Chapter twelve
Dean's thoughts were already in motion as the group walked towards the fortress that they would be shortly invading. He smiled broadly at the thought of the assault to come, and was already relishing the plans he had. While Duncan seemed to be motivated by his sympathy for the you boy, Dean simply wanted the job done, and was determined to do it well. His only fear was that Duncan's nature as a caring person would complicate his plan for escape, and that he would be forced to rescue each individual child from the camp on their way out. Nevertheless, Dean decided to stick with his strategy to as much of an extent as possible. His thoughts on the matter were soon shattered as Duncan and Sarah stopped walking.
"Sarah, your head..."
"It's fine," she said dismissively, trying to cover up the bruise that had appeared on her forehead seconds earlier.
"How did you get a bruise? I didn't see anything hit you," Duncan inquired. Dean and Rebecca exchanged a worried glance.
"It's nothing, just... a side effect from a potion I took. I'm fine really," Sarah insisted, as Duncan made repeated attempts to examine it. Eventually he believed her reluctantly, though Dean suspected that he also noticed the small amount of blood that was soaking through Sarah's sleeve.
As the group continued walking, Dean pursued a familiar line of questioning.
"So... Rebecca," He said cautiously.
"Yes Dean," she responded with a scowl.
"Your other, Sarah, is still being a little cross with Duncan... is there any chance that you could talk to her about that?"
"Dean we've discussed this. They can't have a relationship. There are circumstances that you wouldn't understand," she said, looking down at the ground as tears formed in her eyes just thinking about it.
"Oh I understand perfectly," Dean said, "I still think you should make an effort to try and get them back together."
"We're not talking about this," Rebecca responded, breaking eye contact with him, and biting her lip.
"Fine, just make an effort," Dean closed.
Eventually, the rocky terrain evened out to become a flat grassy area again, and the Hutti city came into view. Mikey directed the rest of the group towards the encampment, which was clearly visible considering its towering walls, and ominous looking guard towers. The place looked like a cross between a large jail, and a military base. It was several hours away from dusk, and as Mikey stood staring at the place, the dim light casting shadows on his face, he narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists. His frame trembled slightly, and the rage within him made him seem like a volcano that was moments away from erupting.
"That's it. Let's make camp here, and wait till nightfall."
Dean liked this idea, and as the group began to sit down to eat and rest, their Chi's discussed how they would go about breaking into the fortress.
"I have a plan, but George, I'm going to need you to do recon first," Dean articulated, instantly regretting giving George an opportunity to talk.
"Oh, that's great! I love recon. Did I tell you about the time I infiltrated that castle?"
"Yes," snapped Rebecca, "Hundreds of times, now get going, you have a job to do."
"Right. I'll be back soon, don't worry."
"We won't," Dean and Rebecca said in unison.
"Alright Rebecca, what have you got for me?" Dean said, a smile forming across his face as he thought of the attack that was to come.
"It's actually really good. Sarah and I made four potions. Two of them will increase Duncan's fighting abilities by an incredible amount, and the other two will reverse their effects."
Rebecca seemed genuinely excited about her handiwork, but Dean was still trying to figure out why anyone would want to counteract the effects of a combat boosting potion.
"Why do we need the second two?"
"Well it's kind of hard to explain. One of the potions, the Sanguine potion, will eliminate emotion, augmenting Duncan's abilities to reason, and be tactical. The problem is that if the effects last too long without being reversed, his mind will be temporarily, and maybe even permanently warped. He may lose all of his motivation for things, and without emotion, he could become a threat to anyone around him."
"Okay," Dean said as he was filled with a rush of joy upon hearing the news of the existence of this potion, "Now I can't wait to hear what the other one does."
"It's kind of the opposite," She said, looking a little worried at how much Dean was enjoying the thought of such a dangerous concoction, "instead of taking away all emotion, it takes away fear, uncertainty and even rationality, causing the drinker to become an unstoppable killing machine. Without doubt or fear, he will act solely on instinct, and be faster, stronger, and more agile. If it's effects are not counteracted, Duncan could go on a killing rampage for who knows how long. Make sure you be careful with these potions, they're quite dangerous."
"Right, sure, I'll be careful," Dean said, still enamored with the power she was giving him. She narrowed her eyes and frowned, but didn't say anything further. Dean was almost bursting with excitement, and was already imagining the effects of the potions when George came back with information from his reconnaissance expedition. the whole group then began to form a plan of attack.
