Courtyard Battle

Shit this was a terrible situation. There were over a dozen archers on the walls looking down on us, more people were coming into the room we just fled, and Bornhilda was blocking our exit with six others surrounding her.

"I'd be willing to take any of you under my care provided you let me place you under a Soul Shackle, I only have two of them so you'll have to make your decision before anyone else." Bornhilda said.

Soul Shackles were powerful magical items that were illegal within the kingdom. When it was attached to a person's spirit it made them completely compliant to the others wishes. They could be used against a person's will but could cause extreme damage to the person's spirit making them less capable of performing even basic tasks or it could outright kill them. In addition to being illegal they were also incredibly hard to craft based on what I had read. The fact that she wanted to use them made me want to kill her even more.

"You don't have to use that on me. Just make sure you give me the elf as promised." Feadr said as he slipped away from Skadi who nearly fell to her knees with the loss of support.

"Really, if your information had been even remotely reliable we wouldn't be under attack right now." Bornhilda said.

"Ah you don't have to worry about any of this. There's barely…." He was slowly walking out of our group when Thelora slashed his throat with her dagger and I pierced his heart with my sword.

We closed ranks even more as those around us grew tense, with arrows nocked and weapons being raised. As the traitor's body twitched with his last signs of life Bornhilda held up her hand to get everyone to hold their attacks.

"If you hadn't done that I would have." She said.

"Not a very convincing way to get us to join you." I said.

"Oh he was a useful idiot but he turned traitor too easily for my tastes. You should at least hold out for something a little more than the first offer. But his information did allow us to make some very worthwhile gains. He even led us to capturing Skadi here." She said.

I glanced at Thelora to see if there was any reaction. If she was the information gatherer for her side it should sting that someone had gotten one over on her but I only saw an impassive face.

"You're Wilmaer correct?" Borhilda asked.

"That I am. Are you another fan of my work?" I had no idea how I should respond but wanted to keep her talking to hold out for... something.

"Wassa was so pissed when she was told that she wasn't going to be the Bandit Queen right away like she planned. She laid it all at your feet and vowed to skin you alive. From my understanding she tried to get a hold of you a few times and you kept slipping out of her grasp, killing everyone she sent after you." She said.

I only knew of the one attack. Were there others that were stopped before they got to me? I gave another side glance to Thelora since she had been my shadow off and on over the past few months.

"I really didn't do that much." I replied.

"Getting Skadi to join me was going to be the last big accomplishment to show the Inner Circle that I was ready to take over. But if I can get the cause of this second secession battle to side with me, that might also work." She said.

"I don't plan to put on a Soul Shackle, so that might be a problem." I said.

"My guess is that Skadi was blackmailing you in some way, that's one of her favorite tools. Kill her right now and I won't use the Soul Shackle." She said.

"That's an interesting offer but what about my companions?" It wasn't too hard to tell that her offer wasn't genuine as I could tell she was a terrible liar.

"I suppose the elf and the knight could live, but the other one will have to wear the Soul Shackle." She was trying to turn us against each other.

"What do you say, Thelora, would you be willing to put one on?" I asked.

"I think I'll have to pass. Unless you're the one putting it on." Thelora replied and I raised an eyebrow to her.

"Sorry to interrupt your flirting but I would like to end this long night to get some sleep. I've made my offer, what do you say?" Bornhilda said.

"It is a tempting offer. Hmm. How about you give me the night to think it over?" I said.

She sighed, raised her hand but before she could lower it to give the order to attack we all moved. Lariss started rapid firing arrows, Cedric with shining completely white eyes charged into the group behind us, while Thelora was covered in shadows and moved towards the far side of Bornhilda's group. Skadi fired off a few Ice Daggers toward the archers but had to focus on defending herself once they started firing.

