There wasn't time to dodge, but I wouldn't just stand there and let it hit me. As I jumped to the side, Claire grabbed me and rushed along the wall with an insane burst of speed. The others moved beside us as we cleared the area not a moment too soon.

The ball erupted as it crashed into the battlements. The heat was intense even from where we now stood as a wave of force blasted past us. If we hadn’t noticed its approach, not a single one of us would have survived the impact. Claire dropped me to the wall and turned to face the devastation. I could see her wince in pain, but she quickly covered it up and gave me a smile.

She took the hit to save me...

“What the hell was that. How did they get a practitioner with the skill to launch that?” John muttered from behind. Susan took a deep breath as she leaned against the wall, which caught his attention instantly. It was obvious she hadn’t yet healed fully, a fact that could be easily blamed on Ray's machinations.

“It’s not possible, not with the mana density of this zone.” Susan spoke between deep breaths as she leant on the wall. “If I had to guess, they burnt a rare artefact’s power up and lobbed it at us. Who would waste something so valuable for such a weak effect?”

Claire had been healed, so why is Susan still injured? Is it the poison that Bryan mentioned?

“How did they know we were there?” Bryan turned to the group. He kept an eye on the forest as though he expected another attack at any moment. Susan took another breath before she forced herself up.

“We only told one person where we would be meeting you. There’s no chance anyone could have seen us from the forest without prior warning.” Susan glanced at John, who had his fist clenched on the wall so hard it had turned white.

“It was Ray.” He said through gritted teeth. “He met us when we were on our way up here. He asked what the problem was, so I told him Rook wanted to speak to us.”

The rest of the group turned to me. They didn’t show any blame, but their faces were also stretched tight. It was clear they didn’t know how to react to the betrayal as each person fought their way through the dilemma.

“We should challenge him.” John said decisively as he turned towards the nearest stairway. The one we had used was now a pile of slag, so the only other choice was the one at the next entrance along. It was either that, or we could try to leap onto the roof nearby and from there onto the street.

Sounds of panic came from the street below. The impact had been deafening, which drew the attention of everyone in town. If they couldn’t tell the town was under attack, they were stupid. As John was moved to walk off along the wall, Bryan caught him and pulled him back.

“Challenge with what, exactly? Who would believe us with such flimsy evidence?”

“What else do you want us to do? Should we pretend he didn’t just try to kill us, Bryan?” John shot back as he tried to pull out of Bryan’s grasp. The group fell into a heated argument as I glanced over the battlements. A wave of people had fled the fields and had crowded around the gateway below. The guards let them through without a pause, but a large number still remained outside.

Why are they running into a town that’s under attack?

My question was answered a moment later as a wave of people walked out of the forest. Their numbers swelled by the second as more figures moved out of the shadows and lined up on the edge of the fields. Their formation wasn’t neat, but the number of troops was nothing to sniff at.

“Guys, we have a problem.” I pulled the others out of their discussion and pointed to the massed forces. “Those would be the bandits, right?”

“They are. How did they get so many recruits.” Claire stared down at the army which had started its approach. The tide of people entering the town increased its urgency as they fought to get into the relative safety of the walls. No more barrages were launched, which proved that Susan’s guess was correct. Whatever they had used to launch the first attack was had been used up to fire the warning shot.

Warning shots usually weren’t aimed to kill, however.

Lines of guards ran up each of the stairways onto the wall. Several used ladders to make their way up due to the loss of one staircase, but we didn’t seize the chance to leave just yet. For now, we would have to stay put and see how things played out.

“Claire, good to see you.”

A guard stepped out of the crowd to meet us. Her armour had been designed with a little more care than her comrades, which hinted that she might be of significant rank. The fact she greeted Claire with such a friendly tone proved two things.

One: She trusted Claire and was happy she was there to help.

Two: She didn’t know about the attempted assassination that had just occurred.

“Hello, Lieutenant.” Claire nodded to the woman before she turned back to the troops in the distance. “Were the guards aware of this beforehand?”

