War - 1

War


	The sun was already falling when the group pulled up into the trees.  After a cursory check by Suivi and Doshellas turned up nothing, they quickly set about fortifying the place.  The whole group quickly removed boxes from the cargo wagon, and then Axio and Linus effortlessly flipped it onto its side.  Luanea cast a spell of warding on the center of the campsite.

	They had only minutes.  Luanea suddenly spun around and stared northwest.  “Here comes somebody,” she snapped.  “A lot of somebody.”

	Axio sidled up to the overturned wagon and looked past.  His eyes went wide.  “Arbor in heaven,” he breathed.  “There’s over sixty.”

	Linus’ jaw dropped.  “Is this an orc horde?” he demanded.  Kyria felt the blood drain from her face.

	“No, they’re a mix of humanoids,” Axio said, which was not Verashon’s favorite word, but they were far too busy to bring it up.  Axio winced as he remembered too late, but pressed on.  “They’re dressed in a mix of blue and brown uniforms with green and black trim.”

	“Sounds like the Cult of the Crashing Wave,” Linus said.  “I thought they had been wiped out, though.  Are they wounded?”

	Axio squinted through the darkness.  “No.  They look tired, but they’re not hurt.  Some have magic weapons.”

	“They usually do,” Linus said bitterly.  “Prepare yourself for a close-in fight.  Do they have casters?”

	“Maybe, I can’t tell.”

	“Damn them,” Linus said.  He drew in a deep breath and mounted Noble.  “Friends, if we don’t make it, it was an honor.”

	Suivi let his daggers glide down the inside of his sleeves into his hands.  “Don’t write us off yet,” he said easily.

	“No, not yet,” Verashon said.  He drew his twin gladii and spun them into his palms.

	Luanea drew her bastard sword and gripped it with both hands.  She leaned up against the bed of the wagon and cast Bless on herself, Verashon, Axio, and Suivi.  Kyria simply cracked her knuckles and linked her hands together.  Cavria unshouldered her glaive and whirled it into place with a slap of steel on leather.

	Axio drew his own blade and waited.  “Should I light up the camp?” Linus asked.  “My driftglobe can handle a few dozen feet.”

	“Not yet,” Axio said.  “Let them get closer.”

	As soon as he said it, though, the group outside halted.  “All right, send somebody out!” a human man in blue shouted.  “Come on, let’s get this over with!”

	Axio looked around at the others in confusion.  “I said get out here!” the man shouted.  Axio heard some of the folks outside unsheathe weapons.

	“Ideas?” Axio asked quietly.

	“Why does he want somebody to come out?” Cavria hissed.

	“Negotiate, I assume,” Axio said in the same tone.

	Cavria’s amulet bumped against her breastplate, and a thought occurred to her.  “So… do we mind if I put the fear in them?” she asked.  “Specifically, the fear of the Hells?”

	Axio’s head whipped over to stare her down.  “You want to take the amulet off?” he demanded.  “What if they shoot you on sight?”

	She shrugged.  “Is it any less likely than them just killing us when we tell them to go fuck themselves?”

	“GET OUT HERE!” the man roared.

	Axio sighed and closed his eyes for an instant.  “Do it.  If anything goes wrong, Kyria, caste Haste on her and get her out of there.”

	“Understood,” Kyria said.  She grabbed a piece of licorice root and prepared her spell.  “I’m ready.”

	Cavria walked out past the edge of the wagon.  They had piled downed wood on either side, but it only came up to waist height.  She stepped over the wood, glaive in hand, and accepted Axio’s reassuring squeeze of her other hand with a sad little smile.  They both knew what this meant.

	The shouting man planted his hands on his hips and stared at her, unimpressed.  “All right, let’s get this done,” he said bluntly.  “Turn it all over.  Weapons, food, magic.  Don’t waste my time.”

	Cavria let the taint of her origins tinge her voice, and hid the shiver of pure revulsion.  “Do not presume to speak that way to the daughter of Asmodeus,” she said coldly.

	The spokesman blinked.  A trail of ice ran down from his eye sockets towards his beard, Cavria noted, and his hands glinted with strange blue light.  “What are you talking about?” he asked irritably.  “You’re a Pala-”

	She took the amulet off.

