Thunderclap
They flowed in, all in black like Gantz knew he should have been. Black masks covered their faces, their razor-sharp scimitars gleaming in the torchlit dungeon corridor.
Praying to the gods that the three fools behind him knew what they were doing, Gantz ducked two lightning fast slices before he struck back, his borrowed knives cutting through thick cloth to tear at tendons and muscle.
The thief stayed low, working on legs and thighs, slicing tendons, parrying overhead slashes, ducking, dodging and kicking off the narrow walls now and then to grant him momentum for a flip or speedy roll.
He had no armor, practically naked. His speed and his black iron knives were his only defense now. As much as he was moving around, he still managed to keep his assailants from getting passed him. Gantz had long ago learned how to fight in tight spaces. It took a high level of coordination and precision, but since such were his hallmarks, he knew he could handle it. His knives being shorter and faster than any sword gave him another advantage as well.
The city guards were making little noise, but the dark elf attackers made absolutely none. It seemed as if Gantz wasn't even fighting living things. The blood on his knives told him otherwise, however.
Stab, parry, duck and roll, sideslip, duck and whirl, slice, stab, parry and counter. All motions became one as sweat started down the boy's brow. He was cut in a dozen places, and minor pains and aches soon began to gnaw at his stamina. That he was in excellent shape was apparent, but in such a battle, the stress of constant movement worked on the mind and body both.
How many had he killed? He did not know as he stabbed a final assassin through the short ribs. The masked elf gave no cry or grunt, but shuddered in silent throes as the boy twisted the blade and then pulled it out in a gush of warm blood. The dead attacker fell upon the pile of his predecessors, and Gantz stood, panting. He took a swallow to force down the bile. His throat was dry and his wounds burned. He bled from numerous cuts about his chest, arms and legs.
No more assassins came, and Gantz turned. Captain Marcus stood looking bewildered, a thin slash down his face, his gold helmet missing. His gold enameled breastplate was scratched in multiple places, the bare steel showing beneath. One of the other guards was slumped against the wall with a scimitar rammed through his throat. The other guard, the one who had given Gantz the knives, leaned against the captain, an ugly slash down one leg, soaking the side of his breeches in blood.
Gantz growled. "Do you believe me now, Captain?"
Marcus gave a weary nod. "They must be coming up through the waterworks beneath the dungeons. I do not understand how such foreign creatures could have learned of those passages. Barely any citizen of the White City themselves should know they exist."
Gantz gave a grunt, trying to sheath his knives before he forgot he didn't have any sheathes. He got angry with himself all over again. "Smells like a bloody traitor to me."
The captain clenched his jaw. "Yes, that would make sense."
The thief gave a deep sigh then looked back down the corridor. "I have to go. There are more of them in the castle most likely." He paused to look at the black iron knives in his hand. Already they were cracked, and the edges were chipped badly. These things had not been made for this kind of abuse. He needed his own weapons. He needed fine steel. "I have to get to my gear."
The captain agreed. "It is hard to believe you made it through this without armor, boy. It is apparent that I have underestimated you greatly."
The thief gave a huff. "Well, that's the most decent thing I've ever heard a bloody noble say about me. Anyway, sorry about your man there." He pointed a knife at the dead guard.
Marcus looked down heavily. "Orlan was a good and loyal guard, 'tis true. His wife will be devastated."
Gantz gritted his teeth. "Don't worry, these pointy-eared bastards aren't getting away with this."
Marcus nodded. "Right. You go, Light Warrior, do what you must. I will see after Griffin here, and then go to rally what is left of the Guard. I just pray to the gods that the palace isn't overrun. Regardless, good luck to you, boy, and may the Crystals protect you."
Gantz barked a mirthless laugh. "They bloody well better considering the midden they've got me into." Then he turned and leapt over the pile of corpses and was running down the dungeon corridor.
As he moved, Gantz had one priority now. He was to get back to his apartments and get his gear. Once he had that, every blasted pointy-ear in the castle would be at his mercy. He swore as much.
Moving with all speed, whipping by torches fast enough to put several out, he quickly came to the heavy ironbound wooden door. The corpses of several jailers lay beside it, and Gantz shook his head and moved passed them all. He came into a circular landing where a spiral of stone stairs wound up and down. Without hesitation, he moved up, taking stairs two at a time, his knives poised just in case he came upon more foes.
Maybe five minutes passed before he came up into a small office of dank stone. It was empty but for a wooden desk and cabinet to one side, both filled with bundles of old scrolls. A small arched wooden door across the way was open just a crack and Gantz crept up to it. He peeked through the slit and saw into one of the huge white stone corridors that made up the halls of the main part of Castle Cornelia. Many mirrored stand-lamps provided a great deal of light in the corridor and Gantz had to squint until his dark eyes adjusted to the abundance.
He gazed out as much as he could without disturbing the door and didn't see any black-clad elves anywhere. He did spot the bodies of white-and-blue liveried servants that littered the marble floors. They lay in pools of blood, a half-dozen gold-armored guards among them.
