Private Tales Muscle

[Riley]

Riley searched from her hidden position next to Arwyl. Hazels darted to the bridges. She silently counted the guards she could see, noting their weapons. She could take them out with magic easily. Press on their windpipes with the magic Zana had been helping her hoan.

"I'll go," she quickly volunteered, voice a hushed whisper.

"Me too," Thorn popped his head up. He was younger than the rest and he was eager to prove himself. Riley could fully understand that. Still, she hoped Arwyl wouldn't let him. The kid still had a lot to learn and Riley was worried his lack of experience or training would cost him.

Gaze flickered to Kaius wondering if this was how he always worried about Arwyl.

 

[Kaius]

Kaius didn't like it either, and he looked down into the watery chasm below. Climbing down and then up the other side wasn't an option. The bridges were the only way across. "We only have one shot at this.." Kaius grumbled in response to Arwyl.

He tensed as Riley volunteered, but he huffed quietly. "I.. The humans would get across easier." he frowned and glanced to Thorn with a shake of his head.

"We need you on this side with your bow, lad." he rumbled and looked to Arwyl. This was his call.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"We do. Word reaches the town and we'll never breach their walls. The slaves will go without food if they decide to hold out here against us.

"Elena is coming too," he said. "Riznak is staying to lead the charge over the bridges. If we don't take out the guards he might make it over before they can block them off.

"Thorn, you and five or six of our best shots are going to stay up here unless the wind picks up. A volley or two as Riznak starts. With luck, it won't be needed."

He silently counted the guards. They would have to travel further down the ravine to where a fallen tree crossed a narrow section. Then they would have to climb up to the cliffs above the mines.

"Kaius your choice. A mad charge across the bridges if I fuck up, or trying to climb down those cliffs without making a sound?"

 

[Riley]

Riley gave an impatient huff.

"You have an Anirian human with you. I can stroll across the bridge and say I'm an emissary. Or let me bring one of you in chains saying I have a prisoner for slave transfer." Arms crossed as she looked between them. The bringing someone in chains part would make her more comfortable than whoever it was - if his goddamned highness finally saw the light and went with her plan.

She inched back from the scene and stood under cover, getting restless.

 

[Kaius]

Kaius' head shook "I'm not risking those cliffs, if we're spotted they'll pick us off. We can have archers set up on this side.. Riley's plan might be our best shot. Three humans, take three elven prisoners. Hopefully gets us six over the bridge without being shot at. Have the others ready in case it goes tits up." he huffed and rubbed at the back of his neck with a glance at Riley, trying not to let his worry intervene in the best plan.

"Be patient. We have to be careful first and foremost. We're trying to grow in numbers not whittle them down in the process. I don't want a single casualty." he frowned, keeping his gaze fixed on her for a moment before shuffling and grouping a few others into formation.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"Take me and Kaius then as we can do the most damage without a weapon. Actually that's probably Riznak. Riz, you once beat a man to death with a slightly small man once right?"

"Yup."

"Well then, two elves an orc in shackles I guess. If the guards stay spread out and the wind keeps up I suggest we let them take us all the way to the miner's entrance," Arwyl said. He was waiting for Kaius to argue about him going over the bridge.

"Best case is if we can take everyone outside the mine without raising the alarm. I really don't want us fighting a shield wall inside that place."

If that happened then they would lose people. There was no question on the matter.

 

[Riley]

Hazels narrowed momentarily on Kaius.

He better not be goddamned coddling her.

But her attention shifted back to Arwyl and she gave a sharp nod. Securing her weapons, she approached the other humans and agreed on a plan. Kaius would never agree to have Arwyl go first so it was decided that she would lead Riz in chains across the bridge with Henry taking Arwyl and Jarroth taking Kaius. Much to the other two human's slight embarrassment.

"Trust me, you'll be glad you had a moment where the prince has to be quiet and in chains," a brief, lopsided grin across her face as Riz smirked down at her. The chains were on but not locked. Enough to fool the mine guards but no unnecessary risks.

