Sword in hand again, Quinn rose to his feet, moving to the door. Lia nocked another arrow, making sure to stay behind Lucien's extra bulk. Dairren looked back at Lucien, one hand resting on the handle of the door. "Sure to be more guards on the other doors. You and I will hold them, while the girl frees the others. You can pick locks, yes?"
Lia narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't see why everyone's just assuming... fine, yeah, I can pick them if I have to. I'll try the keys first, though." Dairren appeared unconcerned with accidentally tripping on a point of racial tension, instead adjusting his grip and getting used to the weight of the new blade in his hand.
"Ready?"
Lucien nodded shortly, and when the door opened, he was the first one through, allowing Lia and Dairren to follow at their best opportunity. As promised, there were guards beyond the door, though they were clearly unprepared for what greeted them. Lucienâs movements were unconscious, more the memory of his muscle than any effort to strategize on his part, though his training lent them a fluidity that was far from mechanical. The guard in front raised a sword, but Lucien deflected it to the side with his own, then drove his elbow, since he couldnât use his hand, into the manâs windpipe, hitting hard enough to break his collarbones. That put him out for long enough that the remaining two could be dealt with, and heâd have not the air to raise an alarm.
Bereft of his armor, heâd reverted to moving a lot more than he usually did in a straightforward combat situation, making surprisingly little noise for one not especially inclined to stealth. His face remained set into a grim line as he swung the stolen sword in a horizontal arc, slicing deep into the second manâs neck. He didnât follow through far enough to decapitate him, because it was, at present, a waste of time. Instead, he yanked the sword out, and the body collapsed to the ground, the half-severed head lolling grotesquely to the side. The sword, swiftly diverted, sheathed itself in the third manâs chest, puncturing a lung so that he, too, had no ability to cry out. That one slumped forward against the blade, and Lucien raised a foot, planting it in his chest and casting him off the sword, driving it finally down to end the slowly-fading life of the first.
He glanced back behind him for a moment, presumably to ensure that the others were still following, then bent down, noting that the first man had an entire ring of keys on his belt. There were several more doors in this hallway alone, though as Quinn had said before, this seemed the best area of the complex in which to keep captives, so it stood to reason that they were all nearby. Tossing the key ring to Lia, he spoke softly.
âThere should be enough keys here for most of these doors.â There wasn't much time to say more, though, because the guards further down the hall had caught sight of what was happening, and at least one was heading away from them, probably to raise an alarm. Tightening his grip on the hilt of the dead man's blade, Lucien started forward to meet the rest. If he could push them back past the line of cells, it would be a lot easier for Lia to free the others quickly.
The first door on Liaâs right opened obediently once she found the right key, and swung open only to reveal Estella on the other side of it, scowling at what appeared to be a bent hairpin of some kind. âCanât get anything right,â she muttered under her breath, but despite the words, she and her cellmate Donnelly were both completely free of restraints somehow. She quickly glanced up, and, seeing Lia, her face broke into a smile.
âOh, thank the Maker youâre all right,â she breathed, surging upwards to her feet. She looked for a moment as though she wanted to say more, but the noise of battle outside stymied any further celebration at the realization. âDonnelly, theyâre here. Letâs go.â
âGood tâ see you, Lia,â he added with a grin, but it fell back into a more serious expression when he followed the two young women out of his confinement. Fortunately, at this point, there were enough dead Coterie men and women for the two of them to arm themselves decently, and Lucien and Dairren had pushed the line of incoming foes back past the last of the cell doors, for the moment.
The sounds of approaching guards had swiftly become that of a rather pitched battle, and it wasnât too difficult to infer what was going on outside. At least one of the other pairs of their friends had gotten loose, and the Coterie had noticed. Nostarielâs eyes widened, and she moved quickly behind Ashton. âHold still.â With a bit of effort considering the height difference, she managed to face back-to-back with him and take the chain between his shackles in her hands. Considering that it wasnât her own bonds and her hands could move a bit now, she was able to concentrate the heat of her magic in one of the links of that chain. âOkay, now pull!â With luck, heâd be able to snap the weakened link, and find some way or another to pick the lock on hers or something. Worst case scenario, she supposed she could fight like this until they found a key.
