Valkyrie's Page of Wonder

August 02, 2009

Fallen Angel - Maerd, Part 1

Xannon awakens to find Roger standing in the door way calling his name.
“Xannon, wake up! We’ve got an assignment.”
He carefully gets so he doesn’t wake up Sarah, then heads follows Roger to the main room. He sits down on the couch as Roger hands him the assignment.
“They need a few of us in Maerd immediately. The forces of Kardis are almost at their door step and if Maerd falls they will have a perfect location to stage an attack on the Temple of Bast.”
“Who all is supposed to go?” Xannon asks.
“You, me, Grey, Aaron and Kris.”
“Why not Sarah? She went to school there and, from what she’s told me, was well liked by everyone. Being a full priestess now, I’m sure everyone there would be willing to listen to her, which would make everything a lot easier.”
“I’m just telling you what I was told. If you want her to go, you can take it up with Priestess Gatomon. She’s the one that was chosen to lead this mission.”
“Do you know where she is?”
“She should still be at the mansion. But we are supposed to leave in a couple hours so you better hurry.”
Xannon gets up and heads out the door and across the street to the Mayor’s mansion. Once there he is directed to Gatomon’s office.
“Ah, Xannon. How have you been? Been drinking any more Dwarven Ale lately?”
“Why did you decide to leave Sarah here instead of sending her to Maerd?”
“She has a great way with people and we need her here to keep the people of Hirogei calm.”
“But she grew up in Maerd. The people there trust her, know her. It will make things a lot easier for the people there.”
Gatomon looks at Xannon for a moment, “Do you not think that they will trust me? That they will not follow my commands?”
“I’m sure they would trust you, but they don’t know you. Sarah they know. If you leave her behind then you are leaving behind a great asset. And from what I hear we will need everything we can get to repel the forces of Kardis.”
She thinks about this for a while then asks, “You just don’t want to leave her here by herself do you?”
“It’s complicated, but let’s just say we complement each other.”
“I’m sure. Very well, tell her she is going too. But you better not let anything happen to her. We need her here just as much as you need her with you.”
“Thank you, Gatomon.”
“Hurry, we leave in an hour.”

Xannon bursts into the main room of their quarters and sees Sarah talking to Roger about what he assumes is the mission.
“She said you can go!” Xannon states nearly out of breath.
“Thank the Goddess. I don’t know what I would have done if I couldn’t help protect my home town,” Sarah says, visibly relieved.
“Are your parents still living in Maerd?” Roger asks.
“Yes, they live on the north side of town. So hopefully they won’t be affected by the fighting.”
“Perhaps before we leave town they can cook us a nice meal,” Roger says hopefully.
“Maybe, but I know they would love to meet you, Xannon.”
“Well then let’s hope I don’t fail at defending the city. Now hurry and pack everything you are going to need. We leave in less than an hour.”
Xannon heads to his room and grabs his sword and armor. He didn’t like wearing the armor but he didn’t like getting stabbed either. After packing some clothes a few food items into a bag, he helps Sarah finish packing and they both head back to the main room where Roger, Grey, Aaron, and Kris were waiting.
“Gatomon is waiting for us in the magic room,” Roger states. “Since the temple is still intact we are going to teleport there.”
“I hate teleporters,” Kris says. “It always seems to make me nauseous.”
“Suck it up, Kris,” Roger replies. “If you can’t handle a simple teleportation, how do you expect to handle defending a city? Let’s go!”
Roger leads them outside and down the street to the Temple of Bast. Once inside they head down the stairs to the magic room where Gatomon waits. Once they have all taken their places inside the magic circle, Gatomon begins her chant. The runes on the stones surrounding the room begin to glow and the walls begin to shift slightly with the increase in magic. The amulet around Gatomon’s neck begins to glow green. The room grows brighter and brighter and seems to start spinning then with a mighty flash of light everything stops and they find themselves in the Temple of Bast in Maerd.
Kris pitches forward and vomits what was left of his lunch into the middle of circle, the effects of the teleportation too much for him to handle.
“Damn it, Kris!” Roger yells. “We should make you clean that up!”
Roger grabs his bag and stomps out of the magic room and up the stairs.
“Sorry,” Kris says. “I have a weak stomach.”
“Don’t worry too much, Kris,” Gatomon consoles. “You’ll get used to it eventually. Take a moment to regain your senses and meet us in the main hall. It’s up the stairs and down the hall to the left.”
She gathers her stuff and the extra supplies and heads out of the room as well.
“Suggestion for you: don’t eat right before you teleport. Especially not corn, that’s just disgusting,” Aaron says as he leaves the room.
Sarah goes over to him and helps him stand up, “Don’t mind them. They are just as nervous as you are. Here, let me help you.”
Sarah places her hand on Kris’s stomach and her hand begins to glow white. His color returns and he takes a deep breath.
