~ The Council of the Knights of Rinder: [Archive] [Home] [Previous Turn] [Next Turn] ~

Naeron turns to Crayne and Emma and whispers as quietly as possible, "Is there anything in your bag of tricks that can incapacitate, if only for a short time, a good number of them? Then we can rush in to subdue the rest..." Once spells have been chosen and loosed, Naeron thinks to himself, he will first fire one or two arrows into the crowd of thieves, careful not to hit Rayton, then switch to his long sword and join the melee...

Emma starts to open her mouth, but then Crayne begins to offer a suggestion, and she holds back in order to hear the mage's idea. The Highbrow had shown himself to be quite clever lately in discovering the plot behind the assassination attempt, as well as the poison itself. He was certainly earning her respect more than ever.

Crayne looks a little dumbstruck as he sees the meeting going on from the room within. Blimey!, he thinks to himself, things are going from bad to worse! It is at this point that he looks to the Knights for guidance for he doesn't want to act without their permission. The group was in enough strife as it was at the moment. Thus, treading carefully seemed the wisest course of action at the moment. He looks over to Judd and whispers, "There's a lot in there Sir Judd, and these men will be skilled. Plus I myself don't particularly want to take the risk of attacking if it means there is a chance that Rayton might be killed. For at the moment his evidence is important. Would you not think it wiser to ask for back up rather than risk the loss of life? I could if required station myself here and keep a close eye on Rayton! For I have powers that conceal me from the eye. What do you think?" He looks to the three knights and then at Rinder's Six.

Sir Judd looks to Crayne, and then around the circle. "Your forethought and care for your comrades is commendable, Mage Crayne. But I fear if we wait too long, we will lose the chance to capture Rayton. He may soon head off to the predetermined meeting place--the location of which we don't know!"

Klare nods. "I think it best we act while we have the chance. Have you any magic that might aid us in this task? Lady Emmalya, might you call on Anhur for some assistance?"

Crayne looks a little disapointed with the Knights response, but then mutters, "If that is what you wish Sir Judd! Lets just hope that all goes well!"

"Yes, indeed!" Emma nods, "There is an enchantment that Anhur sometimes grants his priests when they are outnumbered. It enables them to capture their opponents on the battlefield or to bring them to stand trial. It only affects a limited number of people, though...up to a half-dozen or so. At its best, it will only reduce the number we'll face...and even then we'll have to take them into custody. If there's fifteen or twenty of them, someone will have to bind the six or so affected by the spell, in order to make sure they don't re-enter the combat with the others once it wears off."

Then, Emma looks in Crayne's direction. "Highbrow?" she asks, "What about your spell with all the colors? You've used it before to knock men unconscious, right? Can that be used to subdue another group of these thieves? If so, we might cut down the odds to a more manageable level.

"Regardless, I'm assuming that Rayton will probably be one of the last that we capture," Emma concedes, "I'll use one more prayer to Anhur to try and hold him in place lest he attempt to run when he realizes his men have been overcome. Hannibal? You'll have to point him out to me...but if I concentrate the prayer just on him, Anhur's focused power will more difficult for him to overcome."

Crayne nods his head, "You are right Emma. The spell you talk of, I currently have memorised and be rest assured I'll try and blast as many as possible. However, should we be a little cautious first and look about for any traps? For thieves and pillagers are not averse to such tactics. Hannibal this is your field. Is there anything that you can do to rest a mages mind?"

Hannibal raises his eyebrows at Crayne's suggestion. "Good idea," he says, "I'll just look around..." With that he inches closer to the door, looking around the doorway, the walls, the ceiling, etc. After a few moments, he returns. "I can't see anything around the entrance, but I also can't really too far into the room without giving us away."

Crayne nods, using his ability to detect magic to see if there are any magical traps about. He doesn't see anything out of the ordinary in the corridor. As he quickly peeks into the room, it too seems mostly dark. That is, except for the small orange dots that appear in the trousers of the man who was standing at the front of the room.

"Blimey!" Crayne reports to the rest. "I don't know exactly what it is, but the man at the front of the room--Rayton, I think!--has something magical in his pockets. Small little items, two or three! Let's be careful!" With that said, Crayne taps his staff and thinks to himself, 'I've been waiting to use this for a while now, let's see what you can do!'

