Other than Klyn the other Shaman gathered together in a triangle holding each other’s hand as the two younger shamans chanted some odd ancient words Carvey stayed still as a rock as he used all his power along with the help from the others to send a short message to one of the Earth tribes shamans far away.
‘Mission failed’ was all he could send before breaking out in a sweat and panting heavily.
Klyn walked forward and handed each of them some bread and wine to regain some of their energy.
“Will you three be okay or do you need someone to help you so you don’t lag behind,” asked elder Bleddyn.
“We’re okay, but Shaman Carvey might need help. Sending a message so far away drains most of your energy,” replied one of the young shaman.
“Just give me a minute to recuperate,” said Carvey.
“We don’t have a minute to spare. Every minute we wait here gives the humans more time to set up a trap to stop us from leaving alive. Jorn, grab Carvey and let’s get out of here,” said elder Bleddyn.
Akira, as well as the other werewolves, had all put on their cloaks but their hoods were not yet pulled up.
The guards outside the guest house were still waiting impatiently for the werewolves to exit with their belongings. As soon as they did they herded them to the outer castle gates and unceremoniously booted them out.
The small delegation of werewolves swiftly disappeared from the view of the castle walls and entered into the back alleys where they finally pulled their hoods up to cover their faces from anyone they might run into as they ran through the dark back streets of the capital.
***
Tibia had been staking out the main road leading out from the castle but for some reason, her target never appeared at the expected spot forcing her to change her plans.
She was now jumping from rooftop to rooftop looking for her prey that had escaped. She still had a chance to complete her mission. The target should not have had enough time to get that far away and should still be somewhere near the castle.
As she was in mid-jump from a lower roof to a slightly higher one, she heard the sound of multiple running feet from below in the narrow and dark street.
As she landed she looked to where the sound was coming from and was able to barely see that there was a large group of people who were all wearing hooded cloaks that were hiding their identity.
‘This must be them. Now’s my chance!’ thought Tibia as she readied herself for a fight.
Vrrrrr, a slight vibration from the silver ring on her hand stopped her actions. It only did this if an ally from the organization was nearby, but since this function required her to use magical energy to power the effect she only activated it when she was on a mission.
Someone else from the organization was in that group.
‘Why is there someone else here? Were they sent to keep an eye on me? If they are with that group then the target must be elsewhere. I have no time to waste here, I still need to find the target.’ thought Tibia.
She pulled back from the edge of the roof and began her search again quietly jumping from roof to roof.
***
While on the run Akira was focused on keeping an eye out for an ambush and did not notice the vibrating ring in his bag that he had confiscated from the failed assassination attempt in Vussia.
Sniff, Sniff.
Dolph, who was next to Akira was also alert and was now smelling the air after catching an unfamiliar scent.
With a low voice, he alerted the rest of the escaping werewolves, “There’s someone looking at us from above.”
Everyone continued to run forward and did not look at the person stalking them in order to not spook them and let them know they had been found out. If they attacked they would be mercilessly shredded to pieces by everyone.
“They’re gone. Whoever it is I don’t think they are with the castle guards. But I can’t help but feel this scent is slightly familiar,” said Dolph a few seconds later.
He could not be sure if the smell was something familiar due to the thousands of other smells that assaulted his nose every second this was one of the hardships of being in a city that had hundreds of thousands of people and many other animals.
“If they’re not going to bother us then forget them,” said elder Bleddyn who, for being an old man was rather quick on his feet.
They passed many small taverns and restaurants in the hidden alleyways that were full of loud activity as the common folk celebrated the coming of fall and the fall harvest.
With the harvest, they had extra money to splurge on anything and everything.
The streets became wider and all meshed into the main road the closer they got to the capitals main gates. Even at such a late hour the main street was jammed with other festival-goers all trying to go somewhere.
Since they were not at war and the city was celebrating all through the night the gates had been left open to let the large mass of people come and go as they pleased so that everyone, wherever they lived, could enjoy the festival.
This caused the guard’s jobs to be harder as they had to work longer hours on a holiday and monitor even more people than usual. They had even been given a command by the castle guards to watch out for several important criminals.
The werewolves all stuck together and dived into the crowd of humans, swimming through the mass of bodies as they tried to get to the main gates.
Part of the reason for the congestion was because of the guards randomly stopping people at the gates and inspecting them and their belongings before letting them through.
The mass of drunk and sweaty humans that had partied too hard were all gushing out of the gates to get back to their own beds.
The werewolves tried to blend in with them but it was rather hard as most of the werewolves were a head taller than the drunk farmers and shopkeepers.
“You people pull down your hoods and show me your faces,” shouted a guard at the gates.
“We are nobodies. You do not need to see our faces,” said elder Bleddyn waving his hand in front of the guard’s face.
“You are a nobody and I do not need to see your face…..Wait a second! Show me your face!” said the guard reaching for elder Bleddyn’s hood only to get his hand smacked away.