"Ready?" Head tilted to look up at the towering orc. Riley turned back once to look at Kaius. She was just glad he wouldn't be in front either. But she kept her concern well hidden behind the determined set to her jaw. Riz nodded and Riley took the lead, stepping onto the swaying, wooden bridge.

"Greetings! I have some prisoner transfers from Vel Anir." For once in her life, Riley took on the personal of a Dreadlord as she crossed that watery and rocky chasm with all the eyes of the sentries on them.

 

[Kaius]

Kaius kept his head bowed as he was walked onto the bridge, though when he looked down into the crevasse he wished he hadn't. His mouth felt dry and he swallowed.

"Stop there!" he heard a guard call back and his gaze slowly rose toward the burly man who spoke. He'd been sat at a small table with another and both lifted their weapons and got to their feet to approach. His hand rose, and Kai's gaze drifted over the few others, each with arrows nocked and ready.

"Prisoners, eh?.." the man grinned and spat on the ground before his head tilted to one side, moving from prisoner to prisoner.. He kissed his teeth and settled a narrowed gaze on Riley in scrutiny. "What puts you in charge, how the fuck did you get this beast in chains?.." his brow arched.

"Cos she's a fuckin' witch." Kaius spat and wrestled against his restraints only to be punched in the side and told to shut up. He winced, and quieted, and the man seemed slightly more convinced, or just pleased to see an elf suffer a little.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

Arwyl had muddied his face and messed up his hair. For someone who spent all his time on the road and in fights, he did not like being in this deliberately dishevelled state.

Where Kaius played the part of pride, Arwyl kept his head bowed. His watched the guards move around them from beneath his brow.

It was the two with bows that were a problem. They kept twenty paces away from the group. Far enough that they could cry out to raise the alarm before they were silenced.

He had archers on the other side of the ravine taking aim, but with the wind there was no guarantee of a hit.

"This is a travesty," Arwyl grunted.

They had agreed two code words before they started. There was trust that any member of the band could use them and they would follow.

Travesty meant keep waiting and look for a better moment.

Betrayal mean it was time to attack.

Arwyl had chosen them. He had chosen them because he knew that Riznak would say something hilarious instead of either of those words.

"Aye, travesty you're so fucking scrawny you won't move much rock in a day. Give this one a week," said a guard.

Arwyl silently pleaded for the two archers to come closer.

 

[Riley]

They stepped off the bridge and onto the ledge of the canyon on the other side. Riley's grip tightened on Riz. She was so... angry. Angry at the glee that sparked in the guard's eyes at the suffering of Riz, Arwyl, Kaius. Angry at their pride and superiority.

She wanted to rip them all apart.

"How dare you question or speak to a Dreadlord of Vel Anir like that," Riley's voice was frigid. Calm with an underlying threat of violence as her eyes narrowed in on the guard who spoke. She knew that word would carry a lot of weight. Everyone close to Vel Anir knew not to underestimate a dreadlord and knew they were monsters.

"Take this filth off my hands."

The guards surrounded their little party now. It would not be an easy retreat back to the bridge. And if they got any closer, they might see that the chains were not locked. Riley clenched her jaw, the well of her power buzzing to be used.

Come on Arwyl.

Riz seemed to have the same impatience as her because as one of the guards stepped forward and went to grab the lead chain of the orc he frowned as he looked toward the iron. The guard opened his mouth, "What's...," Riz roared and punched the man square in the face.

"Look out, he's free!" Riley yelled and dropped Riz' chains. So much for waiting for the code word. Reaching forward, she tugged one of the archers that was pacing a ledge well above them off that ledge with a burst of telekinesis.

 

[Kaius]

Shit..

He watched the chaos ahead as Riz apparently broke free of his chains, his gaze casting upward at the archers who tried to steady their aim on the thrashing Orc without hitting one of their own, but another had drawn his weapon and had been mid stride toward the Orc's back.

