Verren

I waited, looking between the gate in front of me and the city so far away. We'd seen our team make it to the gates, but from there it would be up to them. If they failed, we would have to act immediately to push against the city's walls. That would be a waste of life and time, time that we might well need it we were to retrieve young Selene alive and whole.

With a pop the gate came alive and there was an explosion of action. Teams one and two had already been lined up and charged, our fastest warriors sped like arrows loosed through the portal to the other side. Within seconds a small flare was thrown over the wall to our side.

"Safe, go!" One of the observers shouted.

The world sped as my team blasted forward, my son's not far behind. There was the briefest moment of odd sensation as I passed the glowing barrier and out into a scene of carnage. The team that had punctured the defenses was still in the process of bringing down the soldiers who hadn't fallen in the initial strike, but I had no time to waste.

The key to this operation would be speed. We needed to hit hard and fast enough that there was no chance for response. Our goals were securing the girl, killing the would be king, and taking the city, in that order, and I aimed to achieve them. The more time we had until we were found out the better, but I doubted we could pull it off before they found out.

Stones flew below my feet for several paces as I sped down the main road. My men were at my back and before me were only the innocent peasants who we had no issue with, so I need not slow my pace at all. Eventually we took to the roofs to speed our way up as we approached the small castle overlooking the town. Like black streaks we flew across the city , able to speed our way forward.

Before we'd reached the wall I would be aiming for though there was a flash of red light across the sky and a booming explosion, coming from somewhere behind us near the wall. As soon as it went up others quickly followed, and before me I could see several above the castle being sent skyward, a warning to all that we were coming.

Spells began to rain outwards from the castle, but they were slow and lesser version of what I was expecting. We knew that Leif had escaped with nearly a hundred magic users of various sorts, and been potentially joined by others. Some of those who'd managed to escape were, like the man Emperor Durin fought, highly ranked in society and magically powerful to match. Power tended to run in families, and these were old ones, skilled and strong. The lack of potent attacks made no sense.

My eyes flowed forward and around, looking for the issue, looking for the trap. Our enemy was far too weak and I needed to know why. The men lost when they'd blown up one of their previous bases came to the forefront of my mind and I signaled my men. I had to grit my teeth as we slowed just below the prison cells.

"We need a mage here to look for traps, now. Contact the other teams, nobody goes in until we're sure it's clear." My men nodded and sent up flares of their own.

It would take minutes, precious minutes to get someone to look for what we were after, but we couldn't take the risk. If the building was setup to destroy itself we couldn't risk it. A failure here would be a failure of the whole operation, and that couldn't happen.

While I waited I heard a voice boom across the city. "People of Ice's End, do not panic, we mean you no harm. We have come to destroy the invaders who have so damaged your city, and killed so many innocents. Please stay out of the way, retreat to your homes if you can, The Empire of Shadows is no enemy of yours." That was standard protocol at this point, and with our good reputation did wonders for keeping civilian resistance down.

One of the wizards finally made it to me, a team covering his approach with spells aimed at the defenders inside.

"Sir, what do you need?" He asked.

"To know if this place is going to explode, and a new door, I'm not taking any of the standard ones."

With a quick jerk of his head he began casting, a small light spreading out from his hands and into the stone of the building. It moved quickly through and into the edifice, working like water flowing down a stream.

"There are enchantments all over it, but I can't tell what they do. I'll start breaking them sir."

Cracks started to appear in the stone, nothing big, but hairline fractures. This was the most effective way to disable enchantments on a building, at least partially. If you could get close enough, you could damage the physical structure of any item, and this would damage the magic powering it. It wouldn't be enough to stop every enchantment, and it wouldn't stop things that produced certain fields, but it would have to do.

Before he'd taken too long the sound of screaming echoed around us.

"HELP, HELP I'M IN HERE!!!" The panicked sounds of the trapped girl echoed. She must have been enhancing the sound somehow. It was followed up with a series of explosions.

"Door, now!" I called to our wizard in response, pointing. Their wards keeping the sound contained must have failed, and it sounded like she was already fighting.

