The Lead Crown: Ch 2c, Revelations (pt 4)
Tranquil Waters: The Lead Crown Ch 2-4, Revelations
Alarice scowled as she moved quickly back into her room; if there were members of the Order of Blades on their way into the building then the morning would start with the first of many acts of vengeance. It took her less than a minute to grab what few weapons she was not already wearing and by the time she returned to the main room it was readily apparent that everyone was anticipating conflict. Of course, not everyone had the same response to that realization, as was indicated by Sada's retreat into the kitchen.
"There's at least half a dozen of them." Alvis spoke quietly, having moved from his place at the window to join the rest of the party.
"There's more of us." Roland countered, pulling out the blade that he'd received from Inigo. The wolf-dog swung the weapon back and forth clumsily in the air.
"Numbers count for a lot of combat." Alarice acknowledged, but left off the part of the adage talking about skill; she didn't have high hopes for the scholars making much of a difference in the upcoming engagement.
Inigo was obviously thinking the same thing, and quickly moved to her side, lowering his voice as he addressed her, "What's the plan?"
"Alvis and Roland first..." she commented, glancing at the young shepherd-husky who was strapping his sword belt around his waist, "And Joshew can follow them."
"They'll get slaughtered." the bat announced, but not before he saw the blind human engaged in conversation from both sides by his fellow scholars.
"They'll distract the Order." Alarice corrected, "We won't stand much chance if they get us with a surprise attack, so we'll spring it with them. Once the Blades are in the open we'll close in and solve the problem before they can do any serious harm."
"Makes sense." Inigo nodded after a moment, "We're not being paid to protect them."
"Right." the human woman acknowledged, then glanced toward the kitchen; she didn't fail to miss seeing that the window was open.
Her bodyguard likewise caught sight of it, "Looks like the otter had second thoughts about joining us."
"One of the benefits of a slight frame." Alarice confirmed casually, quite appreciative of the Sada's limberness if she had been able to make it through the small window.
"Alright..." noted Roland in a hushed voice, walking over to join the two, "They're probably turning over the shop downstairs... what's the plan?"
"Ms. De'ahm appears to have thought better of taking part in this conflict." Weisen commented.
"We won't need her." Alarice offered with confidence.
"Maybe not... but it sure would be nice." Alvis countered.
The human woman rolled her eyes, "Listen carefully and we'll do just fine..." As it turned out, however, that wasn't to be the case.
In total, the Order of Blades had sent 10 men into the shop. Alvis had managed to hold off one of the Blades, a tall human with salt-and-pepper hair, but after a few exchanges of blows, the mongrel had fallen without even managing to land a single cut. Roland had fared no better, having been run-through in the initial attack. In a strange, almost humorous twist of fate, Joshew did far better than either of his fellows.
The blind scholar somehow managed to either anticipate the attacks against him, or else had the luck of of the Dark One himself. Without the benefit of sight, Alarice had expected him to fall first, but he actually managed to hold off the Blade attacking him with a series of three skillful blocks of his walking stick, which served surprisingly well as a staff.
Once the initial rush was complete Inigo took a flying leap down the staircase. He came down with an overhead chop, putting all of his momentum into the strike... yet the man still managed to deflect it into the wall, which accepted the bat's blade to the hilt. Before Inigo could extract it three more of the men were upon him and he was forced him to fight with only one sword... which he did to great effect; he even managing to trip the third man. It was then that Alarice joined the fray, and she did so with a flourish.
Descending the stairs by riding the rails, the woman deflect a series of strikes from the men at the bottom. She landed with her sword piercing the back of the man who Inigo had tripped. It was at that very moment when things started going sour. She pulled her blade free but three more men were upon her in an instant. Although she managed to block their first several strikes, each was surprisingly quick, and they had each scored a blow... one was a light 'kiss' of a blade on her flesh, but two of them were significantly worse.
Despite the injuries she had sustained and the number of men pressing her in combat, Alarice was still able to identify the sound of a crossbow releasing a quarrel, and, out of the corner of her eye, she watched as the apparent leader of the attacking Order barely managed to deflect it out of the air. The display of martial prowess concerned Alarice for only a moment, until the rapid repetition of the crossbow firing led to the man being overcome by the sheer number of missile weapons coming his way; in the end, he managed to deflect one more quarrel... which meant that six found their mark.
Back up on the stairs Weisen had dropped the strange contraption that resembled a circular-barreled crossbow with eight strings and pulled out two flintlocks, but she could afford him no further attention as the Blades fighting her pressed the attack once again. Already wounded, it was all she could do to keep their weapons at bay but, despite her great skill, she was no match for her assailants, and one strike found its mark, sliding through the leather armor beneath her girdle and buried itself in her abdomen.
Alarice reeled from the blows that continued to rain down on her, forcing her into a defensive stance... she hated defensive stances. It would only be a matter of time before too many strikes slipped past her parries; she was already bleeding profusely and it seemed as only a handful of seconds had passed. She could have readily have blamed the incompetence of the scholars, but she realized that it wasn't anything she hadn't expected... there just happened to be more assailants than she had planned for.
