Selene
It looked damned impossible to get away from the zealots assaulting them. An assault was too light a word for what they were experiencing. A stampede was more like it. As far as her eyes could see, Messengers were pushing towards them with a fervor that bordered on madness.
“If only we could fly out of here,” Nia said from beside her before taking the head off a Messenger with an excellent shot from her bow. Their skills had improved so much since the Waters of Irithiya that many of them had unknowingly snapped their bowstrings due to their unprecedented strength when they confronted the Messengers. Now only a few of them had bows.
“If we can get to those contraptions creating the suppression field, we could fly out,” Selene said.
As if the Messengers heard their plans, they wheeled in two more of the same contraption into the clearing they occupied, forming a triangle with the one present already. All three contraptions seem to sense each other and vibrate in sympathy.
The suppression field multiplied and every one of them grunted from the impact.
“Fucking Messengers,” Bram cursed. “They’re not even affected.”
“How the fuck do they get their horses through this terrain, anyway?”
“They’re draft horses,” Ajax said. “They’re trained for this.”
A Messenger shot towards her but Trudhorn intercepted him. They parried each other’s blows for a breath before Trudhorn gained the upper hand. He stabbed the Messenger in the neck and a fountain of blood burst out of the stab wound.
The Messengers kicked their horses into a trot, having tested out their strength and speed against her teammates.
“You’re slower, Trudhorn,” Ajax said. “They can sense it.”
“The damned field’s holding me back,” he spat.
“We can’t fight them all,” Selene said as the Messengers circled them. “I’ll create cover. Pick them off one at a time but don’t put yourselves in danger.”
“And don’t push yourself too much,” Trudhorn said.
She nodded and took a deep breath before cycling, holding it in. When she let out the breath, the whole area around them fogged over. The fog rolled outward covering everything for almost fifty yards away from her in all directions. The temperature dropped and dew formed in the air.
Her teammates moved — silently, so the Messengers wouldn’t sense them until it was too late. They slowly stabbed their way through the horde of Messengers whose grunts of pain were all that punctuated the silence in the air.
Using their transmission bracelets to communicate, they were able to spread out and do a lot more damage without isolating themselves.
“Nia, you’re straying too far away. Move left,” Selene transmitted to her friend. Nia quickly delivered a killing blow to the Messenger she had in a chokehold and raced to join the team.
They moved forward slowly toward one of the contraptions but the Messengers were too much. It didn’t take long for more Messengers to converge on them, trying to bury them in a mountain of armored bodies. They all cycled, sending essence to their limbs to make them faster and stronger.
The battle turned brutal as they fought for their lives. Selene kept the fog up, obscuring the sight of the Messengers so that her team could maintain their advantage. But that advantage was shrinking with every breath she took. If they couldn’t get out of the mass of bodies trying to crush them, they would truly be in trouble.
Bram grunted a few feet away from her. She felt something suck the air away from beside her; that was a sign her brother, Ajax, had teleported away. Her blade bit into a Messenger’s armor and then another and another.
At this point, she couldn’t even remember how many Messengers she had killed. Her team started slowing down as essence fatigue set in. Selene felt like a sponge that was wrung of all its moisture. She felt so sore.
“Fuck! There’s nowhere to fall back to,” Nia transmitted. “Selene, Bram has lost a hand!”
What!?
“It’s okay,” Bram transmitted, still fighting, even though they were losing combat space fast. “Ye should focus on yer fight.”
Something hit her in the head. She had lost concentration, damn it! She staggered into metal armor on the ground and almost fell.
“Selene!” Trudhorn shouted.
Something pulled her the next moment. It was like the ground was pulled out from underneath her feet. She had no way to describe the sensation except that it was a pulling sensation or a sucking sensation. She shut her eyes due to the intensity of the experience. Her stomach flipped itself and she felt bile rising to her throat.
The next moment, she was standing on solid ground again. She retched. Thankfully, she hadn’t eaten in a while.
“Selene, are you okay?”
That can’t be right. That voice…
“Csala?”
“Yes, it’s me,” the redhead beauty said, smiling down at her.
“When did you… where am I?” She looked around and just barely caught Bram pop into existence.
“Oh, fuck—” he was saying but threw up the next instance.
Nia laughed at him, holding him to herself. “That’ll teach yer not ta eat every strange nut n’ fruit ye see in the jungle.”
“The jungle hates me, I tell ye,” the man in question said, holding his hand. No, his bleeding stump.
“Oh, Bram. I’m so sorry!” Selene said, feeling bad he had lost a hand.
“I’ll have it fixed in no time,” Jerome said.