Kaius slipped free of his own restraint, and moved. He gripped his chains in one hand and swung them at the guard's neck and gripped a tight hold of the other end and pulled hard against his throat. His weapon fell, and the man squirmed, but he'd hold him there as a shield, a bargaining chip in the hopes that the others would be distracted long enough by their comrade's peril that they'd hold arms.

An arrow flew at his head, though it clattered into a solid shield of thin air and fell to the ground, much to the archer's dismay, and Kaius pulled a little tighter on the guard's throat in response, causing him to flail and thrash. Kaius looked to Arwyl, awaiting command.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

Arwyl let his chains drop to the floor. Perhaps he should have picked a smaller pair of words for Riznak. Arwyl assumed the orc had simply got the code works a mixed up in his head. Instead the orc had simply become impatient.

He had to deal with the archers. Twenty paces. This was going to have to be perfect. It was going to have to be perfect and he needed a little luck on the top.

Closing his hands into fists he drew two blades of Spirit Glass out of the air. There wasn't much time. If the archers turned and ran to the mine entrance they could summon help.

Two quick steps and he launched both blades. The air shimmered as they turned end over end. Both shards of spirit glass struck home. Both archers went down, clutching at blades that were already sublimating.

"Hah!" he cried triumphantly. He raised both hands in the air right before a guard tackled him to the ground.

 

[Riley]

Riley was already moving to the guards stationed at the entrance of the mines. She and Arwyl having taken care of the archers on the ledge. Riz was knocking any out of the way that tried to charge them, snapping spears like they were toothpicks.

Her axe was in her hand and she charged, swiping a sword free from one of the guards as her axe hit strongly across the blade. Her palm pushed forward, sending that invisible energy at the man's chest, slamming him into the rockwall behind him. Another invisible push and a second guard was lifted upward, launched into the wall and bouncing off the rocky ceiling of the mines.

"She is a witch!" She heard one of them yelled.

"Cover me," she breathed to Riz and she pushed further into the mines. The first in as she left daylight behind and plunged forward, swinging her axe at the guards foolish enough not to run. She had to be careful, though. She already felt the cost of magic she'd used.

Breathing was becoming a little more labored.

 

[Kaius]

Death had always been such a pointless waste to Kaius. Elves were gifted with long lives, and so it was natural to want to take care of it a little better to ensure it's longevity. Life wasn't like that with Arwyl, and on and on it went, so nonchalantly taking the lives of human soldiers. It caused a storm in Kai's mind that would inevitably drag him under when the fight was through, and he'd be given his space to brood before moving on to the next. This time, though, there was a better reason for their attack and more to gain, a difference to be made; still, he'd try not to kill absolutely everyone if he could help it.

The guard he was holding managed to fumble for a small dagger at his hip and Kaius hissed as it was dragged across his forearm, slicing his skin open.. "Fuck this." he muttered, and with a loud crack, the man's neck was broken and he fell limp to the ground... Oh well.

He'd lifted his axe to take a charge forward as Arwyl was tackled to the ground, only to be challenged by another two. The clash of steel rang out and he blocked and parried their blows.

'Cover me'..... Did Riley really just storm into that fucking mine on her own?!

"Riz, Jarroth, go after her!" he called out as he slashed the throat of one man, however another quickly took his place. The men fought well, most Anirian's fought well, but Kaius fought with the fury of a man possessed. He had another charge at his back, though before the man could reach him, an arrow pierced through the back of his skull and through his mouth, and Kaius shot a glance across the bridge to where Thorn stood nocking another arrow.

The bodies were piling up, but the strangled cry he heard next was one of their own, and Kai's gaze fell to the blade buried in young Henry's ribs. Rage drove him, and death didn't matter any more. He'd kill every last fucking one of them if he had to.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"Fucking elves."

"Always..." grunted Arwyl as he tried to struggle. The human had a forearm jammed beneath his chin. The guard was driving forwards, dragging Arwyl's back across the rocky ground.

"...with the..." Arwyl placed his boot into the side of the man's hip. He wedged it the and used it for leverage.