Guiding James', hand, George indirectly drew a map of the complex in the dirt. It was surrounded on all four sides with towering walls, which were mostly covered in crossbowmen. To come anywhere near the complex without wearing a Hutti uniform would be suicide in the daytime, and even in the dark it would be risky. Additionally, once inside the fortress, invaders were an easy target for the same guards that roamed the walls. Luckily both James and John proudly asserted that they could take out all of the guards without being spotted, providing about sixty seconds before the people inside would find the bodies and realize they were under attack. During that interval the group would sneak in through a weak spot in the wall, that Mikey pointed out could be breached by some sort of explosive. Once inside, Duncan would take the rest of the blasting powder that Sarah was already making as they planned, and cause a distraction in one of the guard towers. With the guards drawn away from their positions, the others would find May and get out as quickly as possible. The plan was altogether very dangerous, particularly for Duncan, who was the least likely to get out of this alive. Nevertheless, the strategy was unanimously agreed to.
Tension was building steadily in the hearts of everyone as dusk fell, and slowly, they all began to creep closer to the fortress. George began assigning targets to the twins, and everyone else prepared to sprint toward the walls as fast as their Chi's could boost them. Two soft snaps sounded as James and John let loose crossbow bolts into the heads of men most of their companions couldn't even see. They reloaded swiftly, and without hesitation fired again and again until all of the guards were down. At that moment, the energy that had been building inside the whole group burst free, and all of their nervousness was converted to adrenaline. Dean directed a good deal of power into Duncan's legs, allowing him to run at unnatural speeds, and in less than thirty seconds they had all reached the moss covered stone wall. Mikey showed them to the crumbling section of the wall, and Sarah began untying the knot around her bag of blasting powder.
"You might want to cover your ears," She warned, while gingerly pouring the powder into the crevices of the old stones.
She then proceeded to produce two stones from her pocket, and when everyone was a safe distance away, she struck them on each other, flinging several sparks at the powder. The noise slammed into each member of the group like a solid wall, and regardless of how well they covered their ears, all of them lost hearing for a good four seconds. The blast knocked them all on their backs, and it shattered the stones like glass. A large gaping hole stood where a section of wall used to be, providing a convenient archway.
"Duncan, get up, it's time to move," Dean commanded.
"Easy for you to say," Duncan responded as he climbed to his feet, "You weren't the one who just got hit in the face with an explosion."
"Oh don't be such a baby," Said Dean, somewhat glad that Chi's could not be harmed by physical objects. Duncan feigned annoyance, but was actually very happy to have someone to point him in the right direction.
Knowing that soldiers would be everywhere in only moments, the party moved quickly. Sarah handed Duncan the blasting powder, and took one last look into his eyes before they parted.
"Good luck Duncan," She said, her voice faltering.
"I'll be fine," He said, as it began to dawn on him how much danger he was actually in.
"Try not to die," Rebecca told Dean.
"Aren't you sweet," Dean responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
With that, Duncan parted from the rest of the group, and made for the tower walls. As he went, he threw pinches of powder behind him and lit them to provide a distraction from the others. By the time he was on the walls, Dean was ready for the combat he had been anticipating. He shot a large burst of strength and speed into Duncan's first strike, nearly tearing the man Duncan was swinging at in half.
"Calm down, we don't want to waste any power," he advised, still slightly surprised at how easily he killed them man he had attacked.
"Sorry, I got a little excited there."
Duncan met two more enemies before he made it to the tower. One swung a large axe at him, which Dean successfully helped him dodge by improving his agility. He then proceeded to kill the man, only to feel a blade graze his back. Acting quickly he disarmed the man with a flick of his sword, and struck swiftly at his jugular. Duncan touched his back lightly as he ran towards a guard tower, and along with a jolt of pain, noticed that his hand came back covered in warm dark blood. Dean helped him numb the pain, and between that assistance along with adrenaline, he steeled himself to continue.
Duncan finally made it to the tower, and without hesitation poured the entire remaining contents of the bag of powder on the floor. Fumbling with the stones, as he knew he needed to act quickly, Duncan stood a relatively safe distance away from the powder. From outside the door, he sent a spark flying into the pile and caused a plume of flame that was visible from anywhere in the camp. The force of the blast knocked him violently backwards, and small blisters formed on his hands from the heat as he used them to shield his face.
Groggily and painfully, Duncan stood up. Dean, who was not in any pain, was more concentrated on the hoards of men who were about to assault them in full force. He used a small portion of his remaining power to help Duncan to his feet. Duncan shot his Chi a worried look. Both of them realized that their odds were not good, considering the entire fortress was now descending upon them. To make matters worse, there was only one direction to escape in, as the tower they had destroyed was now a large pile of rubble blocking their way.
As Duncan was about to turn and make a break for the staircase at the other end of the wall, a familiar voice sounded behind him.
"Going somewhere?" Said Solomon Graves, holding an enormous five foot blade. It was at this moment that Duncan realized the certainty of his fate. Solomon and twenty five other soldiers lined the wall in between him and his only chance of escape. If they all attacked at once, there was no way for him to win. He picked up his sword, and got into a combat stance. Duncan would not be going down without a fight.
