Siege of Pailtar (22 page)

The Guild school was a large maze of a building and going around to each class without being noticed seemed difficult, so Tolga brought the instructors to him. He had the mage start a fire in one of the wide hallways that crisscrossed the building. Tolga and his mercenaries then waited in the shadows to see who would come put out the flame.

It didn’t take long for a late student to almost run into the fire, he immediately bolted for the class he was supposed to be in. “Mr. Springfield, there is a fire in the hallway. Come quick.”

“Thank you, Jonathon. Would you please go down two classrooms and inform Keyon Upton as well. I do believe he is working with some students today as well.” Morvin turned to his second-year Illusions class. “Anyone know a good spell for putting out fires?”

The class looked around at each other nervously, this was an illusions class, putting out fires was not a spell they had been practicing.

“Relax, this is not a test. I do know a good freezing spell that should do the trick. Everyone come with me, I’ll teach you the spell.”

As Morvin Springfield and his Illusions class entered the hallway so did Keyon Upton and the couple of students he had with him. Since rumors of war had broken out most of the classes at the   school had been cancelled, but they still found time to work with some of the older students, the ones who would be on the front lines of any war with Mothon.

“You haven’t been teaching fire illusions have you, Morvin?” asked Keyon.

“No, we’ve been working on shadows. It wouldn’t have been one of my students,” replied Morvin.

“Damn, I liked the idea of a fire illusion better than a real fire.”

Soon they could smell the smoke, the student had been correct, it was a fire.

Morvin addressed his students, “A cold spell draws heat from one source and converts it into cold. I can draw the heat from the fire and freeze Keyon’s boots, for example.” Morvin started his spell, but was interrupted when a large knife entered his back. One of the mercenaries had been hiding in the shadows of the fire.

As Morvin died, his students looked to Keyon. They were wide-eyed with panic and ready to bolt.

Calmly, Keyon yelled to all the students. “Defend yourselves.”

Keyon then fired a magical dagger towards the mercenary attacking him. But the magical blade   shattered mid-flight. As Keyon looked around to see where the mage who blocked his magic was, another mercenary attacked him.

The mage shielded by the mercenary went to attack Keyon, but another Guild instructor had been in the school. Rocco Poole, the weapons master, had been meditating in the gym when he smelled the smoke. When he came to investigate the fight had already begun. Rocco witnessed Keyon’s failed magical dagger. Rocco knew that a mage was there somewhere.

In a corner, Rocco spotted the mage. Rocco sprinted past the mercenaries trying to kill Keyon and the students. He knew as long as the mage was alive the students had no chance. Rocco launched himself at the mage, his daggers ready to penetrate the mage’s skull.

The mage spotted Rocco out of the corner of his eye. A magical spear appeared in the mage's hands, catching Rocco in the chest, stopping him in mid-air.

Rocco felt the magical spear pierce his lungs. He knew he was dying, but he was determined to give the others a chance. Rocco reversed the grip on his daggers and flung them into the mage, who was already looking past Rocco towards Keyon. The twin blades caught the mage in the throat, killing him. Rocco grinned in satisfaction before dying.

Keyon suffered the same fate as Morvin, a knife in the back. Tolga had waited until the battle was fully engaged before entering the fray. His first attack killed Keyon. His next ended the lives of Dylan and Jacob, the Illusions students. Soon the rest of the students were dead as well. The floors ran red with blood.

The fire continued to spread through the Guild school, and would eventually burn it to the ground. Satisfied with the slaughter, Tolga and his men left the scene of the murders to find the next name on his list, Lilliana Clairmont.

25

Pailar

When Everet, Colby and Bollo
arrived at the Broken Dagger all they found was death. The scattered bodies of murdered patrons littered the pub.

“The list must be of all the places they plan to attack. Let’s see if we can figure out a pattern. Obviously, any places Tunc was supposed to attack will be safe now, but any that are on Tolga’s list will be in danger.”

