[Vfw-times] MK Winter assault part 52

[COkane8116 at aol.com]

    The wall opened suddenly before him, and Garulf charged through with his 
axe at the ready. Though younger than Daria, he had already seen a good deal 
of action on patrols; his battle-tuned senses now served him well, as he 
quickly scanned the room for threats and targets. It was a large, open room 
with a low ceiling, its bare floor covered with salvaged beds and mattresses 
that had replaced whatever furniture had originally been present. There were 
piles of clothes and other clutter, as well -- a testament to the soldiers 
who had been camping here.  The most readily-noticed aspect of the room, 
however, was that almost everything was either burning or charred by fire -- 
including the enemy soldiers who had been sleeping here moments before. The 
scent of burning flesh and hair filled Garulf's sensitive nostrils, and the 
haze of smoke hanging over the room obscured his view of the bodies that 
littered the floor.
    The bear-morph didn't bother to stop and take stock of which ones were 
alive or dead; if it was on the ground and wasn't moving much, it was of 
little concern. Instead, he focused his attentions immediately on those who 
were still standing, or were scrambling to their feet. In the confusion of 
the smoke and flames, his first few targets died quickly.
    Bradfox was behind him, braced against the entranceway and cursing loudly 
and creatively as he unleashed a hail of deadly arrows any surviving invaders 
he could see through the haze. To either side of him other passages had 
opened, and the rest of Daria's team came forth to join the battle.
    Garulf ignored them all, unconsciously aware of their presence but 
devoting his full attentions to the enemies at hand. Nasoj's troops had 
largely gotten over their shock by now and were coming at him in twos and 
threes, unwilling to face the huge bear-morph alone. Garulf pushed them back 
with the long handle of his axe, swiped at them with his claws, crushed their 
skulls against the stone walls, and cleaved off limbs and heads as the 
opportunities presented themselves, reveling in the heat of combat.
    An arrow shot past his head, burying itself in the eye socket of an 
archer who had been ready to shoot him down. Garulf chanced a quick look back 
at his savior.
    "Watch yourself, big guy," Brad grunted, nocking another arrow. Garulf 
bared his teeth in an ursine grin and dove back into the fray.
    Moments later -- or at least it seemed so to Garulf -- a war cry echoed 
through the room from the doorway that stood opposite the sabotaged magazine. 
Glancing toward the direction of the sound, the bear grimaced as he saw a mob 
of at least thirty enemy soldiers rushing into the room.

~0~

    Daria bit back a curse as she saw the enemy reinforcements arrive, 
flooding into the room with their weapons at the ready. Jessica cast a few 
energy bolts at the incoming enemies, even as Starling lashed out with fire 
and Bradfox set loose an even greater barrage of arrows; but none of them 
could continue such assaults indefinitely, and the attackers kept coming. In 
seconds her warriors were battling against four-to-one odds, fighting back to 
back or keeping the makeshift passageways behind them to keep from being 
surrounded.
    "Starling, guard the passage!" Daria shouted, gripping her rapier and 
cutting into the half-dozen attackers approaching her. "All of you, come this 
way!"
    The other Keepers complied, though Bradfox complained loudly at being 
forced to switch to his sword and plunge bodily into the fray. He was 
skillful even with the blade, though, and soon fought his way to join Garulf. 
Across the room, Weyden and David were inching their way towards Daria's 
escape passage, Jessica flying overhead and doing her best to thin out the 
ranks around them. Brennar and Morel were nearest to the door where the 
reinforcements had come in and were facing the heaviest opposition, but so 
far they were managing to hold off their attackers. Daria focused on 
eliminating any enemy soldiers who came close to her passage, knowing that 
there was no way she would last long trying to make it to the others on her 
own.
    One of the enemy soldiers Daria was fighting swung his broadsword in a 
long arc, and pain lanced through Daria's arm as she blocked the blow. She 
and her fellow Keepers were tiring under the relentless assault -- something 
would either have to give way soon, or most of them would not make it out of 
here alive...
    The man with the broadsword was brought down with a sudden axe-swing to 
the back of the neck, and Garulf and Brad forced their way through the small 
opening created to take their places alongside Daria.
