The path to true power is long, save for those willing to take the risks.

Wisdom of the Ancients, Book 1

“Everything’s ready,” Laura said.

“Miss our real backpacks,” Tom said wistfully.

“Can’t be helped. We’ll do with those shoulder bags,” Johanna said.

She tapped her own. The bag was bulging with food. One of the advantages of having the army getting ready to push into enemy territory was that the kitchens were producing lots of packed field rations, and nobody was going to miss some.

She, Tom, and Laura also had their civilian warm outfits ready. Peter, unfortunately, would have to do with his army-issue winter gear. Out of them all, he’d be the one most standing out.

Most of the money they’d brought from Valetta was in their respective pockets, with the addition of the rest of their first stipend. Enough silver fifty-dollars to go by for a couple of months, using their old frugal scavenger lifestyle.

“I still say we should have tried to grab one from the Vault to sell. There’s a guy in the barracks, he likes to show you how to pick small locks. Says it’s really easy, all you need is practice. Waiting in the evenings until I could slip away, I had time for that,” Peter added.

“Sure. Trying to sell those is like painting targets on us. I want the Warden to hear about us first from a lawyer, not someone telling him where we are,” Johanna said.

“Besides, they’re bulky? Maybe the hammer,” Tom said.

“You just want a magic weapon,” Peter replied, half laughing, before turning back to Johanna.

“So, I’m sneaking onto the eastern battlements. Knock down the guards – they’re never by twos, so that doesn’t give me away.”

“Make sure you don’t kill them. If we want to get legally off the hook after this, we want to be seen as normal people, not murderers.”

“Besides, the guards haven’t done anything to us,” Laura added.

“Rope ladder ready,” Tom said.

“Then we make a run for it before anyone notices.”

“Guard change in twenty minutes. The new guards will be less bored, but nobody will check on them for a while.”

Johanna nodded, and Peter moved to the door.

It was uncanny. Even though she watched him, focused, she somehow could tell he was slipping in his hiding mode. Despite keeping her eyes on him, she found it harder to pay attention. He was there, but he wasn’t… he wasn’t important.

She realized now that the wendigo had been the same way. As he had opened her door, he’d stopped being important, despite having just held a knife at her neck. Not to the same degree Peter had, but similar in a rough way. She couldn’t quite classify it… but if you assumed the same gradations, maybe he was some sort of adept, or lesser hero, whereas Peter was now a greater hero. While he didn’t have much time to experiment before the battle, he thought his aim hadn’t much changed, while his dodge felt easier. Like her, he’d gotten two talents improving, one remained unchanged… and well, one additional had appeared. He didn’t have a fourth to lose.

Johanna wondered about Tom. And Laura. Her husband seemed to have only two talents so far, his rush and his crushing attacks, so he was certainly going to gain something from the change. Laura… she had four. The time-limited trauma heals, the slow surface wound removal, the weird cure of all kinds of ailments from hangovers to Changed attacks, and of course the dreadful gaze.

Two should raise, one stay unchanged, and one will drop. Or be entirely replaced, she guessed.

They would not wait until they found out what had changed. Or the Warden’s men found out Laura had changed.

“Guards changed. The way to the palisade is clear,” Peter suddenly announced, and Johanna realized she hadn’t noticed his departure or coming back.

They waited at the officer’s barrack door until he gave the all-clear signal. Then they crossed the separation under the light of the oil lamps, reaching quickly the covered stairs leading up.

Once Johanna left the stairs, she found one guard on the floor. She hoped he’d be all right. It was better if Peter had neutralized him. If it had been Tom, she was certain he’d be dead. There was no way Tom would be able to disable his attacks, not under the circumstances.

There was almost no light. Almost; the Golden Heights were slightly luminescent under the glory of the Milky Way. The Moon was close to new, so there was no other light shining over the Kootenai Gap valley.

The rope ladder unrolled, as Tom tied it securely over the fence of the palisade. Then, silently, one by one, they hoisted themselves over and started climbing down. Tom had to help Peter, then he vaulted over and followed.

Johanna threw one last look at the garrison and they started. The starlight was barely enough to see silhouettes, and they moved carefully, trying not to trip over the ground. The early snow had almost vanished anyway, leaving slightly soggy but not slippery earth.

They walked for half an hour, listening and looking behind them, as they reached the rising slope that led to the Heights. The sooner they reached the first ridge, the better. Once they were out of sight of the garrison keep, they’d have an easier time. She might use her fire hand to light the lamp she carried, and move across the Changed forest.