"Absolutely," Canter says, looking to the knights, who nod in agreement.

Storm gets in position right around the lip of the door, making himself the closest one to the portal into the room containing the band of thieves. His long swords are in his hands, and he is breathing hard but quietly, feeling the rush of adrenaline as he prepares for battle. His head darts back and forth between those who talk, listening to their comments but, as no one has actually mentioned a plan yet, he has no actual opinions yet.

A second later, he looks to Cy and says "Aye, maybe we can be usin' these?" He taps a finger on the small pouch on his belt containing the 100 caltrops that he bought so many years ago. He grabs a handful of them but throws none, waiting for some advice from the tactician.

While the rest of the plans are made out, Storm stays flat against the wall, hidden in the shadows, and as quiet as he can, getting ready to pounce as needed.

Emma looks down at the dwarf and then up to Cy. "What does he have in there?" she asks, her curiosity raised. Once Storm reveals the caltrops, Emma smiles briefly, amazed at her dwarven friend's ingenuity. "Scatter some of those just outside this doorway," she suggests, "And any thief that tries to slip past us and escape will be in for a rude surprise. With wounded feet, they won't get far, and should be quite easy to track. Of course, if there's another exit from the chamber, they won't help us any there, but at least we won't have to focus our attention on holding the door and we should be free to pursue them."

Storm listens to the conversation intently, still giddy from the anticipation of a good battle. As Emma suggests so, he lays out enough caltrops in front of the door area to effectively cover the possible escape route, but he also leaves enough space against the wall next to the door so that he and his comrades can slip by them without falling victim themselves. He quietly places them before him, and tries to place some as quietly as he can across the door from him so that the thieves cannot run down the hall the other way. He tries to be sure that he is both quiet in doing so and also that the entourage of knights and Rinder's Six get a good idea of where his caltrops are being laid. Once done, Storm crouches and still wait for the battle to start.

As the time is drawing near, Cy reminds Hannibal: "Remember, we need you to identify Rayton--before Storm gets to him!" Hannibal chuckles and nods, patting Storm on the shoulder as the dwarf kneels at the doorway.

Emma and Naeron look to the knights, who appear ready. Klare nods to Nair, Nair nods to Judd. Judd nods Naeron and Emma. Emma and Naeron nod to Cy. Cy gives Storm a shove.

The dwarf bursts into the room with lightning speed, swords raised and poised to attack. He is fairly quiet, but the motion of his entrance and the noise of the others behind him all crowding through the doorway is enough to attract attention. There, sitting on benches in the middle of the room are fifteen to twenty men, all human. On the far other side of the room, and facing the door, stands a man (Rayton) addressing the thieves.

"What?!" Rayton screams as he sees Storm enter the room. For an instant he doesn't realize that Storm is no longer on his side. It is when he sees Cy and Emma, and especially the Knights, that he knows things have gone bad.

Storm reaches a nearby thief, attacking him strongly with his swords. The thief jumps aside, evading the first blade, and manages to avoid the second one as well. But the action was enough to get Storm's blood pumping. Canter then reaches an enemy, just as Rayton calls out "Stop them!" He attacks, successfully scoring a hit on the thief. Cy, too, attacks a nearby thief, but misses as his target jumps back and out of the reach of his sword.

Then Emma appears on the scene, she is quick to cast "Dictate," and use the spell to its potential. "Throw down your weapons, move to that corner, and surrender!" she orders the thieves. Four thieves are captivated by the spell's (and Anhur's) power. The immediately drop their swords and slowly begin to move away from the action. 'At least we got a few of them...' Emma thinks to herself.

Crayne then enters the room. He spots a group of enemy thieves not yet attacked, and launches his Color Spray in their direction. The bright colors fill the room with their luminescence, and three thieves fall to the ground, appearing to be asleep.

"Emma!" Hannibal calls out above the clashing of swords and the splintering of the wooden benches as Storm hacks wildly at the thief opposite him. "There he is!" Hannibal points through the crowd at Rayton. The dark-skinned, stubble-cheeked man stands there, short sword in one hand, eyes narrowed. There are too many other thieves in the way for him to be directly threatened at the moment, and he appears to be sizing up the situation.

