Here Come the Luxembourgs
Wenzel and Tvrtko started trading swings with their lances, back and forth not finding an edge against the other. Wenzel would be able to pressure Tvrtko into moving into the next room which was a wide kitchen. Still, they dueled with their blades, the both of them feeling a bit of satisfaction in it. They were both equally fast and strong with neither playing defensively. Then they both fired spells (Flammo) that collided and blew up in their faces. They would both be blown across the room. Tvrtko would soon return to his feet and attack Wenzel with a wide swing. Wenzel blocked this with his lance standing straight up and then hopped in the air, flipping into a kick sending Tvrtko against an oven. Tvrtko came back, using his lance to fling himself into Wenzel. Stunning the emperor for a moment, he was able to bodyslam him against a stone counter, shattering it. Wenzel then punched him away and rolled back. They called upon their lances and began trading swings again.
Tamasi and Maroti had now made it past the front gates of the castle and then made their way through the first few rooms. They peeked in the kitchen, sighting the amazing fight, and kept going down the hallway. “Kurjakovic said he didn’t even know what it looks like on the inside but a dungeon is always at the bottom…”
Then suddenly, Tvrtko burst through the wall behind them. The two magicians looked back in shock. Wenzel followed by thrusting his sword at the seated Tvrtko. Tvrtko shined Lucem in Wenzel’s eyes allowing him to dodge the blunted assault. Tvrtko rose to attack Wenzel but the Emperor split them away from each other with a big dose of water, Aspergo.
In the dining hall, Sigismund and Jan approached with their swords, left and right. Ivan equipped a simple spear and told his brother, “it’ll be fine. Brothers fighting another set of brothers. Focus!”
He blocked the Luxembourgs’ first attack and turned that block into a swing at Jan who ducked under it. Then Sigismund hopped over the swing and he, himself, swung at Ivan’s head. Ivan jumped away and the three reset. Pavao was still by the doorway with his hands behind his back. He said, “you two are impressive, at least for teenagers.”
“Yeah, stay impressed and don’t join the fight, whatever Ivan wants,” Sigismund says.
“Come at us this time, Ivan. Your turn,” commanded Jan.
“Do you think we are just sparring?” Sigismund and Jan yawned. Ivan sighed. Well now, they were standing between the Horvat brothers. This will be good if brother uses a hex but I can’t let them hold this position, they are practically holding him hostage. So for my turn, I’ll use magic.
Ivan chucked his spear at Sigismund who dodged to the right. Then, using telekinesis, Ivan forced the spear to go after Jan who moved away to the left. Ivan caught up to his spear and fired Flammo from its point. It flew at Jan who negated it with Aspergo. Then, suddenly, Pavao fired a spell at Jan and a certain red mark hit the ground below him. His pupils turned red as well. Sigismund looked at the priest who Ivan came at the protective side of. Sigismund approached his own brother.
“What happened? What’d you do?”
The red symbol on the ground was a circle with a single line going through it. Null. Jan felt so weakened that he could hardly stand but Sigismund helped him up. Pavao answered, “the most basic hex, I canceled your ability to use Aspergo for the rest of your dear life. I can only lock you out of it after watching you perform the spell at least once.”
The symbol closed in on Jan and then reappeared on his arm. “Damn you- well, forgive me for that but this was a bad move Priest Horvat!”
“The name’s Pavao. Anyway, that wasn’t the most powerful spell at your disposal.”
Then Ivan added, “it will make it easier to take you out, first the little one and then Sigismund!”
Ivan charged at the brothers but this time with two swords. Sigismund stopped him and they started swinging at each other. “He thinks he’s Asian or something to be able to handle two blades,” Sigismund mocked.
“Yeah, but its fine that I can’t splash,” Jan said. And from the flank, Jan ran by slashing across Ivan’s back.
“Damn!” and then Sigismund cut his chest apart. “Fuck!” Ivan jumped back to Pavao who pressed his hand against his brother’s back. Ivan’s wounds were instantly healed.
“What!?” exclaimed the Luxembourgs.
“You guys may be right, I never trained duel wielding,” he placed the swords away and equipped a battle ax. “But what is the right tool for two brats?” Under his pants, at his ankles, Pavao marked Ivan with signs of wings, a Hermes hex. Ivan suddenly flew at the two at much faster speeds while blue glitter followed him. Sigismund was surprised to block his attack and then Ivan added more strength sending Sigismund across the room. Jan swung at him but Ivan shocked him but appearing right behind him. “Flammo!”
