Zion: Light of the New Moon Part 3, The Imperial Palace Ch 6
Zion - Light of the New Moon, Part 3 The Imperial Palace Ch 6
"Jasper-- with me!" Haldyn shouted, pushing his way to the front of the group with his sword ready. Jasper was a half-step behind him. "Zeke... we'll need you in reserve." the lion announced, not bothering to look back over his shoulder as he met the first attacker at the top of the stairs, running him through with a quick jab.
Jasper was at his side in an instant, just in time to meet a charging human, who took three sword thrusts before he could even draw his blade back for an attack. The rat carefully deflected the attack from the next soldier and used the man's sword to knock aside a blow that was meant for Haldyn; the lion finished that next soldier off with a decisive strike.
"Push!" came a shout from behind the front ranks of the enemy, "Force them back down the stairs and bring me their heads!" the man would have continued shouting orders, if not for a well-placed arrow gifted generously to him by Dillan. Though the arrow succeeding in finding a weak spot in his armor, the commander did little more than grimace as he pulled it loose... but the throwing dagger from Kell that followed it finished the job.
"Fall back slowly." Narissa stated, "I'm going to try and seal the way with magic." and she retreated to the door at the bottom of the stairs.
"If that's the case..." Dillan noted, putting away his bow, "We're going to have a lot of soldiers in a stairway... that's FAR too good an opportunity to pass up..." and he began rummaging around in his packs, drawing out a half dozen small, ring-box sized wrapped packets. "Nobody step on these." he directed, setting them along the right-hand side of the wall every five or six steps, backing down the stairs toward where Narissa was already attempting to enact her enchantment ritual.
Back at the front lines, Haldyn and Jasper were fighting to stem the tide of soldiers as they pressed them back. Due to the curve of the stairway the soldiers were able to fight three abreast without any difficultly, but if more than Haldyn and Jasper tried to fight them back the curving wall would interfere with their weaponry, thus the two were outnumbered on the front line, let alone in sheer volume of combatants. Even though Haldyn succeeded in slaying a guard every few steps there were always more to fill the gap. Jasper, whose reflexes were slowing due to fatigue, became the first crack in the defenses.
Having just deflected a thrust with the weapon in his left paw, Jasper managed to sneak his tail inside his enemy's defenses and score a solid strike in the soldier's ribs. His foe pulled away, the blade coming out of Jasper's tail. A sideways chop from the middle combatant two stairs above him cleanly sliced the rat's tail in half. The Wild Lander's resounding exclamation and momentary pause at the pain was all the man in front of him needed to worsen the injury by slipping his sword hilt-deep into Jasper's ribs.
"Back!" roared Haldyn, his powerful back-handed swipe forcing all three men ahead of him to stumble backwards, and he used the opportunity to flee several steps down, grabbing the reeling Jasper as he did. The solder who had stabbed the rat made a lunging grab after his blade, but Haldyn stopped the retrieval by cleanly cutting the man's arm off below the elbow; it gave their enemies an extra moment of pause. Zeke stood unevenly, moving past Haldyn as the lion fled with Jasper down the stairs.
"I--" the fox paused for a moment, his voice coming out as a squeak when he addressed the soldiers, "I'm a Wild Lander." he started again, holding his sword in front of himself in a double-pawed grasp, "We do bad things to people." it was a feeble attempt at intimidating and the front ranks of soldiers simply laughed at him. The second rank of soldiers stopped laughing when the first rank fell to a flurry of blows. "Really bad things." Zeke reiterated.
"KILL HIM!" roared a commander from further up the stairs.
"Hurry up, Zeke!" Dillan shouted from below, "I have everything ready and Narissa's almost done!"
Zeke glanced back down the stairs then back up toward the soldiers; it was evident that the fox wanted to fall back, but he shouted over his shoulder, "Someone has to slow them!"
"Get down here!" Haldyn shouted, "We need to GO!"
"I'm ready." Narissa spoke softly.
Zeke mumbled, "A variable..." he batted a cultist blade aside then sank down to his back leg, sliding his own weapon into the puma's crotch, "I'm a variable..."
"What?!?" demanded Dillan, "What are you saying? Just COME ON!" the ferret demanded.
