“What, hoping for the chance to pin another crime on me?” asked Jarod. Based on his assessment of the cowering surveyors just moments earlier, Jarod was surprised to see anyone stepping out to join them on their quest to rescue Wilfurd form the trifley attack. To see Nikolao step through just made him suspicious.

  “No, I assure you, I intend nothing of the sort,” said Nikolao. “It’s merely that, working closely under the king’s command as I have done, I have come to appreciate the power of these sight servants. Staying close by him is simply the safest option.”

  “No time for words,” said Tex’ana before Jarod could give his retort. “Fast passage makes for fast rescues. We must be led now by Jarod to our target.”

  Jarod wanted to argue further, but he held his tongue. He’d prefer if his former captor didn’t join them for the mission, but Tex’ana had extended the invitation to any surveyors who wished to join, and he doubted what little goodwill he’d built up with the sight servant extended to rescinding such an offer.

  “It’s over that way, at the mill, near the edge of town,” said Jarod, pointing ahead down the main street and a bit to the right. “Be careful though, Filgrin and I saw some of the creatures run down that way carrying kegs.”

  Tex’ana made the rolling motion with his head that Jarod had begun to grow accustomed to and responded. “Explosives, with great probability. If they light anything, make haste away, and I will attempt to disarm them.”

  Jarod took the grim warning with a nod, and began leading the group down the path, taking care to make sure Tex’ana followed closely behind.

  Athleticism (stealth) check (4)

  [5]

  Success

  Another careful traipse through Cleftshire. At least this side of the bridge seemed mostly intact. There were a few hastily boarded-up windows and deep cuts in the wood around doors, but it looked purely superficial, not enough to constitute breaking down the entryway.

  Up ahead, an explosion boomed through the streets. Jarod felt the shockwave pass underneath him and froze from some primal instinct. The others followed suit, except for Tex’ana, who continued moving forward, seemingly unfazed by the danger.

  “Eerie behavior from that one, I’ll tell you,” whispered Filgrin in Jarod’s ear. “I’m glad he’s helpin’ us for now, but I won’t trust him when this is all over.”

  Jarod nodded. Tex’ana had saved his life, but there was something strange about the tall man, more than just his unnatural figure and jarring way of speaking.

  A scream, human and piercing, cried out from the direction of the blast. It was audible just for a moment, before fading, replaced by the ongoing noises from the strange grey-furred creatures. Jarod adjusted his grip on his sword before quietly catching up to the awaiting Tex’ana. They were on a mission, and waiting for the creatures to run their course wasn’t an option. All they could do was move forward.

  The buildings on this street were all so familiar to Jarod that he couldn’t help but wonder if the people inside had been able to hole up somewhere safe before the attack. To his left, Tom the carpenter’s house, who’d made all of Jarod’s furniture, except for the couple pieces his father had passed down to him. Just past Tom was Anita and Yarrow Luderick. The old couple were the only people in town who knew any magic, just enough to make finding stones for kids who were anxious to explore the woods. Opposite them was Basma’s house. He hoped to the gods that she was safe right now.

  All this familiar worry gave Jarod motivation. No one else was going to come to their rescue, so it was up to him and the group of sundry adventurers to fend off the trifley attack.

  Jarod rounded the next corner in a crouch, and quickly pulled back behind cover. The creatures were just ahead of them at the bakery next to the mill. The front wall of the bakery had been blown open by the trifley's explosives, and a group of nearly 10 of them were visible through the open cavity. In the moment Jarod had looked at them, Jarod had seen a pair carrying another giant keg between the two of them, and the body of Maude, one of the Bakers, lying on the floor.

  As he pulled back from the corner, Jarod held up his hand to signal the rest of his group to stop. Unfortunately, it seemed like not everyone got the message, because Nikolao kept walking forward, barging into the long legs of Tex’ana, from which he recoiled and promptly backed up in his metal armor against a window pane, splintering the thin strip of wood with a loud crack.

  Jarod cringed back, shooting a glance at Nikolao, who put his hands up in apology. He knew this surveyor was going to be more trouble than he was worth. He had to hope now that the trifleys hadn’t noticed the noise over the ruckus they were making inside the bakery.

  Jarod beckoned Tex’ana down to whisper in his ear. “Peek over the top and see if any of them noticed,” he said. “I don’t want to look around the corner if they’re coming for us.”

  The sight servant lifted his head back, then stretched out his arms to pull himself up slightly, just over the rooftop. In a moment, he stretched back down and whispered to the group.

  “Three lie ahead, investigating the noise. Our plan shall be quick attack when they arrive, then advancement to the building ahead. Filgrin’s bow shall stand ready for our advance after the three have been slain.”

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Tex’ana left no room for argument as he pulled out his long glaive, choking up on it significantly to get better maneuverability in the tight quarters with so many bodies around. Jarod suddenly felt very vulnerable with just his one point of health remaining despite the spring in his step from Tex’ana’s concoction. Nevertheless, he readied his sword for whatever was to come.

  He watched Nikolao do the same beside him, the surveyor falling into his stance with a practiced ease. The surveyor’s face was nervous, but his arms and hands were steady and sure in their grip. Jarod felt a twinge of envy, thinking it unfair that someone so cowardly could yet still be so versed in the art of combat.

  There was no time to tarry on those feelings though, because just around the corner, he began to hear the quiet footsteps and murmuring of the group of trifleys approaching them.

