In a flash the memory of how to cast is in my brain and I gesture toward the troll nearest Balderdash13 as my target. Burning Smite casts a beam of hot energy at the spirit. My aim isn’t great and where I had been aiming for its chest, I initially hit its arm. But the spell is so effective in stopping the troll in its attack on the tank that I am encouraged. After my cool down period, I cast again, with better aim this time, hitting it right in the neck and burning a hole straight through.
Instead of just displacing the smoke like the gust of air had been, the heat and power of Burning Smite seems to actually be destroying it. Like fog burning off under the afternoon sun, the mist that makes up these enemies disintegrates under my spell.
As the troll collapses, I wait, desperately hoping it doesn’t reconfigure itself and appear again elsewhere in the corridor.
[+ 350 XP!]
“Yes!” I shout. “Burning Smite, baby.”
“Really?” Erinocalypse says, finally taking a second to look at what I’m doing. “Awesome.”
She quickly changes to her own casting of Burning Smite. At a much higher level than me, she is able to direct a more powerful beam with greater accuracy than me, and swiftly disintegrates three enemies in the time it takes me to eliminate one.
[+ 290 XP!]
Achievement: You have Unlocked Burning Smite Level 2
Description: Causes damage up to 7% of total health; three second cool down
Reward: +70 XP, +2% chance of accurate aim
Our progress accelerates after I level up. Though Erinocalypse and I are the only ones of our party able to inflict any damage, once we have realized what spell to use, the body count rises quickly.
[+ 240 XP!]
[+ 190 XP!]
[+ 220 XP!]
The final enemy left in the corridor is one of the heavily armored knights, walking toward us with a two-handed sword held high. I aim my spell at its knees to slow it down, while Erin burns her more powerful burning spell at the knight’s chest.
[+ 310 XP!]
Congratulations! You have reached level 25!
You have one attribute point to distribute.
Name: SirAsh3r
Level: 25
Strength: 28
Intelligence: 28
Dexterity: 27
Stamina: 28
Magic: 29
Skills: Woodcraft 3, Slash 2, Club 3, Paddle 1, Climbing 1, Stealth 3, Archery 8, Power Perception 3, Backstab 1
Abilities: Initiative 2, Focus 1
Professions: Cooking 2
Affinities: 12% Earth; 16% Water; 10% Fire
Fame: 350
Achievements: First Explorer of Lake Galavant, First Explorer of Foyle Forest, Friend of Water
As the final knight spirit dissipates I let out a long slow breath. I drop the attribute point into Dexterity to keep my stats pretty even. SteelFeather and Balderdash13 offer a smattering of applause and Callidus finally pops back in to view.
“Where were you?” I ask.
He grins and shrugs. “Scouting. Not like I could have helped at all anyway.”
“What’d you find?”
“Hold up, now.” TexBadass interrupts. “Looting first, then we go.”
He has such a one-track mind sometimes. Though the spirit figures did not leave any carcasses, a pile of coin and armor rest on the floor where the last enemy fell.
As we are all part of the same party, the game mechanics are set up so that all the loot from any enemy is divided up equally and according to what each person needs. So, even though Callidus didn’t do anything to help, he still saves ten gold pieces to his inventory and gets a belt with protection from water damage. I’m surprised that I’m not more bitter about this disparity. Maybe this does actually feel like a team to me.
“Oh, hell yeah,” TexBadass says, loudly.
“What’d you get?” I ask.
“A new spell.” He waves the piece of parchment at me before reading it again and saving it to his inventory. “Arm of Monmouth. It’s a Strength buff.” He flexes his right bicep.
“Nice.” I’m pretty pleased with the belt I looted, as wide as my hand and covered in blue and green scale-like pieces of metal.
Name: Mere Belt of Nennius
Level: 36
Description: +10% resistance to Water damage
As soon as I equip it, I upgrade my water damage resistance, but I wouldn’t mind picking up some more spells. Maybe I should start putting more points into Magic.