She looked around. All fifteen of her teammates were there. They hugged each other with smiles and gratitude. Trudhorn reached for her and held her tight like he never wanted to let go. His warmth filled her with peace. Her teammates gasped in surprise and she had to break up their embrace to find out what was happening.
She saw Jerome squatting beside Bram with his hands around Bram’s stump. The bleeding had stopped and the flesh was wiggling and knitting together, or was it regenerating?
There was green light pouring out of the ground and into Jerome — vital aura, she recognized. It intensified all of a sudden and Bram’s stump began moving. Bone began to grow, followed by pink flesh and skin.
It took a while, but soon, Bram had a brand new hand. Everyone stood shocked at the result.
“The hand is still very new, the skin soft, and blood vessels weak,” Jerome said, breaking them out of their stupor. “Don’t work it too much for the rest of the day. Transmit bits of essence to it every few breaths and it should be as good as the previous one by tomorrow.”
Selene couldn’t help but stare at the silver-eyed daimon in front of her like he was an ancient relic of some kind.
Boom!!! Something shattered the silence with the crack of thunder, bringing them all out of their stupor. Again.
“The Messengers have found us,” Csala said.
She did something Selene had never seen her do before — use essence. That told her that the Messengers were a bigger threat than the wolf-looking monsters that preyed on them in the frozen north of Terra Praeta. Csala never used essence against them.
She swallowed. She was tired. Her teammates were tired. But the Messengers wouldn’t wait for them to rest before coming for their heads.
“You guys rest, let’s take care of this,” Jerome said to her. Did she hear that right?
“Jerome, there are too many of them.” Trudhorn tried to reason with him.
“About a thousand of them, yes—”
“Really?” She didn’t know that.
Another booming sound shattered the air. Then another and another. The sound became a continuous cracking of thunder in her ears. It was very distracting. But Jerome seemed not to worry about it.
“Yes, more than we’ve dealt with but at this point, their numbers don’t matter anymore. Plus, I need their horses…”
“They’re damn fine horses, I tell ye,” Bram said, eyes in the sky, looking for the source of the thunderous sound. Every other person stood around them to defend them.
“Here they come,” Ms. Tara said. There was something different about her. A confidence that she hadn’t sensed in her before.
Ms. Tara was the first to shoot forward, followed by… a shadow? Selene shook her head to clear it. She must be seeing things. Csala and Nyx strolled into the trees as if it was just another day out on a walk in Farryn. Where was Sheela — oh, the shadow…
“What do ye need their horses… ha!” Nia said, realization hitting her suddenly. “Do we get a share of ‘em?”
Her teammates laughed at her.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Jerome shrugged. “Well, how good of a rider are you?”
Selene frowned. The Messengers weren’t coming close. As if four sacred artists were enough to hold them at bay. Just as she thought so, a few broke through the trees and headed for them. A wave of heat washed over her and white light twinkled on Jerome’s palm.
The fireball in his palm was so tiny, it looked like a pebble. She didn’t think such a technique would do anything. Selene panicked, but before her eyes, Jerome raised his hand and the tiny bead of fire shot forward and exploded amid the group of Messengers before they closed on her team. They were all turned to ash in less than a breath, their armor becoming molten slag.
Silence reigned for a moment.
“I thought they said they absorb essence to make themselves stronger?” Ajax muttered.
“Yes, but there’s a limit to how much essence they can absorb,” Jerome replied. “Too much and they overload. Fire essence will incinerate them from the inside out.”
“How much essence was that then?” one of her teammates asked the question in their minds.
“A lot,” was Jerome’s answer.
Nia tsked. “Now I kinda feel sorry for ‘em.”
“Don’t,” Jerome said. “They’re clones.”
“What!?” Everyone asked, shocked.
“You know what clones are, right? Copies of an original…?”
“We know what clones are, Jerome.” Their scout, Tega, shoved his way toward Jerome. “I encounter monster clones way too often in the frozen north.”
“What!?” Jerome exclaimed. Selene was surprised he didn’t know about that.
“If you know they’re clones, then surely you must know we have to kill their originals to get rid of them completely,” Tega said.
“I’ve… not thought that far ahead to be honest. My thoughts are more on facing the Judges that control them.”
More Messengers came out of the forest and Jerome incinerated them too.
“I think you’re thinking far ahead than all of us combined,” Selene said. “If you can deal with the Messengers with such ease it makes sense that you’re not considering them a threat.”
Trudhorn pointed east. “I think we need to get to that mountain as fast as possible. That’s the—”
“The city of Alvion is behind it,” Jerome said, nodding. “I know. And that’s probably where we’d find them. But first, how well do you guys ride horses?”
Selene gave him a smug look. “We’ve been riding before we were able to take our first steps, Jerome. Horses are the best means of transportation in the frozen north. Without a horse, you freeze to death in the middle of nowhere.”
