by D. Levesque
The Portal is on a beach, but the beach is extensive, with the Portal roughly 200 feet from the water. As I look over the tents, I see one that is bigger and more opulent than the rest. It’s a short distance away, and a ring of guards surrounds it. That would be Brakan’s for sure. The pens are on the outskirts of the camps; I am sure because Brakan doesn’t want to hear the moans and crying of the slaves.
There are guards patrolling the whole camp. This is going to be a lot more challenging than we had assumed. “Ideas?” I ask the two girls with me.
“I honestly don’t know,” Leeha says with a sigh. “I was doubtful about us taking the camp on when I thought they had 50 people. But this?” she says, pointing to the camp below.
I look at Bridget and she shakes her head. “Sorry, Alex. I have no experience in this.”
“Right,” I tell her, putting a hand on her arm. “Context,” I say, and she nods at that.
“If only there was such a thing as sleeping gas! But that would take out the whole camp,” I say in frustration. Our plans to save those who Brakan had been feeding to this Portal appear to be going up in smoke. Never mind the fact that while he might think he was feeding them to the Portal in order to open it up, all he was doing was triggering the self-defense protocol on it.
It’s late at night, but there is still a lot of activity in the camp. I can see fog coming off the Lake and starting to roll into the camp. I am sure come morning it will dissipate with the sun’s rays. If only I could use that fog somehow.
I look down at Bridget thoughtfully. She sees me looking and says hesitantly, “What?”
“How many spells can you do at once? Or more like, how many Elementals can you do at once?”
She tilts her head at me and doesn’t answer right away. Then she says, “If I am using your power, I can do two. Why? Do you have an idea?”
“I think so,” I say slowly. “But I am not sure it will work.”
“Anything I can do to help, I will,” Leeha says.
“Actually, you will be needed. If this works, I need someone to sneak to the pens and open them and get the prisoners out,” I say, turning to her. “But that means putting you in danger.”
“I’m in,” she says without hesitation. “What’s your idea?”
“Well,” I say, taking the dagger I had conjured out of my boot and holding it up. “What if I can use the Sleep spell not just on a blade, but on something else?”
Leeha looks at me oddly and then looks down at the camp as if searching for something she missed. It takes her a good two or three minutes of staring at the camp, her gaze going back and forth constantly. Then her eyes widen in surprise.
“The fog!” she exclaims in astonishment.
“The fog,” I nod to her with a big grin on my face. Damn, she is smart and not just a sexy body.
“But I need Bridget’s help in this, as there isn’t enough fog. I need her to use Wind and bring in some more from the Lake of Ruins, enough to cover the camp. But it needs to be controlled so that it not only covers the camp, but stays away from the pens. Then, Bridget, I need you to use my power to conjure a Sleep spell. I’m not sure it will work as I haven’t tested it yet.”
“And then you want me to sneak into the camp to open the pens and let the slaves escape?” Leeha says, nodding in understanding.
“Correct, but you might need this,” I tell her, handing her the blade with the Sleep spell on it. “You will need to take out any guards that are not affected by the fog as they are closer to the pens. Avoid killing them if you can, though if you need to, go ahead and do what you have to,” I say, staring at her.
“I will avoid dealing death if I can, Alex. What about Brakan?”
“Oh, don’t worry, Brakan will be dealt with,” I tell her with an evil grin. “What do you think would happen if Brakan is killed?”
Leeha looks thoughtful, then answers, “His men would disperse, as they would be leaderless. But what if another one of those Mages tried to take over after his death?”
“I would say the force that is keeping them here is Brakan. I think if we kill him, they will all flee this place. But if not. and someone tries to usurp Brakan’s position after he is dead, then we kill that person as well,” I tell her with a shrug. At least I hope that is how it works out. That they all disperse. I need to get to that Portal, and I can’t if they are all still here. I need to overload it to stop this damn Horde from coming. I can’t deal with two fronts at once. Changing the human’s mindset and fighting off a Horde of Demons.
