Doomed to Die in 3 Minutes

Before Dawn

It was dark out. Just before the break of dawn. The three had reconvened at the office they had first met. “Soon, it’ll be showtime” Corai whispered. This prompted a small laugh from Vis and a raised eyebrow from Olivia. “...Dammit. I am way too used to talking like a performer. Making things not sound weird coming out of my mouth is going to take a while.” 

“...Fool. If you require my assistance, I will give it to you. I am not particularly accustomed to non-lethal takedowns, so I’ll follow your lead. Don’t get him killed.” Olivia was a very frustrating stalker for Corai right now. Honestly, he hated it. This was such an overdone trope he hated, even if it was in a bunch of stories and even recycled in the plays he made, it was still completely asinine. In real life, having someone like this follow you is nothing but trouble almost all the time.

Having someone with a varied and different skillset than you at your beck and call is without a doubt helpful, but was it worth the stress? Probably not, but while you have it, use it, at least that’s how he saw her. If she could calm down and just learn to be well, not so murderous for a lack of a better word, he’d be able to at least stand her and keep her at arm’s length without constant annoyance and the feeling of daggers being stared into his back.

“Spicy. Maybe I should take her off your hands if you don’t want her.” It was a joke. At least that’s what Corai and Olivia thought… “Alright, let’s head out. Follow me. We’ll be undetectable until we make our first act of aggression. So make sure you have everything you need. If you want to turn back, you’ll need to do it now. I won’t hold it against you.” 

There was a small moment of silence. No response. “I’ll take that as consent. Let’s go.” They walked down the stairs while steeling themselves for what was next. The large double doors of the orphanage were spread wide open with a single push from Vis. The night welcomed their gazes. No longer where they safe or revealed by the light of the magical lanterns or the flames of the torches within, but in exchange, the cover of night cloaked them and their prey in uncertain shadows. 

Following the lead of the man that had spent half a year in the city and from their studying of the maps they were shown, they swiftly and silently made their way towards the centre of the guilds located in the workshop district just as planned. Olivia quickly climbed a tall building as if she were an agile cat and leapt from ledge to ledge until she was hidden behind a chimney and with her bow out.

Corai simply hid behind a particularly large building. If it was merely a question of range, he was likely outmatched in this factor by almost anyone, at least he thought so. The placing of all the pieces he needed was not going to be difficult at all. The real issue was making use of them effectively and not getting detected, and to escape the scene before anything went wrong. 

Vis seemed to have a hop and a skip in his step as he too scaled a building and placed himself above it. To Corai, it seemed that both Vis and Olivia were confident when it came to speed and agility if they were willing to take vantage points and have faith they would be safe from assault. There was an uncomfortable and tense waiting as they kept a lookout for their target.

After a few minutes that felt like an hour, they heard it. The trotting of hooves against cobbled ground. The coming of horses and the steps of a large number of armoured and armed men. 

One ornate dark brown carriage drawn by two white horses. On the sides were eight ordinary-looking lightly armoured soldiers with helms and spears. Kuiz the sniper was on top of the carriage armed with a metal bow. He has messy dark brown hair, murky blue eyes and had numerous scars across his face. He was smiling, showing off sharp yellow teeth. He was of average height but emitted dangerous confidence.

Bringing up the rear was the dragonkin Zard. His skin was azure blue, his eyes a bright red, and his stature was large and developed. His body was covered in heavy shining armour and he carried a large red rectangular shield on his left arm and a twohanded cross guard sword in his right but easily held it singlehandedly despite its obvious weight and design. Every step of his sent a small vibration through the earth as his metal rattled.

Yarul the primal hyena was leading the charge, being a few metres ahead of the horses. His tongue lashes out covered in slobber. His fangs were sharp, long, and Corai could swear he could see rotting meat between them. His eyes were large and brown but bulging red veins coated the thin layer of the white outside of it, they looked like they were going to burst. Corai had seen many beastmen before, they were not all were furious and frantic animals as some uneducated people would think. Their temperaments varied wildly and while it was true they were likely to get extremely hot when sufficiently heated, what Corai could see was pure malice from every twitch and movement that came from Yarul’s body.

He panted and sniffed the air while carrying a halberd with both his hands. Yarul was ready to pounce on anything and anyone as long as he had even the flimsiest excuse. This really was a savage predator looking for something to toy with and ruin. Not to feed itself, but simply for the pleasure of ruining and taking the life of another that cannot fight back.

This was without a doubt, the worst time of person he could face. 

The carriage obviously held their target. It was now or never.

“Cast: Mirage Soldiers.” An army of the slain spectres was about to rage fury upon the city.