    "Glad you could join us," Daria said.
    "That makes three of us," Brad said shortly, dropping back behind the 
woman and the bear. With the two warriors shielding him from the enemy 
swordsmen, he had his bow out again in a matter of seconds. "Duck."
    Daria did so, dropping into a crouch as Bradfox sent an arrow over her 
head and into the neck of one of her opponents. She blocked a sword that was 
aimed at her head, then leapt up and gave the offending soldier a quick jab 
to the nose.
    Behind her, Starling gave a small cry. An image flashed in the redhead's 
mind: Brennar and Morel with their backs to the wall, fighting against six 
men at once.
    "Damn," she muttered, blocking a quick series of strokes from the tallest 
swordsman attacking her. He risked a stronger blow, probably hoping to knock 
the woman to her knees, but she ducked in close to him and used her body as a 
pivot point, directing the man's own momentum into a throw that sent him 
tumbling into his nearest comrade. Grabbing her dagger from the sheath on her 
leg, Daria took advantage of her opponent's momentary disorientation and 
drove the sturdy blade firmly into his neck. Any scream he might have made 
was cut short as the dagger sliced through his windpipe.
    A sharp kick to the ribs knocked Daria off of the dying man's body, but 
she quickly regained her feet. Her side was burning, but she couldn't worry 
about that right now. Garulf was a powerful fighter, but she could leave him 
to handle these invaders alone -- especially since this was _her_ team.
    More shouts echoed through the room, and Daria looked up to see about ten 
more enemy soldiers rushing into the room. Dammit, she thought, didn't we 
have enough to worry about?
    A moment later, though, she noticed something odd. The new arrivals 
weren't paying any real attention to Daria's team or the battle currently 
underway -- they were looking backwards toward the doorway, expressions of 
fear on their eyes.
    "What in...?" Brad exclaimed from behind her.
    A ball of green fire suddenly shot into the room, hitting one of the 
enemy soldiers full in the chest and knocking him flat. His companions 
scattered, heading for the now-empty passageways that Daria's teammates had 
used on their way in to the room. The corridors would peter out a few ells 
past the entrance, closed off by the Keep, but at the moment Daria was in no 
position to capitalize on their miscalculation. Besides, she was far more 
interested in what could have caused the invaders such fear.
    The answer came in the form of a gray raccoon dressed in a heavily 
tarnished white fur overcoat, the front of which was covered with dried 
blood. In fact, the only thing really clean about him was the sword he was 
wielding; it was a blade of medium weight and thickness, but longer than 
usual and of a slightly peculiar design.. Daria recognized him immediately as 
the same warrior she and Merai had seen hunting gremlins on Daedra'kema; 
Rickkter was his name, or so Daria was told, and he had developed a rather 
astonishing reputation among the members of his unit.
    Right now, Daria was just glad to see a friendly face.
    "Rickkter!" she shouted.
    He threw her a look and nodded, taking in the situation in the space of 
an instant. Stretching out his hand, he threw two more blasts at the soldiers 
that stood between Daria's passage and David and Weyden, giving them an 
opening to fall back. He then turned his attentions to the crowd of soldiers 
around Brennar and Morel, laying into the invaders with blinding speed. In 
the space of a few seconds all six lay dead, and the surviving enemy soldiers 
scattered before the battlemage
"Thanks," Daria called to him, stooping to retrieve her dagger. "We needed 
that."
    "Welcome," the raccoon said shortly, looking back over his shoulder. "I 
assume you're from the Temple, right? Do you have a way out of here?"
Daria frowned. "Yes, why?"
Rickkter was still looking over his shoulder. "Because we're going to need it 
in a few minutes. I took care of another pocket of these guys on my way here, 
and I think some of them managed to get away and find reinforcements."
    "More?" Brennar said plaintively. "Are you sure?"
    "Never argue with a mage." The raccoon walked over to Daria. "You in 
charge
here?"
    "Aye, sir."
    "Thought so. Let's go."
    "Right. Come on, people."
