Private Tales Something Amiss

[Kaska]

Kaska nodded in approval, counting out ten men moving throughout varies tasks. Good.

One man stepped to the side to relieve himself and she recognized him at once by the tiny member he whipped out. She crinkled her nose and looked away, swearing to send an arrow through that one by morning.

And they were forced to do nothing more than wait. And wait. And wait.

Until the coughing started, one man's throat burning as he scratched at it. Kaska perked.

A few minutes later, someone had their head in the bushes, puking. From excess drinking, of course.

Then another found themselves head first in a bush, causing a small ruckuss. "Oi, he cursed once done. Rodger you bloody idiot. Your ale is soured."

 

[Lia]

Lia watched in silence.

Misery was the intent here, to drive the bandits away from their mission. She had no doubt that they were being paid by the Lich or perhaps the Lich's Master, but no pay was worth abject misery. Not unless you really needed it anyway. Her lips thinned as another emptied the contents of his stomach.

She did not envy their fates.

It went on like that for nearly an hour. Men would vomit, scratch themselves all over, a few even called out as they began to break into hives. The poisons acted faster, faster than she had thought they would. It wasn't long before they started to yell at one another.

It wasn't much longer after that the black hooded figure appeared once more.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska watched on as the Lich spoke for a moment between the bickering men. He struck down the man accused of poisoning them all, though the exchange was lost to Kaska. It did not matter. Nine now.

Another man, who had drunk from his own freshly filled water skin, began to show signs of hallucinating. And at the bloody display of his fellow bandits death, did the stupidest thing and attacked the Lich himself.

This launched the whole camp into chaos. By the end of the exchange, four laid dead and one was badly injured, all the while bent over and convulsing against stomach pains.

The lich made quick work of ending him too.

The blood bath ended in a pained silence.

Kaska grabbed the woman's arm, a thought dawning on her, sending her into a complete panic. She shook her head at the woman, her eyes ringing like alarm bells.

Don't go in.

She tried to pull Lia back into a retreat, her fingers tight on the woman's arm.

 

[Lia]

Lia had already half way stood up when she felt Kaska's hand on her arm, head whipping back in an instant as she stopped.

The look on her face was more than clear, a contortion of anger and also confusion. Five men remained, five men and the Lich. She was confident, so confident that she could kill two of the bandits before they even realized what was happening, the other three would fight back, but they would fall quick enough.

That left only the Lich. He would strike, she was sure of that, but if Kaska could keep him busy for even a few moments Lia would be able to finish him. At least she could sever his arm, take the bracelet and then go.

It would be so easy, but the fear in Kaska's eyes, the panic...it made her stop.

The Sergeant frowned for a few seconds, glancing back towards the camp for just a moment before she slowly pulled herself down once more. She wouldn't play the fool, not now...not when it would endanger the both of them.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska began to slowly back them up, insistent and forceful. Listen to her, her gaze pleaded, not relenting until they were back to the horses. "The corpses," she explained with a curse, releasing the woman and standing to pace hard core.

"He could raise the corpses." And that was why she pulled the woman back, remembering that fact just a moment before it was too late. What was the point in reducing their numbers if the bodies remained there for the lich to summon against them.

And she was nearly certain he could summon them, the power he showed to her and the mmo of these events telling her there was nothing light about his abilities.

"We have to wait another day, we have to wait until those bodies aren't nearby." Damn fucking waiting game.

 

[Lia]

She paused for a second, staring at the bodies. "Bloody milk toads."

Lia swore quietly, her lips thinning as her fingers scrunched into a tight fist. Kaska was right of course, and it was something that she should have thought of herself. Though she knew precious little about their foe, the legend of Liches raising the undead was not at all a new one.

There were stories of ancient elven ruins entirely populated with the undead, all coming from a single Lich. She frowned slightly, and then drew herself back even further as she rocked on her heels. It was frustrating, being so close but also being so far.

"I need to learn magic." She grumbled quietly.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska shook her head, sharing the woman's frustration. "Quickly. Before our ruse may be discovered."

She turned on her heel, reaching out to drag Lia back if that's what it took. They would do this right. She didn't release the woman until they were at the horses. She mounted, and just as swiftly, took off to put distance and find them camp.