“If we were, do you think it would have happened at all?” The woman shook her head and turned to her troops. “Keep your spacing wide, watch for further ranged attacks! Archers, ready your bows! Do not fire until I give the order!”

We watched as the lieutenant gave her troops various orders. Once the guards had been positioned to her liking she turned back to us.

“Have you seen the captain. He really should be the one leading us. If he doesn’t turn it up, it will really hurt our morale.”

Our group shared a look before Bryan turned to answer her.

“I haven’t seen him since we met in his office.” He said curtly. His response was true, which helped cover the fact that her superior had tried to have us killed. If he didn’t show his face it might hurt their morale a little, but the fact their captain was a traitor would destroy every shred they had left.

“I’m sure he’ll turn up soon. He’s probably bringing reinforcements from the guild.” The lieutenant turned to face the bandit army. Three people had walked out of the mass and had approached the wall. They moved into range of the bows, but no one fired on them just yet. All three of them wore nondescript clothes and a featureless mask.

just like Ray’s mask… oh no.

“Claire, are you still alive?”

Claire poked her head over the battlements as the voice echoed up. The guards shifted from foot to foot as they heard the voice. All of them had an idea of who had spoken to them, but the truth was too hard to bear, so they ignored it. Claire wasn’t as happy to go along with the charade, however.

“Why did you do this, Ray. We were friends. I trusted you.”

The guards murmured to each other as they heard their captain's name. The man shook his head and pulled off his mask, once and for all revealing the true face of the army's leader. Ray stared up at us, his face expressionless as he walked closer to the wall.

“It’s a shame, you should have run the other way.” Ray shook his head and pulled out a torch from his belt. He flicked the tip, which sparked a small flame, and raised it above his head.

“Get off the wall!” The lieutenant yelled out. The guards turned to face her in confusion before they spread away from us. Claire grabbed me and leapt back into the town without hesitation. The last thing I saw was Bryan, John and Susan as they leapt off behind us.

The wall disappeared as a pillar of fire rose into the sky. I barely had time to register what had just happened before we crashed into the roof of a house below the wall and I blacked out from the impact.

Sounds of battle woke me from my slumber. It took me several seconds to pull myself out of the rubble, but as my thoughts pushed themselves back on track I remembered what had happened.

Ray lit the torch, we jumped off the wall, it exploded. He had planned this in advance and we were unlucky enough to be at the place he had prepared. Claire had saved my life once again…

Wait, where is she?

I remembered the jump from the wall, but after we hit the roof I had lost consciousness. All I could see were piles of rubble. It looked like we had crashed through several floors before we landed on the ground. Luckily, the house we landed on had been relatively fragile, so the roof had broken under our weight. That had cushioned the impact a little, but the fact I was mostly unharmed was a concern.

I pulled at the nearby piles of rubble frantically. Claire had saved me, but she had also put herself in danger. I remembered the spin she had done in mid-air, which had positioned her under me before we crashed into the house. Even though she was heavily armoured, it wouldn’t help much against such a fall.

“…Rook.”

A weak moan came from under a collapsed table. After the rocks had been cleared I pulled it aside the find the dust-covered woman. She smiled up at me, but a thin trail of blood leaked down her side.

“Quick, drink this.” I pulled out my last potion and tipped it down her lips. She tried to fight against it, but in her weakened state, I managed to overpower her. After she had drunk the entire bottle I tossed it away and pulled a few more pieces of rubble from her chest.

Her armour was dented, but still usable. The potion would be enough to bring her back from the brink, but I knew she would need to go back to the treatment centre. If she stayed out here any weak bandit would be enough to put her out of commission.

“Come on, we need to leave.” I said as I pulled her upright. She grit her teeth against the pain and leant her weight on my shoulder. As we walked out towards the exit, the door opened before we could reach it.

“Hello, Claire. I see you’re with our guest.” Ray smiled at us as he drew his sword. “I’m going to have to ask you to stand aside.”