Osmund released a sigh of relief as he finally spotted Brand laying on his back on a bed of grass.
Jumping off the stone he flew on, the noble inspected the awful state the Jabari was in. His right leg bent in the wrong direction making it hard to look at without feeling sick. The rest of him didn't look much better. Brand’s body was a mess of cuts and hanging strips of skin from digging a furrow in the ground with his body’s hard landing. It seemed with his last spell, Osmund’s work was finished for him.
He started chuckling until he saw Brand’s chest rise and fall. “Wow, you are one tough bastard.” Osmund walked with a confident gate knowing Brand could not move with his broken body. “You shouldn't make your betters work so hard to kill you, not when it's inevitable.”
Osmund came to a stop right beside Brand. He wanted to end him with his own hands, not some spell. It just felt right after meeting the thunderers.
He raised a hand willing a stone sword to form, but nothing happened. He tried again, this time with more mana, but again, he failed. Gritting his teeth, Osmund tried lifting the ground around him adding more mana by the second. The ground should have been breaking apart or at least been rocked by tremors, but the effort only lost him most of his strength.
“What the hells is going on?” Osmund harrumphed. He could feel his magic, so it wasn't being silenced. It was even visible, or at least it was just above his skin. It made no sense as if his mana disappeared just as it left his body.
“Thanks for the meal,” Brand wheezed in obvious pain. “Would've died if you hadn't come along.”
Osmund yelped in terror but failed to back away as some force he couldn't see held him. Desperately wanting to get away, he used most of his mana pool in an attempt to brute force his way out of whatever had him.
“Yes, yes,” Brand said with each word becoming less strained. “Poor everything you have into escaping.” His body began to rise on an unseen wind until he floated upright with a pained grin missing many teeth. Cuts began closing leaving patches of lighter skin as he continued.
“Now I’ve got some questions you're going to answer if you want to live.” Brand’s voice was now clear with a smoothness that only seemed threatening. It was as if he’d been submerged in a vat of healing potion and was high off the fumes. “Now, who are you working for?”
Osmund ignored the question, instead, barking one of his own. “How are you doing this!”
Osmund’s body went rigid and was forced to stand perfectly straight with his arms stuck to his sides when Brand closed his fist. Tears started falling from his eye as Brand placed a hand on his shoulder as if to console him. His demeanor then shifted to that of a raging beast.
“Answer my fucking question!”
Before Osmund felt Brand’s fist, he heard for the first time, the sound of his ribs breaking. Then came the pain, unrelenting, and somehow surreal. No one had ever struck him with such force in his entire life, not in the Hall or at war. He tried to scream, but only released gargles as blood filled his lungs and spilled from his mouth.
“Well that's no good,” Brand said, placing his hand on the sunken part of Osmund’s chest. “A flimsy little fucker like you will die from that. No need to worry, I can fix you right up.”
The pain suddenly grew even more intense as his bones were shifted back into place. A line of mana stretched out from one of Brand’s fingers puncturing Osmund’s chest. Soon after, a stream of blood gushed from the wound allowing him to breathe once again.
“Now are you going to answer my questions?” Brand said, his tone becoming leisurely again.
“It's Aldhelm!” Osmund shouted.
“That wasn't too hard was it,” Brand said smacking Osmund’s face lightly. “Now, how did he get me blacklisted?”
“He paid your patron to-!” Osman was cut off as he was assaulted with a powerful electric shock.
“If I was not clear!” Brand shouted reverting back to his bestial anger. “I would like my questions to be answered honestly!”
“I am telling the truth!” Osmund cried. “Aldhelm said he paid your patron off. That's all I know.”
“Lie to me again and I'll light you on fire,” Brand warned.
“Gods, please, I'm telling you the truth!”
Brand released a sigh of defeat. “Or maybe you've been lied to. It doesn't matter, I'll find out on my own.”
The Jabari raised his unbroken arm conjuring a gigantic ax, but Osmund didn't notice. He was busy screaming not from his impending death but from the face he saw walking closer from behind Brand.
It was a creature; unlike any he’d ever seen. Its head seemed to be made of mouths with rows of sharp teeth and multiple tongues with smaller mouths at their ends. The skin that could be seen was gray with dozens of eyes oozing blood.
