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Here's a teaser of a bit of action from Knights of the Palm! I apologize about the formatting but BBcode can be limiting at times. -_- All content is copyrighted and protected.
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Wade sat bolt upright. He wasn’t sure what woke him. It wasn’t a nightmare; Oloh’s gyrating body in his dream certainly hadn’t scared him. It wasn’t the cold either. Something just didn’t feel right.
He looked around in the darkness and saw Bruce snoozing on a stool by the door. Asleep on the watch, bud. Shaking his head, he looked around the room. Nothing was out of the ordinary and everyone besides himself was still asleep. He took another look, sure something had awoken him from his peaceful slumber.
Nothing. Nothing except snoring and the prone forms of sleeping men.
Wade stood and stretched his arms above his head. From the fact that Bruce was on guard and the moon was just visible at the top of the window, Wade could guess that it was sometime after three in the morning. He bent down and retrieved his new flint and steel, courtesy of Sir Brennus. It glinted in the moonlight.
Lightning, huh, Wade thought. This’ll definitely come in handy and not just for the College entrance exam. I just need to make sure I remember to regulate its power. I can’t have what happened the last time happen again. He looked over to where Bruce was sitting and chuckled softly. Well, I guess it’s my turn to keep watch. I should probably go get his a** up and –
A creak of floorboards. Just outside the door.
The hair on the back of Wade’s neck stood on end and he held his breath. Every single one of his nerves sang and his muscles tensed. He froze, straining to hear another sound outside of their room. After thirty seconds, he slowly let the air from his lungs in a long sigh. A false alarm, he thought in relief. Must’ve just been the building being creaky. He let his body relax and moved forward to rouse Bruce. As he moved forward, soft clicking sounds started coming from the door. Wade knew that sound. He had heard it many times as C.W. had practiced on the caravan’s locked chests and trunks.
Someone was picking the lock.
Wade grabbed his staff and slung it over his shoulder. He turned back around to face the door and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw a figure kneeling near the door. It took him a second to recognize the small frame of Clark Wayne, bow leveled at the door and arrow knocked. Wade moved to C.W.’s side, whose eyes never left the door. The two waited and listened as the clicking grew louder and more frantic. Without a sound, Clark slowly drew the arrow back, bringing it as far back as it would go.
The lock clicked and the door slid slowly open.
Standing on the threshold were three men, clothed in dark leather and with swords drawn. They stayed still for a moment, eyes adjusting to the moonlight that filtered in from the window. The man in front took a tentative step forward, bringing his rapier to bear.
He never saw the arrow that pierced his right lung.
He did, however, see the bolt of lightning that struck his accomplice right in the stomach.
There was a sound of thunder. It ripped through the inn like a tsunami, waking everyone within earshot. The thief who was unfortunate enough to be targeted by Wade died on contact, his smoldering body blasted back, knocking into his friend at the back and sending him reeling. The first rogue fell to his knees, grasping the shaft that had dug its way into his chest. Bruce, awaked by the sonic boom that had passed right by him, snatched up his sword and struck out at the first thing he saw, finding the neck of the first thief and separating head from shoulders.
“Qayin! Fiacre! We’s gettin’ attacked!” The thief in the hall had struggled to his feet and was calling for reinforcements. The sound of heavy footfalls were heard coming from downstairs at a run. Bruce, hoping to keep any incoming foes at bay, stepped into the corridor, raising his sword in a defensive stance. Unfortunately, he also raised his arm right into the path of an errant arrow loosed by C.W. and it planted itself deep in the meat of his left bicep. He winced in pain and let his sword arm fall, unwittingly dropping his blade into the shoulder of the only thief left standing. The man’s cries were cut short as gravity pushed the heavy steel deep enough to sever the subclavian artery, spraying blood everywhere and ending his life before his body had even hit the ground.
By now, everyone in the four’s room was up and standing. Steve, brandishing his mace, bounded over to where Wade stood putting the flint and steel into his pouch and readying his quarterstaff. “What’s going on? What was that thunder?” Steve asked hurriedly. Wade simply pointed to the smoking body of the thief he had struck down and moved up to where C.W. was apologizing to Bruce while trying to stifle a laugh.
“Sorry, brah,” Clark said, face contorted from the effort of trying not to smile. “My bad.”
“Your bad, huh!?” Bruce punched C.W. in the arm as he let out a snort of laughter.
C.W. rubbed the spot Bruce had just hit. “Calm down, there, scooter. We can fix it. Just don’t…” Bruce grabbed the shaft of the arrow and tugged, ripping the arrowhead back through the meaty muscle, turning a nice, clean entry wound into a torn, bloody mess. “…Pull it out,” Clark finished with a sigh. “Steve, can you come clean him up?”
 DerpyShinobi · Mon Dec 17, 2012 @ 10:28pm · 0 Comments |
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