(Vol 2) Chapter 28: Knockout Going For Likewise

Samantha swept past the confused bandits at a run, brandishing her scepter and the mirror shield behind the vaguely shimmering camouflage of her illusion power.

Her allies were true to their word, she noted with a certain warmth — they put blades to throats and shouted warnings, they clocked heads with blackjacks or just pinned men down. Sammy tried to uncloak them where efficient for the threat. Meanwhile, a couple of slung rocks took down others just as they rose with nasty leg injuries.

Past that first level were the three Brothers, a little more aware, with Bagatta himself fully reacting — by slipping away and taking cover after getting his brothers to push forward.

Let’s you guys deal with the shimmering! His own brothers. Fucking scum.

One Brother happened to look right at Sammy as she approached, so she interposed her shield and briefly revealed it right where his eyes gazed.

Boom.

He dropped to the ground, Mazed and out of the fight. It felt to Sammy like he had a few levels but was weak-willed, probably due to being a Brute and being inhibited against such attacks. She set him in a spooky dark forest, being chased on the periphery by demonic hounds.

Almost immediately, he seemed to think he was dead and in hell. He was crying out for mercy.

Later, buddy. I got more of you assholes to wrangle.

Bagatta, true to form, faded out of sight behind some sort of half-earthen cover that was part of the ruins' structure. Meanwhile, the other Brother was moving up. Sammy prepared to clock him-

A crossbow bolt took him right in the heart. Soon he was clutching at it with a stricken face and fell to the ground.

That fucking bastard, he could’ve shot him in the leg! That was purposeful.

Samantha mentally sent to Azure, who was close to him, “Tell that motherfucker if he kill-shots Bagatta I will fucking kill him!” An exaggeration, but she needed him to at least know she was pissed.

“O-of course, Your Majesty.”

When Samantha rushed over to see where Bagatta had gone, she found a frustrating reality: the upraised cover in the center of the facility had a huge almost tunnel-like underside one could crouch and traverse. There was no sign of the guy.

He’s not getting away, damn it!

She vaulted up on top of the earth-overgrown structure, racing down it to try and cut off any route to an escape out into the woods. When she got to the end she hopped down and looked around. Jack. When she checked on where the horses were, she saw they were not easily gotten to, at least. Not without passing close to her party.

In the meantime, the rest of the fight was over before it even began. Numerous were taken prisoner and surrendered, while a few had managed to run off, probably limping from slingshots to their legs. It was only a few. Not that she cared, really.

Changing the direction/position of her voice through her Illusion power, she called, “Cover the captives of the summons! I need them free to send about!”

As men moved to comply, Sammy sent to Dart and Constance, “Shapeshift and start covering the area! Look for Bagatta. Whatever eyes work the best.”

As soon as they were covered, they shapeshifted into owls and flew upward to begin scoping things out. Meanwhile, Sammy kept her eyes on the middle part where… hypothetically the man might be holed up…

As time stretched too long without any results, Sammy suddenly suspected something about Bagatta’s storied disappearing acts. He’d made sure he was behind cover, but…

Sammy scoured her abilities and spell, and then she saw it, something her eyes had briefly noted for future relevance. See Invisible. A level 2 spell. She wasn’t sure if it was just Illusion, or Fate, or a combination, but there it was. As quickly as she could, she cast it, then began looking diligently around, muttering to herself, “Come on, come on, come on…”

Just catching some ghost of movement maybe, she ran over to the side of the facility — it was opposite now to the one they’d approached…

There he was, vaguely transparent to her eyes like a ghost, but with a brighter highlighting outline. He was moving swiftly at a crouch, almost to the trees where there was plenty of cover to disappear into.

Gotcha now, bitch!

Making motions with her scepter, she whispered a quick incantation and cast an Icebolt, aiming for her quarry’s legs. The icey energy flashed across the distance and, unaware, Bagatta was struck soundly. He cried out and tumbled down into the weeds.

Samantha rushed over to him. From the ground, he’d flipped over and was clutching his leg with a grimace, looking as if he’d tried to rise unsuccessfully. His leg was not cooperating, stiff and frozen into numbness. As she approached, his eyes shot up, clearly noting the centralization of the shimmering and the disturbance of weeds she didn’t quite cover perfectly.

