Ryland explained what he found during his scouting trip to the others that were still awake by the time he returned to camp. He could see that the group needed their rest and figured it was best to wait until the next day before coming up with a plan. The sun rose early and the rest of the group woke up to a small breakfast prepared by Kwava. The ranger couldn't fight alongside the group but did what he could to help the others.
In fact, it was a potion Kwava offered to the group that gave Ryland an idea on how best to deal with the sentries.
There wasn't telling what kind of security Saul had inside of the Gold Goblin so the group needed the element of surprise. Ryland volunteered for the task of dealing with the sentries Saul placed. Keya offered to help, and while she was rather cunning, he worked best alone. He figured that with the angles the guards in the alcove had, they weren't too much of a concern if they could approach the Gold Goblin from the right angle. That left the sentry on the front door and the one posted to watch over the back entrance.
Once again, Ryland swore an oath to conceal his identity and hid himself with a cloak. He left his hat with Keya, who followed along with the rest of the group, and made his way toward the Gold Goblin. His sword was freed from its sheath yet covered in the dark clothing he wore. Based on the lack of reactions from the few citizens outside of Riddleport early in the morning, he figured that they didn't see the weapon he had hidden.
The sentry posted at the front door certainly didn't see the sword when Ryland walked up the steps, careful to avoid detection from the guards in the alcove.
"The Gold Goblin's closed," the man warned Ryland, not thinking that he was a threat, allowing him to get close.
Without hesitation, Ryland brought his longsword out and slashed across the sentry's neck. The only reason he waited to strike was so that the sentry could finish talking; if the guards in the alcoves were listening in, they might have found it suspicious that his warning was cut short. Ryland was also careful to catch the slain guard before he collapsed onto the ground and set him down gently and out of the way of the door. Although they could break their way through the front door, Ryland felt it was best to get rid of the remaining guards. He didn't think he could get to the men in the alcove but the sentry on the backdoor would be easy given that he had Kwava's potion.
Ryland pulled the cork out of the vial and downed the clouded yellow liquid within. He grimaced at the taste and pocketed the vial. He tossed aside his cloak to cover the fallen sentry and approached the wall by the door. Ryland pressed his boot to the surface of the wall, and with a satisfied nod, lifted his other foot to the wall. Now standing sideways, he carefully walked across the wall, heading up as he wrapped around the Gold Goblin.
The potion Kwava gave him allowed its drinker to walk across any surfaces as though it was a spider. Ryland had to adjust to walking sideways and he was careful to avoid walking over a boarded window. The guards on the alcoves weren't likely to believe that an intruder was walking up to the roof, allowing for Ryland to make it to the top of the Gold Goblin without detection. He was silent in his approach toward the backdoor, careful not to alert the man crouched down.
By the time the sentry watching the back entrance realized he was in danger, it was too late. He turned around in time to see Ryland approach but wasn't quick enough to shout out an alarm before he was struck down by the intruder's sword. Ryland let his body fall down to the back alley. If there was anyone watching the back door, they might think that the attack was coming from there.
Which was exactly what the group wanted Saul and his thugs to believe.
Ryland carefully climbed down from the Gold Goblin and felt reassured when he was walking on the street once again. While he preferred walking normally, he could see the advantages of being able to climb up walls with ease. It would have to be something he looked into doing on his own one day. Without turning to the fallen body, Ryland made his way away from the Gold Goblin.
Two minutes later, he arrived at the rendezvous point decided by the group, close enough for an attack on the Gold Goblin but not to be detected. Sarek was casting a spell in preparation for battle with a translucent barrier surrounding him while Tess downed a potion, turning her skin into bark. Madia rode on top of Marlowe and Belar stood by Cassiel. Without a word, Ryland grabbed his hat from Keya and put it back on. She had taken to wearing his hat since last night as another attempt to get under his skin with Ryland having to hide his annoyance.
"It suits me better than it does you," Keya noted with a fake pout.
"Are the guards dead?" Tess asked.
Ryland nodded. "Two are. I know of a direction we can strike from the Gold Goblin without alerting the remaining ones."
"And they think we're attacking from behind, right?" Belar brought up.
' "I make no guarantees other than I did what I could," Ryland answered. "That will have to be enough."