It didn't pop immediately, but on the third jerk the link finally broke in half and freed his hands. Ashton spent a moment rotating his shoulders, but not a second longer before turning eyes toward Nostariel's cuffs. He pretended to not see the bruises developing on her arms and decided to instead focus on her bonds instead. Taking them in his hands he quickly inspected them and said, "It wouldn't be too hard if I just had... " He trailed off as he looked up. He reached out toward her hair and plucked one of her hair pins, "This."
He bent the tip slightly and slipped it into the keyhole for the cuffs. It didn't take too long before a click was heard and Nostariel's hands were free.
Nostariel hissed softly as the shackles came off, bringing her arms around to her front with considerable pain considering what theyâd just been through. She rubbed at them for a few seconds, infusing a little healing into the touch to ease the pain and slow the formation of bruising. She wasnât sure they had the time for much else, though, and it turned out she was rightâthough not precisely in the way she expected. There was a slight sound right at their doorâbarely audible over what was going on outsideâand sheâd lit some offensive magic in her hands and stepped in front of Ashton by the time it swung open to reveal not an enemy but friends.
The Warden breathed a sigh of relief. âThank goodness.â Lia was among them, which was wonderful news, but only if they made it out of here alive. Right now, she was worried about Sophiaâthere was no way this had gone unnoticed, and her friend was still a hostage, making her in some sense even more vulnerable than the rest of them, who could at least fight to survive. Reaching out, she gave Ashtonâs hand a slight squeeze, then headed out the door.
"Behind you," Ashton told Nostariel, following her out the door. He did, however, pause a moment to give Lia a small side hug, and said "That's my girl." The relief in his voice was palpable.
"Someone had to save the day," Lia said, quietly enough that she expected only Ashton would hear it. They were actually the first words she'd said since the fighting in the hall had begun. Her focus had been fully on freeing the others, so that Lucien would have some help in holding the line. Now that everyone was free of their team, it was becoming increasingly apparent to the Coterie that they could not stay here, and that their chances of simply forcing the captives back into their restraints was long gone.
A shout went up, and they began a disorganized retreat, several of them being immediately cut down from behind before they could get away. "They're fleeing to the main room," Dairren said, not immediately pressing. "Watch for archers." He then stooped to snatch a dying Coterie man, one that was lightly armored, and hauled him to his feet, turning him around and beginning to walk forward with him. The first two arrows from the archers on the raised platform thudded into their comrade's chest, the meat shield working effectively to protect Quinn.
Even from her makeshift cell deep in the mine, Sophia could tell that something had happened above. The guards left her door, sounds of shouts carried down, and then screams and the noises of pitched battle. Someone had gotten loose. Sophia's heart jumped, though she worried someone else might fall trying to get to her. She would just have to trust them. Jamie seemed to notice it as well, looking up as though he could see through solid rock from where he kneeled.
"Insolent cretins!" Miranda suddenly shouted, just beyond the door. She kicked it open with her boot, storming in and moving over to where Sophia was forced to sit. The hooded brute of an axeman followed in behind her, looking back to watch to their rear. "If I have to parade you before them a dozen times with a knife to your throat, I will do it. Might even spill a little blood, so they understand. You're a tough woman, no?" She reached her knife forward, slicing the rope that bound Sophia to the wall, leaving her hands still bound together, but free.
No sooner had she than Jamie let loose a battle cry, somewhat pitiful when compared to others, but likely the best he could muster, as he jumped directly onto Miranda's back, throwing his bound hands over her head and trying to choke her. Immediately the pair went to the ground, and the knife slipped from Miranda's hand, falling to the floor. Sophia was quickest on the reaction, snatching the weapon up and holding it in both hands, before she scrambled to her feet. Her first thought was to stab Miranda, and she lunged for her, trying to strike the blade into her side.