"...racism."

Arwyl used his foot for leverage, driving himself upwards. Forcing himself to the side of the human's line of attack, he got his knee between them too and broke the grip. Now free, he drew his hand back and etched a piece of spirit glass out of the air.

One strike to the neck and Arwyl was showered with blood. He used his knee to roll the now limp guard away. With half his face covered in crimson he looked to Kaius. The old man was going to clear up out here. Standing slowly and gasping for breath he set after the others and was swallowed by the darkness of the mines.

It was chaos in here. Hot and dark, slaves cowering in the shadows. Hard to tell friend from foe.

 

[Riley]

Every now and then, there was the faint flicker of torchlight sputtering along the rock walls of the mines. Slumped figures in chains cowered near the walls as she ran through. With a mighty swing of her axe, she broke through some of the chains, freeing a line of mostly elven slaves.

"Go," she breathed. "To the entrance. There will be others like me who will make sure you're free. Move carefully." Three of them just stared at her, shock and unbelief coloring their faces in the little light they had. There was a scream deeper in the caves and Riley tightened her grip on her axe. But as she was about to move deeper in the tunnels, she felt a quick, sharp tug on her tunic.

Tensing, she looked down.

Nearly bone-thin. She could tell he was older in his eyes. Perhaps if he hadn't been overworked and malnourished all these years he would look at young as Arwyl. Ears drew up in a sharp, long point. Skin was sallow and he had snow-white hair. Voice cracked with fatigue as he opened his mouth.

"There be an alchemist further in," he hissed. "He'll blow the mines with errryone left."

Riz lumbered up from behind her. Riley looked to the orc. "Help him," she nodded as he scooped up the older elf. "Warn them there might be an explosion. Get everyone out."

Turning away from the orc and praying he would deliver the message right, she sprinted deeper into the cave system, following that scream.

 

[Kaius]

Three were left, and Kaius stood saturated in blood in the centre of the little circle they'd made, his chest heaving with each desperate breath as they each hesitantly waited for one of the other two to make the first move. They shared a nod, and they each lifted their swords high at once. One he could avoid, the second he buried his blade into the exposed underarm, but the third should have sliced him in two and would have had Elena not joined him just in time.

She wrenched her blade out of the man's back and kicked him sprawling forward onto the ground with the others, and cleaved the third man's skull open with a throwing axe. "Not bad old man.." she grinned at him with a glance around at the dead. Kaius couldn't look at them, and instead he rushed to Henry's side and pressed a hand over the fatal wound in his chest.

"Yer alright lad." he lied with a frown, feeling the rage in his chest burn like acid as he watched the boy struggle to breathe. He slid his dagger from his boot and the boy reached up to grip hold of his blood-soaked shirt with the last of his strength, but amidst the fear in his eyes was permission and plea. Kaius dipped his chin, settled his hand on the boy's cheek, and jarred the blade into his heart. Dark ichor sputtered from Henry's lips with his last breath, and he fell still and silent. A hand settled on Kaius' shoulder as he stared at the human boy, and his jaw clenched as he pulled the blade free and stood.

"Get him back across the bridge." he muttered to Elena. "I--"

His words were cut short by the arrival of escaping elves, and Kaius had lifted the bloody dagger in defence as he turned to them. They froze, and he lowered the blade immediately as he realised who they were. "Yer alright.." he told them with a calm nod, watching as they each stared around in shock at the sight of the dead men.

"Th-the girl, sh-she told us y-you'd help us." one of them trembled.

"Aye, Elena will see you to safety, come.." he beckoned as Elena lifted Henry's body from the ground. It was the first he'd seen any emotion other than anger on her face, and he hadn't considered how well she might have known him. His hand rested on her shoulder now and she nodded silently and turned toward the bridge. The elves followed, and Kaius looked over each of their malnourished forms under a gentle frown.

"Don't let her go to far.." a younger elf told him as he passed.. "The alchemist, he's dangerous.. She'll get herself killed.." Kaius stared at him for a second and turned to rush into the mines.