Off to her right Alvis collapsed as he was overcome by his wounds and off to her left she could tell that Inigo was bleeding even more as the battle bestowed upon him injury after injury. Everything seemed to fade into slow motion as she grasped uselessly at the hole in her gut; her life was flowing from her right along with her blood. Somehow, without any logic, Joshew remained standing, still unharmed as he fought back against the Order of Blades... but Alarice knew it would only be a matter of time before he too was overcome. Missing a step, she fell; none of her attackers bothered to continue to fight-- they all knew she wouldn't be getting back up.
The sound of combat drew further and further away as Alarice's vision continued to blur. At one point she managed to force herself to act, even getting so far as to grip her dropped sword, but the moment she attempted to stand her body gave out and she fell right back to the ground. The impact sent stars through her vision... or perhaps it had been the sounding of one of Wisen's flintlocks but, whatever the reason, another Blade lay dead. For a moment, the woman's hopes raised... but they were dashed a moment later as Joshew's luck finally wore out, and two of the Order ganged up on him, one running him through from behind.
Weisen discharged his second firearm, and a huge spray of wood erupted from the door frame next to where one of the Order had been standing a mere moment before. That man, the one with the salt-and-pepper hair, grabbed the door, which was hanging at an angle due to the blast, and pulled it free. Using the door as cover, he started up the stairs toward the dragon and several others moved to follow, leaving Inigo to fend for himself against his attackers.
The battle on the ground floor didn't last much longer the bat had managed to hold off four Blades for as long as he was able... but even with his conditioning and training, eventually his stamina began to give out and all his wounds took their toll. In the end, one of the Blades grabbed him from behind and another stuck an off-hand dagger right into the bat's chest. Alarice would have cried out if she'd had the energy but, instead, she could only whimper as he fell to the ground, unmoving.
"They're done." announced the human man with salt-and-pepper hair from his place, advancing up the stairs, "Now deal with our quarry." it was at that moment that the most horrific pain of realization struck Alarice; these men hadn't even been after her! She was dumbfounded for a moment by the waste. That surprise quickly turned into indignation... which gave way immediately thereafter to fury.
screeching with as much rage as her weakened state could muster, she managed to force her unwilling body to a standing position. Somehow, she still kept hold of the sword she clutched with every last ounce of wrath within her. She defiantly took a step toward the closest Blade and raised her weapon to strike at him... then collapsed as he smashed his hand guard right into her face-- and everything went black.
* * * * * *
Weisen did not watch the group on the ground floor get slaughtered with an easy conscience, but, at the same time, he realized that going to extraordinary steps to prevent it would accomplish little more than his own demise. what the dragon DID realize was that few men actually died quickly and peacefully from battle wounds, which meant he had some time to save them... but only if he could do so without interruption.
"You can't run forever, Crook." announced Johannes. The human spoke from around the door he was using as a wooden shield as he marched his way up the stairs.
"I don't plan on running, old man." the dragon responded, dropping his empty flintlocks as he reached down to pull a metal strap up from around his throat, tucking a small wire between his teeth so the contraption attached to it could rest next to his muzzle.
"Your trinkets won't do you any good here, rogue..." Johannes declared, setting himself in position with the heavy wooden door as a foil for whatever Weisen had planned, "we'll beat past them just like all of your hirelings." The poor human had no idea what he was up against.
Flipping a switch on the small metal tank strapped to his belt, Weisen took in a deep breath, eyes and nose watering from the acrid burn of the fluid that came out as a fine mist from the nozzle hooked against his muzzle. Still, he didn't cough-- he refused to cough. Instead, the dragon felt the burning pain over every square inch of fleshy tissue in his maw before he exhaled his breath in as powerful a huff as he could manage. The igniter on the nozzle clicked, and, a split second later, the men on the stairs were engulfed in a gigantic wall of flame.
It was not true Breath by any stretch of the imagination, but it was certainly effective both in its application as well as its intimidation factor. Anyone that didn't know Weisen would usually have assumed that he was most likely a thoughtless brute or a brainless oaf based on his size, but that would be their downfall. In the case of Johannes, the man who had been after him for weeks, it wasn't that the human thought him stupid... he just underestimated his intelligence.
Not only was the door incinerated, but Johannes himself ended up as little more than scorched bones. The dragon's device worked so well, in fact, that the two Blades immediately behind him were also seared to a crisp, and the stairs themselves gave way, tumbling another of the Order to the ground. One man, a particularly lithe, graceful cat, managed to leap against the seared wall, and launched himself off of it, coming down on the second story landing only a few feet from the dragon.