"Jasper's dead." Haldyn called from near the door, "We don't need to lose you too."
The comment brought a roar out of the soft-spoken fox, "I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" he screamed.
"Close the door." Dillan scowled.
"Wait for him..." Haldyn announced, then raised his voice, "If we close this door then you'll be stuck on that side." he said to the fox.
"close the door." the words were spoken at normal volume, but barely carried back over the fox's shoulder above the sound of combat. Before anyone else had a chance to react, Dillan had the door closed.
"We can't use what you had planned." Narissa said to Dillan.
"He'd be dead anyway." the ferret answered, and, a split second later the entire ground gave a jump as an enormous explosion shook the hallway. The door creaked, and smoke billowed out through the cracks, but it did not give way.
"Zeke!" Narissa shouted, and waved a paw at the door, dismissing whatever spell she had upon it. The tigress waited for a moment as the mundane door gave in to the damage it received and fell into pieces, and then she was through it, forcing the smoke back with powerful gusts of conjured wind, "Oh Goddess..." she murmured.
The smoke and dust began to clear at the insistence of the summoned zephyr, and only then did everyone have a chance to see just how the explosions had affected the tower. Gazing across the dimmed roof tops of the city, it became quickly apparent that the tower no longer existed. A section of wall had collapsed onto the street below and the rest of the tower had fallen down onto the square some 30 or 40 feet. Of the soldiers there was no sign but, situated some five or six feet from the crumpled door, pressed against the remnants of a wall on one of the few stairs that had not been obliterated, was a singed but unharmed fox, tail tucked, gripping the remnants of an amulet that had lost its glow.
Zeke looked up at them, the metal turning to dust in his paw, "I... I don't think I'm afraid anymore..."
* * * * * *
Tolen had originally thought being slightly short for his species to be a disadvantage but, as time went by, he found certain benefits to it, such as the fact that he was less likely to be noticed until he called attention to himself. As he was content to sit in the background out of the spotlight, this usually meant that he was almost always unnoticed. The fact that the two cloaked figures by the throne were so focused on the party members toward the front of their group was a good thing for Tolen, and so he took his chance.
Artemisia, unlike the rest of the group, was quite content to stalk forward with her sword at the ready. Tolen didn't have much attention to grant her as she began a growling demand of them, but he realized that she didn't quite have the desired effect; their response was casual, and unconcerned. Digging around in his pack, the fox finally found what he was looking for. Pulling the cloak free, Tolen attached it around his neck, and let the magic take over. He whispered quietly, "Myrhean Soldier." and he felt the faint tingling sensation of an enchantment taking hold.
The argument continued from the front of the group as everyone attempted to calm Artemisia down... everyone except for the two cloaked figures; if Tolen didn't know better he would almost have assumed that they enjoyed watching her struggling to insult and cajole them while the party tried to move her back to an even keel. Tolen, unable to delay any longer, took a deep breath and moved to the front of the group.
"Apologies." he offered in as humble a manner as he could without offering up a title to the nondescript individuals. "They promised to set their weapons aside and speak calmly as a way to put an end to the bloodshed." Tolen's bow gave him a glance of his reflection in the tile floor and of the illusion covering him; he was surprised at how convincing a guardsman he was.
"No fault can be placed upon you, Guardsman." came a calm, well-enunciated, reply from the cloaked figure to the right of the throne, "You did as you thought was right, and for that you are to be commended."
Tolen was both surprised and grateful that the charade had taken, and he turned his back to the two cloaked figures as he approached Artemisia. He could feel the illusion take shape around him as he pulled a small belt knife and held it non-threateningly. The fox knew that his party members could tell it was him; they were not affected in the same was as those at the throne were.
Even though the illusion was that of a man clad in plate mail brandishing a sword threateningly at the dragon the reality of a small fox casually brandishing a dinner knife was, at the most gracious a humorous thing to behold; at its worst it was plain laughable. From the death-glare in Artemisia's eyes, Tolen could tell that she was not about to smile. Despite her intimidating stare, Tolen realized that the party would be at a loss if she gave into her temper, "Stand down, dragon..." he stated with as commanding a voice as he could manage.
"Artemisia..." Yearl spoke, his commanding speaking of her name doing a far better job than Tolen's unsure tone, "You can satisfy your lust for battle when we're done talking... but for now, there's reason enough to delay bloodshed."