“Come on,” Erinocalypse says, standing after equipping a new crown that boosts her Intelligence stat. “We still have a long way to go.”
Chapter 11
Once we make our way past the haunted portraits in the stairway, I keep Power Perception engaged so that I can pick up on any more traps or dangerous magic. Knowing when we were walking into danger let us be more prepared than we would have been otherwise.
Callidus pauses a couple steps below the top and gestures for us to come closer.
“I came up here and peeked earlier while you guys were fighting. Looks like we have found the main floor of the castle,” he says in a whisper. “I want to go take a closer look at what we’re walking into.”
As I nod, he fades from sight when he activates Stealth. I activate my own Stealth and creep to the top of the stairs to take a look myself. It has to be fast since I’m only at Level 3. My time limit counts down in red numbers in the corner of my view. This stairway fortunately does not have a door at the top, so none of the soldiers will notice us coming and going.
We’ve reached the tall, three-story entry way and great hall. To our left is the enormous front door of Castle Nennius, reinforced by multiple layers of iron interlocking beams and guarded by no fewer than six soldiers. To our right is a wide staircase leading to floors above, and directly in front of us is a long room, filled with long wooden tables and benches, with several doors at the far end.
The stairs wind around to the next floor up with a long galley that allows visitors to look down on the entry way and hall.
My countdown is almost up, so I retreat a few steps back down to where the others wait out of sight.
“Callidus is right. It looks like the main room of the entire castle. There are a bunch soldiers alone guarding the door and I didn’t even bother to count the number of NPCs milling around the rest of the room. There’s no way we can get to the Library or the Throne Room without being seen.”
Callidus startles me by reappearing at my elbow in that moment.
“Yeah, what Asher said.”
“Helpful, dude. How far did you go?”
“All the way to the other end of the room. I accidentally knocked over a bench but since I was invisible maybe they just thought it was a ghost.” He grins, then quickly suppresses it when he sees Erin’s frown. He clears his throat. “Anyway, those doors at the far end of the room? Looks like they go to the kitchen and probably the soldiers’ barracks. I didn’t have time to go too far in, but that’s a pretty safe guess.
“From what I can tell the security all seems pretty lax in here. There are a bunch of soldiers by the door, but they seem pretty chill. Like they’re so confident in their ability to keep intruders out that there aren’t layers of security at every doorway. That could be good for us, right?”
“Yeah, but …” Erinocalypse trails off and meets my eyes. “How do we all get through that room to the stairs and up several floors without being seen?”
“I’m just going to ask the obvious question and y’all can shoot me down,” TexBadass says. “You don’t have any spells of distraction or, I dunno, disguise?”
Erinocalypse shakes her head. “No. I’ve already run through all the my spell options. They’re almost all straight-forward attack spells. The first chance I get I’m going to learn some more defensive options. Right now, the best I could do is use Surge of Air in all their faces to make them turn the other way. Not like that’s going to hide the fact that we’re in the castle, though.”
>
“What if we just go one by one, really fast?” SteelFeather suggests. “Just time it right so the NPCs in the room aren’t looking on this side and hurry?”
“Yeah, you go first,” Balderdash13 teases.
“Alright.” SteelFeather stands up a little straighter as he accepts the challenge.
“No,” Erinocalypse says.
“Why not?”
“Because there’s no way that will work.”
“It might. I can be fast,” he protests.
“It’s not going to work.”
“So, then what do we do instead?” I ask. “I mean, really. What are our options? None of us have any way to disguise the whole group in any length of time, let alone long enough to sneak through a castle full of people. We could try to fight our way through, I guess.”
“Yeah!” SteelFeather says.
“Or,” I continue, “We just … make our presence known. We risk it. Maybe Marilyn was exaggerating about Queen Vivian. Maybe the monk was just trying to keep us cautious. Maybe it won’t be that bad.”
TexBadass shakes his head. “Oh lordy.”
“What? You have a better idea?”
