Dreadlords Overachievers

[Avery]

Shock wore off quickly as her eyes saw what beastly thing had lurked in the waters. Avery watched Kael shift and battle. She saw Marcia stab with a ferocity thst was not hesitated. Avery felt Nas leave her side to join the fray.

SOMEONE KILL THIS FUCKING THING!

Avery sucked in a breath and moved to stand. Her eyes locked on the reptilian creature, her hands already weaving her connection between them until she could feel it's slow beating heart. It was difficult to keep hold of it, her own confidence in herself making it difficult, but Avery but capable of plenty if she only applied herself.

The heart, slow but beating, grew weaker. It was with Avery's straining efforts that it seized, and suddenly went still. The nerves kept fighting, keeping the thing thrashing, but the blonde Initiate took care of that too. Within seconds, it was dead and no longer responsive.

Avery felt a wave of nausea, falling into the slime slick stone walls to steady herself.

"I need fresh air." She moaned, hoping she would not be sick in front of everyone else.

 

[Kael]

Marcia's timing was superb, taking advantage of opportunities Kael threw into motion. Naser grabbed the tail to . . . well, Kael wasn't quite sure what Nas intended to do to the creature. The beast thrashed it's tail about as Kael saw first hand the fortune teller out of control. Kael reached out a hand, grabbing the knife he'd embedded into the creature's shoulder. He pushed it forward, expecting to be thrown aside, but the beast instead slowed as the blade ripped first through muscle, then bone. Kael's offhand grapped the arm attached to the now rent shoulder and pulled, aiming to rip if off the creature. An audible snap rung through the sewer, and the creature went limp.

Or, did it go limb before the snap? It had to, Kael's blow was not a killing one. In fact, why didn't it thrash at him more? Kael took a breath and then took a look at the crew around him. He'd offer a hand to help Naser or Marcia out of the muck, should they need it.

"Status?" He yelled. "Any open wounds?" He asked, wanting to ensure none of them had a chance at picking up whatever sickness might lay int the muck. His eyes darted from initiate to initiate examining them for damage. They finally landed on Avery, and he remembered the scene on the boat. It was her, of course it was. She'd killed in seconds what the three of them had clearly struggled with. Perhaps she was the most 'Dreadlord' of them after all.

 

[Marcia]

As things went, it was fairly awkward to hang onto the hilt of a dagger protruding from the belly of a beast as it thrashed, whirled and otherwise twerked about. It was one thing to do it yourself; it was another thing to be piloting the body of another.

Undeterred, she clung on, attempting to drag the dagger further down with her comparatively meagre body weight. It was not entirely successful; in fact, it was quite possibly an abject failure as her mirror image's grip faltered and was flung from the lizard and into the water from which it had emerged with a splash seen and heard by nobody.

Weighed down by the shield, her reflection began to sink to the bottom, and as she breathed in reality, so did she in the realm of mirrors, inhaling a good two lungs of sewer water.

Which Marcia suddenly found occupying her actual lungs. What a peculiar interaction.

As Avery felled the beast with relative ease compared to the three of them attacking it like fiesty gnats, the short Initiate snapped her gaze away, cutting all connection to her drowning mirror image. She hacked, spluttering lizard soup and (moderately cleaner) sewage water.

Oh fucking hells.

The taste.

Marcia coughed and retched at the same time, and as if to answer Kael's question on status, her gag reflex kicked in, causing the girl to vomit sewage and bile in a glorious display for her peers to witness.

 

[Naser]

Whether it was the strength of Avery's magic, or the weakening of the beast through their combined efforts, Naser didn't care.

As the beast slackened in his grip, the Initiate let out a sigh of utter relief. His muscles untensing and his form slumping into the puddles of sewage. Chest rising and falling from exertion, ribs lancing pain over his side with every breath he took. "Babies."

He muttered to himself as he heard his companions wretch.

"Try growing up in the Gutters." Aniria's most toxic slum, where the tanners and butchers threw their muck and Nas had spent most of his early days.

Not that comparing a cities shit was a game anyone wanted to play.

With no small amount of effort, Nas slowly turned on his better side. Scraping against the cobbled stone and picking himself up just in time to witness Marcia vomit a combination of greens and browns. Even his face twisting in disgust as he watched her. "Better than Marshall Marci."