"Let's get this over with," Sarek said with a sigh. "Saul's going to pay for setting us up."
Ryland didn't care much for revenge but it was reassuring to see that Sarek was focused on bringing down Saul. He thought that the sorcerer was likely to side with their former employer, and despite his depression that followed the ambush, he stood by with everyone else. Once the fighting started, Ryland knew that Sarek wouldn't have a chance to change his mind, meaning that the sooner they attacked, the better. Nodding toward the group, Ryland led the way back to the Gold Goblin.
With the group careful to avoid the guards in the alcove, their approach was slow, but they arrived at the entrance of the casino. From there, they were provided with cover from Saul's thugs. Ryland took a moment to drink from another potion meant to provide him protection for the coming battle. All that stood before them was a closed door. With Tess silently motioning toward it, Belar stepped forward with a grin. With the possibility of the door boarded up, they needed strength to break it down, and the dwarf was best suited for the job.
Belar kicked open the door and stormed into the Gold Goblin along with the rest of the group.
There weren't any gambling tables in the casino floor and toward the back of the room, where the back entrance was, were four brutes waiting for battle in the wrong direction. They were slow to react to the charging attackers coming from the other side and couldn't prepare to defend themselves in time. One of the men ran after the attackers only to be brought down by Keya tossing her dagger at him, piercing into his chest. Another made a mistake of thinking Belar was an easy target only for the dwarf to jump up and strike him across the head to take him out. Madia rode Marlowe into battle and cracked one of the brute's skulls with a rock from her sling. Tess and Cassiel both charged at the last man standing, ready to bring him down as well.
Ryland felt the attack was going too smoothly when he felt something strike his shoulder. If not for the potion he took before battle, an arrow would have embedded itself into his shoulder. He shook his head and looked up. In his haste to strike at the men he lured to the back door, Ryland hadn't considered the catwalk. Saul had removed the gauze curtain, giving three archers a chance to rain arrows down on any intruders. Tess gasped when an arrow bounced off her wooden skin while Sarek cried out in pain, his magical defenses not enough to protect himself from an arrow cutting across his cheek.
"Archers on the catwalk!" Ryland warned.
"I'm on it!" Sarek said with a frown, preparing his next spell.
"I'll help too!" Madia said, loading her sling.
Belar stepped over his fallen foe. "Damn it! I'm going for the stairs!"
Keya looked up with a sigh. "I really need a bow…"
Ryland knew that he needed a ranged weapon as well, but for now, he didn't need one. With the last brute having to contend with the rest of the group, Ryland made his way to the nearest wall. The spider climbing effect from Kwava's potion remained and he was able to run up the wall and toward the catwalk. The archers tried to shoot him down but his divine shield kept him safe. By the time he got into position, Sarek had blasted down one of the archers with two magical darts while Madia struck another with a rock, although it wasn't enough to take him down.
With Sarek and Madia giving him an opening, Ryland jumped from the wall over to the catwalk. When he landed on the metal platform, he swung his sword across the uninjured archer's chest, cutting him down with ease. The remaining archer backed up toward the secret entrance leading to the second floor which swung open, revealing two men ready to join battle. Hearing the scream of the final brute below being torn apart from Cassiel, Ryland took up a defensive stance. With Madia and Sarek providing him cover, he was confident he could deal with the three new intruders.
Ryland stepped out forward and cried out in pain when something sharp stabbed into his chest. He kept his eyes on the archer and knew that he didn't fire an arrow yet he felt something in his chest, missing his heart by inches. With a grimace, he looked down to see a familiar imp with his tail embedded into his chest. Ryland coughed out blood when Old Scratch pulled his stinger free from his chest. He was so focused on taking down Saul that he hadn't considered he may have lied about dealing with the imp.
Old Scratch laughed viciously until he was blasted by Sarek's arcane barrage, driving him away from Ryland. The imp flew around the edge of the catwalk, cursing in his native tongue. Ryland kept his eyes on the wounded archer, seeing him nock an arrow on his bow. Unfortunately, he was too late when a dagger flew upward and fell down onto his chest. He fell down onto the catwalk with Ryland hearing Keya clap from below.