Everet scanned the list, The Barnyard pub had been the first on the list and had a small tick beside it, the Broken Dagger was next on the list and had no tick, nor did the third name on the list, but further down the list were several more names with ticks beside them. “The ones with ticks, those must have been the targets that Tunc was hitting.”

Colby nodded, “So we ignore those names. The third and fourth names are the warehouses I sent my men to. The fifth is the location of one of our underground hideouts. Let’s head there. Hopefully, we can stop Tolgo or whoever King Ganus has going to that location.”

“That is quite the list,” said Everet.

“Yes,” replied Colby. “It has almost every Guild business and hideout listed, along with the personal residence of many Guild members. Whoever is spying for King Ganus knows the Guild very well.”

“But I bet they are not on that list….”

Colby immediately understood what Everet was suggesting, that whoever had given the information to King Ganus would not be on the list, and they would likely be able to figure out who the spy was by figuring out what Guild members were not on the list to attack. “Yes, the list seems to be in order of profits and value. The names at the top are our highest profit ventures and high ranking members, the names get less important as the list goes on. So someone who knows this much would be fairly high on the list. We will be able to spot which names are missing, and we will find out who the spy is.”

“Or spies,” said Everet. “I doubt King Ganus relied on only one person for the list, they likely had several spies used to collaborate.”

“True, but no matter, we will find them. First, we must hurry, I desperately want to meet up with Tolga Oyal and reunite him with his dead brother.”

A minute later, Colby stopped and pointed out a small business that had a set of stairs leading to up to the second floor and a set down to a basement. “At the bottom of that staircase is a secret door that leads to a sub-basement. That is where we need to go.”

As they descended the stairs, sounds of combat filled the stairwell. “They are here. I hope we aren’t too late,” said Bollo before rushing into the building.

Everet and Colby followed behind, moving quickly into the room. From the looks of it they had arrived just in the nick of time. The mercenaries were starting to take the fight to the Guild members.

Silently, Everet moved behind one of the mercenaries and buried his knife in the man’s back. Colby and Bollo used similar tactics to attack other mercenaries. The quick loss of three of the mercenaries changed the tides of the battle. Everet moved through the conflict like a ghost. Sliding from fight to fight, stabbing and slashing the mercenaries as he went. The injuries he caused allowed the Guild fighters to finish killing their opponents. Soon the fight was over.

Colby, breathing heavily, looked around the room noting which Guild members had died at the mercenary attacks, but dealing with the consequences of that, would have to wait. Colby wasted little time organizing the survivors together. “There still might be more mercenaries attacking the Guild. We need to check the next names on the list.”

“What names?” asked one of the men who had survived the attack.

Colby studied the list and ignored the ticked names that had been targets of the first group. Those places should be safe for now. The next names on the list made a shiver of dread go down Colby’s spine. “The Guild School is the next on the list. That and Lilliana Clairmont.”

“I’ll take these men to the Guild School,” said Bollo.

Colby nodded, the school would have to be the priority, but the next name was important to the Guild as well. Colby knew Lilliana Clairmont well. She could defend herself, but if the mercenaries caught her off-guard anything was possible.

“Everet will you come with me?” Colby had noticed how Everet had been key to defeating the mercenaries in each battle so far. Having Everet accompany him to the Clairmont residence made sense. He was a skilled fighter.

The larger force would go to the school, so it would only be Colby and Everet trying to rescue the Clairmonts. “We need to protect the Clairmonts.”

Everet nodded, “Lead the way.”

…

Tolga Oyal and his men stood outside the house of Lilliana Clairmont. While not a current member of the Thieves’ Guild, King Ganus’s spies had made a point of adding her to the list. She was someone the Guild would turn to in a crisis. Eliminating her would weaken any resistance the Guild could put up.

Tolga was feeling very confident having completed two successful attacks against the guild. It was shame to have lost the mage during the attack on the Guild school, but this next attack would be easier he decided. One thief and her husband, possibly a child, they would be easy targets he thought. “Let’s go,” said Tolga.

