Book 4. Chapter 52 |
Brin didn’t know what the goblins’ plan was. There wasn’t a gate near the section of wall that the goblins approached, so there wasn't an obvious point for them to make their assault. He could only assume they planned to either climb up the walls or knock them down. Actually, he hoped they really were just dumb animals and they didn't have a plan at all, but he doubted he was that lucky.
The few soldiers left outside their barracks and the members of the watch congregated on that section of the wall, preparing to repel an assault. They only gathered around a hundred men, but with the walls on their side Brin thought they'd be able to hold easily.
He told Cid what he saw through his eyes, and Cid activated the enchantment on his helm that blocked out sound when he wanted to have a private conversation. Brin followed his lead and added a few protections of his own.
“Are they enough to challenge the walls?” Cid asked.
“I haven’t [Inspected] all the leaders yet, but unless they have some ability I haven’t seen before, which we can’t rule out, then I’d say no,” said Brin.
“How many goblins are there?”
“I can see five hundred, but it’s impossible to say. More are arriving from invisible pockets every moment,” said Brin.
“Make an estimate,” said Cid.
“Where are you going with this?”
“Let’s say a thousand, then.”
Cid nodded. “This shouldn’t be a problem, so why are we losing?"
Brin said, "If we could depend on High Lord Prima's soldiers–"
"We can't!" snapped Cid. "But even without them, the people of Canibri outnumber the goblins ten to one. There are thousands who could hold a spear. If we can get even a quarter of them on the walls, then no goblin would ever dare come close.”
“If we can get them,” said Brin. “But no one will dare step up to lead with that assassin out there. And without an organized resistance, the goblins will tear through this town like a fox in a henhouse.”
“Exactly. That’s my fear as well. In this, I see my Lance’s destruction, and the destruction of Canibri. The goblins will attack, we will defend alone and be overwhelmed from the numbers. Without us, the Prima's men will order the evacuation again, and the people will follow. Many hundreds, or even thousands will perish on the roads so that the survivors will have tales that will spread panic throughout the kingdom,” said Cid.
“Prinnash withdraws from the war. Arcaena wins,” finished Brin.
“Just so.” Cid leveled his gaze, meeting Brin’s eyes and holding them. “If he attacks us again, will you be able to find him? Will you be able to kill him?”
“I will,” Brin answered. “I can do it. We just need him to come at us again. But we marched around this town all day yesterday and he didn’t make an appearance. How are we going to draw him out?”
“By giving him an opportunity he can’t pass up,” said Cid. “We’ll ride out to harass the goblins from horseback. Gather the men.”
That plan was incredibly dangerous; if they got stuck, got separated, or if they faltered or made the tiniest mistake, even a hundred goblins could overwhelm the Lance. But the time for conversation was passed; Cid had phrased that as an order and it was his decision to make.
Brin also had to admit that he couldn’t think of any better ideas. It would definitely draw the assassin out if anything would.
Brin dropped his anti-eavesdropping spell and shouted loud enough that the whole inn could hear him. "Saddle up, boys! We're hunting goblins!"
It only took a few minutes for the Lance to be saddled and ready; all the practice they’d done for the drills had paid off, and Cid had kept up the practice of doing all their most mundane tasks as if it were a race against time.
The men each had a weapon appropriate for horseback in addition to their usual sidearms. Everyone’s armor was fastened correctly, even Hedrek’s. The horses were fed and watered. The only difference today was that Brin wasn’t sitting on his horse; instead it was a glass copy. The real Brin would be manning the walls.
He was under invisibility, but that didn’t fool Marksi who squeaked at Brin, insisting that he wanted to go where Brin was going.
Brin loosened the silencing part of his spell to whisper, “Fine. You can help me hunt him. Stay out of sight until I call for you. If you see him first, then blast him and I'll come running.”
Marksi nodded seriously. His scales immediately started turning brown gray to match the cobblestone street. He darted away towards the walls and Brin quickly lost sight of him.
Brin already had a Mirror Image in place atop the glass copy so that he’d be able to keep it realistic-looking from afar. He wouldn’t be able to use the glass to fight; his range with glass magic wasn’t nearly as far as his light and sound.
Brin said goodbye with Silent Voice and then turned to run towards the walls while the men rode toward the gates.
After a bit of wandering, he settled on a spot on the walls near a guard tower where the guards would occasionally walk by but where no one would stop. Maybe it would've been safer to hide out on the street below, but he wanted to be up on the walls in case the assassin was up here, too. And he wanted to watch with his own eyes.
He saw the goblins in the distance. A group of ten came out of invisibility and immediately started hooting and screeching. They ran, slammed the ground or spun in circles while brushing off their fur with their arms. It sort of looked like they were relieved to have the magic off of them and were burning off the excess energy of being tense for so long. The goblins already in the army welcomed them; many of them ran up to embrace the newcomers, patting their arms and backs. It was... kind of cute.
Nope, this was no good. Whatever else they were, these goblins wanted to break his bones and suck out the marrow; he had no business developing kind feelings for them.
He turned his attention back to the other direction.
It was a cold morning; with his old body it would've been painfully frigid but with his Vitality and his Titles it was just refreshingly crisp. A few flakes of snow slowly drifted their way down from the white sky, not enough to cover the ground, but enough to give the world a certain kind of hush. Canibri was quieter than it had been since he'd arrived. You could only riot for so long, and cold and perhaps fatigue had driven the people to their homes. It was a strangely peaceful morning for a city on the brink of destruction.
The Lance was getting closer, so he separated his mind into four. One mind to use up all its time with directed threads. One mind to watch over the Lance. One mind to search for the assassin. His last mind would stay with his body up on the walls and watch.
The goblins noticed the Lance getting closer and turned to face them. They worked themselves into a fury; the shouting started with the leaders but then the smaller ones took it up and reflected it back, creating a feedback loop. They grew louder and louder, overcoming the quiet mood of the morning until even Brin standing on the wall a mile away felt his blood start to pound.
He watched his other mind directing the Lance as they approached. He told Meredydd to lower his arm a bit and warned Brych that he was pulling ahead of the rest.
Then the Lance was upon them. They clashed, delivered wounds, stayed nimble, and rode away before the goblins could reciprocate. For once, it went perfectly and the Lance left four dead goblins behind them while not taking a single wound that Brin could see. The only dim spot was Brin himself; the glass man had plenty of openings to deliver a stab with his spear but Brin couldn't make that happen so he'd had to resort to making the mirror image flail wildly and miss every target.
The Lance rode off, out of range of flung stones, and regrouped for another charge.
Brin looked up and down the walls for some sign of the assassin and knew that his other mind was watching for the same thing with a dozen Invisible Eyes.
The snow had started to fall a bit heavier, enough to leave a faint dusting of snow on the ground like powdered sugar on a crepe. Enough to make footprints visible. That meant he couldn't move from this spot or he'd be revealed; covering footprints in the snow with illusion magic was actually pretty difficult for a variety of reasons. But if it was hard for him, hopefully it would be hard for the assassin as well.
He told his other mind to look for the same thing. Since he had four minds right now that meant that he had four stupid minds; the other him hadn't thought of it yet.
The Lance was ready so they began their next charge. A few goblins threw stones, but he saw the leaders bat their arms down, stopping more from doing the same. They didn't want to scare the Lance away. They wanted them to come.
He saw a few [Chiefs] begin to work their magic, saw goblins inching around to prepare to surround them and cut them off. He relayed this all to Cid, who adjusted the Lance's direction. This charge would be a bit messier, but still within expectation.
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
He saw a black flicker in the air.
No time for words, he sent a mental picture of extreme panic to the mind watching over the Lance.
An arrow exploded into Glass Brin's head. He dismissed the Mirror Image and let the double's headless body fall from the Nobility's back.
Another arrow followed it, but Rhun rode around in time to block it with his greatshield. The arrow released a puff of blue magic when it struck; no doubt a devastating piece of work if it had hit something other than Rhun's enchanted greatshield.
More arrows followed, and Brin could do nothing to stop them. This time, they hit the horses. Hedrek's Justice took an arrow to the heart and slumped to the ground silently. Faith bucked Brych off his back after an arrow struck his flank.
The archer must've noticed that Rhun's protection Skill hadn't protected Glass Brin. Of course not, since the dummy wasn't a party member. He then must've deduced that it wouldn't save the horses either. Damn him. Why couldn't he leave the animals out of this?
The goblins noticed their chance and charged straight ahead while the Lance tried desperately to protect their remaining horses.
They'd need to make a fighting retreat towards the walls; it would be a near thing but that was their job. Brin's job was to take out that assassin.
He still didn't see him, but he hadn't been lying to Cid earlier; he did have a plan for this.
Brin called his minds and threads to return, all except a single Invisible Eye to watch over the Lance. He released his invisibility, stepping out into the open.
He pulled out the laser he'd made, smaller but repaired and still usable, and channeled light into it.
The answer, he'd decided, was in lasers. Not the beams of killing fire that he was trying to turn them into, but regular lasers. The answer was to use lasers as lasers.
