Power Quest

Chapter 6: A Bonehead Move

As much as Ben would like to take credit for this rescue mission, he wasn't the one who turned the odds in their favor with what happened next. In fact, the only thing he could think of in his panic was to raise his hands up and shout - "okay, okay, stop!" in a voice that sounded too much like a squeal.

Besides him, Red gave an exasperated sigh. "Really?" exclaimed the mercenary in disgust. His next words were muttered in a whisper, but Ben heard them nonetheless: "trust the noob to lead and that's what you get."

It was, Ben reflected afterward, a bonehead move; surrendering to the guards would only lead to an investigation, which would result in the discovery of the two bodies in Ben and Red's cell, which would most likely lead to a public hanging or whatever they used here as a death sentence.

Luckily for all of them, Ben wasn't the only one calling the shots. While all eyes were focused on the interaction between the real and false guards, the black-haired sorceress was momentarily forgotten. Nobody saw her edging closer to the guard that was grasping her friend, nobody noticed how her lips moved as she cast what Ben later learned was a basic spell - one that she could recite from memory, without the need for any spell component or a magical focus. Nobody saw her lightly touching the guard's arm.

The next thing that happened was an electrical jolt that went through the body of the guard who was holding the redhead woman. The man's hand spasmed violently, causing the sharp blade - much to Ben's horror - to dig deep into the woman's throat. It would have been the end of her, but then the other effect of the spell - stun - was triggered, and the man became frozen and unable to move. The woman he was holding, although bleeding heavily, managed to push his immobile hand away from her and slip from his grasp.

Red was the first to recognize the opportunity. "Attack!" he bellowed - and charged forward, unsheathing his sword the rest of the way. He was met head-on by the fat guard, who managed to draw his own short sword in time. There was a resounding clash as the weapons collided, and then the two fighters started to exchange blows. The sounds of steel against steel soon echoed in the narrow corridor.

Ben, who finally managed to overcome his initial shock, had his dagger in his right hand. His eyes were on the redhead - she was stumbling forward, obviously in pain, and he hurriedly caught her arm with his left hand and pulled her behind him. The girl staggered but remained on her feet.

Ben was then faced with a moral dilemma - should he plunge the dagger into the stunned body of the guard? After what happened in the last fight, he could only imagine how his honor status would plummet if he did that. Then again, the guard has made his lethal intentions clear, and this was too good an opportunity to pass by. Making up his mind, Ben bared his teeth and lunged forward, the tip of the dagger posed to penetrate the man's heart.

In the last possible second, the stun effect of the sorceress' spell wore off and the guard came to his senses. He only had time to raise his hand in defense, which resulted in Ben's dagger cutting deeply into his forearm.

You hit City Guard with common dagger for 2 damage.

The man cursed and jumped backward, his leap bringing him a good ten feet away from the raging battle. He also raised his rapier upfront in what seemed to Ben like a professional warrior's stance.

Ben quickly analyzed the situation. He would be no match in a melee against such a fighter, especially not with his dagger. He could try to use his crossbow, but it wasn't loaded and he didn't know how long it would take. He glanced at the sorceress, hoping for another spell, but the beautiful woman retreated - either to prepare another spell or just to move out of harm's way. Ben could think of only one thing to do: he changed the grip on the hilt of his dagger, and threw.