Naeron then rounds the corner, an arrow knocked on his bow. He lets it fly into the crowd, being careful to avoid his comrades and Rayton. It strikes one of the thieves in the shoulder, who cries out with the impact. Naeron then lets another fly, which hits another thief in the crowd.

Then the three knights enter the battle. They each approach thieves and attack, all stiking their opponents but felling none.

The thief opposite Canter then retaliates, but Canter ably avoids the man's short sword. "Aha!" the leatherman's son quips. At the same time, the thief fighting Cy attacks the warrior, scoring a hit (5 hp damage). Cy grinds his teeth with the blow, thinking to himself, "merely a flesh-wound..."

Storm, too comes under attack. But the agile dwarf manages to avoid his opponent's attacks. The Knights repel attacks from their adversaries, though Sir Klare is struck by an enemy's blade. The look of determination on their faces shows how seriously they take their role.

Crayne soon finds himself under attack. A thief comes barrelling out of the crowd toward the mage just after he finished casting his spell. "Stupid magics!" the thief yells, swinging his sword at Crayne. Crayne manages to jump aside just in time, and tightens his grip on his staff, ready to strike back.

Meanwhile, Emma focuses her attention on Rayton. She can see across the crowded chamber as Rayton begins to move along the side wall. She doesn't see any other exits, so she moves to intercept. A few seconds later, Rayton sees Emma, her horseman's flail in hand. He narrows his eyes as he sizes her up.

Then with one quick move, he reaches into his pocket, pulling out a small bead. With a very fast movement, he throws the bead at Emma. It lands on the floor just in front of the priestess but as it does, it lets out a very loud "bang!" And with the sound comes a sudden wave of force, which violent throws Emma back, lifting her off her feet and forcing her to the ground a few feet behind. (6 hp damage)

Seeing the effect, Rayton smiles to himself and retreats, looking for another way around the crowd.

(86.1)

Naeron surveys the chaos, very concerned that there is an unseen exit that Rayton will soon take. He decides, against his better judgement, to take a shot at Rayton's leg, to see if he can at least slow him down. He nocks another arrow and lets fly, then, regardless of the result, slings his bow, draws his long sword and heads into the fray, calmly, with violet eyes flat and dark, swirling and slashing with precision. The arrow leaves the bow with a "whoosh" but fails to meet with Rayton's leg, instead flying over his head and smashing into one of the walls behind.

"Four...and three," Emma murmurs to herself, "That's seven out of the picture for now. Let's hope we can end this quickly." She watches as the rest of Rinder's Six and the Knights of Rinder begin to fan out into the room. 'Looks like even odds,' she thinks.

Emma begins to say, "Hold it right th---..." then Rayton throws his magical bead at her, sending the priestess flying backwards to the floor.

"...th-there!" Emma finishes, groaning as she feels the hard stone floor beneath her back. She wonders what happened and what Rayton could have thrown to cause something like that. 'Is he a mage?' Emma wonders, 'Surely not! Probably just one of their lackeys...' She remembers Crayne's warning out in the hallway about the small magic items in Rayton's pockets. 'Must have been one of those...,' she thinks to herself, 'Great! Why'd I have to be the one to discover what they do?'

She struggles to sit up, pushing herself off the floor with one mailed hand, and the other tightening into a fist around the haft of her flail. She shakes her head to clear the momentary dizziness and ease the ringing in her ears. The swaying of the spiked metal heads of the flail distract her, making her nauseous for a moment as she tries to regain her senses. She then climbs back to her feet, and looks for the traitor once again.

'He's not going to take me unaware of that trick again!' she silently vows, pressing forward, 'And perhaps if I can get close enough to him, he won't be able to throw another bead without injuring himself, too.'

Then, a different possibility occurs to her. 'Maybe I can get him to injure himself with those things,' she wonders. She realizes that she still has one minor enchantment that she could cast which was very similar to the "Dictate" spell from before. It was a "Command" which could only affect a single person, and it was limited to only a single word, but it could certainly work if Anhur still favored her.

'If he pulls out another of those things, I'll just tell him to "Fumble" and maybe he'll drop it at his own feet!' she thinks, 'And then I can close on him...' She twirls the heads of her flail a couple of times in anticipation of that moment. Sometimes it felt really good to be the arm of Anhur's justice in the world. 'Some people really need to be taught a lesson,' she tells herself.

