1-120 Out of control

Roric had never felt more tense in his entire life. Not only had an old enemy just happened to cross their paths, but she stole the woman trusted to his care. He assured Frank this would be a simple mission to ask questions and find the missing Idris. There was never supposed to be an ounce of danger, and certainly not over Hannah. Now the woman was gone, and he had to face the very real possibility that Frank would hold him responsible.

Breanne was blinded and raging as she called for Hannah, drawing attention from dozens of players who had responded to the shouting. It was all spiraling out of control, and he had to get it back, or this was going to become a major incident.

“Gisley, fly south and find Rajeen. Tell her what has happened and to start looking for Heather,” he said as he took charge of the situation. “Chandice, can you remove the blindless from Breanne?”

“It should be fairly easy,” Chandice replied and ran to the stricken woman.

“Jania, ask the closest people if they saw anything that might indicate what direction Alexandria went in,” he ordered.

“I'm on it,” Jaina said and rushed off, heading for the gathering crowd. Roric put his keep nose to work, searching the area where Heather had been desperate to get a scent. Heather had a sweet rosy smell, but Alexandria had always smelled of wood and herbs. He could detect faint traces of both, but a scent like ground mint overpowered it. He picked up the strong scent everywhere he went until he realized it had been done intentionally to block his senses.

“She thought of everything,” he growled.

“I am going to kill that woman,” Breanne promised as Chandice took her hand.

“Please, hold still,” Chandice insisted with her wand out. “It looks like a simple suggestion spell.”

“It must be a mind attack,” Breanne replied. “I can’t be blinded by darkness.”

“She has made you believe you are blind,” Chandice insisted, waving her wand over Breanne's eyes. “Restore,” she said, and the tip of the wand glowed briefly before Breanne blinked.

“I can see,” Breanne said and began to look around. “I assume she got away.”

“With Hannah, I am afraid,” Chandice said. “Roric sent Gisely to get Rajeen so we can start searching.”

“I can't get a scent,” Roric growled as he joined them. “She prepared the area with some kind of mint oil, and it's drowning out everything.”

“I can smell it,” Chandice agreed. “It’s like she threw a stink bomb.”

“Nobody saw anything,” Jaina said as she ran back. “It’s as if the woman just vanished.”

“She a deceiver,” Chandice said. “She probably ran right past them and made them think they didn’t see anything. Maybe one of Rajeen’s girls has a way to track her.”

“I can find her,” Breanne insisted and turned to the dress lying in the street. She lifted a hand as black smoke blurred her fingers, and the dress began to smolder as if on fire. Trails of oily black smoke or maybe shadows began to flare off her body, causing the area around her to darken even in full sunlight.

“What are you doing?” Chandice asked.

“Tracking her shadow,” Breanne replied. “That woman can’t hide from the darkness.”

“Now, this is impressive,” Jaina said as small puffs of shadow began to form into a twisting trail that went into the alley behind them. Breanne explained that everybody leaves a trace of their shadow as they pass through the light. So long as Heather wasn't taken into a dark area, her trail could be followed. Of course, the power was useless on creatures that didn't leave shadows, but those were few and far between.

Breanne led the way down the alley, following the puffs of blackness as her steps left more behind. Roric noticed how the shadows seemed to move around Breanne as if the woman was drawing them to herself. Her bow was in hand so she could draw it at a moment's notice as she turned a corner and peered across a street. Her shadows seemed to grow out of the ground, stretching across the lane as two players noticed the odd dark patches.

“Don’t mind us,” Jaina urged as they followed the trail, hoping to catch up to the woman.

“How did she move Hannah so far, so quickly?” Chandice asked.

“She obviously had this planned,” Roric said. “She probably brought help.”

“How could she plan an attack like that with such short notice?” Jaina asked. “She was only aware of our presence a few hours ago.”

“This was an attack of opportunity,” Breanne remarked as she followed the trail. “And I think I know why. Heather was holding that dress in the street when she took Jaina’s form to see if it would look good on her.”

“She was in my form?” Jaina asked.

“For nearly a minute when that woman suddenly appeared and said that she knew it was you,” Breanne said. “I think she took Heather, thinking it was Jaina.”

“That would make a lot of sense,” Chandice agreed.

“My first outing as Heather's protector, and I failed,” Breanne growled. “Frank is going to be so disappointed.”

“You haven’t failed her,” Jaina insisted. “Look at you now. You’re the only one who knows how to find her.”

“I only hope that is enough to make up for it,” Breanne commented.

