3
It was late at night when they came upon the carriage parked in front of an old mansion—a solid two-story building surrounded by a fence. The knight told them that all the Valis citizens in this area had evacuated to the city of Adan to escape the war, and the carriage’s occupant probably knew that this building would therefore be empty when choosing a place to stop. The horses were sleeping in the straw under the eaves.
“We’re lucky—they don’t expect us,” Slayn whispered. He muttered a phrase to extinguish his magical light. Deedlit released her light elemental, which flickered a few times and disappeared into the night.
“What should we do now, Sir Knight?” Parn asked, quietly drawing his sword as he threw with a sideways glance at the Holy Knight.
“No need for tricks. If we rush in and surprise them while they’re asleep, we have a good chance of victory.”
The knight squared up, staring at the entrance, and tried to get his breathing under control.
It was eerily quiet, with no sound but the faint clink of their armor. A shaft of light shone through a crack in the door—it seemed there was a lookout just inside.
The knight advanced cautiously, followed closely by Parn, Ghim, and Deedlit. The other three trailed further behind.
“Be careful,” Slayn whispered. His palms were damp with sweat…and who could blame him? They were about to challenge a wizard far more powerful than he.
Once they were close to the door, the knight brandished his sword and broke into a run. The sound woke the horses, and they startled with a shrill whinny.
The knight didn’t hesitate—he used his momentum to kick down the door and leapt inside. Parn and Deedlit followed, and Ghim jumped through a moment behind.
The two lookouts clearly weren’t expecting an attack—they stared blankly at their attackers for a moment, then scrambled for their swords.
“Deed and I will take these two—you and Ghim go upstairs!” Parn shouted as he readied his shield. He measured up the lookout on the left and provoked him with a flourish of his sword. Deedlit circled to the right and thrust her rapier toward the other man. By the time they crossed swords, the Valis knight and Ghim were already running up the stairs.
The second floor was a gallery corridor jutting out along the wall above the large first floor room. There were five doors lined up on the right.
One of those doors opened, and a woman in nightclothes swayed out.
Karla snapped awake to the sound of the horses whinnying. She hadn’t expected an attack, but she wasn’t unprepared.
Valis soldiers?
She tossed her blanket aside and grasped the ivory gown she had laid out to wear over her sleep clothes. She heard thundering footsteps approaching before she even managed to tie the sash.
Karla opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, glad she’d left the lights on. One of the Valis knights from earlier that day had somehow survived and was charging up the stairs toward her. A dwarf with a battle axe followed close at his heels. She knew she had to stay calm. The knight was likely the more formidable of the two, considering he’d survived what she was sure was a fatal attack. She had to be wary.
I’ll use my most powerful magic to smite him. Karla raised both hands and waved them in a complex pattern, chanting in the ancient language.
“Mana is the source of all. All is born from mana, all is connected through mana, all returns to mana!” Her spell complete, she flung her hands toward the knight.
Blinding light shot from her hands and struck him right in the chest. His body shone with iridescent brilliance, then burst into a sparkling mist. When it dissipated, his body—as well as his armor and sword—had all faded into nothingness.
Ghim’s eyes widened in shock, but he didn’t flinch. He didn’t give her enough time to cast another spell—he swung at her head with the flat of his axe.
But she anticipated his attack—she deftly jumped backwards, pulled herself together, and started another spell. While she was chanting, Ghim prepared to leap at her, glaring as he aimed carefully, knowing he could attack before she completed her spell.
However, when he looked at her face, he froze, mouth agape.
She looks just like her…
The sorceress completed her spell, and a white mist rose around Ghim, surrounding him. He instantly slumped forward, unconscious.
“Ghim!” Slayn yelled from where he stood on the first floor. He knew it was futile but rushed to cast Sleep Cloud nevertheless.
Karla’s attention was drawn to the wizard downstairs, who seemed to be trying to cast a spell on her—a lower class version of the narcosis spell she’d just used. The two mercenaries she’d stationed downstairs as lookouts had already been defeated—a young warrior and an elf maiden were heading upstairs. Down below, she could see some kind of priest giving them assistance, as well as a thief who seemed to be looking for a place to hide.
She decided she didn’t need to kill these intruders—instead, she cast the same spell she’d already used on the dwarf. White mist arose again, spreading down the stairs and across the first floor.
Etoh knew a spell had been cast upon him, so he asked for Pharis’s divine protection under his breath and willed himself to stay conscious. The magic swirled, and he heard Parn and Deedlit collapse at the top of the stairs, while Slayn fell in a heap. Woodchuck didn’t fall, as he’d already huddled in a hiding place, but Etoh had to assume he was asleep, too.
Etoh felt his body grow heavy. He staggered to his knees and crumpled from there. He summoned every ounce of willpower he possessed to keep his consciousness from descending into darkness.
His vision was blurry, and he couldn’t feel his fingers. It was like his senses had fragmented. There was no pain, but he prayed to Pharis that this loss of sensation wouldn’t overwhelm him.