He said, though there was no amusement in his voice.

"Fucking hell." Nas flickered a gaze towards the dead creature on the ground. Noticing for the first time it was larger than any such beast had a right to be. "That water here must have...some effect on this thing."

The Initiate reasoned, though talking more to himself than the vomit brigade.

 

[Avery]

"Please... shut... your... mouth..." Avery slumped against the stone, not caring her dress was now sitting on the grime of the stone floor. Her eyes were fixed on Naser with an annoyance she didn't want to show in case it flared his ego.

Her eyes fell on Marcia, quickly diverting her gaze once she saw the girl bringing up the contents of her stomach. Although her eyes never made it to Kael, for Nas was right. That beast was larger than anything she imagined capable of being in those waters.

"We should keep moving. Already lost some time with this thing..." Bravely, Avery went to stand and with a grimace that was hard to miss, wiped her grimy hands on the skirts of her dress. It was already ruined, but it meant she would have to steal another one to keep blending in as much as she could here in this city.

 

[Kael]

Kael turned his head, averting eyes from the vomiting Marcia. If Nas or Avery were paying good attention they might have seen a slight hint of red coat his cheeks, but only for a moment. The other two initiates seemed worse for wear, but not dripping blood. Kael went over to the body of the lizard and pulled out his knife, then Marcia’s, wiping each with a piece of cloth pulled from his pocket. As he examined the body Naser‘s point was reinforced.

This creature was far larger than should have grown in these sewers. Maybe the seaweed had something to do with it. Maybe there was an even larger lizard deeper in the sewers, and killing it would get rid of the-, no, that was novel Kael had read. A tale of a place long ago, in a place far, far away. Kael dismissed the thought from his mind and went over to Marcia, handing her the dagger her mirror self had desperately been hanging on to just a moment ago.

“Avery’s right. We need to find a way to surface on the chance this thing’s not alone.” Kael said, then started to look upwards. As his neck flexed upwards he felt pain shoot through his spine. With the adrenaline of the fight gone he was keenly aware of his bruised back. A parting gift from their mutated friend.

The Doge’s personal guard had to be easier to deal with than this, right?

 

[Marcia]

Even when he wasn't trying, Initiate Naser was extremely unhelpful. He pointed out that this was not just any sewer lizard but one of unusual size, likely due to the tainted water it called home—the same tainted water she had just inhaled and was currently expelling with force.

"...fan-fucking-tastic," she remarked before snorting all the shit from the back of her throat and spitting it out as if it would vanquish the taste of sewage.

Getting up from her crouch, she agreed with the consensus of moving on with a stiff grunt and marched off in the direction they had been heading before their minor interruption with her summoned light in tow. As she walked, her face well-equipped with a distasteful grimace, the girl readjusted her shield, using the strapping to affix it again to her back.

Every once in a while, Marcia swilled the saliva in her mouth and spat it out ahead of her in the pursuit of getting that taste out of her mouth (and not contracting giant lizard-itus).

 

[Naser]

Nas didn't offer a word of agreement, but simply fell in line with the others as they made their way further into the sewer. His eyes flickered back and forth, iris and pupil gone as he used his magics to try and stem another attack.

As they walked, he pulled a small flask from his coat. His steps quickening for just a moment as he silently shoved the silver container into Marcia's hands.

Around them the sewer began to change once again. This time adding pipes that seemed to be the source of the 'cleaner' water. Dozens of inlets appearing and flowing into the larger gullet that ran besides their feet. Insects scurried along the drains, each far larger than they should have been.

"There's a ladder up ahead." The fortune teller called to the others, stopping for a brief moment.

"Think it leads to a dungeon." His head turned up, watching the small trapdoor above. "There's someone passing by now."

Nas said, watching a future where Marcia went first and encountered the guard. Holding his hand up to stall the others before he finally waved them forward, the soldier passing by.

 

[Avery]

Avery had been the first to move into the dimly lit shadows before them, but as Naser spoke, alerting of a presence of someone up there, she paused. She had the power to keep wielding, but Avery hesitated as anxiety caused her heart to race. Using her magic always made her feel wrong, but using it... Kress, it felt good.