She begins to move toward the crowd again, keeping an eye on Rayton on the other side. But the scene is chaos, and she can't easily get to him. She swings her flail hard upon an unfortunate thief who happens to get in the way, striking him in the back. He lets out a scream, but does not fall.

Crayne readies himself with his magical staff in hand. He quickly glances over towards Emma as he sees her flung back by the magical items he saw through his detection spell. Crayne is a little relieved as he sees the priestess regain her feet. Crayne is also impressed by the fighting prowess of Rinders Six's latest addition Naeron.

"Go get them Naeron!" Crayne says with a smile. 'What a situation,' Crayne thinks to himself as he looks about the chaotic scene surrounding him.

He then brings his attention back to the task at hand. 'Such a shame,' he thinks to himself, 'that I don't have a more extensive knowledge of the second echelon. A couple of spells,' he thinks, 'would have been very handy in this situation - web being the most prominent.' He makes it a point after all of this if he is still alive he will seek out some information regarding magic in this area and see if he can purchase some spells. 'They are bound to have some sort of magic guild,' Crayne thinks to himself.

Anyhow, Crayne shakes his head as he focuses in on his opponent. He clutches his staff hard and attempts to smash his opponent with a magical strike. The staff connects with the thief, striking the man with a loud "crack!" The thief lets out an audible "oomf!" with the impact, but does not yet fall.

Storm's eyes are wide as he enters the room and pounces toward the nearest thief. They narrow, though, when the nimble thief leaps aside. "Ye bastard...taste my steel!!!" he yells as he viciously presses the attack. Both swords dive toward the thief in a flurry of motion, Storm trying to match the opponent's dexterity with a display of his own. He swings his blades wildly, thrashing about. But the surprisingly dexterous thief manages to avoid both attacks!

Meanwhile, Canter and Cy press their attacks. Canter keeps his attention focussed, swinging his sword through the air in great (but controlled!) arcs. At the perfect moment he attacks, striking the thief hard in upper arm. Cy, trades thrusts and parries with his opponent, but manages to land a solid hit, which must have broken a bone or two with the sound of the impact! The thief stumbles backwards, slightly dazed but not yet defeated.

The Knights continue their duels as well. Each scores a hit against their three opponents, their superior experience and training in formal battle maneuvers coming to the fore.

At the same time, Hannibal begins to move around the crowd, in the opposite direction from Emma. "I'll try and cut him off," he thinks to himself, as if Emma could hear, while he keeps his gaze fixed upon Rayton.

The thief opposite Canter then attacks, his short sword catching Canter's skin at an open spot. It isn't a serious wound, merely a scratch, but it still does hurt! (2 hp damage) Cy also finds himself under an attack, but the warrior keeps a keen eye on his enemy and blocks the thief's sword well.

Another thief then attacks Hannibal as he tries to skirt around the crowd. Fortunately "Mouser" saw the enemy coming, and anticipates the move. With a strong block he keeps the thief's sword away from him, but is also frustrated that he now has to deal with this peon while Rayton might get away!

At that moment one of the other thieves breaks from the crowd, running full speed from the center of the chamber toward the door. No one is close enough to stop him, but the howls of pain coming from the tunnel just outside indicate that he was caught in the caltrops. "Heh!" Storm yells across to Hannibal as he chops away at his enemy, "he sure ain't goin' far!" Storm then throws up his swords, blocking an attack.

Hannibal shouts back to his dwarven friend: "And that's one that Naeron hit with his bow! He can't be feelin' too good right now!"

Sir Judd successfully avoids an attack from his opponent, but Sir Klare isn't so lucky: he is struck. Not a forceful blow, but enough to bring some blood to the surface. "You okay?" Judd shouts to his comrade.

"No problem!" Klare responds, unfazed and smiling as he sees Sir Nair also block an attack.

The thief opposite Crayne then attacks the mage, determined to exact revenge for the vicious strike of that staff! He swings his sword hard, catching Crayne in the arm. "Arrr!" Crayne hollers in pain, cluching his arm. (3 hp damage)

Emma's victim, whom she struck with her flail just seconds before, then attacks the priestess. He manages to score a hit, striking her in the stomach. Emma bites her lip to forget the pain, vowing to dispose of this pawn as quickly as possible so as to get to Rayton. (4 hp damage)

Meanwhile, Rayton begins to move away from Emma and around the other side. That is, until his eyes meet with Hannibal's. "Mouser..." he growls, "I should have known!" He then backpedals toward the other side of the crowd, but stops as he sees Emma keeping a close watch on his position. He pounds one fist into another in frustration, seeing his escape routes blocked.

