Realm of Monsters - Chapter 664: Attack in the Trade District
Chapter 664: Attack in the Trade District
People screamed and ran as arrows shot out from the rooftops of the trade street. Some were merchants, a few even nobles. Their guards raised shields to protect their charges. A few arrows slipped past and sank into their limbs or chest. The guards cried out in pain as the arrow sizzled in their flesh. Their bodies seized up and they collapsed as their veins turned a sickly green.
“What is that…?” Stryg muttered from behind a stall. He cycled through various alchemical potions and poisons he had learned or read about in books at the academy, yet none of them matched the type of poison coating the arrows.
“Keep your head down!” Gale shoved him underneath the stall. “Focus on calling for help.”
“I already called Rhian and told her to get help,” Stryg said.
“How long until they get here?” Gale asked.
“I don’t know. It’s not a two-way communication,” Stryg said.
“A little help here!” Tauri yelled as she flung a fireball at one of the cloaked archers at the edge of a roof.
The archer ducked as the fireball exploded. The smoke settled and the archer reappeared with another arrow notched. Tauri pulled back just in time, the arrow narrowly missing her and landing right behind the stall. It burned the ground with its acid, leaving a dark splotch.
“I don’t get it. I thought I got him,” Tauri said.
“Then stop missing.” Gale peeked out from the stall and were fired off a bolt of lightning. It ripped through the roof’s edge and struck the archer true. His cloak flickered and lit up a bright blue for a brief moment, then he was there still, unharmed, as if the lightning bolt was a mere illusion.
Two more arrows fired off and Gale pulled back.
“You were saying?” Tauri cocked an eyebrow.
“I hit him, I know I did,” Gale muttered in frustration.
“Is it just me or are you guys seeing doubles?” Stryg stared at another archer.
“I said keep your head down!” Gale yanked him back by his collar. Stryg hissed at her, but Gale hissed right back. “They’re here for you. Don’t you get that!?”
“So what? Doesn’t mean I can’t shoot back at them!” Stryg said.
“Stryg’s right,” Tauri added.
Stryg smiled triumphantly. “See?”
Gale tried to turn on her, but the stall was too cramped. She settled for turning her head. “I’m not letting my ward endanger himself just to try and kill a single assassin.”
“No, not that,” Tauri said.
“Huh?” Stryg blinked.”
“Although Stryg is still an Ebon Aspirant, he can handle himself,” Tauri added.
“He’s only a master mage, not an archmage, not even a high master,” Gale said.
“Yeah, and he’s got three or four times our mana reserves combined. Let him shoot a couple of fireballs,” Tauri said.
“No,” Gale said adamantly.
“Whatever, not the point. I meant Stryg is right about the archers. It’s like there are several of them in one place,” Tauri said.
Gale peeked out from the stall’s edge and glanced at several different archers. “You’re right… Is it some kind of illusion magic?”
“We can’t just stay here, we need to move,” Tauri said.
Gale cursed under her breath. “Alright. Stryg, can you create some illusions to give us cover?”
“We won’t get far. Do you hear that?” Stryg closed his eyes.
“The dying?” Gale asked.
“No, the footsteps,” Stryg said. “They’re getting further away. Everyone who didn’t get shot has already left this street. But all the archers are still here. Meaning they’re waiting for us to come out to kill us.”
“Wait, how do you know all the archers are still out there?” Tauri asked.
“I’ve been listening to their breathing. It took me a bit to drown out the screams and hone in on them, but I’ve got them now,” Stryg said.
Tauri grinned at Stryg’s droopy, pointed ears. “Never thought I’d be so happy for your sharp hearing.”
“How many are there?” Gale asked.
Stryg furrowed his brow. “Fourteen. Seven on the roofs. Seven others on the ground. They’re blocking both sides of the street. We’re cut off.”
“Either of you remember seeing any nearby alleyways?” Gale asked.
“No,” Tauri said.