Opening the door just enough to slip through, Gantz went on cats paws up the corridor. In his fool-headed jaunt earlier he had gotten the layout of the corridors down fairly well and knew roughly where he was from the guest apartments. His appraising eye was forgotten as he moved, and he failed to appreciate the niches in the walls harboring fine jade statues or suits of bejeweled armor stood upright. He passed friezes in the walls inlaid with a plethora of precious gems, and decorative cornices gilded so heavily it seemed they might be solid gold.
Yes, all these he passed with only a cursory sweep of his dark gaze. Besides, he didn't believe the dark elves were here for loot. He felt it was more personal than that since they had bothered to send so many after him down in the dungeon where there was nothing of value. No, if the pointy-eared bastards weren't after plunder, then they were after blood. Gantz's many cuts and slashes attested to that.
Fine, blood for blood then, and Gantz stopped as he came to a cross-corridor. He crouched low and bent to look both ways down the broad hallway. Sure enough, a small patrol of lean black-clad figures was heading away from him down the right-side passage. He had been lucky. He waited until the patrol passed around a distant corner, and then ghosted across. He moved utterly silent for some time, managing to avoid another few patrols when he turned the corner that would lead him to the guest apartment's wing.
Eyes and ears poised for any hint of something approaching, Gantz suddenly rolled to the side as a blade slashed through where he had just stood. The thief gained his feet and looked all around, but saw nothing. The strange stirrings in the air had just saved his life again, and he was feeling them urgently now, though his other senses had failed to catch wind of the attack.
"Show yourself, you damned coward!" Gantz spat, and a dark laugh sounded throughout the corridor, yet seemed to have no single point of origin.
"And why should I do that, human? Would you give up such a wonderful advantage?"
Gantz grimaced. No, he damn sure wouldn't have. So this elf was somehow invisible was she?
Gantz quickly leapt forward in a roll, looking back to see another blade slice the air where he had stood.
"You have some very sharp senses for human slime."
The boy growled. "I have some very sharp knives too. I'd like to introduce you to them."
"I think not, worm. Now stay still for me."
Gantz quickly back-flipped as twin scimitars slashed through the air where he'd just knelt. He then rolled to one side as the blades came again, but moved a tad too slow as one scimitar cut an angry red line down his right shoulder blade.
The black-haired boy cringed at the new wound in his shoulder, but managed another back flip.
The voice came again. "Fine, human, be stubborn, but you are only delaying the inevitable. Eventually, a patrol of my people will come upon you and you will be trapped between us."
Gantz had already considered such a thing. Bloody magic, why couldn't he use it too? Of course, he still had a smoke bomb left in his clothes, if he hadn't been so blasted dim running about naked earlier.
The boy flipped, rolled and dodged several more times, being pushed back from where he wanted to go. No matter how sharp his senses, though, he couldn't pinpoint the location of the invisible assassin. The stirrings in the air, it seemed, were only defensive in nature, and so he lashed out with his knives many times, but earned nothing for it but contemptuous laughter from his invisible opponent.
A patrol rounded a corner soon after, right near Gantz's flank, and he dodged another attack from the invisible assassin before the five-man patrol charged him.
For the second time in his life, Gantz was actually truly worried, but readied to meet the rush nonetheless – before a crack like thunder sounded throughout the corridor.
Then a large bird of prey suddenly swooped down with a shrieking cry from the high-arched ceiling overhead, raking its talons through the dark elf patrol. With an eight-foot wingspan, and large wicked talons, the creature did plenty of damage. Again, none of the masked elves made sounds of pain, but two were slashed terribly and the rest scattered before the bird swooped off again.
Another thunderous whip-crack sounded and suddenly two huge timber wolves rounded a corner, followed by long loping panther. The dark elves turned to meet them, but the animals split and pounced from different directions. Incredibly fast, strong and savage, they did considerable damage before breaking away to circle, each of them growling ferociously.
Gantz had no idea what was going on, turning just to see a wicked scimitar flash into existence in an overhead slice. In a blink, he brought up his left hand, catching the scimitar's steel in a crack of his iron knife. The dark elf then became fully visible, a curvaceous figure all in black, her long dark hair bound behind a featureless black mask that covered her face, except for sea green eyes that blazed with hatred at the thief.
Gantz narrowed his dark gaze at her. "You can't overpower me."
The woman's eyes flashed. "Oh, I do not have to, human slime. I only need overpower your weapon. That shoddy iron has doomed you, fool."
Gantz gave her a nasty grin. "I thought I'd give you poor dupes a chance." His grin faded quickly, however, when the dark elf forced more pressure on her sword, and his iron knife suddenly shattered.
The scimitar slashed down to cut shallowly into Gant'z face, just over his left eye, but went no further. It took the boy a bit to realize that the dark elf's hand had been restrained.
He quickly backed away, wiping blood from his stinging face. The animals that had saved him earlier had managed to finish off the patrol and now sat looking at him, one of the wolves yawning deeply.