    "Jacob, Julian, Hector, Elliot, Goldmark, let's move!" Rickkter shouted 
back over his shoulder. A few moments later a group of four rats, and what 
Daria could only assume was a black fox, hesitantly emerged from the same 
doorway Rickkter had. They quickly surveyed the carnage before hurrying 
through it to where the rest of the Keepers were.
    They headed into the passageway, Daria in the lead. It was only about 
five feet wide, and went back roughly two yards before turning to the right 
and proceeding another ten yards or so to end in a stone wall.
"Nice," Rickkter said wryly. "This the way you came in?"
    "Aye, with this," Daria said, holding up the Key. "We closed the passage 
behind us so no one could find the way back to the Temple if we were killed. 
Give me a moment, and I'll open it up again."
    Daria clasped the Key in her hands and focused on the wall in front of 
her, visualizing the passage she wanted to form. Obediently, the stone began 
to give way--
    And then stopped. The woman frowned, feeling the sudden resistance in the 
stones as she willed the passage to open. The stones seemed to give for a 
moment before melding back into their original flat shape.
    "What's wrong?" the coon called out, noticing her expression. Rickkter 
had moved to the back of the group, looking out for unwanted company.
    "It ... is fighting me," she said at last, scarcely believing it herself. 
"That's never happened before."
In the distance, she could hear the growing sounds of enemy soldiers, 
accompanied by the screams and war cries of lutins. Brennar crept back to the 
entrance of the passage, out beyond Rickkter, peeking out into the room they 
had left. A few seconds later Morel was at his side, gripping his sword in 
one weary hand.
    "We haven't much time," Rickkter growled quietly. "If this is not going 
to work..."
"It will work!" Daria insisted, her brow creasing as she put more effort into 
it. Slowly, the passage began to open once more -- but the shape was 
unstable, the path warped. And it was taking all of her concentration to get 
it to go even that far.
    The gibbering outside abruptly grew louder, as a horde of lutins came 
streaming into the room.
    "Get back! Get back!" Morel hissed, pulling Brennar away from the 
entrance -- probably hoping they wouldn't be spotted. His hopes were in vain, 
however, as the lutins made a beeline for the frightened tomcat. Morel 
positioned himself in front of the entrance, his sword at the ready as the 
little green-skinned brutes swarmed towards him.
    Daria gave one final mental push, attempting to force the passage the 
rest of the way. For a moment it worked, but only a moment before the magical 
stone of Metamor closed once more upon itself. Daria swore loudly, shaking 
the key at the resisting wall.
    Her frustration drew Rickkter's attention for a split second and he 
looked back to see what was the problem. That almost cost him a sword through 
the gut, but his sword whipped up faster and took off the arm of the 
attacker, swiftly followed by the lutin's head. Another half dozen perished 
in the spell the mage cast a moment later, as five yards of corridor burst 
into a wall of flame.
    "That should hold them a while," Rickkter explained as he jogged up to 
Daria. "What seems to be the problem? The short version, please."
    Daria was quick to explain the function of the key and what had happened 
when she had tried to use it. Rickkter's expression grew less and less 
pleased the more she talked.
"Can you show me what is supposed to happen?" he asked, glowering back at the 
bend in the corridor. Fortunately he'd cast the fire spell near the entrance, 
and thanks to that bend they were now well out of the enemy's line of fire if 
they thought to bring any archers with them. Clearing her mind, Daria turned 
back to the wall and pictured the passageway leading up to the inside of the 
temple. She could feel the passage forming, and then the unknown force that 
blocked her efforts.
    A voice came to her from inside her head. {Here, let me help.}
    Before Daria could protest she felt a pair of paws clasp her head at the 
temples and ten tiny claws dig into her head. A surge of power went through 
her, so fast and strong that it almost took her breath away.
    {Concentrate, damn it!} Rick's voice scolded her in her mind. {Focus on 
the passage and let me do the rest!}
    Much to Daria's surprise, it seemed to be working. Their combined power 
was counteracting whatever was preventing her from opening the passage in the 
first place. Within about a minute they had a long staircase before them, 
leading up and northward in the direction of the temple. She quickly 
recognized that the passage was about as stable as it was going to get.