"Indeed, you should heed his advice, my dear." the cloaked figure on the left spoke, "You have the heir to the Zionese throne with you... starting a fight somewhere she could get hurt would be very unwise." the female voice had a hint of age to it... and a slight whistle-chirp that identified her as a bird.
"Monedula, my dear..." Palo noted with no small amount of pomp and circumstance, "how good to hear your dulcet voice once again..." he doffed his hat and brought it down across his body in a long, sweeping motion.
"Why Mr Palo... how nice of you to bring our guests to us." the cloaked bird spoke. She reached up and drew back her hood, revealing a dark, charcoal-colored beak was raised up in an obvious show of superiority. The feathers of her face were the same deep black as her hands but they faded to a much paler color, becoming dusty gray by the time they reached her neck. She turned her head to the side, affixing one pure black eye on the fox, "You never cease to amaze me... you know that, don't you?"
"What can I say?" he gave a faint shrug of one shoulder, "I'm full of tricks." he motioned back to the party, "Being courteous and polite has certain advantages..." and Tolen clearly heard a distinct barb to his otherwise polite tone, "Such as having people LIKE you."
If the bird caught the casually veiled insult she didn't let on, rather, she looked at him with the other eye, "I was referring to you collar, Mr Palo."
His smile only grew and he ran a paw across the side of his neck, "I must admit, letting the fur breathe is good for it."
"I am pleased your assumed freedom hasn't put any foolish notions in your head." the bird noted, "Such as trying to leave my employ."
"We've been over that often enough, my sweet, sweet Monedula." Palo's smile lost a lot of its genuine humor, "Both of us know: collar or not, I don't have freedom while you live."
"We'll win your freedom tonight then." Artemisia stated, growling faintly aside to the fox as the leather of her weapon's hilt creaked beneath her tightened grip, "It won't be--" but her words stopped the moment the restrained old dog on the throne let out a wheezing rasp of pain.
"He's done very well thus far... lasted HOURS without so much as a whimper..." noted the second cloaked figure to the throne's right. Until that moment Tolen hadn't heard the figure speak other than her first few words to him. Once she did, however he caught the unmistakable tone of a woman used to being obeyed, "... but even the illustrious Father Tomal can take only so much."
"Alisha..." Artemisia's speaking of the name was somewhere between a rumbling growl and a pure, ire-filled hiss, "How could you be involved in this?"
"I owe you no answers, 'Demon of Ashlai'." she spat the title out as if it were distasteful, "But you WILL answer to me." The dragoness' eyes glowed a fierce red and a new growl emerged from deep within her throat, but all that stopped the moment the restrained dog stiffened, eyes fluttering as the gray on his muzzle become more prevalent through the rest of his pelt and the already-thin layer of flesh on his body drew inward, causing him to become even more gaunt.
"Stop!" Artemisia let the word out almost as if it were a bark.
"You have no right to demand anything from me, girl." the still-cloaked figure spoke, moving forward to lower her pale paw onto the afflicted dog's shoulder; he began to spasm.
"Stop!" the dragoness repeated, then added in a quieter voice, "...please." and the sound of her great sword striking the stone floor where she dropped it echoed through the room.
"You see, Lady Monedula?" the cloaked woman offered amiably aside to the dark-feathered bird, "Even the most insubordinate can be brought to heel if you know what drives them."
"Truly admirable." the jackdaw noted flatly to the wolf, her eyes square on Palo, "I may have to come to you for instruction..."
"Why are you doing this?" Artemisia questioned. It sounded to Tolen as if she wanted to demand an answer, but the dragoness' eyes were squarely on the bloody hound who was rasping from his position on the throne.
"That would depend on what you refer to, Artemisia." the cloaked woman spoke neutrally, "Why I make you submit? Because you are long overdue." she reached up and slowly lowered her cowl revealing the fine features of a well-bred wolf just teetering on middle-age, "Why I make Father Tomal suffer?" she grinned, "Because, eventually, everyone pays their due to the temple..." she softly brushed one of her paws across her robed chest, "And Father Tomal's tithe has finally come around to being collected."
