Breaking the Rules Pt. 15

"You heard the man! On the mark of three! One! Two!"

Kunto lunged forward into the middle of the formation of swordsmen, skewering one of them with an overhead strike, bearing him to the ground. The others on both sides come in almost as one to hack at her, but the blades were thrown back, in a couple cases hitting the attackers right in the face, making them fall to the ground.

"Attack the commander? At once," Dayo said, bowing to Blobby as if having received a direct order. "!Manufa Makiya Cikin Mutuwa!!Manufa Makiya Cikin Mutuwa!"

The valkyrie summoned two boar specters, three purplish faces merging into each one, and sent them both running straight towards the commander who watched wide-eyed as they crashed right into the line of shields and threw the bearers back into the line of hammermen, knocking all of them over. Dayo then darted right through between them and locked into mortal combat with the commander, who drew his own sword and lit it on fire with a cry.

"!Wuta Albarka Makami!"

Each hit did some area fire damage as the sword flared. Nuru could see Dayo wincing with each blow, taking a tiny bit of their health. He was good, too; he fell back under the onslaught of Dayo's reach-advantaged attacks, using higher DEX to deflect and dodge, creating a bit of an opening for himself each time the valkyrie overextended or got sloppy with frustration, and getting in area damage and small hits that had big elemental attack bonuses that ignored the armor under their robe. Dayo's breathing started to get a bit ragged as the small blows added up to bigger and bigger damage, and he was taking virtually no injury himself. Just as Nuru was starting to worry, the flame went out on the sword.

"!Azumi Kankara!" Dayo cast, then jumped up in the air, whirling the scythe blade in for a piercing strike. "!Fashewar Asiri!"

The commander slipped on the unexpectedly slippery ice and stumbled under the sudden pressure of renewed assault.

"!Girma Wuta Albarka Makami!"

Dayo jumped backwards from the blast of renewed fire on the blade, hotter now than ever before. The commander took the offensive, coming in just as hard and fast as Dayo had, whirling and slashing and thrusting, every single hit doing some area fire damage that quickly dropped the valkyrie's health from about three-fourths to less than half.

"Hold!" Dayo said.

"!Amrig Atuw Akrabla Imakam!" the commander said, extinguishing the flame.

Dayo continued, "Well fought, sir. It appears you have bested me. I cannot yield or my life will be forfeit; my master is unforgiving of failure. But consider, even when you do beat me, you will still have to contend with him. He is fresh, and he knows your tricks now."

"What do you suggest?" the commander said.

"Spare a moment to examine the battlefield. You may win your duel with me, but your men will be slaughtered. Surrender, and I can guarantee you their lives, as well as your own."

"We have little of value outside of the vault, which is sealed," the commander said. "You should just turn and go, while you still can."

"Sir, it seems to me you are a man of honor. I could withdraw and let the rest of our troops paint the yard in your men's blood, then fight you as a group. Your fire does area damage, and would be a significant threat, but you and I both know we will still prevail."

"What hope do you have for this hollow victory?" the commander said. "If you are here merely for the thrill of bloodshed, then let us dispense this pretense and have done."

"I do not question my master's orders. I do know that he has reached his status by doing what others believed impossible."

"Your words carry the weight of truth to them," the commander said, frowning. "How is it that the city guards have not come to provide assistance?"

"Disable your wards and I will tell you!" Furaha called from the ruins of the gate.

The commander's eyes narrowed as he struggled to identify the voice he might have thought he recognized from somewhere. Finally he relented, throwing down his sword.

"Drop your weapons! All of you! Stand down!"

The men looked at each other, then at the fallen old veteran Ace had poisoned and the young fighter still bleeding out on the ground from Kunto's lance. One after another, they dropped the shields and weapons they were carrying. The commander walked to the guard house and did something; the wards on the ground flashed, dimmed, and went out. Dayo sent one of the hobgoblins in and out of the gate area and back into the yard, to verify that nothing happened; Nuru and Furaha walked quickly inside the yard.

"The problem with bribing city guards, Olamilekan, is if someone gives them a bigger bribe not to show up," Furaha said. "Nuru, collect the weapons and stash them in the corner if you would."

"Furaha!" the commander spat. "I should have known!"

Nuru raised his eyebrows in surprise as he hurried to do it.

"You were too busy thinking me craven," she replied. "Now, my compatriat has negotiated a deal for your life. I will honor this, but choose your words carefully; I can still have you beaten within an inch of your end. You and all your men."

For the briefest moment, the man looked like he was going to protest, but turned his eyes down in surrender.

"Good. Lie down in a circle, facing inwards. All of you. Now!" Furaha snapped.

The Legionnaires all moved to comply, and Nuru took bundles of weapons over to the far corner and dumped them in a pile. Dayo summoned the hobgoblins into a circle surrounding them and took a position by the commander, holding the scythe menacingly over his head.

"Thief, with me," Furaha said, going over to the old man slumped on the ground. "Get him up. We're going into the vault."

