OoO( 11 )OoO
The seeress sat with her back against the wall of her masters tent. Never before had Twinblade ignored a warning from her and regretted it, so why would he start now? She knew not what ran through her sleeping masters head, but she didn't care.
All she cared about was Lyle. She knew Lyle was going to come and try to defeat Twinblade, and she hoped he would. Ever since she was found on the beach south of here, Twinblade had brought her into his camp and took care of her, at a price. She was found with her eyes cut out and half dead, so when Twinblade found her, she owed him her life. From that day forward, she became his slave, and did whatever he desired. She hated him, but knew that he was all she had left, until today. She knew that if Lyle defeated Twinblade, then she would be free. Running a hand through her white hair, she sat wondering what Lyle looked like.
OoOoO
Van arrived at the guild with the kid close behind him. As he arrived, he was greeted by Maze and the Guildmaster.
"Ah Van, just the lad I was looking for." said the guildmaster.
Van looked at the two curiously, "What's going on?" he asked.
"Well, I was wondering if you could perhaps do me a favor." said Maze. Van nodded. "Well, I have a very important friend coming today, but her progress has been halted by a group of bandits that are demanding a ridiculus toll to pass. I was wondering if you could go to Greatwood Gorge and take care of the bandits so that she may once again make her way here in peace."
"Sounds easy enough. Why don't you ask Lyle? He seems like one eager to take that job." said Van.
"Lyle is busy dealing with Twinblade. You are the only other one available, and I trust you to get the job done, thats why I haven't assigned an apprentice to this job." said Maze.
"You let Lyle go to Twinblade's camp?" asked Van. "He is going to kill them all, what were you thinking?" he shouted.
"Now Van, calm down. There is a good reason we asked Lyle to do this mission." said the guildmaster.
"I'll do the job, but just know that you have sent Twinblade to his grave." he said and walked out the door.
Maze smiled. "Damn boy, he's going to get my hopes up." he said and the guildmaster laughed. Looking down at the child Van brought in, Maze said, "You must be the new apprentice Van told us about. Well, lets get you into uniform. We can't have you running around in those rags can we?" he asked.
OoOoO
Talon woke up and stretched as the sun shone through several holes in the tent. She sat up and realized that something had covered her. Looking down, she saw herself covered with Lyle's cloak. Smiling, she stood and wrapped the cloak around her, then walked into the daylight.
Looking around, she couldn't see Lyle anywhere. "So much for much for being a watch." she said.
"Well, I'm not going to stay in the same place for the entire night. It would be too cramped." he said from behind her. "I see you've taken a liking to the cloak."
"Its comfortable. So, what do we do now?" she asked stretching again.
"Today, we head into the elites camp. After that, we only have one door between me and Twinblade. But the last door is heavily guarded and they don't allow anybody in except at Twinblade's request. So we have to find a way to distract the guards so that I can get into the gate." he said.
"Wait, you mean 'we', right?" she asked.
"You are coming in with me?" he asked curiously.
"Of course, you aren't getting all the glory for taking out Twinblade." she said flexing her arm.
Lyle smiled and faced west towards the next gate. "Well, lets get going." he said, and walked toward the elite camp. As he approached the wooden gate, a bandit stood in front of him and two archers prepared their bows incase of an attempted break-in.
"Do you have a pass into the elite camp?" asked the bandit in a raspy voice.
Lyle held up the pass and the bandit snatched it from him. "Do I qualify?" asked Lyle in a sarcastic voice.
"Yeah, you can go in. Let him through!" shouted the bandit and the wooden gates creeked open. Lyle walked through and was followed by Talon, until the bandit stopped her. "Sorry miss, but he had the pass so only he can enter."
"She's with me." said Lyle. He grabbed his katana sheathed behind him and walked up to the bandit.
"Sorry, but rules are rules. One pass, one person."
"Well, I'll tell Twinblade that when I go see him." said Lyle. The bandits face turned nervous.
"What do you mean?" asked the bandit.
"Don't you know? This is his daughter, she has come to help him with his army." said Lyle. "Show him your weapons." Talon pulled out both swords and the bandit fell backwards in terror.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know he had a daughter! Please don't tell his lordship about this, he'll kill me! Here, both of you can go through." said the bandit as he stepped aside.
"That's better. Shall we go?" asked Lyle. Talon smiled and walked through the gate, and together they marched into the elite camp.
"Twinblade doesn't have a daughter, only a son." said Talon.
"I know, but he didn't. Its what you call a bluff, diplomacy is the solution to many problems." he said knowingly.
