Chapter 88 I Am Here.

Isaac covered the distance between his starting position and Lenna in a dead sprint. He went straight for a head height thrust and watched as Lenna turned her head just barely enough to cause his blade to skip off her faceplate. He transitioned directly into a dragging cut that scraped along the cheek of her helmet and the collar of her armor. She brought her sword down towards his shoulder but he easily danced out of the way and wacked his dull blade against her armored armpit before drawing it back and peppering her breastplate with three quick thrusts before she could force him to retreat with her own aura enhanced strike.

Lenna could hardly keep up with Isaac’s movements. His incredible speed combined with the shadows draped over his form made following his movements almost impossible. As it was, she was making more assumptions on what he was going to do than visible deductions. He was hardly more than a silhouette with a tarnished steel blade. He slipped through her guard like water through a sieve. Once she realized that there was nothing she could do without mana and aura she decided to start using them both. A Cone of Flames poured out towards Isaac but he was already gone before it could even singe his cloak. After another dozen strikes landed on the inside of her joints she dropped to a knee panting. She was on the back foot from the start and it had taken less than a minute to bruise the inside of every single major joint on her body. He stopped in front of her.

“You alright?” He asked at double the speed. It took Lenna a moment to understand what he had even asked. A moment too long for the Quickened Isaac who was kneeling and pouring death flames into her system. To Isaac it was a gentle and comfortable flow, to Lenna it felt like he was trying to bring her back from the dead.

“Yes, I’m fine.” Lenna replied. Isaac observed her for what felt like a blink to her before he rose to his feet and offered her a hand. Lenna shook her head. “You’ll pull my arm off.” She told him. A flash of confusion ran over his face before it was replaced by realization and then apologeticness.

“Sorry.” He said at almost normal speed. He was trying to slow down his speech to be at least easily understandable. Due to the fact that Isaac wasn’t actually moving any faster, his voice wasn’t any higher pitched. The sound moved at normal speed inside of him and continued to move at normal speed outside of the time-shrinking effect of the Quicken spell.

Lenna nodded and rose to her feet. “It’s fine. Let’s keep going so you can get used to it.”

“It’ll take him more than five minutes.” Fable said from the stands before he teleported half of the distance to the pair in a single step. Another step took him to the duo. “I can cast most of my boosting spells on someone else, if you would like.” He offered the pair.

Isaac shrugged and looked at Lenna. After a brief moment of consideration, the time was still ticking on Isaac’s Quicken spell, she nodded her head. “Yes, that would be appreciated.” Lenna told the hero.

Fable placed a hand on her shoulder. “Sanctioned Steady Strides.” He chanted and the sand around Lenna’s boots collected on them and solidified to grant them extra weight and traction. “Wind Blessed Steps.” He added another layer of boost. This time Lenna’s feet felt lighter as if the first boost hadn’t even been applied but she knew that they only felt light to her. Her boots still had the increased mass and inertia to all other sources. “Quicken.” He finished and stepped back. “Have fun.” He took another step away and appeared across the arena and then another to reappear where he had been.

The world slowed until Isaac’s breathing felt regular again from Lenna’s perspective and she gave Isaac a nod. “Ready.” She told him.

Isaac nodded in return. “Ready.” He replied and launched at her again. His movements were still hard to track but Lenna could at least keep up with him again. The two exchanged blows until Isaac abruptly slowed and staggered into a mostly graceful fall. He hit the ground in a roll and ended up with his legs still under him.

Lenna stopped and suddenly her own frame of reference returned to normal. She looked at the stands and saw a bit of sweat on Fable’s brow. He gave her a nod and she returned it. “Thank you.” She said loud enough that the acoustics of the arena were easily able to carry her words to the aged warrior. The corner of his mouth turned upwards slightly but he otherwise didn’t reply. Lenna turned back to Isaac who had just risen to his feet.

“That was jarring as all hells.” He swore.

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Lenna nodded. “You’ll have to keep that in mind.” She advised him.

“I wish I could keep a pocketwatch on me but I am almost certain that it won’t even survive the five minute spell duration.” Isaac complained. He nodded towards Fable and he and Lenna started walking towards the stands. “The flow of mana was really strange.” He explained his experience to Lenna, while they approached Fable, before the pair stopped just inside the arena at its closest point to the old hero.

“You adapted quickly.” Fable commented.

Isaac nodded. “It was easier than the first time I used my normal boost on myself. The sudden lack of normal gravity really tossed me around. The traction was awful at those speeds.” He replied.

Fable nodded. “That is why the increase in gravity was added. The original spell didn’t have that, according to the Guild Leader.” He explained.

“The Guild Leader?” Isaac questioned.

