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Fable : Fall of the Guild	By : Samson Category: +A through F > Fable Views: 8222 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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Fantasies.
Fable : Fall of the Guild

Part VIII - "Witch-hunt"

By: Jesse Racine AKA Samson

Original Date Written: July 24, 2012

A candle was lit, offering meagre light to show the way. “C’mon. Let’s have a chat.” Gibbons calmly said, walking past her, guiding her down the dark hallway. He felt uneasy having her at his back, uncomfortable with the idea, but he knew she wouldn’t know where the living room was. He'd have to show her the way, like it or not. She, meanwhile, was just as uncomfortable, fully expecting to walk into a room filled with League investigators, her fingers twining around the handles of her blades. When he walked into the living room, he came over to the large wooden table in the center of the room, using his candle to light a small bundle of tall, white candles resting over the table’s middle. He had a few wooden chairs placed around the table, Gibbons pulling one out and taking a seat. She moved to the other side of the table, putting her back to the wall as she took a seat, facing him and the hallway that had led to the living room. “Okay. Let’s talk, then.” She simply said.
They were both quiet for several seconds, Gibbons waiting for her to say something, the young woman apparently waiting for him to do the same. Eventually, he put his feet up on the table, lounging a bit as he said “I have no idea how many League members and supporters I’ve killed. I just know it’s not enough. I never really thought I’d live this long, but I guess I’m good enough at covering my tracks that League members can’t figure crap out. I’ve been killing people off since before the League even got itself a foothold in Bowerstone.” The girl nodded slightly, saying “I always focused on Witchwood and Knothole. You know, killing patrols, wiping out hunting parties. Helping people get out of the region when the League was going to knock at their door. That kind of thing.” Gibbons looked her up and down for a few seconds as he said “I had a plan. I was going to try and join the League, get on the inside. I could do more damage if I sabotaged them that way. I wanted to assassinate their leaders.”
She snickered a little. “Right, because that wouldn’t be suicide at all.” She sarcastically said. Gibbons shrugged, looking at her calmly and coolly. “Maybe for you. I think I could pull it off. I’m a little stealthier than “Hey, I’m gonna run out from behind some trees and shoot people!” Firearms are a little loud, in case you never noticed.” She looked at him with annoyance, making him smile a bit with satisfaction. “Big words for a guy who I’ve never even heard of.” Gibbons smiled more, smugly saying “You don’t even know my name, yet. And besides, the best thief isn’t always the most famous thief. A famous assassin has made the mistake of letting word of him spread. His targets will see him coming, making his job unnecessarily hard.” She daintily crossed one leg over the other, firmly saying “Cocky bugger, huh? Well, why don’t you put your money where your mouth is? I know of a house down by the docks, has a big-shot League supporter there. He’s nervous about getting his ass cacked, as he should be, so he’s hired a couple of thugs to watch over his place. If you’re so stealthy, why don’t we go down there? I’ll stay back and you can show me how skilled you are.”
Gibbons grinned a little, putting his hands together behind his head, reclining a little more. “Sounds like a cakewalk. But aren’t you the lazy one, sitting in the shadows while I do all the work. I’d like some proof you’re no pushover either, you know. Why don’t you make yourself useful and show me how good you are with those blades, of your’s?” She looked at him with a devilish little smile, tilting her head forwards, staring up at him. She pulled one blade from her sheath and held it up, letting him look at it. The blade glinted unusually in the candlelight, the light waving around along the metal like water. “Do you know what this is? This is platinum. I got it from a Demon Door. These two blades were made from one of the last platinum trolls to walk Albion, before they went extinct. Do you have any idea how many things can stop platinum?” Gibbons shook his head, pouting out his bottom lip. She smiled more and shook her head a little, saying “Neither do I, because everything I’ve used these blades on has come apart like paper. I think these blades are a match for Old Kingdom swords, if not even stronger.”
Gibbons chuckled, nodding slowly, raising his eyebrows. “Yeah, right. How often did you rehearse that story? Better than Old Kingdom craftsmanship, sure. I may have been born in the day, but I wasn’t born yesterday.” She looked at him with a bit of anger, quickly saying “I’m serious, I got these from a Demon Door!” Gibbons rolled his eyes, sarcastically saying “Okay, there. I believe you. Next you’ll tell me your father was a Hollow Man and your mother was Elvira Grey. Right.” She sheathed her blade again, narrowing her eyes, muttering out “You cheeky little...!” Gibbons chuckled and got up to is feet, saying “Just wait here, I’ll get into my night gear. Then you can show me to this house you’re too chicken to take down, yourself.” She was steaming with anger at his final comment, clenching her hands tight as he walked off.
Gibbons came back out in his dark stealth clothing, his dirks sheathed over the small of his back, his turtleneck-styled shirt up and covering the lower half of his face. She looked at him with an unimpressed expression, glancing up and down along his body. “That’s it? No armour?” She flatly said. He pulled down his turtleneck covering, smiling smugly at her, turning her bored response around at her. “I don’t need armour. I’m sneaky enough that I don’t need it, or firearms.” She ground her teeth together for a moment before standing up from her seat, walking towards him. “If you keep this up, I’m gonna hate working with you. I hate the League, yeah, but not enough to put up with this verbal abuse.” Gibbons let out a short, indignant laugh, quickly asking “Who’s abusing who?” She gave him a look before pulling on her cowl, saying “Let’s just get a move on, I can’t wait to see you mess up.” Gibbons smiled and raised an eyebrow, simply saying “We’ll see. My name’s Gibbons, by the way. It’s nice to finally have someone to work with.”