“Let's not forget that Hannah is capable of taking care of herself,” Roric added. “Alexandria thinks she has captured Jaina and probably has measures to deal with Jaina's power. She is going to be in for a rude awakening when her measures fail to contain Hannah.”

“That is exactly what I am worried about,” Breanne said as she followed the trail. “What will she do to escape, and what secrets might be revealed in the process?”

Roric understood her concerns and wondered if she was right. Would Hannah resort to undead or even more prominent examples of necromantic power in a fit of rage or desperation?

“Wait,” Breanne said and threw her arm wide. “Ambush!”

Arrows raced down from the rooftops and passed through Breanne’s form as she became a cloud of smoke. Roric jumped in front of Jaina and Chandice, using his armor to absorb a crossbow bolt. A quick scan showed seven people scattered across the rooftops, firing from the advantage of the high ground.

“We need Gisley,” Jaina cried as she hid behind Roric.

“Chandice, get imps firing back,” Roric commanded and turned to Evalynn. “Can you leap that?”

“I can certainly try,” Evalynn replied and rushed across the street, her spear in hand. Her legs glowed as she let out a cry of anger and sailed into the air, crashing to a lower roof and startling the shooter there.

Roric used his power to cause a spear to rain from the skies as Chandice and her imps opened up with a counter-battery of spells. All that paled in comparison to the specter of death that flew into the air as Breanne became something like a ghost of twisting darkness. She flew directly at the largest group of shooters, who started yelling curses as she approached.

“What is she doing?” Jaina asked before she had to cover her ears. The wail that issued from Breanne was like the screaming of a thousand lost souls. The air before her shifted and rolled as if her voice was tearing it apart. Bricks cracked, and men bled as they stumbled back, struck by the deadly attack. It was followed by a hail of arrows that split into a dozen sharp darts, saturating the rooftops as the men fled.

“So, that’s what a banshee’s wail attack looks like,” Jaina said.

“That was terrifying,” Chandice added. “My hands are shaking.”

“Follow her,” Roric said as he pulled Jaina up. “Alexandria obviously has allies here, so expect more trouble as we get closer.”

“That shout is going to draw the attention of the city guards,” Chandice added. “They might see Breanne as a hostile monster player attacking the city.”

Roric knew that would likely be the case, as many cities didn't even allow monster players through the gate. Now that Breanne had revealed her nature, there would be opportunist players and other troublemakers seeking to make a kill.

“Jaina, if we get into trouble, you run for the portal,” Roric said as they ran down an alley to get to the next street, where they could hear fighting.

“I can’t just abandon you,” Jaina insisted.

“You are a monster player outside your home,” Roric said. “If you die here, you will reset.”

“He’s right,” Chandice agreed. “It’s too big a risk.”

“I hate this,” Jaina growled as they cleared the alley to find Breanne and Evalynn fighting back to back-against a dozen men.

“Rogues,” Chandice said with a shake of her head. “Does Alexandria ever associate with anybody else?”

Roric broke into a charge and rushed in, using a raging attack to surprise the closest man. Chandice put her imps to helping and started her own attacks as Jaina decided it was time to play rough. She melted into fluid and rushed across the street, growing four long whip-like arms; she splashed into the closest two men, using her sticky nature to pull them over before her acid began to dissolve their armor. Men cried in alarm as she flowed over them, growing additional arms with hooked spikes on the end.

“It’s a monster player attack!” players began to shout as people arrived to witness the event.

Roric knew time was precious as they fought with rogues who were not the usual low-level scum Alexandria associated with. They used powers and abilities to counterattack while stepping aside with blinding speed to try to attack from behind. Evalynn and Breanne were smart by keeping their backs to each other, preventing any of the rogues from using a backstab or assassination attack. He needed to find Hannah and get her away safely before too many players became involved. He couldn't believe such a simple effort had become so complicated, with people now joining sides to repel the monster players.

A ray of silver light crashed down on a rogue announcing Gisley’s arrival as she fluttered over the roofs to land near Roric.

“Rajeen is coming,” Gisley said as she brought down another moonbeam.

“Gisley, start putting people to sleep,” Roric urged. “People think monster players are attacking; try to keep them from getting hurt.”

“I will do my best,” Gisley said, turning on the players standing to the side as they drew weapons to join the fight. She raised her hands as they were doused in glitter, sending them all to the ground. A dozen more were coming from further back, so she fluttered into the air to head them off.

“Where is Hannah!” Breanne demanded as she loosed an arrow that turned into a spiraling bolt of shadow. It struck a man and threw him back as his body was wrapped in what appeared to be a squeezing claw.

