Post by Lord Rahl on May 2, 2011 23:55:03 GMT -5
She slipped through the darkness, quiet as the shadows that embraced her and shielded her from the eyes of the soldiers all around.
The wizard and the quad were right behind her. The quad remained quiet for the most part throughout the journey to the encampment, not joining in on their arguments, which occurred often. She had to admit, however, that she was impressed with his abilities. The sentries were spaced closely together and she doubted even she could have slipped in unseen, but the wizard had done something. He held them back in the darkness, raised his hand over them, and cast a "web," as he called it. He led them straight through the sentries and they went completely unnoticed.
She had, of course, considered capturing his magic, but he was on the same side as she, even if he was annoying. She would not want to disappoint Lord Rahl just because she disliked the wizard.
They had hunted down and found some prisoners from the previous attack and asked them what they knew. It turned out that the general, Alaric, was wounded from the battle with the quad. It seemed that it would be easier than she expected.
"Mistress Arya," he whispered from behind. "The command tents are to the right, down between those two tents there. I can sense the wizard. He will be at the command tents."
She nodded and took a right turn. "I am to take care of the wizard, as Lord Rahl said. You go after the general. Half of the quad will go with you, half with me."
"All right. I will go around from behind and enter the command area from the opposite side."
She nodded once more and the wizard, along with two members of the quad, peeled off and walked farther down the road that made it's way through the center of the camp before turning in towards the command tents as she was doing.
A little ways in she came across the first of them, a tent slightly larger than all of the others, with a bold stroke of blue paint across the side. She peeked in and saw a man sleeping, but he did not match the description of the wizard. She looked inside several others until she found one with a circle instead of a stroke. It was empty.
"Looking for me?"
She turned quickly, bringing her Agiel to hand, as she heard the two men with her silently drawing their blades. It was the wizard — she could tell by the robes he wore.
"No, I'm looking for a wizard, but you certainly can't be him. You are far too puny to be a wizard."
He smirked. Out of the darkness all around them, well armed men, D'Haran all, stepped out to block them in. They wore chainmail and dark leather, with crescent shaped axes at their belts, longswords at their hips, shortswords on their backs, maces, and in the case of several, loaded crossbows at hand. These were some of the best of the First File, men that had deserted and rebelled along with Alaric. They drew their weapons.
The two members of the quad took up defensive stances.
The blood bath began.
A blade arced through the air towards her, but she gripped the collar of a soldier running in with an axe, and heaved him in front of her. The soldier made contact with her attacker instead, knocking them both off balance. As she turned to meet the threat of another soldier wielding a shortsword, she heard the dull thud as the last hit the ground. He swung for her, but she ducked down under the blade and came up, bringing her Agiel to his chest. She twisted it, and he dropped to the ground, dead.
The quad members fought fiercely. She saw their blades meet flesh with every strike out of the corner of her eye, as she fended off the blades of the enemy soldiers. One grabbed her arm. She twisted around and slammed her Agiel into his ear, the twisting motion loosening the grip on her arm, which she then used to elbow him in the face. Strings of blood whipped through the air. She planted a foot on his stomach and pushed off in the other direction, using the momentum to grip the head of another soldier from behind while turning in mid-air, snapping his neck.
She turned and saw one of the quad members had fallen, a bolt from a crossbow jutting from the back of his head. She stayed ever vigilant, but it appeared that they were not trying to hit her with the crossbows, most likely preferring to keep her alive so they could get information out of her.
Out of no where, the ground in front of her looked to burst apart before her eyes, large hunks of rock flying through the group, most of it toward her. She ducked low to the ground and reached for the belt of a man attacking the living member of the quad, throwing him over her, shielding her from the spray of stone and killing him in the process. When she shoved him off, his face was a broken, bloody mess. She looked towards the wizard. It was he who had done that. He knew that he could not use his power on her directly, but he could still use it to hurt her. He was more clever than she had given him credit for.
