by Aaron Oster
They ran on for a good five minutes, the concrete tunnel bare of anything other than small lamps set at intervals to light the long corridor. At last, Morgan could spot light up ahead, and Gold held up a hand, slowing their pace to a normal walk.
They crept to the end of the tunnel and placed their backs to the wall, then slowly peeked out. They saw a large concrete room, similar to the tunnel. It was mostly bare, with only a small table pushed up against one corner. This was likely a checkpoint and a way to make sure no one got in without permission.
The problem was that neither he nor Sarah could spot any way to continue. They each carefully examined the walls, floor, and even ceiling, but there was no evidence to indicate that there was a way forward.
“Do you see anything?” Morgan asked Gold, as he scanned the room.
“There,” Gold said, pointing to a blank spot on the wall. “That’s our way in.”
“How do you know?” Sarah asked skeptically.
Gold flashed her a grin, then darted out from the tunnel exit and ran straight for the section of wall he’d pointed out.
Sarah opened her mouth to say something, then he dove forward and vanished.
“What the…” Sarah began, but a light scuffing coming from the tunnel quickly had her moving to the spot Gold had just vanished through.
Morgan was close behind her, fascinated at the concept of hiding an entrance in plain sight. Sarah winced as she slammed her shoulder against an invisible doorframe, but Morgan, seeing where she’d impacted with the wall, was able to avoid it.
They emerged into a well-lit hallway that looked nothing like the sparse, concrete-lined one they’d been walking through. Black and white marble tiles lined the floors, and the walls were lined by rich mahogany panels. Suits of armor stood in a neat line on either side of the hallway, and Morgan could spot well over thirty doors just from where he was standing.
“How big is this place?” Sarah asked, wonder in her voice.
“No clue, but my best guess,” Gold paused, looking down the hallway and squinting slightly, “would be somewhere in the five square mile area.”
They both turned to stare at him in shock.
“And we're supposed to locate one person in an hour?” Sarah exclaimed.
“Forty-three minutes,” Gold corrected cheerily. “Let’s get moving!”
44
Arnold walked swiftly down the abandoned stretch of road between the last town of Kerg and the South Kingdom border. He’d debated spending the night in town but had ultimately decided that it was best to escape the North Kingdom as soon as he could.
His eyes flitted nervously around the wide open area. He didn’t know why, but he suddenly felt distinctly uneasy.
His feet moved just a bit faster as he subconsciously sped up his pace, and he clutched at the short sword buckled at his belt.
He’d been unable to find a proper replacement for his massive two-handed one, but this toy was better than nothing. While some supers preferred to fight bare handed, he had always preferred a sword. He found that it greatly increased his chances of winning a fight and who wanted to take the time to learn a martial art? The art of the sword was all he’d needed to know.
Arnold felt his pulse quicken a bit as he continued running. He was headed for the Merchants Guild in the South. The information he had was extremely valuable and he had no doubt that if anyone had the power to hold back the Assassins Guild, it would be them.
The night was silent, and the only sound to be heard on the dusty road was the sound of his boots scuffing lightly against the gravel underfoot. There was a half moon in the sky, giving less light than Arnold felt comfortable with.
His eyesight was normally impeccable, but the moon had been drifting in and out of clouds for the last hour. Even when it was showing, it would cast weird shadows on the barren landscape, making details hard to judge.
The only warning Arnold received was a light swish of air. The next moment, he was sent bouncing across the hard-packed earth, wincing at the force of the blow. He slammed a fist into the ground as he came out of a particularly nasty impact with a prickly cactus. The force of the blow launched him a few feet into the air, and he was finally able to orient himself enough to manage a landing.
His feet plowed deep furrows in the ground as he slid back, and Arnold’s breath caught in his throat at the sight before him. Over a hundred black-clad men and women were now standing on the open stretch of space. His momentum finally ran out then and he came to a full stop, eyes scanning over the gathered assassins.
He caught a flash of movement from his right, but he wasn’t quick enough to dodge as something hard slammed into his ribs. Arnold grunted as he felt something snap, then he was once again sent bouncing over the hard ground.
He let out a howl of anger and smashed his fist into the ground again, this time using his concave skill. There was an earth-shattering boom and a massive crater formed where his fist impacted. The force threw him upward a good twenty feet, and when he looked down, was glad to see that at least three people had been caught in the blast.
His pleasure vanished in an instant, when they all stood up as one, seemingly unhurt. Arnold came back to the ground, landing hard and taking off at a sprint for where the assassins seemed to be spread the thinnest. He caught a flash of movement again, and this time he managed to throw a hand up to block.
He howled in pain as his forearm shattered, the force of the attack spinning him violently around and sending him to his knees. Arnold gritted his teeth, as hot blood poured down his arm, and he forced himself back to his feet.
Apparently, the assassins were no longer taking any chances with him. This was an all-out war, one that he stood no chance of surviving.
He looked up at the black-clad figures. So far, he had yet to spot a single one move to attack, yet he’d been hit hard enough to break bones more than once. This could only mean that the assassins here were their best.