"You're welcome, Ryland!" Keya called out.
Ryland nodded in appreciation and blocked an incoming thug's club with his sword. The man behind the brute pulled out his bow only for a stone and magical missile to strike him from below. With a curse, the archer turned to shoot down at the casino floor. Ryland thought about dealing with the man in front of him but felt the wound across his chest burn. Old Scratch was his enemy and he would die at his hand. Ryland struck at the imp, cutting across his chest, but Old Scratch took the warning and flew out of his reach. A stone thrown by Madia struck him and Old Scratch laughed madly.
"I don't think I can hurt that blasted imp!" Madia shouted up. "Fiends like him are resistant to mortal weapons, right?"
"Ryland, my dagger's magical!" Keya called out. "If you can get it back to me, I can knock that imp out of the sky!"
A plan came to Ryland's mind as he blocked another attack by the brute. "Sarek, take down the archer!"
The sorcerer blasted the archer with a small bolt of acid energy, burning through his face. With no further opposition than the enemy in front of him, Ryland hopped off of the catwalk, managing to get the bottom of his feet attached underneath the metal platform. The thug gasped in surprise, having not seen how his foe climbed up to the catwalk to begin with. With his advantage, Ryland moved past his foe before climbing up onto the catwalk and reached down to the archer that Keya killed with her dagger.
Ryland appreciated Keya wanting to help fight Old Scratch but knew that it was only by luck she managed to get the archer with her dagger. Pulling the dagger free with one hand, he threw it at Old Scratch himself in a fluid motion. Old Scratch gasped when the dagger impaled him through the chest and lost the strength to maintain flight. The imp fell down to the casino floor with a light thud. With Old Scratch dead, Ryland had fulfilled his original task when he first arrived at Riddleport.
"Show-off!" Keya taunted from below.
The remaining brute on the catwalk yelled and tried to charge at Ryland, intending to shove him off. He grabbed onto the guard rail with one hand, swinging his sword out wildly. The attack missed but it was enough to drive the thug back. Before Ryland could attack again, a stone struck the back of his opponent's head. The man groaned in pain before a dagger flew up, stabbing into his neck to end his life.
Ryland thought that perhaps there was more to Keya's tactics than luck while watching the man fall forward. There wasn't any sound of combat left from below, and given the attacks he witnessed, Ryland believed that they had won the initial battle. Saul was hiding somewhere and he would not rest until he brought the crime lord to justice. Ryland grabbed Keya's dagger and climbed down to the casino floor on the wall. He was quick to note that Belar, Tess, and Cassiel were missing.
"Where are the others?" Ryland asked, holding Keya's dagger to her by the hilt.
"They went on ahead upstairs," Sarek explained as Keya took her weapon back.
"We should catch up to them," Keya suggested, flipping her dagger and catching it with a grin.
"Of course," Ryland nodded, and after a moment of hesitation, added quickly, "Thank you for helping clear out the catwalk."
"It's no problem," Madia said with a smile. "You would have done the same for us."
"Old Scratch got you good," Keya noted, stepping up to get a closer look at his chest wound. "Can you continue?"
Ryland nodded. "Don't worry about me. We need to press on."
"Let's go," Sarek said, making his way toward the stairs.
The group made their way quickly toward the back rooms where the stairs were, looking for Belar and Tess. When they arrived at the stairs, they spotted two dead brutes, one with part of his skull caved in and the other with his neck snapped. Ryland noted grimly that the two men were Hans and Beyar. The two bouncers had decided to stick with Saul after everything and paid the price for it. He shook his head in disappointment.
The others made their way upstairs, but before Ryland could follow them, he noticed a faint trail of blood that led downstairs instead. They were expecting to catch Saul in his office but it was possible that he was expecting that. If Belar and Tess had caught him heading downstairs, they may have gone after him.
Without a word, Ryland went down the stairs to discover what happened.
A/N: A fun fact about this chapter but I made a mistake back with the magical items for Saint Casperian's Salvation. Instead of a Potion of Barkskin, it was supposed to be a Potion of Spider Climb. I have no clue how I made that mistake in writing, but seeing as how I planned this battle, I needed to come up with a Potion of Spider Climb.
Until next time.