Touch of Fate

Chapter 253: Seeing the Signs

Audra had been squirming and trying to escape every so often over the last half hour, but she'd slowly started to give up, and was now resting quietly in Sera's lap. Although a passing observer probably couldn't tell, it was clear to her that the little dragon was feeling depressed.

"I know." Sera murmured in what she hoped was a soothing voice. "I know. It's hard being left behind."

She was gently stroking the scales of Audra's neck, something that she'd longed to do for quite some time now. However, considering the circumstances, it was hard to really enjoy the sensation. She glanced up at Tal, and took some solace in the fact that she seemed to be resting a bit more easily. Mike hadn't explained what happened before he left, but she figured that the elf's current condition had something to do with the most recent attack. Her instincts told her that the pair of them had somehow come up a solution on their own.

A sudden surge of guilt washed over her, and she had to blink back the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. During the attack, she'd been cowering near the walls, too overwhelmed by the screams to do much more than writhe on the ground. By the time she could even muster the willpower to stand, the fight had been over and the enemy destroyed.

[I thought I had gotten better, but it feels like for every step I take, they pull ahead three. Mike, Tal, and even Brenden are leaving me behind...]

The distant sounds of battle peaked, and she could almost make out the words of the officers on the walls exhorting their troops. While the orders were firm and controlled, she thought she detected a few hints of panic in the general cacophony. Perhaps the fort would fall while Mike was still out, and all of the defenders would be slaughtered by swarms of zombies.

[That would show him. I'd like to see his face when he found out that we were killed while he was off doing his own thing again.] She thought, but immediately felt guilty about it.

Mike had a lot on his plate at the moment, and it wasn't fair to exactly blame him for leaving her behind. After all, what could she do even if she went with him. She sighed and looked down at the dragon in her lap. "Its hard, isn't it? I don't really know what I should do about these feelings, but I can't exactly ignore them, either. Maybe I should-"

Her words were cut off as a sudden spike of pain entered her head, momentarily pushing all of her concerns and worries aside. A brief series of images flashed past her conscious mind and a few seconds later she was left gasping for breath. Looking around quickly, she realized that it was probably already too late to react.

"Come on." She complained quietly. "What good is the ability to foretell the future if you can't give me more warning than this."

The infirmary was largely deserted, since the presence of a powerful healer like Mike had obviated the need for it since the keep was put up. As such, the only other person in the room was an elderly nurse and a few soldiers who'd been brought in recently.

[If they catch me here, then they'll kill all the witnesses, including Tal. And if I try to call for help, it will only increase the casualties. No, choice I've got to find somewhere deserted to make my stand.]

Briefly consulting her knowledge of the keep, she realized that her best bet was the third floor, which was largely used for storage. She picked Audra up and laid her down by Tal's side. Meeting her inquisitive look, Sera tried to explain, hoping that the dragon understood. "I need you to stay here and watch over Tal. Can you do that?"

Although Audra merely cocked her head and issued a little cheep, Sera didn't have time for anything else, and quickly ran to the door, only taking a moment to address the nurse. "The keep is going to have invaders soon, and they kill anyone that gets in their way. Close this door, keep it locked, and don't open it until you hear from someone you know well."

"Huh?" The woman asked, looking more confused than worried. "What do you..."

"Just do it! And if anyone asks, tell them that the Cabal was here." Sera yelled before running out and heading upstairs.

She knew that her hunters likely had a means of tracking her over short distances, and that escape was probably impossible at this point. At least she could avoided places with a lot of people, and minimize the resulting collateral damage.

Pushing past a few soldiers, she ran into one of the storage rooms. Piles of crates, boxes, barrels and various other items littered the area, having been thrown in here haphazardly over the last few days. After a quick scan, she found a suitable location to make her last stand, and walked over.

Drawing an arrow from her quiver, she pulled back on her bow, aimed at the door, and waited. Seconds passed, and then minutes, until her arm was beginning to tremble with the effort of keeping the string drawn. Pretty soon, she was beginning to wonder if maybe she'd misinterpreted the vision.

She was debating about going back downstairs when the first masked man rushed through the doorway. Quickly activating her prescience granting skill, she loosed, aiming for a spot slightly to the left of the intruder's path. As soon as she did, the man juked to his left in an attempt to avoid her first shot. Instead here merely succeeded in putting his head in front of the speeding arrow.

Keeping her skill active, Sera drew and loose another arrow in a smooth motion, nailing the next enemy, who had tried to rush to the right of the doorway, and pinning him to the wall. By this point, a handful of them had managed to push through and were now running towards her. Given their speed, she judged she had time for one last shot.

Rather than targeting any of her apparent attackers, she instead aimed at the empty doorway and loosed again. The arrow was still in the air as the first of the surviving masked figures dove on top of her, driving her to the ground.

Right before the arrow passed out into the corridor, another shrouded figure, very different from the rest, rounded the corner while walking in calm and measured steps. It was already speaking as it did so. "We meet at last, lit-"

The rest of the words were cut off as the arrow punched through the thick, grey cloth that covered the creature's head, causing it to stagger backwards. Sera felt a brief surge of satisfaction that slowly turned to cold fear as the figure straightened once more and casually pulled the arrow out.