	Linus felt his skin crawl in revulsion.  The others had seen it before, but he had had no idea.  He turned to Axio, who simply nodded.  He looked back at Cavria, who slowly spread her arms.  The roving marauders recoiled as they saw the little red lights of her eyes glow in the dead of night.  “Now… flee, before I take your souls,” Cavria said, deepening her voice and letting the black wisps of arcane power she usually held in check spool and coil around her hands.  “You are but currency to me.”

	A few of the bandits took a step back, but Kyria slid up beside Axio and cast Haste.  Cavria felt the spell wrap around her and her eyes widened in surprise.  She didn’t know what Kyria had seen, but she trusted her friend’s judgment, and promptly darted back over the barricade.

	A blast of ice-cold water rushed through the spot she had been filling a moment before, smashing against the top of the wagon.  “You were warned!” Cavria shouted, putting her amulet back on.  She needed her holy symbol.

	The wizard who had cast the spell turned to the other marauders.  “Fools!  It’s just an illusion!  Attack them!”

	Cavria winced at the irony.  It actually hadn’t been an illusion.  Now they were in for it.

	A roar went up from the other side, and a wave of crashing water knocked into the wagon.  Axio stabilized it, but another impact knocked him back as the wagon toppled over on top of him.  The horses neighed unhappily.  Cavria and Linus cast Sacred Weapon on their blades, and the clearing lit up.  Linus sent his Driftglobe up into the air.

	The first group of marauders vaulted over the upturned wagon as Axio awkwardly scrambled out from under it.  One ran along its length and threw himself onto Cavria, who promptly cut him in half.  A wizard in blue and green armor crouched behind the wagon and cast a spell on Axio as he rose to his feet.  Axio shuddered, but threw off the effects.  He reached out and impaled a leaping marauder on his sword.  The raider howled and crumpled around the magic blade.

	A pirate in bright green sprang over the barricade with a long sword of shark’s teeth in his hands.  He swung low and clipped Cavria, then bowled over backwards as Noble collided with him.

	“ATTACK!” Linus roared.  Noble charged, head down and wings tucked, through the ranks of massed marauders, who had been lined up to vault the low branches.  The mighty Pegasus vaulted the barricade without effort, colliding with the first rank and punching clean past.  A dozen marauders toppled onto their backs, with none landing more than startled, desultory blows on Noble’s flanks.

	Doshellas shot the first wizard, who staggered but held his feet.  Abruptly, the wizard’s shoulder exploded as Doshellas’ magic arrow detonated its Wizard Powder payload.  He screeched and fell back.  A dozen more marauders took his place, though, and Doshellas had to dodge a wave of arrows and other missiles.

	Verashon drove his foot down on the arch of one sharktooth-wielder’s foot to pin him in place, and stabbed deep with his blades.  The raider’s war cry turned into a howl of pain, but he cleaved with his own sword, catching the splintmail-clad drow in the stomach.  Verashon hissed in pain, but slapped the pommel of one blade against the raider’s forehead and knocked him back.  Five more raiders scrambled up over the wagon, some firing crossbows, others brandishing scimitars.

	Cavria impaled one and unleashed her Divine Smite, blasting him apart.  She swung high on another attack and clipped what looked like a bandit in black camoflauge armor, sending him reeling.  The magic of Haste empowered her to move forward at speed he couldn’t match, and finished him off with a slash.

	Axio reached into another sharktooth sword raider and grabbed, pulling out something vital.  He squawked and crumpled.  The mighty Paladin landed a kick on the side of the wagon, knocking the footing out from under some other attackers.

	Noble slammed into the back of the marauder group, knocking more down.  Then Linus was among them, hacking and cleaving.  His magic blade hewed necks and limbs; his Smites scattered bodies.

	“Who are these people?” one raider bellowed.  His shout turned into a startled screech as the world around him turned black.  Kyria had cast her most powerful spell available, Evard’s Black Tentacles.  The area on the other side of the wagon turned into a maze of writhing black emanations, grabbing everybody in reach and dragging them in.  A few dexterous individuals managed to leap clear, but most did not.  The targets started making a horrible cacophony as the tentacles ripped them apart.