“Riya, stop!” Kedryn gasped, closing in on her for a second time even more confused than he was before. Riya, who was usually their group’s voice of reason, had completely gone off the rails. Not only did she refuse to explain her actions, but she had tripped him the last time he had caught up to her. She hadn’t even offered a word of apology or explanation, just tripped him, called him a mede like she had when they had first met, and took off again, leaving him to collect his bearings and find his cinderwood staff that had fallen amongst the tall grass.
Who would have guessed that Riya of all people would have a mean streak?
It was a good thing he was faster than she was in a straight up race.
“Riya! We need… to talk!” he panted as he pulled up beside her, keeping his distance so she couldn’t trip him a second time. He could barely make out the entrance to the manor up ahead. It was far enough away that he didn’t worry about his voice carrying, but the stunted trees lining the road did cast a sinister appearance in the dying light. That and the distant sounds of men screaming mixed with the clash of weapons were carried to him on the breeze.
It was best of they were as far from that as possible. If only Riya wasn’t hell bent on getting there.
Much like the time before, Riya didn’t so much as answer him. Instead of reaching out to grab her like he had tried the last time, Kedryn made a snap decision and thrust his staff between her legs.
Riya screeched as she tumbled to ground in a cloud of dust, cursing Kedryn in both Elvish and Dwarfen.
Kedryn pounced, pinning her to the ground.
“Get… off… me!” Riya half growled half panted, glaring at Kedryn with anger and frustration.
“Not until you explain what this is all about!” Kedryn growled back, sweat running down his face.
“You wouldn’t… understand!” she panted, her chest heaving as she tried to gulp down air.
“You’re right,” Kedryn hissed through gritted teeth, showing his frustration for the first time. He wasn’t a fool. While he dreamed of being able to storm into the fray ahead of them and save the day, he recognized the desire for what it was. A fanciful dream.
The reality of the situation was that they were only two people, lying in the middle of the road within eyesight of the gates and surrounded by a sea of tall grass and stunted trees. A perfect spot for an ambush if the bandits were smart enough, which he surmised they likely were. Nobody was stupid enough to haphazardly attack what equated to a noble’s manor. He only hoped that whatever scouts had been assigned watch were either too far away to be a threat or too wary to investigate the noise they were making.
“You’re right,” he repeated, trying to force himself to calm down. “I won’t understand until you can tell me what this is all about!”
“Just let me go!” She cried out, struggling to escape as her rage filled voice broke down into sobs. “Just… let me go… I need to save him!”
“Save who?” Kedryn asked, softening his tone. He still didn’t relax his grip. He wouldn’t be taken by surprise again.
“Bryst!” she cried out. “My bonded Gen’Sheld!”
Kedryn’s eyes widened in shock. “Wait, the horse everybody is talking about is yours?!”
“Yes!” she sobbed, her shoulders shaking as tears streamed down her face. All at once, she stopped struggling, her strength leaving her.
Kedryn sat there stunned. If Riya’s bonded horse, which was apparently a Horse Lord, was just beyond those gates, they had to do something.
“Are you sure?” he asked, looking at her intently.
There was a moment of hesitation before Riya responded. Kedryn released her arms, letting her scrub the tears away, though he didn’t get off her. He could afford to be kind, but he wasn’t going to risk her bolting down the road again.
“Maybe? I… I don’t know for certain.”
“Wouldn’t you be able to tell? I mean, you’re bonded and everything.” Kedryn asked, his face screwing up in confusion.
Riya looked away before answering.
“I don’t know if my bond with Bryst survived after I was pulled from my world into yours. I just… I don’t know,” Riya turned her gaze back to Kedryn, looking imploringly at him. “But they have a Gen’Sheld! Who else could it be other than Bryst?”
Kedryn remembered Riya’s retelling of the events that led her to Earth. She had been separated from her family during a goblin attack. Only when she had been cornered by both wargs and goblin riders had she been forced to use a family heirloom to escape.