Like lightning, he pulled a dagger and tossed it at her. She interposed her shield, but just barely caught it on the rim, and it deflected into her arm. Her arm’s heavy armor caused it to ricochet down to the ground harmlessly. She felt the impact, at least, slight as it was.

Congratulations, you bumped into a goddess like a gnat.

As she closed the distance with her charge, he managed to back up into a tree and use it to rather painfully rise.

No Maze for this one — though I could Fate-force a failure, it would be the first one only and he might just break it at level 5+ for comparisons. A Real Knockout of an Idea is clenched in my hand anyway!

She pushed aside her shield and made her weapon grow into a staff as she swung it down on Bagatta’s head. She had an advantage from her camouflage, he had a disadvantage from injury and the Icebolt malus, and she activated her Alter Fate power to reduce his comparison.

He couldn’t avoid the cracking impact on his noggin, and his leather helm did him no good against it. Samantha clearly won the contest resoundingly, as he dropped like a sack of potatoes to the ground, more as if he’d simply fainted than taken a life-threatening head injury or concussion.

“I got him!” she cried out loud, thrusting up her staff victoriously.

“So you did.” Constance’s voice. Two owls landed on a branch of the nearby tree, blinking at her. One was slightly prettier, which had to mean it was…. well, Dart, actually.

“We had your back,” a very colorful owl-Dart said, “but it’s way more satisfying seeing you pull it off, girl! Who, whoo, whooo’s my bestest goddess badass?!”

Sammy laughed and raised her hand. “Me, me!” She cleared her throat quickly, though, sobering. “At any rate, can you two shape change and secure him? And follow. I need to see about the captives.”

“Of course, Madam,” the rather stoic, perhaps too owl-like Constance said, as her head swiveled suddenly. “Rest assured one of us here is flagrantly competent to the task. Who, who…”

Dart somehow smirked, even as an owl. “You, you, that’s who, who!”

Constance’s head swiveled to somehow glare — even as an owl — at her supposed superior.

Samantha left them to sort it out as she rushed back to the decayed facility, more or less dropping the illusion power in the process. She also deactivated her mirror shield — there was no need to attach a mirror concept in anyone’s head about her, after all.

But I Mazed a guy… ugh, maybe I shouldn’t have? But he’ll probably hang anyway…

Regardless, he had failed all his checks within her mental trap realm. Before he went insane from his never-quite-succeeding running from demons, Sammy stuck him behind prison bars. He could stew in isolation and calm down.

Her group had bound the hands and feet of the bandits and had them in two small groups, waiting. Meanwhile, Janius and another were undoing the extensive bindings on the young couple, who were still a bit in shock from what was happening.

As Samantha was walking up, she stopped suddenly, seeing the body of the Brother she Mazed. A knife was sticking out of his neck, blood everywhere. Dead.

She spun around. “Who the fuck knifed this guy?! He was a noncombatant! I had him bespelled!”

Everyone just shifted uncomfortably and didn’t answer. They clearly didn’t care. ‘He had it coming’ was written on many faces. Devero just shrugged, holding his crossbow at the ready as usual.

“I didn’t see, Madam,” Azure said. “I was trying rocks at the runners at the time, I think…”

A knife, not a crossbow bolt. Samantha stared at the nonchalant Devero for a long moment, then shook her head. She refused to let it ruin her mood. They’d won and they’d rescued people. She turned to go see to it.

Ianthe was crying as the reality of the situation began to hit home with the ropes untied from them. Stress, despair, and the relief of it all at once. She hugged her brother Janius tightly as she sobbed. Her husband, battered and exhausted, was murmuring ‘thank you’ to no one in particular, over and over.

When a tall figure in gleaming armor walked up, they both noticed, looking up to marvel. Somehow, they knew instantly this was the one that saved them. She could see it in their eyes.

Janius glanced behind him and nodded. “This is Dymonei, sis. A sorceress. Never wanted to be in debt to a wizard, but we could’ve done worse.”

Samantha smiled wanly behind her helm, wondering if that was as much thanks as she’d get from him. She came around to touch Ianthe’s head, who looked up at her from the ground, still awed and speechless. “It’s going to be alright, dear. We’ll get you back to your community. Your father. All will be well again.”

