Thora hadn't known Brand for very long, but she imagined him as someone always in control whether it be himself or the situation. She had yet to see him rise to anger even after nearly being killed in the mountains. There was an army he had to deal with, that didn't seem to bother him. He planned on murdering the most powerful king in the nine realms, “I just need a few days,” he’d said. The Aesir was probably hunting for his head, but he seemed more worried about the weather.
Brand was a man that knew how strong he was and that strength gave him confidence the likes Thora had never known. That all changed when whatever flying construct he saw fell from the sky.
From within his chest, Thora saw his face twisted with fear and desperation. He ran like a man for his life, his measured steps replaced by a frantic sprint. Brand burned away most of his mana in an instant charging through the forest. Trees exploded into splinters as he ran not bothering to waste a moment to avoid them.
“What are we running into?” Thora asked.
“A silencer!” Brand barked out between breaths. “They're not allowed to get this strong in Vellia! Fuck! How did I not know about this!?”
“What does a-”
“They silence people!” Brand snapped back.
Thora had the sense asking more questions would be a bad idea. It's not like she was in a position to do anything. But from within her core, she could tell how very little mana Brand left. She wondered if he could even fight with hardly enough power for a weak mage bolt. She didn't have to wait for long to find out.
A pack of werebeast came charging into Thora’s perception drawn by the sound of crashing trees and the mana swirling around Brand. Her anticipation rose as they drew near, excitement welling up within her as Brand charged straight ahead.
Brand's foot slammed into a weretiger. “Out of my way!”
Thora somehow felt the tiger’s bones shatter under the blow before being sent flying. The one behind it, Brand simply grabbed by the arm and spun, slamming it into a tree with enough force to pulverize both. The next werebeast, a large lion, was the most unfortunate.
Brand flipped wrapping one hand around the werelion’s head and jerking it back. He continued to run, dragging the helpless creature behind him without finishing it off. Thora didn't understand why until she felt a surge of mana rushing to his body as the werelion cried in pain.
“He’s draining its mana,” she realized and watched in awe as several of his tattoos shined with the stolen power.
Spell circles appeared all around Brand firing spells at the rest of the pack that now ran for cover. Most didn't make it a few feet before a bolt of magic ripped through their bodies. Those that found cover weren't any better off. Brand ran right past them targeting each with a blue sphere that decimated whatever tree trunk they were hiding behind.
“I don’t have time for this!” he roared.
Just before Brand dropped the limp werelion, Thora felt one last surge of mana from its body. The power passed through Brand's complicated network of runes until forming into an ax. As soon as another werebeast came into his perception, he sent the weapon flying, slicing it in half, but that wasn't the end of it.
Thora felt Brand’s mana shift sending the ax spinning around him. It followed his direction, decapitating, bisecting, and tearing werebeast apart that got too close.
Soon they came upon armored beast kin, but their attention was on someone else. Thora had a hard time seeing, but the beast kin was being snuffed out almost as fast as from Brand’s rampage.
Brand ignored the enemy, leaving his flying axes to deal with the few that were left and charged whomever they were after. He tackled the man slamming him into a tree with a snarl. To Thora's surprise, the man fought back, keeping Brand’s hands from around his neck by matching his brute strength. This close, she could see the stranger clearly and his face sent a shudder running through her soul.
“Bitarr! You were supposed to protect her!” Brand shouted as if looking in a mirror.
The face Thora saw was Brand’s, but there was something missing in his eyes. It was the same face she saw seconds before her death, but an intensity had been lost in Bitarr’s approximation. After seeing the real thing, to her the god’s borrowed face looked like a child wearing his father's clothes to hide his youth. The contrast was especially strange with the murderous glare Brand was giving.
“Oh shit, it's you!” Bitarr exclaimed but couldn't get out another word before Brand was shouting again.
“Where the fuck is Tanya!”
“I don't know!” Bitarr hurried to say as if a moment’s hesitation would be paid in blood. “I’ve been busy killing these guys for the last few minutes.”
“Busy?” Brand asked with disbelief. “With the mana you have this should have taken second!”
Bitarr shrugged. “I’m silenced.”
Cracks began spreading through Bitarr’s skin, each one spewing a fountain of mana. Thora suddenly recalled her own experience having her body broken down by magic. She remembered how every crack felt like a knife wound and not only on the surface. She knew the source of Bitarr’s pained expression came from within like having a creature eat its way through your body.