When Brand turned to look at the aberration, it moved so fast Osmund lost track of it. Brand just fell to the ground lifeless, then it reappeared right in front of him. With a final scream, Osmund fell into darkness, his fear defeating him before anyone else had a chance.
****
“Gods damn it that hurt!” Rollo shouted through 13 different mouths while clenching his throbbing right hand.
He received reports on Brand’s abilities so he knew most magic would be useless. Deciding to use his fist instead, he cast Striker's Onslaught to make up for his lack of physical strength due to him being a mage. The attack worked, knocking Brand out in a single blow but was also quickly causing his fist to swell.
Ignoring the pain in his hand, Rollo took a long look at Brand. The first thing he noticed was the pressure coming off him as if he was releasing or more like throttling mana he couldn't see, and in his sleep no less. Next were his wounds that all seemed to have been healing slowly except for his leg that remained broken.
Such precise healing was an impressive feat. Most that could heal during battle could not help but fuse broken bones out of order.
“Rollo, could you explain what the hells is going on, and please put away that face before I throw up?” said an old man standing nearby.
A rainbow of mana shields appeared around Rollo before he shifted his head back to that of a human and spoke. “And you are?”
“I’m Dmitry, but some know me as Eggle in this body,” Dmitry answered, vanishing for a moment to demonstrate his focus.
“Why are you wearing an old man?”
Dmitry shrugged. “It was the closest body available. So.” Dmitry gestures to the thunderclouds in the distance. “What's going on?”
“Looks like thunderers to me. What they’re after, I don't know, but I’ll kill them after dealing with this one.” Just as Rollo finished a red flash erupted from beneath the thunder clouds.
“I’ll deal with them,” Dmitry said. “The king sent me out here to investigate.” He then walked up to Osmund lifting him off the ground with one hand. “And look after Brand for me. He’s a good kid. It would be a shame for him to make it out of the Nulls just to die here.”
With that said, Dmitry vanished leaving Rollo alone with Brand. Rollo wondered what he should do. The last report he’d read said Brand was now blacklisted. That brought a smile to the striker’s face as an idea blossomed in his mind.
****
Tanya stood taking deep breaths and held a blank expression as she tried not to panic. She refused to believe what was in front of her. No matter how much blood muddied the ground, there was no way Brand was dead.
It was his blood for sure by the smell of it, but he could heal. With the beast cores Mildrith spoke of, a practitioner of life magic like him should have no trouble with blood loss if given enough time. What Tanya refused to consider was the trail of blood leading into the Dark Forest only a few paces away. There were also deep paw prints of some monster around the size of a small elephant.
Tanya looked to her sister who was completely useless at the moment. Upon seeing the blood-stained grass, she immediately broke into tears, sure of Brand’s death. Everyone else just stood around her as if wanting to give confront but not knowing how. Even Bitarr was silent, knowing the face he wore only made things worse.
Tanya's hopes grew as an idea came to her. “Brand is alive!” she exclaimed. “If Bitarr still looks like him, he must be.”
“Not how it works, Kitten,” Bitarr said regretfully. “I become dead people all the time, like that thunderer. Your mind lets me, I don't know, home in on something and I become its most true version while they were alive, or the most ideal vision when dead. It doesn't make much sense, but it's god magic, it rarely does.”
“Can you tell if he's dead?” Tanya asked with a frustrated growl.
“I know that he knows but that’s it,” Bitarr admitted. “I don’t get anyone’s memories and thoughts so I know as much as you do.”
“Then I’m going to find him.”
Bitarr dashed in front of Tanya holding out a hand to stop her. “I can’t let you be that stupid. Even though you can survive the monsters in that forest, there's still a chance of falling into some other world, and I need you in Midgard.”
Tanya ignored him, jumping to his shoulder and using it as a perch to take off into the air. She didn't make it far. Bitarr engulfed her in Brand’s fortress aura keeping her suspended in the air.
“You're not thinking straight,” Bitarr said. “Look at the blood on the ground, and those pawprints. Some monster obviously made a meal of him and the same happening to you isn't going to do shit.
“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” Tanya shouted at the top of her lungs. Her mana surged around her but was quickly snuffed out adding to Bitarr’s own reserves.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Mildrith walked up to Tanya wiping tears from her eyes. “He's right. There's nothing we can do now.”