“What did that woman get us into?” a man cried as Evalynn parried his weapon and lashed back with a series of savage thrusts.

“Her promises aren’t worth all this,” another answered.

“If you are referring to Alexandria, you may as well cut your losses,” Evalynn shouted as she created three red copies of her spear that suddenly converged on a single man. He howled in pain and fell away as his comrades started to back off. Breanne’s eyes glowed with red light as she fired shadow spells from her bow, turning the street into a war zone. The black fire burned on a barrel, and shadowy tentacles battered a man trying to escape. A sphere of darkness prevented a group from joining the fight as it rained black spikes on a group of three trying to hide under their shields. Roric broke through the lines and joined the group as Jaina reformed beside him.

“Rajeen should be here any moment,” Roric shouted. “When she gets here, we press on.”

“This is ridiculous,” Jaina said as she turned her hands into long spikes to slash at a nearby man. “We should have reset that witch before we left.”

“Frank is never going to trust me with one of his girls again,” Roric complained.

“This isn’t your fault,” Breanne growled. “I was the one who was supposed to protect her.”

“This was nobody's fault,” Jaina shouted to be heard. “Who could have possibly guessed Alexandria would be here? Of all the stupid, dumb, bad luck outcomes, we had to stumble on the one person who hates us.”

A ray of golden light blasted over their heads as Roric turned to see Gisley trying to hold off what appeared to be a crusader or paladin type. The woman hurled hammers of golden light at the fairy, who was raising magic shields to absorb them. The fight came to a sudden dramatic end when a white tiger appeared out of the air and, with a spinning kick, sent the woman flying.

“Rajeen is here!” Jaina cried and pointed to the side where Chandice stood among a group of five women rushing to join the battle. “And so are her girls.”

Now it was an open brawl as rogues found themselves equally matched in both levels and numbers. Rajeen joined the group at the center, demanding to know how they had managed to lose Hannah and start a massive brawl.

Roric did his best to explain it as they fought off the rogues, taking hits and delivering them back with terrible ferocity.

“I sent a girl to inform Frank,” Rajeen said. “I would expect he will be on his way shortly.”

“That's going to be like throwing gasoline on a forest first,” Evalynn shouted. “We started this brawl with the rogues, but people have mistakenly assumed monster players are attacking the city. So now random civilians are joining the fight, thinking we are the enemy.”

“This probably has a lot to do with Alexandria,” Jaina cried as she tried to avoid being directly in the line of fire. “You know how she likes to manipulate people into fighting for her.”

Roric realized Jaina was right and that the entire town was subtly under Alexandria's influence. These poor people had probably been prepared in advance to come to her aid in the event of a monster player attack, but how could she have known they would be here? He could only assume she hadn't known, and this was all dumb luck. Alexandria was probably trying to establish herself here, influencing people and swaying their opinions, when Roric and crew walked right in. It was an attack of opportunity, as Breanne said, but it was working effectively.

“I have to resume following the trail,” Breanne shouted. “Shadow tracks don’t last long.”

“What is she talking about?” Rajeen asked as she manhandled a woman with two daggers and sent her crashing to the ground.

“Breanne can track Hannah,” Roric replied. “She was leading us to her when the ambush happened.”

“This ambush is haphazard,” Evalynn said. “They threw something together in a rush. This wasn’t prepared.”

Roric agreed, but that made little difference. Alexandria had probably run past her men and shouted for them to stop anyone following her. He worried she would flee the city with Hannah and vanish into the countryside. Frank's arrival was going to be bad enough, but if they lost Heather, word would reach Gwen, and then all hell would break loose.

“Breanne, can you slip away?” Roric shouted. “We will keep them busy. Go after her.”

“I can do more than slip away,” Breanne shouted as her body collapsed into smoke and suddenly flew off, darting down an alley.

“I hope she finds her,” Jaina said as the black cloud vanished from sight.

“I hope she finds her before Frank gets here,” Roric answered as he took a sword hit to the arm. “Because he will likely bring help of a very alarming kind. If people think monster players are attacking the city now, they will be proven right when his army arrives.”

“Let us pray that such a thing does not happen,” Rajeen barked as she was pummeled by three glowing darts. “We are attracting wizards, and they are not politely coming into melee range.”

“Gisley is trying to put the people with mistaken loyalties to sleep,” Roric said. “But they keep coming.”

“I will have that resolved shortly,” Rajeen snarled as a horn sounded.

“Oh, please tell me that isn't the city guard calling out an alarm,” Jaina said.

“No,” Rajeen replied. “That is the arrival of my harem.”