She gave him a glance through the corners of her eyes. “You don’t deserve to know my name. Maybe if you prove yourself on this job, I’ll tell you it. Maybe.” Gibbons smiled more, letting her walk for the front door first, his eyes falling to her backside, watching her hips sway as she moved. “Hard to get, eh? I’ve known girls like you. I’ll bet that under that frosty exterior, you’re all heart.” She made an annoyed “Ugh” sound before she muttered out “This is why I don’t work with guys.” Gibbons turned his head to the side a little, narrowing one eye with confusion, looking up to the back of her head while saying “You never said you don’t work with guys, you said you don’t work with people in general.” She grabbed the doorknob, dismissively saying “Yeah, well, whatever, same thing. Let’s go, already.” He lost his smile, his expression turning a little calm, a little serious. He said nothing more, walking outside with her when she opened the door, locking the front door behind himself.
They both glanced around, not seeing any town guards about, his partner quietly saying “Follow me, and just be quiet. We’ll be there in maybe ten or fifteen minutes.” “Just lead the way.” He calmly responded. She abruptly ran off towards the houses across from his, slipping between them, Gibbons chasing after her into the shadows. She led him on a wild chase, making him run after her, weaving in and out of alleyways, in and out of the darkness. At first, Gibbons had thought she was just in a rush to get to the docks, then he believed she was testing how fast he was and how adept he was at dealing with rapidly changing circumstances. Eventually, he started to believe she was just having fun, messing around with him by making him chase after her. He tried catching her at one point, but when she managed to slip away from him, she let out a taunting little laugh. Gibbons knew, then, that she was just playing with his head.
He kept playing her game despite knowing she must’ve thought him a fool, chasing her all the way across Knothole Glade and to the docks. She surprised him by finding a small warehouse near the outskirts of the docks, running up to a wall and jumping up towards it. Getting her feet in an opened window, she kicked off from the windowsill, grabbing the edge of the roof. Showing phenomenal upper body strength, she pulled herself up until she could get her elbows on the rooftop, then swung a leg up onto the roof, letting her slip herself up onto the roof entirely. Gibbons came to a stop by the wall, looking up in disbelief. “You’ve gotta be kidding me...” He muttered aloud. He tried doing the same as her, kicking off from the windowsill and grabbing the edge of the roof. He struggled quite a bit to get an elbow over the edge, panting a bit. Her smiling face suddenly popped into his field of vision, the young woman arrogantly saying “Oh, c’mon, if I could do it, so can you. Are you trying to tell me you can’t pull yourself up? Am I gonna have to help you up, little man?”
Gibbons glared at her, but he smiled, all the same. “Zip it. I’ve almost got it.” He grunted out. Getting a leg up on the roof, he tried pulling himself over the edge, losing his balance as well as his grip on the roof, falling backwards. Her hand slammed down on his shoulder, grabbing him, pulling him towards her. She got him up on the roof enough that he could roll himself on top of it, lying on his back, panting slightly. “Whew. Almost fell, there.” He simply said. “Yeah, don’t worry about thanking me or anything, I mean, what else are partners for?” She teasingly said. He smiled widely, glancing at her, saying “I would’ve gotten my grip again in another second or two.” “Sure you would’ve.” She simply said, grinning. She looked off to the side, silent for a second before she started to move over, staying crouched down as she moved to the edge at another side of the roof. “Look. There it is.” He heard her say, quietly. He got up and moved over, crouching beside her, looking at where she was pointing.
A small wooden building, nestled between two large warehouses like a child cradled by his mother, sat innocuously in the shadows. The building was completely nondescript, bland, made purely of brown wood without even a tiled roof, looking simply like a big box. There were a few windows on the front of the building, flickering candlelight visible through them. There were three guards stationed by the front door, two on the right, one on the left. They were dressed in chainmail armour, steel katanas sheathed at their hips. A rumble sounded in the sky, gentle droplets hitting Gibbons’ back for a few seconds before a full rain quickly picked up. “Alright, well, coming at them directly would be stupid. There’s no way they wouldn’t see us coming. Ideas?” Gibbons said, looking at her. She smiled slyly at him and said “Hey, this is your test, not mine. You come up with the plan.” Gibbons smiled smugly and said “Well, I see you’re gonna be a huge help. Okay, then. I’ve got an idea. How ‘bout this...”
He nodded once at the building, saying “You use your amazing abilities of climbing to get on top of that building from behind. I’ll distract a guard or two, get them coming for me. Maybe they’ll all come after me, even. When they start moving, you jump down from the roof and get them from behind. I’ll get them from the front.” She slowly rolled her head around, groaning out “Well, wasn’t what I would’ve gone with, but I guess it could work.” Gibbons gave her a glance, smiling a little. She looked back at him with an excited look in her eyes, saying “Ready for the fun to start, or do you need a chance to muster up some courage?” He narrowed his eyes, smiling more. He hopped over the edge of the building, grabbing the edge of the roof as he went. He let himself hang, making his descent that much shorter. A second later, he released, landing down on his feet with a thud. He looked up, but didn’t see her anywhere. He turned and headed off for their target, whistling a little tune to himself, having not a care in the world.
The rain grew stronger, Gibbons already soaked through to his skin, his clothes hugging to him. When he came to the alley the building sat within, he crept to the edge of one of the warehouses beside it, peeking around the corner into the alleyway. The alley was dark thanks to the stormy night, but he could still see the guards standing in front of the building. A flash of lightning flew out, and he caught a glimpse of his partner, somehow having already gotten on top of the building. She was crouching near the edge of the building, looking down at their prey. Gibbons smiled a little at her readiness, catching a glimpse of her so-called platinum blades as she silently unsheathed them. Gibbons came out from around the corner, catching the eyes of two of the guards. In the darkness, they couldn’t make out anything about him other than a black silhouette. He held up a hand and flipped up his middle finger, giving the guards a friendly wave with his other hand.
“What da fuck?” One of them muttered, glancing at his fellow. “Let’s see who just signed their own death warrant.” The other said, the two beginning to walk towards Gibbons, the third staying behind to keep watch over the building's front door. “You there, we want a word with you!” The second guard called out. Gibbons held his arms out by his sides and started wiggling them around, doing a little jig, taunting the guards with his fool’s display. He saw a dark figure drop down by the guard that had stayed behind, a solitary grunt rising from them as she delivered him away from this world. He collapsed with a thud, one of the guards hearing the noise, coming to an abrupt halt and turning around. “What was that?” He said. His fellow turned around as well, the both of them peering into the darkness. Gibbons ran over, as silent as a ghost.
He pulled out his dirks and plunged them both into one guard from behind, stabbing both into the small of his back, running him through on the blades. The second had barely pulled out his katana before Gibbons had slammed a dirk down into his chest, the injury knocking the man to the wet ground. Gibbons went down with him and stabbed him twice more in the chest, making sure he was dead. He saw his partner wave him over from near the doorway, Gibbons sheathing his dirks as he walked over to her. “Not bad, not bad.” She quietly said. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more inside, so if you just got lucky, I’ll know.” She added. Gibbons just smiled and said “I’ve got two, you took one. Far as I’m concerned, I’m on top, right now.”
She gave him a double-take, her eyes narrowing. A competitive smile grew on her lips. “Well, if that’s the attitude you’re gonna take...” She muttered, reaching for the doorknob. She held it lightly and, very slowly, tried turning it. It didn’t budge. “Aw, crap. Locked.” She said, not sounding surprised in the slightest, as if she already knew the door had been locked in the first place. Slowly looking over at him, smiling very widely and smugly, she muttered out “You wouldn’t know how to pick a lock, would you?” Gibbons raised an eyebrow at her, saying “What do you take me for, a third-rate thief? Of course I know how to pick a lock. Don’t you?” She raised an eyebrow at him, still smiling widely. “Sure I do. But I wanna see you do it.” “Well, maybe I wanna see you do it.” Gibbons said, crossing his arms over his chest, grinning a little. She put her hands to her hips, taking a step back with one foot, raising her eyebrows. Smiling, she said “Well, I don’t have any lockpicking tools on me, so there.”
He quickly pulled a little black leather packet of sorts from his back pocket, holding it up for her to see. He kept grinning as he said “Well, now you do.” She kept smiling, but he could see annoyance in her eyes. She whipped a hand over and snatched the packet from his hand in the blink of an eye. “Fine.” She muttered out, getting in front of the door again, getting down to a knee. Gibbons leaned against the building beside the door, smiling with satisfaction, crossing one leg in front of the other as she opened the packet. “Keep watch. I don’t want people sneaking up behind me.” She muttered out. He smirked a little, teasingly saying “I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that, much.” She pulled out a long, thin lockpick, looking over at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She accusingly said. He grinned a little, saying nothing in response. “Cheeky kid.” She eventually muttered out, pulling out another tool from the packet, beginning to fiddle around with the lock some more.
After several seconds, she got the door unlocked, putting the lockpicking tools back in the packet before handing it to him. She quietly pushed the door open, slipping inside, Gibbons close behind her. They glanced around. The front room they found themselves in was dark, full of shadows. A candle, melted to a short stub, sat on a short table in front of a window, off to the side. There were a few chairs in a circle near the table, but other than that, the room was barren. A hallway in front of them was well-lit with candles, the two already able to see the artwork covering the walls, paintings hung along most of the wall space in the passageway. They silently crept down the hallway, glancing at the staircase to their right, leading up to the second floor. Two doorways were near the foot of the staircase, to the right and left. Candlelight was flickering through both doorways. They heard a little cough come from the doorway to the right, a few steps beginning to come down the staircase.
Gibbons slipped through the doorway to the left, his partner following after him. He found himself in a kitchen, dark aside from a few candles burning on a table in the center of the room, empty of occupants aside from the two assassins. There was a small, very primitive brass oven over to the side, little more than a metal container to hold food as logs were burned in a compartment beneath, a tube leading through the wall for the smoke to be expelled through. There were a few bookshelves off to the side, though they were almost totally barren of literature. Gibbons felt like commenting on how empty the building appeared to be, feeling like ribbing their target, but he kept his silence. They crouched by the doorway and waited, watching as someone walked down the stairs. It was another thug, and like the guards outside, she was dressed in ordinary chainmail armour, a katana sheathed at her side. She came to the doorway across from the two, her back turned to them, not having noticed the stealthy duo yet.
She stuck her head in the doorway, saying “Hey, Will, you want a sandwich? I’m thinking of making myself one.” A raspy voice inside the room replied “Nah, I’m just gonna read a bit before calling it a night.” Gibbons’ partner suddenly bolted out of the room, rushing up behind the woman. Standing up, she pulled out one of her blades, reached around the guard, and covered her mouth tight. Shooting her blade into the middle of her back, she impaled her on it, jiggling the blade around before pulling it back out and stabbing her again. The woman collapsed to the floor, Gibbons’ partner catching her and slowing her descent enough for it to make no noise. Gibbons crept over, giving her a harsh look. She raised an eyebrow at him, fluttering her eyelashes, as if to mock him. He narrowed his left eye at her before he stuck his head in through the doorway, looking around. The man the slain guard had been talking to was sitting in a den-like room, a few bookshelves scattered around the room, some chairs spread out.
He was facing the doorway from over on the left side of the room, Gibbons finding it miraculous that he hadn’t noticed his partner’s actions. A chair beside him had a few lit candles sitting over it, illuminating a small space immediately around the guard. The man’s nose was down in a book, true to his word. Gibbons pulled out a dirk and sprinted into the room as quietly as he could, racing towards the man. The man looked up in time to see him, dropping his book, his hand scrambling for his katana. Before he could even rise to his feet, Gibbons had reached him, blowing his dirk through his chest, through his heart. The man instantly went still, but even so, Gibbons cut his throat to be sure he was gone. He turned and headed back to the doorway, seeing his partner’s eyes on him. She smiled a little, perhaps with amusement, but whatever it was that she found humourous, Gibbons had no clue. She nodded over at the staircase, whispering out “He should be upstairs. Maybe we’ll catch him in bed, even.”
“It’s never that simple.” Gibbons calmly stated. “Don’t be so pessimistic.” She teasingly said, smacking him over the chest with the back of a hand. “I’m realistic. I’ve been doing this for a while, you know. Expect the unexpected.” He quietly replied. She glanced upwards with annoyance before turning around, heading up the staircase. Gibbons followed close behind her, his eyes glued on her backside as she moved. He couldn’t deny, she had a cute little tush, her hips swaying to and fro as she moved. Her leggings were tight as it was, but getting wet from rainwater only made them hug against her even more, her leggings riding up snugly between her cheeks and clearly showing off her valley. He had to wonder how she could stand it, it must’ve been uncomfortable, yet she seemed in no rush to fix the fit.
When they got to the top of the stairs, they found themselves in a hallway heading off to the right, a solitary door to be seen in the passageway. At the end of the hallway, the only door to be seen was shut tight, a flickering light faintly visible through the crack at the bottom of the door. She slowly and quietly began to creep towards the door, Gibbons following behind her, quietly muttering out “I’ve got a weird feeling about this.” She waved his words away, trying to silence him. When they got to the doorway, she stood up, slowly grasping the knob. She started turning it, never more than a centimeter every few seconds. She had gotten the knob turned maybe halfway before there was a loud and sudden bang on the other side of the door. A small section of the door blew open at waist-level, splinters and shards of wood showering out. Gibbons’ partner cried out and collapsed to her side, her hands over a wound in her stomach.
There was a deep, hearty laugh on the other side of the door. “Hah! Got ya, you dumbass assassin!” A man yelled out, still laughing a little. Gibbons’ expression turned cool and serious. He pulled out his dirks and kicked in the damaged door. Sitting at the edge of a large bed was a rather overweight man, completely nude as he held a firearm as long as Gibbons’ arm, from shoulder to the tips of his finger. He was bald, a thick gray moustache on his upper lip, his eyes squinted almost completely shut from the fat festering under the surface of his corpulent face. He looked surprised to see Gibbons, not having time to reload his weapon before Gibbons was upon him. “Mercy! Don’t kill me!” The man cried out, but Gibbons gave him no quarter. Slashing the man repeatedly, he knocked the man's rifle away before he jammed one dirk in the side of his neck, then stabbing him in his protruding gut. Pulling his weapons from the man, he let him collapse from the bed and hit the floor with a heavy crash.
Someone suddenly ran towards him from a shadowy corner of the room, Gibbons' eyes darting towards them. Breathing hard with adrenaline, Gibbons attacked them, not realizing that the figure had let out a timid plea until both his dirks had found their stomach. There was only a small candle weakly flickering on a bedside table, the light not strong enough for Gibbons to immediately make out the figure. The figure whimpered in pain, grabbing his shoulders, their eyes wide. His eyes widened a little, too, when he realized he had mortally wounded a young girl, no more than sixteen, even younger than he, himself. She was unarmed and naked, probably terrified out of her mind at what had happened to Gibbons’ target. She hadn’t been running for him, he realized he had been mistaken. She had been running for the exit behind him. He pulled his dirks from her belly, her legs giving out from under her, Gibbons falling to a knee as he eased her down to the floor.
He felt numbed to death and violence, but knowing he had killed an innocent still hit him hard. She blinked a few times, her hands dropping from his shoulders, landing over her mid section. She stared at his face as she quietly said “Am I dying?” Gibbons looked down at her stomach. The pair of wounds he had given her had almost gone right through her, a tiny puddle of blood having already developed beneath the small of her back, growing larger with every second. “I’m sorry...” Gibbons lightly said, bringing a hand to the side of her face, comfortingly running his hand down along her. “It hurts!...” She shut her eyes tight, sputtering up blood. “...I’m sorry...” Gibbons repeated, raising his eyebrows, staying down a knee beside her. “I’m...Not ready...Yet...” She weakly said, her eyes going misty. She went limp a second later. Gibbons looked at her with regret, shame filling his eyes. He brought his hand over her face, lowered her eyelids, and got back up to his feet.
He hastily walked back to his partner, finding her propped up against the wall, sitting with her back to it. She had her hands over her stomach, her face pained and annoyed. “Avo, what a jerk.” She muttered out. Gibbons grabbed one of her arms, helping her get up to her feet, his partner taking in sharp breaths and wincing every second it took to get her up. “Who, me, or the target?” He asked. “Both of you. Him for being a jackass that shoots through doors, and you for leaving me on the ground all shot up.” She muttered out, letting him keep her arm around his shoulders, supporting her. Gibbons brought her into the bedroom, showing her the slain target as well as his bedmate. “Job’s done, then.” She simply said, apparently unmoved by the young girl’s death. Gibbons grabbed the man’s firearm, saying “I’ve heard of these. A rifle. Thought I killed the guy delivering these.” She smirked. “He won’t mind if we take it, will he?” She coyly asked. “I don’t think so.”
Gibbons said with amusement, smiling at her. “Let’s get out of here before Knothole guards investigate the shot.” She muttered, Gibbons beginning to lead her out of the room. “Are you going to be fine?” He asked, looking at her injury. She smiled and said “Oh, yeah. Don’t think I’ve been shot, before? I got shot freeing those captives, and I still saw you a few hours later. I’ll be fine. Just need some bed rest.” Looking at him, she teasingly said “Will my invaluable partner be able to help me with that, or should I head my own way? Your place is closer.” He glanced at her before, calmly, he said “Do you have to ask? It’ll be a hassle getting you back to my place, but if you shut that big mouth of your’s long enough for us to get to the front door, you can have my bed.” She chuckled, taking a sharp breath of pain mid-way through the laugh. “You get to play nursemaid, how fun will that be?” “Yeah, laugh it up.” Gibbons remarked, smiling a little.