“You don't know that,” Tanya cried. “He could still be alive.”
Bitarr shook his head. “Not with this much blood lost.”
“Shut up!” Tanya shouted once again using the last of her mana in an attempt to break free.
Bitarr let her struggle without a word until her mana pool was completely empty. He then released her but backed away as soon as their eyes met; hers with hatred and his confusion.
“This is not my fault, Kitten,” Bitarr said defensively. “There was nothing any of us could do.”
“He’s right,” Mildrith added. “Aldhelm did this. I tried to help, but I couldn't.” Her words cut short as tears overtook her.
Mildrith’s sobbing finally broke whatever fight was left in Tanya. She slumped to the ground scratching at it with her clawed fingers. “This isn't fair. He should have been mine. I would’ve given him up, not for anything.”
Bitarr looked between the two sisters then at Garland and Alda. “You two got this right?” They both nodded. “OK then, I'm leaving. This face probably just makes things worse.”
With that said, he disappeared only to be replaced by a dozen figures wearing skull masks and darkly painted armor. Each had various weapons drawn from wands and baculous to throwing daggers and crossbows. Despite their ominous appearance, Tanya felt no hostility coming from these men, women, she didn't know what they were.
Everyone did not share Tanya’s perception. Garland and Alda both raised their weapons with mana flaring around them. The skulled soldiers did not react. They seemed to be waiting for the one person who knew who they were to speak up.
"Lord Dreyark," Mildrith barely managed to say over her nervousness.
She took a long pause not knowing what to say. Tanya could understand the hesitation. What she knew of the Dreyarks was not good. They policed the nobles on behalf of the king dealing death to whoever crossed him. In fact, a situation like the one they were in now was just the kind to draw them out.
“Sheath your weapons and cease your magic,” said every skulled soldier at once without a hint of emotion in a harmonized tone. When Alda did not lower her hammer, a skull soldier appeared next to her with a sword a hair’s breadth away from her neck. “Don't give me a reason. You’ll be fine if you come to see the king quietly.”
****
Aldhelm fumed as he was escorted from his quarters. Nothing that went on in the Nulls should be traceable back to him. Of course, that was only if everything went as planned which they clearly had not.
He’d done his part, paying the sand-skinned bitch to blacklist Brand. All Osmund had to do was make sure to kill him outside Vellia before Tanya could reach him, forcing her to leave her cradle of safety. The thunderers would then make quick work of the mutt, having been told of her existence via a message sent days ago. The only ones other than himself that knew the plan were Osmund and Garland; both of which should have more than enough to execute it.
The first signs of trouble were the sound of a battle raging in the Nulls without the presence of any bad weather. Fighting on those shit-covered streets was more than rear, they never happened. No one, noble or otherwise would venture that far away from Vellia’s walls.
When the most complex arrangement of spells the noble had ever seen rose into the sky in the shape of a tower, Aldhelm tried and failed to think of an excuse when finally caught by his father.
There was a brief respite from his worry as storm clouds emerged, but when an explosion so large he could feel the shock waves from within the city was seen in the distance, he knew the thunderers would not be enough of an explanation to appease his father; especially after the second explosion that was ever larger than the first.
Now, Aldhelm found himself being led to his father by the only Dreyark he hated more than Rova, Dmitry. The man of one thousand faces was the only one capable of spying on everyone in the city. The precautions Aldhelm had to take to freely act grew tiresome mere days after Elbert took the crown. But it seemed spying was not the only thing Dmitry was used for.
He came to Aldhelm’s room still wearing a skull mask like a barbarian informing him politely that the king wanted to have a word. The thought of refusing nibbled on the edges of his mind but the soft tapping of a sword’s hilt behind him quelled all hopes of defiance. He could summon his Valkyries, but how many bodies Dmitry presently had could not be known. Even if he did know, they were invisible, so Aldhelm went without protest arriving in the throne room finding himself completely fucked with one look at who joined him.
Tanya, who was very much still alive, was being held within a faintly glowing barrier just in front of the large stairs used as seats along the sides of the room. By the look of her, the barrier was in place not to protect her, but to protect him from the beast kin's wrath. She raked her claw along the shield doing no damage while eyeing Aldhelm with the promise of death.