But Avery did not want Nas to keep pulling her away from being discovered like he had twice now.

Summoning some confidence, she set her foot on the lowest run of the ladder and began to climb. "I'll go first. Anyone sees me, I can put them to sleep in seconds." It was time to put her talents to use.

The blonde Initiate disappeared up top.

After a few seconds, she murmured: "All clear."

 

[Kael]

As the crew came to a ladder Kael realized he still held the form of Urg Lothkar. He extended out a hand and looked at the green skin for a second before letting out a breath. He would miss the green. Kael’s arm shrank down to a thin, spindly wing. Kael took the shape of one of the giant insects they’d found in the sewers, a dragonfly-like creature the size of a kitten. Kael flew up the access behind Avery, making his way into the dungeon above without taking up ladder access.

As he reached the dungeon floor he returned to human he noticed the room was filled with similar creatures. Glass preserved giant insects, fish, even eggs. A thought crossed his mind.

“Are they taking these things out of the sewer or dropping them in?” Kael said aloud, letting the thought escape his head. On one hand, this had nothing to do with the mission. On the other, if they were intentionally breeding these beasts? Well, it was certainly something to report when they got home.

 

[Marcia]

Marcia almost held back the look of disdain she shot at Naser as she snatched the flask from his hands and used it to wash the taste out of her mouth. On the one hand, bringing alcohol on a mission, fucking really? On the other hand, the firewater she swilled around her mouth was much preferable to the pungent notes of sewer waste and the essence of larger-than-average lizards.

Which is why she wordlessly shoved the flask back into his hands without chastising him, which from her, was restrained.

At least it gave Avery a moment to find a modicum of confidence.

Following the others up the ladder, she was greeted by the mutant menagerie in waiting. While perfectly valid, Kael's question was ultimately beyond their mission's scope. They were here to take out the Doge, not solve the mystery of lizards of unusual size.

"Breeding an army, maybe," she replied softly, pulling out her dagger in preparation for both scouting and trouble in the event that Mystic Meg failed them. "Not our concern."

Absolutely worth reporting or setting on fire on the way out.

However, her blinkered focus faltered in realising that she wasn't the one with the map. The girl's frown (her natural state of being) deepened, and she looked to the three of them impatiently.

"Which way do we go?"

 

[Naser]

Naser had memorized the map.

That sort of thing wasn't expected of him, and he would never volunteer the information out loud, but the 'Robber had taught him well. Nas had stolen from the nobility at a young age, small even back then, he'd always managed to wriggle into the manors.

Learning floor plans had always been important. "Up and to the left."

The Initiate volunteered, though not as if ordering anyone about. He didn't care after all.

Most of them would simply assume that he was using his magic, and that was just fine with him. Naser didn't care to stand out as remarkable on any mission. Even if he couldn't help but wonder what all these animals were all about.

An Army? Or perhaps mutations from the plants they grew here?

Nas had no idea which theory would prove true, but as they began to ascend through the palace they found more oddities. Quickly slipping through the halls and avoiding security, only to end up on the middle floors of the vast complex.

As the heavy set of double doors was gently closed behind them, the Initiate found themselves slowly stalking through what appeared to be a museum. Blades, armors, and dozens of different weapons lining the walls and standing proudly on display.

 

[Avery]

"This looks like an armoury of sorts..." Avery said in a low voice, taking it all in. "Those are Kaliti made!" She pointed at the display before them, only rope around the blades displayed on velvet cushions separating them.

All around, blades throughout history and regions were displayed. She could name all of them if they had the time, but there was no need to show her knowledge and listening in class was not all for naught.

"You don't suppose this is... trophies from battles, do you?" Avery neared the Kaliti blades, circling to find a placard. "Liberated from the prisoners from Lazular ."

 

[Kael]

Kael followed the sarcastic seer through the complex, letting him take point. His primitive map was only from the literal birds eye view as he flew over, and he had less idea than Nas how to navigate on the inside. Based on the sheer size of the building they traveled through he had a pretty good idea of where they were in the city. Not far from the Doge’s official dwellings. In fact, it was reasonable for the Doge to have business here.

