Nix Terra

The Vaults - 9

Cold air tore through the young soldier's throat as hot rage coursed through her core. To think someone had the audacity to attack her comrades and steal from the vaults. Her vaults! She regretted not bringing her scythe on her date. It would have been very useful now, but she couldn't afford to stop back at her house to get it. She needed to get to the vaults before the perpetrator got away.

She jumped over the snowdrift she and Finnikin had been romping in earlier and took a shortcut through an alleyway to get to the vaults.

When she got there, only a few soldiers were present at the scene. Of course! It would take at least forty minutes to get real reinforcements down to Nixta from the nearest outpost.

"Where is the thief!" Lavender shouted.

One of the soldiers glanced down at her and responded, "They already left with most of the crates."

Lavender's eyes widened. "What! And you just let them go?"

"We were ordered to remain here. The safety of the town is more important than a few vaults of cloth."

Lavender was livid. She steamed, "That cloth was the lifeblood of this town. Some of these people's entire businesses rely on what is in those vaults. Which way did they go?"

"Back into the tunnels? It's the only way out of Nixta- where are you going!"

Lavender took off toward the tunnel out of Nixta. The passage was sure to be guarded, but not heavily enough. She skidded across the icy ground her entire way to the entrance. Just as she'd predicted, the other guards were also unconscious. She looked ahead into the darkness, her eyes adjusting quickly, and spotted some tiny lights heading down the tunnel.

Lavender took off running again, her military training kicking in. She was able to run faster now that she was out of the snowy cavern of Nixta, the inner cave system had rough, rocky ground, but it was dry so there was plenty of traction. As she grew closer, Lavender evaluated how many enemies there might be. The group was larger than she originally thought. Five mages was a lot of people for one soldier to take on, even if she was more experienced than all of them.

She couldn't back down now, though. Once Lavender was close enough, she shouted, "Stop in the name of the United Mage Republic! You're under arrest!"

The figures stopped hauling the crates away, turning to face her. "We've got another one," a grisly voice said. They turned their lanterns to Lavender and laughed, "One little soldier? That's all they thought to send after us? This will be easier than I thought."

Lavender scowled and started an incantation. She summoned dark energy from the shadows around her. "This is your last chance to put your hands up and come peacefully." Her threat was met with more laughter. Then, in the dim lighting, she saw that they had guns. Mages had no need for guns. They had magic... So these must be. "Humans!" Lavender hissed. She shot her hands forward and sent the dark energy hurling toward the thieves.

They all seemed to move at once, diving in different directions. They left their lights by the crates and faded into the darkness. Lavender could still hear them moving around, though. Her eyes, well adjusted to the darkness from living in the caves her whole life, easily picked them out as soon as they moved. She charged another dark energy attack and sent it in a wave around her.

One of the humans jumped over the wave with unheard of athleticism and then tucked and rolled across the ground to her. As he stood, he jammed his hand forward toward her and narrowly missed stabbing her with the blade in his hand.

Lavender dodged around him in the darkness and delivered a swift kick to his head. The human crumpled instantly and she reached down to pick up his knife. To her surprise, the hilt burned her, and she was forced to drop it. Lavender looked down at the red mark on her hand and immediately recognized it as a witch hazel burn. How did the humans know that witch hazel burned mages? Did they know?

Suddenly, all four of the remaining humans lunged out of the darkness at her together. She sent out another dark energy wave, which hurled them back away from her. She had to act fast before they all came for her again, she just... Her hand was really burning, she had to wash the oils off before they inhibited her magic too much- The humans came at her again, and this time Lavender tapped into her true Necromantic powers. She summoned four undead servants to do her bidding, a spell which usually took a lot of energy, but for her was as easy as reading a book.

The undead minions charged after the humans, hungry to do their master's bidding. Lavender commanded her minions to attack, to subdue, and kill if necessary.

The humans were faster, stronger, and smarter than the zombies. With a few quick slices of blades, the monsters fell and the humans closed in on her again.

Lavender tried to summon more, but the humans were already upon her. She didn't stand a chance as they all struck her from different directions. Lavender felt a sharp blow on her head, accompanied by the burning sensation from earlier. As she crumpled to the ground, she heard their voices peter out within the enveloping darkness.

"Load the bombs in the crates..."

Darker...

"...and ship the textiles out..."

Darker...

"...Across this entire accursed cave system..."

Darker...

"And the mage?"

Darkest...

"Just leave her to rot."

Pitch black.

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