"RILEY?!.. ARWYL?!.."

 

[Arwyl Minras]

Chaos was an understatement. He took a different branch to Riley and ended up facing a confused guard. Arwyl despatched him without a thought. There were children in here, crawling out of narrow tunnels where they had been sent to dig. Their faces so covered in dirt that he could not tell them apart.

"Everyone out!" Arwyl heard a cry behind him. The deep tone of Riznak that filled the caverns.

"Why?" called out Arwyl, sprinting back up. It was hot in here. Beads of sweat rolling down his face and carrying the ash that had stuck to him.

"Riley said an explosion," Riznak grunted.

"RILEY?!.. ARWYL?!.."

"Oh fuck," went Arwyl. "Kaius down this way! Where did she go Riz?"

The orc pointed his arm down a corridor that descended deeper into the mines.

 

[Riley]

For a moment, she was caught in complete darkness until she rounded a corner. Hazel eyes flecked with gold blinked rapidly as she adjusted to the sudden, bright light. A man's manic face with a jagged scar down the right side of his face sneered at her, his arm tightening around an ashen-slave.

An older woman in chains. Though her eyes held a dull quality known to those who had suffered greatly, there was still a spark of fear there. And those eyes.

The woman's face. The angles, the hair, and the skintone beneath the layer of ash.

They all reminded Riley of an old memory of her mother.

It wasn't her other. But it was enough to make her gulp. To make her pause.

"You're too late," the alchemist rasped. "The entire mountain is coming down."

Riley slowly held up her hand. "You don't have to do this..,"

"Traitorous bitch," he spat and shoved the slave toward her and with a wave of his hands, the light in the part of the cave brightened. She didn't see where he went as she threw up a shield to catch the explosions that rocked the part of the cave where he'd just been. The slave woman looked up at Riley.

"Go!" Riley grunted, putting every ounce of her power into that shield as the explosions rattled on the other side. Blood began dripping down her nose. The slave woman picked herself up and staggered where Riley had come from.

Riley had expected the explosions from the front but not the second ones triggered from behind. Hot fire and pain lanced down her back as the mines rumbled and rocked. Hitting the ground, she pushed her shield further, trying to keep the ceiling from collapsing over the woman who had just gone that way...

No...

More pain across her back. Her leg. Large rocks thudded around her until she was enclosed in dust and blackness.

 

[Kaius]

Several slaves passed him on his way into the darkness of the mines, but Elena and the others would meet them outside. There were more pressing matters now, it seemed. Kaius followed the sound of familiar voices, Arwyl was alright, but on Riz's tongue there were words like Riley and explosion and his pulse quickened.

The further he ventured in, the darker it became, and the more his chest tightened. In the confined darkness it was easy to feel like the walls were coming in, it was easy to remember being crushed with a wall of rocks and being unable to breathe and it was way too easy to fucking panic.

He almost ran straight into Arwyl but pulled himself up in time, his eyes shifting to where Riz pointed, his ears picking up the distant sound of Riley's muffled voice over the sound of his heart thudding in his ears. He noticed the children's faces looking up at him. "Get them out." he looked to Riz, and then to the children. "You follow the big guy, don't be frightened." he told them quickly. Riz was intimidating enough to grown men, never mind children who may never have seen an orc in their lives.

"Go with them." Kaius frowned as he gripped Arwyl's shoulder tightly. "I'll go get Riley. If you don't make it out of these caves then none of it matters." he added, knowing the elf was likely to argue. He'd been about to say something else, but all thought was washed from his mind as the mountain shook around them, loosing small rocks that clacked and echoed as they cascaded down the chiselled walls.

"Fuck, GO!" he shoved at Arwyl, and followed the tunnel toward the rumble of falling rocks until he was met with a cloud of dust and a dead end, the sound of shifting rock still closing in.

"RILEY?!" The thunder of his voice might have shook free another few rocks, and he desperately started hauling boulders heavier than he had any right to lift. Panic and adrenaline drove him, and between his coughs he continued to demand a response from her.