The girl just nodded up at her, still unable to form any words.

Dropping her hand, Samantha approached the girl’s husband. She knelt and put a hand on his shoulder as he stared back at her, mostly with one eye for the swollenness of the other. “I can assist with your wounds.”

He nodded almost imperceptibly, and so Sammy cast Seal Minor Wounds multiple times, targeting his various injuries. When his face was healed, the swelling abated and the bruising cleared, the damage almost, but not quite evaporating entirely.

“There we are,” Sammy said with a note of satisfaction and genuine warmth. She felt somehow… privileged to be able to heal someone so tangibly and quickly that a doctor would be envious. “We’ve got to keep your face nice for your adoring wife, now don’t we?”

He was nodding and trying not to sob, but he nonetheless sobbed. “Thank you… Thank you, Lady Dymonei…”

‘Lady Dymonei’ nodded in response as she rose. “It’s no trouble. Hopefully, we can get moving soon. We can rest when we’re back at the inn.”

She ended up healing Ianthe as well, due to having a sprained ankle. She was otherwise basically uninjured. That the rough bandits were ones to respect a pregnancy seemed rather miraculous.

I bet it’s cultural… superstitions in the Southlands about hurting them. That sounds like something Redberry would foster.

With the ankle healed, the couple were both able to walk under their own power out to the rest of the gathering party, the horses already saddled to go — they were the big draft kind. Pack animals. Bagatta was still unconscious, had metal shackles at his feet and hands, and was wrapped like a spider’s meal in rope, strapped down to a horse.

As soon as she approached, all the bound bandits began talking over themselves to swear how they didn’t know what they were getting into, they were sorry, they didn’t even really participate, it was because of their sick, dying mum, and so forth.

“Silence!” Samantha yelled as she held up a hand, cutting them all off. “We can’t be arsed to haul all of you walking piles of excrement all the way back! You’re lucky that I see the pregnant lass was not treated as poorly as I imagined, or perhaps I’d have you all executed right here. Instead… three of you will answer for the group’s crimes, chosen by lot. The rest will be stripped of weapons and left, well… maybe a little coin.”

She paused for gravitas, helmeted head swiveling to see many hard swallows and sour expressions. “The three I cannot guarantee gentle punishment, but I will ensure leniency to spare you death. Now. Am I generous enough for you, or shall I just revoke this offer and suffer with whipping your asses all the way home? A great march to see a massacre by rope and tree?”

The assurances of the mercy and kindness of the ‘Lady Sorceress’ were legion and orchestra in response.

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« (Vol 2) Chapter 27 | Table of Contents | (Vol 2) Chapter 29: Trials of the Guilty »

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Samantha, Virgin Goddess of Mirrors & Illusion
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Goddess Level 2 [15/20]; Minor Deity

Domains (3/4): Mirrors, Illusion, Fate
Faith Energy: 298/2500
FE (Mirrors): 5 ; FE (Illusion): 14 ; FE (Fate): 7 ; FE (Light): 36
Followers: 38 (Daily FE Gain: 48 [52])

Devout: 7
Priests: 3

Brute: 0
Rogue: 0
Wizard: 1 [14/20]
Bard: 0 [7/10]

MP: 22/28

Special Skills: First Aid, Tarot Reading, Priestly Ordination, Holy Relic Investiture, Create Servitor, Read Runes, Spell Construction, Detect Magic

Special Traits: Token User, Immortal, Demiplane Domain, Conceptual Body, Fueled By Faith, Avatar (Samantha; Core, PFE: 8/50)

Spells: Identify (5 MP), Icebolt (3 MP)

Powers: Faith Energy Utilization, Grant Prayer (Illusion), Grant Prayer (Fate), Mirror Sense, Mirror Communication, Intuition, Alter Fate, Create Illusion, Grant Invisibility, Dazzling Spectrum, False Auras, Mirroring Duplicates, Reflect Force, Mirror Maze

Status: Token User Promotional Bonus (8/30)

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Note: PFE is recorded under the Avatar description above, since it is restricted to specific Avatar bodies.