The axeman reached her first, however, ramming his meaty shoulder into her upper back, sending Sophia sprawling forward face down to the ground. Miranda managed to squirm out of Jamie's clutches and get to her feet. To say she looked flustered would have been an understatement. Upon seeing Sophia still in possession of the knife, she backed out of the room entirely. "Subdue them! Restrain them! Now!" She shut the door behind her, and ran.
Stuck in the room now with the axeman between her and the door, Sophia got to her feet and held the little knife out. His axe remaining on his back, the brute cracked his knuckles together and waited for them to make a move. Sophia was just about to, when Jamie took a step in front of her.
"Stay behind me!" He held out his hands as if to hold her back, which Sophia regarded a moment with incredulity. She then shoved him to the side, thankfully not to the ground, and returned her attention to her large enemy.
Jamie seemed to take the hint, and tried to attack the moment he saw Sophia rush for one side. The axeman reached out and grabbed Jamie by the neck in one hand, stopping his aggression cold, though what he'd even planned to do was unclear. For Sophia the brute lashed out with a backhanded strike of his other hand, which she ducked under, lunging in and stabbing the knife into the side of his gut. He reacted enough to let go of Jamie, who stumbled back and coughed heavily. That hand then came across and caught Sophia in the cheek.
Stars swirled in her vision as she turned and stumbled away, falling painfully onto her hip after two steps. By the time she'd rolled onto her back the brute had reached her, about to reach down and either seize her by the hair or neck, or try and wrench her blade away. She didn't find out which, as Jamie performed yet another brave attack from behind, leaping on the man's back as soon as he stooped over, squeezing around the neck as tightly as he could.
That seemed to have some effect, as the axeman immediately stood back upright, his hands going to grab Jamie's arms, a gurgling sound escaping his throat as he tried to breathe. Pushing to her feet, Sophia rushed forward and jammed the knife into his unarmored torso, first into the gut, then back out and into the chest. It seemed impossible for him to just shrug off the wounds, but he'd more or less ignored an arrow to the neck earlier.
He was driven back all the way to the wall, at which point it became clear that he was driving himself back, when he slammed Jamie's back into the rock, causing him to cry out weakly as a few of his ribs undoubtedly cracked. His grip slackened on the brute's throat, at which point he freed his hands to deal with Sophia again. Her next stab he caught by grabbing onto her arm before she could reach him. Unwillingly she was pulled in a step, a punch landing to her abdomen, doubling her over, before another came, in the form of an uppercut.
He let her fly then, a moment of weightlessness taking her over before the hard floor came up to meet her back. The axeman huffed a tired breath, before removing Jamie from his back like he was some kind of fleshy cloak. The much smaller man struggled while Sophia worked to return to her feet. He could not break free before the brute decided he'd had enough, and brought both hands up to Jamie's head. With a quick twist, Jamie's neck snapped, and he dropped to the floor, lifeless.
"No..." Sophia huffed from one knee. She would never have said she was fond of Jamie, not by any stretch, but regardless of his past actions, he had tried to fight for her, and died as a result. And she did not want to see anyone dying on her behalf. Even him.
The axeman, however, did not seem to care, lumbering forward silently, while Sophia remained on a knee. Either he believed her to be trying to catch her breath, or he was slowed by his injuries, because his next overhead punch came much too slow, and Sophia was able to dodge under it before it came. Planting her food hard, she lunged back and stabbed her knife right into the back of his knee, forcing him down lower with a grunt of pain. She wasted no further time, jumping up from a stationary position and slamming the blade down into the top of his skull. From the way he instantly went limp, she knew he was dead, and she let the knife go, allowing him to topple over onto his face.
