The melee strained against the mechanism, once it was raised to chest height the Trapsmith rolled under it. He sprinted to the winch mechanism down the passage. Three shimmering forms went with him, as a few of the Assassins took up positions to give him protection.
More Cursed Defenders showed up, some with bows, others with shields. The bowmen took up the far end of the tunnel, shooting their arrows at the melee holding the portcullis up. The shielded undead advanced towards the Trapsmith, who started to sweat.
At that moment the rest of the raid started to appear inside the instanced zone. “Tanks, get inside and defend the Trapsmith. Healers up front to heal those holding the portcullis. Ranged, do what you can to kill off the bowmen,” Alburet rattled out orders as the six undead on the walls finally fell over.
The ramparts didn’t stay clear though, as more bowmen appeared atop the wall. The ranged came under attack at that point as the new set of enemies on the walls focused on them.
“Ranged, inside,” Alburet called out as one of the bolts hit him in the shoulder. “Go, go go!” he yelled as he yanked the bolt out with a grunt of pain. He joined in the rush for the portcullis. “Tanks hold it up, we’ll get you in as fast as we can, but we can’t take this damage.”
“We won’t last much longer than you,” Gerald commented as a third bolt pierced his armor.
The fight inside the gate tunnel became general, as the guild clashed with the shield bearing undead. Four Trapsmiths were furiously trying to disable the portcullis as the fight raged around them. Fluffball tackled one of the undead, her claws tearing chunks out of it. Karen was beside her, stabbing into its neck.
Deirdre followed them into the tunnel, calling out over the raid channel, “Healers, iffin ya have any healing bursts, use them. It will damage the undead while healin’ our allies.” Five priests in the raid started sending out pulses of bright, golden light.
The bright light washed over the raid, healing them while chunks of flesh sloughed off the zombies where the light touched them. The Infernals hissed in pain, their life being quickly depleted by the continuing waves of light magic. Deirdre sent out her own waves of darkness that healed the Infernals but didn’t affect the undead, neither healing nor harming them.
Narrow slits suddenly opened up along the walls of the tunnel and arrows shot out of them. “Fucking damn it,” Alburet hissed as another bolt hit him. “Trapsmiths, how much longer? Tanks, push through, melee follow them, we need to clear this hall.”
“Got it!” Kim called out a split second later. The portcullises withdrew into the ceiling at either end of the tunnel.
“MOVE!” Alburet bellowed through the Raidstone.
The raid surged forward like a wave, the undead in the hall being shoved along with them. They spilled into the courtyard beyond the gate, which suddenly presented a whole new set of challenges for Alpha Company.
The first challenge was that being in the courtyard opened them up to attack from the undead still on the walls. Waves of bolts came from them, peppering the members of Alpha Company. Next came twenty zombies with shields issuing from the guard towers that flanked the archway, plus the original wave of undead attackers from the tunnel that were now mixed in among the raid groups.
The fight started to become a disorganized, chaotic mess. Alburet winced as yet another bolt hit him in the chest. “Ironhand, Rolland, Violet, Gerald and Eveningstar’s groups into the left tower. Everyone else into the right. Hold the doors to stop them from swarming us.” Alburet called out as three more bolts converged on him, dropping him to a fraction of his life. He slammed a health potion as quick as he could to give him a little breathing room.
Bursts of healing washed over him, pulling his health back up to near full as the raid broke into two groups and made for the doors as directed. Several members of the raid were targeted for focused fire from the bowmen on the walls. Leggylass fell under a directed barrage before she could raise a potion to her lips. Jaxton, one of the tanks, also fell to the bowmen.
The group Alburet was with hurried into the tower. The tanks turned to hold the door while everyone else swarmed the handful of bowmen inside, taking the damage they had to in order to kill the mobs quickly. The healers were starting to call out warnings about low mana before the last undead in the room fell.
“Healers, take what mana potions you have,” Alburet broadcast with the Raidstone. “We have to hold here and establish a foothold. Tanks, swap out who’s holding the door to help them out.”
“We’re on our way back up the ramp,” Jaxton broadcast over the Raidstone. “Do we charge in or hold back and wait?”
“Stay just outside the instance,” Alburet replied. “No need to die multiple times by rushing right back in.”
“We have more inside,” Deirdre called out as she took a bolt to the chest. She was looking up at an open trap door that lead up through the ceiling. Movement could be seen through the opening.
“I got it,” Chris called out as he dashed to the ladder. “Going to need some heals,” he coughed as two bolts slammed into him as he began to climb the ladder.
“Close the trap door in the other tower,” Alburet advised over the Raidstone.
“On it already,” Paladium answered back. “What do we do once we secure the tower?”
“Ranged fire over the tank in the doorway, whittle the mobs outside down. Switch out tanks as needed to reduce the pressure on the healers. If we can keep that up for a while, we should be able to clear this section of the Keep.” Alburet watched as Tiny took a turn on the door, his armor better than the others.
“We barely hurt them,” Ironhand said from next to Alburet. “We don’t have strong enough weapons to really hurt these guys and our armor stops very fucking little of what they dish out.”
