The Thick Of It 69.

Winter.

Councilman Hirrye groans after he slides across the ground, and comes to a stop up against a wall of some kind.
The rebel leader who has had his breath knocked out of him, hears someone else groaning nearby.
He thinks it sounds like his assistant, subcommander Phogarn.
The self styled duke of Kuradum lifts his head and looks around, and finds that he's somewhere dark.
Not on the street, that they were crossing to get to the backside of the treasury building.
Here in the city of Kuradum, on what's a cold, but sunny winter's morning.
The ex councilman hears someone else mutter what sounds like a curse word. Then a soft light appears behind him, someone has lit a wall lamp.
He rolls over with a groan, and finds the sorceress Losmena leaning against the wall next to the lamp.
The attractive teenage spellcaster is bent over, hands on knees, and breathing heavily.
"What the hell happened?" mutters councilman Hirrye, who sits up, wincing in pain as he does so.
"And where the hell are we?" asks the rebel leader as he looks around and wonders where they are.
Breathing heavily, as she's hunched over, with her hands on her knees, the sorceress Losmena says "We were attacked".
The powerful sorceress after a slight pause, and a grimace, adds "By a mage".
"Hell" mutters subcommander Phogarn when he hears that after sitting up, and looking around and frowning as their surroundings is somewhat familiar to him.
"And we're inside" says the teenage sorceress who follows that with "Below ground, in one of the antechambers" she then adds "This is the furthest I've been down, I've never been down into the vaults before".
Councilman Hirrye blinks in surprise as he looks around again, and suddenly realises where they are.
Next to him, his assistant Phogarn nods as he too recognises where they are.
They're in the treasury building, to be exact, beneath it. In one of the antechambers that lead down to the secure vaults.
"How did we get down here?" asks the assistant to the ex councilman, who after standing, helps the rebel leader to get up off the floor.
"I teleported us" says the sorceress Losmena in a slightly wry tone of voice.
Both the councilman and his assistant wince when they hear that. As they both know that spellcasters are supposed to look where they're teleporting to.
And teleporting into somewhere blindly, usually leads to disaster, which is often fatal.
"I've had to drop the rift we used to get into the city" quietly explains the young practitioner of magic.
"The other two?" asks the man who has hopes of ruling the city-state of Kuradum by himself, any day now.
"They're still up and open" is the reply of the attractive young sorceress, who was born here in the city of Kuradum.
And spent her younger formative years here in the capital of the city-state.
The rebel leader nods, and breathes a sigh of relief. Then he winces as his side hurts from when he hit the floor, and slid across it.
"What should we do now?" asks subcommander Phogarn, who spots a nearby set of steps that lead up.
"Help out the men who are trying to get in?" adds the assistant to the rebel leader, who he looks at.
"Might be for the best" says councilman Hirrye, who follows that with "If we can take out whatever guards the council left here, the easier it will be for our men to get in here".
The rebel leader and his assistant look over at the young sorceress who tells them "Probably better if we didn't".
Lifting an eyebrow as he looks at the attractive young woman, the ex councilman asks her "Why's that?".
"Because we're being hunted" says the sorceress Losmena, who after a slight pause, adds "By a mage".
They stand there on the rooftop looking southwards at the street that runs along the east side of the treasury building.
They're silent as they watch the fiery explosion, that's more heat and fire than destructive explosion.
Burning the cobblestones of the street, cracking and breaking them apart from the intense heat of the explosion.
As the flames disappear almost as instantly as they appeared, Mira Reinholt the mage frowns then says "What was that?".
The spellcaster from the city-state of Vexil, his homeland that he's in exile from, continues with "Did she just teleport them away?".
The once powerful mage who is pretty sure that's what the enemy sorceress just did.
Senses that the rift that was nearby, just a few hundred feet away, has also gone.
"She did" says lord Farque who is sensing for the enemy spellcaster, and the two men she was with when they crossed the street next to the treasury building of the ruling council of Kuradum.
The mage Reinholt who saw a handful of the enemy soldiers crossing the street next to the treasury building, were caught in the middle of the explosion of his mageglobe coming to the end of it's existence.
Turns and looks at the undead warlord, who points then says "There".
The large, heavily armoured deathlord briefly pauses, before adding "I should say, beneath it".
The undead being, who also has the name of Draugadrottin that the people of his lands know him by, then says "Going down to the vaults i guess".
The spellcaster, who is also a highly skilled swordmaster, nods his hooded head as he looks at the treasury building.
Then quietly says "That was pretty fucking ballsy of her". Referring to the enemy sorceress who teleported underground.
The practitioner of magic, who was once the most powerful mage of his generation to be found anywhere in the Southlands.
Until he was stripped of most of his powers when he went offworld through a rift, void spell that he accidentally cast a number of years ago.
Nods once again, then quietly says in a dry tone of voice to the undead warlord "Good idea".
In reply to the lord and ruler of the lands Farque dryly saying to him "Probably best if you didn't blow that place up trying to get them" followed by "After all that's where they store everything they're paying us to fight their fucking war for them".
