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Stories from the Verse
Re Verse All
Chapter 70: Hastings 209
Table of Contents
Previous chapter: Beam 78
As Lauren flew along the edge of the room, she could see Tiras darting across the center. The man was fast, and he was agile. Lauren might be able to match his speed, but to accelerate to that velocity in this enclosed space would probably result in her crashing into the wall before she could slow herself. As she watched, he reached the dais and shifted into something very like the corkscrew maneuver she had seen Derek do, but on a much larger scale. He touched down facing the usurper, and immediately had his weapons in motion.
He must have said something to the elf, as there was a moment’s pause, but then she grabbed a staff and they joined in combat. Others were now aware of the fighter’s attack, and although Lauren could not get there fast enough to make a difference, she could reach out with her mind and create a force wall at the base of the dais, delaying other attackers hopefully until she could arrive.
That took less than a minute, and as she landed she pulled her weapons to her hands, dropped the shield, and set up a whirling defense. “I have your back,” she called, hoping he would hear her without losing his concentration.
The whirling defense worked better than she had anticipated, as she felt the impact of several missiles being deflected away from them. Then someone pointed something at her that looked like a small crossbow, but it suddenly broke. Nightwing had arrived, and was using some kind of magic missile to target weapons.
“Last chance, princess,” Tiras shouted. “Surrender, and I will plead that your sister show you mercy.”
“That’s queen, to you, and to my sister,” was the reply. Lauren couldn’t pay attention to the fight behind her while maintaining her own defense. Another small missile launcher burst apart.
Something sailed around them in the darkness, and Lauren realized it must be Lurt, still cloaked from the enemy. She resisted the temptation to turn, which might reveal his position to others, but then she heard a woman’s cry, and a moment later Tiras called, “Fly!”
She didn’t have to be told twice. She leapt into the air and shifted into the levitative flight as she snapped the loose ends of her weapons to her hands. Fighting still raged below them, neither side aware that the war had been ended.
Tiras reached the entrance first, but landed in front of their defending line and waited. Lauren saw both Lurt and Nightstalker fly through, and then she, too, entered the front hall. Tiras was behind her immediately.
Landing next to her cart, she leaned on it as she caught her breath, and heard Tiras addressing the princess. “Your sister is dead, your highness.”
“Dead? You are certain?”
“Lurt drove a sword through her back, and I saw her fall.”
She nodded. “Thank you for your kind service,” she said. “You have gone beyond expectations. I should be able to handle things from here.” Then she looked at one of her spider elves, and said, “Come,” and they all formed into ranks and followed her to the doorway. She marched into the room and began shouting orders in her strange language, but Lauren’s attention was caught by Serona, the other drow, who was moving toward Tiras and saying something urgently. Lauren shot her clairaudience over to them.
“Sir,” Serona was saying, “I thought you should know that this might be our best chance of all getting out of here alive.”
There is a behind-the-writings look at the thoughts, influences, and ideas of this chapter, along with five other sequential chapters of this novel, in mark Joseph "young" web log entry #379: Character Conundrums. Given a moment, this link should take you directly to the section relevant to this chapter. It may contain spoilers of upcoming chapters.
As to the old stories that have long been here:
