Chapter 170: Ambush (1/2)
All three members of the Hand and Cameron suddenly looked towards one of the windows, the latter walking up to it a moment later.
“Did you hear that?” the soldier asked as he opened it and looked outside. Ilea blinked upwards and on top of the big smithy to see a fire in the distance. Quite far away but also quite big. She could make out movements in the distance and flashes of light. Blinking back down, everybody had gathered around the windows.
“There’s a fire and spells being thrown around. A gang bust or something?” she asked but Cameron shook his head.
“Unlikely but let’s hope it’s nothing serious. I’ll go check it out. Open spells creating so much noise at this time of night aren’t exactly planned.” he said and vanished, appearing on the rooftop of the building opposite the smithy before her ran off.
“He didn’t even ask for help.” Trian said and turned to the others. “What should we do?”
“Armor is done, let’s go the the neighborhoods he mentioned. Or do you want to check out what’s going on?” Ilea asked. “Might involve us in some way though.”
“I agree, I think we should keep to the plan.” Kyrian said and looked to Trian. He had the last say in this, they were here for him after all. The mage nodded and looked to the craftsmen before an explosion far too close rocked the building a little.
“I think you should seek shelter.” Ilea said to Balduur and the others when several people entered her Sphere of Perception, rushing towards the guard below. The man had barely removed the sword from its sheath when a blade of wind went straight through his neck, entering the door behind it. He collapsed in silence as the three attackers silently entered the building.
“The imperial guard was just killed. Balduur I think your plan to leave the city might just have to be rushed ahead a little. One of them is coming up.” Ilea said and stepped forward when the door suddenly burst open and a woman slipped inside, dressed in black leather armor, a hood and her face covered. Her eyes scanned the room and got a little bigger as her quick approach slowed down, like a deer caught in a headlight.
“Good evening.” Ilea said as she took a step towards the woman. “Are you perhaps looking for trouble?”
The woman didn’t reply and Ilea could feel her distress through her Sight. She hadn’t expected to run into members of the Hand in the imperial smithy it seemed. “Do you care for any of the other smiths?” Ilea asked, casually turning towards Balduur and the others. “Because one of them is about to be killed.”
“I don’t know them well but they’re colleagues of the craft.” Balduur said but he didn’t seem terribly upset about the situation. The man would’ve likely been able to take care of the intruders himself, if his handshake gave any indication about his fighting capabilities. The wind blade from before, Ilea wasn’t so sure about that. The intruder still standing before them was at level one twenty, not to be underestimated of course but Ilea was pretty confident, especially seeing the woman’s distress.
“I know you don’t know me well but I’ll work for free for you all if you protect them.” the smith with the high pitched voice said, the sound not quite having the same comedic effect as before.
“As you wish.” Ilea said. “A small detour allowed?” she asked and looked at Trian. In that moment the woman before them moved, trying to rush backwards but Ilea had been paying attention through her sphere. She appeared right in the doorway, jabbing her right hand into the woman’s unprotected throat. Something broke and the attacker stumbled backwards, chocking and gurgling as Ilea took a step forward, punching her head with a quick hit. The force was enough to knock her out, sending her down to the ground as Ilea crouched down next to her, healing the damaged wind pipe to avoid her dying.
“Trian the room right below, there’s a guy sneaking up on one of the smiths.” she said and motioned towards Kyrian. “Bindings please.” she said and a metal sphere quickly floated towards her, reforming to create bonds around the woman’s arms and legs, a gag placed in her mouth.
“Go.” Kyrian said and she blinked, right behind the third attacker who was about to intrude on the sleeping quarters that some of the smiths and most of the helpers occupied. She simply grabbed the man’s neck with her arm and started choking. His arm shot up and a magical blade of wind smashed into her helmet, disorienting her for a moment and making her flare up her buffs. She heard a crack and frowned as she moved her head back down.
‘ding’ ‘You have killed [Zenar – Prophecy of the Wind – lvl 102 / Silent Assassin – lvl 92]
“Fuck! Yea great, how about investing some points into Vitality next time you dipshit.” Ilea murmured as she held onto the corpse and moved back up, this time taking the stairs. She hadn’t heard anything coming from the middle floor but saw Trian crouched over a spasming man. ‘And that one should’ve had some Lightning Resistance training.’ she thought. Hopefully she hadn’t just killed an innocent man just looking to free his enslaved friend working for the empire. Bad luck on his side either way.
“God you killed him!” one of the smiths exclaimed as Ilea put down the corpse next to the knocked out woman.
“That’s kind of on him.” she said and looked back to see Trian enter with the last man, that one still breathing.
“Let go of me you fuck, you have nothing to do with this!” the man exclaimed before a shock of lightning went through him. He looked rather young, Ilea thought he’d be around her age. Early twenties that is. His level was around a hundred as well, nothing low but also not incredibly impressive for the capital. The mage she had taken care of had managed to kill the guard below with a single clean strike however, indicating that these weren’t any random thugs.
“I will let go of you when you have told me what I need to know. And now please only speak when I ask it of you.” Trian said and let the man fall to the ground. Before he could even get up, metal bindings were around his ankles and both arms, moving them together against his will and pushing him upright into a kneeling position. His eyes weren’t quite as defiant as his words had been as he looked around the room, the demeanor quickly changing into fear instead of anger.
He was at least smart enough to listen to Trian’s words and didn’t start talking again immediately.
“Who are you people and what are you supposed to do here.” Trian asked. The man looked over to Ilea who was crouching over the knocked out woman again, checking on her vitals. He scanned over the corpse as well, gulping hard and looked back to Trian.
“We’re just mercenaries man, like you guys…,” He said and chuckled awkwardly. “We were supposed to hit specific empire buildings in the city and kill whoever we could inside.” he said, looking around and meeting Ilea’s eyes who had turned towards him. “I’m sorry if we offended somehow.” the man quickly added.
“I assume this is part of a bigger thing right?” Trian asked and the man nodded in response. “Baralia is moving earlier than expected. Seems like our little demon mistake has set the pieces into motion.” Trian said and watched the man gulp again.
“Good thing we got our gear before this started then.” Kyrian said as he stepped up to them.
“Where are your people, I’ll get you there safely and out of the city.” Ilea said, walking up to Balduur and the others.
“Nearby. Let me get my things. You’re welcome to join us.” He said to the other two smiths who watched the scene with wide open eyes.
“I doubt that there is an army nearby and the empire doesn’t know about it.” Trian said. “We should be safe helping them out of the city.” he said. More explosions could be heard, this time further away again.
“That enough payment for the gear?” Ilea asked the smith as she crouched down and closed the mage’s eyes.
“You’re getting better at this.” the smith grumbled as he made hammers and swords vanish into whatever storage item he had.
“Where are we going?” the male smith asked.
“South.” Ilea answered, blinking on top of the building again to assess the situation. There were several fires in the distance now, one rather close as well. Shouts rang through the night and a moment later bells rang through the city. If anybody hadn’t been awake already, now was the time. Spreading her wings, Ilea flew upwards with as much speed as she could.
The night sky had cleared somewhat, allowing her to see quite far. As Trian had suspected, there was no sea of torches anywhere close to the city. Perhaps an army was still waiting somewhere in the dark but she assumed organizing such a large number of people in the pitch black dark of the barren plains must’ve required at least some light.
Moving back down, she blinked back into the building.