Kael’s eyes floated from place to place as they entered what appeared to be a museum. As a goblin, this felt the place to put a trap. A weapon that could float and swing itself or a magic spell to alert a patrol when something was touched.

“Or it could be well maintained spoils from a war no one alive remembers.” Kael responded. “Marcia’s right. Not our mission.” Kael continued to glance around from piece to piece. Space to space.

“Anyone see a window? Get an external view of where we are?”

 

[Marcia]

Were they on a fact-finding mission, the quartet were set to return home with a treasure trove of information on their enemies. Frustratingly, however, they were not.

A veritable hatching ground of beasts and an impressive armoury built on plinths of victory, for as interesting as they were, were not the Doge. The girl pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration but managed to keep from making any great verbal assault.

Who knows how long they could be aimlessly wandering this place in search of their target?

"I'm going to scout ahead," she muttered, removing her dagger and laying the flat of the blade in her other palm. "Don't touch anything," Marcia was sure to add, directly staring at Naser to let him know that she specifically meant him, "I fucking mean it."

Casting her oak gaze downwards, she angled the blade to catch her reflection and moved, her mirrored self free to scout out the central palace without detection. It would be a good test to see how far the tether would stretch, and hopefully, she would get their bearings.

 

[Naser]

The Initiate wasn't entirely sure if this was an armory, it didn't look it to him. The blades here were all too pretty and on display. "Altera doesn't do battle, I thought."

He mused to himself, but didn't really care for the responses.

Instead he found himself enthralled by one blade in particular. Unlike the others it wasn't an ornate or pretty thing, but plain. The edge of it's blade was keen and sharp, but the metal looked like little more than simple steel.

The entire thing looked simple, as though it didn't belong there.

His head snapped up as he heard his companion speak, eyes locking with Marcia as she stared and warned him in particular. A hand coming up to quickly offer Marcia a salute.

Though, the moment she turned away and her reflection stepped away, Nas' focus was already returned to the blade. As his companion rushed into the outer halls and moved along the reflective surfaces of the palace she would find their path forward. The hallway split three ways, one going to a stairwell that ascended to a thick door on the top floor of the Palace.

Beyond that lay another hall, three separate rooms, and then the Doge's own suite.

By the time Marcia returned, the three other Initiates were all standing by the door waiting. "Oh good."

He said after she announced their path, his eyes flickering to white as he peered beyond the door.

"No one coming." The Initiate claimed, now almost eager to get on with it for some reason. His steps echoing through the door. The Initiates never noticing several of the statues beginning to move after they left the room. "Let's go."

 

[Avery]

Avery glanced between them all, biting down on her lip that gave away her worry. If it weren't for her being brought up from a young age at the Academy or the display of her own magical abilities, one would wonder how she came to be here. It appeared that she had no interest in becoming a Dreadlord, but Avery never expressed any intentions to go into exile.

She liked the purpose her role in Vel Anir gave her.

She liked to be useful.

The first to move, advancing towards the stairwell, Avery weaved and wielded her magic into a steady control. She waited to sense heartbeats beyond their small group, to feel the connection of bodies moving. The heart was always the first thing to give away a presence, and usually by the time she neared them, Avery had such a hold on their hearts that she could control what would happened next.

A guard had been about to step down into the stairwell, but Avery had motioned for the group to stop to hide the sounds of their footsteps. Lying in wait, her fists closed and drew together to sink her connection with the organ. Quickly, and with visible tension, she pulled her connected fists apart and watched the Guard sink and clattered against the steps.

"He's unconscious." She whispered, looking back at the others.

 

[Kael]

While the crew went forward, scouting ahead through mirrors, looking around corners for heartbeats, or simply seeing into the future, Kael decided it was best if he held the rear. Dropping back he kept eyes and ears open, eager to find any inkling of trouble. As the crew stopped at Avery 's motion, Kael heard footsteps in the distance behind them. After Avery said the guard was down Kael left the group and headed backwards. He rounded a corner to find a trio of statues walking toward them, bearing some of the weapons last seen at the museum.