“I’m willing to try this plan of yours, Alex,” Leeha says, grabbing my hand and squeezing it. “I believe in you.”
“I think I can do what you want,” Bridget says with a grin. “Though it might mean using a lot of your power. I would suggest you find a comfortable position. I’m not sure how long it will take me to get that fog in. Do you have an idea for the Sleep spell?”
“I think so? I was thinking of using a Spell Command for this, as I am not sure a simple spell will be powerful enough. If I can create this, it might come in handy other times too. I doubt this will be the last time we will be taking on a large contingent of enemies,” I tell her.
I look around for a comfortable spot, as right now we are all lying on our stomachs looking down at the camp. A little up from us, I notice a tree that would be perfect to sit against and still see the camp. I point up at it and the girls nod, and we all head to it. Once I am sitting down and leaning against it, Leeha squats in front of me and kisses me.
“Give me time to get down there,” she says. She looks down at the camp and says, “I need at least 30 minutes.”
“You got it,” I tell her with a smile as I look up at her.
“I will need about that time as well, to do what I need to do before you send that Spell Command through me,” Bridget says.
“Right. Be careful,” Leeha says.
“You as well,” I tell her, grabbing her leg. “Come back to me.”
Leeha grins down at me. “I hear and obey, oh great one.” And then she is running down the hill. hopping from rock to rock like a mountain goat. A damn sexy one.
Bridget leans down and kisses me as well. “I will let you know when I am ready. I promise to give Leeha her 30 minutes.” And then she is gone as well, leaving me alone on the hill.
I look down at the camp and try to think of a good command to use. I want a Sleep spell. I don’t want to make the Spell Command too complicated, otherwise it might fail. I go through ideas in my head, discarding many of them. I can tell from the position of the moon that we have at least four or more hours of darkness left. So that would make it what? Two in the morning?
Damn, I would kill for a watch. I’m not used to guessing the time. When I ask Leeha how she knows what time it is, she says she just does. Damn internal clocks. I need an internal clock. With that thought, I wait for God to maybe give me one, but after a couple of minutes of nothing, I give up. Guess God didn’t totally gamify this world. Though I’m not sure I would want full stats and shit to follow anyway. It would get too distracting.
“I’m ready,” I hear from Bridget.
“All right. Let’s see if this will work. You have enough fog?” I ask her.
“Tons,” she says with a laugh. “There was a lot of it just down from us. I used Wind to bring it in closer. We are good there.”
“Good!” I tell her with a grin.
Nodding to myself, I think. Mind. I want a Sleep spell to hit the fog and make whoever it touches sleep for four hours.
You have used a Spell command. You have used 1000 points of power.
As you are using a Spell Command to hit multiple targets, the Spell Command has been augmented. An additional 10,000 points of power are being used.
Suddenly, I feel a sharp pain in my chest. Shit! That hurt!
“Alex!” Bridget says over the connection, and there is worry in her voice. “What just happened? I just felt a backlash of power coming through to me.”
“How much is a shitload?” Bridget asks me apprehensively.
“11,000 points of power,” I say with a scowl.
“Did you feel any pain?” Bridget asks me quickly.
“Yes, in my chest area. Where my fourth Chakra is.”
“Don’t do any more spells, Alex! Not until I can see you,” Bridget says quickly.
“Deal,” I tell her in total agreement.
“All right, let me do this. The Spell Command looks like it took. The fog just took on a purple tinge. Let’s see if this works.”
Looking down the hill, I see a large and extensive patch of fog heading from the Lake of Ruins towards the camp. I can’t see the purple tinge from here, but as it’s dark and a good distance away from me, I trust Bridget’s description of it.
Then the fog rolls over the camp, and I lose sight of everything underneath it. I do see that the fog stops just shy of the pens, almost like it’s hitting a wall. I would guess that’s Bridget creating a wall of wind or something to keep it away. Either that or she is controlling the fog.