“Don’t think so,” Stryg replied.
Gale took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay. When I say go, Stryg, you’re going to make illusion decoys. We run out with the illusions and head towards the northern bridge.”
“What about the enemies blocking our way?” Stryg asked.
“I’m going to break through their line. Tauri, I need you to get Stryg out of here as fast as you can. Don’t look back, just run.”
Stryg frowned. “Gale, I’m not leaving you behind.”
She grabbed his hand and put it on his chest. “I am the Shield of Veres. I will always put your life ahead of my own.”
“So did Cly. I’m not letting you do the same.” Stryg grabbed her hand with his own.
Several more arrow thunks echoed over the stall and the three of them could clearly hear the sound of sizzling wood.
“Guys, we’re running out of time,” Tauri said anxiously.
“Let’s head into one of the shops. We can hold out for help until then,” Stryg said.
“What if the enemy gets more help too? Did you think about that?” Gale said.
“I’m not leaving without you.” Stryg channeled purple.
Gale glanced up as the stall sagged and began to fall apart. “Move, now!”
Three different copies of Stryg, Gale, and Tauri leaped out from the stall, two groups sprinted to either end of the street, while the last charged into a nearby shop. Arrows rained down, catching a few of the illusions. They fell apart like sand, fading in a cloud of purple dust.
Stryg made a beeline to the shop, making sure to keep an eye on both his companions. A sharp pain stabbed into his chest and he staggered, and fell to his knees. His flow of purple mana crumbled and the illusions all fell apart. A cloaked assassin on the street held a golden dagger and was pointing it at him.
“Stryg!” Gale threw herself over him and cut down an incoming arrow.
The archers all turned and began to fire at the downed Stryg. The ones on the ground rushed them, swords in hand.
“Tauri, get him inside!” Gale yelled as she met the enemies with her sword.
Brown mana filled Tauri and her muscles took on a bronze sheen. Newfound strength filled her veins as she grabbed Stryg and threw him over her back.
“Don’t let them escape!” shouted the assassin with the dagger. The golden blade flared with light and the pain in Stryg’s chest doubled.
An assassin leaped at Tauri and Stryg, but the former waved them off with a blanket of flames. Tauri ran into the building, kicked the door open, and threw Stryg inside. Tauri stood in the doorway and began to hurl fire bolts at the ones rushing Gale.
The arcane pain pierced Stryg’s heart and flowed through his muscles like poison. He clenched his teeth and moaned low in anger. A cold sensation bloomed from his second heart and washed over the pain like ice over a cut. He sucked in a deep breath and rolled onto his back.
Gale barreled through the doorway and crashed into the floor. Her scarlet cloak was in tatters, but she seemed relatively unscathed. Tauri flung the door closed as arrows stabbed into the wood. She grabbed a nearby shelf filled with metalwork goods and dragged it in front of the door. “This won’t hold them for long, let’s go!” Tauri said as she went to help Stryg up.
“I’m fine,” he reassured her and pushed himself to his feet.
“What happened to you? Are you alright? You went down all of a sudden. Were you shot?” Gale looked him over frantically.
“No, it was some kind of magic, I think. It was like venom was being pumped into my heart. I lost control of my illusion spell.” Stryg explained as they began to make their way to the back of the building.
“But you’re alright now?” Gale asked.
“Yeah. My chaos mana reacted to the attack and broke the spell somehow. What about you? Are you alright?”
“Somehow,” Gale admitted. “They’re good, but they’re no grandmasters of the blade. I managed to block their attacks, but every time I tried to strike back, my sword just went through them. And you were right, when I look at them it’s like I’m terribly drunk; I see three or four where one should be.”
Stryg suddenly paused in his steps. “Wait.”
“We can’t. We need to cut across the back and move to the next street. We don’t have time to waste,” Gale said.
“Exactly,” Stryg pointed up. “I can hear them rushing the shop. The archers are all already on top of the building. If we walk out, they’ll shoot us down.”
