"Hey! I'm not complainin'!" Evie shouted, leaping over the mage to hurl a dagger at a Paladin. The blade tripled in weight the moment it left Evie's hand, slamming hard into their eye. They fell without making a sound. "Now get movin' lady! You and your people, into the wagon!"
Most of the wagons were abandoned at that point, but the first two were laden with food and drink, just as they had planned. Legionnaires and Giants had all emerged from the wagons, bursting them apart in some cases and driving even more of the Squires and lingering Paladins back in woozy alarm. Lightning crackled across the parade grounds as members of Arclight brought their magic to bear, while swords and maces and hammers swung out, engaging the enemy in an all out brawl.
"Stop! Stop, damn you!" Darius hollered, pulling several of the Legionnaires back forcefully. "Follow the plan!"
Evie wove among them all, getting everyone moving while distracting the remaining zealots. And she was very distracting. Her chain flitted among the ranks, slashing open leather armor and bashing metal as she increased and reduced its weight by turns. Silver spears flew among the crowd as well, though Vess was more directly contending with another squad that had emerged from within the wall. The heiress was almost overwhelmed, if not for Harn's axes cutting through two of the Paladins in quick succession.
Scorpion's Tail!
Evie's chain snaked out, wrapping around another Paladin's leg and she hauled back with all her Strength. In the midst of running, the chain twisted him about despite his own clearly sizeable stat. Another thrown dagger ended him as well, and Evie noticed the ghostly flame above his head vanish.
Scorpion's Tail is level 65!
Thrown Weapon Mastery is level 52!
"What is that?" she asked.
"That leader of theirs used a Skill to purify their Status Conditions," Zara hissed. She swept her hand to the side and a wave of blue-green Mana bowled over twenty armored figures, slamming them hard into the fortifications. "We do not have time to dawdle. That means you too, Miss Aren."
"Yeah, yeah."
Evie followed at speed.
Felix tore back through the sundered portcullis, each step shattering the road beneath him as he hurled his Body forward. Still, Squires atop the battlements took potshots at him, crossbows twanging into the night, and forcing him to swerve a couple times. He had no idea if those bolts could pierce his skin, but Felix wasn't willing to find out.
Adamant Discord!
Lines of lightning ignited in the air, snapping to life between him and exactly thirteen Squires atop the fortifications. With a grunt of effort, he hauled on every single link, turning it to steel in his hands. Thirteen Squires were simultaneously yanked from the battlements, their cries of fear and surprise lasting only a moment before they hit the hard flagstones.
You Have Defeated A Squire Of The Pathless (x9)!
XP Earned!
You Have Killed A Squire Of The Pathless (x4)!
XP Earned!
Felix grimaced at the messages, slowing his pace just a touch. Fuck. Why couldn't you all just go to sleep?
A crash and clatter behind him made Felix whirl, only to find Gregis and three other Paladins staggering to a halt through the gate. The captain snarled, first in anger and then in outrage as he spied the retreating forms of Felix's company.
"That Palin woman! She was involved with your treachery! I'll skin her and leave her bones to the desert!" His Spirit buzzed with violent discord, unveiling itself and pushing down on Felix with all of his might.
It tickled, at little.
Relentless Resolution!
Adamant Discord!
Shadow Whip!
Dual Casting is level 51!
...
Dual Casting is level 56!
Felix burst forward, his movement Skill mixed with the burst of lightning from behind. He charged straight at the captain. The men lifted his burning greatsword, ready for the impact which would never come. As Felix neared, he juked around the man, flicking tendrils of shadow Mana from his palms and hitting the three other Paladins. He grasped their breastplates, and kept running, pulling them all off their feet with exclamations of outrage.
"Get off me!"
"Spy bastard!"
"You got it," Felix grunted, stopping and twisting. The tendrils snapped taut, spinning about him in a sharp arc and releasing the spell all at once, sending the three Paladins flying off the road and into the forest below. "Bye!"
The sound if ice breaking apart made Felix clench his jaw. Running out of time. He looked back to find the captain again, and a growl escaped his lips. Gregis, for all his faults, wasn't stupid enough to wait for Felix to come back. Instead, the man was running after the wagons, calling out to whatever forces were left within the fort.
Dammit!
Felix turned and ran after him, flaring Adamant Discord to pull the idiot off his feet and back into the parade grounds. It worked, and Gregis screamed as he flipped, ass over teakettle, to land in a pile at the center of the space.
Behind him, the rumble of newly-freed Paladins sounded along the road, all of them racing back. Huffing a frustrated breath, Felix called to his core space. Affinity sang, Intent shaped, and Stone followed, rocketing up from the flagstones and forming into a solid wall of sandstone he shaped up and over the Bogfeld-side gate.
"There. That'll do it, I think," Felix said, a bit out of breath. He'd spent a lot of Mana and Stamina in the last few minutes. "Now, for you"
The captain rammed into him, sword first.
"Move! Faster!" Lord Darius shouted from just outside the gates, and everyone raced to follow. Loquis' group hustled to keep up, none of them with the sort of Bodies designed for physical exertion, all of them heavily panting and sweating. It was full night now, but it felt hotter than ever, and the Half-Orc had to mop sweat from his brow with the edge of his battlerobes.
That was when he saw the leatherclad Squires creeping from a side hatch. Human, they looked no older than himself and just as frightened. Their eyes met.
"SQUIRES!" Loquis shouted, followed by the crackle of his most powerful Skill. "Fulminate!"
Lightning sparked outward, blue-white and fierce, striking one of the Squires dead in their chest.
Fulminate is level 31!
You Have Killed A Squire Of The Pathless!
XP Earned!
Loquis stared at the charred body for a second too long. His team shot off weaker Flashbolts, but they largely missed the other Squire, who had just enough time to kick free the wedge that held the portcullis winch secure.
Right onto an entire wagon full of people.
"No!"
Loquis shouted, his hands outstretched as if he could stop it when, miraculously, it did stop. A pair of huge blue hands held onto its frame, only a handspan from piercing several Henaair and Legionnaires. Amazed looks passed among everyone, a brief pause as their hearts hammered in their chests.