Stone Guardian(94)

Laire’s expression was uncharacteristically somber. “Yeah.”

Aislynn shook her head in disbelief, risking a glance away from the battle toward the mage. “What are they after? What can they expect from this?”

A fresh batch appeared in the doorway, and Laire groaned. “Gods, how many are there? Can’t they stop coming? Hang on… Fallon, at the entrance!”

At Laire’s scream all eyes turned toward the gathering across the room, to see Larissa Miller in the middle of the pack of enemies. Fallon called out, “Time to use magic. Laire, get her.”

Laire created another ball in her hands that looked like an overgrown soap bubble. She aimed it and threw it at Larissa, hitting the woman dead center of her torso.

Nothing happened.

Laire stared at her hands, than back up at Larissa. Laire’s mouth moved, though no sound came out. Then her eyes widened, and all color fled to leave nothing but a chalky residue behind. “Oh gods,” Laire voice was low and terrified.

“Laire?” Aislynn’s voice held uncertainty, seeing their normally unflappable mage become this upset.

“She’s a null. That’s why they are after her. She’s a null!”

Fallon got knocked over in battle and fell to the ground. Before the orc could land another blow on her she flipped over in a handstand and brought Tenro up to slice the orc between his legs, from crotch to brainpan. Without stopping the motion she pivoted to bring Tenro down and cleave another orc in two.

Aislynn let loose several more arrows to take down the creatures around Larissa. The arrows struck true, but as soon as one fell another took his place. Whatever Larissa was involved in was their primary goal. “Laire, what do we do about Larissa? What the hell is a null?!”

Laire muttered to herself in the corner before crying out, “The vault! They’re using her to get into the vault!”

Aislynn could now see it wasn’t orcs and goblins which surrounded Larissa. A necromancer and his acolyte were at Larissa’s back. They made their way to the elevator which led to the vault, unconcerned with the battle that raged around them.

Laire darted across the battle scene, her focus on Larissa and the necromancer.

“Laire, wait!” Aislynn cried out. The mage didn’t stop, so Aislynn followed. An orc appeared in front of her. Aislynn jumped onto its shoulder, aiming an arrow and firing into his forehead before catapulting over him.

A troll tore across the floor and headed straight for Laire. Laire turned in time to see it and enacted a quick barrier in front of her, but the troll rocked against it and hurtled the mage across the floor.

Before it could get any closer to her Wulver jumped on him, his claws sharper than the skin, tearing a hole into his chest. While the creature was trying to throw Wulver off, Aislynn drew back and fired into that hole. The troll howled in pain, and Aislynn fired off several more arrows.

As one, the orcs and goblins all lifted their heads. The next moment they disappeared, magic letting them escape the building with the speed of thought, leaving blood and chaos and the bodies of their dead behind.

Wulver turned back into his human form, blood-drenched and eyes blazing as he came to stand before Laire. “What the fuck happened?”

Aislynn helped a shaky Laire onto her feet. “Laire, what were you saying before?”

“The vault.” Laire brought her hand up to her bleeding head and winced in pain as her palm met the torn flesh. “They wanted the vault.”

Wulver and Fallon took off, while Aislynn helped Laire before they went down to the vault as well. The mage and the elf entered the vault area in time to hear Wulver yell, “Gods Damn, how could they have done this?”

The vault door, one of the most magically protected items in the entire world, was hanging off its hinges. Items were scattered over the floor in sparse clutter while row upon row was empty. While not everything was taken, even someone with no knowledge of the contents could tell it was sacked.

Wulver hit a comm panel. “Tec, talk to me.”

A posh British accent replied. “Fully half our people are damaged, over fifty confirmed casualties which includes several of our healers. I’ve made the call for back-up but that will not be a quick process. I’m compiling what has been taken from the vault and will be finished shortly.”

“Get down here as soon as you have that list.” Wulver turned to Laire. “How did they get into the vault? A hundred mages working together shouldn’t have been able to break that open, and a lone vampire waltzes in here and does just that?”

“Larissa Miller. She’s a null. Magic has no effect on her. Walking into that vault was as easy for her as walking into a grocery store.” Laire began banging her knuckles into her forehead. “I should have caught it. I should have thought.”