LOCATION: THE CRUCIBLE, 100TH FLOOR
PLANET: LAPIS DIVINUS, ORION LUMINARY INSTITUTE
YEAR: ? | DAY: ?? | TIME: ??
As soon as the two mercenary companies confirmed their payments and signed their contracts, they immediately set off to hunt down the members of the third.
Kaela had told them to make an attempt to reduce casualties, but who was she kidding? These were soldiers of fortune who had taken up arms against Caerwyn. She didn’t care if every one of them resisted.
What she did care about, however, was word getting to Velthorn inside the castle. So as soon as the mercenary companies began their operation, it was time for Kaela’s group to commence their own: storm the castle.
Caerwyn Castle was famously well fortified, and the Velthorns had done well by holing themselves up inside those fortifications.
Fortunately, Kaela had a number of assets on her side.
First, she had nine elite Scouts from Seraph’s Hold. They were among the most skilled and, when needed, dirty fighters the kingdom had to offer.
There was a reason King Alaric and Prince Lucien felt comfortable knowing they would be watching Kaela’s back. In addition, the Scouts’ stealthy infiltration toolbox made them nearly undetectable until the moment they wanted their presence to be known.
Second, she had Rowan. And Rowan had a cadre of more than thirty extremely indignant royal guard members. They had been tortured and imprisoned themselves, and they had been forced to watch many of their brethren put to death at the direction of Velthorn.
But finally, Kaela had herself. Legends of the fierce Lioness had reached far and wide, and Kaela was certain that Velthorn knew of her exploits.
She also had a new method of infiltration she could utilize. The banshees said they had granted her free passage through the aether realm.
That had given her some ideas.
Kaela, the Scouts, and Rowan’s teams all marshaled in a field far to the west of the castle grounds.
A high stone wall surrounded the perimeter, and an enormous steel-reinforced wooden gate was set into the center of the wall.
Three guards paced back and forth, each with a seven-foot long halberd leaning against his shoulder. They were chatting idly and appeared bored.
Tall grasslands blew to and fro in the late evening breeze. It had already been a long day, but the night brought with it far more advantages than waiting till morning would.
Kaela used Phantom Step and phased into the aether. Dozens of banshees floated nearby. All turned toward her, and Kaela stopped to give them a nod.
The familiar voice clawed its words into her mind again.
“You may pass. Do not forget to feed us.”
Kaela bowed deeper this time.
“You will have your fill today,” she said.
Then she turned and ran toward the gate. Exactly as the banshee had said last time, the gray aether zone no longer impeded her movements. Where it had once felt like pushing through water, she was now able to run at full speed.
When she arrived at the gates, she began looking for a way to climb over them.
“You may pass…”
The voice sounded again in her mind.
She turned, but no banshees were in sight.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
Did they mean…
Kaela pushed her hand against the gate. At first it was a solid surface, but after a moment, the gate gave way and her hand entered it.
It made her shudder. Kaela remembered her second mother Vanessa telling her about a Level 50 Rogue skill that allowed her to walk the spectral realm and pass through solid objects.
“I guess this is similar,” she muttered as she wriggled her way through the three-inch thick wooden gate and out the other side. The going was slow, but eventually she made it past the barrier.
She looked around and was surprised to see no guards on the inside. Anywhere.
Their personnel must be stretched thin.
Not wanting to overstay her welcome, she phased back to reality and quietly climbed the rampart to give the signal.
Three of the Scouts had formed parties of twelve and each cast Greater Shadow Cloak. The groups ran toward the gate, dropped the cloaking and dispatched the three guards quickly.
During the skirmish, Kaela had leapt down and undid the latches on the gate, pulling it open just enough for the group to enter. She latched it again once everyone was inside.
This was the part where things would get interesting.
Velthorn hadn’t achieved this coup by being a fool, and he had guard dogs roaming freely in the grasses and gardens inside the perimeter of the palace walls.
The Scouts’ stealth would not save them from starving dogs with their heightened senses of smell, and it was now a race to get inside the castle before any were detected.
Kaela had made it clear that no dogs were to be harmed during this operation, and the tone of her voice made it clear there would be no exceptions.
“Go!” she said, and the groups fanned out, running for the three different entrances to the castle.
As she watched the others slip inside, she heard a growl behind her.
Kaela turned to see a large hunting hound baring its teeth and foaming at the mouth.
She phased into the aether and ran for the door, not ending Phantom Step until she was inside the castle.
She made a mental note to feed the dogs as soon as all of this was over. Starving dogs just to keep them on edge was cruel, and added to the list of reasons the Velthorn family needed to go down.
The room she was in appeared to be a dressing room for the castle’s servants. There were chef’s aprons and maid uniforms hung on hooks along a wall.
Kaela stepped into the corridor and listened.
At first there was nothing but the distant crackle of torchlight and the faint murmur of voices somewhere deeper in the castle.
Then she heard a shout.
Followed by the clash of steel.
She knew one team was to secure the first floor, one the lower levels and barracks below, and a third the grand entrance.
That left the throne room to Kaela herself.
Rowan said he would meet her outside, securing the area first.
She followed the noise down the hallway and found the grand entrance hall.
As was the case in the throne room, tall columns rose from the marble floors to the high ceiling. The Caerwyn banners that used to hang on either side of the great hall had been replaced with new ones bearing the Velthorn family crest.
Kaela growled under her breath as she rushed up the wide staircase.
She ran into four guards along the way. The first laughed at a lone, unarmed woman charging at him.
Until his head was separated from his shoulders, landing with a wet thud on the velvet stairs and rolling slowly down to the main floor.
The second guard saw that, and got in a single slash of his sword before he joined his colleague on the floor, bleeding out.
The third landed a strike on Kaela, slicing her face from her cheekbone down to her neck. She took him down quickly, barely even slowing down her run as she did.
The fourth was a towering man with a battle axe. He just stood there laughing.
“You think you can beat me, little girl? Do you even know who—”
Kaela kicked him in the groin, and as he doubled over, she grabbed his head and pulled him into the aether.
She shoved him to the ground. He was still rolling in pain as the banshees closed in.
Kaela didn’t wait around. She phased back and continued up the stairs, turning right at the top.
A well-appointed hallway greeted her. This one was familiar. Wainscoting on wooden walls.
All of the artwork had been removed and replaced with portraits of the men and women she was about to end.
She snarled as she ripped one of the frames from the wall and slammed it to the ground.
But before she could do more, she heard fighting ahead and picked up her speed again.
Boots thundered across the polished stone hallway, followed by the sound of steel striking shields and the furious roar of men who had spent weeks imagining this moment.
Rowan and two of his men were overwhelmed in the hallway just outside the audience hall.
Kaela counted seven adversaries. She ran forward, sliding low on the marble floor at the last minute, and taking out the legs of the largest of the men, who then toppled over on top of her.
She slammed a fist down onto his chest, but he seemed to barely feel it.
“Princess Kaela?” he asked.
Then he started laughing as he stood up.
Rowan and his men were double-teamed and would be of no help in this fight.
The metallic tang in her mouth had been bugging her. Kaela wiped the blood from her cheek, then leaned over to spit in front of her, creating a small splotch of red on the floor.
It was time to get serious.