“So, what? We just hold up here?” Tauri was already flipping over a table and shoving it in front of the hallway.
The sounds of windows breaking echoed in the shop.
“They’re coming,” Tauri said.
“How many?” Gale asked.
“Seven, the rest are on the roof,” Stryg answered after a moment of listening.
Tauri conjured an orb of fire in her hand. “I want to see them dodge this while stuck in a hallway.”
“Careful, we don’t want this place to go up in flames while we’re still in it,” Gale warned.
“Any better ideas?” Tauri snapped.
Gale began to write red sigils into the air. “I can conjure a ward shield around this room. It’ll buy us a bit more time. If we get them close, we have a shot.”
Stryg stared at the fire orb, his eyes widening in thought. “No. Tauri has the right idea.” He drew Krikolm and cut through the wooden floors. The scarlet blade sliced through the wood with ease. He tossed the broken planks aside and hopped inside. “Come down here with me.”
“We’ll be trapped,” Tauri said.
“No, they’ll be trapped,” Stryg replied.
“Stryg…” Gale looked at him, uncertain.
“Trust me, please.”
The two women glanced at each other, then crawled into the small opening. Both of them turned to the opening and prepared to shoot anyone who came into line of sight.
Stryg knelt, closed his eyes, and took a deep, slow breath. He placed his hands flat on the dirt and called forth Green. Mana surged out from his chromatic heart and through his body. But still, he called more, and more, until his body burned with Green mana. Sweat covered his brow, his cheeks were flushed, and his breathing ragged, the first tell-tale signs of manaburn. He was drawing upon far too much mana at once. If he didn’t stop his own blood would begin to boil.
The cold taste of elemental chaos mana rippled out from his second heart and tempered the heat. Stryg took several more deep breaths as he drew upon even more chromatic energy.
Someone entered the hallway, only a few paces away. Stryg dug his fingers into the dirt and poured Green into the ground, the foundations, and the stone blocks above them. He screamed in the exertion as the entire shop began to lift.
Someone yelled in panic from within, followed by several more shouts, and heavy footsteps running towards the doors. But it was too late, Stryg smiled, his teeth bared in defiant anger. He roared and poured more mana into his spell.
The foundations flew into the air, the walls breaking apart from the stress. Every stone block moved in synchronous motion, carrying the rest of the building 10 meters above the street. Tauri and Gale watched from the ground, eyes wide in disbelief. The building was now a slow swirl of rocks, wood, and other bits of rubble. The assassins staggered inside the ruined shop, trying to get out.
“Tauri, Gale, now!” Stryg yelled.
The two of them threw their hands up in unison and channeled. Flames shot out from Tauri’s hands as a torrent of water erupted from Gale’s palms. The fire and water met at the base of the floating shop and exploded in a cloud of boiling water particles, filling every nook and cranny of the ruined building with scorching vapor. Neither Gale nor Tauri stopped channeling even as the screams intensified above them and eventually died out.
“I can’t hold it… any longer…” Stryg gasped, the last strands of Green leaving his fingertips.
Gale threw him over her shoulder and dashed into the street, Tauri right on her heels, as the ruins of the building fell straight down. Laughter bubbled out of Stryg’s throat and he tried to throw his arms up in triumph, but they were noodles and they dangled helplessly at his side. His laughter was infectious, however, and both Gale and Tauri soon joined him.
“How the fuck did you do that?” Tauri asked.
“The spell was pretty simple. I just threw a lot more mana into it than usual,” Stryg grinned.
“Just when I think I have you figured out,” Gale shook her head, a faint smirk on her lips.
“Now what?” Tauri asked and glanced up at the night sky. “Where are the sentinels?”
“Destroyed, I reckon. At least the ones nearby. This was planned. We need to get back to the manor as soon as possible,” Gale said.
“Happily,” Stryg groaned, exhausted.
