Outside the Mirage

#7: The Cultists

Merlyn stepped out of Monkee's room and back into the black room to see a passed out Vanessa bleeding on the ground. Quickly, he looked over to see the window to Quinn's room broken. Smacking his teeth, he leaned against the wall as Quinn and three others walked out of the room through the window. The others were strange; a Dwarf, an old man and someone in all black.

"Come out of the shadows," the old man wheezed. "I can feel your presence, mage."

Merlyn growled and stepped forward. "Why did you attack my apprentice?"

The old man leaned against his staff. "Why do you participate in a corrupt system?"

Merlyn put his hands in his pockets, looking for anything that might help him. It was four on one, he knew, but the Dwarf wouldn't be able to use magic and he knew he could take on Quinn if he had to. The other two were the mystery.

"I asked you first," Merlyn replied.

The old man chuckled lightly. "No need for childish games, mage."

A small piece of paper hit Merlyn's fingertips. Smiling, he pulled it out, revealing a dollar bill. He folded it into a poorly constructed origami swan inside of his pocket, and dropped it onto the floor without the others noticing.

"If I'm a mage, what are you meant to be? Santa Claus?"

A smile cracked on the old man's face. "You'll see, mage, soon."

The origami swan began to fly towards the break room.

"How did you get in here?"

Quinn smiled wide. "Like we'd tell you. Ask your buddy, if she wakes up."

"She'll wake up," Merlyn promised.

"Popov," the old man said. The man in black turned to him. "Free our brethren."

The man nodded and moved over to Teresa's room. Merlyn threw his hand up and ripped the door off its hinges, sending it flying at the black-clothed man.

"Get out of here, you brat!" Quinn shouted, throwing a fireball at Merlyn. Just before the impact, Merlyn summoned a Shield of Hestia to surround him, protecting him against the fireball. Unfortunately, Popov the man in black had managed to sidestep out of the way of the door, which smashed into the wall behind Merlyn. The Dwarf ran at Merlyn, brandishing a giant hammer, which he swung against the Shield of Hestia, breaking the magic bubble; the hammer nearly hit Merlyn's knee. Merlyn speedily put one foot on the hammer and used his other foot to kick the Dwarf in the head.

The constables came charging into the room at that moment, both prepared for a fight.

"Take the mages," the old man hissed at Quinn. The young woman nodded dutifully before sending two fireballs at each of the constables.

Merlyn, on the other hand, had begun racing towards Teresa's room to apprehend Popov. Unfortunately, upon arriving at the door, Merlyn got hit hard in the chest, knocking him off his feet. Landing hard on his back, he saw Popov standing over him, not a single facial detail piercing through the rubbery black material. At Popov's side was Teresa, smiling.

"Round two, eh?" she said.

"Rematches are never any fun," Merlyn grunted, grabbing them both by the ankles and pulling them down. Quickly getting back to his own feet, Merlyn applied the Ghate lock to Teresa before Popov drew a long sword.

"Swords?" Merlyn asked.

The first strike of the sword hit Merlyn's forearm as he instinctively put it up in defense; the second strike, however, hit the metal of Merlyn's shield. Popov was left slightly unbalanced, giving Merlyn enough time to bash his shield into the man, knocking the black clad swordsman onto his face.