Mon'Ter

Chapter 16: The Raid begins

The raid assault group which had been formed from Nadia’s endeavors and Elyenora’s ‘light’ push now numbered seventeen people, they all had good equipment on them and gazes that radiated with confidence. 

While walking down the steep staircase that slowly lost any semblance of light which the moon had been providing, Melissa raised her finger and wrote a couple of Runes in the air. 

Shortly after, a ball of light shone and moved in front of the group, acting as a sort of lantern for them in the dark. 

“Nice spell Melissa, definitely beats using torches.” Trygg, the leader of the knight group commented. 

“Yeah, and it paints us as a big bright target in these dark hallways.” Jorky added with an annoyed tone. 

“So, you’d rather we trip over holes and stones or smash our heads in walls? Get ambushed from the dark from missing a turn filled with enemies? Yeah, no thank you.” Melissa countered, sneering at the comment. 

“Just stay on guard at all times, we need to be ready for anything.” Elyenora cautioned, her hand steadily placed at her rapier’s handle, “Nadia mentioned hired personnel, with Talherd’s resources he’s bound to have gotten in touch with the best he had access to.” She added. 

Nodding to the princess’ words, the party proceeded on with their march through the halls, not finding anything in particular. 

There were many broken up places and holes, cracks in the walls and moss growing. The place was old, ancient even, made up of stones whose design almost seemed alien with the many lines painted over them. 

Hall after hall and there seemed to be nothing in sight, they did find a few rooms, however they held nothing of value nor of interest. 

This hideout that Jalid Talherd had been using used to be a dungeon of old, legend told of a powerful mage from millennia past who housed his creations and research in this crypt along with himself, acting as a sort of guardian to his notes and work while also choosing it for his final resting place. 

Hundreds of years ago however, the place was ransacked by adventurers and explorers. They were powerful individuals in search of treasure who managed to finally obtain it after enduring many trials, fighting against the hordes of monsters that used to fill this space. 

Now it was empty and seemingly abandoned, so much so that a city had been built over it and forgotten about it... Leaving only the myths and legends that have been passed down mouth by mouth. 

No matter what secrets this labyrinth once held, they were now long gone... 

... 

The minutes passed and midnight arrived, the children used for the making of those dreadful elixirs would now be in danger. That irritated Elyenora immensely, as they had yet to find anyone inside of this huge maze, however she did her best not to show it and ventured forth. 

Finding the enemy wasn’t particularly difficult on paper, Elyenora just had to use her soul vision to see the tracks of any strong people who had walked here recently.  

There were quite a few such strong souls which was bothersome...  

In practice however, this method proved to be harder than expected since the vastness of this place was such as to encompass the entire city above, coupled with the maze-like interior with its many turns it wasn’t as easy to traverse as the streets were...  

Not too long after the clock hit midnight, the group finally stumbled onto a decently sized room, one that had chatter coming from behind its walls. 

“How I wish I could go out and get a drink right now...” The voice of a man spoke, “That bastard of an employer has nothing good set up for us in this stupid makeshift pub he gave us!”  

The moment the voice sounded, Melissa immediately waved her finger and made the magic light orb go out, shrouding them in darkness once more. 

This time however, there was a faint light coming from a door at the end of the hall, one that led to where the voice had come from. 

“Tell me about it... Who the hell even drinks Brilet wine?” A second acknowledged, sound of gulping soon being heard from him despite his remark. 

“Hey, at least the pay is good.” A third pointed out, “We get gold coins falling in our lap and all we need to do is escort some tied up brats, no big deal, right?”  

“I’d rather go kill a noble or something...” Fourth murmured in boredom. 

“You took this job of your own volition... Shoulda thunk this through, dumbass.” A fifth man insulted. 

“I wanna go home...” The fourth voice sighed, seemingly not too happy with his job decision. 

Talks of the like continued on as the banter among the men proceeded, there seemed to be around eight in total from what Elyenora could tell with her Soul Vision which allowed her to see the silhouettes of their souls even behind the thick stone walls. 

‘Such vile men... They’re the type to kill anyone, be it men, women or children if it meant getting their job done and pay received...’ Elyenora thought to herself, eyeing the eight bleak colored souls from behind the walls. ‘With their level of strength, they couldn’t be ordinary thugs... are they Assassin’s guild members perhaps?’ She came to her own conclusion. 

