Guardian

This is post 250 ^^

Guardian

                News of the killing spread through the town like a flash-flood after the body was discovered in the early morning. The discovery was quite mysterious - someone (the person the man had really intended to meet?) had left a note begging the guard to check the burnt-out brewery.

                The man's name, rumour said, was Hulman. He was a senior Follower and possibly one of the founding members alongside a handful of others. His death was said to have greatly riled up the Followers; something many of the townsfolk found pleasing. 'Got what he deserved for creeping about town' seemed to be the primary sentiment.

                For Tadyel, seeing people so eagerly approving of the murder of someone 'undesirable' was somewhat chilling. It reminded her of the Thrath; although few expressed outright glee - for the most part she got the impression it was thought of as a 'necessary evil'. The guard promised to investigate, although whether for the culprit or the reason Hulman was in town remained unclear.

                Late in the afternoon, after the day's still eerily ordinary business had died down, a recognisable kid wandered into the store. It was Munn, the son of the couple who had proven accidentally helpful in identifying Mavnen as a traitor. He looked a little lost - he'd probably never been in the store before.

                "Can I help you?" asked Tadyel. Vanna had asked her to mind the front, although she was sewing up rips or attaching patches in between dealing with customers. The recent wave of light fire damage had reminded many of various other tears and rips all at once, so business had been booming.

                "You're, um, Tadyel right?" asked Munn.

                "Yes, that's right," replied Tadyel.

                "There's a bunch of mean looking people hanging around outside," said Munn. "I saw more of them coming, too!"

                Tadyel gently put down the garment she was patching. "Let me take a look," she said, worriedly.

                Looking out one of the small front windows she saw the people Munn was talking about. Half a dozen tough looking men and women were standing across the street, exactly opposite the store. A seventh joined them as Tadyel watched. Suddenly Tadyel was quite grateful for the small size of the windows. They let in barely any light, but would also be hard to breach.

                "Vanna!" Tadyel called out.

                Vanna appeared almost instantly. "What is it?" she asked, shooting a quick smile to Munn as she joined Tadyel at the window.

                Tadyel indicated the window and Vanna peered out. "I see," said Vanna.

                "Munn came in to warn us," said Tadyel.

                "Did you?" asked Vanna. "Thank you."

                "Can I go now?" asked Munn.

                Vanna took another look out the window. "No, unfortunately," she said. "I think they might grab you, and that wouldn't end well. Best you let things happen as they will and leave afterwards. I don't think they'll hurt a child for no reason."

                "But doesn't that mean I can just leave?" asked Munn.

                "Tadyel, lock and bar both the doors and warn Dot. She'll know what to do next," said Vanna to Tadyel. She squatted before Munn. "Do you know what a hostage is?" she asked him.

                Tadyel grabbed the keys from the front desk and quickly locked the door, then slid the wooden bar into place. She caught a little of what Vanna was saying to Munn as she worked - mostly that the 'mean people' would hurt him if Vanna and Tadyel didn't do what they said. Munn seemed to understand, although he'd obviously never heard of the concept before.

                Tadyel could barely contain her adrenaline as she walked out of the room swiftly, breaking into a jog to get through the central room and into the back room. She ran right past Dot's room to get to the small store room that also contained the back door; locking and barring it as fast as she could.

                Peeking through the small window, she couldn't see anyone obviously in the alley behind the shop... But there would be. Unless the probably-Followers were comically incompetent at least a few of them would be out back as well.

                Still jogging Tadyel headed to Dot's room and knocked. "Yes?" asked Dot.

                "There's a bunch of, um, rough looking types outside," said Tadyel. "Vanna told me to bar the doors and then tell you."

                The door opened just before Tadyel finished speaking. "You've barred the doors then?" asked Dot. Despite being in her casual wear she looked ready for a fight.

                "Yeah," said Tadyel.

                "Back to the back," said Dot. She brushed past Tadyel, who immediately followed. "And where's Vanna?"

                "Talking to the kid who warned us in the front," said Tadyel. "Or hiding him somewhere."

