Episode 5: Toppling the Kingpin

"None may challenge the Brotherhood."

As quickly as I could blink, the masked Edwin VanCleef pulled his swords cleanly from his sash and lunged forward at Danivun. Danivun raised his shield, but Vancleef's barbed sword hooked on its edge and he ripped his shield arm away. VanCleef thrusted his other sword at Danivun's belly, but Danivun's pulled his axe in to meet steel with steel. The blade caught onto what remained of Danivun's mail and pulled a few rings loose as VanCleef twisted his sword and threw the axe from our leader's hand. With a hard kick to the chest, VanCleef put the warrior on his rump and the axe landed a few feet beside him.

Defias henchmen sprang from the ship's cabin to join the fray. Shadows swirled behind one of them and Tiernan positioned himself to make his move. The Dwarf reached up and plunged his dagger into the back of one of the henchmen, then he swung low at the knee of the next man. Screams of pain burst from behind the henchman's red mask as he fell into Tiernan's other blade. The Dwarf turned his attention to VanCleef, but the Defias Kingpin spun and threw a knee into his face. Blood poured into his beard as he staggered backwards and the remaining two henchmen moved to strike our wounded ally. Tethyros sent an arrow at VanCleef, but he quickly dodged it and it stuck into the neck of the female henchman behind him.

VanCleef extended his arm and a blade fired from a contraption on his wrist, which pierced into Tethyros's thigh. The archer stumbled and the arrows spilled out of his quiver. Golden energy encircled his wound, but it didn't seem to be enough to abate the pain. The Kingpin growled in mockery of his invaders.

"Lapdogs. All of you."

I charged in with my axe to help Tiernan. The remaining henchman was quick to respond to my attack, and managed to block me with his blade. I twisted my weapon and pulled the sword away, but was met with a fist to the side of my face. My vision blurred, so I frantically flailed my axe to keep some distance between my enemy and myself. I felt the tingling warmth of Sister Lynette's healing and could see the same glittering effect radiating from Tiernan in the corner of my eye. The henchman lunged at me, but Tethyros threw his knife, which streaked past me and sunk into his belly. The Defias clutched his gut and bent forward in pain as I recovered, allowing me to swing upwards into his chest. When I pulled the axe free, I looked back to see VanCleef advancing on our priestess, who retracted from him in some measure of fear. Danivun had grabbed hold of his axe and began to rise to his feet, but VanCleef quickly slashed at his side. The blade scrapped against mail, and Danivun rolled backward to position himself between Lynette and the Defias Kingpin. Finally, we had him surrounded, but it felt like we were the ones who were really in danger.

A mechanical whirring came from behind us as VanCleef ran toward Danivun, who raised his shield in preparation for an attack. However, VanCleef used the shield as a boost to leap high into the air as a wall panel came down and launched a spread of flechette darts in a wide arc. Lynette threw her arms out and shouted a word of power. She suddenly shined with radiant energy as a glittering, golden dome grew into existence to shield us from the projectiles.

VanCleef landed beside Tiernan and they crossed blades. Their daggers and swords were singing with lethality as they clashed and parried. Tiernan slid on his knees through VanCleef's legs, attempting to slash at the groin and hamstring of our adversary. The Kingpin leapt over him in a forward flip and swung at the Dwarf's head, barely missing the scalp but managed to chop off a lock of the Dwarf’s hair.

"Give it up, Edwin!" Danivun shouted. "You can't win. We have the Light on our side!"

VanCleef scoffed as he repositioned himself to defend from all sides. "Fools! Our cause is righteous!" He then threw something to the ground and a cloud of smoke engulfed the deck of the ship as the Kingpin vanished from sight.

"Your 'cause' is theft and villainy." groaned Tethyros. He had freed the blade from his leg and managed to grab a handful of arrows as he returned to his feet. "You force the common people to suffer and die, all so that you can seek retribution for a job unpaid."

The archer's words certainly rang true for me, filling me with renewed hate for this king of thieves. But as the smoke dissipated, four more Defias appeared.

VanCleef's voice echoed overhead from a speaker he had made. "We are the common people who have suffered and died. We built your city and were cast out for demanding what was rightfully ours. We were left to starve and steal while your pathetic king ate wine and cheese with his so-called 'nobles.'"

