Chaos reigned at the wall, but it was a controlled sort of chaos. Armed figures rushed from all directions–thought primarily east from where Relvan’s Gate had clearly been freed of its block–and filed into the growing crowd at the outermost gate.
? Above, Grim could see flashes of light and hear the clacks, clangs, and rattles of ongoing fire at something on the other side of the wall. Men were shouting there, though their words weren’t discernible over the hubbub of the figures on the ground. There had to be about a thousand people here, Grim thought in alarm. How could they wrangle such a large force of delvers in order to have any effect?
? “Grim, right?” A figure had appeared out of the crowd as he reached the open space before the wall. How he’d noticed his arrival, Grim couldn’t be sure. “Your guild-master let me know you’d be coming. Let’s get you to the top of the wall.”
? Grim nodded, his fists clenching with the nerves he couldn’t quite dismiss. This was quickly shaping up to be the scariest encounter of his life, he thought. Probably even bigger than what had destroyed Estavor, a nervous voice chimed in from the back of his mind. He resolutely pushed that concerning thought aside and turned toward the stairs that would lead him up to the top of the large structure, but the stranger caught his arm.
? “Not that way,” he said tersely, half-dragging Grim away. “Didn’t your Captain tell you to avoid being noticed?”
? “I doubt I have a chance of being noticed by that mob,” Grim said, getting his balance back and jerking a thumb over his shoulder. “I can slip up the-”
? A bulky man in the uniform of Marshguard appeared at the bottom of the stairs, and his guide jerked him further away, pulling him off balance once more. What level was this man, that he could so easily pull him around? He tried to tug his arm free, with no success. “Calm down, will you? I can get up the wall myself without an issue.”
? “By charging up those stairs and letting the Council know that you’re on scene? I think not.”
? The man pulled him into the shadow of the wall, where the circular bulge of a watchtower blocked the line of sight should any of the crowd glance their way. Only then did his guide explain more thoroughly what he meant. “I’m guessing Veyra didn’t tell you this, so I’ll enlighten you. You’re a marked man, boy. If the idiots behind this get wind of who you really are, you’ll be dead by the day’s end.”
? Grim had been craning his neck to look up at the top of the wall, wondering just how far away it was, but his gaze snapped back down to focus on the man’s face. “What? What do you know about me? Who are you?”
? He tried to tug his arm free again, and this time the man let him slip out of his grasp, though the steel in his eyes discouraged any attempt to leave. “The name’s Manos. Manos Tull.”
? As if to prove his ownership of the familiar family name, his eyes flashed a bright, verdant green. They flicked up toward the wall, then deeper into the city. Grim opened his mouth to reply, but could only manage a small stammer. “Y-You’re… related to…”
? “Aye, lad. That’s my little sister what plucked you out of Beastwick. Not surprised you can’t tell. She ain’t got my good looks, thank the stars. The little kitten’d be unstoppable. Reckon she’d let her head run off if clever lil Orren wa’nt around. But enough of that for now.”
? He glanced up to the wall again, then linked his hands together and crouched slightly. The gesture was obvious, but Grim scoffed. “The wall’s almost a hundred meters high. There’s no way you could boost me up that high.”
? “Is that so? You learned all I can do in the two minutes since we met, boy?” Surprisingly, white teeth showed brightly against his dirt-stained skin, and Grim could more clearly see the family resemblance. That was the same predatory grin Veyra loved to show him, like she were a cat watching the plump bird flit ever so close to its death. “I can get ye halfway. I reckon your skills could get you the rest of the way.”
? Grim eyed Manos with distrust, even as he took a half-step closer. His hesitation wasn’t approved. “Get a move on, boy. We only got forty-eight seconds until the next sentinel comes by. Guard’s on double-duty, and I’m not waiting around for the next one just because you wanna take a bath.”
? Reluctantly, Grim put one of his booted feet in Manos’ hand, then crouched slightly to match him, as one would when preparing to be boosted to a high place. How he intended to get him all the–Grim couldn’t help but let out a yelp of surprise as he was suddenly pulled upward. His reaction wasn’t at the violent motion–that had been expected. But the gray stones of the wall flashed past his eyes in a blur, and his stomach seemed to have left him on the ground with the speed of his ascent. When he had enough of a mind to glance down, he found he was truly a little over halfway up the wall.
? The shock of how far he’d been tossed nearly made him hesitate too long. His inertia faded quickly, and, just as he felt his stomach start to move in the opposite direction, he used Air Dash to push himself even higher. Then, before he lost his momentum again, he repeated the skill. Even faster, he allowed himself to go higher before using Shadow Dash twice. He caught the lip of the wall to change his direction and landed in a sprawl on the wide walkway.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
? Manos was next to him in seconds, reaching the top in a way that Grim couldn’t see. The grizzled man gripped Grim by the collar and pulled him to one side, where a couple of crates were stacked neatly along the wall. “Get down into a crouch here, boy. Use your skill, but don’t pull free.”
? Grim activated Camouflage at once, well past questioning the virtual stranger. If Veyra had sent him, he’d just have to trust it. As soon as he felt the world around him turn grey and misty, Manos’ outline shivered slightly, taking on that same texture. It was the first time someone had used an invisibility skill while Camouflage was active. So he could see them, he thought.
? “Guess the order to not pull free was unnecessary,” Manos said, looking him up and down. “Nice skill you got there, boy. And before you hit level six, too. Very nice.”