They had just gotten through the doorway and back into the dark night when she spoke over the rain. “Hey!” He looked at her, trudging through the muddy ground, fresh moisture running through their clothes. She waited for a boom of thunder to pass before she said “You did alright. Maybe we’ll get some decent work done. Call me Marilyn.” Gibbons smiled, raising an eyebrow, calmly saying “Marilyn. Huh. Not the name I was expecting. I like it.” She grinned at him and looked up, saying “Nothing better than a shower, huh?” “Oh, sure. A shower, some light murder, a partner who took a slug to the gut...All in a day’s work, for me. Typical Tuesday.” He playfully said. “Yeah, right.” She jested, giving a little laugh afterwards.
Darrah stepped into her father’s war room, seeing Alexander, Wesley, and Miller all standing at the center table. Miller was pointing to something on a long, unrolled piece of parchment, small square-shaped metal weights on either end of the parchment to keep it from rolling itself back up. Miller was in the middle of speaking, continuing as Darrah approached the table. “...It was very heavily fortified on the southern side, with massive punji pits riddling the path itself, preventing any sort of approach by carriage or battering ram. The fortress more or less had mountains right up against the western side, it was practically a straight drop from the mountains into the fortress, itself. Not a viable course. The eastern and northern sides were fine for my scouts, but the eastern hills, in particular, were icy. There’s a real danger of slipping and breaking your neck, there were deadly drops every which way. The northern side seemed like the most appropriate path, but it was on the far side of the fortress from the entrance...Not an ideal situation we’d find ourselves in, in that case.”
Darrah looked at Miller and quickly said “Bring me up to speed. Defences?” Miller glanced at her and pointed at various points on the map. The map was an attempt at recording what Benedict’s fortress looked like from up in the sky, as well as the general look of the mountains around it, along with the layout of the path leading up to the fortress. The fortress was shaped like a square, and wasn’t depicted with a yard, meaning the entire building was one solid, defensible block.
“At five different points along the path up to the fortress, there were small bandit camps, acting as checkpoints or lines of defence, I suppose. Up in front of the fortress itself for almost half a kilometer, the path is filled with deep pits that have spikes at the bottom; fall down, and it’s a bad way to go. The pits are big enough and frequent enough that they make crossing over anything bigger than a simple human an impossibility. We could work our army up from the south, clearing through the checkpoints towards the fortress, and rush through the pitted path...But there’d be the danger of some of our men falling in the pits by accident. Or, more likely, that the dozens of archers we saw on the fortress’ exterior pathways and platforms would injure them and make them stumble into a pit. As for the interior of the fortress itself, we had no way of knowing. Given it’s size, I’d say it could easily hold a few hundred men at any given time.”
“I’m almost grateful the bandits attacked us. If they had had their full strength at the fortress, we’d be no match for them. They’d have us outnumbered two to one, maybe three to one.” Wesley commented. Darrah calmly stared at the map before asking “Miller, how far do you think your men can fire a bow or crossbow?” Miller looked at her with curiosity, saying “It depends on the size of the weapon, I suppose. The bigger the bow or crossbow, the farther it can fire a projectile.” Darrah leaned over the table, pointing at the mountains to the west of the fortress. “I caught you say your scouts could get up on the eastern hills, here. Too slippery for a full army, you said. Do you think you could hit any of those archers you mentioned from up there?” Miller thought for a second before he said “Depends on the elevation. If we were low enough, sure. Any higher than the point I’m thinking of, and we’d need a catapult, or something of the like.”
“But, it can be done?” “Sure. Under the right conditions, at least.” “Could we bypass any of the outposts through the western mountains? The slope must be more forgiving at some earlier point.” Darrah asked. Miller brought a hand near his chin as he slowly said “We could bypass the first three...But it’d be no good, we’d just get sieged on either side from bandit hordes.” Darrah stared at the map for several seconds, her eyes darting around as she tried looking for a solution. “I think our best bet would be to take the fortress before any of the bandit outposts know there’s even an attack going on, or, at least, are caught off-guard while the attack is still happening.” Wesley commented. Alexander pointed to the north side of the drawn fortress, saying “Wesley’s right. A full frontal assault, going through outpost after outpost, would tire the men out too much. By the time we got to the fortress itself, the men wouldn’t have the fresh energy they’d need to take it. The bandits in the fortress would be prepared for us, and likely ready to turtle up, slowly whittle us down with archer fire.”
“Not to mention all those bloody pits.” Wesley muttered out, eyeing the numerous black dots drawn over the pathway up to the fortress, Miller’s men having tried their best to map them out. Darrah’s expression was relaxed as she calmly said “What if we got Miller’s men up on the eastern mountains, and our army at the northern side. Miller’s men fire arrows down at the fortress and get rid of all the archers they can. Even if the western hills are a straight drop, you could get archers up there too, hit the bandits from the other side. While that’s going on, our army swells down the sides of the fortress and marches right in through the front door. Without archers to bother them, they could get right in before the outposts could react. We take the fortress, we take the advantage. Losing their base will surely demoralize the rest of them.” “A nice strategy, except for one thing.” Wesley said. “Which would be?” Darrah jabbed, just a little bothered that her plan was being called into question.
Alexander looked up at his youngest daughter, saying “Benedict’s fortress has an immense front gate, much like our estate’s own. As soon as arrows start coming down, they’re sure to shut the gates. Won’t have time to fortify them, like we did, but with battering rams out of the question, we’ll simply be stuck outside.” Darrah’s expression turned a little puzzled for a moment, the young Hero thinking over the dilemma. Miller smiled faintly, secretly pleased with the thought that she might be stumped. Darrah narrowed her eyes for a moment before she said “I think I know what we could do. I’ve heard about how the League took down the Guild. When the Guild tried protecting itself from the mobs, it shut the gates to the grounds...Only, the League blew the gates apart with some kind of black powder creation. An explosive. If we could do something similar...” Miller raised an eyebrow. “That ruins the point to your plan, taking the fortress. What good is taking the fortress if it won’t even be a defensible position, anymore?”
