Glimpsing the Horde
Only the last vestiges of twilight could be seen dying in the west when Gantz stepped out of the massive pavilion.
The elf, Selena of the Glade, came through the flap at his side, a head taller than he, dressed as always in her strange mix of hides.
A few steps outside the tent, the thief glanced overhead at the brilliance of a million stars that glittered across the heavens. He then exchanged a silent nod with the elf before taking off at a sprint across the bailey.
Enclosed all around, the bailey was a large expanse of open ground, the pavilion in its center. During the day, it was a place where the meager garrison of troops that protected Truce practiced archery or studied combat drills in formation. Now, however, the place was rather empty except for those in the pavilion, and guards above on the wall-walks patrolling.
With his speed, it took Gantz no time at all to rush across the bailey and up one of the stone staircases to the wall-walks above. Not quite as fast, Selena stayed at his flank, no more than two or three steps behind, and they climbed swiftly. Archers moved out of the way for them as they rushed by, picking up speed until they moved like twin blurs.
Once upon the walls, the half-moon in the distance could be seen, bathing the night world in a soft ambient glow that barely concealed the sparkling of the stars across the night's ebon vault.
Gantz moved purposefully, grinning to himself as anticipation filled him. His anxiety from before faded away as the night closed in about him. Now truly in his element, he let the winds that empowered him whip about, aiding to speed him toward his destination.
It took the pair no more than a minute to reach the place where the walls intercepted the bluffs and with a single hop, Gantz kicked off a crenellation and leapt high, soaring over the land until he fell gently into a roll. He came up on a rough trail that led from the walls up into the bluffs that defined the western edge of the Painstaking Pass. It was just north of where the Grand Gate was positioned to barricade the town from aggressors.
Gantz paused here, crouching to look down into the breadth of the pass below, its half-mile expanse now empty of all human life, though the occasional scampering vole could be seen. The chirruping of crickets was the most common sound now, but simply added to the nocturnal ambiance. Here and now, there was nothing to suggest that this place would become the site of a battle in less than a day's time.
As they stopped, Selena had crouched down not far from Gantz. She had closed her eyes for a few seconds before speaking in hushed tones: "My companions are on their way, moving as discreetly as they can while keeping an eye on the advance of our enemy. It would be advantageous for us to intercept the vanguard as they move through a wide, shallow canyon about a quarter mile north of here. I will also need you to take the attention of the enemy as I call upon the Spirit Force I share between my companions to strengthen our attacks."
Gantz nodded, keeping his response equally hushed. "Righto, elfy, you take all the time you need. I've got some new skills to exercise tonight." He lifted his gloved hands and focused, seeing the black smoke quickly come roiling out of them. Oddly enough, it felt cool to the touch.
"A new power?" Selena asked cautiously, as she spotted the strange emanation.
Gantz shook his head. "A new tool, one that's supposed to give me an edge…" The thief's eyes widened as he suddenly thought of Valor's weapon summoning power. Focusing his thoughts, the thief pictured a pair of throwing daggers and the shadowy power from his hands soon coalesced into two jet-black throwing blades that were balanced more perfectly than any Gantz had ever held.
"Awesome…" Gantz breathed quietly. "Though I'm not summoning actual weapons but creating ones with my own energy!"
Selena gave a curt nod. "Fascinating, Chosen of Wind, but we don't have long to be in position. Palom and Porom will be waiting at the edge of the canyon soon. We must move!"
Gantz gave a quick nod and was soon up and running with all the speed he could muster. The silent night winds whipped around him as he ran with enough momentum to leap over sand washes and juke around stone outcrops.
Indeed, the rocky land atop the bluffs was filled with splits that created narrow ravines and small winding canyons. Gantz and Selena made quick time, until the thief slid to a stop on a ridge that looked down into rather wide, but shallow canyon. He immediately flattened himself to his stomach as he heard the sounds of baying coming from the north.
Selena knelt next to where he lay. "Palom, Porom and Rumor are nearby. I will backtrack a bit to meet them and gather our Spirit Force. Sky will keep watch overhead. I suggest you attack them here with your shadow weapons at range. From atop here, they would be hard-pressed to engage you in melee. Try to trim their numbers as much as possible while I will circle round to flank them."
Gantz grinned. "Good plan, elfy, now get to it! I'll keep them occupied."
Selena gave a sigh of irritation, but her aquamarine eyes soon hardened and she was off.
