NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ilex" data-source="post: 5544745" data-attributes="member: 82687">20x03Trusting that Rose was as safe as she could reasonably be back in Lord Ono's office, Mena felt free to take the lead as the party raced into the depths of the Inquisitorial House, toward the dungeons.She had time to remind herself of the stakes they were facing:  the alarm in the dungeons had undoubtedly been caused by Tidesmen.  And those Tidesmen had been sent, no doubt, by the Mother Superior of Cauldron to discover if her nephew, Kawazu, was a prisoner.  If they returned to her with information that Kawazu was, indeed, being held here by the Inquisition, the Mother Superior would use her great political power to shut down the Inquisition's investigation into the Tide.  Thus, if any intruders so much as catch sight of Kawazu, Mena realized, then we cannot allow them to leave here alive.Somehow she managed to sigh despite running at breakneck speed, leading the party down yet another staircase.Just when we're having a glimmer of a good week, her mind whispered. No, just when I've been having more fun visiting Ehktians than I have any right to, the enemy moves. Sedellus moves, thirsty for a blood tribute… and I must oblige her, this time, before our enemies oblige her more… Mena clattered down the last narrow stone staircase, noting in passing an arrow slit in the left-hand wall that led into the dungeon beyond.  Then the staircase turned left abruptly and the dungeon itself opened up below her:  from where she stood, the stairs marched down the right-hand wall to the floor of the room.  In the far wall was another dark door leading to an even lower level.  In the middle of the room were three pits, each containing a cage on a chain that could be raised and lowered by a system of gears on the ceiling and handles on the wall. The tops of the cages were meant to be flush with the floor, but the first cage was already nearly up and rising fast.  Around it stood three men swathed in black, faces covered, who wheeled around to face Mena as she arrived at the top of the stairs.  A fourth black-clothed man turned the crank that raised the cage.  Three dead guards lay on the floor nearby, their throats cut.Mena's gaze took in all this in a heartbeat as her eyes swept the room.  In the next heartbeat, enough of the cage became visible for the four intruders and Mena to see that it was empty.  Kawazu was in one of the two remaining pits, apparently.  In the third heartbeat, the crank-turner jumped to the handle for the next cage, two of the three figures below spread out warily, raising knives and throwing stars, and the final figure let out a battle cry and raced across the room toward Mena.Foolhardy boy, Mena thought, noticing him stumble in his enthusiasm.  She took one more step, planted herself about halfway down the staircase, and set her feet in a firm stance.  You're not getting past me, she resolved, allowing the dispassion of battle-focus to muffle her restless mind.  Then Foolhardy Guy was upon her, whirling his knife—and missing her in his excitement.  She hadn't even struck yet and he was already off-balance.  Arrows sang down on the two men in the middle of the room, catching one in the arm and nicking the other on the thigh—Nyoko had taken up a position at the arrow slit above and was keeping them pinned down.  "Pardon me, Mena!" called Tavi, and Mena didn't flinch as his whirling, flaming blade flew past her head and sliced a deep gash into poor Foolhardy, setting his clothes on fire, too. Then Arden slipped past Mena, danced past the flaming figure—who didn't even seem to see her—and stabbed him in the back.  Foolhardy staggered up the stairs away from her and onto Mena's waiting sword.  As he went limp, Mena pulled her blade free and kicked his body off the stairs.  Exceedingly poor tactics, young man, she thought after him.  You should have paid more attention to your teachers.Unfortunately, the foolhardy one had not been alone—and his allies were far better at their jobs.  The crank-turner continued his work, raising the next cage.  A second man watched the cage intently to see what lay inside.  A third man hurled a throwing star that took Arden in the neck; Mena saw blood gush as Arden staggered, dazed, fell off the side of the stairs, and hit the stone floor.The second cage reached the floor's level, revealing a lump of rags—no, it was a human, gaunt, dirty, limp:  Kawazu.  He raised his face feebly and croaked, "Please, Lord, let me out of this hell."  The second intruder peered at him just long enough to confirm his identity, turned, and darted for the stairs.  If you get out, we're finished, Mena thought.  Therefore, you three have just sentenced yourselves to death.But the peering man moved with an acrobat's grace, leaping up three stairs in a bound, and coming for Mena low, under her guard, his dagger gleaming.  She sidestepped perfectly and the blade missed her, but he was past.  Happily, Tavi was right behind Mena.  Tavi spun, swung his flaming blade again, and connected.  The man was wily, yes, but now also bleeding and on fire. Then he met Twiggy, who cast a spell at him that caused him to bat frantically at the air around him as if attacked by an invisible hawk.  Even as the effects of the spell faded, his face kept twitching oddly, and that's when Nyoko shot him from the arrow slit above. "Shrivel up and die, dog," Mena advised him.  Her armor screamed in agreement as she raised her own sword through the flames and nearly cut his leg off.  Wily Guy collapsed, unmoving, and Mena kicked his body to the floor to join Foolhardy's.  Two down.The Crank Guy, his job finished, had joined forces with the other remaining assailant.  They were both moving warily toward the stairs, darting and dodging to avoid Nyoko's arrows.  As they reached the foot of the stairs, Arden stumbled to her feet—and Cranky slashed her arm and finished with a kick that knocked her back to the ground.  Mena winced sympathetically, then braced herself as Cranky weaseled up the stairs toward her.  Her eyes tracked the gleam of his dagger and she beat it aside with her sword at the last second. She hadn't yet suffered so much as a scratch.  Maybe training with the Ehktians hasn't been contemptible self-indulgence, she thought, suppressing an alarmingly cheerful giggle that suddenly threatened to bubble up.  On the floor below, the final intruder stabbed Arden in the back—to the hilt.  It was a particularly bloodthirsty move, given that Arden was already kneeling, her eyes blank and confused.  She pitched forward to the stone floor and didn't move. "Savina!" Mena called.  She wasn't quite sure where Savina was—only Tavi and Twiggy had been on the stairs above her the last time she'd checked—but she hoped the healer was close enough to help Arden.So now the last guy had a nickname, too.  Hateful Bloodthirsty Guy Who Hits People When They're Down glared up the stairs and moved forward to join Cranky. A whoosh and a rush of heat came from behind and above Mena, and she saw red flames reflected in the eyes of the two assailants on the steps below her.  She knew that Twiggy must have ignited her flaming sphere in the doorway above, making escape even more difficult.  Mena grinned, feeling crazier than she'd like but having no time to analyze it.  Apparently feeling similar, Bloodthirsty Guy winked at her.  Then he turned and raced down the stairs, across the room, and through the dark door at the far end, disappearing down those stairs to the lower levels.</blockquote>

Verification