                "Blegh, complications," said Dot as they reached the back. "Alright, so here's the trick: we want them to hang around, and we don't want them to try and smoke us out, so we seal the back and leave the front open. Help me roll the big wardrobe over."

                "Alright," said Tadyel. "Um, is this the reason we have it?" she added, as the two of them pushed the empty - yet exceptionally heavy - wheeled wardrobe towards the back door.

                "Yes," said Dot. "The building was picked because it can double as a fortress if the shit hits the fan. Walls are thick as anything."

                "I see," said Tadyel. With a final heaving grunt the pair finished moving the wardrobe over.

                "Jam the wheels with these," said Dot, grabbing a few small bits of wood from the top of the wardrobe, "and flick the little switches."

                "Got it," said Tadyel, taking the wood and getting to work.

                Moments later, as they were finishing, Vanna appeared. "Sealed?" she asked.

                "Yeah," said Dot. "Where'd you hide the kid?"

                "Somewhere safe. He'll bail if there's a fire. I need a couple of minutes to hide some stuff and get the panic spell ready but I'm pretty sure they know we're spooked - hold them off in the front. Armour first," said Vanna. "The guard should be here in about fifteen minutes, maybe less."

                "What if no-one's gone to get them yet?" asked Tadyel.

                "That's handled," said Vanna. "Move." Without further comment she span around and left the rear entrance.

                The next minute saw Tadyel and Dot rapidly donning their armour - fairly rough but very tough leather that had been expertly cut to their measurements. Tadyel had worn it a couple of times before for training after Vanna's 'order' had been handled by the Magi fortress. They also took their swords, tying the sheathes around their waists.

                They returned to the front, and Tadyel took another look out the small window. The crowd had grown - there was a full dozen outside now. It seemed like overkill for the three of them.

                Dot, standing beside Tadyel and peering out the window as well, said, "Well, at least they're taking us seriously."

                "Can we stop them?" asked Tadyel. "That's an awful lot of people, and they're all pretty tough looking."

                "We can slow 'em down," said Dot. "That's the point. Guard catch them fighting us and the Followers are screwed. More screwed, even. Just follow my and Vanna's lead - and try not to die."

                "I'll try not to," said Tadyel.

                It was probably less than twenty seconds, but to Tadyel it felt like minutes before the group they were peering at suddenly started walking across the road. Of the final total, fourteen, ten were coming for them. The rest fanned out; possibly watching out for the guard or some other form of interference.

                "If the info is right they're going to cut the hinges and the bar with this little heat knife doodad they have," said Dot. "We'll take one side of the door each. When it falls, stab whatever bastard comes through first."

                Tadyel nodded, taking up position on the left-hand side of the door. Dot took the right. Both unsheathed their swords, readying themselves to strike when the attackers made it through.

                Suddenly the doorknob shook as someone tried to turn it. After a bit of rattling, a voice said, "It's locked."

                "No shit. They're spooked, I told you," said another voice. It was fainter - a bit back from the door.

                "Whatever," said the first voice. "Knife?"

                "Here," said a third. The group outside was silent, but the knowledge that they were there somehow made it seem to Tadyel that she felt their presence.

                A few inches of faintly glowing green knife suddenly appeared in front of Tadyel's face, just above the hinge. It dropped down to the hinge immediately, and stopped there for a moment before it began to cut into the hinge. The cut it made was strange. The blade was certainly melting its way through, but the it only melted the area it was directly pressed against. The cut was smooth, with only a very slight bump where the molten metal had been pushed aside.

                Once the first hinge was cut the knife dropped with a thud down onto the bar. "Shit!" swore the man handling the knife. He was quickly shushed by a couple of other voices.

                The knife cut through the thick wooden bar slower than it hand the hinges, though just as neatly. When the knife was almost all the way through Tadyel was able to see that the knife had charred the wood as it cut. The severed end of the bar dropped to the ground with a thud, the rest of it toppled downwards after a clever wiggle of the knife dislodged it.