When she was gone, Gantz turned back to peer into the breadth of the shallow canyon below. The baying had grown louder, and the thief knew his foes would soon be in sight.
It wasn't long, and the worgs came into view, huge gray wolf-like monsters with howling goblin riders on their backs. The beasts loped into view, making great time down in the canyon's bottom until they hit a sand wash and halted about fifty feet off. It wasn't a large force, Gantz counted just twelve in total. Still, being able to get over the walls and down into the heart of the bailey, they would still have been able to create some havoc before they were brought down, and the loss of even one of Truce's defenders would be devastating considering how outnumbered the garrison would already be.
Currently, as two of the goblin riders seemed to be arguing in their shrill scratchy language, the thief suddenly stood up and waved his arms over his head, before whistling as loud as he could. "Hey, snotheads, got a delivery of shadowy steel for you over here! Come and get it!"
The two little blighters' heads swiveled toward Gantz where he stood upon the ridgeline, and immediately all twelve of the worgs started growling menacingly, their riders shrieking and waving their spears about wildly.
The goblin riders whipped their beasts into an instant frenzy and the worgs wasted no time darting over, growling and snarling like mad before they came up against the bluff wall, above which Gantz stood over them.
The thief frowned at the sight of monsters below as they tried to jump up to get at him, even though he was a good twenty feet out of reach. It seemed they had gone absolutely insane, some even foaming at the mouth as they snapped and snarled, forgetting they even had riders, the goblins on their backs holding on to their saddles for dear life.
Undaunted, Gantz aimed his first throwing dagger at a feral-eyed worg, before slinging it with such precision that the jet-black blade shrieked through the air, striking its target and slamming the beast down against the earth with such force that its spine snapped audibly. Its rider was crushed beneath it.
Gantz gave an impressed whistle. No normal throwing dagger could do something like that. It's like the force he threw these shadowy blades with was multiplied a hundredfold.
A wicked grin slowly spread across the thief's swarthy face. "Oh, you mangy mutts have chosen the wrong foe to bear fangs at tonight." He then took aim with his other shadow dagger, concentrating with all the will he could muster, wondering just how much power these new weapons really had.
Breathing out slowly, Gantz suddenly felt winds coalesce about him, black tendrils of smoky power that soon focused about the jet-black blade in his hand until it seemed as if he were holding a small silent whirlwind…
But the act of focusing such power had the thief suddenly teetering on the edge of the bluff as vertigo swept in. Gantz went to his knees, the snarling mass of monsters below forgotten in hazy blurs that dampened sound. It took only seconds to pass, but the thief knew instinctively that he wouldn't be able to summon another of these powerful weapons for quite awhile.
Shaking away the dizzying sensation, Gantz managed his feet again. He then re-raised the dark cyclonic dagger in his hand, feeling its sheer potential throb throughout his being. He reinforced his stance, not knowing what kind of backlash throwing this thing might entail.
He almost felt sorry for what was about to happen to his foes… almost.
Taking aim, Gantz slung the blade down…
The weapon shrieked out like a banshee before shattering among the worg pack to become a small screeching cyclone of black steel, shredding a line through mounts and riders alike, cutting a furrow through the rocky earth and flinging debris about like missiles. The creatures not caught directly in its path were flung away to slam against the ground, some killed, some only dazed.
It lasted only seconds, but Gantz shook his head. "Well I'll be bloody based on a spit..."
But it wasn't over yet. Five of the beasts managed to recover, shaking off their dizziness, their riders squealing with little goblin outrage.
At that point, however, the thief spotted Selena and her two wolves breaking from cover across the way. They were soon rushing headlong into the flank of a pair of worgs remaining from the scattered pack.
The two bounding gray wolves, Palom and Porom, suddenly gave twin howls just before they smashed into the side of one of the worgs knocking it bodily back into the other worg next to it, putting both down. The two wolves then went in, clamping their jaws about the first worg's hind legs, effectively crippling it before they converged on its goblin rider to tear the shrieking little humanoid to pieces.
The wolf pair then stood and growled at the second worg, just as the other three worgs that had been blown back darted in to join the fight.
Seeing this, Gantz unsheathed the long knives at his side and leapt from the thirty-foot cliff, gliding down to the ground, where he intended to intercept, but Selena had rushed up just behind her wolf companions. The elf's wicked leather whip was flung around with liquid-like fluidity before cracking sharply in the night to keep the attacking beasts at bay. She then continued, weaving her whip about in an intricate display that kept it crackling through the air, snapping it at each worg that tried to get close enough to harm her companions.