"Let's go!" she shouted, still rooted in place from the power Rickkter was 
channeling through her. She watched as Starling, the four rats, the black -- 
or was he blue? -- fox, Brad, and Garulf ran past and up the narrow flight of 
steps. The only two left were Brenner and Morel, both watching the slowly 
dying flames. "Rick, I think we had best be moving," she stuttered, trying 
not to let their weakening defense break her concentration from the corridor.
    {Okay, but go slowly. It's taking all my concentration to keep this thing 
open.} Daria could clearly hear that strain in his projected thoughts. When 
she heard Rick tell her to move, she did so, however slowly it was. "Brenner, 
Morel, fall back!" she cried as she and Rick reached the first steps. She 
noted with some horror that the flames weren't even a foot high by this point.
    The corridor they had opened seemed smaller when they were in it, Daria 
and Rickkter almost having no room to turn around in their awkward, attached 
state. They were about a quarter of the way up the flight when the first of 
the lutins appeared. Fortunately the narrow passage worked to their advantage 
here and Morel and Brenner were able to hold the attackers back. But the 
further they went up, the narrower the passage seemed to become, and the more 
tightly Rickkter gripped her head. She could hear his panting behind her and 
could only guess at the effort this was taking the mage.
    They hadn't moved more than half a dozen steps when first the grating 
sound occurred. Rickkter growled along with it, digging his claws further 
into the skin on Daria's head. She was horrified when she saw that the sound 
was made by the corridor warping behind them, closing in on itself, flowing 
almost like liquid.
{Can't... hold on much longer!} Rick told her.
    "You two, get behind us!" Daria cried, sensing through the key what was 
about to happen. "Hurry up!"
    "Funny, I thought we were!" Morel gasped, stabbing at another of the 
advancing lutins. The staircase had slowed them down a little, but they were 
making up the distance.
    Brennar was quick to see the situation and felled one more attacker 
before dropping to all fours and scrabbling up and around Daria and the mage.
    Morel had apparently become winded from the fighting and so was slower 
than the cat. Daria cried out when she saw the contorting stairs of the 
passage heave beneath the man, tripping him.
    "Morel!" she shouted, trying to break free and pull him up. She was 
stopped by Rickkter's iron grip on her.
    {Forget about him!} Rickkter shouted, his expression harsh. {He's gone!}
     "The hells he is!" Daria retorted angrily. She could see that the old 
soldier had scrambled back to his knees, but already he was being set upon by 
lutins. "I don't leave my men behind!"
    {There's no time!} the raccoon snapped, practically dragging her up the 
stairs by her head. {Move! Now!} 
Morel screamed in pain and fury as he bravely tore into the lutins with his 
meat cleaver, doing his best to buy time for the others -- and in an instant, 
Daria realized that Rickkter was right. With a bitter taste in her throat, 
she turned and continued her frantic climb up the passage, not daring to look 
back again.
    They made it another thirty seconds or so before Morel's screams ended. 
Forcing back the tears she wanted to shed, Daria heeded the instructions 
Rickkter was screaming inside her head and concentrated on the passage once 
more. The passage was now hardly big enough for the two of them to stand in 
and was shifting and moving about almost like a liquid. Redoubling her 
efforts, Daria channeled all her rage and frustrations into keeping the way 
open. Looking up, she could see the others on a wide landing, their 
expressions nervous as they saw the horde of lutins closing in behind. Brad 
nocked an arrow and took aim, then apparently thought better of it and 
lowered his bow -- the passage was too narrow for him to get a shot off.
    Even with both Rickkter and Daria channeling all their efforts into the 
Key, and the others at the top of the passage yelling encouragement, it was 
tough going. As they neared the top the passage was brushing their shoulders 
and undulating beneath their feet like an ocean. The lutins screamed and 
gibbered madly below them, as the stones shifted and disappeared under their 
feet and they fell cursing onto the swarm of green-skinned brutes behind them.
    "Al--most ... there..." Daria gritted.