Breathing heavily, Sophia dropped to her knees, situating herself beside the shortsword at the axeman's hip, beginning the painstaking work of cutting through her thick rope bonds with it.
Lia narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't see why everyone's just assuming... fine, yeah, I can pick them if I have to. I'll try the keys first, though." Dairren appeared unconcerned with accidentally tripping on a point of racial tension, instead adjusting his grip and getting used to the weight of the new blade in his hand.
"Ready?"
Lucien nodded shortly, and when the door opened, he was the first one through, allowing Lia and Dairren to follow at their best opportunity. As promised, there were guards beyond the door, though they were clearly unprepared for what greeted them. Lucienâs movements were unconscious, more the memory of his muscle than any effort to strategize on his part, though his training lent them a fluidity that was far from mechanical. The guard in front raised a sword, but Lucien deflected it to the side with his own, then drove his elbow, since he couldnât use his hand, into the manâs windpipe, hitting hard enough to break his collarbones. That put him out for long enough that the remaining two could be dealt with, and heâd have not the air to raise an alarm.
Bereft of his armor, heâd reverted to moving a lot more than he usually did in a straightforward combat situation, making surprisingly little noise for one not especially inclined to stealth. His face remained set into a grim line as he swung the stolen sword in a horizontal arc, slicing deep into the second manâs neck. He didnât follow through far enough to decapitate him, because it was, at present, a waste of time. Instead, he yanked the sword out, and the body collapsed to the ground, the half-severed head lolling grotesquely to the side. The sword, swiftly diverted, sheathed itself in the third manâs chest, puncturing a lung so that he, too, had no ability to cry out. That one slumped forward against the blade, and Lucien raised a foot, planting it in his chest and casting him off the sword, driving it finally down to end the slowly-fading life of the first.
He glanced back behind him for a moment, presumably to ensure that the others were still following, then bent down, noting that the first man had an entire ring of keys on his belt. There were several more doors in this hallway alone, though as Quinn had said before, this seemed the best area of the complex in which to keep captives, so it stood to reason that they were all nearby. Tossing the key ring to Lia, he spoke softly.
âThere should be enough keys here for most of these doors.â There wasn't much time to say more, though, because the guards further down the hall had caught sight of what was happening, and at least one was heading away from them, probably to raise an alarm. Tightening his grip on the hilt of the dead man's blade, Lucien started forward to meet the rest. If he could push them back past the line of cells, it would be a lot easier for Lia to free the others quickly.
The first door on Liaâs right opened obediently once she found the right key, and swung open only to reveal Estella on the other side of it, scowling at what appeared to be a bent hairpin of some kind. âCanât get anything right,â she muttered under her breath, but despite the words, she and her cellmate Donnelly were both completely free of restraints somehow. She quickly glanced up, and, seeing Lia, her face broke into a smile.
âOh, thank the Maker youâre all right,â she breathed, surging upwards to her feet. She looked for a moment as though she wanted to say more, but the noise of battle outside stymied any further celebration at the realization. âDonnelly, theyâre here. Letâs go.â
âGood tâ see you, Lia,â he added with a grin, but it fell back into a more serious expression when he followed the two young women out of his confinement. Fortunately, at this point, there were enough dead Coterie men and women for the two of them to arm themselves decently, and Lucien and Dairren had pushed the line of incoming foes back past the last of the cell doors, for the moment.
The sounds of approaching guards had swiftly become that of a rather pitched battle, and it wasnât too difficult to infer what was going on outside. At least one of the other pairs of their friends had gotten loose, and the Coterie had noticed. Nostarielâs eyes widened, and she moved quickly behind Ashton. âHold still.â With a bit of effort considering the height difference, she managed to face back-to-back with him and take the chain between his shackles in her hands. Considering that it wasnât her own bonds and her hands could move a bit now, she was able to concentrate the heat of her magic in one of the links of that chain. âOkay, now pull!â With luck, heâd be able to snap the weakened link, and find some way or another to pick the lock on hers or something. Worst case scenario, she supposed she could fight like this until they found a key.
