Chapter 47 - Bigger Fish

She ran faster than she ever had before, pushing her body to the limit to get to the Town gate where she prayed to the sleeping Gods Lyvan had gathered the Town’s fighters.

From what she had seen of Gael and with what Mason had told her, it would take every Hunter and every guard to have even the slightest chance of defeating the crazed ‘Other’.

They had one secret weapon that might hold Gael off for long enough, but even that, she wasn’t sure about.

They needed Mason, If anyone was going to pull something out of their ass last minute, It was him, but he wasn’t here. He would come. She was sure of it.

Arriving at the Town gate, she was less than impressed. A quick count showed there were 15 Guards, including Lyvan and 42 Hunters, she recognised a few, but most weren’t note worth enough for her to remember what they could do. Apart from Malika, who she spotted standing in the back of the crowd scowling at her, most of the hunters there were low-ranking Hunters.

She rushed over to Lyvan, demanding, “Is this it? Where are all the higher-ranking Hunters?”

“This is everyone I could get at short notice. Listen, I know that woman blasted through the gate, but do we really need this many fighters? She was just one person….”

Mayry sighed and turned to face the crowd with a shout. She started, “Listen up.” The crowd went quiet, “The aim here today is to hold out as long as we can,” She shot a glance at Lyvan, “It may look like this is just one person, but she is far more. She is one of the ‘Others’ from legend. I have it on good authority that she has many powerful abilities, some of which can kill instantly. The only thing we have going for us is she, too, wants to be entertained. She is waiting for someone I believe may be able to defeat her, but until he gets here, we must keep her busy an-“

Malika swaggered forward, cutting her off mid-speech. The Elf stood directly in front of her and struck a pose, hands on hips. “If this person you are waiting for is Mason, don’t bother. I am certain I can handle anything he can. Give me 30 seconds with this,” he rolled his eyes and spat out the word, “Other, and you’ll see why I am the number one ranked Hunter.” He started walking off.

Half the crowd of fighters cheered while the other half looked at Mayry sympathetically.

She put a hand to her forehead, “Malika… Where are you going?”

He laughed, “To kill the intruder, of course!”

“Well, if you insist on dying, then maybe you should wait for me to tell you where she is?”

“Of course, my dear, lead the way.”

Gritting her teeth and holding in annoyance, she led the way over to where Gael waited.

When the woman saw them approach, she looked downwards and held her hands behind her back. She looked… guilty?

Mayry got closer and saw bodies on the floor behind her that hadn’t been there when she left.

Seeing what Mayry was looking at, Gael said defensively, “They started it!” she looked at the group behind Mayry, and her demeanour completely changed. Her eyebrows raised, and she adopted a sceptical look. “This cannot be everyone you’re bringing, right? Surely others must be on their way?”

“Enough of this,” called Malika. He sauntered over like he had no cares in the world. He swished his hands, lighting them with green fire. “Mason might be on his way, but you won’t live long enough to see the swine.”

Gael paused, looking Malika up and down as if judging whether or not to buy a piece of meat.

“Okay, I’ll bite. Who are you?”

Malika placed one hand on his hip and used the other to point at Gael. “I am Malika! Number 1, Hunter! And the man who will kill you this day!”

Mayry just watched the scene unfold, not willing to step in to try and save the showboating prick. Honestly, she was almost rooting for Gael on this one. Malika was full of himself to the point that she was surprised he spent enough time away from the mirror to fill any contracts, but there was always the chance that he would get a lucky hit in and slightly weaken Gael for the rest of them.

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Gael seemed to be enjoying his pointless showboating. She nodded along as he spoke, smiling softly. When he finally finished a detailed retelling of the last three contracts he had completed, she perked up. “Oh, you’re done? Great!” She lifted her hand towards Malika, causing the Elf to shoot in her direction. He struggled in vain to stay on his feet. He fell to the floor and was dragged by an unseen force to the open hand. He shot a stream of green fire at the ‘Other’, but they bounced off uselessly, having no effect. Once the Elf’s head landed in the woman’s hand, she closed it into a fist crushing his skull, killing him instantly.

The effect on the other fighters varied. Some recoiled in shock, while others went as far as throwing up. Most at least took a step back, reconsidering the choice of volunteering to be there.

Gael inspected her blood-covered hand. She shrugged and stuck out her tongue to taste it. She raised her eyebrows, “Huh, not bad. Anyone else want to play?”