“Thanks, Sarah,” he then turns to Xannon. “You take care of her, Xannon. She’s something special.”
Everyone then grabs the rest of their stuff and heads up to the main hall. As they reach the hall, the entire building shakes violently causing them to lose their footing. Moments later the hallway to the right collapses in a pile of dust and debris.
Sarah grabs on to Xannon, “I thought they weren’t supposed to attack until tomorrow?! How did they get here so fast?”
An explosion in the direction of the main hall causes them to dive for cover. Xannon turns to the other, “Let’s move! We have a city to defend!”
He grabs the armor from his bag and throws it on over his robe. He then grabs his sword and leaves everything else against the wall. He turns to see that Sarah, Kris and Grey have done the same and are waiting for his next order.
“Follow me!”
Xannon leads them to the main hall which has been reduced to rubble. The ceiling had collapsed in several places crushing several priests under the debris. Cries of pain echo through the hall. Roger and Gatomon are nowhere to be seen. The doors to the temple are wide open and fighting can be heard outside. Xannon leads the others out the doors and finds Roger and Gatomon battling the priests of Kardis at the bottom of the steps to the temple.
“Sarah, help Roger! Grey, you help Gatomon. Kris, ‘Death from Above’ on three.”
Sarah and Grey rush down the stairs and into the fight. Kris begins casting a spell.
“Wind Blast!”
The spell sends Xannon high into the air above the gathered forces. At the apex of his flight Xannon gathers his energy and sends a massive fireball into the middle of the forces of Kardis. The resulting explosion sends charred bodies flying in all directions. Xannon lands in the middle of the now cleared area and is immediately attacked by several swordsman on all sides. Like a madman unleashed, he swings his sword around and catches three of them in the chest. The others press the attack and Xannon charges one of them, catching him off guard and stabbing him through the chest. He pulls his sword out of the man’s chest and swings around just in time to parry an attack from behind.
“Quicksand!” Xannon shouts as the ground underneath his enemy turns liquid.
Before he can even cry for help the ground swallows him whole. Xannon then turns to his next victim who watches him carefully. Xannon rushes in and attacks with a quick jab but is knocked away. The priest’s hands glow a dark red, almost black color. He swings his sword at Xannon who dodges to the left but then finds his right shoulder screaming in pain as the priest places his free hand on him.
The pain from the attack causes Xannon to loosen his grip on his sword. Pain laces through his shoulder as the priest attacks again. Despite the pain, Xannon manages to block the attack but his sword is knocked out of his hand from the impact. The priest is about to make his killing blow when a knife flies across the field of battle and embeds itself in the priest’s neck. Xannon turns to the direction the knife came from and sees Kris returning to the fray.
“Thank you,” Xannon says, unsure if Kris can hear him or not.
The pain in his shoulder subsides and he retrieves his sword from the ground. He turns to see a new group approaching and begins casting a spell.
“Flame Explosion!”
The ground underneath the approaching priests and warriors erupts into flame, burning and killing all those who enter the area. From farther south a horn sounds and the remaining soldiers disengage and retreat. Xannon kills as many as he can as they run past him but soon they are left alone in the destroyed city with dozens of dead and wounded around them. Xannon turns to survey the city and sees that most of the buildings have been reduced to rubble. The local town watch, or at least what was left of it, picks through the fallen bodies for survivors. He then turns to Kris who leans against a fallen column of the temple, catching his breath. Gatomon, Sarah, Roger and Grey have collapsed on the steps exhausted from the unexpected fight.
He heads over to Gatomon and sits down as well.
“What happen?” he asks.
“I’m not sure,” Gatomon replies. “I’m guessing they tried to take the city before we could get here. Their main target was the temple as they know that would be our main source of reinforcements.”
“Is everyone ok?”
“We’re fine, but you need to have that shoulder looked at.”
“What do you mean?” Xannon asks turning his head trying to get a look at his shoulder.
“It looks very bruised. You must have taken a magical hit.”
“Yeah, that priest did something and touched me with his glowing red hands.”
“Let me take a look, Xannon,” Sarah says, getting up and walking over to him.
She holds her hands over his shoulder and they begin to glow. After a moment, the bruising fades and Xannon rolls his shoulder around.
“Much better, thank you.”
As Xannon stretches his arm and shoulder out, a member of the town watch arrives.
“Thank the goddess you showed up when you did. We weren’t sure if we were going to be able to hold the temple any longer. They surprised us by swarming in from all sides under cover of night. Fortunately, one of the night watch guards was able to get the warning out before being overwhelmed.”
“What's the current status?” Gatomon asks.
“The southern side of town is all but destroyed. Only a few houses remain, the rest have been razed. We’ve lost almost a third of our forces. The night watch commander fell in the earlier hours of the morning with the second in command falling soon after. It’s almost as if they knew when and where to hit us.”