  Jarod found himself holding his breath, tense and ready to spring at a moment’s notice. His sword was drawn back along his side, anticipating his swing at the first creaturing, being sure to keep the path of his blade out of the way of the tall Tex’ana standing practically overhead.

  A grey tuft of fur, with a face behind it, emerged from its hidden position past the side of the building. Before Jarod had time to react, the shhink of Tex’ana’s glaive sliced through the air. It drew back nearly as quickly, a trail of blue blood leaving an afterimage of its path out of the trifley’s neck.

  The monster stood stock still, its body not comprehending its own demise for a moment, as the other two creatures drew around the corner. They were further back, away from their rigid companion, giving them just enough time to widen their eyes before Tex’ana’s blade slashed out again.

  Another flash of blue, and another creature dead. One of its arms went to the gash in its chest, eyes too dazed in their fading consciousness to glance down at its wound, while the other arm reached out, mindlessly grasping at the quartet of rescuers who’d surprised it. The searching arm found purchase on its standing, but dead, partner, and the two of them collapsed forward in a heap.

  The space made by the two dead trifleys afforded the third just enough time to scream out a warning in their unfamiliar language before Jarod made his attack with his longsword.

  Roll to hit

  Longsword: [1]+1

  Miss

  Jarod swung viciously, hoping to deal enough damage to finish it off before it could counter with its own attack. Unfortunately, his wing proved a little too eager, and he swung before he was fully in position. The longsword arced through the space just in front of the creature’s head, his wild momentum carrying him spinning around, leaving Jarod open for an attack.

  Before he even had time to appreciate the danger of his new position, another longsword lunged forward, the tip burying itself through an eye socket and deep into its skull. Nikolao pressed forward slightly before withdrawing the blade, pushing the creature back where it landed with a thud in the dirt.

  “You must be precise with your attacks,” said Nikolao, already cleaning the blood from his blade. “Visualize where you wish to strike, and allow your body…”

  “No time for lessons boy,” Filgrin interrupted. He pushed Nikolao gently forward and prepared to round the corner with an arrow knocked. “We’ve got a fight on our hands.”

  The warning cry the last trifley had gotten off seemed to have had its intended effect. Frantic noises were coming from the bakery, and when Jarod stepped around the corner, sword drawn back once again, he saw the mass of monsters already advancing forward.

  A group of six lead the charge, with two behind them carrying a barrel of explosives, and more pouring down the stairs inside to join the fight. Filgrin’s bow twanged, releasing an arrow that found its mark and felled the first trifley, but the remaining five at the front closed the distance fast, bearing kitchen knives and daggers as weapons. Tex’ana took a long stride forward, ready to intercept them and go on the offensive.

  Roll for initiative

  [4]

  Lose initiative

  The speed of the trifley’s surprised even Tex’ana, and after a near miss with his glaive, the monsters were upon the sight servant. Blade after blade swiped at Tex’ana’s legs, and though he was fast, his long legs hurt his agility. Several of the creatures found their mark, slashing through cloth and leaving blood weeping out of three wounds on his legs. In the back of his mind, Jarod noted the blood as being a familiar red, which somehow surprised him more than the blue blood of the trifleys.

  Only one of the monsters was brave enough, or perhaps only unaware enough of her fellow fighters actions, to charge between Tex’ana’s legs and slash at the armored Nikolao. Jarod watched the blade stab towards a gauntleted forearm, but rather than be turned away, it tore into and through the metal, eliciting a cry of pain from the surveyor. He flinched backwards, pulling his arm free from the dagger, but leaving a deep wound plainly visible. Whatever armor Nikolao wore must have been more cosmetic than practical.

  “You’ve stabbed me!” Nikolao gasped at the creature, hardly able to believe his situation. The trifley didn’t answer, merely kept lashing out with her dagger. Nikolao responded with his own blade, slashing with the longsword one-handed, but with enough power to tear open the trifley’s chest, anointing the surveyor with a spurt of blue blood as it fell to its knees, and then flat on its face.

  The most pressing danger now dealt with, Jarod followed another of Filgrins arrows towards the creatures engaged with Tex’ana. Filgrin’s arrow flew high, thudding instead into the wooden of the barrel carried by the two trifleys still making their way to the fighting. Jarod stepped behind the nearest trifley, taking care to close the needed distance before making his swing.

  Roll to hit

  Longsword: [7]+1

  Hit for [6] damage

  Jarod felt his blade meet resistance, as it sank deep through the trifley’s clavicle and into the chest. The monster’s head flailed back, as though trying to find the source of its mortal blow. Unable to turn its shaggy head far enough, it drooped forward, and slid off the end of Jarod’s blade.

  Tex’ana noticed the creature drop, and took advantage of the slight respite in attackers to make two more attacks of his own with his glaive. The first one swung true, but to Jarod’s shock, the second target was able to duck under the glaive just in time. Tex’ana, powerful though he may be, was not infallible.

  Jarod was beginning to have his doubts about this mission. Tex’ana wasn’t the invincible juggernaut he once thought he was, Jarod was becoming acutely aware just how on the verge of death he was, and another half dozen trifleys were now making their way out of the bakery. What was worse, was the sound coming from up ahead. A grave, hissing sound, as Jarod saw a spark beginning to run down the side of the barrel of explosives soon to join the melee.