The Defias drew their weapons, each one unique as if to indicate the importance of their roles within the gang. A goblin with a handaxe and a bag strapped to his back, a heavyset woman wielding an intricate cherrywood staff with gold inlay, a tall man holding a silvered hammer with a matching dagger, and finally a bearded man with a rapier and a flintlock pistol.

"We are the cogs of the great machine you call 'Stormwind.' But now, all of Stormwind shall find that the machine will no longer run smoothly now that the parts have gone renegade."

And with that, the battle began anew. The two men charged in, but the others maintained some amount of distance. The tall man smashed against Danivun’s shield with his hammer and jabbed at his weak points with the dagger, which kept Lynette and Danivun too preoccupied to aid against the others. Conjured blasts of water and frost were flung at us by the woman with the staff, while the goblin threw poison vials and small incendiaries from his pack. We managed to dodge the venomous clouds, but an incendiary caught the fringe of Lynette’s robe and set it partially on fire. She spoke a dispelling charm and the flames vanished from sight, her robes still just as pristine as when they were new. But just as Lynette managed to heal our wounds, so too did the enemy's water conjurer, but with mending splashes instead of golden light.

Tethyros gathered a handful of arrows and fired a volley that ripped into the Goblin's sack. It tore open and poisonous flames erupted from the broken vials that smashed on the ground beneath him. He attempted to scream in pain but choked on the gasses, gurgling and thrashing as his healer enveloped him in waters to extinguish the flames. Her magic was strong, but seemed to have no effect on the Goblin's poison as his eyes rolled back and he began to foam at the mouth.

The bearded man artfully stabbed at Tiernan with his rapier, but the Dwarf was quick to dodge. Like a dance, the Defias would extend his sword for an attack and Tiernan would avoid it as if they had practiced the fight together. Every now and again, Tiernan would quickly stab or slash at the Defias, then move to avoid his next attack. The Defias leapt backward, extending his sword to cover his retreat, and then fired his pistol directly between Tiernan’s eyes. A ball of rounded shot ricocheted off of the Dwarf’s forehead, stunning him but not causing severe damage. The Defias swashbuckler then poised to run him through with his rapier, but I charged in and swung my axe hard at his arm. The Defias repositioned his blade in an attempt to parry me, but was too late. Instead my axe split through the Defias’s hand, severing it from two fingers down to his wrist.

He screamed and recoiled in pain as his healer began to cast healing streams to mend her ally. The water conjuror was part way through her chant, forming a wave of magical liquid over the wounded swashbuckler when I swung my axe wildly back toward her and narrowly missed her nose as she dodged my attack. But it was enough for her to fail her incantation, and the waters fell impotently into a puddle on the deck. Tiernan rubbed the spot in his forehead where the rock projectile struck him and regained his senses. He stepped through the shadows behind the water conjuror and drove his blade into her back. A splash of water washed over her and closed her wound, then she spun on her heal and struck the Dwarf with the end of her staff. The wounded Defias swashbuckler readied another shot from his pistol, but I swung my axe low and chopped through his knee. He fired the shot, but missed as he had suffered too much pain to maintain his accuracy. I quickly followed up with a heavy cleave through his chest, and fought hard to dislodge my weapon.

Tiernan kept on the water conjuror as best he could, but she proved to be more resilient than expected. As a healer, her restorative and protective powers were not as potent as the priestess's was, but she was significantly tougher and more capable of fending off an attacker. She used her staff as both a weapon and a conduit to channel her powers. With a swift upward strike, she knocked Tiernan into the air and raised her hand up as she spat a word of power. Water condensed out of thin air and burst forward like a wave. The spell threw Tiernan against the wall and knocked the wind from his lungs. As he struggled to regain his breath, I charged at the water conjurer. I swung forcefully with my axe and she brought her staff up to deflect the attack. My foot found the puddle that had formulated after the wasted healing spell she attempted and caused me to slip. A loud cracking sound echoed throughout the cavern and I fell hard on my elbows with my axe head buried deep into the deck. A blood splatter and splinters lay before me and I looked up to see that my loss of balance wound up being to my benefit. The propulsive force brought the blade of my weapon into the shaft of hers and split it in two, then ripped her from her chest down to her stomach. She fell to a knee, staring agape at the broken halves of her staff. Then Tethyros fired an arrow that punctured the side of her head and she collapsed in a pool of blood. I turned to assist Danivun in his fight against the last remaining Defias, who swung his hammer in a fit of rage. Danivun’s shield had taken an immense beating and was severely dented in from his enemy’s powerful blows. Blood ran down from puncture wounds in his shoulders and sides where the Defias had managed to stick his dagger into our leader, but Sister Lynette was able to sustain him with her holy magic. Tiernan, Tethyros, and I all hacked at the Defias, who’s rage seemed to keep him alive through our unmitigated attacks and he continued to hammer into Danivun with increasing force. Then the Defias raised his hammer far back and followed up with a heavy, overhand swing. But Danivun stepped into the attack and crouched low, tipping our foe off-balance, then used his attacker’s momentum to throw the Defias onto the floor where we finished him off.