It didn't pop immediately, but on the third jerk the link finally broke in half and freed his hands. Ashton spent a moment rotating his shoulders, but not a second longer before turning eyes toward Nostariel's cuffs. He pretended to not see the bruises developing on her arms and decided to instead focus on her bonds instead. Taking them in his hands he quickly inspected them and said, "It wouldn't be too hard if I just had... " He trailed off as he looked up. He reached out toward her hair and plucked one of her hair pins, "This."
He bent the tip slightly and slipped it into the keyhole for the cuffs. It didn't take too long before a click was heard and Nostariel's hands were free.
Nostariel hissed softly as the shackles came off, bringing her arms around to her front with considerable pain considering what theyâd just been through. She rubbed at them for a few seconds, infusing a little healing into the touch to ease the pain and slow the formation of bruising. She wasnât sure they had the time for much else, though, and it turned out she was rightâthough not precisely in the way she expected. There was a slight sound right at their doorâbarely audible over what was going on outsideâand sheâd lit some offensive magic in her hands and stepped in front of Ashton by the time it swung open to reveal not an enemy but friends.
The Warden breathed a sigh of relief. âThank goodness.â Lia was among them, which was wonderful news, but only if they made it out of here alive. Right now, she was worried about Sophiaâthere was no way this had gone unnoticed, and her friend was still a hostage, making her in some sense even more vulnerable than the rest of them, who could at least fight to survive. Reaching out, she gave Ashtonâs hand a slight squeeze, then headed out the door.
"Behind you," Ashton told Nostariel, following her out the door. He did, however, pause a moment to give Lia a small side hug, and said "That's my girl." The relief in his voice was palpable.
"Someone had to save the day," Lia said, quietly enough that she expected only Ashton would hear it. They were actually the first words she'd said since the fighting in the hall had begun. Her focus had been fully on freeing the others, so that Lucien would have some help in holding the line. Now that everyone was free of their team, it was becoming increasingly apparent to the Coterie that they could not stay here, and that their chances of simply forcing the captives back into their restraints was long gone.
A shout went up, and they began a disorganized retreat, several of them being immediately cut down from behind before they could get away. "They're fleeing to the main room," Dairren said, not immediately pressing. "Watch for archers." He then stooped to snatch a dying Coterie man, one that was lightly armored, and hauled him to his feet, turning him around and beginning to walk forward with him. The first two arrows from the archers on the raised platform thudded into their comrade's chest, the meat shield working effectively to protect Quinn.
Even from her makeshift cell deep in the mine, Sophia could tell that something had happened above. The guards left her door, sounds of shouts carried down, and then screams and the noises of pitched battle. Someone had gotten loose. Sophia's heart jumped, though she worried someone else might fall trying to get to her. She would just have to trust them. Jamie seemed to notice it as well, looking up as though he could see through solid rock from where he kneeled.
"Insolent cretins!" Miranda suddenly shouted, just beyond the door. She kicked it open with her boot, storming in and moving over to where Sophia was forced to sit. The hooded brute of an axeman followed in behind her, looking back to watch to their rear. "If I have to parade you before them a dozen times with a knife to your throat, I will do it. Might even spill a little blood, so they understand. You're a tough woman, no?" She reached her knife forward, slicing the rope that bound Sophia to the wall, leaving her hands still bound together, but free.
No sooner had she than Jamie let loose a battle cry, somewhat pitiful when compared to others, but likely the best he could muster, as he jumped directly onto Miranda's back, throwing his bound hands over her head and trying to choke her. Immediately the pair went to the ground, and the knife slipped from Miranda's hand, falling to the floor. Sophia was quickest on the reaction, snatching the weapon up and holding it in both hands, before she scrambled to her feet. Her first thought was to stab Miranda, and she lunged for her, trying to strike the blade into her side.