If he was going to die here, he may as well try and kill as many of them as he could. If for no other reason than to spite the people that had set out to end him.
Arnold coughed, tasting the coppery tang of his own blood, and grinned.
“Well, then. Let’s dance!” he roared, pulling his short sword from the scabbard and twirling it in the air.
***
“Not here,” Sarah said, closing another door and jogging to catch up with Morgan and Gold.
They’d been at this for the past twenty minutes, without even a shred of luck. Their time was ticking down fast and they were no closer to finding the head of the Guild than they had been before they’d left.
“No luck here, either,” Morgan said, closing another door and moving to follow Gold.
He sounded a lot less frustrated than her, but he’d always been good at hiding his emotions.
Then again, she thought, maybe he’s so good at hiding them because he simply didn’t feel them at all.
“How much time do we have left?” Sarah asked as the three of them stopped in the middle of the hall.
“Twenty-one minutes,” Gold replied.
He was actually beginning to look a bit worried, not that Sarah could blame him. This was their best shot at stopping the assassins from coming after both of them, and they were likely going to fail because this place was so damn big.
“I don’t think we’ll find anyone in this hallway,” Morgan said, after they’d been silent for a few seconds.
“Where, then?” Sarah asked. “This hallway is all I can see in either direction!”
“I think I have a theory about that. We’ve been seeing the exact same room duplicated every time we open a door. So what if the hallway is also an illusion and we’ve been searching the same rooms over and over?” Morgan asked.
There was a loud slapping sound, and they both turned in surprise to see Gold had whacked himself on the forehead.
“Of course! Silly me. It’s been so long since I’ve done this sort of thing that it co
mpletely slipped my mind.”
“So if we’re trapped in an illusion, how do we get out?” Sarah asked.
“Simple. We spread out,” Gold replied with a grin.
“How will that help?” she asked.
“While illusions are a very powerful type of magic, every single illusion based skill has some limitation, and the biggest limitation of any illusion is space.”
Sarah opened her mouth, but Gold held up a finger.
“No time for the full lesson, so I’ll give you the cliff notes. Illusions can only cover a certain amount of space, but an illusionist can keep it moving so long as we’re clumped together. If we move far enough apart, it’ll begin fraying and eventually fail.”
“Sounds pretty straightforward,” Morgan replied with a nod, and without another word, took off at a full sprint down the hallway.
“He’s got the right idea!” Gold said with a grin. “You stay here.”
He took off in the opposite direction, leaving Sarah all alone.
She growled under her breath at their eagerness, and in her opinion sheer stupidity, at splitting up in hostile territory. She clenched her fists, then activated her mage shield, conjuring a floating ice shield at her back, and a few icicle spears just in case.
She then began to notice that the walls were beginning to look odd. She blinked a few times and rubbed at her eyes as it seemed to swim before them. She was beginning to wonder if she was seeing things, when the elaborate and richly decorated hallway vanished, only to be replaced by the uniformly gray concrete.
Looking down to both ends of the hall, she could now spot where both exits were and headed in the direction Morgan had taken. No doors lined the hallway, leading her to wonder just what they’d been opening and looking into for twenty minutes. Then she heard a loud clang from up ahead, and quickly broke into a run, fearing the worst.
Sarah barreled out of the tunnel exit, emerging into yet another concrete room. This one was very different than the first one they’d entered. For one, there were a few pieces of actual furniture, such as tables, chairs and a large bookcase. For another, there were the two black-clad assassins that Morgan was currently fighting.
She froze in place, trying to assess the situation. Morgan was on the defensive, but managing to hold them off, if just barely. This meant that while they were powerful, they were not powerful enough to completely overwhelm him. She could see that this wouldn’t be the case for long, however.
Quickly, she targeted the one on the left and sent all her icicle spears into the man’s back. By the cry of pain that left the figure's throat, she realized that it was not a man at all. The woman whirled around, a pair of gleaming daggers flashing in the lantern light as she glared at her.
Sarah’s attack, while not lethal, was undoubtedly causing her a great amount of pain. She could clearly see the tips of at least four icicles poking out of her back, and knew that this fight would be made a lot easier due to her sneak attack.
“I’ll get you for that you, sneaky bitch!” the woman yelled, launching herself at her.
Sarah quickly back-peddled, throwing a wall of ice in the woman’s way, then used her bitter frost skill just as she vaulted over the wall. Then woman visibly slowed, and Sarah was quick to pin her leg in a block of ice.
The assassin wasn’t about to go down that easily. Her fists glowed brightly for a moment, then her hands flashed out, sending a shower of needles right at her. Sarah threw up another ice wall, hearing a loud crunch as the needles impacted with the wall.
“She’s rank 26!” Sarah heard Morgan yell.
Well, that was a relief, Sarah thought, whirling around from behind her ice wall and throwing a barrage of icicle spears at the assassin.
To her credit, she managed to avoid most of them, even with Sarah’s skill reducing her speed by nearly half. The woman cried out as two of them found their mark, their three pointed tips burying themselves deeply into her right thigh.