As he swept his fist across in front of him, the ground began to break apart into chunks of flying rock again, but it was cut short when the wizard was the one sent flying back by powers unseen instead. She turned. Eris stood there behind her, an open hand raised towards the wizard. The other two members of the quad were there, fighting alongside them. She went for the wizard. Eris grabbed her arm.
"No! We must escape! Alaric is not here, I couldn't find him. The soldiers lied to us. He wasn't in his tent and if he was as hurt as they said, he wouldn't be in there."
She glared at him. "What do you mean, he isn't here? Why would they lie to us!"
He shook his head and pulled her along, away from the wizard, who was regaining his senses. The members of the quad fell in behind them.
"They're bringing reinforcements. Thousands of soldiers. We won't be able to defeat them. Our only chance is to run."
She knew he was right and nodded. But she wanted the wizard dead. A dark rage coursed through her. But before she could go for him again, Eris pulled her along and pushed her out in front of him, into an alley of sorts between tents. The members of the quad fought off the soldiers from behind and, having no where else to go, she scythed through the soldiers ahead of them, Eris casting spells behind her. Some of the men dropped to the ground, clutching their chests, before she could get to them. At the road through the camp she turned left, back in the direction of the palace.
It wasn't long before they were surrounded again. But this time there would be no fighting the soldiers off. There were too many. Eris raised both of his hands. A light ignited between his palms, and within moments a bright yellow flame sprang to life, growing, twisting into a sphere of liquid fire, yellow and blue as he sent it off towards the soldiers blocking their path. The deadly wail was enough to give even her a chill. She ignored the sounds of the men screeching in agony, the flames clinging to them, as she forced her way through the small clearing his fire had made.
But then the wizard showed up in front of them. And he looked angry. A flare of light streaked in front of her, past her, and at Eris. He raised a hand and the light curved upwards above him, before falling into the distance, where it caught tents aflame as it hit the ground.
The wizard raised his hand, clenched into a fist. Arya had to begin fighting off some of the soldiers who had managed to avoid being hit by the flames Eris had conjured. She heard a loud sound, almost like an explosion, and turned in time to see a bolt of lightning hit the ground some twenty feet in front of Eris. It jumped wildly about, off of some of the enemy soldiers, but then it came up behind Eris and, as he turned and raised his hand once more, struck him. Whatever he had done had caused it to miss him for the most part, but it still seared across his side, and it was obvious that he was in excruciating pain.
She ran to him and lifted him to his feet. "Eris! We must get out of here, now! Can't you do something to, I don't know, stun them all or something?"
He nodded. He raised both hands, palms down, and then brought them downward towards the ground, making fists of them as he did so. A powerful blast of wind hammered everybody other than them into the ground, knocking them from their feet and sending them sprawling. The men of the quad were long dead. She could tell that some of the soldiers were unconscious. She turned to grab him but he was on his knees.
"You have to go on without me. I can't make it, not with this injury. Return to Lord Rahl and tell him what happened. I have another task to complete, anyway."
She knew what he spoke of. Despite her dislike for the wizard, he had saved her life. Perhaps he wasn't so bad. "I cannot leave you. You have to come with me. Lord Rahl didn't want you to get captured, he just said you might. He was just telling you what to do if you did."
The wizard shook his head. "Lord Rahl would never ask me to submit myself to that torture, but he needs this. I know he does. I must do what I can for him. Please, Arya, go to him and tell him."
She glared at him for a moment and then looked the other way. The wizard was beginning to stir.
"Fine. But someone will come back for you."
He smiled and said that that would be fine with him, though she knew that he could tell she was lying. Even if somebody did come back for him, the chances of them succeeding at freeing him would be slim.
She ran as fast as possible towards the makeshift stables she had seen near the entrance to the camp, looking back to see Eris, still on his knees, sweeping his arms through the air, newly arriving soldiers cut down with every motion he made. She looked back to where she was heading. She needed to focus if she was to escape, now.
