Chapter 6 - Part 2 of 3 (Patreon)

Elsewhere in the Third Realm, Storbon was leaning against the wall of an alleyway. His cloak was pulled up against the rain in the dark of night. Lightning lit up the mercenary guild across from the alleyway.

Warm lights lit up the compound.

Four guards stood around a brazier in the shack in front of the gate. A group of mercenaries walked up to the guard hut, pounding on the door, demanding entrance.

A guard came out, pushing past the group of drunks as he opened a door in the gate.

The drunkards thanked him and stumbled through the door. One tripped on the lip of the door, the other laughed, picking him up and dragging him inside. The guard quickly closed the door and hurried back to the dry warmth of the hut.

“Anything on the walls?” Storbon asked into his sound transmission device.

“Nothing, the intelligence officer says that they just got back from a raid. Everyone is excited, most of them are off spending their spoils on booze, gambling and blowing off some steam. The ones left on guard are all huddled in the watch towers. Only two of them are really watching the area.” Yao Meng said from his perch up on one of the surrounding rooftops. “Looks like we have company.”

Storbon turned his head slowly. A carriage pulled up to the gate. Another harassed guard came out to greet the carriage. After talking to the driver the guard called out some others from the shack.

They unlocked the gate and pushed it open. The driver snapped his reins, the beasts pulled the carriage forward into the compound.

“Yuli, you’re on. Everyone standby.” Storbon pushed off from the wall and walked away from the alley slowly on an angle that would take him close to the hut.

“Time to rock and roll,” Yao Meng said.

A group of mercenaries staggered towards the gate as the guards were closing it. They had a few ladies and gentlemen with them that were all over the mercenaries that looked to make a quick escape back to their quarters with their nightly spoils.

The guards paused in opening the gate, leaving it partially open instead of having to close it and open the door again.

The group of drunks reached the guards, calling out to them and laughing as they moved between them to enter the gate. Storbon reached the shack, he pulled out his spear from his storage device.

Yuli was drawing her finger on a guard’s chest and was the first to act. She breathed out a poison, part of her Poison Body title’s abilities. Those near the guards did the same.

The poison struck the guards, causing them to stumble and then collapse to the ground.

Groups that had been walking around in the area, changed their paths and headed towards the gates.

Storbon saw groups jump up the wall in a single bound, entering the watch towers.

The drunkards righted themselves and opened the gates, allowing others in who drew silenced crossbows.

Storbon took off his cloak, dumping it in his storage ring and pulling out an armored helmet that wasn’t in the Alvan style.

His team grouped up with him, Yuli pulled on her casting cloak.

The four Close Protection Details, each sixteen people strong, grouped together and hurried off to their objectives with their silenced crossbows.

Storbon looked at the eight with him. Lucinda and Yao Meng moved to the walls. Lucinda used her beasts to watch the area, Yao Meng was with a group of sharpshooters watching everything inside and outside, providing support to the groups within.

Storbon led his group to the right, they circled an armory, and then passed a smithy, that was cooling; the smiths were all resting, since the return of the mercenaries they had been working constantly to repair and fix their gear.

They moved around the barracks where the sounds of snoring, and couples enjoying the quiet of the night could be barely heard over the heavy rainfall.

Storbon pulled everyone to a stop. He looked around the corner. He blinked through the rain, looking at the carriage that had been brought to a halt in front of the mercenaries main hall. It was a squat building of stone. Storbon checked there was no one watching the road.

“First two, go!” Storbon waved his hand.

Tian Cui flitted across the road with Jamie in tow.

Storbon waited, there was nothing, he waved the next two across, they quickly crossed the road and made it to the side of the main building.

“Yuli,” Storbon said.

Yuli pulled out a sheet and draped it over herself. The others watched the area as she cast her spells.

She pulled the sheet to the side.

“I have them boss, back right corner office. There are seven guards in the building, two large windows into the room.”

“Yuli, get entrance into those windows. Foster, you cover her. Tian Cui, Jamie, take out the mercenary leader and his Willful Institute controller. The rest of you are with me.”

Yuli and her group moved off. Storbon and his people reached a door into the building. A mana blade got them through the lock and inside.

Storbon put away his spear and pulled out his pistol. It was bright enough inside the building that the mana bullets wouldn’t stick out.

He used a life detect spell, so all of them were able to see the guards.

Two were walking through the upper halls, two were sitting in the front hallway. Three were sitting in a rear room on the first floor, playing cards.

Storbon edged down towards the group playing cards. They moved through the kitchen, opening a door into a hallway.

“Rajkovic, So-Hyon cover the hallway, Jurumba with me.”

The two others moved into the hallway, covering left and right with their pistols. Storbon got out of his crouch, his pistol up and ready to deal with anything coming out of the door.

Jurumba grabbed the door’s handle.

Storbon checked the life detect spell, nodded to Jurumba.

Jurumba opened the door. Storbon pushed through, the outlines were three people turning towards the open door.

“Jos-“

The guards words died in his throat. Storbon’s pistol scanned through the room, he fired on the occupants, blood covered the table and cards as they collapsed to the ground. Jurumba pushed in as Storbon scanned the room for anyone else that was inside the room.

“Clear!”

“Clear!”

There was a sound in the distance.

“We’ve come into contact with a mage, we dealt with them, but they got off a spell,” One of the Close Protection Detail leaders reported.

Shit.

“Got it, make sure to not get pinned down. Sharpshooters, you have them covered?”

“We have them covered. We have a route out prepared for them,” Yao Meng said.

Storbon turned, checking the position of the guards, the two on the first floor were moving towards the edge of the building and the two in the hall were standing now.

“Come on,” Storbon said to the two in the hall as he walked out of the room. They grouped up on him. He scanned the halls as he moved.

He walked out into the rear of the foyer, a floorboard squeaked under his foot.

The guards didn’t turn around completely before Storbon raised two new tombstones.

He turned, finding twin staircases leading up into the offices of the mercenary group and their leader’s private quarters.

A door opened, not in the direction of the guards watching the attack.

The driver of the carriage stood out, he was wearing full armor other than a helmet, his cloak still leaking water on the ground.

He raised a barrier at the same time he pulled out his sword and yelled.