Page 47 of Snake Eyes & Bad Luck

Avelina walked the path along the bushes, keeping to the edges. It was the long way to the vault, but something in her told her a straight shot was a bad idea. In fact, this whole thing felt like a trap.

This whole thing feels like a trap.

Her stomach twisted up as she spotted Catalysta across the courtyard, swaying beyond the bushes, next to the vault doors. Two Paladins stood in front, faces unreadable from the distance. The sky was a dark navy, the stars unable to pierce a heavy set of clouds that floated overhead. It took her too long to put all the pieces together.

What did he tell me? The first rule in being an outlaw…never let them frame you for your actual crimes?

“It’s a set up,” she breathed. Catalysta skittered closer, all broken angles and fluttering shroud. Her patron stood a few feet from her, over the hunkering undead in the bushes. Undead that didn’t just give up on hunting them through the Grasslands. She saw their milky eyes finally after staring directly at them. They filled the thick flora, their faces barely camouflaged, but it doesn’t take much when no one is looking. Murderin’ Mary was somewhere in the courtyard, her underlings ready to spring forth for an attack…likely after Cottonmouth’s crew cracked open the vault door.

Callum set her up.

She just didn’t understand why.

No. This can’t…he wouldn’t…why would he set me up like this? It was one thing to betray the crew he didn’t even like, but it was a whole other to do this to her? To set her up to take the fall or worse, get killed in the chaos? What was his gain? What did he get out of it? Nothing made sense and her head swam.

“Get a move on, warlock,” Grahm hissed as he slunk up behind her. He jabbed her in the ribs and she couldn’t help it. The pain was sharp, sudden, it turned her blood into a frenzy. Avelina spun and punched him in the chest. She hadn’t meant to blast him, but the magic was already alive around her. It sent him sputtering into the bushes. Zombies surged out into the courtyard.

Avelina would have wondered how Mary got them inside the city…if the dead things lunging for her weren’t wearing Paladin rest robes. Clearly members of the Order who were caught unaware. The outlaw probably caught them while they were sleeping in the barracks, or while they were at the temple. None of them were in armor, but she knew that didn’t keep them from being dangerous. Large, hulking bodies with clacking teeth.

Panic surged through her as she raced out into the center of the courtyard. The two guards at the doors lurched forward. Shit. If they sounded the alarms, the whole Stronghold would come down on them. It was instinct. She’d spent too long with Callum. Long gone was the mousey girl, afraid of hurting people and being hurt. In her place was a ruthless woman who was not having her escape ruined by two scared Paladins.

She raised a hand and both of the guards smacked back into the door, their flesh peeling back as acidic ichor crawled over their bodies. Another blast built on her arm and she sent it flying into the chest of the closest undead that charged her.

“Go! Go! Cast it now!” Grahm snarled, throwing the pieces of another undead to the stones at her feet. “We’ll take care of Mary’s crew.”

Avelina glared at him. They should just leave the fucking vault. But he didn’t see it was clearly a trap. Callum wasn’t there because he wasn’t going to get caught up in it. They were never supposed to make it out.

Fine…if he wants to die for this. She threw her hands out to her side, took a deep breath then pointed the aching, wrong finger at the ground around her. Darkness seeped out from under her fingernails. A blanket of whispering covered the courtyard and blocked out the rest of the city. The sounds of struggle subsided as the whispers grew louder. Avelina pulled the seeing stone from her pocket and raised it up in front of her. Through the smoke she could see the two dead guards ahead, as well as undead that wandered aimlessly in her magic smoke.

Unfortunately, she also saw Grahm seconds before he grabbed her by the bicep and dragged her forward. “Let go of me,” she hissed as to not raise alarm.

Dead things lurched toward them, but Grahm was faster. He raced toward the vault doors and the rest of the crew emerged from the smoke dazed and confused, but unharmed. She pouted mostly to herself. That was my perfect get away. “How did you know where I was?”