(86.2)

Storm, feeling the blood pumping strongly in his veins, presses his attack once again. This time both swords hit, tearing into his opponent and slicing up his skin. The thief stumbles backwards, not yet defeated, but definitely getting closer.

Naeron, having put his bow away and drawn his short sword, then arrives at Hannibal's side. "I've got this one!" he calls to Hannibal, "you get Rayton!" As he says this he lashes out at the thief, hitting him hard. Hannibal nods to Naeron, and begins to weave his way through the chaos towards Rayton.

Sir Judd then takes a gigantic swing with his long sword, striking the thief opposing him and slaying him with one last blow. The thief's body falls to the chamber floor, lifeless. Judd, breathing heavily, looks up for another target. At the same time but Sirs Klare and Nair successfully attack their opponents, who appear to be weakening but not yet beaten.

Emma growls with frustration as he strikes back at the pesky thief in front of her. Her flail misses and she curses under her breath, "I don't have time for this!"

Cy, in the meantime, continues to battle his adversary, landing a strong blow on the thief's chest. The thief takes the hit, but does not fall. Canter also presses his attack, but finds his sword blocked.

Crayne, outraged that the thief was able to strike him, throws himself fully into a counterattack. His magical staff connects with the thief's body, sending a forceful shock through his system. The thief backpedals, but still refuses to die!

That pesky thief then strikes back at Emma. She jumps aside, but there isn't much room in the crowded chamber. The thief's sword manages to scratch Emma's leg, though it really is no more than a scratch. (1 hp damage) Crayne also evades an attack from his adversary, blocking the thief's sword with his staff as he jumps aside. "I wish I had that web spell!" he shouts aloud to anyone that could hear.

Both Sir Klare and Sir Nair also avoid the attacks from their opponents, skillfully blocking the thieves' swords and plotting their next moves. Storm, agile as ever, leaps back to avoid the blade of his enemy, and does so successfully.

Naeron, on the other hand, isn't as lucky. He had managed to free Hannibal, but at the same time, made himself the new target for the thief Hannibal had been battling. And that thief just landed a hit on the half-elf's shoulder! (4 hp damage) Cy is then struck by his enemy, growling in frustration and wanting to slay this stupid thief once and for all. (3 hp damage) Canter, however, does block his enemy's attack.

Rayton sees Hannibal approach and narrows his eyes. "You'll never get me!" he calls, removing another bead from his pocket.

"Watch out, Hannibal!" Emma screams as Rayton prepares his windup.

Hannibal jumps aside, avoiding the magical bead. But a split second later it strikes the wall behind Hannibal, sending a shockwave through the area. Hannibal feels the sudden force of the shock and it's painful shove forward. (3 hp damage) The others nearby, Storm, Naeron, and three nearby thieves, are also hit by the beads shockwave (3 hp damage, each).

"Ha!" Rayton yells as Hannibal shakes his head clear.

(86.3)

Canter can feel his muscles begin to ache as he attacks again. But his painful muscles do the trick and his sword finally finds the right spot, sinking deep into his enemy's torso. As he removes the blade, the thief falls to the ground in one dead bloody hulk. Crayne, meanwhile, swings his staff once again at his adversary. But this time, he misses.

Cy, fed up with this thief, attacks with all his might, and finally finishes him. He throws the thief's dying body aside and turns to survey the rest of the scene. First his eyes fall upon Emma, who he sees sink her horseman's flail deep into the back of the thief she is battling. He can see the concentration in her eyes and smiles as she rips the spiked weapon from her enemy. Just a second later, Sir Judd arrives, and skewers the same thief through back, killing him once and for all, and freeing up Emma to move on Rayton.

Cy's eyes then move to Rayton, himself. He can see that Hannibal has finally made it to the master thief's position. "Get him, Hannibal," Cy says to himself as he watches the scene for a second. Hannibal moves to attack, but Rayton, poised and ready, moves aside and avoids the blow. He can see both men crouch down and begin to circle one another.

