by Hans Bezdek
The two of them exited the cabin, weapons at the ready. A couple of pirates to their left noticed them, then shouted to a few more pirates to their right and pointed at the not-so-easy targets.
"Plan?" asked Zane.
"Kill them all before they kill us?" offered Perkins.
"Not very eloquent, but it should work."
The pirates charged at them, each bringing up their weapons as they ran. Zane began whispering a prayer to Nera while Perkins wasted no time springing into action.
The elf targeted the three pirates on their right. Diving forward, Perkins slid beneath the wild swings of the three enemies with ease, holding his swords out to his side as he did so. The blades ate through the achilles tendons of two of the pirates, dropping them to their knees as he got to his feet. Switching his hold on the handles, Perkins ruthlessly shoved each sword down and into the back of the necks of each downed pirate.
The sole living pirate rushed at the elf now that his blades were buried, lunging for Perkins' midsection. The elf let go of the handles, jumped back, and pulled the two swords across his back out. Roaring, the pirate leapt again after the elf and swung wildly. The elf effortlessly swatted the weapon to his left, brought both blades up and level with the pirate's neck, then removed his head from the rest of him.
Zane finished his prayers right as his two pirates reached him. They each swung at a different angle on the paladin's chest and connected. Unfortunately for them, a fraction of a second before they did, the front of Zane's armor began glowing bright yellow. The weapons broke as they connected with his holy armor, the tips dropping uselessly to the floor.
"W-What the...?!" cried one of them.
"May Nera have mercy on your wicked souls," said Zane quietly.
Spinning on his left foot, Zane brought his mace up and across the left pirate's face. Before the first pirate hit the ground, the paladin kicked out the knee of the second one. The pirate let out a grunt and tried to strike Zane with his destroyed weapon, which then further shattered. It was the last thing the pirate did.
"Looks like Nera might have her uses after all," said Perkins as he sheathed the swords on his back and got his other two out of the pirates. There were some more screams from above them. "Ready for round three?"
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Farr had never seen a Lundori before.
They held the same overall shape as humans, except for the silver tendrils on the top of their heads that acted like hair. Their skin was a dark purple, with unique black tattoos covering their faces and exposed skin. The Lundori charged with weapons that paralleled the spears, swords, and pikes of the Empire's, only with the blackened wood of the Lund.
Arrows shot out from the walls around Fort Pel, hardly visible in the night sky. Farr's eyes widened as several of the Lundori raised their hands and a thrust of magic exuded from them. A wave of translucent energy formed several feet above the Lundori just as the first of the arrows rained down. Each arrow stabbed into the magic shield, then slowly floated around in it as if it had entered a body of water.
"That's not good," remarked Yri, scanning the battlefield. The Fort Pel defenders were slowly advancing into the Lund, but holding and not straying too far from the walls. "These archers are worthless until we get those shields down."
"If that's even possible," said Grex, who sounded more curious than nervous. "We don't know if only some of them can use magic or if it's something innate to all Lundori."
"There's only one way for us to find out," said Farr, turning to the others to come up with a plan. "I say we get close to the front line and see if we can fight their magic with some of our own. Grex, you do what you can to slow or stop the Lundori. Yri, you and Cupcake see if your attacks can make it through their magic."
"What if I don't wanna?" asked Cupcake defiantly.
"Then you'll do it anyway," said Yri, narrowing her eyes at the demon.
The pig stuck his tongue out at the warlock.
"I'll try to empower some of the weapons of the defenders that seem most capable," continued Farr. "Khuwa, you... Uh, where's Khuwa?"
Somehow, Farr had lost track of the giant orc. Unless she was crouching down and hiding from them, he should've easily found her towering over any of the nearby fighters.
"Oh, you didn't see?" asked Cupcake, nodding toward the battlefield. "She's at the front of the line."
Farr's jaw dropped as he now saw Khuwa a dozen paces ahead of the slow-moving line. The orc had a nervous smile on as she approached the Lundori, her weapons still on her back.