"Your toys might be impressive, Crook, but how do you plan on handling a Blade one-on-one?" the cat demanded, eyes narrowing as he drew a rapier. Blade, having counted on the dragon's attention being on his rapier, took the opportunity to surprise him by throwing a small knife from a hidden bandoleer. Weisen quickly raised an arm, feeling the tiny weapon bounce harmlessly off of the form-fitting armor he wore beneath his dig coat. Weisen didn't remember the cat's name at that moment, but had seen him on enough occasions to recognize him. Despite the oddity of it, the dragon preferred to kill people he knew; it helped him realize the severity of what he must do.
Slamming his foot firmly on the wooden floor, Weisen broke the plank where he stepped, forcing it down even as the opposite end of the board broke free of the nails holding it in place... and launched it right up between the cat's legs. As anticipated, Chester (yes... that was his name, Chester) dropped his sword and grabbed his crotch. The dragon twisted his right arm, holding it out at a ninety degree angle, triggering the mechanism that kept the short sword within his coat bound against his forearm.
With the device activated, the weapon launched out along the length of Weisen's arm, not stopping until the hilt was in his talon. Now armed, it was no great feet to close the short distance to the disabled cat. Weisen was able to grant him a swift and merciful death. Immediate threat out fo the way, the dragon then addressed the two remaining Blades down on the ground floor. The resounding *THUNK* of a heavy metal pan heralded the end of combat for one of them men as Sada downed him with a well placed blow to the back of his head.
Despite Weisen's confidence that he could survive the fall if he were to jump down to join Sada in facing off against the last Blade, he did not want to chance a likely injury. As he considered his course of action, the otter woman was put on the defensive as her opponent came at her. She managed to deflect the first attack with the pan she held, and desperately pushed the second aside... at that point Weisen knew he had to act.
Twisting his right arm again, he pulled on a latch, forcing the short sword to withdraw into his coat. From there, the dragon held his talon straight out, palm facing the man attacking Sada, and he quickly reached up to pull the release on his sword rail, launching the short sword like an arrow. Weisen's aim was true, and the last Blade was struck through from behind, pinned to the wall where he stood.
If Sada was taken aback by the death in the shop she did a fine job of not letting it show. The otter woman quickly moved around to the five wounded and began binding wounds. Weisen picked up his bag and attached it to his belt. He moved to the edge of the broken stairs, slammed his talons into the wooden wall and stepped off, tearing lines down the paneling as he used the material to slow his fall. Once he was on the ground floor he approached her.
"They weren't after these five... they were after you." her words held just a hint of accusation, but she hid it relatively well.
"So it would seem." he acknowledged, kneeling down to look over the woman who had originally introduced herself as Patricia, "Ms. Arnhaert appeared to have reason to believe they were after her as well."
"As much as I can tell," the otter woman announced, tying off another bandage around the unconscious dog, "She thinks the Church hired the Blades to kill them... something having to do with that big explosion in town."
"Mmm." Weisen nodded, slowly lifting the human woman up, "Well, I would like to say my own issues are unrelated, but I believe there may be a small degree of overlap in our predicament... however it was not the Church that hired the Order of Blades to cause problems for me."
"Wonderful." Sada murmured, grunting as she slowly managed to pull the black-furred mixed-breed up and onto her shoulder, "See if you can help me get--" but she stopped talking when she saw that Weisen was already hefting up a second member of the wounded, carrying them both over one shoulder. She quickly changed the topic of dicsussion, "Why are you wearing the armor of a Templar?"
Weisen glanced to where the otter was looking: the throwing knife had cut a long gash in the sleeve of his duster, revealing the armor beneath, "That is a story for a time when we are safe... and when there is ample opportunity to tell it without several people bleeding to death while I narrate."
"I know a place." Sada noted without pressing the issue. She turned, and disappeared into the shop, stumbling under the weight of the unconscious scholar.
Weisen delayed only long enough to hoist up the remaining scholar, then the bat. Despite the encumberance of carrying four people, he realized he was loathed to leave the unconscious member of the Order of Blades where he lay. Making up his mind, Weisen hooked the tip of his tail around the sword belt of the bloody-headed Blade and dragged him out as well.
walking through the darkened shop wasn't as difficult as it might have been; the Blades had gone a long way in tearing it up and most of the furniture was already tossed into piles against the walls. Emerging onto the street, Weisen was pleased to see that his steam carriage had gone untouched in the alley where he had parked it. He made for it immediately.
"No..." Sada called from off to the side, motioning for the dragon's attention "Down the side street... this way."
"It will be faster with transportation." the dragon countered, motioning with his muzzle as it was the only part of him not carrying someone. Suddenly realizing what he meant, the otter woman let out a chirp, and quickly moved to match strides with him-- two of hers for everyone one of his.
"I still expect an explanation about the templar armor." she added.
"And perhaps I might be wondering as to why you came back after succeeding in your escape, my Lady." Weisen countered.
She frowned, remaining quiet for a few seconds before answering, "I'm still asking myself that."
The dragon chuckled in response, realizing that he liked the otter a little bit more for her unwavering desire to remain seemingly neutral, "We all have a 'better' nature, my lady..." he winked, "it is the part of us that usually ends up getting us into the most trouble."