Seconds went by and Brand’s aura grew as Bitarr dissolved. Mana flooded his body more than even during the battle in the mountains and only increased faster when Bitarr seemed to stop resisting. His mask of pain changed into a smirk and a wink just before he disappeared.
“There,” Brand said, his red aura now crackling with lightning.
“Are we using that onslaught spell?” Thora asked.
Brand brought his palms together. “No. I’m using mana zone.”
His aura began to spread out in every direction sending a wave of dizziness through Thora as her perception expanded with it. In no time at all, she could see fighting across the forest.
A beats kin surrounded by corpses with water flowing around a woman holding a sword. Not too far away from that battle, a human woman ran with someone on her back while a werepanther defended them from the rear. And closer than any of the other battles was a void in her perception that was closing quickly.
Before the void could reach Brand, spell circles appeared above every battle. “Fallen Sky!”
******
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
For a long moment, Tanya assumed her vision had gone red with anger despite how calm she felt. She was acutely aware of the burning lines of pain across her face and several more than she dared to count spread across her body, but she wasn't angry. She might have been, but every werebeast that managed to get close only had seconds to wait before her dagger opened their necks or found its way into a skull. What turned Tanya's vision was the werebeast retreating, giving her a clear view of the fountains of blood she spilled.
She laughed at their retreat, her cavalier attitude forcing them back another few feet. The sound was shrill and filled with mockery like Tanya had simply been playing and not in a life and death battle.
In truth, she expected it to be dead by now. That her enemies had so little skill was quite a surprise. It was as if the South Bastion nobles had never trained a day in their lives just like the average vellian after leaving the Hall.
For some reason, Tanya expected more as if them being of the same race meant they would be strong, but half a dozen bodies and one crawling away with his life staining the ground said otherwise.
“This is just pathetic,” said a voice from behind the werebeast.
The voice’s owner was a beastkin woman, a canine of some sort with long blonde hair reaching her waist and an armored dress that hugged her frame. She held a curved sword in one hand with the unmistakable rippling pattern of damascus steel.
Like most South Bastion nobles, Tanya recognized her face, but she couldn't place a name. Mildrith might know, but South Bastion’s Regent didn't bother to know every unimportant face in her court.
The woman caught Tanya’s eyes and smiled. “You don't remember me, do you?”
Tanya was happy to start talking. She felt her mana slowly coming back to her and with a few more seconds, she'd be at full strength.
“Should I?” Tanya said as if walking through her castle’s garden for some idle gossip. “All of you just hid behind Eric so I never got acquainted.”
The woman raised her sword and the werebeast in front of her parted in a hurry. “That's good. If you knew who I was, I’d have to chase you down because frankly, you’d be running for your life.”
“Run from you?” Tanya said as if not understanding. “I didn't run from your pack, and you don't look much more impressive.” Tanya gave the woman’s weapon a thoughtful look. “Unless you know how to use that sword.”
“Do I?” The woman said and brought her sword down.
In an instant, Tanya smelt the moisture in the air thicker than ever before. Her hair felt damp and the air heavy, but there was also a strong wind headed towards the Damascus blade. When the blood on the ground darkened and turned to dust, all traces of water stolen from it, Tanya lunged to the side.
“Aqua blast!”
Water shot from the damascus blade like a geyser from a pinprick. It tore the ground asunder smashing stone to pieces. As it passed by Tanya’s, she was sent sprawling, caught by edges of the attack. The blast of water only stopped when it crashed against an ancient tree, turning it to splinters.
“Not so confident now are you, Mutt!” The woman laughed.
“I’m a feline. That doesn't even make sense,” Tanya said while hiding behind cover.
The smell of moisture in the air grew once again as the woman sent another blast of water flying. It missed Tanya by what as well have been miles. Hidden behind cover and knowing what was coming made avoiding the attacks easy, and now there were seconds left before her magic returned.
“Draw her out,” the woman ordered and the werebeast pack fanned out like hunting dogs.
“That’s not good,” Tanya thought.
She couldn't kill werebeast and avoid the tree slitting geysers. It would only take one direct hit to be fatal, but all she needed was time. Tanya could feel mana starting to flow through her veins again. In mere moments, she’d be capable of leveling the area or turn every would-be assassin to ash, but she needed more time.
