Beyond the Grave

Chapter 6

It was late at night, but despite how mobs were out and roaming around, the Jesse twins and Harper headed north. Mobs were out no matter what the time of the day was in this world, and Ivor was held captive in a fortress ran by bandits. The twins and Harper wanted to rescue their friend, and the mobs were the least of their worries.

Despite the sounds of mobs growling and roaming around, the twins and Harper calmly walked into the night. If they had to, they would fight any mobs that tried to swarm them. They would rather run, since they wanted to save their weapons and energy for the bandits in case they have to fight when they go to save Ivor.

It took at least an hour by foot, but they finally reached the fortress that Male Jesse saw in his dream. He was certain that it was the fortress, especially since they saw someone up in the tower, keeping watch.

"Jeez. We need to sneak in, but that guard up there isn't gonna make it easy..." Male Jesse whispered.

"I can take him out," whispered Harper.

Before the twins could ask her, she pulled out a bow and an arrow. She aimed and fired at the guard. The arrow hit the guard, causing him to trip and fall to his death. His body was replaced with his inventory when he landed.

"Wow... really morbid..." said Male Jesse.

While Female Jesse was also disturbed, she just got up and walked up to the front doors quiet as a mouse. She knocked on the door and quickly dove out of sight.

Another bandit opened the door.

"Who's there?" he said angrily.

Instead of responding to him, Female Jesse used her sword to stab him. The bandit groaned. He fell on the ground and despawned. All that was left of him was his inventory.

"I'm not even gonna ask..." Male Jesse whispered with a sigh.

He and Harper came out and followed Female Jesse into the fortress.

There were many hallways in the fortress, but there weren't many guards patrolling the area. But despite how they didn't really see any guards, the Jesse twins and Harper had to stay quiet. They didn't want to risk running into any of the guards and draw attention.

They were quiet as they crept through some of the hallways. They noticed that two guards were standing outside a room.

"You think Ivor's in there?" whispered Female Jesse.

"I remember them saying that they took him into a room. They might not have cells, or a basement..." her brother whispered back.

"Better a room than a basement. Even though he was with Soren and Magnus in that lodge basement, he still doesn't really like basements anymore..." she whispered back.

She pulled out something from her inventory.

"I think our best bet is to sneak into the room next door and get through via window. But we don't want those guards seeing us go inside. I'll distract them so you guys can sneak in. And I'll follow you," said Female Jesse.

She showed them what she had, an invisibility potion. Female Jesse drank the potion, turning invisible. As quietly as she could, she walked up to the guards.

One of the guards yawned, so she took this chance to smack him.

"Ow! What the hell, man!?" the guard snapped at the other one.

"What are you snapping at me for? I didn't touch you..." the other on snapped back.

As soon as the guards didn't look at each other, Jesse punched the first one again.

"Ow! Seriously!?" the guard shouted at the second one.

"I said, I didn't touch you!" the second one shouted.

The two started to get into a fight and began punching each other. While they were distracted, Female Jesse, Male Jesse, and Harper snuck into the other room next door.

However, when they got in there, there was another guard in there. He opened his mouth to try to shout, but Male Jesse quickly charged at him. He covered his mouth and got into a fist fight with the guard.

The guard tried to knock Jesse off of him, but Male Jesse quickly punched him hard in the face. He didn't stop until he was sure that the guard was knocked out. Once the guard was knocked out, Harper and Female Jesse tied his wrists and ankles and locked him in a closet.

"Good thing the idiots in the hallway are causing a ruckus, or else they would've heard us..." Harper whispered.

"Yeah..." said Female Jesse, as the potion effects wore off of her.

Male Jesse didn't say anything. He walked up to the window and punched it. There was a small ledge to walk on, so he, Female Jesse, and Harper quietly and carefully walked along the edge and over to the window for the next room. They didn't see any guards inside, but to their relief, Ivor was in there.

However, there were bars on his windows, and Ivor was lying on the floor unconscious. His hands were tied to his back.

"Ivor!" Female Jesse whispered.

She had a pickaxe with her, so she quickly pulled it out and mined the bars and broke the window. She, her brother, and Harper quietly got into the room.

"Ivor!" Male Jesse whispered. He gently tapped the enchanter on the face. Ivor started to wake up.

"Huh? Jesse..." he said.

"Ivor, are you okay?" Female Jesse whispered to him.

"Y-yeah... Wait! I-I don't understand. How did you find me?" said Ivor.

"We'll share stories after we get the hell out of here," said Harper. She walked over and helped him get his hands free. Ivor blushed, feeling embarrassed that the woman he has a crush on had to come and rescue him.

"I've got sticks. We can craft some ladders and climb down safely," said Female Jesse.

She pulled out some sticks to show them.

"We can't leave. They took the portal key and the atlas from me," said Ivor.

"Just great..." Male Jesse muttered.

Female Jesse sighed and said, "Where did they put it?"

Before Ivor could respond, the door opened. A few bandits came in. They were accompanied by the guards that fought out in the hallway. The two of them looked badly beaten up in their faces.

"Hands up!" one of them said. They all pulled out their swords and pointed them at the four friends.

With no other option, the Jesse twins, Ivor, and Harper put their hands up, surrendering to the bandits.