By then Gantz was rushing up to flank the final four worgs where they snarled viciously at the whip-wielding elf keeping them at bay.
Just an instant before Gantz could strike the nearest beast, the panther, Rumor, seemed to appear from thin air, suddenly loping at his side. The thief had no time to be shocked and went into a low slide under the worg, stabbing one knife up deeply into the worg's chest at the same time that Rumor leapt over, his claws lashing out to behead the goblin rider. The creature's ugly little head went up in a lazy loop, spraying brackish blood from its severed stump before it hit the ground and rolled to a stop.
There was a sudden standoff now, the remaining three worgs and their screeching and squealing riders against Gantz, Selena, a pair of wolves and a panther, but that was before something suddenly swooped down from above, a great eagle with an eight foot wingspan, its wicked talons suddenly grasping one of the goblin riders and carrying the shrieking little bugger off, ascending back into the sky.
Gantz used that quick little distraction to bring out one of the normal throwing daggers he had hidden about his person before flinging it with incredible precision at the nearest worg. It struck the beast directly in its left eye, the monster howling in agony, which seemed to be the signal for everyone else to attack.
The thief stayed back, using his throwing daggers until all six were spent, being embedded in the flesh of the nearest worg, killing it just in time for Rumor to dart over and behead its nasty little rider with his razor sharp claws.
Gantz then watched as Selena attacked another worg, lashing out with her whip, wrapping it about one of the beast's front legs and pulling with all her might. The worg was tenaciously strong, but was held up just long enough that it could not stop Palom and Porom from heading around to savage its hind legs.
The last uninjured worg bit down on Selena's whip in order to end the tug of war between her and its fellow beast, but the elf merely let the weapon go as all three of her animals converged on the final monster and its rider.
Gantz simply put his fists on his hips and watched as Rumor went in first, leaping over to behead this final goblin rider while Palom and Parom circled about the worg, one wolf keeping its attention, while the other rushed in to snap at its flank.
The worg snarled viciously, its eyes glowing fiercely in the night. It turned and snapped at one of the wolves, which simply leapt back as the other wolf came up to bite the monster in one flank, causing the worg to react by twisting around to snap at that wolf. This kept up until both the worg's flanks were shredded and the beast was panting in pain, barely able to move.
Selena then recovered her whip and flung it fluidly around to crack again. Apparently this was a signal for the brother and sister wolves to back off. They quickly did so, as the beast mistress swirled her woven leather whip above her as she walked up slowly to the final wounded beast. Once in position, Selena brought the whip down in a thunder crack that severed the crippled monster's head from its body…
The goblin vanguard was vanquished.
Gantz gave a sigh of relief before going to recover his throwing daggers. After he did so, one of Selena's big gray wolves suddenly leapt upon him, bowling him over and licking his face.
Under the slobbering assault Gantz could do little. "Ugh… doggy breath…" This continued until the other wolf came over and nipped at her brother. Porom yelped and got off, allowing the human to regain his feet. Gantz got up, his face a mask of disgust. "Great, wolf slobber, just what I needed." He glared at the wolves. Palom sat rather primly, seeming to nod her head apologetically for her brother while Porom just sat with his tongue lolling out, bushy tail swishing.
Selena came up, her whip now wrapped about her torso. "He seems to like you, human, though I don't know why."
Gantz had had to remove his bandana and use it as a handkerchief to clean the slobber off his face. "Ah, come on, elfy, lots of people like me. You're warming up to me too, just admit it."
The woman's aquamarine eyes held irritation through the holes of her ram-horned headdress. "Your ego doesn't require anymore stroking from me, human. I am surprised, however, that you were able to use magic. I've never seen such a tightly focused Aero before."
Gantz carefully tucked his despoiled handkerchief into a side pocket on the small leather backpack he wore strapped to his back. "Arrow? What in the realm are you talking about? I've never shot a bow in my life." He looked down at himself, checking for anymore slobber.
Selena pinched the bridge of her nose. "Yes… never mind."
Done with his inspection, Gantz suddenly realized what she had just said. "Wait, magic, I just used magic! You mean that shattering dagger cyclone thing? That was magic… like magic magic, like with mages and robes and big pointy hats kind of magic?"
The light elf sighed. "Of course it was magic, human, what else could it have been."
Gantz gave an incredulous whistle. "Well I'll be a greased weasel, real honest to gods magic. Maybe I can ask Robin about it, now that there's a chance she won't bite my bloody head off."
