Chapter 16: Returning to the City

August 6

The group heads back to the city, and at the shore they notice a man rowing on the sea. Neiia calls the man to shore, and the group is told that he has some not entirely legally acquired weapons that he’s going to Riddleport to sell. The group asks what the man has for sale.

Jaysek buys one magic wand that creates fire, and after that the seller starts rowing onward. The group arrives at the casino. The casino is still closed, and Kieron goes to the front door, but no one comes to open it even though she waves to the guards hiding inside and knocks on the door. Kieron and the others start going around to the back door. Neiia notices that some guy is hiding and watching the group behind one pillar.

Kieron goes into hiding, Ra runs up the stairs, draws his sword, and stabs a nearby man twice in the back of the head with his sword so that the man dies immediately. After this, Ra says, “Surrender or I’ll hit you.” Next, Ra moves to the window, and he’s shot at. He blocks the bolt with his shield and he then steps to the window and stabs the doorman who shot from inside unconscious with his sword.

Jaysek says that the other doorman is there on the left side of the door, so Ra moves there and tries to talk with the doorman. The doorman shoots, and Ra strikes back with his shield, but the blow hits the boards. Ra strikes with his sword through the gaps in the boarding, and the doorman screams like a stuck pig. Ra strikes again, and after that the sounds fade. Meanwhile, Neiia and Jaysek have made portals and gathered energy from them into their hands. At this point, Jaysek says he’s locking the doors, and Neiia starts running toward the back door, Ra and Kieron following.

Neiia reaches the back door and notices one man in the bushes there. Neiia pretends to listen through the door and notices that the man is trying to hide better. Neiia attacks him, and the man strikes back. Ra arrives but doesn’t immediately notice that Neiia is fighting. Neiia’s opponent starts to flee, but Ra heroically rushes after him and strikes the man in the back so that he falls to the ground.

Neiia shoots a water bomb at the door, but it doesn’t accomplish anything. Next, Neiia creates a new portal, gathers new water energy, and then shoots the door with it so that the door flies almost twenty feet backwards, breaks the next door, which also flies a couple of yards backward, ending up in a pile in front of the next door.

Ra goes in first and heads straight inside to the upper floor. Upstairs, Ra stops and wants someone to check for traps at the living room door. Neiia doesn’t find traps, but Jaysek hears commotion behind him from a hatch to the lower floor. Neiia opens the hatch and notices that one doorman is standing down there with a crossbow. Neiia lies down, aims with a magic bolt for a few seconds, and shoots the doorman in the head so that he falls unconscious to the ground.

Neiia looks down for a couple of seconds, and when nothing is visible, she closes the hatch. The group returns to the living room, where the door leading to Saul’s office is locked, and the door going in the other direction is barred from the other side. The group thinks about how to get that door open, but since the group doesn’t have a crowbar with them, breaking the door is somewhat difficult. Jaysek tells Kieron to open the door, whereupon Kieron goes to the door to knock on it while shouting, “Room service.” A voice from behind the door says, “Just a moment,” and the door opens. Behind the door is one man dressed in dark clothes and another who looks like he can’t quite believe his eyes that his buddy fell for that. Ra strikes the man with his sword, and Neiia shoots a magic bolt from the back row, but the man is still standing. Kieron draws her baton and strikes the man in the head with it, and he falls to the ground dead. After this, Kieron steps aside so the others can fit into the room. The man in the room starts running away through a secret door. Ra and Neiia start running after him to the upper landing. Kieron runs through the room to the next room and notices that it’s empty.