I am Lena Wolf, Lena's life as it happens Options

[Lena Wolf]

Rain's Hand, 4E204 - Showdown

"We are going to the excavation site," Lena turned to her pawns. "They keep pawns as slave labour there, they have Godsway all over the place, I shall try to shield you but cannot guarantee it. You will get headaches at best or you will fall under their control at worst. There is no telling what will come to pass... If you'd rather not go, leave now."

Rook and Mason didn't move but their fighter shuffled his feet uncomfortably.

"I'd rather not go there, master," he said, blushing. "My will isn't that strong... I prefer to return to my own master instead."

"Good luck in your future endevours then, and thank you," Lena nodded and smiled. "No hard feelings at all. After all, we are going into the jaws of hell... No pawn should be going there."

He dithered a little, then turned and walked away.

"Into the jaws of hell, then," Mason looked resolved. "I am not quitting. If I die there... it's been an honour."

"Don't say that," Lena shook her head, hugging him. "I hope no one will die... that's not the plan, anyway..."

"I am ready," Rook straightened his back. "Do you want me to lead? I know the way."

Lamond was standing slightly behind them, watching.

"Two pawns, two Arisens," he rubbed his chin. "I wonder... You may find yourself torn." He looked at Mason and Rook. "I heard that Godsway amplifies an Arisen's power as well... So that even mine may come through. It will be up to you to try and evade danger. And then there are all those other pawns there..."

"Enough deliberations," Lena put her hand on the hilt of her dagger. "We cannot predict what will happen. Let's go."

...

They approached the excavation site without an incident. They entered the camp and did not get challenged, and neither Rook nor Mason noticed any influence of Godsway.

"It is through those gates," Rook pointed at a sturdy gate leading up the hill. "The pawn camp and the works are there. This is it."

They entered the pawn camp. It brought a flood of memories for Lena, but she steadied herself, trying to focus on the scene at hand. A lot had changed since last time, after all, the excavations continued.

"The cells were that way, were they not?" She turned to Rook, pointing at a tunnel entrance. "Scorpio must be there."

They entered the mine. The dimly lit corridor made a few turns, then opened up to a long hall, cells lining the walls. Two guards stood looking bored, the pawns inside the cells barely looked up. The cell at the back was curtained off on the inside. Lena rattled the door, but it was sturdy, and it was locked, she could not see through the curtain.

"Hey, what are you doing?" One of the guards snapped at her angrily. "That cell is off limits!"

"Just that one?" Lena squinted at him. "What about the others?"

"The others as well," the guard fingered his sword. "Get lost! You have no business here."

"Let's go," Rook said in Lena's ear, taking her by the arm. "We should find the key."

She scowled at the guard but followed her companions out.

"I feel no Godsway," Rook said quietly, having pulled them into an alcove without torches. "It only has a limited range, so if we stay clear, it won't affect us."

"Clear of what?" Mason looked around nervously. "I don't like it."

"The overseer has a staff with a Godsway crystal," Rook explained. "A great big crystal glowing red. Unless they've got more of them now... I wouldn't know."

"The overseer probably also has the key to the cells," Lena noted. "Which means you stay back and I'll go alone."

"You stay back and keep watch," Lamond looked at Rook and Mason. "Keep your heads clear, if you can. We'll go about getting the key."

...

"He's in that house," Lamond peeked into an open window of one of the stone houses on the site. "I can see his staff, too. It's Godsway but it will cast any other spell as well, make no mistake."

"I'll get the key." Lena slipped to the front of the house and pushed the door, but it was locked or barred from inside.

"Who's there?" The overseer shouted, looking out the window. Lamond moved back into the darkness. "Guards! Who's rattling my door?" Guards from several directions ran towards the house, but Lena already moved back too. This was not going to be easy.

"Wait until he falls asleep," Lena whispered to Lamond when the guards resumed their posts. "I'll go through the window and get the key."

"Will he still be alive after that?" Lamond grinned.

"No, he won't."

There was nothing else for it but wait.

...

"Guard!" The overseer stood in the door frame with a scroll in his hand. "Take this to the lab with all haste. I feel trouble brewing..." A guard took the scroll and sped off. The overseer peered into the darkness around the house, shut the door and bolted it from inside. He looked out the window again, then finally lay on his cot without undressing, still clutching his staff.

"He's nervous alright," Lena breathed to Lamond. "I doubt he'll fall asleep. Watch the guards. There's no point in waiting any longer." She pulled down her hood and leapt through the window. There was a scream, noise of a struggle, then a bang of metal against stone and a heavy crush. All that commotion did not go unnoticed and several guards set off towards the house. Lamond readied his sword, but still kept to the shadows. Finally, Lena emerged from the window and they dashed from the scene just as the guards surrounded the house. The door was still barred, and it took a few moments before one of them leapt through the window and discovered what had occurred. By then Lena and Lamond were near the tunnel to the cells, with Rook and Mason joining them.

"Quick, before the word gets around!" Lena motioned them to follow.

