more than a hit or two to end this fight."
Judging by the hole in the floor, he wasn't wrong.
Max waited for the next blow. He doubted he could really parry the thing, he just needed to avoid it.
The blow landed, striking a wooden panel of the interior wall.
Max ducked in close, his left hand on the estoc's blade to give him a bit more control.
His world spun as he fell backwards.
He managed to keep hold of his sword, but it was a near thing. His empty left hand flew to his chin.
Dave chuckled as he lowered his leg. The metal plated knee had caught Max entirely by surprise. "Maybe that will shut you up."
Not an NPC.
Dave was a thinking person and Max had tried to attack the same way twice.
Stupid.
Metal boots clanked against the floor as Dave approached, his flail spinning.
There was some other strange sound. Like a fork scraping on glass.
Great, now he was hallucinating. Or something was knocked loose in his head.
"If not, this will."
Max could barely see straight. He had a... dazed debuff?
Damn it.
Dave lifted the spinning flail high into the air.
Windows around the room burst inward, glass and wood breaking, latches coming free and falling to the floor.
A flood of crows and ravens sailed across the room, pecking, scratching, and clawing at Dave's unprotected head.
He clamped his eyes tight, his left hand held up to his face as he roared and swept the flail through the air, back and forth.
Black birds bashed against the walls and struck the stone floor.
None that fell moved again.
Corvi's voice echoed through Max's mind. "I told you to leave!"
"I can help him." The words came out like Max was speaking with a mouthful of mashed potatoes.
"You will die if you try."
He managed to get to his feet. The dazed effect was wearing off.
If not for Corvi, he might already be dead.
That didn't mean she was right, but his approach certainly wasn't.
He dropped the ectoc and pulled his daggers.
Dave's flail glowed with golden light, throwing harsh shadows around the room with each swing. The birds had not relented in the least, all of them seemingly convinced his eyes held the sweetest jelly in the world.
Yet his health kept returning. He had healing magic like Tom, making him a bottomless well of health. Or at least a well that would be full long after all the birds in the county were dashed against the walls.
Max didn't have a lot of use for poison day to day, most fights were over too quickly for it to matter, but he triggered the ability now. The dagger blades took on a sickly green tone. He mashed the vanish button and crept around behind Dave.
He had to be patient. It was clear he wasn't going to get a second chance here... but this was the best plan he could come up with.
Max waited until after Dave swung to bury both daggers into his exposed back.
Dave screamed at the top of his lungs. More than one bird took the opportunity to get a few good pecks in.
Every numerical advantage Max had with backstabs... and it still only took about half of Dave's health. His armor had probably eaten a lot of it, and his level was higher, too.
But that was what the poison was for. It applied to Dave instantly and started ticking away at his health.
He yanked both daggers free, lifted them high over his head and brought both hilts down on top of Dave's crew cut.
The heavily armored man collapsed like a puppet with cut strings.
He wasn't dead, but unconscious he couldn't heal himself.
It was the best he could figure.
Max sat on the edge of the smaller table, trying to catch his breath. The birds relented, moving about the room, some coming to rest on shelves and broken table remnants. A few sat on Dave. Most spilled back out the windows.
Entirely too many lay on the floor. The living birds didn't seem to care... but he did. They had died because he had tried to save Dave.
"You are not safe yet. It is only a matter of time until he recovers."
"Yeah, yeah." He pushed off the table, standing again.
The whole point of this was to end the battle going on outside. Dave might have been giving orders with all his maps and his idol, but that wasn't going to make anyone outside stop, they just wouldn't get new orders.
And none of them knew Dave was out of the fight.
Well, maybe he could convince them.
He plucked up Dave's helmet fro
m the ruins of the table and stopped in front of the idol.
It was made of wood with some gold and jeweled accents. It depicted a rather angry looking man that was mostly head with a stubby little body. Lots of forehead. Maybe even a fivehead. It was a good three feet tall on top of its pedestal.
Corvi's voice echoed. "This is how he communicates so far from home."
Max tilted his head. "A point of presence, huh?"
"That sounds correct, yes."
"Networking term." He reached out to grab it.
She hissed. "Don't! He has no connection to you, but physical contact will grant him one. He could use it to do you harm."
Or to just never shut up.
Max yanked a banner down off the wall and wrapped it around the idol.
It wasn't exactly easy to pick it up, even if it was mostly made of wood. Like hefting a log around.
Stairs to the roof were easy to find.
He didn't run into anyone. Handy, given he would have had to hit them with a stupid wooden god.
The top was surrounded by more parapets, and there was a lit brazier on the roof that provided plenty of light to see by. He carted his ugly prisoner over to the edge.
Fighting was still going on up on the wall. Tom's people seemed to have it on lock down, but they had more injured lined up behind them than Max remembered. Bordering on half of them no longer in fighting form. Tom seemed to have been relegated to field medic.
There was no shortage of people trying to shove their way up. Less of them might have overwhelmed the position by now. Their infighting and impatience was keeping Max's side in this thing.
Well, hopefully that zealotry wasn't going to hold for long.
He set the wooden idol on the wall, banner and all. He climbed up himself, yelling as loud as he could.
"This battle is over! Your commander has fallen!"
Eyes turned up to him here and there, even some among his own camp.
It didn't change much. People kept on fighting.
Only after no one seemed to care did he realize they probably didn't speak his language. Einar and the rest spoke it as a second language. These people were even more removed and had no reason to know it at all.
"Well fuck it." He threw the helmet over the side.
It hit a guy on the way down. Others noticed him fall and moved to help the fallen man before turning their eyes up to Max.