 

[Lia]

Lia followed, though in her head she was letting off a string of curses. Frustration was pushing her to the edge now. She knew that it was right to wait, knew that they had to do it, but there was something...wrong about it. The Lich could have raised the dead, but now they would get ever closer to where they were going.

Something felt off, and she wasn't sure what.

When they arrived at their destination Lia kicked over a rock, sending it half-way out of the camp before it bounced once or twice and then finally came to a stop. As soon as it did she closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath and letting her nerves settle for a few moments. "Tomorrow."

She said quietly.

The enemy would move further away, and then they would spring their attack.

Of course, little did they know that just over the horizon The Lich and his band would find their destination.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska's anger was much more vocal. "This was my fault. I fucked it up- I fucked it up again! Poison? Posion? What the hell was I thinking? I could have just knocked them out. -- Aaaargh!" She kicked at a rotting log, sending splinters of it flying.

Both girls had been minutely careless this time, though it seemed harmless once they would be able to accept their circumstances.

"I'm sorry, I'm really fucking sorry. I tried-- how could I forget that? Ah- fuck!"

 

[Lia]

"It'll be fine." Lia sounded angry, though none of that was directed at Kaska. "I forgot it too."

She could have said something, if only she remembered. The fact of the matter was though that Rangers did not fight Liches, at least not usually. They were a foe reserved for Templars or perhaps the Mages of Elbion. It was something they simply weren't used to.

A sigh escaped her. "Tomorrow."

She reiterated. Lia doubted that the Lich would expend the energy to revive the men and sustain them as walking corpses, not when they were traveling. That meant their numbers would stay low.

At least she hoped.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska huffed and puffed, taking a few minutes to calm down from her temper and nod in begrudging acceptance.

"Tomorrow day or night?" Night, the more she thought about it, but she was impatient now, her brash tendency starting to creep up without her noticing.

"We could set up a trap on the road. Fell the horses and maim the men before turning to the Lich."

 

[Lia]

"Day." It would have to be day. "Before noon."

Setting up on the road was a good idea, likely the best that either of them was going to have. There was a danger to it, one that she couldn't deny, but at this point it was the best option that they had.

"The Bandits will be tired, we'll strike quickly. Ride on ahead tonight." That would give them extra time and allow them to catch the enemy even further off guard.

Her fingers scrunched slightly.

For some reason she felt this would be their last shot.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska nodded agreement, shaking out her hands and she tried to keep herself cool. "Alright. I will approach him first." She gritted her teeth, knowing exactly what that would entail for her and hating the concept so thoroughly. "When he's .... occupied with me. Go for him. I doubt he can do more than disable one. He's powerful, but-" So dangerous. "Slash him to bits," she encouraged, a small bit of blood lust in her tone.

She grabbed her horse and mounted, more motivated than Lia had ever seen her before.

 

[Lia]

Lia perked an eyebrow, though she couldn't help but smile slightly. "Which arm is he wearing the bracelet on?"

It was an important detail, for one rather large reason; Swordsman versus mage...the mage tended to win. Generally speaking a word or pointing a finger was a whole hell of a lot more simple than swinging a sword.

However, if the Lich was occupied with Kaska, then Lia would have an opportunity to strike before the creature could even speak. She had always been fast, this would just prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt. At least that was how she played it in her mind. A small bit of motivation.

Cut off the arm, and the shock might be enough to stop his magic.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska faltered, struggling to recall. She had been a bit... occupied when she had seen it, but as she closed her eyes she forced herself to replay the scene in her head.

"...Left," she answered quietly, rubbing goosebumps in her arms as she tried and failed not to shudder. Her horse cantered back and fort in nervous energy and she focused on reigning him in to regather herself.

"Can we go?"

 

[Lia]

"Yes." Lia said simply, shifting so that the weight of her sword sat more on her shoulder.

It was more comfortable that way, and they would be riding hard for at least the next few hours so that they could get ahead of the enemy. She shifted slightly, and then pushed her horse into a fast gallop. There was still quite a bit of traveling to do, even with this plan laid out.

Despite that, the journey was fast enough, and silent.

The few words that passed between the two women were small communications about the sounds around the road or the location of small markers. Eventually though, they came to the perfect spot, a small hamlet in the wood.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska broke off then, pushing her horse around it to find a good place to keep him tucked out of sight. When she found it she whistled, calling Lia over and glancing around the moonlit clearing. She glanced up, to the limbs hanging over head, and grinned to herself.