                While the knife was working its way through the second hinge Dot gently levered the bar back up and slotted it back into the hooks it had fallen away from. The bar barely reached across the door, but it was enough. Dot winked at Tadyel.

                Cutting through the second hinge seemed to take the attackers far less time than the first. Moments after the knife dropped through it, something slammed into the door heavily, rattling the shortened bar.

                "Fuck!" yelled the man outside the door. "My fucking foot!"

                "Do the other side of the bar, you idiot," said a woman's voice.

                "I dislodged it!" said the man. "They must've put another in!"

                "Then cut it," said the woman. After a few pained, incoherent grumbles the green knife reappeared above the bar.

                Tadyel was almost certain the knife was cutting faster as it went; the bar seemed to be cut again within moments, and was once again dislodged. The bar was too short to block the door again, so Dot left it alone.

                When the man outside kicked the door this time it popped into the room by a few centimetres, and then toppled heavily. The man swore again and pulled back from the doorway - Tadyel only barely caught sight of his raised leg. He was quickly passed by his fellow attackers as they tried to press inside.

                The first Follower through the doorway - a black-haired woman - was stabbed by Dot's sword before she made it fully into the shop. The second, a man wielding a club, pushed past the woman and spotted Tadyel in time to stop her swing at him. Her second attack, a wicked slash, caught the man's arm but only nicked him. Luckily he flinched, giving Tadyel the opportunity to neatly step backwards into the room.

                "Die Maj-eyes!" yelled one of the attackers bunched around the door. Tadye had not time to figure out which - the club-wielding attacker was advancing on her already, ignoring his flesh wound.

                Tadyel feinted towards the man's shoulder, but he wised up to it and managed to block her real attack at his belly. Taking the initiative he swung heavily at her. The clumsy swing provided an opening and Tadyel went for it.

                The man's free hand shot towards her blade in an attempt to grab it. Tadyel noticed then that his hands were armoured, unlike the rest of him - he wore a pair of chainmail gauntlets. Despite being ready for Tadyel's attack he was too slow - Tadyel's blade slipped between his ribs, puncturing his right lung.

                He groaned as she pulled her sword free, attempt to grab it forgotten as he fell to his feet. There was no time to finish him off - more Followers had already entered the room. A pair of them emerged from behind their falling comrade before Tadyel had even finished steadying herself.

                One of them - a woman who had come around on the right - suddenly jerked her head back and started toppling backwards. No, she hadn't jerked her own head - the bolt sticking out of her face had. In the corner of her eye Tadyel caught sight of Vanna, crossbow in hand.

                "Pull back!" yelled Vanna. Tadyel glanced to her side - Dot had already backed most of the way across the small room, leaving Tadyel quite open.

                The other Follower, a towering giant of a woman, rushed at Tadyel with a spear. Tadyel stepped backwards expertly, turning herself around as she pulled back. "Get back here!" yelled the woman as Tadyel retreated.

                Reaching the desk in moments, Tadyel knocked the chair aside and into the path of the charging woman. Hearing her topple over it sent Tadyel's spirits soaring; it was almost enough to make her laugh. She reached the doorway moments later, dodging aside as Vanna waved her out of her line of fire.

                Vanna fired, and a disturbing slicing sound let Tadyel know the shot had found it's mark. Vanna pulled back through the door and Tadyel followed, turning around as she stepped through to check out the room. The fallen woman was dead, a crossbow bolt sticking out of the left of her temple.

                Dot was only moments behind Tadyel. She'd continued backing up, and was fighting off two opponents at once. Her opponents seemed skilled but unable to fight together - Dot was was easily leading them into each other's way.

                Vanna tossed the crossbow out over the workbenches. "Get them at the door again," she said, drawing her sword. It was one Tadyel hadn't seen before. Vanna held it with both hands, although it was short for a two-hander. Perhaps a bastard sword?

                Tadyel neatly stepped back and Dot hurtled through, looking around the room as she entered. Somehow she'd lost her sword. "Spares?" she asked.

                "Back room. Go!" said Vanna, stepping around the door just as a man stepped through. Her bastard sword clove through his shoulder and deeply into his body, killing him instantly. A spear shot past his falling corpse - a stab from someone behind him.

