Nameless: Group Two

[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

The long sloped roof of the Mages Guild may have let Nessa and Drisana decrease the distance of the drop back to street level, but it was the conveniently located water wheel that was powered by the nearby stream which ran along the back of the structure that let them descend safely.

The girls silently agreed that staying in the open was a bad idea and quickly moved back into the cover of the ruined town, putting as much distance as they could between them and the building they just escaped from while keeping a low profile as to not attract the attention of the trolls or winged lions still patrolling the area.

Turning around a bend they suddenly ran into three armed humans whose tattered robes and damaged armor were also covered in blood and gore. The woman in scale mail with the two handed sword was clearly the leader as she was flanked by a barbaric, dim witted looking fellow on one side and a timid, middle aged priest on the other.

After the brief moment of surprise, Drisana found her voice and whispered "We're what's left of group eight." The knight looked over them briefly and nodded. "We are group two; you're with us now. I'm Tabitha, the surly one is Rex and this..."

"This is not a good time for introductions," interrupted the priest in a loud whisper.

Tabitha sighed. "This is Father Tom's first outing," she explained slowly - much to his annoyance. "I assume it was you who destroyed the summoning gem atop the Mages Guild?"

The girls nodded, puzzled how Tabitha would know about the gem. Seeing this, she explained "We helped take care of the one at the barracks. It's just the one at the cathedral left."

"Then let's finish this," muttered Nessa grimly.

With a curt nod, Tabitha signalled the team into single file as she took point and began the run towards the old Dranner cathedral on the hill.

Nameless: Dranner

[Day 31 of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

Finally, with Maeve on the point of exhaustion from expending her magic, the team cleared the mist covered forest and found themselves in what was left of the town of Dranner. Most buildings had been extensively damaged, with some reduced to piles of rubble. Strange shapes moved across distant intersections and inhuman calls and bellows filled the night air. Kiefer preferred not to run into any of these things by surprise and opted to keep the team moving stealthily through the shadows. Delmair, who was recovering quickly from his run in with the spirits, stopped Kiefer suddenly as they walked passed another run down hovel.

"There's someone in there," he whispered without taking his eyes off what he was looking at. It took Drisana's eyes a little while to adjust before also seeing the scared little face hiding beneath some rocks. Realizing he was seen, the face vanished deeper into the house - though it didn't look like there was much more of it to run into. Quietly, Kiefer signalled the rest to moved in to investigate while he and Delmair watched the door. Maeve decided to risk a faint light spell so they could better see who they were after: a frightened little boy, whose face was covered in soot. 

"Easy there," said Drisana calmly. "We're not going to hurt you. What's your name?"

"Buggie," said the child after a short moment of hesitation. "It's what my friends called me since I collected bugs."

"What happened here?" asked Nessa, without the slightest hint of compassion in her voice. Drisana gave her a disapproving look.

"Strange visitors came," Buggie said quietly. "They gave the Mayor a heavy bag, asked for a tour of the town. Later these three lights appeared - one on top of the mages guild tower, one at a lookout at the town barracks, and one at the highest bell of the cathedral. Soon after the monsters came. They began eating everyone... and..."

Buggie's voice choked as he began to sob uncontrollably.

"Did those visitors wear robes with a shaded star symbol on it?" asked Nessa to which Buggie nodded, confirming that these strangers were at least dressed like Shadowstar cultists.

"It's alright now," Drisana said as she hugged the little boy.

"Uh, not quite," said Kiefer as he and Delmair backed into the room. Towering ahead of them were two large, green humanoid with warty skin, frizzy, filthy hair, and angular yellow teeth. Trolls.

Nameless: Cold Touch

[Day 30 of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

Florin's plan involved the thirty odd troops separating into eight smaller groups to approach the city of Dranner from all directions in hopes that this would increase their odds of catching the enemy unprepared. While Drisana questioned the logic in this, at least she was still grouped up with Nessa and Kiefer. Their fourth member, a tall and pale woman named Maeve seemed inappropriately dressed for such a venture wearing simple red garments that matched her hair but there was no point in arguing attire now. Their team, "Group Eight" was to approach the city from the farthest side, which cost them even more travel time as they rode for most of the day to their instructed position.