Suddenly the floor churned beneath them, and the steps they were climbing 
dropped limply away from the landing. Months of training kicked in as Daria 
jumped up, Rickkter copying her motion in sync, and grabbed onto what had 
suddenly become a ledge six feet high. The raccoon held on to her with an 
iron grip, dragging her down with his extra weight.
    "PULL US UP!" Rickkter shouted, though Daria couldn't tell whether he was 
speaking out loud or only in her mind.
    Whether he heard the battlemage's order or not, Garulf quickly knelt and 
seized hold of Daria's arms, pulling her upwards. Bones and muscles screamed 
at her as Daria felt her arms pull out of their sockets. In that instant her 
concentration on the key wavered -- and the walls slammed shut beneath their 
feet like a battering ram, straight into the lutins that were fast on their 
heels.
    The crunching sound alone was sickening. The blood that squirted through 
the closing gap was worse. But it was the single outstretched arm reaching up 
from the floor below, fingers clutching for something they could not reach, 
that probably did the most to send Brennar and Weyden retching in the corner. 
 Daria was in too much agony from her dislocated arms to pay much attention.
    There was a door at the top of the landing, which someone opened a few 
seconds later. Some part of Daria's brain took note of the Lightbringer 
Archives on the far side of the doorway, and Merai rushing to her side.
"Oh, bother," Merai winced, quickly seeing the problem. "What have you done 
to yourself this time?" Taking hold of her left arm and its shoulder, the 
priestess did something extremely painful and the limb popped back into 
place. She then did the same to the other arm, completely ignoring Daria's 
screams and curses. Then she placed her hands on both shoulders, and Daria 
finally felt the pain dwindle away.
    The feline girl smiled a little. "Feel better?"
    Daria glared up at her. "I suppose you think you're clever."
    Merai grinned broadly and rose to her feet, reaching out a hand to help 
the warrior-woman up. "What would folk like you do without folk like me?"
    "Bleed a great deal more, I imagine."
    By now Rickkter had recovered from his exhaustion, and Garulf helped him 
to his feet. "Thank Akkala you two are all right," the bear-morph rumbled. 
"We didn't think you two were going to make it up here."
    Rickkter shook himself off, his tail bushing out behind him. "Almost 
didn't. Got lucky there. But what I want to know is what the hell is 
happening around here to cause the keep to do that."
    "You'll have to talk to Mistress Raven about that, she might know 
something," Daria said, leaning on Merai's shoulder as they stepped out into 
the first floor of the Archives. A crowd was waiting in a loose semicircle 
around the entrance, and they looked greatly relieved as the warriors finally 
entered the room.
"Rickkter?" said a soft voice from beyond the wall of people. A few acolytes 
parted the way to allow a female skunk to pass by.
    "Oh, Kayla," Rick gasped, holding out his arms when he saw her. The skunk 
almost rushed him, falling into his arms. Rickkter held her tightly against 
his chest as she clung to him and shook.
    "I thought you had been killed out there," she said, her voice muffled 
against his coat.
    Gently stroking the fur at the back of her neck, Rickkter shushed her. "I 
know, love. I know. I'm just glad nothing happened to you."
    Daria looked at the couple, standing there almost in awe at the mage's 
sudden change of attitude. Turning to Merai, she saw a similar look on the 
cat-woman's face at the sight of Kayla and her love together.
    "That was pretty close," the cleric murmured as they headed for the 
staircase leading up to the temple hall. The room was serving as a makeshift 
infirmary, and Raven and a number of acolytes and healers would be waiting 
there to treat the warriors' remaining wounds.
    "Aye. A little too close," Daria agreed quietly. She looked up and 
noticed that Rick and Kayla had managed to separate. Beside her, Brennar and 
Weyden walked unsteadily into the room, both of them somehow looking pale 
even through feathers and fur.
"Well, I don't know about anyone else," said Rickkter, "But I'm starving. 
Who's ready for dinner?"
    There was a sound like a choked whimper, and two pairs of feet scrabbled 
back through the door again. Rickkter grinned mischievously and walked off 
toward a quiet corner of the Archives, arm in arm with his beloved.

***

   End part 52
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