Jerome smiled bashfully — a look she never thought she’d see on him. He rubbed at his blossoming facial hair with his index finger, hesitating to say what was on his mind. Was that a nervous tick she just noticed on the Almighty Jerome?
“Well, spit it out,” Nia said.
He coughed, giving her a second look and smiled. “The short locks suit you. I like it.”
Nia blushed up a storm and Selene held a hand to mouth, muffling her laughter. Nia glared at her. Every other Itakar was laughing, why was she the one being glared at?
“Well, a Messenger pulled on it and I had to cut it. Don’t change the subject, though.” She pointed accusingly at him.
Jerome looked away with another bashful smile. “Can you teach us… how to ride?”
Selene should have seen that coming from a mile away. Finally, something Jerome didn’t know how to do. She tried not to smile but couldn’t hold back the smirk she knew she was spotting.
~~~
“So I take it the Royal family screwed you guys over, huh?” Jerome said. When he saw they didn’t understand, he explained. “By that I mean, they dropped you in a war you didn’t expect.”
Selene screwed up her face in a cute pout. He chuckled.
“It was a bold move. Don’t blame them,” he said. “Alvric wouldn’t have expected them to do this.”
“True, but still,” she said. “It would have been nice to know where we were getting dropped. Many of us almost died. And I wonder how many others have. My mother contacted me as quickly as she could though.”
Jerome nodded. He understood, but there was no reward without risks, especially in a war. From what he could remember, Vorthe hadn’t gone to war in millennia. Now they’re being forced to battle it out on two fronts. He hoped Blanks wouldn’t be a part of the war. If he ever found out the Royal family let Ash into a war zone… He sighed, correcting his thought process. Ash would be considered a child warrior in a way; perhaps used to move equipment and weapons but never participating in the war.
“What about your sacred beasts though?” He feared the worst might have happened to them.
As if reading his expression, Selene smiled up at him. “They are only as powerful as Blanks, remember? Mother couldn’t risk new members of the family in a battle they weren’t powerful enough to be in so she arranged for them to be teleported to Iss Valor.”
Jerome relaxed at that. “Iss Valor, is that…”
“The city of Ice and stone, Jerome,” Ajax said. “Our homeland in the frozen north.”
Jerome nodded at him in understanding. Ajax had a pride in him that brought a light to his eyes as he told of his home.
“Let me join my team,” he said to Selene. “Take some time to rest.” He could sense their fatigue already.
Jerome flew into the air, shooting toward the battle. He didn’t want to waste time anymore on the Messengers as he had a deep feeling inside him that the more time he wasted on them, the closer the Judges got. And if he wasn’t ready for them, they’d tear him and his teammates apart. Nyx could probably survive them but she’d be too preoccupied, ‘surviving’, to help out the rest of them.
Within two hours by his estimation, they had cleared out the legion of Messengers.
“Okay, gather around everyone,” he called them all together. The gore and filth on them all stunk excessively but he couldn’t complain. “I can make one more jump closer to the mountain today, but I can only travel three miles.”
Ajax whistled, impressed. “I can only do fifty feet.”
“Well, I’m using an artifact that’s more powerful.” Jerome shrugged. “We should take turns to watch the perimeter while we rest. I’ll take the first watch.”
“I’m with Jerome,” Ms. Tara said.
They divided their responsibilities and cleared up a spot for themselves to rest and regain their essence. It was still daytime but the Itakars were all exhausted. They needed rest; the kind of rest where you let down your guard and don’t have to use your perception to check on your surroundings for an enemy.
Jerome installed his barrier with its new illusory feature before he settled in and started pulling out the metal armor of the dead Messengers to make more guns. He had so much metal at this point that he surmised he could make at least a hundred rifles. Ms. Tara sat beside him watching him work. He was sure she was interested in his ‘thunderstick’ — not that he expected her to call it that.
“This rifle of yours, can I try it out?” she asked. Jerome smiled and gave her the rifle.
“Oh…” she said, hefting it with little effort. The rifle should have been too heavy for her to carry but Ms. Tara wasn’t a mere mortal. Sacred artists were powerful beyond comparison to mere mortals. “It’s lighter than I thought it would be. How do I use it?”
Jerome explained, teaching her how to turn the safety on and off, and how to hold the rifle, bracing it against her shoulder. She aimed into the sky at an angle and pulled the trigger with the muffler on to test it out. Smart. Safety first before anything.
With a muffled sound of air and a kickback from the rifle, a bullet fired off into the distance.
“I want to make one that functions like your repeater crossbow.”
“As in?”