Mildrith sat next to her in a disheveled state wearing a bruise on her perfect face. Aldhelm made a note in his mind to kill whoever hurt her but nearly tripped over his own feet as he noticed she would not look his way.
He took a step in her direction but stopped after seeing the daggers in Alda’s eyes. He took another step, this time wanting to teach the nameless insect respect for her betters but was stopped by Dmitry’s hand landing firmly on his shoulder.
Aldhelm next spotted Garland and Osmund. Garland, as usual, looked like a pathetic dog too used to being kicked while in his presents. Osmund, on the other hand, was covered in blood with a healer at his side to dull whatever pain he was in.
“Son,” Elbert said from on top of his high reaching throne with a liberally jeweled crown spinning around one finger. “I would have brought more of your conspirators, but it seems this Jabari you wanted dead so badly left them, in a bad way.” Aldhelm broke into a cold sweat while keeping a regal stance as if unbothered as his father continued. “Several weren't so lucky,” Elbert continued. “They died before help could come. Can't say I blame this, what’s his name again.” Elbert pointed to Mildrith.
“His name is Brand Majesty,” Mildrith answered with what sounded like a dying breath.
“Ah yes, his name was Brand,” Elbert said emphasizing that Brand was no longer among the living. “This Jabari, one of the only I’ve heard of using magic, was able to battle several magi and cultivators far above what should be expected of him as a group.” Elbert put one hand up as if asking for time and covered his mouth with the other to stifle his laughter speaking only after righting himself but in a far more exciting manner. “He was able to freely change the state of mana even going so far as to cast an uncontrolled thaumaturgical cascade without dying or wishing he had like those that survive such things.”
Aldhelm had no idea what his father was talking about. From what he’d seen of Brand’s abilities, he was a cultivator of impressive strength and constitution. All matters of thaumaturgy in regards to the situation were lost on him. He knew what thaumaturgy meant, but that was as far as his expertise on the subject went.
“Of course, it would be lost on you,” Elbert said as he saw no understanding on his son’s face. His voice grew no louder but darker as he rose and walked down the steps to his throne. “Of course, you wouldn't understand the folly of wasting so much gold on a trivial vendetta.” Elbert’s voice went from dark to a low growl. “How about the loss of someone with more potential than most of the pampered weaklings strutting around with names.”
“Farther, if I’d known he could be useful to Vellia, I would have never-”
Aldhelm was cut off by an armored fist flattening his nose faster than he could see and that his Valkyries could possibly react to. Before flying away, he was jerked to a stop by a burning hand around his neck. Hanging a few inches off the ground, Aldhelm tried to scream as he was choked while his neck was burnt by his father’s summoning; Natural Calamity.
It was a seven-foot-tall suit of armor that glowed red with the heat it released. Every edge seemed to be pointed and sharp as if just a glancing blow from its massive fist would tear away flesh. Even its fingers were sharpened digging painfully into Aldhelm’s neck as it held him. It had no eye nor gaps of any kind. Where they were expected to be solid, metal bent as needed to move. The strangest part of the walking suit of armor was that it did not walk but floated just off the ground.
Orbs of mana shot from Aldhelm’s body summoning his Valkyries much slower than Elbert’s Calamity. After the 30 Valkyries formed, which felt like an eternity to Aldhelm, they attacked as one, each landing powerful punches and kicks that Calamity took without moving. Only when the Valkyries attacked Elbert did his summons act.
Calamity spun around Elbert as a tornado of fire and steel forming caters in the wall as each Valkyr was sent flying with a single blow. As the battle raged on Elbert continued speaking, his furry ever increasing.
“How about the danger you put us in. I could forgive you, son, I really could, but you dared call the thunderers to my city! If even one went berserker within the wall, hundreds would have died! We were basically saved by Bitarr of all things! Is it because you were too weak to kill Tanya yourself because I’m not sure you could kill her even if you were man enough to try!”
Aldhelm couldn’t defend himself with words because he had none to justify his actions. Or it could have been due to the pain radiating from his burning neck dulling his mind. He wasn't sure, neither was Elbert who was tired of ranting without gaining a response.
“Heal him Calamity,” Elbert said.
Calamity’s armor instantly turned green as it broke off its attack on the Valkyries to drop a glowing green liquid on Aldhelm. The liquid pooled on the creature like morning dew dripping the high-grade healing potion all over the floor. As the first drops touched Aldhelm he felt the pain ease. Within a few breaths, he was back on his feet with ugly scars around his neck.