“Nope.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “I got nothing.”
“Erinocalypse?” This choice should be up to her, even though I am not sure it’s much of a choice.
She sighs and then chews her lip while she thinks.
She meets my eyes and shrugs. “I don’t know what else we can do.”
“Wait,” Balderdash13 says. “What does that mean?”
“Let’s just go. Risk being seen, not make a huge thing about it. Callidus said there were a lot of NPCs, right? Maybe they won’t notice us. Maybe it’s the kind of place that not everyone knows everyone and the fact that we’re already inside the castle will be a free pass and we can just head up the steps to the alchemist.”
TexBadass snorts derisively.
“Look, if someone has a better idea, let’s hear it.”
Silence.
“Okay, then.” She lets out a long slow breath. “I guess … here we go.”
Callidus activates Stealth again, but the other five of us have no real choice but to walk out into the entrance hall in full visibility.
Enhancement received: Bubble of Protection
Description: You will sustain -5% damage for the next sixty seconds
Nice, Erinocalypse. I suppose that’s better than nothing as we walk into who-knows-what.
We reach the doorway at the end of the corridor and all huddle together for a split second before Balderdash13 leads the way across and a bit to the right, making her way to the stairs that should take us up to the alchemist and to the throne room. SteelFeather is just behind her, and I bring up the rear of the group. I keep my eyes on the back of Balderdash13’s head. If I don’t look around, if I don’t catch anyone’s eye, I could plausibly deny that I heard anyone yelling to try to stop me.
“Hey!”
Like whoever that is.
“Keep going,” Erinocalypse mutters when Balderdash13 hesitates briefly.
“Stop! You there, stop! Do not go up those stairs.”
I still haven’t looked around to see who is yelling at us. But it doesn’t matter. Balderdash13 and SteelFeather only manage to climb two stairs, the rest of us none at all, before a company of guards has run down to meet them. At the same moment, I feel a presence behind me, a sharp end of a spear hinted at in my back.
Instinctively I put both hands in the air, surrendering.
“Well, that worked about as well as I expected,” TexBadass mutters.
Chapter 12
We’re stopped at the foot of the stairs, surrounded by Queen Vivian’s soldiers. Most of the other NPCs in the room have stopped what they were doing to watch; we’ve stumbled into the worst case scenario Erinocalypse suggested, drawing all possible unwanted attention to ourselves. I count at least twelve or fourteen soldiers all around us. They each wear the maroon and navy uniforms that indicate they belong to the castle guard, and they have a variety of weapons aimed at us, including spears, axes and swords. The man in front, with a thick blond mustache and long hair hanging over his shoulders, aims the tip of his sword right at Balderdash13’s ribs.
Name: Sergeant Alley
Level: 36
Description: One of Queen Vivian’s guard. Usually in a position of authority when the captain isn’t around.
Wow, okay, only level thirty-six. We could probably—
But my thought is interrupted by chaos all around me as several things happen at once. Callidus was still under Stealth when we were surrounded and I lost track of him. Until now. The soldier next to Sergeant Alley stumbles forward, knocking into Balderdash13. As he falls forward, I see the dark bloody patch on his back where our rogue attacked secretly. In that same moment, SteelFeather and Erinocalypse both take their chances, the tank swinging his sword up into the torso of the soldier closest, the sorceress freezing four different soldiers with Petrify.
Balderdash13 fights to get free from under the weight of the dead NPC when we hear shouting and cursing coming toward us.
“Stop them! Do not let them by.”
I only just have time to save my weapon to my inventory and fire off one blast of Burning Smite before the soldiers around us start following the shouted instructions. The guard to my right cries out in pain when my spell hits his face, but it’s not enough to stop him; he lunges forward, jabbing his spear deep into my side.
[-1985 HP!]
I grunt in pain and double over as a full ten percent of my health points disappear. “Tex,” I whisper.