“Who’s in command now?” Xannon asks.
“I believe that would be Commander Mala now. She is currently being healed in the Town Watch HQ, or at least what’s left of it. Come, I’ll take you to her.”
The town watch soldier turns and heads toward the center of town followed by the newly arrived priests and priestesses. The damage caused by the attack was widespread. It was apparent that they didn’t intend on taking the city, but destroying it entirely.
“How is the northern part of town?” Sarah asks.
“So far, so good,” the soldier replies. “We have thus far been able to keep them back, but we have already asked everyone not capable of fighting to evacuate across the river.”
“What about the Reddings?”
He thinks for a moment before answering, “Mr. Redding was sent to the eastern front where fighting was the lightest. Mrs. Redding should have evacuated by now.”
They reach the remains of the Town Watch Headquarters and step through a broken wall into the office of the commander. She sits in a chair looking over a map of the city which has several figures stationed at various places across the map. Behind her a priest stands healing a massive gash across Mala’s back. Without being asked, Sarah goes to help the priest.
Mala sees them approach, “Good, you finally made it. We were beginning to wonder if you would make it in time. Forgive us for not sending word, but we needed everyone we had to help hold the temple long enough to give you a chance. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Commander Mala Waterdeep, leader of the Town Watch. Commander’s Haddington and Morrell fell at the hands of those wretched priests of Kardis. Since you’ve arrived they’ve sounded a general retreat, but once they learn exactly how many of you actually made it, I’m sure they will renew their attack. Don’t get me wrong you are a great addition, but this is still a numbers game.”
“Any idea how many there are?” Gatomon asks looking over the map.
“Initial estimates are around five thousand. Reports coming in now show that we only managed to reduce the number by one thousand while losing almost thrice that ourselves.”
“Five thousand?” Xannon repeats. “How many people do you have now?”
“Not counting the wounded or missing? Maybe four or five hundred. Yes, that does make us outnumbered ten to one. But we still have the advantage of the city. And, as long as we hold the temple we have access to reinforcements.”
Mala waves off the priest and Sarah. Sarah then comes around and stands next to Xannon.
“Are they still attacking from all sides?” Gatomon asks still checking out the map.
“Yes, the bulk of their forces, approximately three thousand soldiers are set up to the southeast, near the forest’s edge. East of here, next to the river, are positioned the remaining thousand. If we can knock out that group we can concentrate our defense to the south, and maybe have a chance of keeping our city.”
“We can take them,” Xannon says with confidence.
“Really? Seven against one thousand battle hardened soldiers? The sheer audacity of that statement makes me ask how you plan on doing that.”
“We’ll use the river to hide our approach, and catch them off guard with six magic users we should be able to at least take out several hundred before they can respond.”
“I think you over estimate our abilities, Xannon” Kris says. “Remember that you and Gatomon are the only ones well versed enough in magic to even attempt what you are talking about.”
“It all about using what you have. If we can cast confusion on enough people of high power, that will turn the tide of battle. Cast Choke or Suffocate or possibly Vacuum and they will either pass out or die. If we can do all this without revealing our position we should able to take out a huge chunk of the forces stationed there. Once that is done we’ll send a flare up and you can send in the forces you have up there and help us clean up the rest.”
Commander Mala ponders the idea for a moment, “It’s possible, but very, very risky. If you are detected before you can do enough damage it will be a massacre. I currently only have a handful of people holding the eastern front. The only reason we are still holding it is the city defenses. If we were to leave the city to confront them, we lose a major advantage and I’m not sure if there are enough to really make a difference anyway.”
“Then perhaps we can draw them to the city.”
“If you can do it without getting yourselves killed that is. That’s also assuming you can get them to follow you that far. At some point they will have to realize you are drawing them into a trap.”
“I think the sheer number of soldiers they have will negate them worrying about a trap.”
“Give it a try, but I suggest you wait until nightfall. If anything goes bad, you will have an easier time escaping if it’s dark.”
“Agreed,” Gatomon says. “Xannon, I’m going to let you lead this attack. You sound like you have it all planed out. Let’s rest up and get something to eat.”
Gatomon turns to the commander, “Is the temple safe to stay in at the moment?”
“I don’t believe so. The explosions took out several key supports and our engineers are still checking it out to see if it’s stable. We do have some temporary barracks available for you however.”
“Excuse me,” Sarah interjects. “Would you mind if we just stayed in my parents’ house? Mr. and Mrs. Redding are my parents. I hear that my father is at the east front and my mother has been evacuated.”
“That would be fine. I’ll let Mr. and Mrs. Redding know that you are here. I’m sure they would be happy to see you. It’s good to see you again, Sarah. This town has missed you since you left.”
“I go where I am called.”
Sarah bows and leaves the building leading the group through the ruined city toward her parents’ house.