47 Long shot

Sneaking around through the underground ruins, Finn and Jess preyed on lone wandering zombies. Six more fell to their blades before they entered one of the buildings nearby.

Moving through the rooms, they check to make sure no undead were present.

"Alright, I think we need to speed this up a little." Jess said, "that ritual is bad news."

"I think one of the summoners should be nearby, if I remember correctly." Finn said as he snacked in some meat jerky, "we need to take them down before the final fight."

"To the roof then!" Jess pointed at the stairs leading up out of the house's courtyard. "If we stay up there the undead will have to climb stairs to reach us, giving us a major advantage."

Finn sneaked up first to make sure the coast was clear. Keeping low, the wall hid him from potential lookouts. Beckoning to Jess, he moved up to the edge and peeked over the wall.

"Bingo!" He mouthed to Jess after turning around. When she got closer he waited for her to look too.

"Can you shoot him?" She whispered, referring to the summoner keeping a lookout from a roof two buildings away. "If he summons creatures or some undead come I'll stop them at the stairs."

"Ehh, I'll try. It's a little further than I'm used to though." Finn said while loading up a broad head bolt. Resting his heavy crossbow on the wall, he closed one eye and took aim.

"Hmm, he's too far to just point it right at him, that's how I missed my last shot at the halfling yesterday." Finn mumbled. Aiming a little above the summoners head, he was just about to loose the bolt when he felt his hair move to one side.

"Right! That ritual is causing the air to move in a spiral. My bolt will probably be blown a little off to the left." Adjusting his aim a few inches to the right, he thought it should do.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly exhaled as he pulled the trigger.

"swoosh!" The bolt flew through the air, just missing its mark and disappearing into a window of a house further away.

Ducking down, Finn's heart thumped fast. "So close!!" He gripped his crossbow tightly and began to slowly wind it up again.

...

The summoner felt the hairs on his neck rise as a chilly gust of air blew across his neck. Looking around startled, he calmed down again when nothing was visible. The master's spells were really uncomfortable to witness. Summoning a couple rats as a precautionary measure, he sent them down from his vantage point to join the patrols in town.

Turning to look at the impressive ritual again, his jealousy flared up for a second before it turned to fear again. When could he reach that same height? How long before he could gain the power he needed for his revenge?

Averting his eyers, his mind replayed the scenes of his youth, and he mumbled the names of all those who had bullied him or cheated him. The small object that slowly poked out from behind the wall far to his left.

"Thwock!! Aaaargh!" A sudden force to his shoulder knocked him off his feet. The sharp pain causing him to cry out. The shaft of a crossbow bolt protruded at a angle as the head lodged itself deep in his muscle.

Waving his wand with his good arm frantically, he quickly cast a spell.

"Obscurant nebula!"

A thick grey cloud of fog spread out from his wand, hiding him from whatever attacked him.

...

"Bullseye!" Finn reported the hit, but was soon disappointed by the sudden appearance of the cloud. "He's still alive, it seems he panicked and cast something to block my view."

"We should move to a different roof," Jess suggested, "quick before that cloud is blown away."

Jess climbed up the wall that reached to her waist before leaping over the alley and onto the next roof. Finn was right behind her. They leaped again to increase their distance from where the shot had come from, hopefully confusing the wizard.

"Waaaaaauuuuuhhh" the sound of zombies echoed through the cavern.

Jess quickly ran downstairs to check the building for enemies. A few minutes later she back at the top of the stairs cleaning her blade.

"How many?" Finn asked while cranking up his crossbow.

"Just one, it must have wandered in then couldn't find its way out. Too bad there aren't any doors to barricade though, we'll need to keep an eye on the stairs."

"Can you cast magic missile?" Finn asked as he selected one his new blunt bolts.

"No, the only ranged spell I can cast is that freezing arrow," Jess explained, "each spell requires a lot of practice to be able to bring out its full potential."

"No problem, I'll try to see if I can shoot him again, but I doubt he will just stand there like an idiot."

Peeking over the wall, Finn saw that most of the fog had been dispersed by the swirling breeze. The summoner was nowhere to be seen.

"Shoot, he's gone!" Finn reported, "what if I go after him? There will probably be a trail of blood unless he treats the wound."

"Too risky, maybe if you had done it as soon as he cast that spell," Jess shot the idea down immediately. "Now he'll be surrounded by his pets and probably have a few defensive spells cast."

A sudden movement caught Finns eye, a figure was making a speedy retreat through the alley nearby. Four rats and a couple zombies ran along side him as his eyes darted side to side in fear.

"There he is," Finn whispered and raised his crossbow. The wounded magician was running in his direction and would pass right through the alley below in a few second.

"He's coming our way, prepare for a fight." He whispered to Jess.

Finn waited until the wizard was closer before firing a well aimed bolt at his chest. The poor wizard was again knocked down, the blunt bolt didn't pierce him as he was protected by a thin layer of magic, but it did break a rib and wind him completely.

"Mage armor," Jess concluded with a glance, "shoot him again before he casts anything else."

Finn put down his switched his crossbow to the smaller hand one, taking quick aim he fired off another bolt.