                It caught Vanna in the belly, although it didn’t seem to penetrate much further than her armour. "Ah," gasped Vanna, stepping backwards.

                The attacker - another huge woman - was in the room immediately. She wasn't the spear fighter; in her right hand she held a sword as long as Vanna's bastard sword. "For my sister, bitch!" she yelled, taking a swing at Vanna.

                Vanna deflected the attack, and then took a swing at the woman's centre. It was a weird attack - Vanna sliced into the woman's clothing rather than her flesh. To Tadyel, it looked deliberate.

                The huge woman ducked backwards, thumping into the door frame. "Get out of the forsaken way!" yelled a man behind her.

                So that's what Vanna was doing, thought Tadyel. The woman took a step forwards - and didn't notice Tadyel taking a two-handed swing at her right arm. Tadyel's sword dug through the woman's muscles, ripping through her biceps and then into her forearms.

                She screamed and dropped her sword, stumbling to the side in pain. It was the gap those behind her needed to press in - Tadyel had only just recovered from tearing up the woman's arm when a man wielding a spear slipped through behind her.

                He unleashed a flurry of attacks at Tadyel. Each was short but sharp - probably feints or intended to scare her, but Tadyel was not skilled enough to know. Rather than try and deal with the furious attack she backed up until she was amongst the workbenches.

                As she fled further, Tadyel caught sight of the huge woman heading out of the room - probably to seek medical attention. Vanna was fighting one - no, two - Followers, and more were crowding in quickly. The spearman came after Tadyel, following her amongst the workbenches and chairs.

                When he joined her in a relatively straight section he sprang forwards, lifting his spear up high in preparation for a downwards slash. Tadyel dodged backwards, getting out of the way, but the man stopped the slash early and stabbed towards her. It caught her left arm, slicing through her flesh easily.

                Just after it did so her sword slammed into the spear, forcing it further downwards. It seemed like a pointless attack - the man simply pulled the spear backwards - but it gave her the opening she needed to step forward, running her left hand over the top of the spear. The man looked at her in shock as she buried her sword up to the hilt in his belly.

                "Fucker!" muttered Tadyel angrily as she tried to wrench her sword free. It wasn't easy - she'd managed to lodge it deep. She stamped her foot on the corpse and wrenched as hard as she could. The sword came free with a bloody spray - and bits of a few other things. It doused Tadyel's rage immediately, allowing her to notice more Followers advancing through the workbenches.

                "Crap," she muttered, backing up further. Behind her she spotted Dot coming back into the room with a sword in hand; but also Vanna motioning her back.

                "Get the door ready!" yelled Vanna over her shoulder. She was still locked in combat with two Followers; and despite Vanna's skill this pair seemed to have a decent idea of how to outmatch her.

                Tadyel pulled back through the tables, slipping over chairs as she went. The Followers heading for her were far behind. They were having trouble navigating the mess of workbenches and chairs - the straightest route was far from the best.

                She reached the door quickly. A peek through let her see what Dot was up to - rolling a locker into position to block it. "Get through," whispered Dot loudly. "Vanna'll be here in time."

                It didn't look likely - Vanna was still a full third of the room away, about six metres. One of her opponents had pulled back with a nasty wound, but it looked like Vanna had been injured as well.

                Looking into the back room, Tadyel spotted a crossbow. "Toss me the crossbow!" she said to Dot, urgency in her voice. Dot gave her a mean look, but she took the few steps necessary, grabbed the crossbow, and hurled it to Tadyel.

                Tadyel caught it easily enough and levelled hit at Vanna's attacker. "Come on, hit," she muttered, aiming as best she could. She pulled the trigger and the bolt sailed across the room -

                And the attacker dodged, causing the bolt to miss completely. Yet it was exactly the distraction Vanna needed - she rolled over a table and started bolting right towards the door. "Seal it!" she yelled as she came. Tadyel slipped through the door immediately, and started giving Dot a hand.