It wasn't hard to overpower the guards. She unlocked the door of the curtained off cell and pulled back the cloth to let in the torch light from the hall. Then she froze. Scorpio was chained to a crucifix on the back wall, held off the ground with cuffs around his ankles and wrists, a collar around his neck pulling his body back. His breathing was laboured, his eyes half open, with only the sclera showing through, bloodshot and yellowed. His body was covered in cuts, bruises and warts and a large dark patch was spreading on the side of his abdomen... It was exactly what she had seen in the crystal ball. She felt all life drain from her, and if Lamond hadn't caught her, she would have collapsed.

"It's bad, very bad... but he is alive," Lamond said in her ear. "We are not done yet, Arisen. Your pawn needs you now."

A moment later loud noises were heard from the entrance as guards were rushing in.

Hearing Mason engaging the guards and Rook casting a shield, Lena jolted back to life, her anger turning to rage. She tore through the guards as a flaming fury even before Rook enchanted her daggers. Seconds later the guards were merely corpses.

Several more waves of guards tried to enter the cavern, all to meet the same fate.

Finally the camp was quiet. The pawns in the cells were shaking off the stupor of Godsway.

"Let us out, we'll help," one of them called out to Lena. "That key should unlock all the cells... Whatever you did, lifted the haze... somewhat... We're yours to command, Arisen!" He smiled. Lamond picked up the key and started unlocking the doors.

"Stay alive," Lena said to all the pawns. "Or return to the Rift. No pawn must die outright tonight. Trouble is coming." The fight was far from done, it was merely a pause before reinforcements arrived, summonned by the overseer's scroll sent just before his demise.

Not wasting a moment, they released Scorpio's cuffs and chains and laid him down. He was still unconscious but his eyes were moving behind the eyelids.

"Keep him alive," Lena nodded to Rook who was already incanting a spell. "This will hurt." Unflinching, she cut open one of the warts on Scorpio's body ignoring the blood and puss jetting out. The pain made Scorpio twitch, but there was no time to waste. Another cut revealed a crystal embedded into the flesh, she dug it out with the tip of her dagger. The cavity filled with blood. The crystal fell to the floor and she crushed it. One down. Dozens more to go.

...

They heard noises coming from the camp - reinforcements were on the approach. Lena had cleared most of the warts on Scorpio's body but some still remained. Rook's healing was enough to close his wounds, and he seemed stable for now.

"If Ambrosius or Phaesus come here, make sure to keep them alive!" Lena addressed the pawns in the camp. "I have need of them. Everyone else - do as you see fit."

Two or three waves of guards and soldiers stormed the prison compound, but the narrow tunnel leading to it allowed for easy defence. The pile of bodies was forming a barricade of its own. With the situation under control, Lena resumed squashing warts on Scorpio's body. Finally, she was done.

With the last bit of Godsway crystal crushed and the pawns breathing a sigh of relief, she knelt over him looking into his face. Yet no miracle occurred and he remained unconscious.

"That was to be expected," Rook said softly. "But he is alive, and that's the best you can hope for now."

Lena was just going to say that there was still the matter of the dark patch on his abdomen, but battle noises made her look up - another wave of reinforcements was upon them, greater than before. She joined the battle, her daggers blazing.

"There! That's the Arisen!!" Someone shouted further ahead. "Get her!!!"

She twisted and turned, evading the onslaught of heavily armed guards, having no illusions that a single hit of such a sword or a spear would kill her. She wanted to get to whoever gave the command, the voice seemed familiar. And then she saw him - Ambrosius was casting a spell. She lunged but was too far away, her throwing knife nicked his skin and interrupted his casting, but he moved and two heavily armoured guards were now blocking her way...

"Formless Feint," she thought - a master maneuvre she picked up from the local assassins. "Now's the time!" She rarely found herself in such a tight spot and hoped that the lack of practice would not cost her her life this time. A twist, a lunge, a puff of smoke - and the guards missed their mark. Jumping between them, her daggers extended, she cut two throats at once. "Phew!" She landed in a crouch, watching the guards slump to the ground. She looked up - Ambrosius was just ahead, casting his spell... Searing pain hit her chest, and for a moment she blacked out.

...

"It's done, you got him," Lamond helped her up. "We've defeated all the guards. Ambrosius is ready for you."

Slightly bewildered, Lena decided not to argue. Battle statistics could always be handled later, and it really didn't matter who delivered the final blow. Ambrosius had been captured and she needed a chat.

"You found your pawn but you're too late," Ambrosius scowled at her. "Strong as he is, no pawn can withstand the spread of Dragonplague. That patch will consume him."

"Dragonplague?" Lena was taken aback. "The disease that jumps from pawn to pawn and brings death and devastation in the end?"

"That's the one," Ambrosius grinned. "Pawns contract it from drakes and dragons through contact with dragon blood. They are related, you see... or at least Lord Phaesus thinks so. May be. But regardless... Your pawn has had enough dragon blood pumped into him to kill an army! You lost, Arisen." He glared at her, watching Lena's face turning gaunt. "But tell me..." he looked puzzled now, a scholar in pursuit of knowledge above all else. "Why do you care? He is but a pawn... And how it is that he still lives?"

Lena glared back down at Ambrosius and said nothing. She walked over to Scorpio and knelt over him again. His wounds were no longer bleeding and his pain must have lightened up in Rook's care. His breathing improved, his face, although still heavily bruised, looked calm. She pressed her cheek to his and whispered in his ear: "I came for you... Forgive me that it took so long... Stay with me and I'll stay with you till the end of times..."