Melissa then raised her hand and once more wrote several runes in the air, casting a spell which created a silence bubble around the party members, making sure to keep any discussion they had quiet and away from prying ears. 

“There’s eight of them, quite strong to boot.” Elyenora spoke as the group of seventeen stayed further back to plan things out.  

She had given a brief explanation to her eye power beforehand, and with the fact she managed to lead them here at a decent pace made them trust her judgement. 

“Any brilliant plans, girlie?” Jorky, the bald man asked Elyenora. 

“In fact, yes,” She replied, “I want to have Drull charge in with his great sword, supported by Melissa’s magic so he can gain their attention along with cover fire from George and Shana with their ranged weapons. Then, I myself will move in from behind and target the closest person while the rest of you rush in and target the rest. With the element of surprise on our side and more than twice their number we should easily take care of them.” 

Nodding to the princess, Drull retorted. “Understood, however I would like to have Siya at my side.” 

“Siya wants to go too!” The petite girl said, holding a huge battle axe with both hands and raising it above her head, the look honestly couldn’t fit her less. 

“Sure thing,” Elyenora agreed, “Just make sure you split up at the entrance while rushing them, we’ll have Melissa support you both.”   

Melissa then spoke, “What would you have me do for support?”  

“Wind magic, as much wind magic as you can use. Be it as defensive or speed enhancing coating over the two or simply as gust of wind that flies around the area.” Elyenora responded. 

“We’re ready when the rest of you are then.” Trygg, the knight leading the other nine elites said whilst getting his sword at the ready. 

“Yeah, let’s put some holes through those guys!” Shana threatened, pulling out her crossbow. 

“Heh, they won’t know what hit them.” George joined, speaking with a grin. “Let me show you my cool side now, ladies.”  

Slowly approaching the room once more, the party readied their weapons and held their breaths as they prepared the ambush. 

Melissa wrote a couple of Runes in the air which coated the two warriors, Drull and Siya, with wind magic that protruded over their bodies. It both shielded them and enhanced their speed greatly. 

In a mere moment, the duo rushed out of the door and into the room where the eight men, all clothed in black garbs, talked with each other. The action had managed to surprise them greatly with the added loud battle cries which howled across the room. 

“The heck?!” One of the men bellowed, readying his set of short blades as Drull’s towering frame appeared before him, swinging his great sword with ferocity. 

The attack was swiftly dodged by the man to the side as Drull broke the table at which he had been sitting. 

However, luck was not at the man’s side as an arrow flew right into his right shoulder, promptly making him wince in pain. 

“That’s how we do it.” George smirked, casting his gaze towards Shana who aimed at another, ignoring him completely. 

Siya had done much the same as Drull had, only to another table where a pair of the men stood, each holding two daggers in their hands. 

They had both quickly managed to dodge the petite girl’s war axe, however much like with the previous man, one of them took an arrow bolt to the shoulder from Shana. 

“Bullseye!” She bellowed enthusiastically. 

In the moment that the men were still confused, Elyenora rushed in with the magically produced winds at her side, gathering them at the tip of her rapier. 

The man whom had been closest to the door noticed her visage for but a moment, in the next his body was riddled with holes across all his limbs which left him incapable of movement. 

He fell to the floor, glaring at the princess through his black hood and mask. 

Elyenora gazed at the one at her feet for a split second, ‘They really are assassins then, just like I had thought, mercy isn’t going to work here.’ She thought, piercing the heart of the man who laid on the ground in one motion. 

‘Assassin’s guild members are troublesome and cruel, they not only don’t deserve to live after the atrocities they commit during their tasks, but even if you do spare them and capture them to put them in a prison, they’ll just find a way to escape.’ Elyenora concluded, deciding to put down each and every single one of them. 

There are such cases at times, where people simply don’t deserve the proper judgement of the crime and justice systems. 

They simply must die at the blade of Silent Wind. 

After Elyenora’s plan was executed and two of the enemies were wounded while one was dead, the rest of their party rushed in to engage the rest of the enemies. 

With their combined strength and Elyenora’s graceful speed and movements that quickly riddled each enemy she faced with mortal wounds, the party made short work out of the eight assassins.