I start to hear screaming from the guards at the pens, and as I watch, one by one, they go down, either dead or asleep. There are about eight of them. I can almost follow the path that Leeha is taking, as just after I hear the screams of the guards, I then see them collapse. Damn, Leeha is good! I can’t even see her!
“Wow, watching Leeha do her job is amazing!” Bridget says over our connection. “She is like a ghost! They don’t even see her coming.”
As I continue to watch, Leeha suddenly appears next to one of the pens. She opens the door and motions people out. At first, no one emerges. Leeha goes into the pen and I see her pointing up to me, and suddenly there is a surge of people leaving the pens. All of them appear to be heading into the woods next to the camp. Leeha moves on the next pen and does the same thing for all three pens that are left. Within ten minutes, the last of the slaves has disappeared into the woods. Leeha looks my way and waves, before disappearing again.
“All right,” I tell Bridget. “Let the fog go.” I think Mind, dispersing the Spell Command.
Soon, Bridget is sitting next to me, and she leans into me while we wait for Leeha. I put my arm around her.
“I’m glad you didn’t need to kill people,” Bridget says. “Now let’s look at your Chakra, shall we?”
“Sure,” I tell her.
Bridget looks me up and down, her gaze stopping at my chest, and she frowns as she focuses on something I can’t see. Something inside me.
“The good thing is nothing happened. But it’s close, Alex. You need to not use power for a bit. Let the Chakra’s vibration calm down. That massive dump of power that you pulled out of yourself and gave to me almost cracked it open. I am not sure what would have happened without me here.”
“Right, no spells for 24 hours,” I tell her with a relieved smile.
“At least,” she says, nodding.
“Damn, that was fun!” Leeha says, suddenly standing next to me and almost making me jump out of my skin.
“Jesus, you are too damn quiet,” I tell her with a laugh.
She sits down next to me on my other side and I put my arm around her. “How many?” I ask her.
She nods as she knows what I mean. How many dead soldiers? “Zero! These blades worked so damn well! I just needed to nick someone, and they went down like a sack of potatoes. Though, when I put the last one to sleep, the blades disappeared.”
“Do you want me to go down for Brakan now?” Bridget asks me. “Since you can’t do any magic for 24 hours?”
“Nope, this is where we wait. And also, Leeha will be doing the dirty work. Sorry love,” I tell her, squeezing Bridget against me.
“For you, I will do anything, Alex. You know that,” Bridget says, leaning into me.
“I know. But this is more of an assassination, and that’s Leeha’s territory,” I tell Bridget, kissing the top of her head.
“Now, as this will be from a distance, here is my idea,” and I start to explain my plan.
Chapter Nineteen
“That’s some evil shit, Alex,” Leeha says when I’m done, but there is a proud smile on her face.
“Hey, it keeps us away from him, right? Or them, really,” I say, as we can hear shouting down below as the camp starts to wake up from the Sleep spell.
She is kind of right, though. The spell I want her to use is kind of cruel, but we had been practicing it for the last three hours or so until we knew she could do it. I mean, I could have gotten Bridget to just go down there, find Brakan, and kill him in his sleep. But since I can’t be the one to do it, I want her to do this because she is from this world, and she’s Elvish. If it can’t be me, I want her to have that kill.
“Ready?” I ask Leeha, who is kneeling with me.
We are all kneeling at the edge of the camp, looking down. We are closer because after all of the practice we had done, we now know Leeha’s maximum distance for the spell I want her to use.
“Yes,” she says with a ready grin.
“Remember, just as we practiced it,” I tell her, putting my hand on her back.
Just then, we hear a loud scream. Looking down, we see someone coming out of the tent. The man is tall, slim, and athletic, and he is in a red robe. He is yelling in a very authoritative voice, and one man, in a green robe, is arguing with him. Suddenly, the man in red shoots a fireball at the other one, killing him on the spot. Yep, that would be our guy.