"She's going to get herself killed!" cried Farr as The Delinquents hurried to reach her before the Lundori did. Above all the noise of the conflict about to break out, they were just able to make out what Khuwa was saying as they reached the line.
"There's no reason for this!" shouted Khuwa, waving her hands and shaking her head toward the Lundori. "We mean you no harm!"
The Lundori were closing in, weapons still at the ready and looking as if they either couldn't understand the orc, or didn't care.
"I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding!" continued Khuwa. "Maybe we can talk this through?"
As an answer, two of the Lundori at the front of the pack chucked their spears at her. The twisted dark wood spun as it arched through the night air, and it seemed that Khuwa noticed them too late. As she tried to take a step out of the path that was going to be too slow, two pillars of dirt shot up from the ground in front of her. The spears connected with the dirt and snapped in half as Khuwa fell to the ground.
"Looks like my nature magic still works even with the strange vegetation of the Lund!" laughed Grex. "Lucky us!"
The attack on Khuwa was enough to get the Fort Pel defenders to charge the final bit of distance between them and their enemy. Battle shouts mixed with the clanging of metal against metal as the Empire and Lundori clashed. Farr and Yri struggled to pull Khuwa away from the front line and back up to her feet.
"What were you doing?!" demanded Farr.
"I-I was trying to stop the fighting before it began!" said Khuwa, trembling as she got to her feet.
"Without talking to us about it first?!"
"I k-kind of figured you'd try to stop me..."
"Not smart, Khuwa," sighed Yri. "You easily could have died, or gotten us killed while we came to help."
"Yri's right," said Farr, shaking his head. He pointed back to the fort. "Go back to the town and wait for us to finish this fight."
"But-"
"That's an order!" shouted Farr.
The orc hung her head and left the battlefield without another word. Farr felt a ping of guilt, but he knew it was the best thing to do for the moment. He needed to channel his anger back at the Lundori.
"I'll try and knock down those magic shields," said Yri, heading off to the side.
Farr turned his attention back to the front, where he saw that the Lundori and the defenders were evenly matched. Whenever an elf or a dwarf would fall, a Lundori would as well. The defenders appeared to be making some progress on the left flank, where Grex and Cupcake were helping out.
The gnome threw his arms out at a group of Lundori, and immediately vines sprang out of the ground at their feet. The blackened branches encircled the Lundori's feet, causing a few to trip and the others to stay in one spot. The Fort Pel fighters cut them down without hesitation. Meanwhile, the flying pig floated over the Lundori's heads unnoticed. Cupcake went right for one of the Lundori creating the magic shield along the left. The pig landed on the Lundori's shoulder and giggled. The humanoid turned to look at the pig, but the last thing it saw was the green fire that shot out of Cupcake's mouth. The green blaze quickly consumed the Lundori, and the magic barrier faded in an instant.
This certainly got the Lundori's attention, and Cupcake had a less comfortable flight back to the defender's side as he dodged left and right around a few thrown spears and a sword slash or three.
Farr brought his hands together and apart, creating his electric bow
. Taking aim at the Lundori that were focused on Cupcake, he let loose shot after shot of lightning. Each Lundori he hit was flung back, some not making it again to their feet. When his demon ally was clear, a familiar figure caught his attention.
Aeulon and a few other guards had pushed deeper into the Lundori army. They were putting up a solid fight, but the elf appeared to be struggling against a large Lundori. The enemy feigned an attack on the elf, then stabbed into the back on an unsuspecting defender.
Holding his bow in one hand, Farr held his other out toward Aeulon and sent out a strand of magic. The tip of the elf's spear burned red as orange flames licked off of it, causing the Lundori and Aeulon to both hesitate in surprise.
"It's me, Aeulon!" shouted Farr. "Keep it up!"
The elf nodded and jabbed again at the Lundori. The humanoid backed away as the Aeulon pressed in, finally landing a shallow strike. The flames lit onto the Lundori's clothes, catching the shocked humanoid's attention for a second. It was all the opportunity Aeulon needed, and the elf finished the Lundori off.