“I don’t think Darrah was planning on taking the fortress, permanently. The bandit camps along the path couldn’t have more than one hundred and fifty men, total. Even if the fortress is wide open in the front, we can put our archers on the walls and force the bandits into a stranglehold at the front gate. Being forced into that narrow space will limit how many men they can send at us at a time.” Alexander said, holding up a hand near his chest for a moment as he explained his thoughts. “It’ll also limit us, too. That kind of strategy always works in the favour of the smaller group. Our superior numbers will be meaningless.” Wesley simply said. Miller was about to speak before he shook his head, rubbing at his eyes a moment later. “I could use some dinner. It’s been a while since I last ate.” He eventually said, sighing partly through his words. Alexander nodded, saying “That’s right, you missed dinner. Of course, we’ll pick this up tomorrow, go, eat. I’m sure there’s something left over from dinner that the cooks haven’t gotten rid of, just yet. Maybe I’ll even join you for some ale.”
The group began to leave, Darrah walking close beside her father, saying “I think I might have an idea on the explosive part of my plan. I know a guy, a friend, from the Guild. Last I heard, he was trying to fight the League. Maybe he could find some plans, somewhere? He might know where to get an idea on how to build such a thing.” Alexander simply shrugged a little, saying “If you think it’ll work, go for it. If you can get a blueprint for something that can blow open giant wooden gates, I’d definitely be interested, in a time like now.” Darrah smiled, saying “I’ll contact him soon, maybe even before I go to bed. Something tells me he’ll still be up, at this hour.”
Come morning, Timoteo was downstairs in his new home’s kitchen, making up some breakfast. Bianca was still asleep upstairs, he had woken up before her, unpleasantly. Another nightmare had come to him, just like the last one. Again, he saw his father in the Witchwood Arena, blaming Timoteo before the execution was completed. This time, however, Timoteo saw the results of the execution, staring at his father’s disfigured corpse for several seconds before waking up. After lying there and hating his own perceived cowardice, he had slipped out of bed, letting Bianca sleep on by herself. Only pulling on his underwear, he had looked around for any food left in the home. There wasn’t much in the way of variety; although Grizelda had obviously taken a few steps to ensure the place was stocked with food in case she needed to flee for another dwelling, the food comprised purely of a strange wafer-like bread, coloured pure white and wrapped up tight in brown paper.
He didn’t even want to guess at how old the bread was, but he found that none of it appeared stale or mildewed, so he decided it must’ve still been good to eat. Along with the bread, there were dozens of jars of an oddly coloured jam-like substance, the substance coloured pale blue, much lighter than blueberry jam. He had felt a little disappointed with himself when the best he could come up with was tough sandwiches, but he did take it upon himself to look for the bags of seeds Grizelda mentioned, eventually finding them down in the cellar. Grizelda’s love for apple cider became rather apparent; the cellar beneath the house was even more spacious than the house itself, and was filled with giant casks and crates of cider, much like her cottage did. Though she had mentioned there would be cider in the cellar, he hadn’t thought there’d be so much of it. Piled up high in one corner of the cellar, there were a few dozen large bags of seeds, all for different vegetables and, in some cases, fruit.
Timoteo pulled out a bag each for potatoes, radishes, turnips, carrots, peas, corn, and a few others, hauling them all up to the first floor. Considering Bianca had lived in Darkwood for much of her life, Timoteo decided she surely had more experience with how to properly plant and grow crops, so instead of taking it upon himself to try and plant the seeds and possibly waste them, he left them for Bianca to advise him on. He quietly came up the stairs then, wanting to wake her for breakfast, walking over towards the bed. It seemed that, in the time that had passed since he had gotten out of bed, she had moved around a little in her sleep. Sleeping in the nude like he had, she was resting over her front, the sheets over the bed thrown from her until they were only covering her left foot. Her long, raven black hair was spread out behind her, covering part of the second pillow over the bed. She had her arms slipped up under her pillow, the left side of her face pressing into the pillow, a content and peaceful expression to her as she slept on in total silence.
For a few moments, he gazed at her beautiful face, smiling at how serene she looked. Then, his eyes drifted down along her body, roaming over her soft, smooth, creamy skin. Her bosom was bulging out by the sides of her chest, impossible to remain completely beneath her, given the size of her globes. His eyes trailed down her spine until her got to the small of her back, his eyes falling to her immense rump, running over her big, plush, round cheeks. His eyes followed the dark valley between her cheeks before falling between her just slightly-spread legs, going between her milky thighs. Her womanhood was barely peeking out at him, the soft lips of her nether regions beckoning to his body, drawing a reaction from him. A naughty idea began to roll around in his head, Timoteo smiling rather strongly at the notion, wondering if the perverseness would excite her or not. He crept over to his pack, leaning against the wall by the bed.
Opening it up, he fished around inside until he found a condom, pulling it out. Already aroused from looking at Bianca’s body, he tore open the packaging and pulled out the prophylactic, rolling it on. His idea took an even more lewd turn as he looked at the liquidy-like substance coating the condom, which he still thought was some sort of preservative for the meat of the condom. He grinned a little, looking over at Bianca’s bum again. He came over to the bed, crawling over it, getting behind her. Straddling her a little from behind, he held his member at the base, bringing himself down to her cheeks. Slipping the end of his tool between her cheeks, he easily found the tight little entrance of her tush, rubbing around at her. “Okay, Bianca...Time to wake up...” He lightly said, still grinning a little. Bianca barely reacted, simply mumbling out “Mm...Mm?” in confusion. He grinned strongly again, beginning to push against her tight entrance, the substance over the condom acting as a sort of lubrication.