Fable nodded. “The monster in charge of the entire Coalition of Adventurers, Scouts, and Trackers, the Adventurers’ Guild as many know it by.” Fable grinned slightly. “Not someone you ever want to mess with if you can help it.” He warned Isaac. “Regardless, you need a few more spars like that before a real fight. I’d ask Magus Alexander for assistance, maybe the other wizards in town.”

“Alright, thanks for the help.” Isaac replied. “Any pointers?”

The rest of Isaac and Lenna’s time was spent training with the Lets of Quickness, both with Lenna boosted and without. They were only able to borrow Alexander a few times, Bartholomew wasn’t worth tracking down, and Keith was four bottles deep when they finally found him in a rundown bar on the south side of town. All they could quickly find out about Bartholomew was that he was still in the city but without actually calling for him from the rooftops or sending someone to scour the city for him he was basically dust in the wind. Only his party members seemed to know what he did with his free time and they weren’t anywhere to be found either.

Another day came and went and then another until it was suddenly after dinner on the fifteenth of the month. The night of the new moon. A mental message came in from Alexander and Lenna gave Isaac a look. He nodded and the pair slowly started moving towards Alexander’s tower. They were met just inside the door by Alexander. “Could you bring the drider down here awhile?” He asked Isaac.

Isaac nodded. “Shaeo, advance to this location.” He said at normal volume and pointed towards the open space in front of him. The sound of clanking bone on stone reverberated through the inside of the tower as her eight bone spike legs jabbed their way down the flights of steps.

Another knock sounded and the Flame Ravens entered with Fable and Edward. Another minute behind them was a trio of hooded figures who didn’t seem to care how badly their plain brown cloaks stood out in the richer side of town. They threw their hoods back revealing Izen, Tim, and Michael. Just behind them Celeste walked in.

Celeste wore a set of red robes with gleaming chainmail stitched inside of it. She carried a perfectly cylindrical staff that was as tall as she was. The staff was topped with a ruby in the shape of a four-pointed spearhead. The entire length of the staff there were gold filled enchantment engravings and filigree until the bottom where an iron cap sealed off the end of the oaken rod. Her ruby eyes gleamed with power and her graying hair was braided back into a simple but tight braid before it was looped into a bun to keep it out of the way. Her slightly pointed ears were out for all to see and her jaw was set. “I am here.” She told those gathered.

“As am I.” Another voice rang out from behind her as a figure in a black cloak, not unlike Isaac’s, walked in. A pair of emerald eyes peered out from under the hood and took in all of those present. “Good, we are all here.” She said and closed the door behind her before throwing off her hood. The woman’s black hair was cropped to her shoulders and her bangs were cut at her eyebrows to ensure unobstructed vision.

Edward smirked. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen that face,” He commented. “Marie.”

“Yes, now that we are all here,” Alexander began. “allow me to connect everyone telepathically.” There were a few nods so Alexander decided to begin. “Duke Arbencroft, Sir Michael, Celeste the Dawnbringer, Fable the Glinting Blade, Lady of Hellfire.” He held out a hand towards them with his fingers splayed. Each of them touched a finger and he panned his gaze across the rest of those present. “Duke Arbencroft, Shy, Marie of a Thousand Faces, Fina, Edward the Blade Master.” Izen took another finger on Alexander’s second outstretched hand as the others took their own. “I bind thine minds, for eight hours time, or until I bid unwind, from my mind’s lines.” He chanted and there was a ripple of magic. Five threads reached out from each of his palms down his finger and connected to each hand that touched them. The threads raced up each of the nine chosen individual’s arms until it reached their ears where it dove inside before pulsing once and then vanishing as if it had never existed. “It is done.” Alexander told them.

Izen nodded. “Thank you, Alexander.” He told his court mage. “Now, only use the telepathic connection if you really need it or if information needs to be relayed back to me.” He received a chorus of nods and verbal agreements. “Alexander, how far out are they?”

“They just entered the range of the detection array.” Alexander explained. “At their current pace, two and a half hours until they can see the city.”

“How long will it take them to organize before the attempt to assault the walls?” Isaac asked.

“A half an hour to an hour.” Izen replied.

“Twenty five minutes.” Lenna corrected him. “Your information is old.”

Izen nodded. “There you have it. That’s three hours to prepare.”

“Midnight is in four hours.” Michael spoke. “Why wouldn’t they wait until then?”

“Relying on Dri’El will wound Jallen’s pride but he is willing to do it or else he wouldn’t have picked tonight specifically.” Lenna explained.

“If he still hasn’t won after an hour he’ll be calling on his god then.” Michael surmised to which Lenna nodded.

“Then all we need to do is win before then.” Isaac commented with a grin.

“Or, more likely, kill his cleric before then.” Marie corrected him.

“So he does have a cleric with him?” Isaac asked for confirmation.

Edward nodded. “Yes. It was confirmed yesterday.”

Isaac grinned. “Well, I have my first target then.”