Dungeon Robotics 9 - 16

Hello!

Louella

The world reappeared and I was surrounded by the forty members of the strike force. What worried me though, was that I clearly remembered everything that I had just been through. My daughter told me she would be erasing my memories of the event. I grabbed my head as a spike of pain flashed through my head.

“My lady! Are you alright?”

I waved the soldier off. “I’m fine just a bit of exertion from the spell.”

I channeled some mana through the pained areas and managed to relieve some of the stress. With a deep breath I stood up straight. I checked again and found that I still possessed the memories. I decided that either something had went wrong or my own resistance was too much for my daughter to get through. I would have to just try my best not to break the future.

Wrakras moved in front of me with a bow. I could see the concern in his eyes. “Maybe you should rest here while we deal with the city.”

“No. This is too important. If we mess up then what was supposed to be a silent takeover will turn into a bloodbath.” I could see he wanted to argue more, but my expression told him I would have none of it. With a sigh, he nodded and moved back to the others. Rubbing my temples for a few more seconds, I turned to address the gathered soldiers. “We all have our assignments. We only have an hour to complete them. Let’s get started!”

Everyone turned to shadows as they rushed out of the chamber. Wrakras and I followed them. Our goal was the keep at the center of the city. Even if the outer walls fell instantly, if the keep remained there would be people that tired to mount a counterattack. Moving through the tunnels of the catacombs, we quickly reached the surface near the warehouses. It was exactly as I remembered it from a few months ago though the area was covered in soldiers and supplies.

A myriad of smells met us as we left the sewer. The stench of unwashed men along with the harsh smell of quickly cooked rations. The oil used for sharpening, and a number of other smells made it a strange mixture. Some might say it was the smell of war.

Wrakras clocked us in shadows and we made our way to the keep. We didn’t outright fly, but used the rooftops to cross the distance in minutes. As we approached, I took in the guards that I could see. This was the one location that might turn into a dangerous battle with reinforcements possible from every direction. I wanted to avoid that as much as possible.

“On my signal,” I whispered as I prepared my spells. I was using stunning spells to knock out anyone we came across. They would have a headache in the morning, but would be alive. With a nod from Wrakras, we leapt into the air aiming for the roof of the keep. I worried about wards, but nothing stopped us.

That surprised me since it had been several months since we last made a ruckus in Ebonyfalls. I’d expected them to repair the wards soon after we left. We landed on the roof with only a few tiles shifting from our weight. We waited to make sure no one heard anything.

“Ready?” Wrakras asked channeling his own mana for spells.

“Start!”

I thrust my hands up and nearly four hundred electric orbs flashed out arching towards their targets. Anyone that might chance to look at the keep, would think they were shooting stars in the night sky. They flashed across the distance in a blink of an eye and slammed into their targets nearly all of the victims falling to the ground twitching. Wrakras quickly followed up with a bolt of darkness towards the ones that had more resistance to lightning spells, knocking them out with a spell that amounted to little more than a punch in the face.

“I think we got all of them. Let’s move!” I said jumping down to the courtyard.

The entrance to the castle was unguarded and easily opened. Once inside, I channeled a spell and charged it with a bit more mana before I released it. A bolt of lightning flew from my palm taking the form of a dragon. It flew through the halls, stunning everyone it came in contact with. I felt sorry for the maids and butlers, but I had little choice. I needed to knock everyone out quickly.

Wrakras also chanted a spell before a dome of darkness grew to cover the keep before it faded into nothingness. It created a prefect image of the castle as if everything was as it should be in case someone happened to look at the wrong time. Our spells complete, we moved towards the chambers of the lord of the city. It would be checkmate, as Regan would like to say, once we captured him.

Almost two minutes later, we came to the door that led to the lord’s chambers. Wrakras was about to pull the door open when it exploded into splinters, as a man burst through it axe edge leading. Wrakras formed a chain between his hands blocking the attack, but it still sent him flying a few meters, though he easily corrected before he hit the ground.

“Look who decided to deliver herself to my lord. The king will be very happy,” the man said with a large grin. He wasn’t exactly ugly, but his expression ruined his normal looks making him quite harsh to look out. As his eyes traveled over my body, I knew he didn’t have any good thoughts in his head.

“I’d be careful how you address a queen,” I said unable to hide my disgust for the man in front of me.

“I’d be more than pleased to address you from under me,” the man retorted shouldering his axe.

I gagged before I held out my hand. “Gulv. I need you.” I wasn’t sure what rank this man was at, but since he was still conscious after my stunning spell it was well in the tier three mark. I couldn’t be too careful.

The skin of my palm split open and the lightning elemental emerged as some blood dripped to the ground. Gulv quickly took the form of a staff made from almost pure lightning. The living metal that formed Gulv’s body, a gift from Regan, hardened into an ornate construct that could take just about anything thrown at it.

“Don’t forget about me,” Wrakras remarked moving to stand next to me.

“I wouldn’t dare,” I replied taking a stance slightly behind him. I was a mage first and foremost. I did my best by using spells.

