The guard looked down at the gauntleted fingers that held his symbolic scrap of fabric like it was an insect in need of crushing.
“It’s the symbol of the Unswerving Shadows,” the guard said. “Like we were told to sew on yesterday.” He looked around at us. “Haven’t any of you done it yet?”
I muttered a curse under my breath.
The guard looked back at Ganyir’s hand. “Who are you, anyway? I don’t remember seeing you around before.”
Ganyir pushed his hood back, revealing eyes that shone with fury. “Recognize me now?” he asked.
The guard’s mouth hung open. Others took longer to respond, but when they did, there were gasps and shuffling feet. I wanted to grab Ganyir and knock some fucking sense into him, but doing so would only further blow our cover. I shouldn’t have expected the lord would be able to keep his cool when surrounded by traitors.
“How dare you bear this filth into our ancient citadel?” Ganyir ripped the black triangle off the man’s robes and flung it on the floor. “This is meant to be our safe haven, and you have brought in the blight that threatens our whole land. You cower behind the walls your ancestors built even as you bow down to those bringing their land to waste.”
I could say this much for the guard: he wasn’t a coward. He looked his lord straight in the eyes and took a step back.
“The Straight Path is the righteous path,” he said. “We will burn out the weakness that you have allowed to fester, and we will restore Gonki to its former glory. The provinces of the empire will fear the Granite Legions once more.”
He drew a two-handed mace with impressive speed but not as impressive as Ganyir. The Lord of the Gonki caught the haft of the soldier’s weapon as it came down and held it there, a foot from his head, while the guard futilely pressed with all his strength.
Some of the other warriors were drawing their weapons, but many looked uncertain.
“Get in here, you idiots!” the gate guard shouted.
“That’s Lord Gonki!” one of them replied. “I don’t want to die.”
“Targin is Lord Gonki,” the gate guard said.
“Targin is dead,” Ganyir replied. He placed his other hand on the haft of the mace and started to twist.
“Even if that’s true, Saruqin lives,” the guard called out. “And what will he do to you if you fail the cult now?”
That made up their minds. The wavering warriors drew their weapons and charged.
The closest had stood with the guard from the beginning, and they immediately attacked members of my little band. But others were coming in, and if I wanted to avoid them outnumbering us, I needed to do something to stop them.
I sank to one knee and slammed my fist into the packed dirt of the courtyard while I channeled Vigor along my earth pathways. The magic flowed through me and exploded into the ground, where it became a rippling wave of dirt and rock. The Ground Strike slammed into the approaching warriors and threw them from their feet. One hit the wall with a wet crunch and slid limply to the floor. Others landed on their backs with groans of pain and twisted limbs or saw their weapons flung from their hands.
I drew upon the power of water and coated myself in Frozen Armor, ready to fight. Fallen guards were stumbling to their feet and more were running out of a door at the back of the courtyard. Combining the earth and water I’d just used, I triggered a Mud Geyser. The mud fountained up out of the courtyard where the warriors were emerging. They were scattered and flung about, blinded by sprays of sticky mud. As they tried to find their bearings, I charged.
I cut the first down with the Sundered Heart Sword before he even knew I was there. The next had just wiped the mud from his eyes and had a second to blink at me in confusion before I ran him through with the flaming blade. I pulled it free and turned to see a hugely muscled warrior bearing down, swinging a massive warhammer.
With a leap, I dodged clear of the attack, and the hammer smashed into the ground. Its head became so buried in the packed dirt that the warrior had to stop and heave to get it free. I didn’t give him the chance to finish. My blade came down trailing flames and sliced both hands off at the wrist. He staggered back screaming and staring at the blackened stumps.
The others were making swift work of the guards by the gate. Ganyir had snapped the gate guard’s mace in two, then beaten him to a pulpy mess with his armored hands. Kumi and Vesma had cut down the opponents nearest them, while Kegohr and the initiates dealt with those coming from the sides. Tahlis popped in and out of sight, disappearing into the ground and reappearing wherever enemies weren’t looking to catch them with sudden spear strikes.
One last warrior charged at me with a two-handed sword swinging. I parried his first attack, but the sheer force of the second got past my defenses and gouged a chunk out of the ice protecting my leg. The warrior parried a blow from my sword, but I was ready with my off-hand and blasted him with Untamed Torch. My technique left a basketball-sized hole in his stomach, and I could see the wall behind him through it. He stumbled back before his body gave out, crumpling to the floor.
In less than two minutes, we had cleared the courtyard of all opponents. Our entry into the colossal fortress was assured.
Then came more movement. Three figures in long, black robes emerged on a balcony high above us at the back of the courtyard. Their faces were shrouded in shadow, but their movements spoke to a sinister purpose. These had to be priests of the cult.
They raised their hands and started chanting.
All around the courtyard,