The wizard and the quad were right behind her. The quad remained quiet for the most part throughout the journey to the encampment, not joining in on their arguments, which occurred often. She had to admit, however, that she was impressed with his abilities. The sentries were spaced closely together and she doubted even she could have slipped in unseen, but the wizard had done something. He held them back in the darkness, raised his hand over them, and cast a "web," as he called it. He led them straight through the sentries and they went completely unnoticed.
She had, of course, considered capturing his magic, but he was on the same side as she, even if he was annoying. She would not want to disappoint Lord Rahl just because she disliked the wizard.
They had hunted down and found some prisoners from the previous attack and asked them what they knew. It turned out that the general, Alaric, was wounded from the battle with the quad. It seemed that it would be easier than she expected.
"Mistress Arya," he whispered from behind. "The command tents are to the right, down between those two tents there. I can sense the wizard. He will be at the command tents."
She nodded and took a right turn. "I am to take care of the wizard, as Lord Rahl said. You go after the general. Half of the quad will go with you, half with me."
"All right. I will go around from behind and enter the command area from the opposite side."
She nodded once more and the wizard, along with two members of the quad, peeled off and walked farther down the road that made it's way through the center of the camp before turning in towards the command tents as she was doing.
A little ways in she came across the first of them, a tent slightly larger than all of the others, with a bold stroke of blue paint across the side. She peeked in and saw a man sleeping, but he did not match the description of the wizard. She looked inside several others until she found one with a circle instead of a stroke. It was empty.
"Looking for me?"
She turned quickly, bringing her Agiel to hand, as she heard the two men with her silently drawing their blades. It was the wizard — she could tell by the robes he wore.
"No, I'm looking for a wizard, but you certainly can't be him. You are far too puny to be a wizard."
He smirked. Out of the darkness all around them, well armed men, D'Haran all, stepped out to block them in. They wore chainmail and dark leather, with crescent shaped axes at their belts, longswords at their hips, shortswords on their backs, maces, and in the case of several, loaded crossbows at hand. These were some of the best of the First File, men that had deserted and rebelled along with Alaric. They drew their weapons.
The two members of the quad took up defensive stances.
The blood bath began.
A blade arced through the air towards her, but she gripped the collar of a soldier running in with an axe, and heaved him in front of her. The soldier made contact with her attacker instead, knocking them both off balance. As she turned to meet the threat of another soldier wielding a shortsword, she heard the dull thud as the last hit the ground. He swung for her, but she ducked down under the blade and came up, bringing her Agiel to his chest. She twisted it, and he dropped to the ground, dead.
The quad members fought fiercely. She saw their blades meet flesh with every strike out of the corner of her eye, as she fended off the blades of the enemy soldiers. One grabbed her arm. She twisted around and slammed her Agiel into his ear, the twisting motion loosening the grip on her arm, which she then used to elbow him in the face. Strings of blood whipped through the air. She planted a foot on his stomach and pushed off in the other direction, using the momentum to grip the head of another soldier from behind while turning in mid-air, snapping his neck.
She turned and saw one of the quad members had fallen, a bolt from a crossbow jutting from the back of his head. She stayed ever vigilant, but it appeared that they were not trying to hit her with the crossbows, most likely preferring to keep her alive so they could get information out of her.
Out of no where, the ground in front of her looked to burst apart before her eyes, large hunks of rock flying through the group, most of it toward her. She ducked low to the ground and reached for the belt of a man attacking the living member of the quad, throwing him over her, shielding her from the spray of stone and killing him in the process. When she shoved him off, his face was a broken, bloody mess. She looked towards the wizard. It was he who had done that. He knew that he could not use his power on her directly, but he could still use it to hurt her. He was more clever than she had given him credit for.