“Hey stop holding up the line. I want to get home sometime before next year!” shouted a drunk man from somewhere behind the werewolves.
“You do not need to see our faces,” said elder Bleddyn waving one of his hands in front of the guard’s face while his other hand shot out and chopped the guard in his unprotected neck.
The guard fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
Seeing the attack by the hooded figure the other gate guards tried to intercept them but the mass of crowded bodies impeded their progress. Before they could reach the assailants they had already exited the gates.
“Warn the soldiers stationed outside that a group of suspicious people just exited the city. They may be the people we were looking for!” shouted the gate guard captain.
The werewolves continued to run at top speed towards the preset destination where the [Nouds Wind] should still be waiting for them allowing them to escape from the damned human kingdom.
Soon the sound of hooves could be heard behind them. Akira took a look behind and saw over a dozen Knights urging their mounts forward at a speed that could not be maintained for long that did not matter since they were closing in fast!
Without another thought Akira summoned Nox. “Help me out and go block those guys from reaching us!”
‘You sure are bossy today,’ said Nox grumpily as he leaped out of Akira’s shadow and began to run towards the charging horses whose skin was beginning to be covered in a foamy white sweat from overexertion.
As Nox neared the dumb beasts of labor let out a loud snarl and launched himself at the closest unprotected neck of one of the horses at the front of the charge.
The horse cried out in fear and immediately halted its charge forward as it reared up on its back legs and tried to fend off the attack with its front hooves.
This sudden halt threw the knight out of his saddle and slammed into the ground and sent rolling a few times before stopping. He lay on the ground unmoving while moaning from the damage he received due to the fall while wearing heavy armor.
Nox adjusted his body in mid-air and used his feet to jump off the horse’s hooves and launch himself at another horse passing by ramming into its side causing the horse’s legs to falter in its high-speed charge and with its rhythm messed up its legs stumbled once more before falling to the ground.
The second knight who was riding the horse was thrown from his saddle and had his leg caught under the horse’s body and was broken by the weight.
Nox continued to work his magic and there was soon a pile-up of over six horses either lying on the ground or running around without a knight on its back trying to get away and out of the reach of the demonic Nox.
One could tell that these horses were not of the fine warhorses bred by the nobles but everyday horses so they shied away from any enemy or attack that targeted them.
All the way to the coastline of Beorin the werewolves were being chased by several different groups of the kingdoms soldiers but with the help Nox, they were able to reach the rowboat near the shore and row themselves out of immediate danger and reach the safety of the ship [Nouds Wind].
The cavalry looked on helplessly from the shore as they watched their targets sail off.
***
“King Titus, I just received a report from the scouts we sent out. They were unable to capture the criminals at the gates and the soldiers outside the city let them reach their ship and sail away,” said Porskey.
“It does not matter. We can kill them when the war starts. Begin the mustering of the army we will ship them out as soon as possible. You are to join them,” ordered Titus.
***
Delgar had thought long and hard about what Akira had said and after talking with Glola he had decided on a suggestion she had offered up.
Not long after Akira had left he sent out a message to the king to warn him about the coming war and the possible troubles the human armies might bring if they entered or passed through their territories.
After sending the message they both cut their honeymoon short and made the return trip back to their own home town.
When King Nokkad Noblebraid received the message he issued a warning that was sent out to all dwarven towns and cities that they should be ready for any surprises.
With the notices going out many of the smaller villages and towns on the edges of the mountains became empty as they headed to the main cities for protection.
Although it pained him to leave his shop Delgar locked it up and headed south along with a few other dwarves that had similar ideas as him to go help the werewolves with anything they needed.
Glola had decided to follow her husband and closed up her tavern as well.
***
“Grand elder Wulfric what is your opinion on what we should do?” asked Grand elder Dùghall.
“There are still a few people lagging behind we need to get them to the protection of the caves. The war will start as soon as their main army meets up with the commander that is already staying near Madham. We must be ready before that time.
We also need to warn our neighbors the Griiq of the large army that may be entering their lands to cause trouble. If we can get them to help during the coming war I have no doubt we can easily push them back.”
“We will have to ramp up our preparation for war and gather all the supplies now so we are not lacking later,” said Grand elder Griogair with a grim face.
***
With the war on the horizon, several factions on the continent of Halverold readied for the coming clash making sure they would not be caught in the struggle.
Rodger sighed as he stepped on one of the many warships that were being packed with the kingdom of Beorins army and the supplies they would need for the coming war.
The king had ordered him to join his father as second in command in order to gain experience in commanding the army in actual battle.
Although Rodger was unhappy with the situation he could do nothing but accept his role as the prince and follow the orders given to him by the king.
A short distance away, a disguised Tibia secretly entered one of the nearby ships and found a spot in the bowels of the transport ship to hide for the whole trip south.