                Vanna came through the door moments later, and arrow shooting past behind her. Tadyel hadn't even noticed that one of the Followers had a bow - or possibly more than one. With a final great push Dot and Tadyel slid the locker into place, slamming the door shut as they did so. Vanna had already gotten behind one of the tables in the room and was pushing it across the floor.

                Dot and Tadyel moved to help, only for Dot to say, "Brace the locker!" to Tadyel. Tadyel nodded and turned back, slamming against the locker with her back.

                A great thud shook the door, and through it the locker, almost immediately. Once again someone - the same voice - swore. Tadyel faintly caught something like "Of course they blocked it, you moron!", though she didn't recognise the speaker.

                The green knife flicked into Tadyel's sight, popping through the edge of the door above its hinges. Tadyel moved aside as Dot and Vanna finished pushing the table over. The door's first hinge was cut almost instantly; and the second seemed again faster. This time the other side was cut as well, slicing the simple latch away.

                Rather than kicking the door in, the Followers pulled the door away from the door frame. The locked wasn't wide enough to block the door entirely, but it was wide enough to stop the Followers from entering.

                "We've got you now, you damn Magi!" yelled the man who tossed the door aside. A cluster of Followers stood there.

                Surely we got more than that! thought Tadyel, counting the Followers. There were at least seven - Vanna had killed two, and at least three more were disabled... Maybe the count was right, or maybe more had arrived.

                "Sure you do," said Vanna, levelling another crossbow at the very quickly vacated gap. She snorted in amusement.

                A pair of hands grabbed the bottom of the locker and began pulling it into the other room. It tipped over, slamming down onto the table as the woman doing the lifting stumbled.

                Vanna's crossbow bolt flew through the doorway - sadly finding no mark - just as a voice came from the front of the shop. "This is the guard!" yelled a woman. "Surrender now, or die!"

                "Shit," muttered several of the Followers. Despite the arrival of the guard, several of the followers started to squeeze past the toppled locker.

                Dot stabbed the first to make it through in the throat. Vanna motioned to Tadyel, and together they pushed the table up against the doorframe, sliding the locker further into the workshop. Vanna then waved up, prompting Tadyel to pop up on the table at the same time as she did.

                "So," said Vanna, "want to try coming through again?"

                "Fuck you!" yelled a woman. An arrow flew into the room, although it had no target. Dot had already shuffled off to one side, and was busy reloading one of the crossbows.

                "How the hell do we get at them?" asked one of the Followers. They sounded very desperate.

                "Drop your weapons!" yelled a voice from the other room. "Your comrades - and the injured - have already been captured. Failure to surrender will result in your death!" It was the guardswoman from before, having now advanced to the workshop.

                There was a moment of silence, and then a voice said, "We surrender."

                A few weapons clattered noisily to the floor as the Followers dropped them. "Fuck off!" yelled another voice, although they said nothing else. The cluster of Followers near the door pulled back.

                Several faint noises - mostly incoherent grumbles and a few 'to the front's - later a well-armed guard appeared in the doorway. It was Frennet, the leader of the guard. She poked her head over the table, looking at Vanna and Tadyel in turn.

                "It's good to see you," said Vanna, lowering her sword.

                "Looks like you were in a bit of a bind," said Frennet. "Now, I'm glad you're alive and that we caught these bastards before they could kill you... But would you mind explaining, well. A few things. How you held them off? Why you have a sword that... big?"

                "It's complicated," said Vanna, sliding off the table. She sheathed her sword. Tadyel copied her actions.

                "Well, I've got some time," said Frennet. "This incident needs a thorough investigation, and you're at the centre of it. I assume they're here because they think you're Magi?"

                "Yes," said Vanna. Together with Tadyel she moved the table aside, allowing Frennet to enter the room.

                "You know," she said, "Given the amount of pain you gave these poor bastards with - what, just the three of you? - I'm honestly inclined to believe them."

                Vanna made an awkward smile. "Well," she said. A moment of silence stretched out; Vanna's eyes flicked to Dot, then Tadyel, then back to Frennet.

                "They're right."