Gantz looked back to see another figure in the hall. It was a woman apparently, with a slender figure in an outfit of mixed hides, her long legs covered in knee-high boots of animal fur. She wore a mantle of what seemed bear hide as a sort of cloak about her torso, and her face was covered by a strange leather cowl that was topped by curled ram's horns. Her aqua eyes shone fiercely through eye slits, but they weren't what surprised Gantz the most. No, out of all this, it was the slits in the sides of her headdress from which two pointed ears protruded.
This strange hide-bound woman held a long woven leather whip, with wicked barbs of razor-sharp metal embedded into its frayed end. That end was wrapped about the dark elf assassin's arm, cutting into her flesh.
The dark elf hissed, her green eyes stabbing toward the fierce bluish gaze of the other woman. They both struggled for only seconds before Gantz nodded. He tossed his remaining iron knife about so that he held it by the blade, then with all his might, threw the weapon at the assassin. The knife flew with tremendous precision and force, striking the dark elf in the throat. With only a single strangled gurgle, the woman fell to her back, quickly drowning in her own blood.
Afterward, Gantz slumped to one knee, suddenly dizzy with pain. He did manage to look over, seeing the fur-bound woman flick her wrist and loosen the end of her whip about the dead dark elf. Then, with a graceful sweep of her arm, she brought the whip around, wrapping it about her upper body like a coiled serpent, the handle hanging down over one shoulder.
Gantz watched her walk up to him, swaying with an inhuman grace. "You're another bloody elf aren't you?"
The woman stopped, quickly folding her arms. "Well, that's about what I expected from a human. An accusatory tone after I had just saved your life." She paused to put her hands upon her headdress, taking it by the ram's horns and lifting it free to reveal an oval face of ivory skin, and an aquiline nose. Her large bluish eyes closed as she tossed her head, loosing a long cascade of rich green hair that tumbled down one shoulder. "But yes, you are right, human. I am an elf, an Elf of Light."
With a weary sigh, Gantz forced himself to his feet. Sure she was gorgeous, but damn was he sick of elves at the moment. "Oh happy wonder, a light elf. Well, that explains a whole lot. Oh, and just so you don't think I'm a total ingrate, I'll give you a nice shiny gil once I get my gear." He started passed her down the corridor toward the apartments, wincing with each step.
One of the big timber wolves, however, came up to block his path, suddenly growling at him with fangs bared. The panther stalked up as well before stretching its very sharp claws and leaving runnels in the white stone floor.
Gantz stopped and turned toward the woman. "Okay, I understand you want something. What is it, I have a lot to do and that wasn't the only patrol in this bloody palace."
"Don't worry about my dark kin, human. I have Sky keeping lookout, and her eyesight is unmatched."
Gantz nodded irately. Sky must be the bird. "Yes, and...?"
The elf replaced her headdress. "And I have a salve that can help close up your wounds in seconds. Of course, you'll have to grant me a proper 'thank you' first."
The very idea made Gantz rebel, but he checked himself quickly. She had indeed saved his sorry butt at a time when he really had needed saving. That he had put himself in such a position in the first place made it all the more worse. So, swallowing his pride in a particularly hard lump, the thief nodded. "Yes, I guess you did save my hide. Thank you, Miss... Beast Master... or whatever. Can I go now?"
Her blue eyes suddenly narrowed dangerously, and the animals flanking them growled. "That's Beast Mistress to you, human."
He held up his hands, quickly. "Okay, fine. Damn, you don't have to be so touchy about it."
The woman frowned, hardly satisfied, but suddenly tossed him a tiny leather tube. "That is Panacea, and will heal the cuts and bruises of your body in very little time."
He nodded. "Right... well, thanks again. See you around."
The woman shook her head, continuing to follow at his flank. "Oh, I am not leaving you yet, human. I believe you may be the one I'm looking for. You are a thief, correct?"
He glared at her over his shoulder. "That's Master Thief, little miss elf. Emphasis on Master."
The woman suddenly laughed. "Ah, I see. I've touched upon a nerve, it seems."
"Yeah, yeah, anyway, why are you looking for me? Oh wait, I know, its because I'm the bloody Chosen of the bloody Wind, am I right?"
She looked at him through her eyeholes. "It seems you are a tad bitter about your chosen role."
He laughed mirthlessly. "Bitter? I'm downright tart about it. Hellfire, I was hoping it'd turn out to be kind of fun, but that ain't been the case so bloody far." He winced at a twinge of pain in his shoulder.
"Fun? You were hoping that being at the forefront of the Dark War would be fun?"
He sighed, still focused ahead. "Yeah, well, I never said I was real smart." He suddenly stopped before a certain dark paneled door. "Okay, this one's mine. Wait out here if you have to, but I'm going in and getting my stuff. Afterward, I am going to make these bastards very unhappy."
The woman's eyes suddenly shone ferociously. "Oh, I will be only too happy to join you."