The axeman reached her first, however, ramming his meaty shoulder into her upper back, sending Sophia sprawling forward face down to the ground. Miranda managed to squirm out of Jamie's clutches and get to her feet. To say she looked flustered would have been an understatement. Upon seeing Sophia still in possession of the knife, she backed out of the room entirely. "Subdue them! Restrain them! Now!" She shut the door behind her, and ran.
Stuck in the room now with the axeman between her and the door, Sophia got to her feet and held the little knife out. His axe remaining on his back, the brute cracked his knuckles together and waited for them to make a move. Sophia was just about to, when Jamie took a step in front of her.
"Stay behind me!" He held out his hands as if to hold her back, which Sophia regarded a moment with incredulity. She then shoved him to the side, thankfully not to the ground, and returned her attention to her large enemy.
Jamie seemed to take the hint, and tried to attack the moment he saw Sophia rush for one side. The axeman reached out and grabbed Jamie by the neck in one hand, stopping his aggression cold, though what he'd even planned to do was unclear. For Sophia the brute lashed out with a backhanded strike of his other hand, which she ducked under, lunging in and stabbing the knife into the side of his gut. He reacted enough to let go of Jamie, who stumbled back and coughed heavily. That hand then came across and caught Sophia in the cheek.
Stars swirled in her vision as she turned and stumbled away, falling painfully onto her hip after two steps. By the time she'd rolled onto her back the brute had reached her, about to reach down and either seize her by the hair or neck, or try and wrench her blade away. She didn't find out which, as Jamie performed yet another brave attack from behind, leaping on the man's back as soon as he stooped over, squeezing around the neck as tightly as he could.
That seemed to have some effect, as the axeman immediately stood back upright, his hands going to grab Jamie's arms, a gurgling sound escaping his throat as he tried to breathe. Pushing to her feet, Sophia rushed forward and jammed the knife into his unarmored torso, first into the gut, then back out and into the chest. It seemed impossible for him to just shrug off the wounds, but he'd more or less ignored an arrow to the neck earlier.
He was driven back all the way to the wall, at which point it became clear that he was driving himself back, when he slammed Jamie's back into the rock, causing him to cry out weakly as a few of his ribs undoubtedly cracked. His grip slackened on the brute's throat, at which point he freed his hands to deal with Sophia again. Her next stab he caught by grabbing onto her arm before she could reach him. Unwillingly she was pulled in a step, a punch landing to her abdomen, doubling her over, before another came, in the form of an uppercut.
He let her fly then, a moment of weightlessness taking her over before the hard floor came up to meet her back. The axeman huffed a tired breath, before removing Jamie from his back like he was some kind of fleshy cloak. The much smaller man struggled while Sophia worked to return to her feet. He could not break free before the brute decided he'd had enough, and brought both hands up to Jamie's head. With a quick twist, Jamie's neck snapped, and he dropped to the floor, lifeless.
"No..." Sophia huffed from one knee. She would never have said she was fond of Jamie, not by any stretch, but regardless of his past actions, he had tried to fight for her, and died as a result. And she did not want to see anyone dying on her behalf. Even him.
The axeman, however, did not seem to care, lumbering forward silently, while Sophia remained on a knee. Either he believed her to be trying to catch her breath, or he was slowed by his injuries, because his next overhead punch came much too slow, and Sophia was able to dodge under it before it came. Planting her food hard, she lunged back and stabbed her knife right into the back of his knee, forcing him down lower with a grunt of pain. She wasted no further time, jumping up from a stationary position and slamming the blade down into the top of his skull. From the way he instantly went limp, she knew he was dead, and she let the knife go, allowing him to topple over onto his face.
Breathing heavily, Sophia dropped to her knees, situating herself beside the shortsword at the axeman's hip, beginning the painstaking work of cutting through her thick rope bonds with it.