“Think there are enough eyes on him?” Leeha asks.
I look at the camp of soldiers and Mages. Almost every eye is on the dead body. “Wait for it,” I tell her slowly. After about a dozen seconds, everyone looks away from the body towards the killer, Brakan.
“Now,” I say quickly.
Suddenly beside Leeha is a Water Arrow, and it streaks off like a bat out of hell. Looking down, so I don’t miss it, I am just in time to see the Water Arrow slam into Brakan’s head and go right through his skull, until you can see the arrowhead sticking out of the back of his head.
“Reel it in,” I tell her with a grin.
And all of a sudden, the man’s head detonates, with brain matter and skull fragments exploding in a shower of red that I can see even from here. Within seconds, it causes precisely what I had hoped for. Pandemonium. Utter fucking chaos. Suddenly there is screaming everywhere, and heads are turning this way and that way, trying to find out where it came from. One of the things we had been practicing with Leeha in order to divert attention from our spot was having her shoot her Water Arrow at an angle. With the aid of her own Water Elemental, to control it.
It worked like a charm. People were screaming and pointing slightly off from where we were sitting, because some smart person down there had deduced the arrow’s trajectory.
You have received 5 Heavenly Tokens.
Heavenly Tokens: 17 of 200
Shit, I didn’t expect to get tokens! It’s been so long since I got a message about it. Why didn’t I get one when the slaves were released, I wonder? Maybe because I wasn’t down there?
“Wow, you were right!” Leeha says with awe in her voice. “Look, men are already running towards the spot where they think I shot the arrow from!”
“Yep. It’s like in my world, where if someone shoots one of those bullets, you can sort of guess where it came from by the entry wound. I figured it would be the same with that Water Arrow of yours, especially with the water string attached to it,” I say.
“Now what?” Bridget asks, looking at me.
“Now we wait to see if they leave,” I tell her.
“And if not?” Leeha asks me.
“I guess we figure out another way to get rid of them, but I hope they are smart and realize that now that they are leaderless, they can leave. I would guess a lot of these people are here because of the fear they had of Brakan. I wish he had suffered more
, though,” I say with a sigh.
“Same here, but he wasn’t our primary target,” Leeha says, placing a hand on my knee since we are still kneeling.
“Well, let’s get comfortable. I don’t know about you two, but I am exhausted,” I say to Leeha and Bridget, covering up a yawn.
Even though Bridget is an Elemental, in her Elvish form, she still gets tired, and needs to eat, drink, and all the rest. Which is odd, but it is what it is. I’m not complaining, since it also means she can enjoy sex. That reminds me, since we are out of the Dungeon, time is back to normal, so I will have to refill her energy levels or I will start getting intense pain. I think I have, what? Four days?
“Gods, I can so do with some sleep,” Leeha says, covering her own yawn.
“I saw a cave this way,” Bridget says. “It’s well hidden and tight to get in, but that means we can build a wall using Earth to make sure we are safe.”
“Sounds good to me. Lead the way,” I tell her gratefully.
Shifting slightly, but not enough to wake up Leeha and Bridget, who are sleeping on me once again, I open my eyes and look around the small cave we are in. The floor was so rough when we got here, that we had to use Earth Magic to make it even. But then I figured if I am going to make myself comfortable, I am going all out. So now the floor is soft sand, instead of the damn hard rock it was before.
Leeha cracks an eye open and says in a tired voice, “Do we need to get up now?”
“No,” I tell her with a smile. “We can stay here longer if you wish, but I just wanted to look outside and see what is going on.”
“Oh,” she says, suddenly wide awake. “I want to see that as well.”
Bridget moans into my chest, snuggling deeper. “You are both too loud. Shush.”
Leeha grins at her and Bridget must sense something, because suddenly her eyes fly open, and she is looking at Leeha. “What are you about to do?” she asks her warily.