“I can smell your sweat,” he growled lowly, keeping a keen eye on the dark cloud she dropped on the courtyard. “Keep that up, it’ll keep the undead occupied and give us cover. Stand still. Jacque, the door.”

A goblin with a fist full of pins and a ‘L’ shaped tool scrambled out of the crew. Avelina tiptoed to the side of the door, but Grahm’s gaze snapped to her. Shit. If she was getting out, it wasn’t until she was out from under the outlaw’s thumb. It’s a trap. This is still a trap. Even if Callum never intended for them to break into the vault, the whole endeavor stunk.

Prior to Grahm’s abuse, she might have warned them about it. Now? She just wanted to save her own skin. No wonder Callum hates all of you.

Thud. The crew froze as the doors to the vault craned open. It made so much noise, she expected the undead to swarm them. No undead rushed out. The whole night was quiet and still. Her eyebrows furrowed but the crew didn’t wait to see if that was a good sign or a bad one. They rushed in.

Think, Avelina, think. We can get out of this. Avelina just needed to be smarter or faster than them.

She stepped over the body of the guard and frowned. The poor fool was slack jawed. Most of his flesh melted off his face, leaving bones and burnt muscle along his opened mouth. Something glinted near his chin caught her eye. There wasn’t enough light for his armor to catch the meager star light. And all the torches near the vault had been snuffed.

So, where’s the light coming from? She crouched by the body, ignoring the harrumph from Grahm. A pendent, she gasped as her fingers wrapped around a small, circular thing dangling from the dead Paladin’s armor. Its chain snapped, likely eaten by her magic. An amber colored stone surrounded by metal wrapping in the shape of the sun laid in her palm and she realized the light came from the center of the stone. Light like magic, enchantment. Father used to tell me something about these. The light…oh that’s perfect. Her eyes widened as she shot up to her feet and chucked the pendant into the darkness. The moan of the undead bounced off the stone as they lumbered toward something. However, that was quickly snuffed out by light. Eye-burning, sight-devouring light that exploded out the center of the pendant. Avelina dropped her concentration. Her darkness disappeared and everyone but Avelina threw themselves away from the light.

She’d almost forgotten about the SunBringer pendants; her father wore his every single day. Not that it saved him from being stabbed by a rusty knife. However, the outlaws didn’t spend an entire lifetime memorizing hymns, chants, and tools of the trade.

Avelina raced from the light, following the curved walls till she found the first pocket of darkness. An alleyway shrouded by close knitted buildings. She wove between people’s laundry lines and bound over barrels that littered the ground. Her heart pounded in her chest. Out. Out. Out.

She would be so much faster if the pain in her ribs didn’t dig into every muscle. Her legs grew weak suddenly and she faltered in her steps. Their wobble threw her good side into a brick wall. It knocked huge pockets of air from her. No, we need to get out. No, please Catalysta let me out! I need to go. Avelina stumbled forward through unending pain. Everything fought her. Avelina curled her fingers around the building, clawing her way forward.

Then she saw why. Lurking at the other end of the alley, at the center of five or more undead paladins, all in full plate armor, was a woman. Wild mane of brown hair, eyes that glowed red, claws for fingers, talons for feet, wings made of inky black feathers, a harpy holding a skull over her head. And yet, the only thought Avelina had as she blinked sluggishly was, my father would be livid.

He loved this Stronghold. Love the walls and his Paladins and the Order. He would lose his mind if he found out how much mayhem and death she caused…just by being there. She’d brought Callum’s crew in, murdered the elder Pavlin, lured in Murderin’ Mary—whom she assumed was the lady at the end of the alley. She looks like her wanted poster too. Avelina didn’t really kill all that many Paladins herself.

Just the one. Honestly, I’m a saint compared to the others. A saint. How funny. Her? A saint, like a Paladin, like a being able to conjure light from their beloved goddess who never chased them in the dark. Never ripped out their bones and replaced them with her own. Honestly, was she even a warlock? She was more like…a Paladin of Catalysta.