"Robin, your Chosen of Fire? She is a black mage is she not? Such raw elemental magic does not exist amongst my people. I hear it is even quite rare among you humans."
Gantz gave a shrug and started walking. "You'd have to ask Robin about that… or maybe Sana-Lynn. She seems to know lots of things."
"Yes, she does indeed, things I never would have expected humans to remember about my people."
Gantz gave a sly sidelong glance up at the elf. "Wow, elfy, it almost sounds like maybe you're a bit impressed with the Light Warriors, despite that were all humans."
The beast mistress gave a haughty sniff. "Not impressed, just relieved that you are not complete fools. Perhaps there is some hope for this world after all. What about your Chosen of Earth, what use does he contribute?"
Gantz sucked in a sharp breath. "Well let's see… he's annoying, uptight, overbearing, annoying, somewhat strong, arrogant, annoying, staid… oh, and did I mention how annoying he is, because that can't be overstated."
"So you find him annoying," Selena said flatly. "Anyhow, enough with this, we must move on to the second part of our mission. Sky has shown me where the bulk of the goblin army is camped. We have roughly eleven miles to cover so we had best get moving."
Gantz shrugged. "Eh, in this terrain, that'll take us what, seven or eight minutes? Of course, who knows how long it'll take to sneak through the goblin camp to get at the ogres."
Selena nodded her ram-horned head. "I can give you the layout of the camp. My eagle has seen it."
Gantz disinclined. "Nah, I gotta get the lay of the land myself or no dice. It's a thief thing."
The light elf actually smirked. "You mean a Master Thief thing, do you not?"
The young man laughed. "You see, elfy, you're getting the hang of it." He then flashed her a wicked grin. "Now… catch me if you can." And he shot off like a blur.
Gantz reached his full speed in a matter of seconds, the winds speeding him across the broken landscape as he leapt across shallow ravines and sand washes, also occasionally juking about large outcrops of stone. He left a low trail of dust in his wake, the beast mistress at one flank, unable to keep pace with him, but still fast enough to keep him in sight.
At one point, the Chosen of Wind made a prodigious leap, launching himself over a particularly large outcrop of stone, touching off lightly, before gliding down into a soft roll. In a haze of dust, he came up to his feet before a small scraggly copse of wiry trees with needle-like leaves. Through them he could see the edge of the bluffs.
The thief crouched low and went in among the trees, soon at the edge and able to look down into the pass below…
What he saw made him grimace. "Wow, what a bloody mess."
The elf knelt down beside him, also barely winded. "Yes, it is not a pretty sight. There is very little discipline or uniformity to the layout and campfires are everywhere. There are no sentries, but the sheer number of cretins milling about is disheartening."
Selena was right, the camp looked like a kicked anthill and sounded like pure cacophony. Gantz could see goblins milling about everywhere between campfires. The occasional huge troll could also be seen lumbering amongst the goblins. Each one was a large green brutish creature that was heavily muscled and always carried a huge crude weapon. They absolutely towered above the smaller greenskins, seeming to be patrolling among the ranks of the little beasts, perhaps to enforce some kind of brutish discipline.
Disheartened, Gantz shook his head. "Never seen anything like this in my life. There must be ten thousand pairs of eyes down there with no cover, no concealment, and light sources all over the place. I have never before sneaked through anything like this."
Selena pondered his words, giving a heavy nod. "Yes, it does seem truly impossible."
Gantz sighed, "Even that might be an understatement." He examined the whole mass a few seconds more before pointing out a section in the middle of chaotic encampment. "That grouping of huge tents there must be the command camp. The ogres have to be there."
Selena nodded quickly. "Yes, Sky has spotted large humanoids lounging around that part of camp, occasionally coming out to harass their underlings. There is one ratty pavilion in particular that I believe must house the overlord of this whole disgusting endeavor."
Gantz gave an uncomfortable shrug, narrowing his eyes, keeping silent for nearly a minute. "Okay, I think I see a path through to the command camp, but I will still be spotted at least twenty times just trying to get halfway there - Bloody blasted little buggers!"
Selena growled irately. "Do you truly see no other way in?"
Gantz mirrored her frustration. "There is no bloody way! I'd have to be bloody invisible to even attempt this madness!"
The beast mistress gave him a pointed look. "Invisible; you mean like the first dark elf I saved you from?"
The thief's dark eyes slowly widened. "…Yeah, exactly like that…" He slowly brought out one of his gloved hands, palm up. "…Exactly."