"I see. Do you plan on fast talking Twinblade like you did so many of his guards?"
"No, he's special. I'll let my sword do the talking." he said making Talon giggle.
OoOoO
Lyle sat on one knee by a bandit fire, frustrated. He had searched most of the area and couldn't find one single source of distraction he could use. Now he sat waiting for Talon to report back with any information on the camp. He sat waiting for almost an hour before she approached him.
"Anything?" he asked.
"Yeah, there are some guys over there that said they would cause a distraction, but only for five thousand gold." she said.
"I don't have five thousand gold..." said Lyle.
"But, I have good news. Up hill over there is a guy that said I wasn't allowed up there because that was the storage for his armies weapons."
"What kind of weapons?" asked Lyle.
Talon smiled and made two fists in front of him. Then she shot her fingers out and said, "The kind that go boom. And more good news chief, Twinblade's men have captured two girls from Oakvale for Twinblade's entertainment later."
Lyle smiled and said, "Where are they?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." she said, and Lyle looked at her dejectedly. "Right across from the weapons." she said.
Lyle started laughing. "This is an absolute Godsend!" he said. After calming down, he began to draw out a plan in the dirt. "Okay, here is what we do. You wait by the main gate to Twinblade. I will take out the guard protecting the weapons and free the prisoners, then ignite the weapons. The two distractions will undoubtedly require every man available." he said.
"Okay, where do I come in?" she asked excitedly.
"You stay by the main gate until you hear the explosion of the weapons, then when most of the guards leave, you take out the rest that are left behind. I will meet you there shortly after I set up the distraction." he said. Talon smiled and nodded to him. Tossing him his cloak, she ran off like a shadow for the gate. Lyle turned around and looked up at the sky. Smiling, he said, "Thanks."
Lyle approached the bandit guard, who held up his hand. "Sorry, this is a no wandering zone. There are items here that are not to be tampered with by anybody." he said.
Lyle stepped forward. "I come with permission from Twinblade to check tonights entertainment out." he said.
Seeing the serious look on Lyle's face, the bandit caved in. "Alright, I guess it wouldn't hurt to give you a peek." he said and walked with Lyle to the cages. Lyle stopped in front of one cage and stared inside, seeing two beautiful young women inside cowering in the corner. "Nice pick, aren't they?" he asked.
Lyle stared at the two and said, "Very fine. I hear you got them from Oakvale. Anybody special that you picked?" he asked.
"Nah, some new girl who lived here a long time ago or somethin', and the daughter of some shopkeeper." said the bandit. "I'd like one of them for myself I would. Hows about we give them a test run for dancing, make sure they are set for Twinblade?"
Lyle slid his hand through the iron bars and held his hand out to a teenage girl. She wore long white pants with a blue top on, and had her white hair in pigtails. She looked at him and he saw tears running from her eyes. "You just moved to Oakvale didn't you? From your grandparents house?" he asked. The girl nodded and got to her knees, still staring at Lyle. "Tell me something? Does the name Rosie mean anything to you?" he asked.
"Yes...Rosie was my stuffed bear when I was younger." said the girl. "How do you know about her?" she asked as she wiped tears away.
Lyle smiled at her gently. "It doesn't surprise me that you don't recognize me. I was young when I lived in Oakvale as well, and I can see you've grown to be a beautiful woman Maryn." he said.
She smiled and blushed at the same time. Staring at the ground, she said, "I'm still fourteen, not a woman yet." She looked up at him again, but this time stood up and took his hand, then stared into his eyes.
"Wait, you know this girl?" asked the bandit.
The girl stared harder and finally realized who was standing before her. "Lyle..." she said, blown away at seeing him in a bandit camp.
"Lyle...wait a minute, you aren't from Twinblade, you're a hero!" shouted the man as he drew his rapier from its belt. Lyle stood smiling at Maryn, not moving to dodge the attack from the man.
"Look out!" shouted Maryn. Lyle stood not making a move until the blade was an inch from his head. Lyle ducked under the swing and spun around, elbowing the bandit in the gut making him bend double. Drawing his sword quickly, Lyle beheaded the man with one swift stroke. The head rolled and came to a stop in front of ten barrels of gunpowder. Lyle grabbed the keys from the corpse and opened the iron cage holding the prisoners.
They both ran out and Maryn hugged Lyle tightly. He smiled, "I want you two to do me a favor." he said. She looked at him and nodded. Taking his cloak off, he wrapped it around her and grabbed his katana. Handing the blade to her, he said, "I want you two to exit the bandit camp and go back to Oakvale. Tell the guards there that bandits might be coming down to the town and to be ready to fight them off."