“It’ll fire multiple shots at a time, and very rapidly.”
“Ooh.” She smiled. “Can I have that one when you’re done with it?”
“Of course. I’ll also make small ones you can shoot with just one hand.”
“Oh, short rifles,” she said excitedly.
Jerome laughed. “Handguns, but that’s not too bad.”
“I would have gone with ‘thunderstick’ if you hadn’t told me it was called a rifle. Rifle doesn’t fit.”
Jerome laughed again. Harder this time.
“It doesn’t,” she said again, trying to make him see her point.
“No problem, Ms. Tara. Did I tell you Ash was in the Royal Estate with me in Farryn?”
“Really?” Ms. Tara moved closer to him and held him close. “How is she, Jerome? Did they take good care of her?”
“She’s doing fine, Ms. Tara. She’s Blank now.” Jerome held onto her too. “I just hope the Royal Family doesn’t send her anywhere near this war. But I have a feeling they would. There’s a lot at stake here.”
They sat together for a while hugging each other and talking about his time with Ash in the Royal Estate. Their discussion took a turn towards her time with the Shifters but Ms. Tara let go of him and stood, not wanting to talk about it.
“You should continue with your ‘thunderstick’. I’ll take a walk around the perimeter.”
“Don’t leave the barrier,” he said in understanding.
“Of course,” she said. “And I’m taking your thunderstick with me.”
“Oh, he’ll give you his ‘thunderstick’ alright, that’s for sure,” Sheela said, walking towards him.
Ms. Tara turned red almost instantly. She walked away as quickly as possible leaving his new companion to take the seat she vacated.
Jerome shook his head at Sheela’s antics. He continued with his work since Sheela said nothing after that. They still had daylight. But time was rushing by like crazy. He had gotten so used to Terra Praeta’s longer cycle that it was a bit foreign seeing the sun begin to cross its zenith to the west. He had under six hours of light left to work before they moved. He had to make today count.
“Jerome?” Sheela called him. Her voice sounded distant, soft, vulnerable…
“Hm-hmm,” he responded.
“What do you think the Judges will be like?”
Jerome stopped his work to get a feel of her. Sheela had never acted vulnerable around him. He drew her close and held her to himself. “They are strong from what I can tell. But we would be okay. To be honest, I’m scared too.”
“You are?” She looked up at him with big, dark, lovely eyes.
Jerome caressed her full lips and drew closer. Her lips parted for him and he kissed her. It was a chaste kiss, but he hoped to communicate his heart to her… that he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her. He was still getting to know Sheela but he could tell she was all in with him.
“I am,” he said when their lips parted. “I might not look it, but I’m scared of what might happen if we encounter them and can’t overpower them. Will they be as numerous as these Messengers? Are they being cloned too? Yeah, those questions make me scared. But one thing I’m sure about is that we’ll get through this and become stronger for it.”
Sheela relaxed into his arms with a sigh. “You know I can talk big and act tough, but that’s just the training of the pack: act tough when you’re overwhelmed and bark the loudest… be the fiercest. But that’s hard to do in the face of an enemy whose only mission is to cleanse you from the face of the world. But thanks for this. I feel better already.” She hugged him tighter.
“You’re welcome, Sheela… you’re welcome.”
“Will you make me some blades? A few that I can throw to give me some range in a fight.”
Jerome smiled. “Oh, I’ll make you a lot more than a few. You’ll love them.” He had some ideas. Throwing knives were crafted from a single piece of durable steel alloy to make them last longer. And with the ability of a Shaper, he’d run wild with his designs.
“I think Vorthe’s interfering with the Messenger’s signals,” Sheela said. She brought out a bracelet from her storage ring. “This is used by teams to communicate. I and Tara took ours off after our team betrayed us. The Messengers should have one each on them but they don’t. Which means they can’t use it, or Vorthe—”
“Vorthe’s jamming their signals.” Jerome took the bracelet from her, studying it. The sleek looking metal was well made with a pair of joints on each side of the dial to help it wrap around the wrist. The dial was sure to contain a gem. He could hear the song of runes from inside it. The runework was impeccable. “How does it work?”
“With mental energy. It’s faster and easier… and provides privacy compared to...” She held up her hand with the ring. He nodded slowly in understanding.
“So this was how Selene’s mother contacted her. I had wondered… Can I study it later?” he asked, handing it back to her. He was very interested in it. If he had something like this before, he may have been able to copy something from it so his rings could do mental communication.
“Sure,” Sheela said, smiling up at him.
The beautiful Shifter left not long after and Jerome continued with his work. He had all he needed, he just needed to craft at least ten handguns and a lot of bullets before nightfall. That target might seem small but he knew if he lingered, he’d miss it.