There was a good reason enemy casters were seldom imprisoned, or if they were they were treated quite well. It was almost impossible to hold a caster long term. It could be done, and you could abuse them until they were afraid to fight back, but if they ever saw a chance, they could always cast again. Wards could only do so much, and it was often better to simply get them to stay by telling them that they would be treated well if they behaved, and killed if they resisted. The fools had fought the old way, and were now learning why it had held so long.

By the time a hole had been ripped through the stone wall things had deteriorated for both sides. As I entered the hallway I could see the various spells arcing from one of the nearby cells. Guards were scattered about, some clearly injured from the frantic casting of the captive wizard.

From the cell emerged the form of a large man in full armor. The runes covering it glowed as the struggling form he was holding by the neck did all she could to escape. Selene had some kind of shield covering most of her body, and from her hands arced fire and electricity. Below the magic she looked ragged, matted hair, sunken features, and a dress that was ripped and torn to pieces. She kicked and clawed, and spat angrily, but in the few seconds that passed as my enemy and I locked eyes her mouth moved like a fish out of water. He wanted her alive, and unconscious.

We both wanted her to survive, so I waited the few moments. I had backup coming and I doubted he did, so now that I had eyes on the girl, I just needed to keep them there. He drew his sword and we kept staring before he dropped her, now silent and breathing small breaths in a lump on the floor. That was ideal, her being in the middle of this fight would only complicate an already problematic battle.

"You may call me Lord Fallon," the man declared.

"General Verren. I've heard of you," I responded.

"And I you, this should be enjoyable."

Both of us launched at each other at the same time. His shorter sword twisted like a snake as I stabbed in again and again. While he wasn't as fast as I was, the larger angles from which he could bring his weapon to bear were a strong advantage, as was his armor. Normally I relied on my speed and agility to make strong strikes before retreating. In an open field I would have had the advantage, and even with the hall I wasn't out of tricks, but it limited me to mostly parries and stabs.

Our weapons clashed, then again, a third time as he swung and I pushed the blade to the side, only to return with a powerful thrust. He dodged, the point of my spear skidding against his breastplate, runes igniting along the surface. Both our sets of gear were enchanted, and heavily so. His heavy armor could block blows for a time, but my much lighter set made me more able to dodge his slashes.

Sadly I misstepped and he was able to close. As the man forced his way into my guard I choked up on my weapon, grabbing just below the blade. I had one chance, and aimed up into his armpit, stabbing for the opening in the armor with all I had as he brought his weapon up for a killing blow.

There was an audible clang as the point o my spear impacted a small shield that sprung to life there, the enchantment on his armor covering the weakness. I looked up in defiance as I saw him start to move again.

Before he could bring his sword down though there was a flash of silver and a ringing as something impacted it, throwing the angle and destroying the blow. Then there was a second, lower down, aiming at another weak point in the armor. John had arrived, and below his helmet I could see the rage on his face. In the heat of the battle neither of us had seen his unit breaking through the far wall.

Whereas my weapon had been poorly suited for this fight, John's were perfect. His twin blades were between daggers and swords and batted forward like the extended claws of a large cat, batting our opponent this way and that. One made to intercept Lord Fallon's sword while the other darted forward trying to find a weakness in the shielding the formidable enchanted metal provided.

The battle turned with the two of us now against his one. Around there was fighting, but none wanted to close on our clash. The moments my son bought me gave the the time to reset, and his pressure gave me openings I hadn't had before. Blades clashed and we finally began to land our shots.

I nearly shouted with joy as a hard thrust pierced into the back of the armored man's knee, sending a small amount of blood out. The knight turned his attention back my way, bringing his blade down, where I met it with the haft of my own armament. John didn't let him have a moment of respite though, and began making his own attacks in the same spot, soon sending the man to one knee.

"Surrender and you will be shown mercy," I finally said.

The man growled and swung one last time, hurling himself forward towards the still form of Selene, seeking to deprive us of our target and important intelligence she might provide. John though intercepted his blade again, the sword bouncing away less than an inch from the broken woman's neck.

Now on the floor he had little defense as both of us fell upon him, holding him in place while I drove my spear-point into the gap of his visor. It took long seconds to shatter the barrier there as the man struggled, only for the blade to enter his eye and end his life. Not once did he call for mercy, or offer to yield, which was a shame, I'd heard of him, and heard he was a good man, he was merely my enemy.