Green fire again ignited in the night sky, this time coming from the far right side. Yri had her hands outstretched and pointed at the protective Lundori barrier. The green fire entered into the shield and swirled around like the arrows did. However, the Lundori around the barrier cried out in a panic and began running back to the forest. A few seconds later, and the green fire broke free of the barrier and fell to the ground, igniting on the black and brown grass.
The loud gurgling noise that signaled the start of the fight could be heard again, and the rest of the Lundori started to retreat. The defenders were bolstered and took some free shots at their enemy, especially from the archers who were now able to make contact with their targets on each of the flanks.
The Delinquents didn't bother to give chase and instead they each made for the fort. They had accomplished what they needed to in order to get paid.
"That was fun," snickered Cupcake as he landed on Farr's shoulder.
"You certainly got some eyes on you," replied Farr as Yri and Grex joined them.
"Thanks for taking some of them off of me," oinked the pig. "Too bad Yri had to go overboard and scare them all off."
Yri shrugged, her breathing more labored than usual. "Learned that it requires more energy to break one of those barriers than I thought it would, but it's doable."
"It also appears that, while they all have magic connected to them, not all of them can use it," added Grex, staring off as he thought aloud. "Most interesting. I wonder if-"
"Let's save this talk for after a good night's rest," sighed Farr, feeling spent from all the magic and travel of the day.
Talking with Khuwa about her foolish actions could wait until tomorrow. He had a feeling they'd need all the energy they could get once they ventured deeper into the Lund.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
"Aaa!" cried a pirate as he was tossed overboard by Zane.
"T-Thank y-you," cried a gnome and his wife.
"Get inside a room and lock the door," instructed Zane, following the line of sliced and broken pirate bodies to Perkins.
The two of them had cleared the bottom level of the ship and were nearly done with the main level. Zane could see most of the remaining pirates boarding their ship, not wanting to risk a fight with the two men butchering their ranks. He heard the clashing of metal against metal and turned around a corner in time to see his elven friend finish off another pirate.
"Looks like the rest are running away," Zane said happily.
"Works for me," said Perkins, staring down at his weapons with disappointment. "These take forever to clean off, you know."
"It's well worth it to save some innocent lives," smiled Zane.
"If you say so."
Zane and Perkins approached the pirate ship, brandishing their weapons in case any of them had any funny ideas. The large man that had originally boarded Gloria was standing at the front of his ship, glaring at the two of them. Zane always considered himself to be tall for a human, but this pirate was at least two heads taller than him. The pirate had a number of scars across his face, more probably hidden underneath his thick beard.
"Ye've made dangerous enemies today," the man warned them.
"Doubt it," said Perkins.
The pirate's glare intensified. A commotion behind the large man caught Zane's attention, and the paladin's heart dropped.
Several pirates were restraining hostages. While that was reason enough for Zane to be upset, one of the hostages he recognized.
"Get yer hands off me!" shouted Tomm, punching one of the pirates in the face. This opened up a gap and the dwarf ran for it. Right as he jumped for Gloria, several hands grabbed his feet and dragged him further back on their ship. The dwarf grunted as he was kicked a few times for retribution.
"Perkins..." said Zane, gesturing at where Tomm disappeared.
The elf let out an annoyed sigh. "Yeah, I was kind of hoping you wouldn't have noticed."
"He's helped us out by giving us that potion," insisted Zane. "We owe it to him to save him!"
"That could've cost him only a few copper, you know. Is risking our lives really worth it for just a few copper?"
Zane decided to try giving Perkins a bit of his own medicine. "Are our lives really worth anything?"
Perkins straightened his back and blinked a few times. He turned to Zane and smiled. "Looks like I'm rubbing off on you, huh?"
"Maybe. Well? What's it going to be?"
Perkins chuckled and spun his swords over in his hands. "Can't argue with myself. I was gonna help him anyway, though. One of the few things I live by is helping those that help me, you know."
