I looked up at the castle. It was a triangle shape with a large keep in the middle. Flying from one of the turrets was a tattered red flag with a skeletal hand on it. I couldn’t see any defenders but that didn’t mean they weren’t there.
“What do we do?” asked Osmond. “knock on the front gate?”
I swiped my inventory open and selected two items. A crossbow appeared in my hands along with a coil of rope.
“There are two ways to beat this,” I said. “Defeat the Lord or take down the flag. Think you guys can draw all the attackers to the front gate?”
“How do we do that with only three people?” asked Matt. “Katelen’s longbow has a longer range than your average goblin but I have no armor.”
I swiped my inventory open again and selected another item. A large wooden shield rimmed with iron appeared in my hands. I tossed it to Matt. “Here you go. Hunker behind it and hope they don’t hit you.”
I looked at them. “Give me twenty minutes to circle the castle then attack. Matt and Osmond, get in close to the walls so they have to lean over them to shoot you. Then Katelen can pick them off. I’ll deal with the flag.”
I nodded at them. “May fate favor us.”
***
I looked up at the empty battlement. Coming from the other side of the castle I could hear goblins yelling. I loaded the crossbow and pointed it at the battlements. I pulled the lever and the crossbow gave a slight kick as the bolt shot towards the top of the battlements. The rope trailing behind it.
I loaded the crossbow and slung it over my back. Then I began scaling the wall. Two minutes later I was pulling myself onto the wall. Which was totally deserted. I drew the crossbow and ran towards the stairs leading down into the courtyard. Hopefully no goblins, which I could see on the wall above the gate, would see me.
I wasn’t lucky. A goblin spotted me and ten of them jumped into the courtyard just as I reached it. I shot one as they neared me. Then I dropped the crossbow and drawing and throwing two knives in the same movement dropped two more. I drew my swordstaff and waded into the remaining goblins.
I blocked a blow and ducked under another one. I quickly dispatched goblin after goblin. I cut the head off the last one and stood still. Breathing slightly heavier than normal. Then heard a snort and felt a breath on my neck through my hood.
I turned to find myself facing a twenty foot tall humanoid monster covered in hair and wielding a massive hammer.
“This,” I said. “Is where it get’s interesting.”
I dove aside as the hammer hit the ground where I’d been standing. Leaving a good-sized crater.
I ran in close, moving so fast I was almost a blur and cut into its unprotected knee. The bugbear howled in pain and tried to grab me but I just jumped over its hand. Cutting the hamstrings of that arm as I jumped over it.
The bugbear’s arm now dangled uselessly at its side. I raised my blades and willed the periapt in the handle to activate. One of the blades burst into flame and I charged the bugbear. It roared at me and charged. Swinging its hammer with its good arm. I leaned aside, feeling the air as it slid past me.
I probably should have been a better sport about this, but when my flaming sword connected with its groin the bugbear howled in pain and fell over. Clutching its badly burnt manhood.
I stepped to its head and it glared at me. “Requiscat in pace,” I said as I slit its throat.
The bugbear gave a final shudder and became still. And with that silence fell on the castle.
I looked around. Realizing that the only remaining enemies were the dead ones.
I walked over to the gate and, removing the beam holding it shut, pushed the gate open. Outside my party members were waiting. The shield I’d given Matt was a veritable pincushion of arrows. Osmond was pulling an arrow out of his shoulder. Katelen was unharmed and spinning an arrow through her fingers.
“The flag is still up,” said Matt. “What happened? The goblins just disappeared.”
I pointed behind me at the massive bugbear carcass.
“Oh,” said Matt. “You took that on by yourself?!?!”
I shrugged my shoulders. “It wasn’t that hard.”
“That hard?” Said Osmond. “That thing took on a level six player and killed him.”
“What’s important is that we won,” I said. “How is irrelevant.”
“Where did you find this guy, Matt?” Asked Katelen. “He is above and beyond a lot of players.”
“I’ve known him for a while,” said Matt. “Why he is this skilled is still beyond me. Just how much skill do you have Tim?”
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “Between two or three hours of practice a day plus my parkour skills and then combining them together I honestly don’t know.”
“Well,” said Osmond. “Let’s loot the bodies and then decide what to do with this castle.”
“Agreed,” said Matt.
“Why not use it for your base of operations, Matt?” I asked. “It’s big enough, there’s a cliff, forest, and river nearby so easy resources to expand with a village or small city, and it’s easily defensible if you don’t draw all the defenders to one spot.”
Matt considered this for a moment. “Very well then,” he smiled. “This is Cortalan Castle. Home to the Silvertongue Guild.”
I smiled. “Loot your dead and dispose of the bodies then,” I said. “All I want is the bugbear’s loot. The rest can go to you guys. After that focus on building up the party strength before you begin any major quests or goals. As for me…”
I looked around. “I’ll be leaving to start my assassin’s guild. If you need me to test your defenses or run players through the grinder just let me know.”
“You won’t be staying with us?” asked Katelen. “I thought you were part of the guild.”
I shook my head. “I’m Matt’s friend and his assassin. I work for him but it’s not a complete partnership. If he needs something I’ll be there unless it’s something I cannot with good conscious do. But if my assassinations are traced to him it’ll just be a headache for all.”
Matt nodded. “What he is saying makes sense. After all, he is pretty much a free spirit. If we tried to keep him here doing stuff he didn’t want to do he’d probably go insane and kill us all.”
“I’m not that bad,” I protested. “Ok, maybe I am. I just know that I’m happiest when swinging a weapon.”
“We all have our thing,” said Matt as he looted one of the goblins I’d killed.
I nodded and turned to the bugbear. I looked at the loot window. A fair amount of money plus some armour and weapons.
I pressed the loot window and swiped my inventory open. I switched my cloth armour out for a set of greaves on my lower legs and a pair of armguards on my arms. I put a light breastplate on under my robes.
I turned to the others. “If you ever need me just give me a message and I’ll come. Until then, sayonara.”
ns 15.158.61.18da2