Just shining a bright light might have worked, but it was too dispersed and might not have triggered a conflict in the Wyrd where it struck. Lasers were different. They didn't disperse over long distances the way most light did. They'd be nearly as bright where they landed as they were where he shone them from. Yes, he could've used this to ferret out the goblins, but he'd been waiting for the perfect moment. He'd been waiting for now.
Not content to use just the one beam from his device, he called on his threads and magic and made dozens more. ""
The red beams only shined where they caught the snowflakes drifting through the air, creating a dazzling show of falling rubies. He spun them around everywhere trying to cover every inch of ground within a three mile radius and then... there. He felt a disturbance in the Wyrd as his magic clashed against another's. This was a natural magic, something inherent. That was Marksi! He'd actually found Marksi. He'd never done that before.
More importantly, there, on the roof of a watchtower, he felt another clash in the Wyrd. His laser, a powerful bit of illusion work, trying to pierce another [Illusionist's] invisibility.
Without hesitation, he threw a javelin, pumped full of glass magic.
It struck, blowing the roof off the building, but the assassin was already jumping down. Brin gave the physical laser to a group of Directed Threads with a single goal: keep the laser shining on the assassin. They used his glass magic to float it high in the air, using an Invisible Eye to direct it and shine it down on him no matter where he tried to run.
"You can't get away from me again," promised Brin both with his natural voice and through his magic in the Wyrd.
He ran, and the chase was on.
He felt his Death Sense and flung himself to the side. The only sign that an arrow flew past him was the slight swish of air. He formed the chandelier glass into a shield, putting it in front of his face. He pumped as much magic as he could to make it harder, to protect him from anything, and continued to run.
The archer peppered him with arrows as they ran. Most of them, Brin blocked with his floating glass shield. The glass was quick and responded to his magic at the speed of thought.
When they passed a three-story building the archer loosed an arrow that transformed into a white flame, striking the building’s wall. It crashed down, forcing Brin to roll out of the way of falling rubble, but he didn’t spare a glance back for the shouts of pain and terror, and kept up the chase.
The assassin darted to the left and right, hiding behind buildings and under awnings and Brin created new lasers where necessary so that he never lost him. The assassin dashed into a public house and Brin followed.
There was a disorienting amount of warmth, light and noise. The public house was busy, even at this time in the morning, and for a moment, Brin's laser lost its connection to the assassin.
He ignored the startled patrons' shouts and everything else and dashed through the room. When the backroom's door burst open seemingly on its own, Brin shone his laser again and felt it hit the assassin again.
As his quarry crossed the street, Brin increased the intensity of the laser floating above. It penetrated the invisibility completely, drawing the man out into the light.
He carried a bow, but other than that, Brin never would've singled him out as a possible assassin. He wore casual trousers and a shirt with an ordinary traveling cloak.
"" Brin didn't have time for a more complex spell than that, but it was enough to send a cloud of bullets at the archer.
The archer flung his cloak up to protect himself and not a single bullet pierced through. When the cloak came down, an arrow was in his hand, maybe pulled from a storage bag, and he put it to his bow and let fly.
Brin dodged it, but the brief motion dispersed his focus enough that he lowered the intensity of his lasers, allowing the assassin to resume his invisibility.
Brin expected him to turn and run, but the invisible figure stayed put and Brin realized too late what that meant. He heard a crack and then the pain hit. An arrow had struck his leg, tearing a chunk out of his shin. The armor had protected it somewhat, but the wound was bad enough to slow him down. The assassin was going to get away.
"Marksi! Take him down!" Brin shouted.
He increased the laser's power revealing the archer for a moment. A moment was all Marksi needed. The little dragon appeared from hiding and took a deep break.
A beam of swirling rainbow magic shot forth. The archer dodged the initial beam, but Marksi kept the beam going and traced it over the man who put up a reflexive hand to ward it away. That was his mistake. The beam cut straight through the top of his hand, burning away his fingers before Marksi was spent and let it drop.
Marksi collapsed, panting. The archer ran.
Brin used the glass on his armor to press the leg guard in tight, cutting off the bleeding and helping to support his weight. Then he stepped forward and scooped Marksi off the ground, holding him under one arm, a spear in the other, and the shield floating in the air in front of them.
He grimaced and took a step. He could still walk, but it wouldn't be fun. On the plus side, there was a blood trail now. The archer wouldn't get away from them now, not with Marksi on the trail.