"Ftagn." Kael cursed under his breath. He couldn't remember the last time he used his own tongue while wearing human form, but out the words came. Kael didn't have the right skill to deal with hard stone. Neither did Nas or Marcia from what he remembered of the lizard beast. Avery killed it quickly, but Kael had no idea how she did it, and if it would translate to magically imbued rocks.

Glancing around the halls he casted a simple college magic spell, pulling a banner off the walls and launching at the trio of statues. If he was more focused on such things he might have wrapped it around their legs, but the small distraction was what his skill could do reliably in the moment. He rushed back to the group holding over the razors edge of speed and announcing one's presence. A skill all of these initiates had trained, but was never truly perfected.

"Golems pursuing behind. We need to execute and get out now."

 

[Marcia]

She had pushed herself scouting ahead, the tether between Marcia and her reflection growing thin and taut the further apart they were. The girl felt it at the edges of her vision that blurred, the colours the world seen through a second pair of eyes draining away to nothing.

There was a hollow sensation at her core, a void that grew with every step further away from her anchored position.

Thankfully, the Initiate persisted, having mapped out their path to the Doge's suite before pulling her gaze from the dagger's surface as her reflection snapped back into her from afar with a sudden gasp, like the snap of a rubber band pulled taut.

With her directions, they pushed on, Avery leading the charge, taking care of the front, and quickly dispatching a guard. Kael, on the other hand, peeled back at their rear, only to discover...

...ah fuck.

"Then go! Get it done!" Marcia hissed, turning on her heel and rushing towards where the golems were. "If shit goes south, I'll meet you all at the muster point." She had no illusions that she would fight or vanquish them, only that she was small, swift and slippery enough to keep them occupied while the others handled the Doge.

 

[Naser]

Oh fuck. Nas swore to himself, gaze flickering back down the hallway towards Marcia. Lips pressing to a thin line.

"Fifteen minutes!" He called out suddenly. Something sparking within him, memories of a time before the Academy. When getting the others in-line meant surviving, meant having a meal that night. "Avery, Kael, come on!"

Nas demanded, his voice steel as he directed them up the stairs and towards the Doge's room. "Fifteen minutes."

He called to Marcia. That was when they would meet at the Muster point.

Quickly he darted up the the stairs, a strange dagger-life sword sliiding into his hand as he drew himself up behind his fellow Initiate's. They moved as a trio together through the halls, heading directly towards the doge's palace.

Killing him would be swift, and election would be sure to follow. Briefly he wondered if the other two would be brave enough to do what needed to be done. Putting a guard to sleep was one thing, but cutting a man's throat in his sleep?

That was another business.

As he opened the door, Nas knew he would volunteer if he had too.

If only in penance for what he'd done.

 

[Avery]

She had to ignore the doubt creeping in.

They were weapons, all of them. Anirian made. They were chosen for this because... they could carry out orders.

But Avery was well aware of the task ahead of them. What if she just stopped his heart? Made the Doge's organs collapse and give him a more... natural death? That would work if they hadn't announced their present within these halls.

Murder in cold blood then... a message to be sent to the people.

"I'll hold down the Doge. Make sure he cannot stop what must happen." She murmured between the three of them. Avery made sure not to mention killing, to put that word out there lest Kael, or worse, Nas asks of her if she ever took a life before.

 

[Kael]

While Naser opened the door and Avery prepared to ‘hold down’ the Doge, the business of the kill itself naturally came to Kael. He didn’t know how much experience the other two had in the spilling of blood. He suspected Nas had at some point, but knew little of Avery. In another life Kael had killed in tribal disputes, or fending off ‘adventurers’ who thought his tribe too close to human settlements. Yet he had not killed in the intimate way that could only be performed by the tip of a knife. Kael did not hesitate, and pulled out a dagger made specifically for the occasion. He had been given specific instructions on the how of the execution.

As Nas opened the door and Avery held off interference Kael charged. The dagger plunged into the Doge’s heart, and the woman beside him screamed horrifically as Kael’s hand released the knife, left in the Doge’s body. Its pommel was inscribed with the unmistakable emblem of an orange sun. The symbol the radiant church.

“The Church will no longer tolerate Alteran independence. Remember this.” Kael said to the woman, sobbing at the Doge’s side. “Brother and Sister, we must away.”