She then conjured a massive ball of ice and sent it flying right at the assassin’s head. The ice shattered when Morgan’s opponent disengaged and intercepted the attack, slicing right through it with a curved sword.
“Thanks for that,” the woman called out before her head was abruptly blown off as Morgan seemed to simply appear behind her, fist extended outward.
He nimbly dodged back as the other assassin swung around at him, and Sarah used the opportunity to use one of her powerful skills.
Her icy wave tore up the ground before impaling the assassin right through. He let out one final yell of agony, before he slumped, blood running down the razor-like icicles and pooling on the ground beneath him.
“That was quite the show,” Gold said, emerging from the tunnel and clapping slowly.
Sarah was so used to this by now, that she would have been surprised if he hadn’t shown up as soon as the fight was over.
“Where have you been?” Morgan asked.
“Oh, just taking care of the other four that were sneaking up behind us.”
Of course, he was.
“How much time have we got?” Sarah asked, reminding them that they were on a tight schedule.
Gold looked down at his watch and winced.
“Eight minutes. But don’t worry. I think I know where to go now. Follow me,” he said, moving quickly around the field of razor ice, and darting down the opposite hallway.
Since neither of them had any idea where they were, they were quick to follow.
Sarah could feel her heart pounding faster as she counted down the time in her head. They wove their way through an intricate system of corridors that all looked exactly the same, but for some reason, Gold seemed confident about where he was going.
She began to panic when they reached the five minute mark and had yet to find the leader.
“Hey, Gold, are you sure you know where we’re going?” she asked, panting lightly from exertion.
She may have been in good shape now that she’d made it to rank 20, but they were moving at a pace which would have probably killed a normal person, and she was beginning to feel it.
“Just one more minute!” Gold replied, speeding up just a little more, and making her stumble slightly as he did.
They took one turn after the next, Sarah continuing to count the seconds as they moved. She was beginning to panic when she hit the three and a half minute mark, but the end of the hallway came into sight. There was a heavy steel bound door set into the wall and two assassins stood guard.
“I can’t read their ranks!” Morgan called out as the assassins took up a battle formation.
That wasn’t good. If Morgan couldn’t read their ranks, it meant that they were at least ten ranks above their own.
A split second later, there was a whoosh of air and Gold seemed to appear before them.
“I’ll take care of these two. You handle the boss!”
“Are you nuts?” Sarah yelled, even as Morgan used his storm blade and slashed the handles from the massive door.
“I’m sure you can handle it,” Gold replied, as two stone golems rose from the ground.
Sarah gritted her teeth as Morgan tore the door from its bearings and threw it to the side.
He really had gotten strong. Evolution was no joke.
She took one last look back at Gold, then swiftly followed Morgan into the room.
45
Morgan entered the dimly lit room, followed closely by Sarah. The room was sparsely decorated, with only a small desk and chair, and a bed in one corner.
He looked quickly around the room, looking desperately for his target, when a small movement from the bed caught his attention. He was there in a flash and staring down an old, fragile looking woman. Her cheeks were sunken with age and she looked for all the world, to already be dead. The only sign of life was the slow rise and fall of the blankets around her.
Sarah walked up next to him, staring down at the old wrinkled woman in confusion.
“Is this her?” she asked.
<
br /> Morgan shrugged and used aura sense.
Name: Swan
Rank - 6
Ability type - Mage
“That can’t be right,” he said, brows knitting together in confusion.
“What can’t be right? What did you see?” Sarah asked, leaning in closer to him.
“It says here that her name is Swan, but she’s only rank 6. Do you think we got the wrong person?”
Sarah bit her lip nervously, wondering if they had indeed been tricked, when the woman let out a loud rattling cough and her eyes blinked slowly open.
“So, you’ve come to kill me,” she said, voice harsh and raspy.
“Are you the leader of the Assassins Guild?” Morgan asked, ignoring her words.
“Would you be here if I wasn’t?” she asked, coughing a few times.
“But that doesn’t make any sense!” Sarah exclaimed. “How can a fragile old woman, who’s only rank 6, be the leader of the assassins guild?”
Swan actually looked surprised when Sarah mentioned her rank, but didn’t otherwise move to answer her question.
“Well, if she’s who she says she is, then all we have to do is kill her, right?” Morgan asked, raising his storm blade to end her.
“Wait!” Sarah yelled, grabbing his arm and preventing him from attacking.
“We can’t wait, Sarah,” Morgan said, attempting to pry her fingers free. “We only have ninety seconds before our time runs out. We can’t afford to be weak, just because she’s not what we expected.”
“It’s called compassion, Morgan!” Sarah yelled, face going red. “You do know what that is, don’t you?”
Morgan shrugged in reply.
He understood the concept, but compassion was for the weak, not for those who wanted to survive.
“Ah, so you’re the ones Simon was after.”
Morgan and Sarah both turned their attention back as the old woman finally spoke up.
“How did you..”
“Know?” Swan chuckled lightly, but it turned into a racking cough halfway through, and it took her a few moments to catch her breath.
