Belly of the Beast

"Onward you filthy curs!" Ter Adun roared, pushing his troops ever further into the breach in the ramparts. His army knew full well what happened to those that faltered, and most were more scared of Ter than of the waiting blades of the humans. So his army pressed forward, collapsing on the desperate defenders in a tidal wave of violence and steel.

Kurze leapt at one of the defenders, a conscript no older than sixteen. Far too fast for the poor kid, Kurze easily disarmed and disabled him, before knocking him to the ground. As the boy closed his eyes in fear of the kill strike, Kurze hesitated. The man next to him did not however, Tarick quickly ending the boy's life with a swift strike from his hammer.

"You can't hesitate." He said simply, no malice in his voice, just the burden of a thousand battles. "If you want your paycheck and your life." He then turned and rejoined the battle, taking down three more just like the boy with a single swing.

Kurze sighed as he looked down at the boy's corpse. Tarick was right. They were human mercenaries, deemed traitor by their people and untrustworthy at best by the Shadow army. He could not show any weakness, or Ter Adun would show him the pointy end of his sword.

So without another thought, he leapt back into the fray.

The battle had been swift and decisive. The city defenders had been hastily gathered, and there were few Shadow Crystals to help empower them. The Shadow army by contrast was well equipped and organised, and contained many creatures and horrors that caused the unprepared to flee at the sight of them. Kurze had to suppress a shudder as one of those Wraiths from the Darkwood passed by him. They were almost as scary as Ter Adun and his bear of a bodyguard, the aptly named Kairos Doombringer.

As the Shadow army began to claim the spoils of their victory; fresh meat in the case of the shadow warriors, and coin and women for the human mercenaries, Kurze began to move away from the bulk of the forces and head back toward the encampment. There was something more important that he was interested in.

Information.

Now that the Shadow army was occupied, he could complete his true task as an agent of Lance Shadowstalker, which was gaining information on the movements of the Shadow armies, unit strengths and future targets. He also carried a magical explosive device to cover his escape, or as Lance called it, "Supernova in a can." Detonating a device in the centre of the Shadow camp would do more than cover his escape; it would breed dissention in the ranks, and cast more suspicion over the other human mercenaries in the army.

The Shadow camp was far from empty, there were many troops still there, guarding the rear of the advancing army from surprise assault, plus all the support staff. So he would still have to sneak about to make it to the officer's camp. But stealth was what he was good at.

Slowly making his way past the many guards, using what shadows there were as cover, Kurze leapt over one of the hastily erected fences and hid behind a nearby pile of crates in the Officer's camp. Watching the movements of the guards Kurze quickly realised they were exceedingly bored, and with boredom came predictability. They were putting no thought into their patrol, repeating the same pattern over and over. Deftly bouncing from one cover to the next, Kurze found himself behind Ter Adun's war tent. Listening for a few moments for movement and hearing none, he lifted the back of the tent up and snuck inside.

The inside of the tent was a mess of papers, scrying artifacts, and maps. Hastily yet methodically making his way through the clutter, Kurze began identifying and committing to memory important pieces of information. There were documents highlighting an alliance with the Aldmor disciples, a tentative truce with Darkclaw's Wulven pack, and surprisingly a large number of the Braxnorian army had pledged their support. Ter Adun had been busy.

What was even more concerning were the troop numbers. Ter Adun had over one thousand mercenaries under his command, in addition to his conventional troops, which numbered over twenty thousand individual man sized Shadow beasts. This didn't include the few thousand larger beasts or "artillery" as they were referred to in the documents. Troops like Behemoths, Leviathans and the newly awakened Furrion Terrors.

With too much to remember, Kurze began to shove documents into the various pockets about his person. As a rogue, it always made sense to have lots of carry space. When he could carry no more, he placed the explosive on the ground and began preparing it. The sounds of movement interrupted him before he had a chance to activate it. Spinning around to size up the threat, Kurze's stomach turned to ice. Blocking the entire entrance stood the hulking form of Kairos.

Knowing he had no chance in a stand up fight, Kurze tossed a pair of throwing knives to try and slow the juggernaut down before attempting to retreat the way he came. The two knives simply bounced off Kairos' armour, and he steadily advanced while drawing his broadsword. Kurze lifted up the back of the tent and rolled underneath it, narrowly avoiding the swing of Kairos' sword as it sliced the back of the tent to ribbons. Running now, Kurze looked back to see Kairos stepping through the gap he'd created, before breaking into a sprint. Despite his size, Kairos moved with a measure of grace and he easily kept up with Kurze as he attempted to escape. The commotion alerted the guards and they gave chase, grateful for the action.

No time for stealth, Kurze headed for the main entrance to the Officer's camp, hoping he was going to be able to outmanoeuvre the two Minotaurs stationed there. Sidestepping left and right he managed to duck under the swings of the two beasts and make a bolt for freedom. Just as he felt he was home free, a blow to the back of his head made him crumple to the ground like a rag doll. Groggily rolling around to face his attacker, Kurze saw the helmeted head of Kairos staring at him. As the broadsword came down to decapitate Kurze, the only thought running through his mind was how Kairos could have possibly been faster than he was.

Lyra Blackrose recoiled as her mental connection to Kurze was abruptly severed by Kairos' strike. She mourned for a few seconds before turning her attention to the mental information she'd pulled from his mind in his last few moments of life. As she mentally thumbed through it, her eyes widened and she broke into a sprint.

Lance and Gunther needed to see this.