Lilliana Clairmont was in the kitchen when the entrance door to her home crashed open and the first mercenary rushed into the house. Calmly, Lilliana took the kitchen knife she was using to cut vegetables for dinner and prepared herself to defend her family. There was no time to panic. Old instincts for survival came back instantly. When the first attacker turned the corner and entered the kitchen, Lilliana threw her knife into his chest with amazing accuracy. Hearing crashing sounds she turned and ran into the living room where more mercenaries were piling into the house.

A yell from outside caught Lilliana’s attention. Her heart lurched painfully. Spencer, her husband had been outside organizing his pottery. Lilliana could do nothing to save her husband. There were too many men and too little time to get there. Anger and frustration surged into Lilliana. Using her magical powers, Lilliana took out her anger on the attackers. Using her mind Lilliana shattered a mirror, sending shattered pieces of glass flying into the mercenaries. The flying glass caught several of the men in the faces and throats. But two of the men were quick enough to raise their arms and prevent the flying glass from hitting them in the face. Stunned by the loss of her husband, Lilliana failed to recognize that more attackers were coming in behind the ones hit by the glass. The bloodthirsty men rushed Lilliana. Overpowered physically, Lilliana felt her body pierced by a dagger. A blow to her head dazed her, and she felt herself falling. It seemed like slow motion as she fell. Her mind was screaming out to Kiana, but not a sound came from her lips other than a soft moan. Lilliana was just about to be stabbed a second time when a new man entered the room and ran into the mercenary knocking him over.

Tolga viewed the woman he had struck upside the head. Eric had stabbed her, she was now weak and not a threat. She had put up a brave fight, even killed some of his men. She deserved a quick death. Tolga said, “finish her off quickly.” Eric nodded his agreement. He was about to finish her off when a man suddenly ran into the room knocking him over and away from the woman’s body. It caught Tolga off guard, as the man quickly turned and attacked him with a ferocity that surprisingly pleased Tolga. To kill a worthy adversary would raise his status in the eyes of his men. Tolga blocked the man’s attack and swung his sword at the unwanted interloper messing with his plans. Any moment the rest of his men should enter from the back and want to finish him off. Tolga wanted to kill the man before that by himself.

Tolga smiled at the man, “You are too late. She will die, and you will be joining her.”

While Tolga boldly talked, Everet took the opportunity to stab the other mercenary who was trying to get up after he had knocked him over.

Tolga thought his taunts would make the stranger attack him, instead the man turned and stabbed Eric. Tolga’s eyes narrowed. Tolga regretted the loss of Eric, but one less body to share in the bounty provided by King Ganus wasn’t so terrible either. Tolga waited for his men to enter the house, but instead another stranger entered. His men had failed! The first slivers of fear pricked his brain. He snarled, nostrils flaring as adrenaline surged through his body.

Everet glanced over at Colby as he walked into the house. Colby had killed the mercenaries outside. Now the only one left was the talker in front of him, and the mercenaries who had been hit in the face with glass. Everet suspected they would not have long to live from the amount of blood he had noted as he entered the house. Lilliana Clairmont had put up a good fight. A quick glance told him she was still alive. Her chest was moving up and down. His eyes perused Tolga.“What?” asked Everet, “You don’t like the look of my friend? He’s kind of ugly, but at least he doesn’t smell as bad as you mercenaries. Do you not bathe?”

Tolga growled, Everet’s taunts did not bother him, but the loss of his men did. He still had a large list of Guild members to kill. Without his men he would have to stop, and they would get less gold from King Ganus. “I’m going to kill you, and then I will find everyone you love and kill them too.” He flexed his shoulders and cracked his thick neck.

“Everet, didn’t you already kill this one? He looks very familiar,” said Colby.

“He does, doesn’t he. You didn’t have brother did you? Real ugly fellow, not so good with a sword.”

Tolga, hearing that his brother was dead, screamed in rage and swung his sword with all his might, intending to slice Everet’s head clean off.

Everet, anticipating Tolga’s response to the taunts about his dead brother, ducked the sword and stepped in to Tolga, driving his dagger into the mercenary’s chest.