Her salvation came in the form of a feeling, one that had taken years to even perceive. It was like a soft whisper on the wind or the last breath or raging storm before death. It was mana she felt, but not with her perception and it was invisible to her eyes.
Tanya couldn’t see the spell circles form in the air. Heat just slammed into her from aerial beams of light, each one striking one of the werebeast pack and the armored woman. The explosions that followed were deafening and forced Tanya to the ground or risk being swept off her feet, but she smiled. The ringing in her ears sounded more like an orchestra playing to the return of her magic.
When she crept out from cover, the forest was on fire. The air was thick with the smell of burned hair and boiling blood. “God’s damn Bitarr, good job,” Tanya said, admiring the god’s handiwork. She hadn’t thought he would be this reliable. He often forgot to use Brand’s knowledge until asked about it directly.
A blast of water shot through the fire catching Tanya off guard, but it didn't matter, she had her magic. “Pyro!”
Flames exploded around Tanya coalescing in her defense. When the geyser struck her burning sentinel, she rolled with the explosion of steam and landed back on her feet without a scratch. Her flames, however, had dulled to a faint flicker, but with an infusion of mana it blossomed taking the form of a fully grown lion who’s burning mane drew into fire around it.
“Do you still think I should be running?” Tanya mocked from behind her summoned creature.
The armored woman snarled with water swirling around her. It was probably how she’d survived Bitarr’s attack, but it wouldn't be enough against her.
“Pyro,” Tanya said, like speaking to a newborn kitten. “Gut the bitch!”
Pyro roared and shook the air with an explosion of heat. Another blast of water shot out, but this time evaporated before reaching the beast. The enneagrams comprising its body burned too hot and Tanya’s mana was too plentiful to be snuffed out.
Pyro charged forward growing in size as it grew closer to its prey. In response, spells circles began forming around the armored woman just before water sprung from the ground and surrounded her. It continued to collect like an infinity waterfall until Pyro slammed into it.
The resulting explosion of steam felled nearby trees and sent dirt and rocks flying from a newly formed crater. Tanya, who stayed back and undercover felt Pyro weakening. A plume of steam still gushed from the epicenter. Threw his eyes, she saw him fighting against a wall of water that replenished itself as fast as it evaporated.
“Pyro, come back,” Tanya said. As the lion broke off his attack she called out again. “Thundra!”
Impossible to control lightning shot from her arm, but didn’t lash out. White lines of power came together like the fire before forming a lion that’s body sputtered in and out. When Pyro was clear, Tanya didn't say a word and simply pointed at what she wanted destroyed.
Faster than she could blink, Thundra shot out as a true lightning bolt the size of a tree trunk. It exploded against a wall of water expelling all of its energy at once. The steam explosion was larger this time, but the armored woman still held strong without injury keeping the electrified water away from her body.
“I’m the closest one to being an apex mage in the south,” the woman said, radiating confidence. “Silenced or not, I’ll put you down!” She waved her sword like a wand casting a large spell circle sparking the air with the power it held. “Exploding Water Fall!”
Like an ocean springing from nothing, water surged. It filled the crater before the first second passed, and within a few more, was rushing forward like a tidal wave.
Tanya cursed, all notions of stealth lost as she sky stepped into the air. Pyro was right behind her. As strong as his flames were, there was just too much water.
“Water Serpent!”
A dozen towers of water shot into the air and curved heading for Tanya. In no time at, all formed into proper serpents weaving around trees and Pyro, heading straight for Tanya. She ran through the air with all due haste but wasn't fast enough.
A serpent slammed into her back hitting with the force of a bolder and plunging her into the water below. Before Tanya couldn’t even think to swim to the surface. A current pulled her down to the forest floor that was now submerged by several dozen feet of water.
Tanya fought against the pressure holding her down. It was like an elephant was on her back, but she began to raise. She crashed down once again, the force on her back redoubling suddenly. This time, there was no escape and she knew it, but Tanya continued to struggle.
“Not like this!” she screamed in her mind. “Not by some nameless woman in the middle of nowhere!”
As darkness crept in, the farthest reaches of Tanya's mind registered a large arm coming around her waist. It hurt, the water pressing against her against it, but the arm held strong.
The next thing Tanya remembered, she was coughing up water while being cradled to a large body of white fur.
“Leo,” she said after recovering.
Leo nodded his head in the armored woman’s direction with a question written on his face. “Eat?”
Tanya smiled. “Gut the bitch!”