While there were still some obvious gaps in her story, he couldn’t blame her for worrying. Still, her reaction up to this point had almost plunged her directly into what sounded like a small battle. A battle that was still going on.
Just as he was about to suggest that they wait for Glade and the town guard to show up, Riya looked deeply into his eyes and asked, “Will you help me rescue him?”
A prompt appeared.
You have been offered a Quest: Freeing the Bonded I. As the only delegate of the Loshere line, Da’Riya Ab’Loshere, of house Loshere, has requested your assistance in rescuing one of the Horse Lords from captivity. Though she did not explain it thoroughly, the pact created between the Horse Lords and House Loshere demands she attempt rescue. To succeed in this quest, you must help Da’Riya Ab’Loshere meet the following conditions:
Condition I: Free the Horse Lord by any means necessary.
Condition II: Return the Horse Lord to either its bonded or its herd.
Reward: Increased renown with both the Horse Lords and those of House Loshere; 4,000XP; amongst other potential prizes.
Will you help?
Y/N
Kedryn quickly glanced through the prompt. A part of him wanted to accept it on the spot. But his priority was clear. They were too close to the fighting as it was. Now that Riya had calmed down, they needed to get a safe distance away. Then he would go through the quest and make a decision.
As he opened his mouth to explain his thoughts, three men stepped out of the tree line.
“Looky here boys!” the lead man leered. “We was looking for some entertainment, and the entertainment found us!”
He carried a large slab of metal over his shoulder that might have been a sword once, but even in the waning light Kedryn could make out the jagged edges and rust of the poorly kept weapon. The heavy set bandit scratched at his exposed belly with sausage sized fingers, his only top a patched leather vest.
The other two wore similar clothing but were practically scarecrows compared to the one up front. One moved forward with the big guy, carrying a club and looked about nervously as if waiting for a trap to be sprung. The third man hung back a few feet behind the others with a bow.
Kedryn was on his feet in a flash, pulling Riya behind him.
“No need to worry about us,” he replied warily, carefully eyeing the one with the bow as he took a step backwards, his staff held out defensively in front of him. “We were just leaving.”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Internally, he was cursing himself for not having dragged Riya away earlier when they had the chance. Now it was three against two and he couldn’t use his fire magic!
“No need to rush, baldy,” the larger of the three chuckled darkly swaggering toward them. “It’s been a few span since I had me some right and proper fun. Tell ye what, leave the girl, your purse, and your weapons, and we’ll forget we even saw you.”
“D-d-dog Face, th-th-that’s not wh-wh-what Turner said w-w-we should do,” the anxious man next to who Kedryn assumed was Dog Face stuttered. “W-w-we’s supposed to a-a-alert the b-b-boss…”
“Shut it, idiot,” Dog Face snapped, backhanding the man. “What the boss don’t know won’t hurt him. Besides, Turner’s the one who placed me in charge. Me!” the man snarled, spittle spraying from his mouth.
“Get ready to run,” Kedryn whispered, his heart thundering in his chest as he watched the interaction. He was certain they could outrun the bandits, but what concerned him was the man with the bow. They would need a distraction if they were going to have any chance of surviving.
His mind racing, Kedryn glanced at how the bandits had positioned themselves. The beginnings of an idea began to take shape. It would be risky, but hopefully it would be enough for Riya to get away unharmed.
“Now, where were we?” Dog Face eyed the two, his creepy smile made even worse by the string of spittle hanging from the side of his lips. Kedryn idly wondered if that was why they called him Dog Face. “Oh yeah, I was about to have me some fun. Burke, you hold her down after we kill the twerp. You can have a go when I’m done…”
At the mention of the man’s name, the one in the back grinned evilly and stepped closer.
“B-b-but, what if t-t-the boss f-f-finds out?” the stuttering bandit said.
“I said, shut it!” Dog Face screamed at his fellow bandit.