“I almost wish I didn't have those two,” Elbert said, gesturing towards Osmund and Garland. “At least then you could lie to me. Somehow give me some hope that you weren't this foolish.”
“You’re the foolish one for letting that mutt into our house!” Aldhelm exclaimed with the truth for the first time.
“That doesn't even make sense!” Elbert shouted, matching his son’s anger. “She’s a feline!”
Aldhelm pointed an accusing finger at Tanya. “This is how we fall. In a few generations, beast kin summoners will be giving our power to their own gods ending our very way of life!”
“If the Aesir are so weak, then so be it. Vidar can never lose! Magni’s hammer can slay any foe! Modi’s vengeance can never be stopped! Vara’s flaming sword will burn fire giants like parchment! Balder can't be harmed by gods or men! Even Bitarr, who Tanya summoned to kill the thunderers, could end whatever sad excuse for deities exists beyond Midgard!”
Elbert seemed to run out of strength as he finished his sermon. He turned his back on his son drowning Aldhelm in his disappointment. He then spoke with finality bringing things to a close.
“Tanya is more important than you. If you so much as dirty her dress, I'll have you killed. As for punishment, your Valkyries will do.”
“What!” Aldhelm yelled but was too late.
Calamity’s armor turned black with smoky death magic seeping out of it. Before Aldhelm could call his Valkyries back to him, they died a final death by a fist filled with death magic eating away their enneagrams, their patterns, their very souls. It wasn't what Brand had done, but the result was the same; the death magic within seconds erased them entirely.
“You can still summon the gods,” Elbert said. “But god luck trying to create anything for the next few years.”
Aldhelm slumped to the ground speechless. The backlash from his Valkyrie’s destruction hurt, but the shock of his works of art being snuffed out made it seem trivial. He lay there without the strength to even listen to those speaking around him.
“As for you two,” Ebert said, looking at Osmund and Garland. “Lord Earthbreaker has to pay a fine that his house can’t help with. A few decades on the front lines alongside Aldhelm will surely keep your payments coming on time. As for you.” He pointed at Garland. “You were coerced so I don't fucking care.”
With a snap of his finger, Elbert lowered the shield around Tanya who immediately asked a question. “Does this mean if Brand is alive, he is no longer blacklisted?”
“He’s still blacklisted,” Ebert said “I can't lift his banishment, or every noble house will revolt over why the blacklisted members of their family aren't allowed the same. Besides, no laws were broken. Paying to have someone blacklisted is not a crime and the girl wasn't cheated. Aldhelm did pay her and she can’t change her mind now even if she wanted to. He’s dead anyway, eaten by some beast in the Dark Forest, so it doesn't matter.”
****
A tear rolled down Brand’s cheek as he explained his spell to Rollo. “So, yeah. I placed a long-ear spell on Mildrith and Alda. Every quarter mile I placed runes to extend the range. The farther I am away from the source the worse the sound gets, but I can still hear it clearly from wherever we are.”
Rollo quirked an eyebrow. “Seeing how you're telling me this, can I assume it's a yes.”
Brand nodded, causing more tears to run down his face. “Yes. I’ll kill for you, steal for you, I’ll do whatever you want if I can get my magic back.”
Rollo smacked his knee in disappointment. “I had this great reveal to get you on board and you just agree. Whatever.” He knocked on the only door leading out of the room. “Come in.”
The door burst open as a dark-haired young man and fey kin girl ran through the archway. “Brandy!” they both shouted tackling Brand to the ground.
“You're here too,” Brand said, feeling tension he hadn't known was there drift away. He hugged them both as tight could with tears of joy washing away his old ones. “Uhtred, you have a beard and Astrid." Brand paused for a moment trying to find anything different about the girl. “You have. . . longer hair?”
Astrid smacked him on the shoulder so hard it nearly dislocated and flew into the air under her own power. “That’s not all that changed.” Her mischievous laughter grew louder filling the room with the kind of murth Brand hasn’t seen in four years.
Then, Brand looked up meeting Magna's eye. "Ma?"
She blinked in surprise for a moment then wrapped him in a hug one he needed more than anything else in the world.