The two of them charged the pirate ship, causing most of the pirates to backpedal in surprise. The ship hadn't left yet as there were still a few stragglers left, which made jumping on easy enough for Zane and Perkins.
"What are ya waitin fer?!" demanded the pirate captain, shifting his glare to all of his subordinates. "Chop em up and feed em to the sharks!"
Some of the pirates took the motivation and came forward to fight. Several others took the prisoners and shoved them down into the center of the ship.
"Looks like we've got to carve our way through," said Perkins, catching one attack with his left blade while throwing one of his one with his right.
Zane used his glowing armor to push through the pirates, striving to get to the prisoners before the pirates decided to bring them any harm. Scimitars, hammers, and swords shattered against him, none leaving so much as a mark. The paladin swung his mace at the pirates that didn't jump out of his way fast enough, sending them crumpled to the floor or out into the sea.
"His head, ya fools!" came the captain's voice. "Aim fer his head!"
Knowing what was coming, Zane slowed and took a defensive stance. As a hammer swung at his face from the left, he brought up his gauntlet to catch it, then brought the mace swiftly across the pirate's knee. Another thrusted out with a scimitar at his neck, but Perkins appeared in time and blocked the shot with his own blade.
The two of them together again, mixed with the fact that the pirates had run low on usable weapons, the men backed off, not wanting to be killed.
"What are ye worthless maggots doin!?" screamed the pirate captain.
"Now is our chance," whispered Zane, nodding at the door that brought them into the heart of the ship.
Perkins and Zane hurried to the door and down the steps, careful to watch their backs and not give the pirates any unnecessary openings. They reached the middle of the ship without having to fight anyone else, and soon found themselves standing across from some very worried prisoners, and even more frightened pirates.
"W-What kind of f-freaks a-are ye?!" whimpered a troll pirate.
"D-D-Don't hurt us!" cried a human one. "P-Please!"
Perkins glanced at Zane. "Well?"
Zane pointed his mace at the nearest pirate, who let out a shriek.
"Let the hostages go and w
e won't kill you," said the paladin firmly.
"R-Right away!" nodded the pirate, who frantically gestured for the captured people to move toward Zane and Perkins.
"Ye did it!" said Tomm as he and the other fifteen people crowded around them. The dwarf looking a bit sore but was smiling nonetheless. "Ya saved us!"
"We're not free quite yet," said Perkins, glancing up at the top of the stairs. The doors had been shut behind them and they could hear pounding. "I think they're trying to trap us down here."
"B-But that m-means we're trapped, t-too!" cried one of the pirates.
"Nothing to worry about," said Zane confidently. The man closed his eyes, offered his mace up to the roof, and said another prayer to Nera. Everyone looked on in astonishment as the mace suddenly glowed bright red.
Perkins and the others quietly watched as Zane slowly walked up the steps, eyeing the middle of the doors.
"If you're on the other side you might want to step back!" Zane shouted.
The banging immediately stopped. Zane gave them a few more seconds to leave, then he brought his hammer back. Twisting forward with all of his might, he brought the mace into and through the middle of the doors. There was a brief explosion of wood as the doors burst out and off of their hinges, along with all of the panels the pirates had been trying to hammer into the other side.
"Alright, everyone," said Perkins, waving for the hostages to climb the steps. "No pushing or shoving. You might want to, you know, be quick about it, though."
Zane led the way as the hostages filed in behind him and in front of Perkins. The remaining pirates had backed away, hoping Zane and Perkins wouldn't notice them. That is, except for one.
"No one makes a mockery of me and me crew!" shouted the pirate captain, jumping in front of Zane.
"Move," warned the paladin.
The pirate captain lunged forward with his scimitar aimed at Zane's neck. The paladin stepped to the side, brought his mace back, then smashed it into the pirate's outstretched arm. The scimitar rattled to the ground as the pirate captain lost the ability to use his arm. Zane kicked him in the chest, sending him to the floor and out of the way.