Tor sat with a faint smile resting upon his features as he listened and watched his men around him enjoying themselves, the many dancers and escorts flitting around as another large cask of Tillian Ale was brought into the room – raising cheers and whoops from many of his men as they raised their mugs to the air to once more toast their previous successes. The free city of Tillian had fallen, as all the others like it had, meaning this was likely one of the last times any of them would be able to drink the renowned beverage. 

A large behemoth of a man was the first to fill his mug before turning and raising it into the air. He waited as a hush quickly fell upon the room as all eyes turned to him, his bald head and bushy beard were quite the sight when combined with his rippling muscles and huge form. Surveying his comrades-in-arms slowly and deliberately he waited for a few more moments before he shouted “To Balith!” to which there was a multitude of agreeing cheers as he continued “To the company of the Bloody Hand! To the gold of Antioch! And to the fine women of this city!”

As the cheers continued the large man walked over to Tor before he set the mug before him and with a hearty pat on the back said “Drink up my captain, for once you should relax. Pick a pretty little thing and let her do unspeakable things to you!”

Tor shook his head fondly as he responded “Davos my friend, you know for me this is a relaxing evening. Besides that I’m still recovering from our session last night, I don’t know how you can drink so bloody much. Besides Vanir feels uneasy, and you remember what happened the last time we ignored his advice”.

The large man’s expression dropped as Tor’s dark emerald eyes bored into him for a moment and his thoughts turned back to the day that Grayston had been killed. 
“Pah, I’d like to see something threaten us here!” he said boastfully as he gestured around “Not only is the entire company spread throughout the city, but that old coot Darrius Mahakam has his dogs on watch, as well as the countless spell-slingers that are watching over us. What could possibly happen?” 

“I suppose you may be right…” said Tor slowly though unconvinced. “I suppose I should be trying to find either the Day or Night Master again tonight. They’ve proven most elusive thus far – I’m starting to think they may be avoiding me you know”.

Davos grinned and nudged him as he said “You know I hear they are both quite the lookers. I wouldn’t mind having either of them day or night – or both!”. Tor rolled his eyes as Davos continued “and I hear that Athel can drink most men under the table to boot! Now that I would love to see. Oh! And she is apparently unspoiled by the ravages of a man if  you can you believe that? I don’t mind telling you that some of the men have already put some coin towards this bet – apparently they think you will be the first one to fu-…”

“Shh!” interrupted Tor suddenly.

“But I was only…” remarked Davos with a bashful grin on his face. 

Standing, the look of relaxation now completely gone from his face Tor commanded “All of you, [b]silence now![/b]”. Suddenly the atmosphere changed as each and every man fell silent, the numerous half naked courtesans looking around with confused expressions at the sudden change in the atmosphere. Tor listened intently as he heard the sounds again. The unmistakable sounds of panic, slaughter and death reached his ears. 

“Men to arms!” he bellowed as he sprinted towards the exit “Davos, gather Vanir and his men now! Tell them to find me, I’m going to find out what the hell is going on out there!”

In an instant the barracks were a flurry of activity as men rushed back and forth trying to gather their weapons and armour, whores and dancers alike stumbled around as they were involuntarily pushed out of the way. With his bow in hand Tor burst into the streets where the sounds of panic became suddenly more audible as people rushed back and forth, the sounds of distant combat and the crackling of fire spreading through the streets. 

Grabbing the first man who fled past by the scruff of his neck Tor shouted “What is it? What is happening?” 

Terror gripped the man as he gazed into the hard face of the mercenary as he stuttered “W-w-we are under attack… so much blood! So much!” before he broke free and continued to flee. Tor then noticed that the man was covered in blood and gore, his own hands now thick with it just from his touch. Tor continued to push his way through the crowds, many people all fleeing in the opposite direction to him making it quite difficult as they were almost frenzied with fear. Rounding the next corner he came into sight of the large gatehouse that protected the inner city, the square before it filled with chaos and destruction. 

Several dark hooded figures were in the square, some of them launching flames from their arms into the surrounding buildings and gate, others slaughtering every person they could reach with a combination of savage magic and deadly blades. Blood already was running thick in the streets and corpses were beginning to pile up. He watched as one of the attackers chanted and directed dark plumes of energy into the bodies which were then reanimating before begging to carve their own paths of death through the helpless inhabitants of the city. 

Gritting his teeth Tor watched in horror as a mother and child fled from one of the flaming buildings only to be cut down by one of the undead abominations as they ran. Reaching into his quiver he pulled out one of the five arrows that Vanir had prepared for him in case of such situations – the majority of his arrows carrying no enchantments of any kind. Exhaling slowly he drew it back and fired, the shaft hurtling at staggering speeds through the air before it pierced the skull of the necromancer who had been resurrecting corpses – sending his body crashing to the ground. At that moment each of the attackers turned from what they were doing and fixed their collective gaze upon him. Wasting little time Tor fired each of his four remaining arrows in the flash of an eye, four of the necromancers crashing to the ground dead as each found their mark and pierced through their protective wards. 

The remaining necromancers sprang into action, the closest to him flinging a barrage of dark flames directly at him. Feeling the heat scorching at him Tor dove to the side, the majority of the fire missing him as his cloak started to smoulder from the intensity of the heat. As he started to stand one of the undead husks was upon him, its lifeless eyes glaring at him as it lunged forwards with its gaping maw. Rolling onto his back Tor aimed a swift kick at the creatures knee, a sickening snapping sound resonating as his foot found its mark and the thing toppled over. Springing up Tor pulled his sword free as more continued to swarm him, one of the remaining necromancers now staring intently at him as he chanted and sang in the strange language of magic. 

Tor cleft left and right as he tried to cut himself free of the numerous grappling hands of the dead, however it seemed there were too many of them and he would not be able to reach the spell-caster in time. At the moment the necromancer was about to complete whatever vile spell he had been planning there was a yell from behind Tor as someone shouted “Loose!”

A small but accurate volley of arrows soared over Tor, catching the necromancer with several of them. The man shrieked as he collapsed – the numerous arrows obviously being enough to overwhelm any wards he may have had. Glancing behind him Tor was glad to see Davos with several of his men rushing forwards from the side-streets. The giant of a man charged forwards bellowing like a bull as he swung his great-axe with ease, quickly clearing the way for Tor to fall back as several more of his troops charged forwards with their blades drawn ready to defend their leader to the death.

“Where the fuck is Vanir?” shouted Tor above the chaos. Davos simply shrugged and replied “We couldn’t find him, looks like it’s just us and cold hard steel tonight”. 

“What about the bloody city guard, shouldn’t they be here?” he asked again, dismayed that so far his men seemed to be alone combatting whoever these freaks were. Davos again shrugged as he prepared to charge himself back into the fray, adding only “I think these things are all over the city”. 

Tor sighed before he turned his gaze back to the square and he started to bark orders left and right to his men as they rallied at his side. “Time to earn our keep boys!” he yelled as they sprinted forwards.