Marian had barely managed to defeat an already-exhausted foe. She had no hope of taking on so many healthy ones. She needed to escape.
There was a spell in Marian's tome, "Egress", that had the power to warp her out of this dungeon. However, she couldn't remember the memory associated with the spell off-hand. If she tried to open her spellbook to reread the memory, Barney or one of his many companions might think she was preparing an attack and respond accordingly. She couldn't risk a counterattack. She had to get clear of these monsters before she tried taking out her book. More immediately, she had to buy as much time as she could to formulate a plan.
"Barney-"
"Bandit King!"
"...why? Why throw in with these guys? Have you seen what it's like outside? They're burning the world down and salting the earth! Why do you think they'll let you live?"
"Why? 'cause it was part of our arrangement! I give Sidhegaard to 'em, they spare me!"
"...you did what?!" Marian gawked at him. There wasn't an ounce of shame or regret in his words.
"Ye said earlier that ye didn't think it me style to throw in with a Dark Lord," Barney started. "Five years ago, ye woulda been right. I was the Bandit King! I weren't nobody's lackey! ...at least until ye chucked me off that building."
Spotting the prowling tiger out of the corner of her eye, Marian's attention was brought back to her predicament. The sheer amount of strange forms and entities shifting all around her was overwhelming. If she dwelled on them too long, she would lose her nerve. If she dwelled on the cowardly crook who parleyed his life for everyone else's, she would lose herself to her fury. She had to focus her mind elsewhere. She had to focus on escape.
"I was lying there in that alley, me sammich on me face, when I realized something: a man don't become king without mates. Or if 'e does, 'e don't stay king for long afore the next bloke comes around and deposes 'im, aye? So I tells meself, I gots to find the biggest baddie I can, and make 'em me chum."
There were three doors to the room: the pair Marian had entered and a lone one on the opposite wall. The room had no windows, nor any means of ventilation. These doors were her only way out.
"And I tried to make friends with a lotta fellows over the years. A lotta real promising candidates, they was." He started counting on his fingers. "Rexmagus. Maldracons. Barbaneromus. Dark Tempest. Lotta 'would-be's to the title of Dark Lord. I figured, these blokes is aiming fer the stars, and I'm content with just a country of me own. Could maybe work something out."
Marian recalled how she had levered one of the double doors open with her foot to spy into the room from the hallway. She had never known a door to swing more than one way, so she would need to pull the double doors open if she wanted to exit through them. Pulling a door open would cost her precious time she did not have when surrounded by enemies.
"But every time I threw in with a Dark Lord and they started putting their plans into motion, yer ol' mate, the 'Unter, 'e trundled on in and did in me mates! Do ye know 'ow many times I 'ad to start over from scratch?!"
This left the single door. She wasn't sure if it swung into or out of this room. It'd be no different than the double doors if it swung in, but there was the chance that it swung outward. If she could push through the crowd and crash through the door, she might be able to make her getaway.
"I knew that I'd never 'ave me kingdom 'till I did something about that accursed 'Unter. But no matter what, none of them Dark Lords was up to the task of doing 'im in. At least, not 'till I met Buleyak 'ere."
There were two creatures standing in front of the single door: a man in a green uniform and a bat-like person in gaudy attire. She would have to contend with both if she tried to make her escape in that direction. Marian did not know the bat-thing's physiology, but she did know that normal bats did not make for particularly dense creatures; she might be able to shove this one over as she ran through. However, she didn't think she was physically powerful enough to push aside the man with just her hands.
"'s like I told ye afore, girlie. There's bigger and badder things out there than you or I could 'ave ever imagined. You thought Haitchsy was bad? The toughie what bested the 'Unter and all yer friends? 'E's nothing. Just another 'enchman to the big boys out there. Why shouldn't I try to make friends with these guys? Why shouldn't I 'elp 'em take out the only blighters crazy enough to try and stop 'em?"
At the mention of HC, Marian's focus jumped back several minutes. Her mind raced through the details of her fight against the metallic monster, eventually landing on her use of the spell "Soak 2". The blowback from that spell had forced her to prop herself up to keep from tumbling backwards. How quickly could she propel herself if she embraced the kickback? Would it be enough to push through the bat and the man?
"I'm sure ye can figure the rest from there. Buleyak lent me a couple o' lads and set me loose to prove meself. Said I had a couple weeks to take out the 'Unter, afore their forces did it themselves. If I could do that, they'd let me into their crew."
Marian could not risk opening her spellbook, but in truth, she didn't need it to cast her spells. It was only an aide in remembering her magic. She had learned long ago that it was far easier to use that than to remember on the fly. But she had just used "Soak 2" minutes ago - and repeatedly, at that. Perhaps it was still clear in her short-term memory?
"And I think I've more than proved meself! Once I've finished you off, o' course, I'll 'ave passed me test with flying colours!"
She knew the incident, but could she remember the memory's specifics? Could she remember how many geothermal vents the dragon hit before it fell over? Could she recall how long the team had taken to prepare? What emotions were on Wendy's and Nathaniel's faces as they raced out from the dragon's lair? What was the weather like - bright and sunny, or overcast and gloomy? Was it morning, or evening? Did she feel relief at the plan's success, or surprise? Had she believed it could work?
Did she believe she could escape now?
"I am not certain you truly have passed your test." For the first time since dragging Marian into the room, Buleyak's voice oozed from the subterranean darkness of the crowded chamber. "You have allowed yourself to become distracted. In so doing, you have afforded your prey an opportunity. See how desperately she searches for her escape?"
There was no more time. She had to go.