“So far, so good,” Peter said as the started into the wood. Trees were sparse, but they offered cover, at the price of light. Now that they were in it, she noticed that the bushes seemed to give off a kind of light. It wasn’t as good as moonlight, almost like starlight rather, but there was some, a reflection of the mana-rich changes brought on the vegetation.

They had about one more hour before dawn broke. That was a balancing act, trying to get as far away to avoid being spotted, while not risking an encounter with a Changed night predator.

They moved slowly and carefully, the garrison disappearing behind the lip of the hill.

“So far, so good,” she finally acknowledged.

“I still think we should have used the road,” Laura whispered next to her.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“I also hope they’ll try that before looking for us this way,” Johanna replied in the same whisper.

The sky was slowly brightening, and Johanna allowed herself to breathe more easily. The woods were still very sparse, but they were headed into denser areas. Everything seemed right until Tom suddenly shuddered.

“Something?” she asked.

“Something yes. Some enemy coming, I think.”

“Beast ahead?”

“No. From behind.”

She looked behind, to check, and froze.

There was a funnel of mana swirling behind them. They were no longer close enough for the garrison to register, but she was still seeing an artifact.

For a few seconds, she thought that the wendigo was coming after them. Some elaborate trap, maybe, to get them to run away and be captured, instead of being assassinated discreetly in their sleep.

He could have planted the box for us to find, she realized belatedly.

But the mana swirl wasn’t big enough. It was close, just behind…

Three leather-clad men crossed over one of the lips of the hills that made the Heights. They were a bit too far to be sure, but the general look was more of the army rather than the tribal attire.

And while one was focused on the ground, probably trying to find tracks, the other two were looking around, and one of them spotted the team, raising a shout.

“Fuck. Pursuers.”

Johanna quickly estimated the distance. They were all too far away for her to simply throw fireballs.

“Run?” Laura asked.

“Won’t help,” Tom replied, unclipping the medium-sized hammer at his side.

Three more soldiers came over the hillock, running. Two raised crossbows, but the four others brought up bows.

“And shit,” Johanna said. “Spread out,” she immediately added.

The six soldiers seemed in no hurry to rush them. She could understand the feeling if those had seen her in action during the battle. Although she was pretty sure that someone could dodge her missiles at that range.

It turned out they were waiting. More soldiers came over, nearly fifteen, all bearing bows and crossbows. Save for a figure she recognized even across the distance.

“We weren’t too late,” Captain Devereaux told his squad, the voice clear over the distance.

Johanna looked at her sides, seeing Tom balancing his hammer, ready. Laura grim-faced but her gaze steady. It was probably too early, the range too short, but… well, despite all their efforts, she’d never managed to include them into her dreadful gaze. At closer range, the enemy would fight one-handed, while they had all their abilities intact.

Assuming it’s not the one that got reduced.

They hadn’t been able to test it. Laura said she felt it still worked, despite the lack of targets… but so did Johanna’s foot freezing, even pitiful as it had been.

Then she realized what was missing from the tableau, and she turned back to look at the enemies who were slowly advancing.

Devereaux drew off his sword, and she realized the swirls of manalight attached there. And that it had a small curve, rather than a classic straight line like the ones she’d trained with at Maistry Keep. A curve that looked familiar.

“Where did you get that, Devereaux?” she shouted across the field.

She noticed that the other soldiers were also spreading. It would be easier to shoot them fireballs if they stayed close, but no. They were too smart for that.

“Someplace called Valetta. You may have heard of it. Apparently, some scavengers found it…”

“I don’t even know how much you ended up paying for it.”

“I’m not privy to that, and I don’t really care. An Artifact such as this… it’s the kind of weapon that balances the scales against you.”

Artifacts were supposed to be almost indestructible, she realized. It took immense efforts to damage them, melting at temperatures far above the normal for the metal they seemed made for.

It might resist the fire of my projectiles. If he can parry with it. If he’s good enough to gauge where I aim.

She nodded to the other two, and they slowly, cautiously advanced.

“Why did you run, Milton?” Devereaux asked, keeping his sword raised.

“Don’t you know? Or maybe you don’t. Anyway, you probably won’t understand. It’s a woman thing, after all.”

“A woman thing? You did well on the battlefield.”

She snorted in disgust.

“The Warden decided he needed to keep us. Even after the draft.”

“He should. Have you realized how much you change things? That kind of powers, at the core of an army? This war would be over in a few years. And the last of the continent brought under civilized rule.”

Keep talking. We’re almost there.

“Shoot,” Devereaux suddenly ordered.

“Drat.”

