Saving the Commander

Without warning, all the weapons on the dozens of guards' waists vibrate, then rip their way out of their sheaths.

The guards are normally supposed to buckle their weapons into their scabbards, but it's not a strictly enforced rule. Even still, there are a couple of guards who have thin straps holding their swords in…

…So when the Wills possess the swords, the weapons try to yank themselves away from the guards, only for the guards to either be knocked off their feet, then dragged across the floor by their belts - all while screaming like disobedient children who are being sent to time-out.

The rest of the guards, though, lose all their weapons – swords, daggers… everything. Within moments, their own weapons slit their throats or stab them in the heart. Once the rest of the guards are dispatched, Kaalhyme leads his fellow Wills to cut away the straps on the imprisoned weapons.

A few moments later, 3 dozen weapons are floating in the air and are glaring hatefully at King Kanus.

The king gulps, then bolts down the hall and slams the double doors shut just in time for a dozen weapons to slam into the thick wood. Only a few of them manage to pierce through, though their hilts prevent them from completely going through the door and killing the king.

Cursing like a sailor, King Kanus runs down the hall and starts screaming for the guards. A few guards show up and look fearfully at the disheveled king.

"You!" the king slows down and orders, "Go get our Brancotte visitors! Tell them that our guest Haalfrin has gone rogue and is attacking the palace!"

The guards straighten up and solute. "Yes, your majesty!"

"The rest of you, stick with me!"

Then, Kanus pulls out a far speak medallion, spends a few moments fiddling with it, then calls for another guard. "Turn on the defensive enchantments in the palace!" he yells out in a panic. "We're under attack!"

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While Kanus is arranging the palace defenses and getting ready for an attack, Kaalhyme is getting his men to assault the palace.

A Will is normally like a spirit's fingerprint – like your spirit's impression. They don't have sentience, and they don't have powers… They're just lifeless marks left behind by time.

… This is what makes Haalfrin's Names so strange. Under the influence of his own soul, these Wills gained minds of their own…

As such, Kaalhyme's Will doesn't have any memories of his time spent alive; he only has strong desires left to him from his true spirit. In life, Kaalhyme was a dutiful man who wanted to serve his people. In life, Kaalhyme hated the Alasta king…

And so, if Kaalhyme had lips, he'd lick them in anticipation, as he feels like he's about to kill an Alastan King. He doesn't know why, but something about this gives him immense joy.

Pulsing with spirit threads of eagerness, the Will turns to all his compatriots and shouts out through their spirit links, "We can't stay here! You, you, and you. Take ahold of the commander and carry him properly. If he starts to let up on releasing Death Energy… you're free to stab him a couple of times or shout profanities at his heart - anything to make him feel threatened and release more Aura!"

"Yes sir!"

Kaalhyme looks up at the chimney in the room. "All the doors are enchanted, so carry him through up there. The Commander's small enough right now to fit…"

A few moments later, Haalfrin has a dozen weapons nestled in his shirt and pants, and he's lifted cautiously into the air and stuffed into the chimney. Unbeknownst to them, the chimney narrows considerably as it goes up, so Haalfrin ends up getting wedged in tightly, leaving only his head to poke out the opening at the top.

Kaalhyme looks over and mutters, "Meh. Good enough. He's hidden well enough, and he's close to the center of the palace right now."

The spear Will looks down and surveys the palace. Since he's a spiritual being, he doesn't have physical eyes – only spiritual eyes. Thus, he can see the moving spirits down below – even through walls. With perfect accuracy, he can tell how many people are in the palace, who's armed, and where they all are.

Very quickly, a plan forms in Kaalhyme's mind. After he works everything out, he barks out a command to his men, "You see those side vents in the chimney? Take the dagger Wills, since they're small enough to maneuver in the tight spaces, and go through the vents. Spread out throughout the palace and wait patiently at the opens of the vents you find. Make sure to undo the exits to the vents so that you can ambush through them without wasting time. After you kill your targets, let some of our disembodied Wills get new bodies, then get back into the vents fast. If you get any swords who can't fit… have them lay on the ground and pretend to be lifeless."

Some of the dagger Wills spend a few moments asking questions about the plan and making sure they got it all. Once they're clear on their orders, they dart down the chimney and spread throughout the vents.

