Dusk had fallen by the time that they managed to make it to Goldshire’s perimeter. The density of the patrols had kept their movements slower, but they managed to slip through undetected on their way to the town. Helbram could feel his shoulder sting and his ribs ache with every step, but he continued on, purpose pushing past the lightness that he felt in his head. Jahora had managed to recover enough to be able to walk as well, trudging through the darkness in silence.

They remained in the forest, Helbram and Jahora taking further respite behind the trees as Leaf scanned the wall for patrols. However, that didn’t stop the half elf from throwing them a skeptical look every so often.

“I can’t believe we’re still doing this…” he muttered.

“Better now than never,” Helbram said, “still, thank you again for the armor.”

He ran a hand over his breastplate, noting the warped deformities from where Leaf had bashed out the dents from the armored man’s previous encounter with the Quetali. There was no chance it would hold against attacks to the same degree as before, but at the very least it didn’t rub against him while he moved.

“Bah, if we’re gonna do this then we’re gonna do it right. I’m just shoring up our chances,” he scanned the wall again, “Right, so I’ve got a good idea of their patrols for tonight. It’s a short window but if we managed to exploit it we could have the perimeter clear with none the wiser,” Leaf looked at his weary companions, “You can do this, right?”

“I’m right as rain,” Jahora said with a weak wave, “Just, you know, don’t expect any large explosions from me…”

Helbram stood up, wincing as his shoulder flared in pain. The wound was closed, but he knew any sort of trauma would open it up again. That was all but a certainty from what was to come. The small trickle of Ether he possessed had slipped away from his awareness, and any attempts to call at it were met with nothing but emptiness.

“I’ll be fine,” Helbram said.

“Well that’s a load of shite, but who knows what you’re thinking under that helmet of yours,” he gave an experimental tug of his bow and looked back towards the town, “We’ll make our entrance from the east and work our way around the wall that way,” he eyed Helbram again, “I’m afraid mercy is not an option this time.”

Helbram nodded, “I’ve already accepted that… lets just be quick about it.” 

Jahora stood up and slapped her face, letting out a sigh as she flicked her fingers, “Whatever Gods are watching this… toss a bit of grace our way, will you?”

The gnome walked up to Helbram and Leaf, a spell weaving in her hands. She knelt down, placing her palms against their boots and hers, inscribing a glyph of pale green energy at their heels. 

“Remember, we have about 10 minutes until the spell ends.”

When the spell was cast, Helbram felt a surge of strength in his legs and his body felt as light as a feather. Leaf gave a few experimental hops, which resulted in him jumping a foot off the ground with the barest effort. The three nodded to each other, and after Leaf gave the signal, they sprinted towards the wall. Their lightness allowed them to approach the town in relative silence. They stopped just short at the base of the wall. Leaf jumped first, clearing the wall’s height and landing on top of it. The half elf fired an arrow as soon as he landed, and Helbram could hear the sound of a body collapsing sound just a short ways away. Leaf peered into the distance, then turned and nodded at them. Both Jahora and Helbram leapt at the same time, the gnome landing with a much softer impact than the man clad in armor. Still, his entrance did not seem to draw any attention, and as he landed on the top of the wall he drew his sword.

The group moved as one, walking as fast as they could along the wall without making much noise. Leaf took care of all the patrolling bandits at a distance while Helbram and Jahora kept their eyes on lookout towards the town. They caught sight of a few bandit patrols walking between buildings, but none had their eyes directed towards the wall. Eventually, they ended up on the west side of the wall, the remaining bandit having fallen to another well placed shot by Leaf.

The half elf snatched up the arrows from the fallen bandit’s quiver and looked back towards the town’s gate. Helbram looked out towards the forest. He could see no signs of lanterns amidst the trees as dusk turned to night. He bent down to take a dagger from the same bandit and nodded to Leaf.

They moved at a quicker pace towards the town’s gate, noting the two men that guarded the inside of the gate and the squad that stood on the outside. They slowed down their movements as they arrived at the top of the gate, creeping towards its inner edge and peering at the two men down below. Helbram and Leaf positioned themselves above each guard, who had not looked up to be aware of their presence. The two men nodded at each other, then Helbram dropped from the wall.

Helbram landed on his target directly, driving his sword into the man’s back. He still felt light from Jahora’s spell, but the bandit had taken his weight in its entirety as he crumpled to the ground with a crack. Not a sound left his lips.

The other bandit had no time to react, for as Helbram landed an arrow pierced the back of his neck and protruded through his throat. He fell to the ground gargling, only to fall still as Leaf landed and finished him off with his dagger. Jahora landed after them, keeping her eyes away from the two bodies.

Helbram’s shoulder flared with pain from his impact with the ground, and he bit back a yell that almost escaped his teeth.

“Oi, did you hear that?” they heard from across the gate.

“What?”

“I could've sworn I heard something…”

“Bah it was probably nothing, just the night getting to ya, I remember there was this time that..”

Helbram ignored the bandit chatter and moved with Leaf towards the gate. Beyond its size, there were supports for a beam riveted across its surface. Said beam stood upright next to the door, resting in a slot to hold it out of the way. A lever was attached to the wall next to the beam, locked in place in an outward position. The two men grabbed the lever and looked to Jahora. She stood in front of the gate with her eyes closed and hands held out, Aether condensed at her fingertips into a glyph of yellow light. She opened her eyes and nodded at them.

The men pulled on the lever, straining as the mechanism provided much more resistance than they had assumed. Helbram tried to keep as much stress off of his shoulder as he could, but even with that he felt his shoulder scream with pain as the mechanism triggered. The beam fell, its weight thundering against the supports along the gate. 

“Oi! What the hells?” a bandit said from the front of the gate.

Jahora unleashed her spell then, a bolt of yellow light that struck the center of the gate, suffusing the structure with a web of yellow Aether that slowly flowed to the ground as Jahora fed more energy into the spell. As she did Helbram raised his sword at the lever, but a twinge of pain brought his arm down. Leaf looked at him for a moment before kicking the handle multiple times to snap it off.

Banging started at the door, “Hey! Open up! What’s going on back there?”

Helbram and Leaf walked away from the gate, the half elf eyeing the armored man with an impassive expression.

“Did it tear?” He asked.

Helbram shook his head, “No, gods did it feel like it was going to…”

“Good, we can’t be having-”

A bandit emerged from a nearby building, humming a tune to himself. His face was flushed, but went pale as soon as his eyes fell upon the trio. Helbram dashed, sprinting towards the man as the bandit fumbled for a cylinder strapped to his waist. An arrow struck the man’s chest, but somehow the bandit managed to get the object into his hands. Helbram closed in, following the arrow with his blade through the man’s heart, but with a final cough of blood his hands twisted the cylinder. A bolt of fire flew from the device and into the sky, bursting with a flare of red light that lingered in the air.

“It’s an attack!”