Gerald nodded, “Even the tanks are having a hard time of it. We can manage if we can keep them from coming at us all at once, at least until we have to go outside again.”
Rolland cut in, “If I might suggest something?” Alburet nodded, so he continued as Gerald took another turn at the door. “Look over the weapons we haven’t sold yet, there are bound to be at least a few people with high enough strength to use a few of them. It’s not a lot, but it’s the best we can do for melee people just now.” He chewed his lip for a moment before continuing, “I can also freeze the archers on the walls for five seconds. It will severely deplete my mana, but when we need to move I will give us a brief respite.”
“Okay. When we’ve dealt with the melee out here we’ll consider using your option for a break out. We’ll have to get onto the walls and fight them there.” Alburet looked at the group around him, “Casters, how were you doing for damage?”
“Just fine,” A black furred Lunari named Midnightjoker replied. “My lightning was doing more than the melee.”
“It’s true,” Karen growled. “Without upgraded weapons we’re more of a hindrance than a help.”
Alburet handed his bag off to Stacia, “Dig out what I have in there and start handing them out, please.” He turned to Gerald, who was stepping out of the way for Violet’s Destroyer, “Gerald, pull out any weapons and hand them out to anyone who can use them.”
A loud thud echoed through the room, and Chris dropped from the ladder. He was bristling with bolts and his life bar was all but depleted, but the trap door was barred from inside. “I got it,” he panted.
Deirdre healed him up, “Well done. I knew the man I will marry could brave that climb.”
Chris’s eyes grew wide as he climbed to his feet. The last few arrows fell away from him as his life returned to full. “You’ll marry me?”
Eyes tearing up, Deirdre nodded, “It can be no one else.”
He wrapped her in a tight hug as their lips met, a small cheer rising from the others in the tower. After a minute Alburet laughed, “Not the time or place, you two. Chris, join the door rotation. Deirdre, get your mana back.”
“Alburet,” Paladium called over the Raidstone. “Can
we get any of those weapons over here?”
“Difficult,” he replied. “Once we clear our door we will see if we can’t manage getting someone to you.”
“Okay. We can hold this, our healers have found their stride.”
“So have we,” Marysue added to Alburet. “We just need to whittle them down, now that we have the fight under control.”
“Right,” Alburet replied with a deep breath. “Okay, Alpha Company, just keep chipping away. Once the melee undead are down we’ll figure out what the next step should be.”
Chapter Thirty
It took some time to deal with the undead attacking them at the door. Eventually, all of the mobs in the courtyard fell. Alburet had Gerald pass all of the weapons that hadn’t yet been claimed to Karen.
“Sneak out and over to the other building, and let them take what they can use. Stay with them until we get onto the walls. Once they’re ready we will be opening up the trap doors in both towers and going up. Clear that area, then we’ll regroup,” Alburet told Karen, before relaying his plan to the raid.
Karen paused at the door to collect a hug from Fluff, then she darted out the opening. After a few minutes Paladium broadcast over the Raidstone, “We are ready.”
“Okay, get your strongest person in position. In sixty seconds we’re going to open up the doors and charge up the ladders,” Alburet advised.
“What about us?” Jaxton asked from outside the instanced area.
“I’ll signal you when we go for the assault on the walls. That should give you the chance to dash into the keep and follow us.”
“Understood,” Jaxton replied, “it’s just a little boring out here. Well, aside from watching the guards fight the undead at the graveyard.”
“As long as they hold out,” Alburet replied as he rubbed at his face. He knew they needed to push, or it would just get worse for the guards and mercenaries. “Okay,” he broadcast, “fifteen seconds.”
Gerald was poised at the top of the ladder, the bolt of the trapdoor in hand. Tiny was behind him, with Violet’s Destroyer behind him. Everyone else had formed a line, waiting to go up as quickly as possible.
“Ten, nine, eight…” Gerald counted down. As he reached one he threw the bolt and surged upwards, shield over his head. Bolts clattered noisily off the shield, the noise echoing into the room below. “Go!”
Gerald went up the last few rungs with Tiny all but pushing him out of the way. The line followed as quickly as they could. Marysue, just behind the Destroyers, started healing Gerald as soon as she had him in sight.
Alburet waited his turn at the end of the line with Deirdre just in front of him. He listened to the sounds of combat and the updates from Gerald over the Raidstone. As the line crept forward, Deirdre seemed to grow more impatient.
“Come on, come on,” Deirdre muttered under her breath.
Alburet rested a hand on her shoulder, “Sorry, Deirdre. I’m not trying to coddle you, but until we reach the walls there is no reason to put you into even more danger.”
Biting her lip, Deirdre nodded, “Aye, I be knowin’ tha’. Me Da’ nay doubt had a word with ya before we left. I do nay be blamin’ ya, knowin’ tha’ iffin I die me final death me sister will be upset. It just rankles tha’ I be down here and Chris be up there already.”
Grimacing, Alburet agreed with her sentiment. “I won’t hold you back again. Just be careful.”