The hound wheezed, huffing several times as he slowly lifted his head. He squinted like a man attempting to see without the spectacles he needed. He took a steadying breath, then attempted to speak, but he managed little more than a rasp. "Enough of that." the wolf noted, and flicked his ear with as much regard as a disciplining parent might do to a pup. Tolen, for many reasons, realized he did not like this woman.
"I am High Priestess Alisha of the temple of Myrh." the woman announced, drawing a gasp from Artemisia.
"When did YOU become the High Prietess?" the dragoness gawked.
"Do not mind the details, Demon of Ashlai... you won't live long enough to concern yourself with them." the comment was casual, as if dismissing her from a conversation that was none of her business, "...assuming you would like Tomal to live." she proposed after a pause, indicating that it was little more than an afterthought. The glint in the wolf's eyes, however revealed to Tolen just how focused the High Priestess was on Artemisia's demise.
"My life for his?" the dragoness questioned, a snarl coming to her muzzle.
"no..." the bloodied hound managed to wheeze, "...don't." He recoiled as the jackdaw at his side casually brought a small rod down solidly on his forearm. The hound yelped, shuddering at the newest pain, but he did not fall silent, "I... forbid... it."
"You aren't in a position to forbid anything, Father." the bird struck him again, on the shoulder.
High Priestess Alisha took a step forward and clasped her two paws together in front of her abdomen, elbows tight against her body as she spoke, "Your friends will be permitted to leave safely." the wolf stated, "They may take the hound with them, though he will acknowledge that he may never again return to Myrh."
"There are more of us than there are of you." Josh interjected from his place atop Sebastian, "Why should we let you do this?"
"Hold." Yearl stated, resting a paw on Josh's shoulder, "They will kill him before we kill them." he explained to the cub, then turned back to the two women, "Release Father Tomal and we'll let both of you live." he countered.
"Yearl Rakken," the High Priestess spoke his name as if it were a title, "You must obviously understand that we do not come unprepared." she snapped her fingers and, all across the balcony of the second story to the room an entire line of bowmen appeared... and all aimed their arrows at Thera, "If she moves... shoot her." the wolf stated, "If they attack... shoot her." and the first glint of pure predator shone in her eyes, "If they do not accept our offer... shoot her."
The jackdaw beside the throne grinned, "You see? We offer you all your lives and the last de'Aveen... you can take Tomal... we just want the dragon and the fox." she glanced to Tolen, who was momentarily surprised by her gaze, "Well, guardsman?" she demanded of him, "Bring me Palo."
"We haven't agreed to anything." Yearl objected.
"Yes we have." Artemisia spoke, her voice dulled and tired.
"I..." Palo chuckled nervously, "I don't think we have." he objected.
"Think of someone else besides yourself for once." the dragoness stated flatly.
"I am!" the fox countered, "I'm thinking of all the lovely ladies at the taverns who will be at such a loss over lacking my company."
"Oh do shut up." the High Priestess scowled, "Monedula... silence your fox before he gives me a headache."
"Oh! But I am usually the CURE for a--" the fox's voice was silenced as a new metal collar appeared on his neck with little more than a whisping lick of flames. Tolen paused, astonished at the strange magic that summoned it into being.
"What are you gonna do to em?" Josh asked plaintively.
"Palo will continue to be my loyal and OBEDIENT servant." Monedula noted, gazing straight at the fox as she said the words.
"And I, in my benevolence, will give Artemisia over to the Sentencing Stone." High Priestess Alisha spoke with a vindictive grin.
"NO!" roared Tomal, fighting against the spikes in his paws as he attempted to rise.
"Yes." acknowledged the High Priestess, turning to slam her paw into his chest. She kept the pressure on it, forcing him back into the throne as her fingers pulsed with faint wisps of dark energy. She sneered, "Now... how did you put it that once, Tomal?" she paused as she bared her teeth, "OH yes... 'I'm through letting you intimidate me.'."
"Stop!" Artemisia bellowed, "You're killing him!"
"Not yet, my dear..." Monedula offered calmly, "Though I'm certain she wants to if you and your friends don't concede." the archers drew their bowstrings taut, arrows aimed at Thera, "And you may want to decide soon... bowmen can only hold at the ready for so long and we wouldn't want an accidental casualty, now would we?"