Kaalhyme then turns to his other 2 dozen swords floating down below him. "Everyone else! Gather in the chimney and hide! Don't make a sound, or I swear I'll break your blade in half!"

All the other swords straighten up their formation, and they all march into the chimney – clogging it up completely with steel.

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Not even a minute passes after this, and all the Wills feel dozens of mages rush into the room and fan out. "He's not here!" they hear a frantic voice echo through the chimney.

"Find him! He can't have gone far!" Some of the Wills shudder when they feel the powerful presence down below. Indeed, down below is one of the Brancotte officers – a 3rd circle mage.

As one, all the Wills share the same feeling. "This is a being that must be avoided and not fought," they all think when sensing the powerful mage below.

It's a rare thing for a living mage to be able to use spiritual sight; not even Haalfrin can do it consciously… and he's only able to do it because he has his Reh (Spirit) Name.

The 3rd circle mage down below has 3 Names, which means it's a half-and-half chance he's qualified to use spirit magic… Fortunately for the Wills stuck in the chimney, the man only has his Dra (body), Yiir (fate), and Fel (change) Names.

The only surveillance magic the mage down below has is heat detection and extra sensitivity to vibrations. The Wills don't have any body heat, and Haalfrin's heat signature is hidden by the residual heat left in the chimney.

So, the middle-aged officer down below turns to the Alastan palace guards around him, and he barks out an order, "Haalfrin's not in this room. With the doors all sealed up, he must've used short-range teleportation!"

It was stated on the reports that the boy has his Yiir (Fate) Name, which means he's qualified to use advanced spatial magic like teleportation.

Frantically, the officer scrambles out of the room and goes elsewhere to search, convinced Haalfrin must have gotten very far away with his skills.

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Kaalhyme ends up waiting a few more minutes for the daggers he sent off to report back. Sure enough, he gets a call.

"Captain!" some of the dagger Wills call out through their spirit threads. Spirit threads can stretch pretty far, so they can talk to their captain even across the palace if they wanted to. "The vents don't go very far; there's only 3 openings."

"Hold on!" Kaalhyme answers back, "I'm coming down to take a look."

Kaalhyme is the only Will here who possessed a stick rather than a sword. So, in order to bend at the right angle to get into the vent, he resolutely snaps himself in half, then pushes all of his Will into the tip of the stick. He then floats effortlessly down the vent.

He travels down, and he watches with the daggers next to him. Below them is the entrance to another chimney – not a neat vent on a wall like he'd have hoped.

Kaalhyme thinks for a moment and says to his comrades, "You'd all be exposed if you poke your blades out of the chimney top and take a look. It would look suspicious if you all piled down below… I'm a stick, so I'll blend in. I can get closer."

The stick Will unceremoniously drops himself onto the pile of unlit firewood, and he waits and watches for his men.

A few minutes later, he sees a servant lady come in and start sweeping the floor. Kaalhyme chooses to leave her alone since he's after bigger fish.

Sure enough, a few more minutes pass and the old lady screams in a panic as 3 guards rush into the room and command, "We have an attacker in the palace! Get back to your quarters now while we check the room."

The elderly servant rushes out of the room with an agility unbecoming of someone so old… and the moment she's gone, three of the guards walk in and fan out – opening cupboards and checking the windows for signs of someone leaving through them.

It's in that moment that Kaalhyme shouts telepathically to his comrades behind him… and they all shoot out at once.

Now, these 3 guards aren't mages at all, and they weren't expecting an attack from the chimney. So, before they can even scream, they're silenced.

Kaalhyme turns his little stick to some of the floating wills behind him and says, "We got more bodies."

One of the new Wills looks around, then glances down at his dead body with a vague feeling of familiarity. The Will shakes his head and instinctually looks down at the weapon in the corpse's hand… then looks over at the dozen floating daggers drifting around the room.

… The newly born Will suddenly feels an immense rage well up in his heart…

The self-appointed captain of the Wills looks over and sees some Will strands rise from the fallen guards. "Hurry up!" Kaalhyme shouts, "Get in those weapons before those Alasta b*stards beat you to it!"

The Wills behind Kaalhyme quit their chatter and rush forward, diving into the weapons…

…Unfortunately, 2 of them miss their opportunity, and 2 swords rise into the air with an angry feeling in their hearts...