"I have an idea." She dismounted and began to try and climb her way up, shuffling loudly in her armor as she went.

"If you can attack just right, the mage under me, I could drop and knock him off the horse. Give you your chance."

 

[Lia]

"That's not necessary." Lia said with a shake of her head.

There wasn't much that she did well in this world, but she could do this. A smile again touched her lips as she reached up and pulled one of the needles from the bun in her hair. She did the same with the other quickly, and scrunched her hair more tightly before replacing the needles.

"I can take him down while he's still mounted." The Ranger insisted. "I just need you to distract him."

She was sure of it. "I need to be on the left side though."

 

[Kaska]

Kaska paused and glanced down at the woman, her expression dropping a little. "Oh. Right." She awkwardly shimmied back down, her fun killed.

"Then IIIII..." she glanced around. "Will come at him from the right. I need a stick," she grumbled, kicking at a bush and going to scrounge for one. "No stick. Right. I'll come at him with my bow. See if I can disable a few before pointing to him, give you some breathing room to close the distance."

 

[Lia]

She glanced at Kaska, then looked down the road. "Just step out onto the road, fire an arrow...see if you can hit one of the bandits."

Lia was sure that she could do that. If Kaska was half as accurate with a bow as Lia was with a sword then it would be no problem at all.

"Or even better." The Sergeant went on. "Hit the Lich."

If it wasn't too far. "I just need ten seconds of eyes being on you."

Then everything would turn to chaos anyway.

 

[Kaska]

"I can do that,' Kaska confirmed, nodding grimly. She missed her sword greatly.

She frowned, checking the dark sky for signs of daylight. "You should sleep. I'll wake you before midmorning. With any luck they'll have discovered our hand in it and push forward without much rest."

 

[Lia]

"I will rest my eyes." She had already slept a bit, and she did not need more. At this point adrenaline was already beginning to steadily pump through her system, and she knew that if she slept now she would only wake up feeling groggy and tired.

Better to stay awake.

There were still many pieces of all of this that relied mostly on luck. They had a plan, and it was relatively simple, but it all counted on the fact that they would have time to enact all of it. Lia only hoped that she stopped any tricks the Lich would try before Kaska was effected by them.

She had no idea what sorts of Dark Magic the creature had up it's sleeve, but judging from the fear she had seen in the girls eyes before...none of them were pleasant. "I'll be over here."

Lia said, pointing towards a small patch of brush.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska nodded and left her to it, pacing out her nervous energy. She had one shot. One shot. She could do this. She had to do this. Everything hung in the balance of her just.... doing this. Her thoughts ran a million miles a minute, the wait a very hard one for her.

She stirred Lia as promised, the time drawing closer. Wordlessly, she resumed her pacing, uncharacteristically antsy. She wasn't in any rush to see that Lich again, but she would face him. She would even let him torture her. If only it all meant Lia had a chance at getting that bracelet off him.

She turned from Lia, in no mindset for words, and started to walk into the bushes that would obscure her.

 

[Lia]

Lia stretched for a few moments, drawing herself up and moving her arms behind her back for just a moment so that she felt a bit more limber. The Ranger backed herself up, and then slowly drew the sword from her back.

There was a brief pause as she inspected the blade, and then she glanced over at Kaska. "Be careful."

The words were firm, and telling. It meant that if there was going to be a danger, she wanted her partner to get out. The bracelet was not worth death, not to either of them. Adjusting the needles in her bun one more time she readied herself, flipping her sword once, and then twice.

She glanced down the road, seeing dust already rising in the air.

They would be here soon.

 

[Kaska]

Kaska crouched, bow at the ready. And they waited.



The sound of cantering hoves stirred her tired limbs to life, the woman quickly stretching them before snapping to attention. The horses soon came roaming through, the five soldiers trailing by first, the lich following up in the rear. None of them looked good for wear. All looked deeply miserable.

Kaska watched on with baited breath, counting down to herself. One. Two. Three. She shot the bandit in front of the liche clean through the kidney, a debilitating injury that did not grant him a quick death. There, path clear for Lia.

She stood up, stepping forward to draw the attention of the whole line, horses neighing in fear of the sudden scent of blood.

"You have my sword," she leveled angrily at the lich, shooting him through the eye.

"Foolish girl." His magic jumped towards her, his right hand extended and the left clutching his horses reigns to reign him in.