Chapter 12-6

An explosion rocked the building, rattling the bits of chain scattered about the room. Garkhen looked around.

“That sounded as if it were from outside,” he said, starting to turn.

“Illusin 'll handle himself,” Almonihah replied. “Got t' keep going or th' Amulet might get away.”

The Warder hesitated, then nodded, and continued his wary advance. He paused at the open door, then rushed through, shield and mace at the ready.

None opposed him. It looked like he was now in a large lobby area, with a low wall that separated the sides and back from the central area. Each wall held a door, though Garkhen was fairly certain the double doors to his left were the main entrance, and so not likely the way he wanted to go.

As he paused to look around, another explosion shook the building. Here, it sounded to Garkhen as if it came from the other side of the lobby, and so he began to work his way around the room to the opposite door, suspecting the explosions meant Illusin's presence. Behind him Almonihah entered, but as he passed the door opposite the main entrance, he paused. He thought he heard something...

The Ranger kicked the door open, then threw himself to the side as a trio of arrows sailed through the opening. Swiftly he nocked and drew an arrow of his own, then ducked into the doorway and fired. He had only a moment to see the three archers behind a makeshift barricade across another workshop room as he fired before he again ducked aside. When no return fire came, he suddenly opened one of his wings, then closed it again as bowstrings hummed and arrows flew where it had just been. His return fire was just as ineffective, however.

Garkhen, meanwhile, had reached the other door, and now threw it open. He had a brief moment to see an unarmed man turning to look at him, in which Garkhen thought to throw up a ward. It was fortunate that he did, for soon the man made a small gesture and then hurled a bolt of fire at the half-dragon. It splashed against the air in front of Garkhen, followed shortly by a great explosion of flames splashing off of a ward in front of the enemy mage.

While his foe was distracted, the half-blue dragon charged forward, his shield raised. He plowed into the man's side, knocking him down. The mage desperately began incanting on the ground, but before he could finish, a bolt of lightning arced into the room and around the table he'd been behind, then lanced downward. The mage jerked convulsively as it struck, then fell still.

“How many more are there?” Illusin shouted from outside of the building.

Gritting his teeth and pushing back the thought of what had just happened, Garkhen looked over at the Archmage. “I know not, but there are more archers within.”

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I really needed to draw this building out before writing this segment. XD