The War of Gods

Chapter 2 - Like Target Practice

Nerith could feel her wrists burn against the rope that bound her and her squad. She was a big woman, even for a Tiefling. Her body itself was slim, but next to Joel she looked like a giant

They had been walking for about an hour along the main road once they were finally able to see Tarlu in the distance. Amongst them, only Jordan couldn't see in the dark. Chief Ghuil was Human as well, but he could keep his Darkvision spell up for almost a full day until it started to bother him.

Nerith wondered about both these things. How would it feel for Jordan to be blind in the dark?

She closed her eyes, imagining herself blind. The slight drizzle became comforting, a cold veil over her scaled face. She tried to focus on the sound of the rain, but the sound of multiple feet stomping in the mud was mildly distracting. It made her uncomfortable. The mud sank deeper and deeper as they walked. Deeper and deeper towards a city she was ordered to destroy.

Focus on something else, she thought to herself. Her wrists were starting to hurt. They had to make it a convincing bind if they were to present themselves as prisoners.

Something else. She tried to go back to the pleasant senses.

Sometimes, she could smell the wet grass and mud all around her, but her nose was mostly overpowered by her own stench. The captain ordered them to wear old rags along with being bound. They were torn and stank of mud, sweat and other bodily substances. That combined with the smell of her own body almost made her vomit --- one could only keep a certain level of hygiene when marching through the woods for weeks.

Tarlu's wall was growing closer in the distance. She went over the plan in her head one more time.

"You, recruits, will disguise yourselves as prisoners." Chief Ghuil had explained. "No-name criminals that were found causing trouble in the main road. I will be your captor."

Tendrils of blue smoke appeared around the Chief and enveloped him, materializing into a disguise. He changed some of his facial features to be more Elf-like. Sharper ears, but not too sharp, and lighter skin. Szofe was a newer country, born from Elves that came looking for a better life with the Humans. The Koran King had eventually given them their own country. It had always felt like a strange piece of history, but the records were credible enough. Szofian Pure Elves were rare nowadays, Nerith had learned recently, and they certainly wouldn't be serving the Guard out in the mud and the rain, so Chief went for a Human look with a hint of Elf, making him a low-ranked Half-Elf in Szofe. The cherry on top was the perfectly replicated Szofian Guard uniform that covered his clothes.

Disguise Self was an incredibly useful spell, and easy to learn as well, but that had never helped Nerith all that much. Alter Self on the other hand... that one she kept on her arsenal, and she had done so for years, altering her "imperfections," a habit she was trying to break nowadays.

"Supposedly, I will be delivering you to the Guard Hall," continued the now disguised mage. "At least until they let us through the gates. Once we are through though, we take out the gate keepers quietly," he shot a glance at each of the recruits. This squad wasn't known for its subtlety. Quite the opposite.

"Then, we open the gates ourselves and let the rest of the army in. The wall patrols will be seeing them approaching, but at that point it'll be too late.

"Four other squads will be doing the same skit at other points of the city. Hopefully, we do it fast enough that they don't realize what is happening before it's over."