As he swept his fist across in front of him, the ground began to break apart into chunks of flying rock again, but it was cut short when the wizard was the one sent flying back by powers unseen instead. She turned. Eris stood there behind her, an open hand raised towards the wizard. The other two members of the quad were there, fighting alongside them. She went for the wizard. Eris grabbed her arm.
"No! We must escape! Alaric is not here, I couldn't find him. The soldiers lied to us. He wasn't in his tent and if he was as hurt as they said, he wouldn't be in there."
She glared at him. "What do you mean, he isn't here? Why would they lie to us!"
He shook his head and pulled her along, away from the wizard, who was regaining his senses. The members of the quad fell in behind them.
"They're bringing reinforcements. Thousands of soldiers. We won't be able to defeat them. Our only chance is to run."
She knew he was right and nodded. But she wanted the wizard dead. A dark rage coursed through her. But before she could go for him again, Eris pulled her along and pushed her out in front of him, into an alley of sorts between tents. The members of the quad fought off the soldiers from behind and, having no where else to go, she scythed through the soldiers ahead of them, Eris casting spells behind her. Some of the men dropped to the ground, clutching their chests, before she could get to them. At the road through the camp she turned left, back in the direction of the palace.
It wasn't long before they were surrounded again. But this time there would be no fighting the soldiers off. There were too many. Eris raised both of his hands. A light ignited between his palms, and within moments a bright yellow flame sprang to life, growing, twisting into a sphere of liquid fire, yellow and blue as he sent it off towards the soldiers blocking their path. The deadly wail was enough to give even her a chill. She ignored the sounds of the men screeching in agony, the flames clinging to them, as she forced her way through the small clearing his fire had made.
But then the wizard showed up in front of them. And he looked angry. A flare of light streaked in front of her, past her, and at Eris. He raised a hand and the light curved upwards above him, before falling into the distance, where it caught tents aflame as it hit the ground.
The wizard raised his hand, clenched into a fist. Arya had to begin fighting off some of the soldiers who had managed to avoid being hit by the flames Eris had conjured. She heard a loud sound, almost like an explosion, and turned in time to see a bolt of lightning hit the ground some twenty feet in front of Eris. It jumped wildly about, off of some of the enemy soldiers, but then it came up behind Eris and, as he turned and raised his hand once more, struck him. Whatever he had done had caused it to miss him for the most part, but it still seared across his side, and it was obvious that he was in excruciating pain.
She ran to him and lifted him to his feet. "Eris! We must get out of here, now! Can't you do something to, I don't know, stun them all or something?"
He nodded. He raised both hands, palms down, and then brought them downward towards the ground, making fists of them as he did so. A powerful blast of wind hammered everybody other than them into the ground, knocking them from their feet and sending them sprawling. The men of the quad were long dead. She could tell that some of the soldiers were unconscious. She turned to grab him but he was on his knees.
"You have to go on without me. I can't make it, not with this injury. Return to Lord Rahl and tell him what happened. I have another task to complete, anyway."
She knew what he spoke of. Despite her dislike for the wizard, he had saved her life. Perhaps he wasn't so bad. "I cannot leave you. You have to come with me. Lord Rahl didn't want you to get captured, he just said you might. He was just telling you what to do if you did."
The wizard shook his head. "Lord Rahl would never ask me to submit myself to that torture, but he needs this. I know he does. I must do what I can for him. Please, Arya, go to him and tell him."
She glared at him for a moment and then looked the other way. The wizard was beginning to stir.
"Fine. But someone will come back for you."
He smiled and said that that would be fine with him, though she knew that he could tell she was lying. Even if somebody did come back for him, the chances of them succeeding at freeing him would be slim.
She ran as fast as possible towards the makeshift stables she had seen near the entrance to the camp, looking back to see Eris, still on his knees, sweeping his arms through the air, newly arriving soldiers cut down with every motion he made. She looked back to where she was heading. She needed to focus if she was to escape, now.