"Waaaarrrrrrrgh!" The zombies charged forward to the door along with two of the rats when they saw Finn on the roof in front of them.

"Thwack!" Another bolt hit home, this time piercing the wizards chest. Finally seeing his assailant, he pointed his wand at Finn and retaliated.

"Acidum pila!" A ball of bubbling liquid formed before flying at Finn. It's yellow-green color glowed with magic power.

Finn dodged and the liquid splashed on the stone wall. Immediately it started foaming and giving off a horrible smelling smoke. It soon ran out of power but the acid had already corroded a fist sized hole in the rock.

Right then two rats charged up the stairs at Jess. Finn saw the faint glow of mage armor on her as she launched the first rat off the stairs with a kick. Before the other could react, a gleaming blade harvested its life with a cruel slash.

Unlike in Finn's previous fight, instead of falling lifeless and leaving a gory mess, the rat dissolved into magic particles along with its blood when it died. Seeing things under control, he put down his crossbow and drew his daggers.

The summoner was surprised by how quick his summon was dealt with, and approached the building cautiously. Suddenly a shadow leaped out and off the building in his direction. It was Finn, with the zombies distracted it was the perfect chance to finish the fight.

The wizard frantically tried to gather his mana for another spell but the sudden throb of pain from the two bolts stuck in him disrupted his focus. He could only curse when he was hit by the full body weight of his assailant.

A quick stab was all I took and the two rat guards who were in mid leap dissolved into mana at the death of their master.

"waaauuuurrrrhh..." a weak groan was interrupted inside the building. It seemed Jess was finished too. Carrying the fallen wizard, Finn struggled to climb the stairs back to where Jess was cleaning her sword.

"Finn, I'll check him for useful things, you take your crossbow and find a spot to interrupt that necromancer's ritual." Jess ordered as she noticed the floating runes start to solidify. "Return as soon as you can so we can fight him together."

Finn nodded, grabbed his heavy crossbow and slung it over his back before taking a running jump over to the next building.

Two more buildings down, he arrived at the taller buildings near the altar. He examined the rock of the taller building in front of him. Spotting numerous cracks and spots where chunks had broken off he plotted his plan of action.

With another running start he launched himself at the wall, and quickly dug his fingers into the cracks to keep from falling. "Success, now for the hard part," Finn though as he worked his way up one foothold at a time.

By the time he reached the top, his muscles were aching and his hands were clammy with sweat. He had lost his grip twice during the climb, if not for his quick response he'd have needed to depend on his feather fall spell.

Catching his breath as he loaded up his last broad headed bolt he hoped it would do the trick. Easing his crossbow slowly onto the wall he aimed at the altar.

From his vantage point he could finally see what the necromancer was up to. The cloaked figure had arranged five powerful looking undead at the points of a pentagram. Painted on the ground in blood was a complex series of smaller runes and a lot of writing in a language Finn couldn't read.

Each of the floating runes hovered behind one of the undead and seemed to be drawing a pale energy from them to power themselves. The necromancer was constantly checking a tattered old spellbook as they drew rune after rune on a beautifully decorated bottle. Energy was also flowing slowly out of the necromancer's chest and into the bottle as they worked. Each time another pale blue wisp moved to the bottle the necromancer shuddered in pain.

Finn was creeped out by the whole thing and was surprised that the whole set up seemed to be just to create that delicate looking bottle.

Ducking down, Finn had an evil grin as he switched out the broadhead bolt with one of the blunt ones. "Nice bottle you have there, would be a shame if something were to happen to it..." Finn chuckled to himself before taking aim again.

Taking a deep breath, he was glad that the necromancer has to keep the bottle at the very center of the pentagram. Exhaling slowly, he waited for another wisp to move to the bottle before firing the bolt.

A sharp pain caused the necromancer to shudder in pain, but it was the price to pay for such an unholy ritual. soon it would be over, so perseverance was key.

"TINK!" A sudden force knocked the bottle out of the necromancer's hands and sent it tumbling out of the carefully drawn runes.

"Nooooo!" A frantic wail echoed in the deep. The floating runes immediately began to distort sucking in energy unchecked. The bottle floated up and started glowing a pale blue as it fed on the overflowing energy in the runes.

Finn watched silently as the necromancer began waving their staff around desperately drawing new runes to control the ritual, but it was too late.

The glowing bottle got brighter and brighter and the small crack caused by Finn's bolt started spreading.

"That's not good," Finn thought and swung the crossbow over his shoulder and pulled out a feather. Climbing back down the way he came, Finn hoped he wouldn't have to cast the spell. Thankfully he managed to get low enough to jump back to the lower building's roof.

Running back the way he came Finn was suddenly knocked over by the shockwave caused by the bottle exploding.

"BOOOOOM!"

"SSSKKREEEEEECH! Argh!!" A deafening sound like the wailing of tortured souls made Finn's ears ring. Clutching his head in pain he noticed the building where he taken the shot rumbled before collapsing into a pile of rubble.

"I'm going to kill you!!!" A horrible voice roared out from the altar was the first thing Finn heard after regaining his senses. Turning to look at the devastation he had caused he made eye contact with the necromancer staring at him.