She shut her eyes a little tight at the pressure over her rear entrance, but as soon as he passed through her sphincter and entered her back passage, her eyes opened a crack. She hung her mouth open a little as she looked at him from over her shoulder, her eyes running down his body to where he was enjoying her. Her entire face went red over the span of a few seconds, a surprised little smile growing on her lips. On his hands and knees over her, he pushed deeper, digging into her plump backside with his manhood. He smiled down at her, lightly saying “Good morning.” She grinned a little with excitement, sleepily closing her eyes again. “Good morning...” She quietly murmured out. He went as deep as he could into her, getting his whole length in her rear confines, feeling her insides hug down at him through the condom. He came down closer to her, pressing a kiss to the back of her neck, making a shiver run down her spine at the delightful fluttering sensation.
Her mouth hung open a little as she let out a little moan. She spread her legs a little more, touching the insides of his. He brought his mouth by her ear, whispering out “Ready for some morning fun?...” Bianca smiled widely, her face still red like a strawberry. “Mhm...Go ahead...” She murmured out, giving her bottom lip a light nibble afterwards. Timoteo smiled and pushed himself up again, pulling his hips back, sliding most of his length out of her welcoming tush. He pushed back in, slowly, gently, earning a little groan of pleasure from her. He slipped back out and slid back in, making her moan gently, Timoteo feeling her tight entrance clench at him like life depended on it...
After plowing her behind for a little over half an hour, they had affectionately rested together in the afterglow. Timoteo noticed that she had seemed very pleasantly surprised by what he had done, having enjoyed it perhaps even more than he had, smiling warmly as she cuddled close to his side. They ate breakfast together before they got dressed, heading out to the garden that Grizelda had mentioned. Above the depression the house sat inside, there was a large clearing between several trees, the big, bare patch of dirt obviously being the remains of Grizelda’s garden.
Like she had suspected, nothing was left growing, but Bianca told him where it would be best to plant the seeds he had gotten. While he planted the seeds, she went out and got a bucket of water from a nearby stream, using it to give the seeds their first taste of aqua. Once that was done, they headed over to the stream together, taking several minutes to relax and bathe together. Once that was done, they went back inside, got undressed, and rested together in bed, having not a care in the world or any particular plans to meet and fulfill, simply lounging together and enjoying one another’s company.
He laid on his back, Bianca sitting beside him, facing him with her legs crossed beneath herself. They were both smiling a little as he said “I want to ask you something. Do you have anything you want to do that we haven’t, yet?” She looked at him with curiosity in her eyes, quietly saying “You mean, a fantasy?” He smiled more and nodded a little. Her smile grew a little stronger. She was quiet for a few seconds, a hint of red coming into life in her cheeks as she thought his question over. “...It’s embarrassing.” She mumbled out, glancing at his eyes before looking to his chest. He smiled happily. “I’ll tell you one of mine if you let me know about it. If you let me know what it is, we can do it.” Bianca was still smiling lightly as she looked over towards his legs, lightly saying “Well...Okay. But...I’ll tell you the one that’s less unusual. I got it just this morning.” “Does it have anything to do with my surprise for you?” He asked, grinning.
She gained a strong smile for a moment, the blush in her cheeks getting deeper. “Yes and no. It was...Inspired by your surprise, but it’s not quite the same thing. I thought about it all the while we were working on the garden.” “What is it?” He warmly asked, reaching over and running his hand along her thigh, feeling her soft skin run under his palm. She looked over at his throat, unable to go the final bit and meet his eyes quite just yet. “Well...I need to wake up before you...And you need to be aroused, like the last time at the cottage...While you’re still asleep, I get under the sheets...And...” She shut her eyes and looked away, smiling pleasantly, murmuring out “It’s too embarrassing, I can’t continue.” He grinned and gave her hip an affectionate rub. “Sure you can. What do you do under the sheets?” She looked into his eyes shyly, quietly and softly saying “I...Use my mouth. I thought about using these, too...” She brought her hands to her chest for a moment, lightly cupping her mounds, indicating what she meant.
Timoteo smiled and encouraged the idea, supporting it, saying “That’d be one of the best mornings I’ve ever had. I’d love that.” She looked at him shyly, but she smiled with a little more confidence, her eyes twinkling happily. “If you ever find yourself awake before me and I’m in that state, feel free to do what you want.” He said, pleasantly. She reached over to his chest with her right hand, lightly rubbing down until she got to his stomach, feeling at his toned muscles. “Well...Okay...I hope it happens soon...” She murmured out. Rubbing over his stomach, she warmly said “Now, what’s one of your fantasies?” Timoteo smiled warmly and said “Well, erm...I’m not sure how to put it. I don’t know how to word it.” She smiled more, looking over to his face. Slowly and warmly, she said “What would you like to do with me? I’m getting rather curious...” Timoteo raised a hand to the side of his head, scratching at his temple for a moment, his expression a little hesitant.
He smiled faintly, saying “Well...It’s just...I’m not sure if you’ll be comfortable with it. It’s something I’m certain you’re not used to.” She looked at him with curiosity clear on her face, her eyes a little perplexed. “I...Can’t think of anything. What is it? You’re keeping me in suspense.” She murmured out. Timoteo slowly said “I just don’t really know how to word it, I mean...” Bianca brought one hand to his head, starting to affectionately scratch through his hair, smiling happily at how he closed his eyes and mumbled with relaxation. Coaxingly, she playfully said “If you tell me, I’ll tell you my more unusual fantasy!...Can you find the words, now?” He opened his eyes, his expression turning a little embarrassed. “Well...Okay. So, I know you like it when I take charge in bed.” Bianca smiled a little shyly, nodding a little, feeling her fingers through his hair.