In a single motion, Marian twisted her body around, clutched her tome to her chest with one hand, raised her other palm out, and kicked off the ground. Her brain clawed frantically for precious memory, filling the details as best she could. Four vents. Three weeks of preparation. Faces of intermingled excitement and nervous hope. The sun burning away late-morning fog in a mildly cloudy sky. Her feeling of vindication that her allies' gamble bore fruit, even though she had been dubious herself. It was not a question of if she believed she could now escape, so much asshe had to escape!
Through primal desperation alone were the isolated images and sensations reconstituted in her mind. First the memory of that day, then the emotions borne therein came to her, extruded like a stick entrenched in the riverbed of transient memory. With those emotions came the buzz of her consciousness tapping into something greater than herself. She pleaded for the magic to come forth, and it answered in a thunderous roar.
A jet of water erupted from Marian's palm. With her arm at an oblique angle with the ground and her body completely airborne, she was propelled backwards at a high speed with just enough kick to keep her flying for a second or two.
"GET HER!" Barney bellowed.
A lot of noises filled the room as the waiting forms of all her enemies snapped into action. Shouted commands, surprised squawks, and the sounds of shuffling bodies overlaid atop the rush of water to form a frantic cacophony of action. As she flew backwards, she watched as several metallic limbs and a few furry figures chased after her, each snatching a moment too late at the air she passed through.
It wasn't long before she felt her back collide with the surprised forms of the bat creature and the uniformed man. Her ascent cut there, though she had enough horizontal momentum that she dragged her unwitting victims along with her. The two started jabbering in protest, but this cut off when the three of them collided with the door. Much to Marian's relief, the door buckled outward, and the three of them spilled out into a long corridor.
The witch ended her spell, then tried to torque her body 180° as quickly as possible. With both the bat and the man in her way, and with only moments of airtime left, this part proved more difficult. Marian could only turn part of the way around before they hit the ground, though her body carried so much momentum that she bounced off the bat and rolled some feet further down the hallway.
Only adrenaline, heightened reaction time from the earlier "Hustle" spell, and sheer dumb luck were enough to convert her momentum into a tuck-and-roll. She sprung up from the ground, gripped the tome in her hand, and began to run down the passageway. She didn't dare to look back. Just the thought of all those bodies charging after her made her...
I have to escape. That's all there is to it.
She broke into a full sprint as she tore down the long, empty hallway, then shifted her focus to the spellbook. She snapped it open in one hand and swiped at its pages with her other palm. To pick apart the pages with her fingers would take far too long.
The spell "Egress" was located on the "Travel" page. The "Travel" page was towards the back of the book. She realized belatedly that she should have started from the back cover and moved towards the front, but it would take too long to switch to doing so now. She had to push forward through all the blank pages to get there.
Not for the first time, she was struck by the sheer number of empty pages. Rather than make her own, Marian had long ago bought her tome pre-made. The book had been completely empty, but she'd planned to write in it every spell she learned until it was full to bursting. But she had learned few spells at school, and fewer more while adventuring with the Wyvern Hunter. Rather than a testament to her accomplishments, the book was instead a testament to her wasted years. And if she couldn't find her "Travel" spells, the few useful kernels of knowledge she'd gained in a harvest of pointless memories, she would-
Four things happened in rapid succession. First, the word "Travel" appeared atop a page in a neat script. Second, a sudden, screaming pain consumed Marian's right calf. Third, she felt her leg give out beneath her. Fourth, the single loudest sound she had ever heard filled the narrow corridor. She knew the noise had been deafening when the ringing in her ears was louder than the agony erupting from her lungs.
The tome sailed out of her hand as the floor rushed up to meet her. She hit the stonework first, feeling something in her body break. Her book hit the dusty ground next and slid to a stop some ten feet away. The witch watched helplessly as the back cover of the book bounced up and over, shutting away the "Travel" spells once again.
Marian tried to stand. She could move her right leg, but her attempt to put weight on it resulted in blinding pain. She cast a frantic glance behind her and saw the black of her travel cloak marred by welling crimson. On the far end of the hallway, the man she had toppled over was standing upright, a cloud of smoke issuing from the unfamiliar tool in his hands. He was attempting to manipulate a lever on the tool's side but was struggling to do so around the deluge of monsters pushing past.
Marian turned back around. If she couldn't stand, then she'd have to get to her tome while on the ground. She dragged herself forward. Her working leg kicked the floor behind her. She clung to every inch she gained, treasuring it like it were a handful of water in the middle of a vast desert.
Escape! She could not let herself think of anything else. Not on the overwhelming pain in her leg, nor on the tears involuntarily streaming down her face, nor on the uniformed man's strange tool, nor on the teaming mass of creatures that clamored to rend her flesh...
With a final lurch, Marian reached her spellbook. She ripped open the back cover with her right hand, then pawed through its pages with her left. She found herself subconsciously counting the pages as she turned them. One, two, three, five, eight, twelve, fifteen, eighteen, twenty-one, twenty-six...
Her shriek for joy at seeing the word "Travel" punched through the ringing in her ears. She slammed her right hand down on this page, then traced her left pointer finger down to the spell "Egress".
She had to reread the memory of the wolf Vanguard guiding her party out of a crevasse three times. The first time, she had been overwhelmed when she could suddenly hear the howling of beasts tearing through the corridor behind her. The second time, something had impacted the floor nearby and a loud noise once again robbed her of her hearing. The third time, her skull started to buzz with the familiar sensation of magical energy.
"Work, work, work!" Marian begged of her magic as the floor rumbled with the impact of heavy feet.
There was a brief pause as the spell washed over her, then her conscious connection to the power faded. Without it, she felt as naked as the skeletons coming towards her. Would they consume her? Would she join their number? The furious migraine building in her head - a telltale sign that her magic reserve was exhausted - made it hard for her to care.
Torchlit shadows had just begun to fall over her as she finally felt a tugging at her core. Then, the crowded hallway faded from sight...