As a number of enemy soldiers quickly cross the street that runs along the east side of the treasury building.
The lord of the death realm points at the massive building across the street, and tells the mage who is a member of his personal council "Take us over there".
The once powerful mage in the black hooded cloak, nods his head. Then he teleports the two of them across the street, to the roof of the treasury building of the city-state of Kuradum.
"What was that?" asks Helbe the elven thief as he looks away to the north and west, the direction he heard an explosion a few hundred yards from their location.
"Mira" says Narladene the ground pixie who is standing on the right shoulder of the elven magic user she's attached to.
"Mageglobe" adds the tiny winged creature who is originally from the Sunreach Mountains.
The young elven noble form the island principality of Laerel nods his hooded head.
He was wondering why he couldn't sense the source of that explosion away to the north of the grounds of the ruling council's buildings.
It's because mageglobes are notoriously difficult to sense for even the best of those with the ability to cast magic.
The elven masterthief, who is both a member of the royal family that rules the elven principality of Laerel.
And a member of the personal council to the lord and ruler of the lands Farque. Senses that the third rift here in the city of Kuradum has gone.
Nods his hooded head to across the street, into the grounds of the ruling council of the city-state and says "I gather he didn't kill her". As the second rift, is still across the street.
"She's still alive" replies Narladene the ground pixie, who unlike the highly talented elven magic user she's attached to, can easily sense the enemy sorceress.
"She teleported herself and two others below ground just as Mira's mageglobe was going to explode".
"Hell, that took guts" murmurs the grandson of the ruling prince of Laerel.
As you have to see we're you're teleporting to. And even if you don't, you have to know the place you're teleporting to quite well if you're not looking at it.
"I guess they're under that treasury building" says the naturally magical creature, who with a shrug of her shoulders, adds "That's what it feels like".
Then as more of the enemy continue to come out of the rift across the street, and start attacking and killing one another as they run into the spells set by Helbe the elven thief.
The ground pixie standing on the right shoulder of the elven princeling from Laerel, points away to the north and west, then says "There".
Narladene briefly pauses, then continues on with "There they are".
The elven master assassin looks away to where Narladene has pointed to.
And in the distance, a few hundred yards north of the grounds, where the buildings of the ruling council of Kuradum stand.
The young elven noble sees the massive building that houses the ruling council's treasury.
Then Helbe the elven thief slightly nods his hooded head, as Mira Reinholt the mage and lord Farque suddenly appear on the roof of that massive building in the distance.
The highly talented elven magic user and the naturally magical creature attached to him.
Watch the mage in the black hooded cloak, and the large, heavily armoured figure next to him.
Walk across the roof of the massive treasury building, to the south side of the roof, where they stop and look down.
Councilman Hirrye shares a look with his assistant Phogarn, as Losmena the sorceress looks up at the ceiling of the underground antechamber they're in.
The rebel leader, who only knows a basic rudimentary amount when it comes to magic, and those who practice it.
Asks the teenage sorceress he's attracted to "Mages are quite dangerous are they not?".
"Extremely dangerous" is the quiet reply of Losmena the sorceress who continues with "Even a mediocre mage is much more powerful than i am".
The practitioner of magic, who is continually sensing as she looks up at the ceiling above them, quietly tells the other two "We've got a problem".
The teenage spellcaster after a brief pause, continues on with "A major problem".
"Oh?" asks the ex councilman who intends to rule the city-state of Kuradum by himself.
The powerful sorceress nods her head, then she looks over at the rebel leader and the subcommander and quietly tells him "I should be able to sense this mage".
Losmena briefly pauses before continuing with "I can't sense this one" followed by "Which is more than a little odd".
"Odd how?" asks subcommander Phogarn who is the assistant to the rebel leader who hopes to be the duke of Kuradum one day soon.
"I should be able to sense them" says the attractive young sorceress, who follows on from that, and adds "With ease".
The Kuradian spellcaster then explains "Mages are egotistical to say the least" followed by "With good reason".
Losmena continues on with "They're way more powerful than any other human casters" she then adds "And they don't care who knows about it".
The teenage practitioner of magic then says to the rebel leader and the subcommander in the rebel army "They're like soldiers who like to boast about their skills and prowess, and think they're the best".
The young, attractive spellcaster continues with "Unlike most soldiers who do so, who really aren't that good and only do so to help with their confidence".
The subcommander Phogarn nods at this, as he has seen that plenty of times in his career as a soldier.
"Mages really are all powerful compared to pretty much all other casters" explains Losmena, who follows that with "And they like that everyone else knows it".
Councilman Hirrye nods, then says "So you're saying this mage, whoever they are, should be a hell of a lot more demonstrative than they are?".
"Exactly" replies the powerful sorceress, who is continually sensing as she tries to locate the mage who attacked them outside.
The rebel leader and his assistant share a look, then subcommander Phogarn mutters "Shit".
After the ex councilman asks the teenage spellcaster "What should we do then?". And she replies with "I think we should" and explains what they should do . . . . . .