Naeron, at the same time, attacks the thief opposite him. He swings his short sword, but just can't seem to connect it with his enemy. Storm, right next to him, has much more success, pummeling his enemy with his blades to the point that he chops off the man's right arm with his first shot, and with his second sends a bloody sword point straight into the thief's heart, clearly killing him. Storm lets out a battle cry at the top of his lungs, filling the room with the sound of his victory.

Sir Klare then deals the mortal blow to his adversary, followed immediately by Sir Nair finishing off his. The two knights look to each other and nod, then simultaneously turn to look over the rest of the scene.

Just then, the three thieves struck unconscious by Crayne's Color Spray spell begin to stir, rising from their slumber along the side of the room. Two of them quickly grab their swords and move toward the nearest enemies. Their eyes fall upon the knights, Sir Klare and Sir Nair. They move to attack, but soon find themselves outmatched as their first offensive moves fail, blocked by superior skill and strength!

The third sleepy thief runs toward the four thieves along the back wall, those who surrendered to Emma. "What are you doing?!" he yells to them, "why don't you fight! If they get out alive we're all dead!"

"But we surrendered," one of the surrendered thieves says calmly, watching the action as if it were sports match.

Meanwhile, Naeron is hit by his opponent, feeling the blood rush to the new laceration in his thigh. "That hurt," he moans as he tries to maintain his position. The thief opposite Crayne, on the other hand, begins to slowly backpedal, retreating toward the door of the room while keeping a watchful eye on Crayne's staff.

Rayton then lunges forward at Hannibal. But Hannibal is quick, too, and jumps aside. Rayton's sword meets with only air. "Very good, Mouser," Rayton taunts, "let's see how long that lucky streak will last you..."

(86.4)

Storm wipes his mouth, which was drooling a little as his dwarven battle lust crept through, with his sleeve as the thief he killed slumps to the ground before him. Thoughts creep to the back of him mind: thoughts of days, years before, thoughts of raiding small villages and caravans with his supposed friends at his side. How many 'warlord hoardes' and 'evil cargo' had he pillaged under the pretense of doing good? Could one of these vile thieves have been with him that night? Could one of them be Krick, or Alam, or any of the others who had survived Storm's outrage? Storm's teeth grind, and he yells at the top of his lungs an obscure dwarven obscenity. He silently vows to himself that no thief will escape his vengeful wrath this day.

As his eyes take a split second to scan the room, he spots his next target. He huddles toward the wall as moves, and he starts running through the shadows at the edge of the room back toward the door. He runs hard but soft and small, as he tries to approach the thief opposite Crayne without letting him know he's coming.

Storm picks up speed as best he can in the cramped quarters, and decides the time is right. He launches himself through the air, readying both swords in flight. He lands on top of the slow moving, retreating thief easily, sending both blades through the man's shoulder-blades with a solid "crunch!" He can feel the enemy give way beneath him and by the time his own feet have reached the chamber floor, the thief below is dead.

Hannibal picks himself up off the floor, the coppery taste of blood on his tongue. His blood boils and the anger in him swells as Rayton smiles down at him. Gripping his sword tight in hand, Hannibal launches himself forward, covering the ground as quickly as possible to eliminate Rayton's option of using another of the beads.

"Now you die coward!" he shouts on his advance, sword at the ready and prepared to taste blood. He moves directly toward his target, blade in front. At the right moment he thrusts, but Rayton jumps aside, slapping Hannibal's sword away and chuckling.

"I think not, my sometimes-friend!" Rayton taunts, making Hannibal's blood boil.

Naeron sees Hannibal's eyes flash black light as he charges at Rayton. He takes another swing at the thief who has blooded him, then shouts, "Hannibal, NO! Take him ALIVE!"

"Go to him, Naeron, I'll handle this one!" Canter shouts, stepping up to Naeron's side and swinging his sword at Naeron's opponent. The attack is a success, and the thief is struck. He stumbles backwards, spitting blood on the floor.

Naeron wastes no time. He charges at Rayton and, attempts to render the master thief unconscious, attacking with the flat of his sword. He approaches quickly and strikes the master thief hard with a loud "whack!" A smiles draws itself on his face as he knows his blade meets with Rayton's body.

