The Last Raid (5)

So, Haalfrin gives some orders out "You, you and you! Get below decks, pull out the oars, and make waves in the water. Quickly!"

He then turns to some more and say, "You 10! Keep your fire on the mage."

Haalfrin then turns around and sees that several of the guards firing off from the shore have started igniting their arrows with black pitch. "CHANGE OF PLANS! Kill the archers NOW!"

The battlemage down below sees his people being targeted down, so he swings his arms up, and small gusts of wind are thrown from his arms. He's not a powerful enough mage to completely knock them out of the air, but he can at least mess up their archer's aim.

Seeing that none of this is working, Haalfrin finally gets another idea. "Hurry! I can't reach my back straps. Help me take my armor off!"

Once Haalfrin's armor is completely gone, he instructs, "Now, tie my hands up… Good, now put your knife to my neck and hold me up in clear view of all the people down below."

Haalfrin isn't of Kareen blood, so his skin as white as the defenders of Greenstone. He'd look like a helpless old man to those ashore.

Clearly seeing where this is going, the men grin, and the most scary – intimidating of the lot hold Haalfrin up at knife point and shout, "Oi! If you don't want me to gut this little sop here and now, you'll turn away immediately!"

The battlemage halts in his tracks immediately, and he looks down with a conflicted face. After some deliberation, he turned to his men ashore, "Stop firing! You'll burn the ship! They have a hostage aboard!"

Seeing as how it's a small town, most of the guards know everyone in town. So, one of them turn to the other and ask, "Who's grandpa is that?"

As the battlemage Fisco looks on at Haalfrin's "terrified" look, he finally ignites the fire in his heart again. If one's thoughts were written in one's eyes, Fisco's eyes would have "JUSTICE" etched in big letters.

So, Fisco pretends to hesitate while he prepares another spell under his breath. Just as the raiders are cracking out ALL the oars and preparing to row away, Fisco lets out a loud scream, and his spell amplified the noise so much that the raiders atop the ship reel back and clutching their ears.

Fisco uses this small opportunity to leap forward, and he puts all his remaining concentration in his legs. He leaps up the remaining 10 feet. Even still, he barely leaps far enough to cling onto the edge of the ship.

Another raider pulls Haalfrin back menacingly, while another swipes at Fisco's hands.

Fisco doesn't have time for another spell, so he jumps up a little and slammed his fingers in a different spot at the last moment, though some wood chips fly into his face.

The battle mage's body reinforcement magic is still on, so he swings his body to the side and up over the railing – piercing the raider's throat with his pointy metal boots in a single kick.

Once Fisco gets his feet firmly on the deck, he sees dozens of raiders all pointing their weapons at him, while one gruff voice shouted over them all, "This is your last chance! Back away, or this old grandpa gets it!"

Haalfrin quickly bit his tongue to induce pain, then let the tears flow. "P-please! I have a granddaughter! Little Winry is all I have left after my poor boy died in the war!"

Fisco holds his sword and staff ready as he thinks about his options. "How do I know you won't just slit his throat the moment I leave this boat?"

"Eh… good point…" one of the raiders muttered under his breath thoughtfully.

Haalfrin then turned his head up to the raider holding him, gives a side wink, then says with a trembling voice, "Just p-push me up to the mage. You can… keep all your arrows pointed at me. The wizard has his water walking spell, so he can just carry me back to shore.

One of the raiders leans forward and says, "You know, that's probably the best option we got."

Normally, the raiders would never give up their hostage so easily… However… Haalfrin isn't a hostage.

Fisco just smiles, thinking that the negotiations went easier than he thought. Of course, once he gets the old man to safety, he'd certainly follow the Kareen back to their lands and wipe them all out.

Haalfrin is pushed up to Fisco, and the mage holds up his hands – carefully cutting Haalfrin's bindings. "Are you all right?"

Instead of replying, Haalfrin lets the dagger hidden in his sleeve fall into his palm, and he swings it forward, attempting to jab Fisco in the heart.

Unfortunately, the old raider's movements are too slow and he fumbles with the dagger – clearly not as dexterous as he used to be.

Realizing he'd been tricked – his benevolence taken advantage of, no less, the sorcerer immediately growls in anger and slaps Haalfrin hard on the side of the head, sending the old fellow's head smacking hard on the deck.

As Haalfrin's consciousness fades away, he grasps at the air and tears of anger stream down his face. He feels so helpless and weak in this useless body of his. "If I had been younger, I'd have killed that sorcerer!"

Realizing that he had once been strong enough to earn victory, Haalfrin's mind fades away, with his last thoughts being only filled with regret and fear for his remaining clansmen…