Mayry looked around. It had gone dead silent. Malika hadn’t so much as touched her, and she had killed him without the smallest effort. What chances did any of them have?

She was considering stepping forward herself. The crazed woman’s death by finger attack had failed to work on her, maybe others would too? Her Family Magic was strong, but she knew Gael was on a whole other level. All they needed was to buy time, Mason was coming. He had to be.

Just as she was about to attack the woman, Lyvan shouted, “Form up! She can’t kill all of us!”

Lyvan marched forward. The remaining Hunters and guardsmen moved to surround her.

“I can’t kill you all? Why ever would you tell your men such an awful lie?” She smiled at Lyvan as he got close enough to her to attack.

Gael pouted, spinning to observe the mass of people moving from a circle around her. “Well, this seems a bit unfair.” She knelt and touched the ground. For the briefest of moments, Mayry thought the woman was surrendering. Suddenly she felt a pulse of Magic leave the woman’s hand, travel through the ground, split into many smaller pulses. They all resurfaced at once, slamming every single one of her attackers.

80 per cent of those who were hit instantly went stock still, all falling to the ground completely unmoving. It was unclear if they were dead or merely knocked out. Only the strongest seemed to have been unaffected. Among them were Lyvan, Mayry, and ten Hunters.

Gael reexamined the remaining people around her. “Now that seems better, don’t you think? Now where were we? Oh yeah, you were all about to be slaughtered. Like the cattle you are.”

With a roar full of anguish at the loss of so many of his men, Lyvan threw himself at Gael, sword in hand. After the initial clash, where Gael blocked Lyvan’s two-handed sword strike with a dagger, she produced from nowhere, the two were instantly a blur to almost all onlookers, moving so fast that none of the other Hunters or guardsmen knew what to do to help.

With her ability to sense Magic, Mayry had a vague idea of what was happening. Usually, she felt a Chaos user as a flicker of a candle. Gael was a blazing inferno. While it was terrifying to feel, it did make it slightly easier to keep track of the fight.

Lyvan was one of the greatest fighters on the continent, but his fighting skills were, unfortunately, just that, fighting skills. The Gnoll didn’t possess any additional abilities that would help him against someone who fought using more than just physical attacks, and for all, Mayry knew, the crazed ‘Other’ could have picked up any number of new abilities while she’d been gone.

From what Mayry could make out, Lyvan was winning. Gael was pulling out all the stops. She moved faster and faster as the fight progressed, but Lyvan’s ability allowed him to stay just ahead of the woman. For the moment, Gael seemed to be enjoying the fight, limiting herself to physical attacks. However, Mayry suspected that as soon she grew bored or frustrated at being unable to win, she would resort to less honourable ways of fighting.

Things suddenly slowed down. Gael appeared to have been knocked to the ground, Lyvan was standing over her with the point of his sword pressing against her throat. Lyvan gestured to the men on the floor, “Are they dead?” he demanded.

Gael grinned up and him and shrugged, “I’m not entirely sure. It depends on how weak they are… or, were.”

Lyvan scowled, pulled his sword back and swung it at Gaels’ neck, intending to decapitate the horrid creature he had bested. As the blade came closer, an orange barrier appeared an inch above Gael’s skin, deflecting the sword with a loud clang.

Lyvan swung again, this time putting all of his considerable strength behind the strike. The barrier flickered but held as the sword made contact. The blade shattered upon impact, sending fragments flying in all directions.

Lyvan stumbled back, his eyes widening in shock. He had never seen a barrier so strong before.

Gael, on the other hand, looked pleased with herself, a smug grin spreading across her face.

“Looks like my barrier held up pretty well, didn’t it? It’s pretty new, and I wanted to try it out, but most people don’t actually make it this far. ” Gael said, still grinning. “so good for you! But I can a sense bigger fish will be arriving soon, so… you know….”

Lyvan narrowed his eyes, realising what Gael was implying. He raised his broken sword, ready to defend himself, but before he could make a move, Gael had already launched into action.

She conjured a powerful blast of energy that sent Lyvan flying backwards. He crashed into a nearby tree with a sickening thud, his body crumpling to the ground.

Gael approached Lyvan’s motionless body, placed an open hand on his chest, pushed it all the way through and withdrew it, holding a heart.

She looked up, cocked her head to the side and asked, “Did you enjoy the show?”