Crayne lowers his eyebrows as he sees the thief before him in a bloody heap at Storm's feet. He smiles at his dwarven friend but wastes no time on congratulations; Crayne focuses his attention elsewhere.

He begins to intone the words of magic, waving his long arms through the air. A wisp of magical red follows his arms as he completes his spell and then gathers at the tip of his two first fingers. He then directs his hands to Rayton. Two red lazer beams shoot from each of Crayne's first fingers and shoot Rayton in each of his pupils.

With a commanding tone Crayne's voice rises above the din of battle: "Now Rayton! You will stand still and hand me those other magical stones that you carry. For you are my friend and we should not fight, Should we?" Crayne says with a look of expectancy.

The beams of red light shoot through the room toward Rayton, who is reeling from Naeron's blow. He was thrown aside with the impact, but rises and turns around just in time to meet with the red magic. He narrows his eyes, producing another bead from his pocket in his left hand. He holds out the hand in a closed fist, a determined look upon his face. The red beams then hit his hand, deflected and scattered about the room. Rayton smiles at Crayne, letting out a loud "ha!"

"Someone subdue those men!" Emma shouts, pointing her flail toward the group of five thieves gathered in the corner. Hopefully, Canter, Cy, and/or Sir Judd could see the wisdom in permanently removing them from the fight. As she swings her attention back to Rayton and Hannibal, she realizes she just gave an order, much like Edryd used to do when he was among Rinder's Six.

'By Anhur,' she thinks to herself, 'The Sword-Bearer's spirit is with us this day! Justice will be brought against these thieves!' With that vow, Emma pushes past the rest of the combatants, noticing Naeron, Sir Klare, and Sir Nair still fighting valiantly. Naeron looks fairly wounded to her eyes, and as she moves onward, she calls over her shoulder, "Canter? Sir Judd? Help Duke Raimead's diplomat, too, if you can! Cy? Care to assist me in exacting a bit of justice this day?"

She then moves with agility towards Hannibal and Rayton's position, keeping her eyes open for any tricks from the master thief. The prayer for her "Command" enchantment stays foremost in her mind. 'I don't care to repeat that last experience,' she reminds herself, 'So let's be ready...'

Holding back the battle-cry that would give away her intentions, Emma silently launches an attack. Instead of aiming high for Rayton's head and shoulders, though, she crouches down with her shield raised to deflect any incoming blow. Then, she swings the flail parallel to the floor, attempting to injure his leg or knee to prevent him from running. Just like one of her weapon-masters had taught her, 'If you take away your opponent's mobility, the battle is nearly finished.'

"It's time to bring you down a peg or two," Emma hisses between clenched teeth as she carries out the attack. She thinks to herself that if she should fail to injure the limb, at least she might entangle his foot and then pull him off-balance for Hannibal and Cy to get in a better position. "That ought to help tip the scales," she says confidently.

The move works perfectly--sort of. The chain of the flail wraps securely around Rayton's ankle, and with a quick yank, the priestess manages to bring Rayton to the ground. But in the process, he drops the magical bead in his hand! Like the previous two, it lands on the floor with a loud "bang!" and a shockwave of force. The wave throws Rayton, himself, against a nearby wall, and sends Emma a few feet in the opposite direction, yanking her flail out of her hand. Naeron and Hannibal also feel the shockwave, since they were right next to Rayton, and are thrown to the floor a few feet away. (4 hp damage to Rayton, Emma, Naeron, and Hannibal)

Shaking her head clear, Emma thinks to herself, 'well, I did get him to fumble the bead--and without calling upon Anhur's power!' But as she smiles at the feat, her vision clears, just in time to see Rayton extricating himself from her flail.

Meanwhile, seeing that three members of his own party are already attempting to subdue Rayton, Cy decides to follow Emma's order. He moves toward the thieves congregating along the wall near the doorway. Four are still under Emma's "Dictate" spell, but the one who is not turns to face the warrior. Cy is just too powerful, and successfully hits the thief hard with his sword. The other thieves nearby flinch with the hit, but don't make any moves.

Sir Judd then arrives near Cy, tearing some bloody cloth strips from his tunic. He begins to bind the wrists of the prisoners, lest they get awway. Sir Klare, in the meantime, moves to Canter's side, attacking the thief with whom Canter is battling. He attacks, but finds his move countered and blocked.