"Fucking answer me!!"

 

[Arwyl Minras]

Arwyl watched the trees on the other side of the gorge. Birds rose from the canopy in large flocks, a strange silence had followed in the wake of the collapse. He imagined all the animals had gone quite still.

A cloud of dust rolled out of the entrance to the mines.

"Shit."

He didn't know how many people were still in there. His heart leapt into his throat at the possibility of having lost people. Riley had gone in deep, Kaius after her.

"The fuck was that?"

"I don't know Riz. What I do know is that it would be a fucking miracle if the town doesn't know we're coming by the end of the day now. I'm going back in. Carefully."

 

[Riley]

...ucking answer me.

Dust-coated brows scrunched together as his familiar voice stirred her from the blackness. Reached her beyond the ringing in her ears and her head. Fingers twitched. The only thing she could move. One digit then another. Teeth grit as she tried to move, pain and fire lancing up her back.

A shift of her leg and she bit back a scream as splintered bone barked in protest.

She took in a few shallow breaths, forcing herself to breath something then finally managed in a cracked and muffled voice.

"...here....I'm HERE!"

And for a long moment, she wished the blackness would consume her again.

 

[Kaius]

The sound of her voice caused his heart to stumble in his chest, the relief washing over him like ice-cold water. But the walls were still shuddering, other parts of the mine were collapsing and soon the main vent would too.

"Hold on! Keep talking to me!" he coughed out, his voice shuddering in panic as he continued to grab boulders and rocks, lifting and throwing, ignoring the burning in his muscles, uncaring as his nails broke and his fingers shredded until his hands were more dust and blood than skin.

Kaius wasn't one to talk to his Gods very often. He'd lost his faith in them some time ago, but now, now he spoke to them aloud, to every God by name, begging them to prove themselves, to hold up the mountain, to let him get her out, to keep her alive. "Please... I don't ask for much."

Dust stung at his eyes and lungs, but nothing other than death would drag him from the mine without her. He pulled away the rubble until finally he caught a glimpse of her arm and he reached for it as the mountain rumbled around them again..

"I've got you!"

 

[Riley]

She felt the weight that was pinning her down slowly shift. His voice closer. The amount of effort it took to even move her head, tilt her chin. Eyes squinted between the layers of dust that coated her skin. There was a tug and her body dragged along the ground like a limp straw-doll. Her leg hurt like hell though. And her back. She bit down, a series of curses tumbling from her grimace.

And then she was looking up into his face. She could barely see him, it was so dark in here. "My leg," she battled not to pass out even as she said it. "And...back," she managed, eyes squeezing closed against the jostle the pain caused.

There would be a long, slashing burn down her back from one of the alchemist's surprise explosions. It traveled from her right shoulder down to her left hip in a wicked, spidery burn. And her leg was broken near the ankle.

"The others?" Hazels dulled as she opened her eyes again. Those flecks of gold within greens and browns dim. Even though there was a warmth and strength that seeped across her bones at seeing him. Even as his face was beginning to become replaced with growing black spots.

 

[Kaius]

As he pulled her up from the rubble, he glanced over her in a quick assessment of her wounds as his arms hooked under her knees and around her back to cradle her against his chest. "I know..I know..I'm sorry. But we need to get out of this mine first.She was alive, breathing, talking, and that was enough for now. She had to hold on, and he had to hold it together if they were going to make it out of here alive in the first place.

He tried not to grip her too tightly as he turned to rush back up the mine tunnel, "The others got out. You did good. You did good. Keep talking to me, just stay awake Riley." he coughed, dodging falling bounders and the collapsing roof with every few steps, picking up the pace as much as he could as the mountain roared again.

"Arwyl?!" Kaius bellowed as he caught the foggy figure of the prince heading back into the mines. "I told you to get out! The whole thing Is comin' down, Go!!" he barked, running now as the rocky corridors crumbled and imploded behind them.