? Those damned green eyes, Grim thought. They weren’t glowing as brightly as before, but they were undoubtedly locked onto him. Seeing the confusion on his face, Manos let out a low chuckle. “Product of my bloodline, boy. My family calls it ‘True Sight’. Let’s us see through most illusions and invisibility skill. Also gives us… Well, you’ll have to figure that out yourself.”
? “Why are you telling me that?” Grim asked, scowling. Somehow, it felt like a betrayal of his Captain to learn the truth of her bloodline. Not that he hadn’t figured it out–that part at least. But Manos had come dangerously close to revealing more.
? “It’s my power too. And the way I see it, I’ve had it longer. I got more say in who knows about it.” Manos was silent for a few seconds, then added, “Besides, she asked me to tell ya. So no complaining. Welcome to the tight circle of people who know.”
? Manos stood from his crouch and led the way toward another watchtower, and Grim followed, his mind racing. Why had he never met Manos before today? Why wasn’t he a member of the Cartographers if he was Manos’s older brother? He knew that not all families ended up in the same guild–Maven was a perfect example. But Manos didn’t wear any guild heraldry. So either he was deliberately hiding it, or he was unaffiliated. The latter case was more concerning. Unaffiliated delvers who reached level fifteen either formed their own guild or were known around the world. and Grim had never heard of Manos. Was he an impostor, or a phantom?
? Once inside the squat building that served as nothing more than shelter between patrols for the guards, Manos released both Grim and his skill. “You’ll be able to see clearly on both sides of the wall from this building. Make sure to stay away from the doors, or someone’s likely to knock into you when they go running back and forth.”
? Then, without further explanation, a blade of pure black energy appeared in his left hand. He slashed at the air with it, opening some kind of tear in reality. The edges of it warbled like a heat haze, and in the middle was… nothing. Manos caught him staring and gave him a quick grin. “See you later, boy. If you survive.”
? With one step, he strode through the disturbance in space, and it closed behind him, leaving no sign that he’d ever been there. Void Slash? Ignoring his previous order out of surprise, he rushed over to where the tear had stood a moment before. He’d only heard myths about that skill… It was only useful to delvers above level fifteen, and was the very top of shadow-based skills. It was the kind of power that Grim had idolized, cutting through one dimension and into another. Yet again, he wondered why he’d never heard of Manos if he was so strong.
? The sound of an explosion outside the building was the only thing that could tear his attention back to the current situation. Rushing back to the edge and jumping onto a crate, Grim peered through a thin strip of space in the stone wall, designed to give a view outside the wall while minimizing the risk of getting hit by ranged attacks. On the ground below, he saw a large scaly creature spewing great clouds of green mist through the air. It was taking arrows and spells without issue. Some of the spells even seemed to be aiding it.
? Then a figure wreathed in a similar green mist dropped into sight from the wall. The monster roared at the new appearance and barreled forward, its jaws opening wide to swallow the relatively small human, only to be blocked by some invisible barrier. The delver cut twice with a long sword, and even from so high on the wall, Grim could see the green lines where the sword traveled. Just like that, the beast collapsed, its body disintegrating from the points where the sword had touched. Grim couldn’t figure the levels of either combatant from here, but he was impressed.
? He allowed his attention to spread further out away from the wall and caught his breath at the sheer number of monsters that were swarming their way toward the wall. His instinct had been right. There might not have been more monsters than he’d seen in Evandross, but it was much higher. He saw an actual *dragon* swoop into view out of a distant cloud, its roar rippling across the marshy terrain, vibrating the air with its power. That monster was at least level eleven, as it could fly under its own power and seemed to be almost as large as their guild hall.
? Yet, even the dragon stood no real chance. A series of shouted orders echoed its roar, and half a minute later, half a dozen massive ballista bolts arced out from the wall, the trajectory perfectly set to meet the dragon mid-flight. An equal number of magical explosions erupted, each covering dozens of feet of space. There was no smoke, and as the light faded, he saw the dragon falling from the sly, its wings shredded to nearly nothing. He wasn’t sure if it was alive when it hit the ground, but that hardly mattered, as a horde of lesser monsters quickly pounced on the great beast, and it was lost to sight amid a cloud of fur and scales.
? As frightening as the scene outside was, Grim wasn’t sure why Veyra had felt it necessary for him to come and keep watch over the wall. The delvers on scene were clearly up to the task of holding this wave of monsters back. Even the lucky monster that managed to escape the barrage of attacks and make it over, through, or under the wall was likely to be dispatched with ease by the army camped inside the walls. And, as Grim continued to watch, feeling certain that this was a waste of his mana, he heard the gates being raised, and a loud warcry that signaled delvers leaving. They surged out into the marsh, taking the monsters on in close combat and cutting through them.
? He was just starting to think of deactivating his skill and waiting for someone to come and get him when he heard the first scream on the wall. From a delver. Quick as he could, he was at the door to the tower and opening it, then had to jump back as three delvers rushed in, their faces panicked. He could finally see the wall outside again and felt his heart freeze in his chest.
? Alone on the broad walkway at the top of the wall stood a single delver, two long blades extended and glittering with blood. They had a vacant, uncaring expression on their eyes as they moved, spinning to search for their next enemy. And scattered in a loose ring at their feet… were over a dozen delvers.