“Protego” Jan fired from his sword. The spells collided into each other.
“Nullify!”
And Jan was struck by another hex. “Ah, fuck you- sorry, fuck you- sorry.”
“Damn it, Congelo!” Sigismund fired.
No way he can do a- and Ivan was encased in ice. I guess King Lajos taught him well.
Oh no! My time limit on the nullifier spell is one minute. That’s Sigismund’s most dangerous spell but if he uses another one, it will nullify that instead of Congelo.
“Watch Ivan, I gotta take care of the priest before we can go any further,” Sigismund said to Jan as he ran by.
“Yeah yeah,” Jan said. It feels like a hex takes away some life force too. Not magic I expected the holy priests to learn.
Pavao backed against the doors he was standing in front of as Sigismund approached. “Father, forgive me although you have sinned!”. Then he fell between the two doors and slammed them in Sigismund’s face. “AHH!”
Pavao opened one door and gestured his arm to, “Come in, Sigismund.”
“Huh? Sure, of course.” He walked in the doorway and Pavao slammed it shut in his face again.
“Dumbass!” Jan shouted. “How’d you let that guy trick you?”
“We should be able to trust priests! They can’t lie.”
“Yeah they totally could! Think about it, if they lie, they can just go to reconciliation like the rest of us.”
“Huh. Something insightful from Jan.”
“Just bust the doors open!”
Now Maroti and Tamasi were making their way down the hallway Pavao was in but slowed down when they spotted him. Then, from behind them, Wenzel and Tvrtko kept fighting. Ah where do we go??
“Right. Malleo!” Pavao was hiding just on the edge of the doorway. He fired his nullify spell blindly at the doorway, it flew just past Sigismund. “Guess I’m lucky.” and he cut off the priest’s right hand. Pavao shrieked in pain. Sigismund pointed his sword at the priest, “Father, that was just a warning. Spells must fly from the hands so I only took away half of your ability to hex. Let us fight fairly and bravely as noble men without your hexes.”
“Sure, thank you for the mercy, Margrave Sigismund.”
Sigismund turned away from him and then Pavao raised his left hand. He pointed at his brother and then made an upward triangle with his fingers. “Sigismund! Watch out!” shouted Jan. But then a wave of fire burst from Pavao, streaming across the room like a beam, and melted Ivan’s capsicle. The other brothers were burned in this mess as well. They dropped to the floor while Ivan wiped the water off his body. “Nice nice, but a hex with no canvas, isn’t that bad?” He looked at Pavao who was on the floor, clutching his chest and breathing heavily. Pavao sat against the wall in the dining room and nodded at Ivan. “I am sorry brother, you shouldn’t have done so much for me…”
Maroti and Tamasi sneaked by and found themselves at the doorway. Ivan was standing over the laid out Jan and was about to decapitate him with a sword. The two magicians shouted for their king who rose up wildly and tossed his sword blind. It ricochet off the wall and jammed into Ivan’s right leg causing him to fall.
“Ah, you guys scared me but thanks. What’re you doing here anyway?”
Maroti said, “since you guys are fighting everyone, we should be useful and rescue the King and the Queen.”
“His bright idea but we don’t know where the dungeon will be.”
Ivan rose with Sigismund’s lucky sword in his hand. “You’ll never find it. All four of you must die now.”
Sigismund rose with a regular spear, “ah damn, hey will the luck apply to him?”
“If it was a normal enchanted sword,” Maroti answered, “but it is bound to your soul. You should call upon it.”
“Oh right, don’t need this,” he chucked it at Ivan who easily deflected it with the sword. “Whatever,” Sigismund fired two Flammo spells from his hands, “you guys run, it should be down those stairs there. That’s where he came from.”
Ivan parried the spells as they exploded into flames on whatever they landed on, like a sword. So he didn’t take direct damage. But as the magicians made their way to the stairs, Ivan sped over at them. Maroti caught his sword swing with both his hands, albeit painfully. Tamasi pointed at Ivan and then he disappeared in thin air.
“I teleported him back outside so that gives us some time,” Tamasi said.
“The sword went with him, I am sorry my King.”
“It’s okay, get the girls and teleport back out in two minutes. Everything will work out now!”
And so the two headed down to the dungeon.
tdwriter 