She threw her first fireball. The soldier flinched, and the crossbow bolt went wide, yards to the side, despite the fact that the ball had blown up in a shower of unnatural flames half a dozen feet in front of him.

The soldiers demonstrated good discipline too. They weren’t all shooting at the same time, covering their comrades while they used the fast recharge springs to reload their crossbows. The real bowmen, with their extra range, kept shooting from their safe points.

She threw a second fireball at Devereaux, who had started jogging toward them. The captain raised his sword, and… the fireball splashed on it, dispersing. Despite the interception, she heard a half-curse, as the man flinched, the flash of fire probably still dangerous.

Then she saw a near-blur run past her.

God, he is faster now, she thought, realizing it was Tom.

Her husband arrived at a crossbow shooter, and the man raised his arm reflexively. For all the good it did; Tom’s hammer shot, and she could merely imagine the crunch sound as the man’s arm bent. From where she stood, it almost looked like Tom had struck twice.

One of his comrades shot, but the bolt went half a foot over Tom, who turned, seeking another soldier.

Only to find Devereaux bearing on him, curved sword raised. Tom cast his gaze, spotting another soldier, and ran away, using the unnatural speed that carried him to his enemies.

Devereaux’s Swordcutter hit him as he passed too close.

Momentum gone, Tom crashed halfway, clutching his side.

“NO!” Johanna yelled, starting to run.

Devereaux ignored her, rushing toward the fallen man. She raised her hand to fire a fireball, and flinched at the last moment, as a bolt whizzed next to her. She felt the sharpness of the edge and raised her hand reflexively, but cut it short.

A fireball launched, but her aim was off, splashing a tree that instantly started to burn. A soldier who was trying to use it as cover screamed and threw himself aside, to avoid the fire. Johanna hadn’t even tried to shoot him, she was aiming at Devereaux instead.

Then she blinked. Because Laura was next to Tom. Johanna hadn’t seen her run, hadn’t seen her close. And Devereaux stopped in his track, startled.

Laura seemed briefly confused, but she wasted no time, kneeling and touching Tom before she rose again, only to see Devereaux running again, sword drawn.

“LAURA, RUN,” Johanna screamed as she rushed.

Her friend looked panicked at her and started running… and bowled into her.

Somehow, she’d simply moved. Crossing a dozen yards as if they did not exist.

Devereaux turned his head, having lost his target. Johanna saw his eyes go wide as he spotted Laura, but the captain immediately turned and bore down on Tom who was pushing himself upward.

Johanna ducked, as two crossbow bolts whizzed. She could see that Devereaux was hesitating slightly, Laura’s gaze working its magic. She raised her hand to fire again straight into him... and Devereaux froze.

Peter was standing just behind him. A pair of hunting knives shone in the dawn light, one into Devereaux’s side, one under his armpit where he had raised the arm to strike.

The captain made a single step, then fell down on his knees, before turning over. Peter dodged a crossbow bolt, then reached and pulled out one of his knives. The blade vanished, appearing in his other hand, and he grabbed the other.

The act, almost casual, achieved to do what the balls of fire hadn’t. She saw two of the soldiers dump their crossbows, turn and run. Then, suddenly, the rest of the squad started running.

Johanna suddenly felt a hand on her cheek.

“You got a nasty cut there,” Laura whispered.

She looked at her hand, finally noticing the blood on it.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. There, done… it felt faster.”

“Yea. That was a surprise, what you did.”

“Completely baffling. I was somewhere, then I was somewhere else. I almost fell down, because I was still running.”

“You’re good?” Peter said as he joined the two.

“We’re fine. Tom?”

“Good as new. Although my jacket is ruined.”

Johanna took stock of the battlefield. A pair of trees were still burning, and some bushes were completely gone already. She spotted two more soldiers on the ground. It looked like some of her fireballs had managed to take people out. She had not realized it at the time.

She walked toward the swirl of manalight that ran down on Devereaux. His hand was still clutching the curved sword artifact.

“He should have known better,” she finally said, not knowing what else to say.

“Yea. Sorry Tom, you didn’t get a magic weapon, but I do,” Peter said as he joined her.

He had to dodge a swipe by the man, who mock-growled.

“Your fault. You should have stolen mine.”

“Hey, maybe it would fix the armor before you finished hitting. I thank the fact that he didn’t have chainmail, only padded leather, by the way.”

Johanna rolled her eyes in disbelief.

Men.

“Okay, let’s grab that sword, and go. I don’t want to kill more soldiers,” Johanna finally said.

END OF ACT 2