The healer spins in alarm, batting away the restraining hand of one of the guards, and manages to offer me a healing spell before all action ceases and we are held fast by the soldiers’ weapons. The chilly effect washes over me as I feel the pain diminish.
From the far end of the room, where Callidus said he thought the barracks were, a tall, barrel-chested man with dark hair and intensely blue eyes comes rushing towards us. He wears the same uniform as the soldiers around us, but his bearing and the respect paid him indicate to us he has more power. As he crosses the room, the guards part to let him through.
A faint ding sounds in my ear.
Erinocalypse: Let me do the talking.
SteelFeather: You got it, chief.
There’s not time for more private conversation before the captain of the guard reaches us.
Name: Captain Amos Crowhurst
Level: 38
Description: The Captain of Queen Vivian’s guard and most skilled swordsman in the castle. Crowhurst maintains discipline and control as though he were the monarch instead of just one of her staff.
“What is this?” he asks with unnerving calm.
None of his men answer. They are either injured, still frozen from Erin’s spell or scared. He unsheathes his sword and holds it to the neck of Sergeant Alley. The man closes his eyes tightly but doesn’t otherwise move.
“This looks like disorganization to me, Sergeant Alley. You know I hate disorganization.”
“Yes, sir,” the soldier whispers.
“I believe we talked about the consequences for disorder, didn’t we?”
“Yes, sir.”
The captain lowers his sword, as though confident he has made his point. He seems to relax for a split second, but then with surprising speed swipes his sword across, slitting the man’s throat.
I hear TexBadass half-gasp, then cough quietly as though trying to disguise it. I can’t take my eyes off the NPC bleeding out on the floor, the pool of blood growing and seeping toward me.
Captain Crowhurst turns away from the body to give us his full attention.
“Who are you?” he asks our group.
I feel his gaze on me and I force myself to look up from the dying soldier. Captain Crowhurst focuses his glare at me and I stand up a little straighter. He’s not going to intimidate me.
“We were sent here by Brother Xavier
,” Erinocalypse says. “We met him in the chapel of The Lady of the Lake downstairs.”
“Brother Xavier is a pious, too-trusting fool. Just because he did not kill you immediately doesn’t mean I will not.”
“We withstood his Axios Trial and were told The Lady of the Lake will protect us.”
“And did Brother Xavier also tell you just how much the queen is swayed by The Lady of the Lake?”
Erinocalypse opens her mouth as though to say something, before closing it again. The monk did tell us how little he saw the queen. Maybe this religious angle isn’t the right one.
“We are Guardians of Camlan,” I say loudly, calling the captain’s attention to me again.
Captain Crowhurst smiles condescendingly. “Oh, you are? Well then. That makes all the difference. Guardians of Camlan, you say?” He laughs hollowly.
“Yes, we are.” Erinocalypse has a new steel in her voice that I am thrilled to hear.
“And I suppose as Guardians of Camlan you just magically gained access to this castle? As Guardians of Camlan you just popped into existence in the chapel and didn’t breach any of our security or disable any of my men?”
“I, uh … ” Erinocalypse frowns.
“That’s what I thought,” he says coldly. He steps close to her, lowering his voice so only those of us closest can hear. “I don’t care who you are. I don’t care what you are doing here. Without approval from the queen herself, I am authorized to treat you as spies and enemies of the crown.”
“Wait, but just let us talk to her. I’m sure we can get her approval,” I say, my mind jumping to the possibility that we can get access to her. “Take us to the Throne Room.”
He ignores my plea, stepping back again and points to the two soldiers closest to Erinocalypse. “You. You. You’re in charge. Take as many men as you need to subdue this party of infiltrators. Seize them. Take them down to the jail and tell Sergeant Lipton we will hold these prisoners as long as we need to.”
“No, wait!” I protest. “Won’t the queen want—”
Captain Crowhurst is in my face in an instant. “You have no idea what the queen would want,” he hisses. “Scum like you are the reason the queen put me in charge in the first place.”
Guardians of Camlan Page 5