Roric looked up as the ends of the street were blocked off by walls of women in armor, robes, and exotic magics. People took the hint and began to scatter, unwilling to face the assembled small army. Even the rogues took the hint and broke off, fleeing into the alleys and buildings rather than face the new arrivals.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Jaina sighed and quickly took Roric into a kiss to mend his wounds.

“Thanks,” Roric said as he checked to ensure his girls were safe. Gisley and Chandice joined the pack at the center as the women swept the street clear of interference. Rajeen barked orders that nobody was to be harmed if it could be avoided and to try and sway the people into standing down.

“I saw where Breanne went,” Gisley cried, pointing to the right. “A big building three streets over with a crumbling slate roof.”

“A rogue's hideout, most likely,” Rajeen said. “We can expect more resistance.”

“We have no choice,” Roric growled. “We can’t allow her to keep Hannah.”

“I still don’t see how she moved Hannah so quickly,” Chandice said.

“She is full of tricks,” Jaina said before kissing Evalynn to pass on her heal.

“Let's go after her,” Roric insisted, heading for the nearest alley.

“Did you at least find anything out about Idris?” Rajeen asked as they ran.

“Yes, she was here but vanished just inside the gate,” Roric replied. “Nobody saw her beyond that point, but a red-haired woman appeared where Idris was supposed to be going.”

“What does that have to do with Idris?” Rajeen demanded.

Roric explained her strange behavior at the adventurer's guild after she saw one of the wanted posters. They suspected the woman might be a friend of Idris and even be helping her move about. Rajeen was intrigued and complained that she wished they had more time to follow that lead. Roric was in full agreement, but the situation changed unexpectedly, and there was nothing he could do. Right now, the priority was recovering Hannah and getting her home safely before there was an armed response from her family. What was worse was the potential for catastrophe if Alexandria discovered Hannah was a necromancer. The opportunist woman would stop at nothing to cash in on that fortune, bringing disaster down on their heads.

They arrived in the street they were looking for to see two women lying dead in the street with back arrows sticking out of their chests. One appeared to be a priestess of some kind, the other rogue, but both had gotten in Breanne's way and paid the price. The front door of the building was perfectly intact, but that meant little to a woman who was essentially a ghost. Breanne had simply walked through it and was now inside, tearing the place apart. A shrill wail echoed from inside as she screamed again, causing all who heard it to flinch.

“That noise is unnerving,” Rajeen said.

“You should have heard it when it was louder,” Chandice said.

“Evalynn, kick the door in,” Roric instructed as they closed on the building to hear shouting from inside. With a burst of strength, the woman nodded and sent the door flying into the building with a crash. Roric was through it a second later to nearly trip over a body lying just inside. This one was wrapped in chains of shadows and withered as if drained.

“She drained his life force?” Chandice gasped as they looked at the terrible sight.

“She is not pulling punched, and she probably needs it to heal,” Rajeen said with a sideways look at Roric. “However, this will raise concerns. Only undead can deliver such attacks.”

“She's out of her mind with worry,” Jaina insisted. “Frank put her in charge of protecting Hannah, and she feels responsible.”

“She has displayed all the powers of a ghost, and people will demand answers,” Rajeen replied. “They will say that a ghost player and her monster companions attacked the city. Alexandria may use this as an opportunity to make even more people suspicious of you.”

“And with the usual paranoia, people have for monster players, they will readily condemn what happened without even trying to understand,” Jaina added.

“Thankfully, we don’t play anywhere near this place,” Evalynn said as she moved down the hall and looked around a corner to see a room ablaze with writhing shadows of black and purple. “But it might hamper our future efforts to find Idris.”

Roric worried about that too, but there was no time to think about the full ramifications. They crossed the room where two more bodies lay; one drained, the other nailed to the wall with arrows. Another wail shook the walls as they tried desperately to catch up to the enraged woman, who was passing through walls and taking defenders by surprise. They struggled with barricaded doors and debris thrown about in the woman’s insane assault.

“We cannot keep up with her,” Rajeen insisted as they broke down another door. “She is not impeded by barriers.”

“I wish I was a ghost,” Chandice said as they filled into a hall where a single woman crawled along the floor.

“A survivor?” Jaina said in surprise and moved to the woman’s side to roll her over.

“Don't kill me,” the woman begged as she clutched a dark arrow sticking out of her chest.

“We don’t want to harm you at all,” Jaina said. “But our friend was kidnapped and brought here. We just want her back.”

“She isn't here,” the woman gasped. “Xandria went into the tunnels. She is probably on the other side.”

