The Necromancer's Wand: Rise of the Phoenix
Chapter 8: The Heist of Hammer Vault

We all gathered in a circle once more, this time with Hector Hydra by our side. “Ready?” I asked.

“Ready,” they replied firmly. We all used Varos, selecting Hammer Vault as the location. We resurfaced out front of the dwarven bank in Wicked City, which is governed by the Council of Magic.

Wicked City was a beautiful, magical, place to me. The entire city had a weather enchantment placed on it, so it felt and looked like the Fall season year around. The trees constantly growing and shedding different colored leaves. The chill air, cool and nipping at your face. I love it here because Fall is my favorite season.

After my brief admiring of the city, I refocused back on Hammer Vault. The bank had a golden theme with two large dwarf statues out front of the stone building, one statue on each side of the main entrance. “We have an unexpected problem,” spoke Hector with some worry.

“What is it?” I asked slightly concerned.

“The statues have been enchanted as well. See the runes on their forehead? I assume they are activated if they bank alarm goes off.”

“What happens if they are activated?” Damien inquired.

“They are Awakening Runes. We would have to fight them as well...” They all seemed a little panicked at the thought of fighting ten foot tall statues.

“We could just deal with them now,” suggested Micah.

“We can’t. We must remain under the radar until after we’ve at least robbed the bank. Explosions with two large piles of rubble in the middle of the street isn’t a subtle sign.”

“Calm yourself,” I commanded. “I will deal with the stone sentries. You have nothing to fear...for I will let no harm to come any of you.” They nodded, acknowledging that they believed the situation was under control. Knowing our tasks at hand, we proceeded inside.

We walked between the statues, right through the main entrance. Upon entering into the lobby, I raised my wand straight up in the air. “Flara,” I cast. A flare shot from the tip of my wand getting everyone’s attention. They were immediately frightened by the look of us, gasping and backing away.

“We do not wish to harm you...” I started. Several guards left their posts, swarming in on us. As the guards came in close, they began reaching for their holstered wands. My companions quickly sprang into action, casting different spells that all led to the same result...death. As their spells landed, the guards fell to the floor lifeless.

“Well...” I began again. I started walking past the corpses, making my way over to the group of fearful customers. “We do not wish to harm anymore of you. We are only here for the contents of the vaults. However, if there are any who have a hero’s heart among you, please do try to stop us...I will gladly give you a hero’s death.”

Everyone remained silent, no one moved a muscle. “Good...” I claimed. “All of you wish to live. And if you do as instructed, you may just live longer than today. I want all wands tossed within the center of the room...now.”

The customers and workers, of the bank, did as I commanded. They tossed their wands into a pile in the middle of the lobby. “Thank you for your cooperation,” I appreciated. “Now, I wish for the tellers to join us from behind the counters, with your hands raised above your head.”

As the bank tellers slowly started to raise their hands, I quickly noticed one was moving faster than the others. The wizard teller held a wand in his grasp. I knew there had to be one...a hero.

He cast Pacify at me, but I took up a defensive position that blocked his spell. His eyes grew in terror as I slowly approached him. He tried to cast the same spell again, but I just blocked it once more.

With the wave of my wand, his wand was tore from his grasp. It flew across the room into the middle of the lobby, with the other wands. Now, disarmed and scared for his life, the teller started backing away from the counter.

I kept my wand aimed on him, from across the counter, as he backed into the wall. “Please...” he begged.

“I am sorry ” I spoke in fake sympathy. “If I am one thing, I’m a wizard of my word...Sola Trapis.” His soul was pulled from his body and devoured by the wand. His corpse slid down the wall, falling to the floor.

Some of hostages began to scream, others cried in fear that they could be next. I brought my wand up to lips of my mask, which my lips were right behind. “Shh...” I enchanted. Everyone went silent, as their lips sealed shut from the Silencing Spell taking effect.

I backed away from the counter. “Tellers if you will please join us...” I continued. They did as I asked, walking around the counter and regrouping in the center of the lobby with their hands above their heads.

I turned to face my comrades. “Damien and Micah, come with me to the vaults. Benjamin, you will watch the customers as Hector keeps an eye on the tellers.” They nodded, acknowledging my orders.