It had penetrated a least a dozen centimeters into the area where a normal humans eye should be, but didn't seem to inconvenience the thing in the slightest. The creature dropped the arrow and set about rearranging the cloth that obscured its face. As it did so, Sera caught a glimpse of dozens of worm-like creatures covered in sticky mucus, wriggling and squirming beneath the wrappings, before the cover was back in place.

"Amusing. It seems like you've picked up a few tricks since the last time our agents caught sight of you." It rasped while slowly advancing into the room. It stalked over to the place where its masked followers were holding Sera down.

Leaning over, it brought its face close to hers. Close enough that she could smell the strange, sickly-sweet scent of its breath and the gut-churning sound of worms writhing amongst themselves. "We've been hunting you for fifteen years, little Oracle. Your mother didn't survive long enough to accomplish our goals, so hopefully you are made of sterner stuff."

It stood back up again with a hollow laugh, "Then again, now that we have you, it should be easy to make more."

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With a sigh that was almost reminiscent of satisfaction, the Death Knight finally collapsed. Although she'd proven dangerous when he fought her alone, with the assistance of the blonde haired woman called Cariel, Brenden was able to bring her down in short order.

While the undead warrior had proven fully capable of defending herself from both attackers, something about the golden aura which surrounded Cariel had seemed to weaken her every time they exchanged blows.

The skill wasn't something he'd ever seen before, but he guessed it could be categorized as some kind of Divine Magic. Eventually, the Death Knight had no longer been able to keep up, and was dealt a lethal blow from Brenden's sword.

"Alight! That was great as a warm up fight." The blonde haired warrior exclaimed, then cocked her head to one side and stared off into the distance.

"What? What's the matter?" Julia asked while coming up to stand beside her.

"Hm...It feels like one of the undead is getting stronger...or just getting serious? Maybe? Anyway, I think I need to go over there now."

"Huh?" The cat beastman asked while glancing at Brenden. "After all that, you just want to leave? Weren't we here as part of your mission? What was the point of coming to this part of the battlefield?"

"Wasn't it to fight strong enemies?" Cariel replied with a matter of fact tone that suggested Julia was crazy for thinking otherwise. She twitched and looked back at the battlefield again, this time staring at a strange black cloud that had formed while they were talking. "Whoops. Looks like I need to go now."

With that, she simply started running, not bothering to check to see if her companion was following. Julia, for her part stared after her for a few moments, raised her hands as if she was imagining throttling something, and then sighed. "Hah...that idiot." She glanced over at Brenden and pointed at him. "If I survive this, I want to meet with your friend. He's got a few things to answer for."

Not waiting for an answer she took off after Cariel while yelling over her shoulder, "You better not try to get away."

[Well, whatever. I guess I'll just deal with it once the battle's over.] He thought to himself before looking over at his followers. They'd already finished off the remaining undead in the area, and were now clear to move on.

Fang, who'd naturally fallen into the position of his second in command, walked over. "What's the plan, Boss? We still trying to meet up with the folks in the fort? Seems like their a little occupied at the moment."

Although their side was quiet, Brenden could still hear the sounds of combat raging to the north and west. Judging from the conspicuous lack of a large flying reptile, he figured that Mike was operating in another sector.

"We need an accurate picture of what's going on, and we can't do that without understanding the battle plan." He replied while walking towards the fort.

[Why am I getting a bad feeling?]

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Mike stared at the corpse for a few moments as he contemplated all the possible implications and hidden motives such an offer might entail. It was appealing on the surface.

Even when considering who the other side was, its not as if he was disinclined to fulfill the corpse's request. In all likelihood, he would have ended up fighting Kultanis anyway, and if he was as dangerous as they made out, Mike would need all the help he could get.

However, it almost seemed too convenient. Here he was, about to launch his own attack on the enemy headquarters, and all of a sudden a mysterious stranger appears to offer him assistance. A stranger, by the way, who claims to be the creation of the legendary Archlich. In exchange for simply following through with his original intent, they brought out one of the most lethal fighters Mike had ever tangled with and suggested that she be used to deliver the final blow.

It was just too smooth, too coincidental. Even his luck didn't operate like this.

[Could he have planned things up to this point? If so, what's his goal? Either way, I don't think I can trust them.] He thought before signalling Red to approach. It was time for him to get back into the thick of it.

"I decline." He answered simply, provoking a look of shock from both the corpse and the Prime Minister. Even the assassin seemed a bit surprised, albeit briefly.

"That's troubling." The shard of the Archlich murmured. "Won't you reconsider? As it stands now, you will be hard pressed to even deal with Kultanis before he completes the ritual. If you try to fight him after he succeeds, it will only lead your destruction."

The Prime Minister jumped in, "He's right. This is too big of a challenge for you. Only by working with them does Almir have a chance of survival. Quite simply, we need them."

Listening to their shock, Mike felt convinced that the he'd made the right decision. Any further protests were drowned out as Red slammed into the ground next to him, raising a cloud of dust which momentarily blinded them. Without wasting any more time, he started climbing onto the dragon's back.

Once seated, he looked back down at the trio, and yelled down to them. "I don't know what you are planning, but I cannot trust you. Fear not, though. I will take down this Skull Lord of yours and put an end to his ambitions, but I will do it on my own."