As she darted through the entrance to the fort, Allison found her four friends backed against one of the inside walls, the previously bored-looking guard brandishing his sword at them. They had their hands raised in front of them in submission, but the man didn’t seem likely to grant them mercy. Unsure what to do, she reached for the mace hanging from a strap on her belt. It had more heft to it than one would expect from foam-wrapped PVC pipe. Instinctively, she crossed the distance and swung it with all her strength at the back of the guard’s head. It made a sickening smack that reminded her of the time she and some other kids got together after Halloween to crush jack-o’-lanterns with baseball bats. The guard heaved forward and landed at the feet of his captives.
The four froze for a moment, looking back and forth between Allison and the crumpled body lying still in front of them. The back of the guard’s head was crushed in, and fluid leaked out. He was clearly not breathing. He was clearly dead.
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god” was all that Allison could bring herself to say. Her knees buckled beneath her, and TJ stepped forward to hold her up. Their eyes connected, and she saw in his something she had never seen before: a sense of knowledge, or perhaps understanding, that hadn’t been there at school the day before.
But there was no time for that. Breaking eye contact, Allison looked around to find the inside of the compound consisted of a half-dozen or so separate buildings, several with smoke drifting lazily from chimneys. A central path led from the entrance toward a garden against the back wall. The other three had moved away from the opening in the wall to put the bulk of the nearest building between them and the rest of the compound. With Allison leaning against TJ’s shoulder, the two staggered away from the fort’s entrance to join their friends, who waited against the inside of the palisade wall.
Once there, with his free hand, TJ reached for the air horn they had been given in case of emergencies. When it was securely in his grasp, he raised it to his mouth and blew with all his might. The horn rang out for several seconds before he pulled it from his lips in bewilderment. Rather than finding what the judge had given him, he grasped an actual horn of some animal, its closed end carved into a mouthpiece. In response to the sound, rough voices from deeper inside the compound called out in confusion.
Springing into action, Stu reached to grab his bow off his back and was curiously unsurprised to discover that it was no longer a piece of fiberglass but rather a long, curved piece of yew with a well-waxed string. Without thinking, he leaned into the wood, stringing the bow smoothly. He raised it with one hand and drew an arrow from his quiver with a smooth motion.
Stepping back out through the palisade gate, he pulled back the nocked arrow to his cheek and scanned for more enemies. The archer who had shot Simon was waiting for just such an opportunity, and let fly. The missile flew toward Stu, but an errant breeze blew it off course, and it embedded in the wall to his right.
Sounds of other brigands coming to investigate floated across the wind, but Stu ignored them. Instead, he tracked the arrow’s trajectory to the archer in the woods and released his own string. His arrow sped across the clearing and hit the archer in his neck, just above his studded leather chest piece. The brigand reached up to stanch the flow of his lifeblood as he fell slowly to his knees. Then he slumped dead to the ground. Stu calmly turned toward the center of the compound, drew a second arrow, and set it to flight just as quickly. It too found its mark, catching one of their enemies in the chest as he turned a corner, sword raised to charge. Pivoting, he shot again, and his third arrow found the sentry who had been patrolling the compound’s exterior. Drawing yet another, Stu strode deeper into the compound and around a corner with a look of determination on his face.
Jimmy had unslung his sword from its harness. Six feet of wickedly sharpened serpentine steel glinted in front of him, and he swung it experimentally several times. It felt as if he’d been born with it in his hand, as if it were designed for him personally. He let out a whoop and shouted, “Come and git some!” Chuck, with a look of anxiety on his face, followed behind his larger friend and disappeared from Allison’s view.
Three brigands who had come to investigate the shouting saw Jimmy charging at them and turned to look for somewhere to run. One ran left, one ran right, and the third just stood there as Jimmy bore down on him. The man drew his sword and held it in front of him, but the look on his face made it clear he was more used to harassing peasants than facing off against other trained fighters.
Jimmy swung his sword high, putting the entire weight of his body behind the strike. The blow was deflected to the side, but the impact drove his opponent backward a step. As Jimmy’s follow-through spun him full circle, he brought the sword down low, slicing just under the brigand’s raised sword. The magically sharp blade parted his foe’s armor like a hot knife through butter, and a bright red line appeared across the villain’s midsection. He dropped his sword with a grunt and doubled over, his hands trying desperately to hold his wound closed. Jimmy followed the slice with a boot to the head, and the man crumpled to the ground. With a laugh, he turned left and sprinted after one of the runners.
Allison was still shaken. Her legs had given out completely, and she was huddling against the wall with her arms around her knees, TJ’s arm around her shoulders. Looking up, she saw two figures approaching them quickly and gave a little gasp of surprise. TJ looked up, and a glint appeared in his eye. He casually reached into the pouch where he kept his spellcasting beanbags and withdrew a small packet, unsurprised to find that it wasn’t, in fact, a beanbag. He gave it a quick smell and nodded. The wizard uttered a short incantation and tossed the spell reagent lightly into the air. It burst into flames, and when he flicked his hand it flew across the distance to the approaching figures. The ball of fire struck the man on the left and exploded brightly, momentarily blinding both Allison and TJ. When their vision cleared, there was nothing left of either of the brigands, save some burned clothing and the smell of cooked meat.
TJ smiled. “That felt awesome!”
“Oh yeah? Well, that was my brother,” came a deep voice from their left. One of the bandits had been hiding in the building and stepped toward them, brandishing a wicked-looking dagger.
TJ fumbled desperately with his pouch as he tried to withdraw the reagents needed for another spell. The man grinned wolfishly as he closed the distance between them in two steps. “Tell me how awesome this feels,” he growled, and thrust his dagger into TJ’s chest. The robe provided no protection whatsoever and the blade slid in between two ribs, puncturing a lung. TJ gave a cry of pain and slumped over, the dagger protruding from his chest. His breath grew raspy and he coughed twice, blood and saliva dribbling from between his lips.
Allison stared in horror as her best friend collapsed by her side. She looked up at the man who had stabbed him, fury in her eyes. He met her gaze casually and reached to his belt to draw another dagger. “Well, aren’t you a pretty one? I might find a use or two for you,” he said, leering. “But first, let’s put an end to this one, OK?” He bent over with the new dagger in his hand, ready to slit TJ’s throat.
“No!” Allison shouted, and thrust her arms forward, palms outstretched. A surge of power welled up within her, and the next thing she knew, the man was writhing on the ground, clutching his chest in pain. She scrambled up and reached for her mace, which fit snugly in her hand. “No!” she shouted again, swinging the weapon with all her strength and bringing it down on his torso. The sound of ribs cracking filled the air, and the man’s arms flailed once. She brought the mace down a second time into his face, crushing his nose and cheekbones and putting an end to him once and for all.