I walked across the room, with Micah and Damien following. We went behind the counter, heading toward a golden door on the south wall of the bank.

The door did not have a doorknob, instead it had a small safe handle. I turned the handle, having to use both hands for it was tightly sealed. Once unlocked, I opened the door into a vast, well-lit, hallway.

The hallway was fancy, constructed of golden bars. It was lined with over a dozen vault doors along the walls, each having the name of the person it belonged to engraved into the front of them. I walked over to the closet vault, on our right.

Upon closer inspection, I could see that their was no physical way into the vaults. I noticed a square symbol, with four dots in each of its corners, next to the name of the owner. The symbol meant that a Sealing Enchantment was in place, one that requires a unique vocal password to open, which was probably set by the owners themselves.

I aimed my wand at the center of the vault. “Brakios,” I cast. For this enchantment, I was using the Breaking Spell, which dispelled certain enchantments. As I motioned my wand downward, the vault’s inner locks started unlocking as the concealment symbol vanished.

Once the vault was completely unlocked, it hissed open. I pulled it open the rest of the way as piles of gold coins, known as Ducats, was revealed behind. We all stood in awe, never seeing riches like this before. As I regained focus, I stepped forward into the vault.

I looked upon the Ducats. The Council of Magic’s headquarters, the Capitol, was engraved into them. “Open the others...take what you can,” I ordered. I heard as Damien and Micah scurried off to the other vaults.

In my left hand, I still held one of the enchanted bags. I opened the black bag and waved my wand at the pile of Ducats. Many of the coins started to hover, one by one rapidly flying into the bag. After several hundred of Ducats, I noticed it still hardly had any weight. Well done Master Hugo...

I fit almost half the contents of the vault into the bag before it started getting heavy. As the bag reached its carrying limit, I knew I had enough. I pulled the drawstrings close and headed back into the hallway. Damien and Micah was done as well and was walking back up the hall to rejoin me.

“Make haste, we take our leave,” I stated as they closed in on me. As they approached, I turned and started walking for the door. We left the vaults, heading back into the lobby. We quickly made our way from around the counters.

“Stay here,” I ordered as I continued to walk, by myself, toward the main entrance. “Lumis,” I cast. A small ball of light formed on the tip of my wand. Upon opening the doors, the stone sentries started to creak and crackle as they came to life...meaning the silent alarm had indeed, already, been pressed.

I aimed my wand at center of the statue’s chest. “Nova Supris,” I enchanted. The ball of light started to grow as its energy began to spike out of control. With the flick of my wand, the ball shot toward the statue.

Upon collusion, the ball detonated with a massive explosion. The statue immediately crumbled, with large boulders falling to the ground. The other statue attracted my attention, from behind, as it shook the ground with a step forward from the bank into the street.

I turned to the face it, casting Lumis once again. Once the ball of light was formed, I used Nova Supris to destroy the second one as well. It too crumbled, leaving huge rocks in the middle of the street.

With both statues dealt with, I returned inside the bank. “Clear,” I stated. “Thank you all so much for your hospitality. It has been a pleasure...but it is time for us to be on our way.”

The others laughed and cheered as they came running toward me, standing by the main entrance. As we regrouped, I started to lead the others out of Hammer Vault. However, as I opened the door again, I watched as a small group of Enforcers, common law enforcement agents, came running from around the corner. They were headed right this way.

“Hold...” I commanded. Everyone ceased their movements behind me. I aimed my wand at the Enforcers. “Look away from my wand.” Everyone closed their eyes as instructed as I looked upon the Enforcers closing in on the bank.

“Hex...” I started as a white light started emitting from the tip of my wand. I looked away from my wand as well, for the Hex I was about to use was the deadliest known...and most forbidden. “Death,” I finished.

The light turned black as it sent out a flash of darkened light. I could hear several loud thuds in the distance as the Enforcers all fell to the ground dead. The Death Hex instantly killed any who dared gazed upon its light.

The black light ceased from my wand, allowing me to look back over at the Enforcers. “Come, we are home free,” I claimed. We all hurried out of the bank, standing in the middle of the street.

We used Varos to teleport away from the bank. We disappeared from Hammer Vault, safely arriving at the abandoned warehouse, Goblin Goods...

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