The group jogged quickly through the streets as they headed for the village gates. Gai led the way with the hunter followed by Marco and the big hunter with a bow on his back. The rest followed with Rastel and Ann holding the rear. As mages, they were not fast to begin with and considering their strong fire power, they were in charge of blasting to bits any idiot that came too close, just to keep the chase realistic.
"There they are, the bastards are really going for the gates!" a voice shouted from behind them.
"That will be the cue for my boys then?" the shifty man cackled silently to himself
"We better pick up the pace" the big hunter suggested.
The group immediately made a dash for the gates as suddenly, tens of raging men with bows and swords suddenly appeared from different streets and corners. At the head of each of them was a man armed with a small bow and they were all skillfully firing shots into the raging crowd behind them without ever fully turning around.
"Damn!" Rastel laughed at the scene as the goons never seemed to be able to get a hit on any of the men. They were too far for swords and moved too unpredictably for arrows!
They quickly ran past the group and went out of the gates disappearing into the forest. The group was left with a very angry, very well armed group on their heels.
"On the double!" the big hunter yelled as the group suddenly found themselves running for their lives!
They could probably win if they turned around and fought the 50 or so men chasing after them but there would be casualties and they could not afford that. Rastel and Ann found themselves stopping to throw the occasional fire ball into the crowd. It worked the first two times, but the group quickly spaced out and continued the chase. They were already outside the gate and there was an abundance of space for them to maneuver.
"Look at them, they actually got smarter" Rastel cursed as he threw a fire ball at an approaching archer who used the distance to successfully gauge the trajectory and run away.
Ann laughed at his grumbling but she wasn't having much luck either, an approaching swordsman jumped to the side and rolled as he narrowly dodged the spell she casted.
"I guess its okay if we stop wasting mana now, they get the message I think" she said as she focused on running.
Rastel threw one more fireball before picking up his speed too. The group soon entered the forest and were out of view but the men still expectedly, chased after them.
"Follow me and walk in a straight line, there will be traps nearby and I don't want any of you falling into them." The hunter leading the group said.
They all suddenly arranged in a straight line and kept on moving quickly. After a while, they could hear bustling and yelling from the men chasing them, they had entered the forest!
As they cut through the forest, they quickly reached an area that looked more and more familiar to Rastel, it was where the ambush occurred! This was where he challenged the mage and his hired mercenaries to a fight!
"Anytime now and we will hear some good music" one of the female hunters giggled ominously.
And true to her words it didn't take long. It started with one scream then there was a pause, soon multitude screams and yelps of pain echoed through the forest.
Not been able to hold back his curiosity, Rastel asked.
"What is happening?"
"Just a few bear traps we had put in place to give them a nice welcome" one of the men chuckled grimly as he ran.
The men screamed out bloody murder and curses so vile even Rastel with his vast experience winced. He suddenly thought of a problem as he quickly asked the same man.
"Hey, if they know there are traps ahead they can just retreat, can't they?" he asked with concern.
"Not exactly" the man smiled again.
It was then Rastel realized they were not alone. A few figures could be seen under the moonlight dashing through the foliage beside them.
"A few of the hunters in the village were hidden in the forest to wait for our arrival. We didn't have enough men to put up a decent fight before but after what you summoned did 2 nights ago, we are sure to win if we level the playing field a bit. A few well placed arrows would egg them on a bit." The man replied enthusiastically.
They soon reached a clear space that looked like the forest around there was burned down, an after effect of the mage's fire wall spell in the previous battle. They stopped there and turned to face the oncoming crowd.
Even though a few of their numbers were cut down, the charging men still had zeal and rage in their eyes as they saw the waiting group. A bit over forty of the fifty something men remained as they charged the small group of fourteen.
"Seems like they still outnumber us about 2 to 1" the big hunter said as he took off his bow.
"2 to 1?" Marco asked confused as he unsheathed his sword.
At that moment, seven men and women emerged from the foliage each holding a pair of bows and arrows. They gave quickly shared it among the remaining hunters who armed themselves and took aim. The small wiry man took out a pair of daggers from his waist as he held them ready, cackling slightly to himself. The old man on the other hand took off into the bushes like nobody's business, he had no place in this fight.
Gai and Rastel stood at the front looking at the approaching group.
" '2 to 1' he said" Rastel laughed as he readied a spell.
"Don't get in my way" Gai steeled his eyes as he jumped into the incoming mob!
Rastel watched amused as he launched a fire slash towards an incoming trio before taking a step back to ready another spell as Marco dashed past him to intercept the men. Gai was like a beast as he engaged three swordsmen at the same time, punching, kicking and weaving through their attacks barehanded.
Rastel decided to stick with Ann as they satisfied themselves with picking off the archers at the back. With help from the hunters, they would quickly finish them off.
A hunter at the back was chuckling happily despite himself as he accurately got one of them in the throat. He wasn't a violent man but his months of tolerance finally found an outlet and he was all too happy to oblige. He remembered as one of the men had forcefully taken his niece away, she was found two days later in an abandoned alley with her clothes torn and bruises all over her body. With vicious anger, he fired another arrow!
He was about to string another one when he suddenly felt a fiery pain in his chest. He felt like he had a fever as his eyes suddenly clouded over and he slumped to the ground!
"Dalan!" one of the women screamed as she turned and fired an arrow at the figure moving away from the hunter's body.
Her scream caught everybody's attention and Rastel turned his head just in time to see the hunter he had been talking to earlier slump down like a wet sack of sand with red staining his chest.
Rastel felt an indescribable cold feeling gripping his chest, seeing someone he had just talked to earlier die. He looked at the retreating shadow that had done the deed before he turned and dashed towards it!
The shadow seemingly undisturbed about it's deed slithered towards the sobbing woman firing arrows at it. The remaining hunters were also now adjusting their aim to turn it into a pincushion, but they were too late.
With a muffled sob, the woman saw the blade flash in her eyes as it plunged into her chest. She felt the feverish cold and fiery pain for just a second before her eyes turned over and she fell, dead.
"ARRGH!!!!"
"DAMN YOU!"
Two sets of screams echoed out as the big hunter and Rastel dashed towards the shadow's position! Whoever that was had to die!
The streets of laron were empty and desolate. There was no sign of any activity and the silence should have been absolute, should have. The slow footsteps echoing betrayed the silence as two figures calmly walked towards the village hall. The had gone straight to the main entrance and had walked through the courtyard. There was a guard left behind by the rest, probably asleep when the action started.
The taller figure didn't even pause and kept walking, the shorter one on the other hand gave a look at the confused guard who seemed to be hesitating on whether to attack. A second later, he had no more doubts as a silent spell pierced through his chest.
The two figures kept walking as they climbed the short stairs towards the door to the main hall. The taller figure pushed it open and walked through as the shorter one closed the door behind. The hall was lit by the moonlight passing through the high glass windows all around the walls. It illuminated the murals on the walls and pillars covered with vines in a breathtakingly calm scene.
In a corner, a bed stood as a female elf stirred under the sheets, she raised her head and looked at the intruders in shock but quickly regained her composure as she looked at the man standing in the middle of the hall.
With his baggy trousers and tight vest, the leader stared calmly at the two figures while leaning on his sword stabbed into the clay tiles before him. One was an old man with dark skin sporting a dark mage's robe. The other was a dark skin girl with cold eyes dressed in a light blue mage's robe.
The old man looked calm and leisurely, almost like he was talking a stroll as he stood before the leader and regarded him with a leveled gaze.
"You must be the one they call Piety"