I made it a step away from an unmoving Bornhilda before two of her people stepped in front to block my attack. Our swords clashed and I took the risk of immediately entering in my counter stance before I could fully grasp their fighting style. It paid off as I took a blade to my side that was covered with my Osgar Lineage and my own sword sliced off their arm. The other blade was blocked by my shield and my Lightning Rebuke jumped into the sword's wielder. Another one of them then attacked me with their axe putting me on the defensive.

Thelora was dancing between two others, while the last of Bornhilda's people sent out spells. They were mostly targeting Skadi and Lariss since the two of them weren't engaged in close combat. Skadi still had enough energy to form arcane shields but wasn't going to last long. Lariss was switching between forcing the archers that were still alive to take cover and aiding Cedric.

The one with the axe moved at like a low level Expert in basic aura keeping me from taking any offensive strikes. My skills had allowed me to go one on one with an Expert before but with another person that was at the Intermediate stage I wasn't able to take any advantage. No one on our side was doing any better.

The sound of a horn blaring caused a few of our opponents to falter a bit but not enough for us to gain an advantage.

"Damn." Bornhilda said. "We need to get this over with before more of them arrive." She pulled out her broadsword and joined the fight with me.

Unable to keep up with their barrage I began to back up to keep them from encircling me. My movements eventually brought me back to back with Thelora. This also meant that the two of us were now surrounded by five enemies. In some ways this made it a little easier on us as I began to just focus on defense, while Thelora focused on attacks. It was amazing how well we worked together for this being the first time we did this.

A scream pulled my attention and I saw Skadi fall to a Firebolt. The mage then began to harass Lariss who had to stop helping Cedric to defend herself. The archers on the walls began to pop up without her keeping them at bay. Cedric was starting to have a harder time as his eyes were starting to bleed and his movements were becoming slower.

"Thelora." I brushed my hand against her shoulder and used my psychic mote to try and send my intention to her with Minor Sensation Exchange.

Hoping that she'd get my meaning I made a faint to one of our attackers allowing them to strike my side. This pulled them out of formation enough that Thelora was able to slip out of the circle and charge towards the mage. I took a few other glancing blows as Bornhilda also disengaged to chase after Thelora but she wasn't quick enough.

Arcane Shields were able to stop Thelora's short sword but the dagger slipped between them to slash his arm. This hurt him enough that he wasn't able to defend against Lariss' next arrow that pierced his neck. Thelora turned around quickly enough to block Bornhilda's attack. The two exchanged blows as Lariss started to attack the archers again.

I was having a tough time with the four of them and was slowing down due to the damage I was taking. Relief came as a massive burst of fire came from the keep's wall. It burned through those that Cedric was starting to lose to. I looked up to see Vesta standing above us, her staff was ablaze and her cloak billowed in the wind. Though I was sure that was from a spell and not actual wind.

Distracted, I was able to slice into one of my attackers and broke free from the others. We were slowly gaining the advantage as Hrothgar led our bandits through the door leading to the entry chamber near the stairs. Lariss was able to start helping me with various elemental arrows and we were able to take them out one by one.

Bornhilda was having trouble with Thelora and as we took control of the small courtyard we formed a circle around them. Even when she saw that she had no hope of winning the battle, Bornhilda kept fighting. After she thrust forward at a low angle, Thelora knocked her broadsword lower before forcing it to the ground with her foot. Using the blade as support, Thelora swung her other foot into Bornhilda's face. Thelora followed up by grabbing Bornhilda's shoulder and forcing her to the ground and putting her dagger through the back of her neck.

With the last enemy down we began to tend to the wounded. I had Hrothgar take the most able bodied and search the rest of the keep. There were only seven bandits on our side still standing and only three were able to help him search the keep. Larissa and Thelora ended up joining them. Cedric was tending to Skadi who was just hanging on. I watched as Vesta slowly fell from the wall and approach me.

"I told you this was a dumb plan. So much went wrong and you're just lucky I agreed to help you." She said.

"I am more than grateful for the help you provided and will owe you in the future. But can you really call a plan dumb if it still succeeded?" I gave her a cheesy smile as she gave me a forced frown. Cedric started laughing.