Kedryn didn’t wait. He leapt forward and to the side, one of his arms outstretched as he cast Gust at Dog Face. His move had placed the larger bandit directly in front of the one with the bow. With any luck, the spell’s effects would be strong enough to cause Dog Face to stumble into the one named Burke, which hopefully would give them enough time to escape.
Wind blasted from Kedryn’s hand, slamming into his target.
“A mage!” Dog Face cried out just before he was picked up and thrown, his body and limbs corkscrewing through the air like he was caught in some invisible cyclone.
The bowman cried out as his fat companion blasted into him, both men landing in a heap on the ground with a loud crunch.
The last bandit took one look at the mess of tangled limbs and broken bones, turned his gaze to Kedryn, who honestly looked just as surprised as the bandit, and fled.
“We can’t let him get away!” Riya cried.
Stunned as he was, Kedryn cast his manipulate fire spell out of reflex, intending the flame to engulf the head of the fleeing bandit.
Pain exploded throughout his body as mana passed through his corrupted channels. He had never cut off a spell mid-cast before and doing so now felt like the wrong time to start.
Kedryn felt more than saw the air and fire mana mingle together, roiling with uncontrolled power as it materialized over his intended target.
A bright flash illuminated the darkened road as the bandit’s head exploded.
Pain turned to gut wrenching agony as Kedryn doubled over, emptying the contents of his stomach onto the dirt road.
“What was that?” Riya asked, stunned.
“I don’t kno…” Kedryn began, but his gut decided that it hadn’t finished punishing him yet.
A minute or two passed as he continued to spray whatever was left of his dinner onto the ground.
When Kedryn’s stomach finally calmed down enough for him to look up, he found Riya had collected the bandits’ weapons and had bound their hands and feet with some cord she had scrounged up from somewhere. Not that she needed it. Both Dog Face and the man named Burke were unconscious from what he surmised was no less than two broken limbs each.
“Kedryn,” Riya began, then stopped, taking a shuddering breath. “Thank you for stopping me from running head first into that.” She indicated the bandits. “I acted rashly and would like to apologize.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, a twinge of pain in his stomach distracting him. They needed to get back to Glade and the others. These bandits hadn’t been that difficult to take down, but from the sounds of things up ahead, there were a lot of them.
“Good,” she said matter of factly, turning to walk toward the manor. “Then let’s proceed. We might be able to sneak Bryst away in the confusion.”
“What?” Kedryn asked, surprised. “You’re still planning to rescue Bryst?”
In the distance, a man screamed in agony.
“The Abyssal Lords themselves couldn’t drag me away,” she growled, marching up the hill.
“I think we should really wait for Glade and the others,” Kedryn said, stumbling after Riya. “We aren’t going to be able to do much to help.”
“Stop being modest. You can literally blast people away with your new spell and that insane air attunement you have. And if that wasn’t enough, apparently you can just blow people’s heads off,” she casually pointed down to the headless remains they were passing.
Kedryn fought to keep his stomach under control as he took in the gruesome sight. While he was more than impressed with the effects of his tempest attunement, this new experience with his fire magic was a bit much. The back part of his mind was already trying to figure out what kind of air his corrupted mana channels were simulating to create such an explosion. Fire didn’t explode when mixed with oxygen, it burned hotter. But what if his corrupted channels weren’t creating oxygen?
“I don’t think I should do that again,” he replied, hurrying to catch up. “It felt like my channels were being torn to shreds.”
“Mana deviation,” Riya said brusquely, picking up the pace. “Some paths purposefully corrupt their mana channels to create an unusual effect. Its rare, but it happens. Scholars call that mana deviation. I’ve read that it can be…” a grimace crossed her face, “painful. But in most supervised cases that were studied the pain all but disappeared once the deviation settled into an equilibrium.”
“Yeah?” Kedryn asked, his mind racing. “What about the unsupervised cases?”
Riya remained silent, which was enough of an explanation for him.
“Riiight…” he said. “No more using my fire channels until I can get a professional to look them over.”