He ran down the city street, following the archer. The man tried to take side streets and double back a couple times, but Brin followed, unrelenting. He kept the laser trained on him when he could, but every time he lost the trail, Marksi's nose made up the difference.
Eventually, the archer must've come to a decision because he stopped moving around randomly and started going in a straight line.
Brin followed and the gap between them widened, but he didn't mind, because the archer was heading for the town square. There's no way he'd be aiming for a wide open space like that unless he wanted the same thing Brin did. He was heading for a showdown.
But when they got to the square, he saw that the archer had no intention of waiting for him in the middle of the street like the villain from a western. He ran straight into the waiting arms of a group of soldiers. These ones wore black and green, and they'd come with the [Herald].
They were at the foot of Mordelet's tower, and even this early there was a group of people waiting to get into the tunnel and escape the city. Though unlike the panicked mass from yesterday, these were more orderly and stood in a line.
"Stop right there!" shouted one of the soldiers, a level 40 [Warrior Captain].
Brin didn't stop, and kept running towards his target. He drew a javelin and began charging it. "."
One of the soldiers grabbed the archers arms and twisted them behind him. The other snatched his bow out of his hand.
"We've apprehended the criminal!" the [Warrior Captain] shouted. "Your assistance is appreciated."
Brin kept closing the gap. The javelin was full to bursting, any more power and it would shatter. He put Marksi and his spear down so that he could put his whole body into the throw.
"Stop there! We have this in hand. We'll see to it that he's questioned and--"
"" Brin threw the javelin, holding nothing back. He put his whole body into it and crumpled when his injured leg didn't support his weight, but the javelin flew true.
A soldier with a shield jumped in front of the archer. The javelin blasted straight through the shield and shattered while drilling into his chest.
You have defeated: Warrior [25]
Brin froze. He hadn't expected that. Yes, he'd assumed these men were the archer's collaborators, but this wasn't just collaboration. This was loyalty.
"Get him out of here!" the [Warrior Captain] roared.
The soldier who'd been holding the archer's arms grabbed him and threw him over his shoulders, and then blurred out of sight, activating some escape Skill. The rest of them were hot on his heels.
Marksi roared, But the little dragon had put too much into the long-lasting laser beam before; he didn’t have enough left. The beam hit the archer, but didn’t have enough power to do more than briefly set his cloak on fire.
"Out of the way!" the [Warrior Captain] roared, but didn't give anyone time to move. They charged straight through the crowd and into the tower, no doubt heading towards the escape tunnel.
By the time Brin got to the tower, the men were already far into the tunnel, with Vitality and Skills that let them move much faster than he'd ever hope to. He sent his Invisible Eyes ahead and sure enough, where the tunnel let out there were already more soldiers with horses prepared.
He made loud bangs and bright flashes of light to try to spook the horses, but one of the men pulled out an Eveladis. He dispelled his illusions before the potion could touch them.
Back in his real body he stomped on the ground and shouted in frustration. They were really going to get away.
Well, at the very least, the archer was out of action. He wouldn't be able to loose any more arrows at them with that hand and was that...? It was. They'd dropped the bow in the escape.
Brin picked it up. It looked unremarkable, one long piece of white wood, but Value Sense was telling Brin that this was one of the best weapons he'd ever seen. Anwir would be pleased.
He cast his mind back over the screen showing him the Lance, suddenly remembering that he'd left them in a bad spot.
To his relief, he counted nine men. Four horses had been slain. Hedrek and Brych were doubled up on Nobility, while Cowl rode with Rhun and Aeron with Meredydd, but they'd successfully disengaged and no one was dead or badly injured. From the looks of it, the goblins hadn't followed when they neared the walls and now they were hugging the walls while riding around back towards the gate.
Nothing had gone well, but it was good enough. With the assassin out of the picture, they might finally be able to organize a defense. He just hoped it wasn’t too late.
He waited in the square, pulling the armor off his leg to begin to do first aid. A woman approached with bandages and healing herbs. She had a bloody nose, apparently having been knocked roughly out of the way by the escaping soldiers.
Between her help and his natural healing, he started to feel better right away and when he tightened his armor back over the wound, he thought he’d be able to move around on it.
He watched the Lance move back towards the gate, hearts easing with every foot they moved back towards safety.
They hadn’t quite gotten back to the city gates when he heard a boom echo out across the city.
Brin sent out his eyes. On the complete opposite side of the city from where the Lance was returning, he quickly found a plume of dust and smoke rising into the air. Below it, rubble, and a few demolished houses too close to the blast.
There were more traitors in Canibri than he knew; someone had blown a hole in the city wall, and already goblins were pouring through.