She half turned to meet his eyes, hers full of thanks. “Ya have me word,” she said as she finally reached the ladder.
Alburet watched her start the climb as his hands touched the rungs. Taking a deep breath, he hoped he wouldn’t regret those words. As he was almost to the trapdoor Gerald came over the Raidstone again.
“We have secured the floor,” Gerald announced. “There are two stairways with doors at the top of them.”
Pulling himself into the room, Alburet let out a soft whistle at the number of undead archers littering the room. “Loot up, guys. I’ll check for items to be handed out then we’ll take the next step.” He handed his bag to Stacia so she could handle that part as he turned his attention to the doors. “Trapsmiths, have you checked the doors for traps?”
“Just about to start,” Ironhand called out from the stairs. “Checking the stairs, just in case.”
“Good. Jaxton, we’ll be ready soon. When you hear us count down for the charge onto the walls, that’s your cue as well.”
“Understood, Alburet. We’ll be waiting. And, could you see about setting me aside a weapon as well, please?” Jaxton asked casually.
“Aye, ya tanks be important to us,” Stacia replied over the Raidstone. She still had Alburet’s bag, sorting through the loot they’d collected.
After a few minutes Ironhand reported back. “No traps found on the door. Pretty sure it leads right out onto the wall. That means the first one or two people through the door are gonna get perforated.”
Alburet looked over the raid, trying to figure out if anyone could withstand such a barrage. Failing that, someone would need to be sacrificed so they could get onto the walls. If they could get two tanks through each door, they could form most of a shield wall that would protect those that followed them out.
“Gerald,” Alburet said motioning him over to talk quietly. Once Gerald had joined him off to the side Alburet continued. “You guys can’t hold up to a dozen plus bolts in one go, can you?”
“Couple of us might if we burn our mitigation cooldowns, but it would be close. We just don’t have the right armor to stand up to them. Don’t quite yet have the stats to equip the newer armor we’ve picked up.” Gerald looked over the room, shaking his head as he didn’t like what he was seeing. “I don’t see much other choice, though.”
“We can ask for two volunteers, they’d take the first barrage and die. Then you and the other tanks can get through the doors facing out. If you hunker down behind your shields as much as you can, we should be able to hold the wall. Two tanks fore, two aft, and the rest along the edge facing the courtyard. We can turtle walk our way around the wall.”
Wincing, Gerald stroked his chin for a second, “It sounds plausible. Can’t say I’m a fan of sacrificing our people, though.”
Facepalming, Alburet recalled what Rolland had told him earlier. “Yeah, I get it. Get two tanks for each door. Be ready to follow Rolland out, he’ll be in the lead when the door opens.”
Gerald blinked unbelieving eyes, “You’re going to sacrifice him?”
“No. He has something that’ll freeze the archers in place for five seconds, but it depletes his mana. He told me earlier and I forgot about it during all the fun. Get the tanks ready. If he’s right about what he can do, we have this.”
Nodding, Gerald turned to find the people he wanted through the door first. As he walked away Alburet called Rolland over. Once they were able to talk quietly, Alburet explained his idea, then waited for Rolland’s response.
“I can do it,” Rolland replied. “I can even trigger another ability to safeguard me for five seconds, just before I go through the door.” He chewed his lip for a second, “This is going to suck, though. I’ll be useless for a while after doing this.”
“You’ll be in the middle of the turtle with the rest of us. Just let us know when you’re ready to join in again,” Alburet grinned.
“Okay. Let me tell Kim, then I’ll be ready to go,” Rolland said as he looked around for his wife. Spotting her, he went off to tell her the plan.
“Here is ya bag back, me husband,” Stacia told him as she held out his backpack.
“Thank you,” he gave her a kiss as he shouldered the pack again. He looked around the packed room, seeing everyone ready and waiting on him. “Okay folks, the next part is even shittier than what we already went through. Rolland will be leading us out the doors, he’ll give us a few seconds to set up. Gerald will be leading the tanks out, if you’re in the first group he’ll give you your instructions. Anyone else who is a tank, when we start to move you’ll be f
acing the courtyard. You are to use your shields to deflect as much incoming damage as you can. We’ll be turtling down the wall, killing the undead as we go. Any questions?”
Silence greeted his question, “Okay. Two minutes, then it’s go time again.”
People checked their gear and got ready as they formed up near the stairs. Alburet shook his head, thinking that he should have asked Rolland how different this Keep was from his last one.
“Ten, nine, eight…” Gerald counted down from behind Rolland.
On the count of one, a blue shimmering barrier sprang up around Rolland. He flung the door open a beat later, stepping out onto the wall of the keep. A barrage of arrows bounced off the barrier around him. Two seconds after that, a wave of blue light rushed out from him.
As soon as the light flashed from Rolland, Gerald was through the door, turning to his right. Paladium was right next to him, both of them with their shields up to deflect any incoming attack. The other door was flung open as the two tanks on that side came through, turning left.
Playing For Keeps (Alpha World Book 4) Page 29
