[63] Traitors

Bjorn waited with the wagon attached to him among the other wagons. The horses weren’t the fondest of him, and he could tell they were somewhat nervous having him in their vicinity. He ignored them and instead turned his attention to Joha and the goblins as they planned their route out of the city with Æsa’s help. Drifa walked into the small huddle when she saw the group readying for departure.

“All the gates will be flooded with people trying to see what is going on.” Æsa said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they go into lockdown soon. I would recommend going to the East Gate; that one is out of the way and will probably have the least congestion.”

“She is right,” Drifa agreed. “I am sorry that you all have to leave so soon. The state of affairs here seems to be far more dire than any of us could have predicted.” She looked around. “Where is Tyr?”

“He went with Tanisha, she had to get something from the city and should be back soon,” Owen responded.

Joha looked at the woman for a long time. “Who are you?” 

Drifa appeared shocked. “I am the Lady of the House.”

Bjorn looked between everyone and flicked his tongue a few times, growing more alert as unfamiliar magic mixed in the air. Joha remained quiet as he simply stared the woman down. Tensions rose between the two and Æsa stepped between Joha and Drifa.

“Joha, that was kind of rude, we’ve seen the lady of the house a lot,” Owen said.

“Yes, we have.” Joha took a more threatening stance. “Which is why I am asking who that is.”

“What are you doing, Joha?” Æsa asked as she faced him. “Apologize to lady Drifa.”

Bjorn continued to look between everyone in the group. He definitely sensed something was off. He looked at Drifa; she had on her normal baby blue and white robe and twin sabers at her side. She was albino, her skin and hair were white as snow. Bjorn remembered the unusual thing about her was that her antlers were pitch black… no, hers were normal? Bjorn had a feeling Joha was right; she was not Drifa. He tried to use Identify on her to verify.

Identify

Name: Invalid Target
Race: N/A
Level: N/A
Class: N/A

“Failsafe?” Bjorn asked in his head.

“I don’t know either,” Failsafe responded.

“Citizens of Yuhia: I am the First Prince Arnar Al Kossiheim Qar.” A voice echoed around the entirety of the city. “Today, as your sovereign, I stand before you with a heavy heart. I know many of you are confused and frightened, but I am here because of…”

The Drifa imposter sprung into action as soon as the prince’s voice was heard. She pulled one of her blades from its sheath in a motion nearly too fast for Bjorn to see.  The blade cut through the air, and what could only be described as inky darkness extended from the blade as the imposter’s form started to distort and melt. The blade cut straight through Æsa’s back and the wave of darkness continued through her towards Joha. He dodged out of the way as Æsa’s body fell to the ground, sliced in half. 

“What the fuck?” Helina exclaimed with surprise and fear.

Everyone but Joha was in shock for a moment as the Hand’s body hit the ground, painting it in a crimson wash. Joha had already closed the distance between himself and the imposter, dodging a second slash and punching them in the gut then face. This sent the imposter to the ground, which it hit with no impact as if it didn’t weigh anything. The face of the imposter was smashed in, but there was only blackness in its place. 

“I thought you might be able to see through this, rakshasa, but not so quickly. Deliver yourselves quietly and death will be swift. Do not make this harder than it needs to be.” Figure melted into boiling black shadows then vanished all together.

“Was that an assassin? Helina, are you okay?” Owen questioned.

“She-she’s dead.” Helina’s eyes rested on Æsa.

“They know Tyr and Tanisha are in the city now,” Joha stated. He knelt down and closed Æsa’s eyes. “Bjorn, go find Tanisha.”

“That was shadow magic,” Helina said as she composed herself. “Watch out for anyone who doesn’t have a shadow; they will be imposters.”

“Owen, Helina, get to your wagons and start heading towards the gate. Go to the West gate, they know we were going to the East.”

Before Bjorn could run, an explosion rocked the estate. High level artillery spells fell from the sky, hitting the training fields, guest houses and dormitories and erupting into elemental destruction. People on horses, drakes, large wolves and familiars rushed into the estate ground in military formation. The Isi House trainees in the fields that weren’t caught in the artillery magic barely had any time to react before they were run through with spells or weapons. Most were confused; why were wendigo attacking them, they were on the same side. 

“Bjorn, go now!” Joha yelled. “Anyone that tries to stop you, kill them.”