"He's dead, you idiots," one of the fighters said defiantly. "You won't get him up no matter how you try. Lotus extract is lethal. When the guards get here-"

"Shut up and lie down," the commander groaned. "It's not lotus extract. The bluff check failed, but I thought it was just supposed to be a lie for intimidation. I didn't realize it was only a nonlethal paralytic."

"You believe the whole world is out to get you," Furaha sneered. "It never occurs to you that someone not in the Legion might know mercy."

"Spare me your righteous indignaAAAUGH!" the commander said, taking a sharp blow to the back of the knee.

"Next prisoner that wants to get beaten, kindly volunteer by saying a word. Any word," Dayo said gruffly.

It took a couple minutes, but the old fighter roused and was able to stand, with assistance. Ace dragged him over to the entrance of the vault where Furaha met him.

"I need your eyes," Furaha said, waving Nuru over. "Open the vault, old man."

"And if I... refuse?"

"Then I end your career right here, and right now. Look at these men. They trust you with their lives. You can spare them by letting me into the vault... or I can kill each and every one of them and leave you alive to tell the tale with their deaths on your conscience, and your permanent record. You're close to retirement, no? You took an easy job, out in the middle of nowhere, to finish out your fifty-year officer commission. You're decorated, you're better than this little shithole, but it was easy, and it let you avoid the biggest conflicts out in the middle of nowhere. This was a cake walk. You screw this up now, and you're done."

"You think you're so clever, don't you? I watched your fuckups at Home Town from a long ways away. And now look at you, fallen as far as one can from grace, on this side of a dungeon gate."

"And yet, my point stands."

Furaha and the old man locked eyes, fighting for some kind of dominance. Nuru was reminded of the Entrancement effect.

"Fine. Have it your way," Furaha said, turning aside. "Necromancer! Turn your minions over to copy my actions and then you are dismissed, that your honor remains intact. Lamia, prepare to avenge your fallen, on my command."

"Wait!" the old man said. "Wait. Don't kill them. I'll let you in."

The collective breaths of everyone in the courtyard exhaled in relief, except for Kunto's. The old man stiffly walked with Nuru and Furaha inside to the vault entrance. The old man pulled out a key and set it into a hole at an odd angle. He placed his palm against the rows of glyphs on one in particular, and then turned the key. A loud CHUNK sound reverberated from the wall, and the door swung outward.

"After you," Furaha said, gesturing for him to go inside.

She carefully followed in his exact footsteps, and motioned for Nuru to do the same. Suddenly, the old man took off running to the far end of the room inside.

"!Allura Hadari!" Furaha cast, showering the end of the room with needles.

The old man had just reached the far wall and pressed some kind of button; the floor lit up with more wards, except in a small area near the button. He slumped over, screaming, and let go of the button. The floor wards erupted with small beads of ice, blanketing the vault with several inches of it.

"Imamu's mercy, it burns like fire!" the old man rasped, trying not to move but unable to remain completely still.

"You thought you had me fooled," Furaha said. "You thought I believed you beaten, because you had resisted every step of the way, and then gave in. You thought I didn't know you have a second defense, exactly as I would have."

"B-but you're... washed up. A failure. Everyone in this business knows your incompetence..."

"They know what I want them to know."

"For truth... I could have believed such a thing if you were younger. But your better years were all spent at Home Town, achieving nothing."

"My age has nothing to do with this."

"We all know the trajectory of compound interest of an investment. Put in enough when you are young, and the rewards will multiply. But wait too long... as your career did... and opportunities are limited. It's simple math."

Furaha stepped over to where he lay on the floor, patted his arm right on some of the needles. "You tell yourself whatever makes it easier to sleep at night."

"Aaahh, shit! Ow! Demonsbreath! Bitch, you'd better hope-"

"So eager to throw your life away, after all that work to keep it? I'm sure the lamia will be more than happy to stand your impaled corpse up on a lance for all to see. As you can tell, I've got nothing left to lose by antagonizing the Legion. Bard, look around for a box of letters; there are probably more traps in here, so don't touch anything shiny. Thief, if the idiot doesn't shut up, stab him with that poisoned dagger again. Don't be so gentle this time."

The man fell silent, aside from pained breathing and moans. Rows and rows of shelves housed small treasures of one kind or another. Nuru ignored all of them, looking for a stack of paper.

"Nevermind, I found it," Furaha said, opening a loose-leaf binder from a bookshelf. "Thief, time to make our exit. I don't trust the floor by the entrance, use a smoke portal."

"Better, I'll use the secondary exit," Ace said.

He stood on top of the countertop where the ward activation button was, and fiddled with something on the ceiling. A hatch opened outward as he pressed with great effort.

"Come on. Watch you don't hit the button," Ace said, gesturing.

Furaha took his assistance and climbed up into the daylight, and Nuru followed her. Ace brought up the rear and they all hopped down into the sandy ground. A healer had come out of the building and was stabilizing the man that Kunto had nearly killed.

"Lamia, we are leaving. Remember what I said about killing anyone. I will not force you to come with us, but..." Furaha said.

"I will come."