“Of course, they have tunnels,” Roric growled as his frustration mounted.

“This arrow burns,” the woman said as her hand trembled. “It feels like it’s pulling my warmth away.”

“Jaina, pull it out,” Roric insisted as he kneeled before the woman. Jaina grabbed the shaft and yanked, causing the woman to cry out, then quickly leaned over and planted a kiss. She healed the woman until her shaking relaxed, then sat back to see the expression on her face.

“Why did you heal me?” the woman asked.

“Because we are not your enemies,” Roric replied. “The woman you are protecting is a deceiver and more than likely has you all under a charm. We don't want to hurt any of you, but we cannot leave without our friend. Can you tell us where she is?”

“Not here,” came an icy voice that echoed of death as Breanne came through the wall with burning red eyes.

“Oh, I have never seen her banshee form,” Rajeen said. “It is most unsettling.”

The woman on the floor tried to scurry back as Breanne turned her gaze on her.

“Maybe we can dispense with the terrifying appearance?” Roric asked.

“I am sorry, I sometimes forget how frightening I can appear,” Breanne replied as her form began to solidify and the color returned to her skin. A moment later, she was an elven maiden, but in her deadly armor, she didn't look any less threatening.

“This woman was going to tell us where Heather is,” Jaina said to keep Breanne from pouncing.

“She’s down the street, a big square stone building with a slate roof,” the woman said.

“The shadow trail led here,” Breanne insisted as the woman clung to Jaina for protection.

“There is a tunnel that links the two,” the woman said. “Xandria took her captive through it.”

“Such a waste,” Rajeen growled. “Why do rogues always work for such despicable people?”

Roric had to explain that Alexandria often used her powers to gain people's trust and then manipulate them. The rogues were probably led to believe they would make a fortune by helping her, and she kept them strung along with false promises. Her powers would make it easy to keep them convinced and at her beck and call.

Breanne reached a hand down to help the frightened woman up before telling her that so long as she didn't try to stop them, she would not be harmed.

“What are you?” the woman asked.

“A banshee,” Breanne replied with a smile.

“A monster player!” the woman said in shock. “Is your friend a monster player too.”

“Only when she's angry,” Breanne replied, heading down the hall. “But the real monsters will show up shortly if she isn't returned to us.”

The woman looked confused, but Roric knew exactly what Breanne was getting at. He ran after her, asking what she intended to do, and saw the woman was crying.

“Breanne?” Roric asked in worry.

“I was supposed to protect her,” Breanne said and wiped at her eyes. “But I failed her, and I failed Frank.”

“You haven’t failed anyone,” Roric insisted. “There was no way you could have anticipated this.”

“But it still happened, and I just want her back,” Breanne said as she trembled.

“Oh, sweety,” Jaina said as the others caught up. “We all want her back. I am sure Frank won’t be angry at you for what happened.”

“You should give yourself more credit,” Chandice said. “You are the only one who knew how to follow her, and thanks to your efforts, we know where she is.”

“If that woman has harmed her, so help me, I will make her regret it,” Breanne said with a promise that was so cold it made Jaina's skin crawl.

“Alexandria isn’t big on harming her prizes,” Gisley offered. “She wants girls to work in her brothel and to sell off.”

“She wouldn’t dare put Heather in a brothel!” Breanne snapped as they crossed into the street.

“No,” Roric insisted and moved to stand before her. “And please, be careful about using her real name. You have used it several times now, and it puts her in more danger every time you do.”

“Of course,” Breanne nodded. “I am so upset I wasn’t thinking.”

“Is calling her Hannah much better?” Evalynn asked. “That name can probably be traced back to her even more easily.”

“This is all very true,” Rajeen agreed. “The sooner we recover her and leave, the better. I am going to organize my girls to try to placate the city and see if I can speak to somebody in charge. I will do my best to explain how one of our companions was attacked and kidnapped off the street, and all we were doing was trying to get her back.”

Roric agreed and took the others to find the building holding Heather. He hoped that no harm had come to her because if it had, Breanne would be devastated and Frank enraged. What worried him more was what would happen when Alexandria learned she had kidnapped the wrong woman. No doubt she had taken precautions to contain and restrict Jaina, but this wasn't Jaina, and Heather could snap her fingers to summon the army. Whatever Alexandria had planned was likely not going to work, and as Heather was a seduction-based race, she was likely highly resistant, if not outright immune, to most mind-influencing powers. Her deceptions would do her little good against a Lilim necromancer and her undead hoard.

The potential for disaster was growing by the second and their only hope was to recover Hannah before it was too late.