In a surprise attack, VanCleef sprang in from behind and slammed Sister Lynette down against the deck of the ship. He then rushed Tethyros and struck him an elbow as he tore away the hunter’s bow. As Lynette attempted to get up, I screamed a war cry as I wildly swung at Vancleef's side. In a blur, the Kingpin rolled to the side of me, collecting an arrow from the ground, and fired it at my back. As I twisted to reposition my next attack, I lost balance and fell over just as the arrow tore through my shirt. Had I not fallen, it surely would have pierced into my heart.

Vancleef paused to look over his shoulder onto the shoreline beyond the ship. We all took a brief moment to glance at what seemed to be the first thing to draw the attention of such a disciplined foe, suddenly realizing that the Kingpin had been acting as a distraction. A great many of his outlaws could be seen evacuating through a tunnel out of the Deadmines. Dwarves, goblins, and Humans. Men, women, and even some children were among their numbers. There was even a girl about my age, ushering them along, taking a moment to look back at us before hurrying along with her people. VanCleef spoke in a foreboding tone. “The Brotherhood shall prevail.” Our fight continued. Tiernan stepped through the shadows to appear behind VanCleef who struck the Dwarf with our hunter’s bow before tossing it away. VanCleef stepped backward and drew his blades once again just in time to deflect Danivun’s charging attack. He hooked his blades on Danivun’s boot and pulled hard, ripping away leather and flesh as Danivun screamed in pain. Tethyros dove for his bow and quickly nocked an arrow to shoot it at the Kingpin. As the Night Elf lined up his shot, the Kingpin pressed a button on the back of his wrist and an electric charge from a hidden device he planted on the bow shocked Tethyros and the arrow flew harmlessly away from his target.

Lynette rose to her knees and hastily threw a healing spell at Danivun’s mangled foot to try to get him back into the fight. VanCleef returned his attention to her, but I stepped in between them to protect her. Fear suddenly shot through me like a jolt of electricity, but I realized that it wasn’t my life that I was afraid of losing. I was afraid for my friend’s life. Desperate, I swung my axe in a few wide arcs to create some distance and buy us a little time. But VanCleef could easily sense that I was untrained.

The Kingpin dipped the blade of his sword and hooked the barb under the head of my axe, yanking me off my feet. I pitched forward and saw the tip of his other sword tilt into position to gut me. Just then, Tiernan reappeared in front of me, bracing my fall and the blade bit deep into his stomach. VanCleef tore the blade out, along with blood and sinew that had gotten caught in the blade’s hook and Tiernan fell to the ground clutching the wound in pain. In a mocking tone, VanCleef chided “And stay down.”

Freshly healed, Danivun took this opening to leap back into action. With a hard thrust, he slammed the corner of his shield into VanCleef's head, stunning him as the warrior brought his axe down on the Defias leader's chest. I swung my axe again in a primal rage at VanCleef's leg and managed to pierce into his thigh as well as sink into the bone. VanCleef flailed a retaliating strike and cut into my arm, making me lose grip on my own weapon as I recoiled from the pain.

Tethyros whistled a signal that made Danivun bound backward, and then the Night Elf drew two arrows at once, horizontally on his bow. He fired the shot, which sent both arrows to puncture VanCleef's chest and caused the Defias Kingpin to reel forward onto his hands and knees. In an instant, Danivun grabbed hold of my axe and used his newly mended foot to pry it free from the outlaw’s leg. Then he used the momentum and spun on his heel to strike at the Kingpin’s neck, decapitating our foe. VanCleef's body shuddered, then lay still as blood poured out across the deck of the ship. Finally, the terror of Westfall had been executed.