Dungeon Noble - Squire

Ari waited to keep watch over the outpost as the rest of them withdrew to a safe distance. They didn’t set up camp; it was too risky, but they settled in to wait as the afternoon slowly crept by.

Jake had done a lot of waiting, but the anticipation of what was coming left a chunk of ice in his gut, and he found himself mulling over the same few details almost obsessively.

The plan was simple, as they knew too little for anything more complex, but that wasn’t necessarily good.

“It’s time,” Felix said, getting to his feet and moving his pack into a nearby bush. “Leave everything not essential here. If you get the chance, return this way once you have Nepthys. All being well, Ari and I will meet you here and move on as a group.”

They all nodded and followed suit, leaving behind everything that they wouldn’t need to fight.

“When should we move in?” Jake asked as he ensured his wand and sword sat properly in their sheaths.

“When Ari and I engage their heavy hitters,” Felix said with the ghost of a smile on his lips. “You will know when it happens if Ari has anything to do with it.”

“Understood, we’ll be ready,” Jake said with far more confidence than he felt.

“Of that, I have no doubt,” Felix said, sweeping his gaze over them one last time before giving an approving nod and setting off into the woods at a steady lope.

“Well, I suppose we better get moving then,” Jake said into the tense silence that followed Felix’s exit. “If this is going to work, we’ll need to act quickly.”

To Jake’s surprise, the other three nodded and followed his lead, looking reassured by his words. He’d been taking the lead with their positioning and how to tackle the various fights in the Dungeons, but that felt a long way from what they were doing now.

Part of Jake wanted to confess that, to say that he had no more of a clue of what to do than they did, but he dared not. Even his rudimentary understanding of tactics told him that doing that without cause was stupid.

Taking control of his thoughts with an iron grip, Jake led the way carefully and quietly through the woods, circling around to the rear of the outpost. They were committed now. It was time to see this through.

-**-

Dusk was well and truly upon them when the diversion began. A shout of alarm came on the wind from the front of the outpost, followed by a scream and the tortured cry of metal being rent asunder.

Jake and his friends were waiting just back from the edge of the tree line, as hidden as they could be with what little preparation they had. As soon as they heard the diversion begin, they started forward.

One of the patrols had been nearby and was already racing to the front of the outpost, and thankfully, there was no sign of the two guards walking the walls. It was the perfect opportunity, and Jake was eager to take it.

The wall around the outpost was about head height, so Jake took a knee and boosted the others up and over before Karl helped him clamber over.

For all their efforts at stealth, they made more noise than Jake would have liked, but thankfully, the growing clamour of battle seemed to have masked it.

A small raised path ran around the interior of the wall, with a ramp leading down only a few feet away. The ramp would put them behind what looked like the storage depot of the outpost, which was only two buildings away from their target.

According to Felix, the holding cells in a Triarchy outpost were kept separate from everything else, and he’d pointed out the likely building to them. They’d picked their entry point based on that, so Jake could only hope that Felix was right.

“Come on, this way,” Jake moved quickly down the ramp from the walkway and over to the rear of the large supply depot. “Alan, any sight of the patrols?”

“Nothing yet,” the Scholar said in a voice tight with tension. “I’ll let you know as soon as I do.”

“Alright, let’s get closer and see what we can find,” Jake said, gripping the hilt of his sword tight as he crept up to the edge of the building. He hadn’t drawn his blade yet for fear of moonlight hitting it and giving them away, but he was poised and ready if something happened.

Reaching the corner, Jake peered around to see the centre of the outpost, his eyes going wide as he saw the wreckage of the gate that had stood at the front. That metal sound they heard earlier must have been either Ari or Felix breaking it down.

The centre of the camp was a bustling mess of activity, with guards rushing around in response to the attack, but none of their attention seemed focused their way.

Waving for the others to follow, Jake crossed the gap to the next building and repeated the move, peering around the corner to see the doors of their target unguarded.

“Wait,” Alan said abruptly, gripping Jake’s arm before nodding to a pool of shadow next to the walkway. “There’s something there. It almost looks like a person?”

Jake began to shake Alan off; they were too close now to get distracted, but as the Scholar’s words sank in, he felt his gut twist.

Something was wrong here. They should have seen the guards patrolling the interior by now, and he knew that Ari and Felix hadn’t intended to take them out.

Jake had been working on the assumption that they’d been near the gate and just swept up in the diversion, but as he peered at the shape hidden in the shadows, he grew increasingly convinced that that wasn’t the case.

“Both of you should wait here, I think something’s wrong,” Jake said, glancing back to Karl and Rhew before tapping Alan on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s take a look.”

The two of them stole across to the pool of shadows that Alan had noticed, and sure enough, they found a Triarchy guard stuffed into the corner with his throat slit.

“What the fuck is going on?” Jake whispered as he eyed their surroundings.

“Jake, the blood is still wet,” Alan said hoarsely as he half-raised his bow and his eyes flashed with Wyrd. “I don’t see any sign of the killers, but I don’t like this.”

“Me neither,” Jake said, drawing his sword despite his worry over being spotted. His gut was telling him that they were in danger and every moment could matter. “Let’s push on. I want to get out of here as fast as we can.”

Karl and Rhew watched with concerned expressions as Jake and Alan hurried back and explained what they’d seen. None of them knew what exactly was happening, but anything out of the ordinary was likely related to Nepthys, which meant they had to hurry.

Moving down to the entrance of their potential target, Jake felt his heart pound as he waited for any of the guards in the distance to look their way. If they did, this whole thing was about to get a lot more interesting.

Thankfully, whatever Ari and Felix were doing outside was enough to hold the attention of all the guards, and Jake was able to open the door and rush inside.

Jake had been prepared for a few guards and was poised to infuse his blade, but instead, he felt himself pass through a bubble of foreign Wyrd with little resistance.

As soon as he did, a wall of sound washed over Jake, and the air was filled with grunts, curses, and cries for help. At the same time, Jake stared in surprise at the battle he’d just walked into.

Four guards lay motionless on the floor, their blood pooling beneath them, while two more still stood and fought against a single intruder wearing a white mask with a black design. Both guards were bloodied but were fighting hard, yet it was clear they were losing.

The masked classer was clad in dark clothes and wore no armour, but despite that, they seemed mostly uninjured. The reason why was clear as they darted in, the two bloody daggers they wielded darting out to slice and cut.

Spotting Jake, the masked fighter leapt back from the guards and glanced over to assess Jake and his friends. “Where does Fate lead us?”

Jake hesitated, caught by surprise by the question. As soon as Jake didn’t immediately answer, the attacker flicked a dagger at him before engaging the guards once more with increased ferocity.

Hours of practice dodging acid spit let Jake twist out of the way, but Karl grunted in pain as he came in behind him and caught the dagger in his shoulder.

One of the Triarchy guards fell, clutching his throat and gurgling, while the other backed away and hacked at his comrade’s killer. Any attempt at technique was gone as the guard’s sword glowed with Wyrd, and he tried desperately to keep the masked classer at bay.

Alan had an arrow nocked, and Rhew had raised her wand, but there was a slight moment of hesitation that any Strovian would feel before coming to the aid of a trike.

Still, the guard wasn’t the greatest threat right now, and the masked classer had made his position clear.

Hefting his shield and activating his Skill to infuse his sword, Jake charged forward to save the guard.