“Two on one, huh. I’m getting a nasty vibe from your staff as well.” The man said looking between the two of us before looking back in the room. “Hey! I’m going to need your help after all.”

We braced ourselves, but the woman that emerged was lithe and looked like she should be reading a book. Her pure white robes with clerical markings showcased her as a priestess of Lelune. The power that radiated from her was on another level compared to what I’d felt up to this point. I’d met quite a few strong people thanks mostly to Regan, but something about her strength felt… fake.

“The Goddess has spoken of you and the false idol you worship. Heresy and wickedness. Leading the people into the atrocious hell that awaits all those that sin,” the woman said her hands held in pray as she bowed her head.

“That’s quite the greeting. Do you say that to all the people you meet for the first?” I asked with wide eyes. “Ah for what its worth. The Machine Father is fair to all and under him there will be a neverending land of milk and honey.” I hadn’t really read too much of the book that Regan’s little following was handing out. My own issues often more pressing, but there were a lot of passages that sounded too good to be true.

“You! You! You dare spout blashmespy in front of a maiden of Lelune! You will die for your insolence.” The holy mana rolling off her intensified as her body started to glow to the point it was almost hard to look at. Before it grew much stronger, a blast of darkness struck her square in the chest sending her flying back into the room the two emerged from.

Both me and the man looked at Wrakras in surprise. He just clapped his hands like he had finished a chore around the house. “I’m sorry, but people like her annoy me to no end. Actually think for yourself for five minutes. Is that too much to ask?” He commented dryly.

I couldn’t help laughing as I leveled my staff at the man. “You can still surrender.”

A blast of light came from the room aimed at Wrakras who dodged out of the way. “I don’t think I will,” the man replied charging at me. I spun my staff and met his ax. The floor cracked under us from the impact. Yep. Well into tier three.

While I countered him blow for blow, I charged my mana to deliver a blow when I got an opening. The hall was quickly turning into a ruined mess from the battle. The priestess had lost all sense of reason as she tried to kill Wrakras. He kept up a bored expression the entire time, but I thought he might actually being pressed.

“Where ya looking doll?” the man shouted right as the axe went for a strike to my side. Gulv’s form shifted and the end of the staff blocked the blow as the metal twisted unnaturally. He appeared shocked by the guard, and I took advantage of the moment to place my hand on his chest and releasing all the stored lightning mana. The man was blasted down the hall embedded in the wall at the end. A fair amount of blood coated his front and the floor as he struggled to breath.

Wrakras continued to land blow after blow on the priestess, but she was like a zombie. There would be a flash of light and she’d get back up. I was amazed that her mana was holding out from how many wounds she was healing. Something told me that it couldn’t be good for her body to go through that many healings so rapidly.

Shadows leaked from Wrakras’s hands as the chains grew longer until they had a skull at the end. He upped his speed as well and soon the priestess was being pressed all over again. Using the chains like whips, Wrakras soon had the priestess’s arms and limbs in a crushed mess. I could tell that he was doing his best to keep her alive.

“The Goddess is the one truth in the world!” the woman shouted with hysteria in her eyes. Her body flashed to prefect health with a bright light, but as she took a step forward, blood sprayed from what looked like dozens of cuts opening at once. That was followed by the sound of snapping as she fell to the ground. With wide eyes, she stared up at the ceiling as if she didn’t understand what was happening before the life left her.

“What the hell?” I almost whispered not sure what happened.

“The wounds weren’t being healed all the way. It was like putting enough paint to hide the cut, but once you moved the painting, the cut reopened.” Wrakras suddenly bowed to me. “I apologize. I know you wanted this to be bloodless. It would appear I have failed that order.”

I kneeled and placed my hand on the top of his head. He had surprisingly soft hair for a man. “No. Obviously you had little choice in the matter. I know that there will be more of these zealots going forward. We just have to do our best to stop too much blood from being spilled.”

I checked down the hall, but the axe man wasn’t moving though was still breathing. With the immediate threat out of the way, I went with Wrakras into the lord’s rooms. He stood in front of his family as they hid behind the bed. Looking at them, I couldn’t help but feel like a villain, but such was the path I had taken to restore peace to this part of the continent.

“Count Eran. As the rules of war state, I claim your city and your territory in the name of Vaihdetta. Cooperate and no harm will come to you, your family, or your citizens. I will release you once the war is over.”

“And my family!?” he demanded.

“Of course. And your family. I should have stated as such, forgive me.” Words were very important in these dealings. I’d read in history books about nobles not stating clearly that their family were to be released and the women were… well, let’s just say it’s usually not pretty.

“I formally surrender. Please treat my family, and people well.”

“Of course. Lord Regan the Machine Father has no care for blood and death. Nothing makes him happier than seeing people well-fed and happy.”

Lord Eran dropped to the ground and hugged his wife, son and daughter. “Damn the king for dragging my family into this! What did he expect, that they would leave us be with the damn army camping here?” I barely heard the lord mumble under his breath. Sometimes it was nice being tier four and have enhanced senses.

I ignored it for now though. “In less than… ten minutes, my forces will arrive. You will order all forces in the city to stand down.”

“Yes…”

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