"Wait, she might be able to get out with that cloak and sword, but what about me? If they see me then they will know something is up." said the other girl.
Lyle gave her a cat-like smile. "That's why you are going to wear his clothes over yours." he said pointing to the corpse. He had to keep himself from laughing as he saw the disgusted look on her face. "Seeing a female bandit walking around is no big attraction. When you reach the cavern, you can go ahead and get rid of the clothes."
OoOoO
Maryn and her friend walked through the bandit camp unnoticed and to the front gate. The guards stopped them and started to interrogate them.
"Where are you going?" asked the bandit.
Maryn looked at the bandit and recalled what Lyle had told her. "I am an assassin sent by Twinblade to eliminate a few of his enemies." she said.
"An assassin? You're too young to be an assassin." said the guard amused.
"Oh, am I? Who do you think killed Agrias the Paladin?" she asked him. The man thought for a second, then shrugged. "Me you twit! I was the assassin that killed her! Now are you going to let me through or do I need to force my way through?" she asked.
The bandit thought it over for a second, then decided that if she was an assassin, it wouldn't be wise to annoy her. "Alright. Open the gate!" yelled the guard and the gates swung open, allowing the two to pass.
They walked through the gate and when out of earshot, the other girl clapped excitedly. "That was amazing Maryn, I almost thought you were an assassin."
Maryn smiled. "I know, I was so scared he was going to lock us up." she said. "Pulling out the bag of powder that Lyle had given her, she placed it by the outside of the gate and began to light it.
OoOoO
Lyle grabbed the iron bars of the cage and began to pull with all his strength. He strained until the cage finally moved, then began dragging it towards the camp. He stopped when he had the cage perfectly lined up with the passage to the camp, when he saw a perfect opportunity. The passage was perfectly lined up with the door to Twinblade's headquarters. Smiling, he placed his hands at the bottom of the bars and lifted, flipping the cage on its side so the floor was facing away from the camp.
He began taking the barrels of gunpowder and setting them behind the cage. When he finished, they all stood five by four with the row closest to the cage double stacked. Climbing the barrels, he jumped on the cage, then down to the ground.
Talon stood about twenty feet from the gate, nonchalantly leaning against the wall. She stared at the sun waiting for the signal from Lyle. Suddenly, she jumped in fright as a hand grabbed her shoulder. She spun around with her blade, but stopped when she saw Lyle smiling mischeviously.
"Don't do that! You'll give me a heart attack!" she shouted.
Lyle smiled and said, "Change of plans, come with me." She followed him up the hill and showed her his plan. "I am going to light the gun powder and the force from the explosion should throw the cage down the hill with enough force to crash through the gate to Twinblade. You will wait where you were and follow the same plan as before, but wait for the cage to take out the gate first. If there are any survivors, finish them off and wait for me."
She smiled. "Good plan. That should catch the big guy off guard."
"Exactly. Now go back to your post and cross your fingers that this works, we only have one shot." he said.
"Wait..." said Talon. Lyle looked at her curiously. She walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek. "Good luck." she said, then ran back down the hill.
Lyle was dumbfounded by what Talon had done. But, he quickly shook out of his daze as yelling came to his ears. "Fire at the front gate! Bring water!" shouted a frantic bandit. Lyle looked to the east and saw a cloud of black smoke rising into the air.
Smiling, he lit a fireball and threw it at the line of gun powder leading to the barrels, instantly igniting it. As it snaked its way to the barrels, Lyle ran down the hill.
OoOoO
Maryn and her friend, now lacking bandit clothes, made it back to town and immediately reached one of the guards. As she approached, the guard looked at her and smiled.
"How can I help you miss?" he asked.
"Please, you have to get guards down to the beach cavern immediately, soon bandits are going to be coming through the cavern!" she shouted.
The guard laughed and said, "Miss, I'm sure that you are mistaken. This town hasn't had a bandit raid since three years ago. I assure you, no bandits are going to attack."
"Yes they will!" she shouted.
"Bandits have about as much chance of attacking Oakvale now as an earthquake hitting." said the guard. No sooner had he finished speaking when a shockwave ripped through the ground and blew him and Maryn off their feet. They both looked to the west and saw a gigantic black cloud come from the cliffside.
Maryn glared at the guard and yelled, "There's your earthquake! Now gather the town guards and get to the beach!"