Finally, at dusk did they begin pushing forward into the Dranner forest but since it was so overgrown they had to dismount their horses and continue on foot. As a cold mist began to settle around them Drisana felt uneasy as they pushed deeper, especially as the horses began to fight violently against their leads. Unable to calm them, Kiefer instructed the team to unsaddle them instead at let them go. After all, he had recharged his teleporting amulet if anything goes wrong. Drisana certainly felt remorse about using hers as part of the fare to travel across the sea at that point but quickly put the thought from her mind as ghostly faces began appearing in the fog.

Clearly she wasn't the only one seeing it as Nessa began hacking at the air, her blade finding nothing solid to make contact with. Suddenly a shimmering blue light emanated from behind them, pushing back the fog. It was Maeve, holding up what looked like a short wand that she had kept hidden in a sleeve. "Keep going," she urged and with her magic protecting them they managed to navigate the forest quicker, as if even the trees and branches were moving out of their path.

Eventually they stumbled across a clearing with four other bodies, one of whom was rocking back and forth in a fetal position. Nessa checked the other people first and found that each once was dead and ice cold to the touch. "You there," Kiefer called out to the fourth man. Hearing his voice, the blonde man stopped his motion and slowly raised his head - a clear look of relief on his face.

"Who are you?" Drisana asked as she quickly threw her thick cloak on the shivering survivor.

"I... I am Delmair... l..last m...member of group s...six."

"It's the spirits," explained Maeve to her other companions. "The faces in the mist. If they get their cold arms around you it's not long before you join them."

"You're with us now Delmair," said Kiefer as he knelt beside the man. "We still have a mission to complete."

Nameless: Florin

[Day 28 of Blaugust 2015!]
[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

A few weeks after their foray into the sewers, Drisana and Nessa were once again summoned to the Peacekeeper's office. The last time they had been there was when they received their reward stipend for alerting the Peacekeepers to the danger beneath the city. A large force of them along members of other units, guilds and mercenaries were assembled and raided the underground to cleanse it of all evil, and most probably treasure, but the girls decided to sit it out - having had enough bloodshed and enough gold to get by comfortably, for a while anyway. Curious as to what more the Peacekeepers wanted with them, they hesitantly returned to the main headquarters in the city square. A familiar face opened the door for them as they arrived.

"Nice to see you survived," Drisana said to Buster, his once mangled arm now in a cast. The bald man smiled as he ushered them in. Kiefer appeared beside him from a side door and gave them both a quick bow. "Did you miss me ladies?" he asked with a smirk.

"In your dreams, Kiefer. Why are we here?" asked Nessa, once again getting right to the point.

"Because I summoned you," replied another man further in with long, black hair. He stood an entire head taller than Kiefer and judging from his uniform was of much higher rank. "I am Commander Florin. Please take a seat."

After they all got settled, the commander continued. "While the threat to our city has been removed, it seems the plans of the Shadowstar cult extended farther - including our neighbouring city of Dranner. My scouts have reported that the entire city has been over run by horrible creatures, seemingly being drawn there by some malevolent power. We need to find whatever is controlling these beasts and put an end to it now, before there are too many to contend with."

"You want us to go there..." began Drisana.

"Yes! By all accounts the two of you have the most experience in fighting the cult so far and I would like all the expertise I can muster to keep my troops safe. Do you know how many men died cleaning out the ruins below? Only a third of the entire expedition made it back, and half of those are going back in to defend the yet unexplored deep roads that connect to the underground ruin. Quite frankly we are short on time and man power. The two of you helped save this city once, I am simply asking that you do it again while there is a city still left to save. If money is what you care about then I can assure you it will be worth your while."

Drisana looked at Nessa who also was thinking it over.

Finally, Nessa whispered to her. "It's what Nerith would have done."

Drisana sighed. "Fine, we're in."

The commander smiled. "Excellent. Prepare yourselves and rest well. We will move out at first light."