The banner of the Salstar domain hung proudly on the invading Knight’s armor. They were in full arcane plate armor, ready for war. It wasn’t a fight initially, as confusion and the sudden attack led to many people dying before they even knew what was going on. Then the explanation played for the entire city to hear and it came directly from the mouth of the Prince himself.

“…As we gather here today, justice will be served. Not just for the Nazem but also for all of his accomplices. The Fital Family, the Drasi Family and the Isi Family will be the example for all those that defy the kingdom and undermine the safety and stability of our realm.”

Bjorn wasted no more time; he pulled on the connection to Tanisha and instantly felt the direction of the young woman. He took off running, slowed by the weight of the wagon. A man on a Steel Wolf tried to cut him off. His lance was aimed to skewer Bjorn, and flames surrounded him in a brilliant cloak. 

Bjorn ducked the lance and tackled the knight and the wolf, which they weren’t ready for. Bjorn remembered how just a few weeks ago a steel wolf had towered over him; now he was slightly larger than the beast. The steel wolf’s hide was tough, and Bjorn couldn’t get any deep wounds with his fangs or claws. It didn’t matter though; he bit into the wolf over and over until he tasted blood, knowing his venom would do the rest. Or the Knight would take the familiar to be healed before it died.

Either way he did not stick around to find out; he needed to get to Tanisha. There was someone after her and he had to get there first. A man on a lesser drake and with slightly fancier armor took notice of the speeding Bjorn, and looked like he was going to charge. However, once the drake saw him it faltered and stopped abruptly, throwing the man off before running away. 

At the gate to the estate there were rows of knights guarding the exits, making sure no one escaped. Bjorn could see them casting spells in preparation for him, and knew he had to act quickly. He didn’t have much mana and his skills were costly, but he didn’t have a choice if he didn’t want to be used as target practice by a bunch of mage knights. He could use the Poison Cloud but it would limit visibility. The problem was it took a long time to kill, enough time for them to cleanse the effect. He doubted they didn’t have any healers in their number, which left only one option.

Plague Fire Breath
Magic Cost: 6
Stamina Cost: 7
With your left head you can breathe a plume of superheated toxin which will ignite enemies and infect them with your neurotoxin. Flames retain toxicity until you release the spell. Plague Fire will spread like normal fire. (II) Infernal Fire Breath, Maya Cost: 20, fire will spread over non-flammable material at a reduced rate.

Bjorn gathered the power in his mouths. He could feel the swell of mana, the burning in his throat. It was so much power that he could barely believe he had so much. The original skill had also seemed powerful for something that required only one point of mana. He then remembered that he hadn’t used this skill since he got it. In none of the training with Joha nor any of the training on his own. Well, he wasn’t going to be able to go back on it now; he had to release the spell and hope it was enough.

Fire erupted from his mouths in a plume that just kept flowing; not from just his left head either, like the skill said it would, but from all three heads at the same time. He was going to have to talk to Failsafe about unexpected results like this. The flames from each head crackled with magical energies as the fires began to slowly focus, changing color to a vibrant purple as they became beams of concentrated heat and magical poison.

The initial plume of fire caught the knights off-guard but they were unfazed, their armor holding up against the strange fire attack as it should. The magical runes on their armor flared to life, and they stayed focused on the three-headed chimera that was charging at them. Then the flames started to change; what looked like purple lightning coursed through the fire for a split second before the property of the fire morphed. It was not normal magic but something else. The flames the chimera was breathing out began to focus into beams of pure heat.

One by one the runes in their armor started to fail and men screamed as the heat melted armor to flesh. The beams melted rock, incinerating anything in their way. One stray shot continued past the knights and hit the wall of the inner city, magically melting the reinforced stone with unprecedented power. The chimera broke through the barricade, fire breath still pouring from its mouth, slaughtering the backlines before it managed to finally escape.

The fires didn’t go out and instead looked to be spreading, all of them with the toxic flame hue. The surviving knights quickly went to save their comrades, only to start coughing up blood and start shaking violently. Some fell to the ground; seizures ensued as they burned. Still, there were many knights who managed to protect themselves even from the concentrated beam of heat, and many more to replace those that hadn’t. The disruption to the backlines was quickly handled. Pyrokinetic mages extinguished the fires and healers went to work saving those they could and soon the attack on the estate continued.

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