Riya arched a brow at him.
“Never mind,” he muttered, remembering he would be rolled up as a criminal if anyone found out he was a fire mage. “I still think we need to wait for Glade.”
“You’re probably right,” she sighed. “But let’s at least take a look at what’s happening. That way, when Glade and the guard get here, we can help direct them.”
Kedryn nodded along. Having dispatched the bandits covering the front gate, they should be able to at least get a general idea of what was happening.
“Good thinking,” he said, picking up the pace.
“And when Glade takes over like he always does, we can slip in and save Bryst,” she said, a mad gleam in her eyes.
Kedryn just shook his head. The noise of battle increased until both he and Riya entered through the gates. A large three story mansion loomed in front of them, with a long house to its right and what he guessed was an expansive stable and yard to the left.
A once beautiful garden filled with decorative shrubs and other plant life was aflame, illuminating the battle taking place at the entrance to the stables a stone’s throw away. A line of men in ragged armor and clothing pushed back a dozen armed and armored guards with long spears and rough looking shields.
Bodies were strewn haphazardly across the grounds as other men ran into and out of the stables, leading magnificent horses away and into the stunted forest beyond the yard.
Out everything though, what drew Kedryn’s attention was Cirea, the Bailiff. She was trading blows against a mountain of a monster twice her size away from the others.
Kedryn instinctively used his natural lore skill.
Grassland Ogre, Level 21
Attunements: None
Health: 459/754
Mana: 70/70
Stamina: 340/510
Status: Enraged
“Kedryn!” Riya cried in desperation. “The horses!”
“I see them,” he snapped, but that was all. What else was he supposed to say? That he was going to save the day? He didn’t even know the first thing to do in a situation like this. Casting magic he could do, but he was limited now more than ever. He wasn’t a front line fighter.
“We need to wait for Glade,” he heard himself say. That had been his answer before and it sure as hell made even more sense now. “He’ll know what to do.”
The crash of metal on metal resounded in the darkening twilight as Cirea slugged it out with the Grassland Oger.
Never in all his life did he feel as small and worthless as he did now.
The sound of a crossbow firing drew his attention, quickly followed by a scream as one of the guards fell back with a quarrel sticking out of his shoulder.
Time slowed as Kedryn realized what was about to happen. The fallen guard was going to be overrun, which would in turn expose their flank. At best, the guards would fall back and regroup, but with the line in disarray as it was that didn’t seem likely.
These men, who had just been doing their jobs, would be killed.
Before he realized what he was doing, Kedryn sprinted for the line.
“Heal who you can!” he called back over his shoulder.
Two bandits with spears moved forward to stab the downed guard, their cries of excitement lost in the miasma of noise.
Kedryn leapt over the dying remains of a shrub fire, skidding along the ground as he swung his cinderwood staff for all he was worth. As the staff struck the bandit, he used his corrupted mana channels again to cast the smallest amount of magic he could muster. A spark.
The bandit’s surprised face burned into Kedryn’s memory as an explosion of flame and light blew the bandit and the man next to him away.
Fighting down the roiling pain in his gut, Kedryn raised his arm and cast Gust at the now exposed flank of the bandit line. Men and weapons flew away from him and the guards, their bodies twisting in unseen currents of air.
The world stilled as guards and bandits alike stood rooted to the ground, staring at Kedryn’s sudden appearance.
“We have them now, men!” the largest of the guards yelled. “Forward!”
As one, the remaining guards charged into the bandits, taking advantage of the confusion.
The large guard stayed back, approaching Kedryn.
“Well met sir mage!” he said, a massive grin on his face. “Thank you for saving me any my men! I am the Aldorn Patriarch. Might I have the pleasure of your name before we once again charge into the fray?”
An unsettling feeling swept over Kedryn as he opened his mouth to respond. The pain in his gut doubled and instead of offering his name, he collapsed to his knees, throwing up onto the Patriarch’s boots.