Sir Nair, after accepting the willful surrender of his opponent and Sir Klare's, approaches Rayton, backing the master thief into a corner while the others nearby steady themselves from the bead's forceful effect. Rayton kicks Emma's flail aside and reaches behind him, grabbing a lighted torch from a fixture on the wall. "Rayton! You are hereby under arrest by the order of the Council of the Knights of Rinder! Cease this pointless battle now and you not be hurt any further. Continue to fight and you will suffer the consequences." Nair's voice drops very low and he lowers his chin, staring at Rayton with big, dark eyes.

The thief fighting Canter and Sir Klare chooses to respond by attacking Canter, thinking that to attack the one who was not the Knight would probably be the wiser course of action. Indeed, it is. He strikes Canter, slicing into his skin and opening up a long wound on Canter's exposed forearm. Canter recoils with the him, writhing in the stinging pain. (4 hp damage)

Cy's opponent also attacks, but this time the attack is blocked as Cy effectively uses his shield. A couple of chips of pain are chopped away, but Cy pays no head, already plotting his next move.

Rayton looks to Nair, then to Naeron, Hannibal, and Emma, who are rising from the floor and preparing to move in. He can feel the wall against his back. Then he looks to Sir Nair, the torch in hand. He swallows hard, feeling the sweat drip down his temples. Then he responds: "No." With a quick move, he raises his arm and pounds a spot along the wall, just above the empty torch fixture.

Taking a step backwards, a door-shaped section of the wall opens to reveal a pitch-black hallway. Rayton spins around, turning his back on the battle lost and taking off, running full steam, down the corridor. The door quickly swings shut behind him.

"STOP HIM!" Naeron screams, cursing in elven and rushing to try to catch the door before it closes. He reaches the door just as it clicks shut, slamming up against the wall with a thud.

"Hit the button!" Emma squeals, grabbing her flail from the floor and kicking the wall in frustration. "We can't let him get away!"

Hannibal punches the wall just above the empty torch holder. Nothing happens. He hits it again. Nothing.

"What?!" Emma demands, furious.

"It's probably rigged to work just once...it needs to be reset from the other side!" Hannibal explains, his knowledge of thieves' tricks rolling off his tongue like water off a duck's back.

"Curses!" Sir Nair yells. He charges at the secret doorway, striking the wall with his shoulder. He can see the seam in the wall, and some dust is churned up with the impact, but the door doesn't budge.

Naeron then gets an idea: "Mage Crayne! Have you a spell that will open closed doors such as these! Now would be a good time!"

Frustrated that his charm spell was ineffective, Crayne jumps at the chance to use his magic productively. "Yes!" he shouts joyfully, running to the spot on the wall. He places his hands a few inches off the wall and begins to intone the words to "Knock."

(86.5)

Meanwhile, Storm takes off out the main door of the room, carefully avoiding the caltrops. He can see spots of blood leading down the tunnel, and about ten yards away, a thief crawling along the floor. He lets out a chuckle and moves in the thief's direction. Without saying a word, he slices and dices the thief. In just a few moments, the thief is put out of his misery.

Cy attacks his opponent. His sword strikes the thief strongly, and cuts deep into the man's chest. That hit was about all the man could take, and seconds later, after one last mouthful of blood is spilt on the floor, he is dead at Cy's feet. Sir Judd, who is finishing the bindings on the six prisoners (four under the spell, and two willfully surrendered), looks up to Cy and nods with a smile.

With an audible "click!" the door lock pops open and Crayne's lips immediately form a wide smile. Hannibal lets out a "Yes!" under his breath, and Naeron pats Crayne on the shoulder with one hand as he pushes the secret door open with the other.

The tunnel appears to be straight and long. It is very dark. The light from the chamber is the only thing that illuminates the tunnel--that is, except for the fire! Just five yards from Naeron's position, a large wall of fire burns in the center of the narrow (about four feet wide) corridor, and Rayton's torch can be seen on the floor, fueling the blaze. The fire takes up the entire width of the tunnel, and is about eight feet deep. It appears as if there is a liquid on the floor, and Hannibal can just barely make out some kind of flask on the far side of the fire.

"Great!" Hannibal says sarcastically, "what do we do about THAT?!"

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