Dirge of the Afterlife - Chapter 2 The Quest

Under the guidance of Ristaccia, Rachel grew in skill. Her magic powers soon rivaled that of her trainer, and Ristaccia decided it was time to start their first assault.

Rachel was nervous, but not so much that she was at a total loss. She had been training in endurance, skill, speed, dexterity, stamina and more, and had not been lacking. In fact, she paralleled Ristaccia, if not surpassed, in most skills. Most importantly, she could hide traces of her magics.

They snuck into the mage slayer stronghold with the cover of darkness. Ristaccia set out with her massive bastard sword in hand, closing in on the two sentries at the back door. With expert ease, she downed both with a single sweep to their necks.

Rachel then moved in together, both headed for the prison. In there were several Soul Warriors awaiting execution, and they were held by a force field generated by a Force Crystal. Shatter the crystal, shatter the prison.

They reached the crystal chamber with no difficulty, the bloody trail of corpses giving testament to that fact. What they didn't know, though, was a mage slayer supersoldier, following their trail.

As they reached the chamber, the soldier cleared his throat. Both spun around, Ristaccia's blade raised, Rachel's hands crackling with arcanic energies.

Ristaccia glanced at Rachel. 'Destroy the crystal,' she commanded. 'I'll take on this guy.'

Rachel hesitated only a second before moving on to the crystal, pouring destructive energies into it. It weakened, but very slowly.

As for the supersoldier, his reflexes were genetically modified to the speed of a panther, the strength of a dire bear. And he had a rather big, six barrelled automatic pistol. Ristaccia did not waste time with words, instead rushing him, slicing his bullets into shish kebab.

The supersoldier fired round after round at Ristaccia, then swept a kick at her. The kick nearly got her, if not for her equally quick movement away. Her blade, intended for his neck, got his arm instead. He hissed, not entirely humanely.

With machine-like precision, the supersoldier dropped his gun and delivered swift punches and kicks at Ristaccia, who dodged a few but not all. A kick landed on her stomach, driving the air out of her. A punch to her jaw sent her sprawling.

Frantically waving her sword, she struck the helmet of the supersoldier, which cracked and fell off. The soldier was dazed and shook his head in confusion. 'What...'

Just then the crystal shattered. The holds ceased, and the soul warriors cried out in relief. Quickly grabbing their various weapons, they moved towards their saviours.

The supersoldier gasped. 'What...have I done?' He rushed to Ristaccia, still on the ground, and helped her up. 'I'm sorry. It was the mage slayers. They controlled me with the helmet...'

'It's fine.' said Ristaccia shortly. 'We've gotta get out of here. Let's move.'
===========================================================================
Back at Ristaccia's hideout, the rescued soul warriors, numbering a dozen, the brainwashed supersoldier, called Genesis, Rachel and Ristaccia dressed their respective wounds. Suddenly, a voice sounded out of the shadows.

'There you are. Where did you go?'

Rachel gasped and immediately prepared to fire a fireball. Ristaccia restrained her, and smiled at the newcomer. 'Just a trip to the slayers to free these guys, and to give a little hands-on experience to Rachel here.'

The figure laughed. 'Does not one of you know me?' he asked to the small crowd of soul warriors. At the blank looks he received, he sighed.

Ristaccia grinned. 'You'd expect these newbies to know you?' The grin turned into a laugh. 'I bet they never even heard of you.'

'Let's see. What do any of you know about the Guardians?' the man asked.

Genesis narrowed his eyes. 'You're Xepher...aren't you?' he muttered.

Xepher burst out laughing. 'See? At least one of them recognized me!' he shot at Ristaccia.

'Anyway, I didn't come to joke around. The Ellyna is dying, Ristaccia. I need a core of powerful Soul Warriors to infiltrate the temple and acquire the seed, then bring it to the Fountain of Eternity. I've come to recruit you.' continued Xepher.

'What about Rachel?' she asked.

'You've taught her all you can for now.' replied Xepher. 'Now it's my turn. I'll train her to be what she has the potential to be. A Guardian.' Turning to Genesis, Xepher added,'I'll need you to watch her back, and I'm sure you can do that.' Genesis nodded.

'All right, Xepher. But we can't do it ourselves.' said Ristaccia. 'Is there anyone else who can aid us?'

'Well...' he turned to the window and cried out in a shrill call. Immediately two new figures came in.

'Felicia. Kaffleen.' smiled Ristaccia. 'Okay, we're gonna get the seed. I bet you a couple of gold shards.'

'No need to. By the way, a death knight is the leader of the mage slayers. Watch out.' said Xepher as they departed.