Black Eyes of the Demon Scorpion, Pt. 7
The guard was gone before he nor any other Sythian could conceive it. He opened the door, just in time for Brandis to stage an attack in his vulnerables, which temporarily stopped him cold; to his credit, he didn't even cry out. To add insult to injury, behind the door Boldric grinned and rammed his glaive home in the man's chest while hoisting him into the columned room. Brandis followed, slealthily closing the door back to a crack, and no one was the wiser.
After Boldric pulled the Speared Sythian back into the room with him, Brandis, still invisible, whispered to the group, “Wait 30 seconds, then charge. We hit them NOW.” He was then gone, stalking back to the 2nd guard still unaware. He knew the element of surprise was almost gone – it would only be seconds before the guard was noticed missing, and he doubted anyone in the group could convincingly imitate one of these soldiers.
Brandis studied for a long time, looking for an opening. He found one and struck. Seconds later, the felled guard eased to the ground as the Dust of Neverwhere evaporated. Suddenly, one of the Soldiers minding the war-map started and pointed. He didn’t get the words free before all hells were loosed by the invaders.
Antonius was first in – sprinting forward, he practically SPILLED the words of his spell into the ether. Hurling a blast of bone-snapping cold at the witch and her guards, the Fire witch and one of her Scorpion cavalry was hit with the spell, shocking them, but not disturbing the Witch from her maintaining whatever she was doing to bolster the troops. Dedicated or stupid, Antonius mused, I hope she doesn’t let me find out.
Boldric stormed the doorway, charging into the thick of the room, wild-eyed, singing his battle song as he speared a Sythian. Restrained for hours in these caves, he was doing what he was born to do, and had the room to do it.
Arrows sung from Sythian Archers on balconies as officers gave orders to their faithful below. “Emorians at the Gate! Kill them! Hold them! Protect the Witches!”
Brandis perked up.
Witches? As in, more than one?
Antonius and Boldric took a few minor near-misses and flesh wounds, stopped by armor, but fought on. The Emorian Legionnaires were next in, Led by Varus and Rashad, charging as the trained force they were, forming battle lines, holding back the quickly-organizing Sythians. Maxian and Vercinius quickly charged in; Maxian stood shoulder to shoulder with Boldric, Hammer and Spear of the Sythians together, as the pair put fear of the gods into the foe. Mywyn, fleet of foot but still unsteady by scorpion venom earlier, plied her bow evenly across the commanders and footsoldiers. Vercinius and the Imperial War Wizards joined Antonius just behind Emorian lines and surveyed the situation.
Then, the Scorpions moved, and the outcome was a little less clear.
Riders urged their Scorpions forward, the massive insect-like beasts clicking and charging into battle lines. As drivers used riding bows, Scorpions slashed and grabbed; one snatched up a man like kindling, and one speared with its poison stinger that killed before the poison could. Still, the Emorians held.
Antonius focused on the Witch. She had to GO. Surging his next spell forward, he spoke the key triggers that collapsed it on the Witch’s head with a resounding crackle of bone. The Witch screamed as she was hit with the full curse that took her sight. Suddenly blind, she flailed about, her command broken enough to stop her sorceries with the Demon Scorpion power. The wave of dark energy that fueled her retreated beyond the curtain. As it did so, the three war wizards hit her with all they had – spikes of electricity and cold that cracked and sizzled the skin from her bones. Down went the Fire witch, and hope lifted in the hearts of the invaders.
Vercinius moved forward. His skill was healing, not fighting, and he had little to blast the field with; however, he did know a trick or two. Picking out four enemy soldiers, he wove a spell that clouded their minds for a time. Suddenly, these four soldiers stood, watching their comrades die, and were stuck with indecision. Should they fire arrows? Charge and Attack? Run for help? So confusing! They stood and simply watched as the battle raged.
Seeing an opening after one of the Scorpions downed a soldier, Maxian cried to Tyriel, Captian of the Heavenly Host, and drove his sword deep into the body of the beast. A hiss escaped like cracked shellfish, from the creature or its innards, he had no clue. He just knew that he had struck a telling blow. Singing his lord’s praises, bathing his blade and arm in the Scorpion’s ichor, he was cut as the figure of a Gory God of Death before the Sythians, and those who stood before him had to take every ounce of courage not to break ranks just then.
Myrwyn engaged in a barrage of arrows on the four confused soldiers. While still capable of defending themselves, she hoped to take down a few before they came to her senses.
Antonius almost smiled. Amazing! We win the day like –
Two things cut his thought short: First, a new Fire Witch with her entourage of Sythian guards emerged from behind the curtained partition in the rear of the room; second, two crossbow bolts slammed home, wounding him, and breaking his concentration. Damn!
The Fire witch wasted no time resuming the ritual, and on cue, the Dark energies swept from behind the curtain to fill her…
!