Timoteo spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully. “Well...I don’t think I’m naturally dominant. I’m like you, I’ve always been the quieter type, and I’ve always been fairly content seeing other people decide what needs to be done. I never really thought too much about being dominant with a girl until we were together, and I figured out that that’s what you liked.” She looked at him intently, her expression turning calm. He hesitated for a second, wondering if he was making a mistake, revealing his fantasy. “I like being dominant, I like making you happy. I never thought taking charge would be much fun until I actually did it, but sometimes I feel like I really have to push myself to do certain things. I always have a good time, but...I have this scenario I think about, sometimes...” Bianca slowly slipped her hand down from his head, touching his shoulder. She didn’t come out and say it, but he could tell she felt just a little uncomfortable.
“Grizelda always told me that a true lady needs to learn how to take...That we should love being loved. When you take the lead, it makes my heart flutter. I didn’t know you weren’t satisfied...” Timoteo quickly and apologetically said “No, that’s not it. I’m not explaining myself properly. I’ve never been bored with anything we’ve ever done, I’ve loved every second of it. I really don’t mind being dominant, I just don’t think it’s my natural disposition. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything...” Bianca’s eyes were only half open as she looked off to the side, softly saying “Grizelda’s told me stories about men she’s spent time with, in her life. Men she adventured with, men she encountered in Darkwood...They were always strong and forward in what they wanted. They were real men...They wanted to give, and it always seemed like such fun, to me.” Timoteo lightly said “I’m sorry, I didn’t think it would...I like being dominant, it’s okay. I...”
He sighed gently, knowing for sure he had made a mistake. “If only I had kept my damn mouth shut...” He muttered in his head. He looked downwards, not sure what to say, going quiet for a moment. She was silent, too, before she eventually started rubbing at his chest, rubbing over his stomach again, as well. He looked over to her eyes. She seemed to be growing more comfortable, or at least trying to, as she said “Well...I want to try new things with you. We’ve already done so much, I don’t see why we should stop at this point. What is this scenario you mentioned?” Timoteo looked at her with a bit of apprehension, lightly saying “Bianca, you don’t need to force yourself to do anything you don’t want to...Are you sure explaining it won’t make you uncomfortable?”
She smiled and sounded amused as she said “I can’t really promise that, Tim. I have no idea what you’re going to say, I can’t predict if I’ll be uncomfortable or not. I can, however, promise you that I won’t get awkward about it.” Timoteo smiled a little and said “Well, alright. It’s not really complex or anything, but I’ve thought about it for a while, and I’ve always thought it was sexy.” “Tell me. I’m really curious.” She cooed, smiling pleasantly. “Alright. So, I’m sitting down somewhere, doing...Whatever. Anything, really. I’m just sitting somewhere, doing something, when you quietly come up behind me.” “Mhm?” Bianca mumbled, smiling with interest.
“You come up behind me and start kissing at my neck...You rub at my shoulders, and...Start whispering about how much you want me. About how badly you want things to get heated. I pull my chair back a little, and you get in front of me, slip out of your clothes, and pull off mine, too. Then you get over me, and...Heh...” “Right on the chair?” She asked, smiling more, her cheeks turning rosy again. He nodded a little. She closed her eyes a bit, smiling contently. With a touch of relief, she said “That’s not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. That doesn’t really make me uncomfortable. It won’t be something I’m used to, of course, but I’m willing to try it.” “What were you expecting?” He asked with a hint of amusement, raising an eyebrow. A cute little frown grew on her face. She looked off to the side for a moment before mumbling out “Eh...It’s not important.” Before he could say anything else, she looked back to his eyes, warmly saying “Want to hear my odder fantasy? It’s kind of a situation, too.”
“But what was-” Quickly and happily, she interrupted him, saying “I told you I’d tell you, so do you want to know?” He raised an eyebrow at her, narrowing an eye, smiling knowingly. “You’re trying to take my mind off of what you were expecting, aren’t you?” She smiled gently and looked to his throat, sheepishly mumbling out “Perhaps. Is it working?” He sighed gently, but didn’t push the matter further. “Let’s hear your fantasy. What’s on your mind? It’s can’t be as strange as you think it is.” Bianca shyly murmured “Well, it has to do with...Um...Spanking...” Timoteo smiled, saying “You know, that was kind of fun. I was worried I’d hurt you, but you never told me to lighten up.” Bianca smiled rather strongly, her cheeks turning dark red. She glanced at his eyes before saying “What I imagine happening, is...We’re both fully dressed, and you walk up to me, looking angry...You ask me why I’ve been so bad, and pull me over to the bed. You pull me over your knee, pull up my skirt, and...”
“Spank you on the bottom until your bum is red?” He asked, grinning a little with a touch of amusement. Bianca looked into his eyes with a tiny smile, her voice heavily embarrassed as she said “Weird, isn’t it?...But, you look like you like the idea, so...” He reached over and rubbed at her thigh. “We can do that. Have you always liked being spanked? Why did it take you so long to come out with it?” Bianca looked away with embarrassment, smiling as she shyly said “I can’t answer that...It’s too embarrassing...” He started to sit up, grinning a little. She took her hands from him, looking over as he quietly and flirtatiously said “Do you want to get spanked right now?...” Bianca’s mouth hung open gently, but she didn’t seem to know what to say. Eventually, she swallowed lightly, her whole face starting to turn red again. He was still grinning as he said “Let’s fulfill your fantasy. Let’s get dressed, I’m up for it.” Bianca smiled lightly, looking up into his eyes, giving him a cute look.
Pouting out her lips slightly, she reached over and trailed the tips of her fingers along his stomach, cooing like a dove as she warmly said “Okay...Remember, you need to act angry with me...I have the spanking coming, right?...” He leaned over and gave her a sweet kiss, reaching up and stroking her cheek as he did so. Pulling back lightly, he looked into her blood red eyes, playfully saying “You’re a good girl, Bianca...But if you think you’ve been a bad little witch...” “I have. I have.” Bianca whispered, her breathing beginning to deepen a little, her eyes glazing over with want. He grinned a little again. “Let’s get up, then...” He urged. She nodded a little, smiling happily.
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Fable : Fall of the Guild