As Oz closed in on the girls, he glanced behind him. The fog closed in on them, the front of it pressing through the trees like cotton stuffing. A chill crept through the air ahead of the fog, threatening to grip him. Figured out that breathing technique just in time! Close, too close!

He caught up to Loup and Aisling enough to lift his head and shout, “How far do we have left to the town?”

“Not far!” Loup shouted back.

“Fog’s getting close!” Oz replied.

Aisling whirled. Mid spin, she loosed a fire blast toward the fog. Oz craned over his shoulder to watch. The fire ball struck the fog. With a poomf, the fog swallowed it up. Nothing remained but a wisp of smoke, which quickly vanished as well as the fog overtook it.

Landing, Aisling hit her stride once more. “We can’t destroy it. We have to make it to the town.”

“Have you ever heard of something like this?” Oz asked. There’s nothing like this described on the first level of the library. Then again, a region-spanning, world-altering spell like this… there’s no way it’s a first-level spell. Probably not second or third level, either.

“Heard of, yes. Seen, or know any details about? No,” Aisling replied.

Oz snorted. “Fair.”

She glanced over her shoulder. “This kind of spell… if it isn’t a formation, it would require an incredibly skilled fourth-realm mage, at the least. More likely a fifth-realm mage or better is behind it. To put it in perspective, Master would struggle to cast a spell like this without aggravating injury.”

“Plus, he isn’t suited for it, with fire-elemental qi,” Oz pointed out.

Aisling inclined her head. “True.”

Loup glared at them. “Less talk, more run.”

Saluting, Oz hurried after her, quickly shutting his mouth. Aisling nodded and fell in, once more pulling close behind Loup. For a while, the only sound was the crunch of leaves and snap of branches as they ran. Behind them, the fog ate up even the sound, muffling their steps oddly quickly behind them.

Oz… hold on. Did you see that? Fflyn asked.

Hold on? No way!

Not what I mean. Ah! Behind you. There it is again! That flicker.

Oz cast his eyes in the direction Fflyn indicated. A leaf fluttered on the wind. …The leaf?

No. Ugh, you’re so slow! Right there. Right—there!

A glimpse. A splotch of shadow, the creak of a branch.

Oz’s eyes flew wide. I see it.

Someone’s following us. Someone from the Black Blades.

Oz kept running, as though he’d seen nothing. They haven’t attacked us yet, so they might not be a foe. Given how easy it would be to ‘accidentally’ kill us with the fog right behind us, I’m really leaning that they’re at worst neutral, and maybe even friendly.

But Fflyn, you make the call. You know the Black Blades better than me. What should I do?

Fflyn put a hand to his chin, thinking. He shook his head. Pretend you’ve seen nothing. For now, let’s play it cool. See what they do.

Oz grinned. My thoughts exactly. Fflyn! Am I wearing off on you?

Fflyn just sighed.

From out of the shadows, wolves appeared, panting as they ran all-out alongside them. Oz startled, calling a dagger to his hand, but the wolves ignored him and Aisling.

“Don’t hurt my pack,” Loup snapped at him.

“Look, I was just a little surprised,” Oz complained, slipping the dagger back away.

Loup narrowed her eyes, but turned away rather than say anything. “We’re almost there. Just over the ridge!”

The fog drew closer. Cold tendrils clutched at Oz’s shoulders and ankles, attempting to draw him back into the misty air. The chill shot straight down his spine. Even the slight brush of the passing fog drew qi from him, leaching it directly through his body and out into the air. Gritting his teeth, he sped up, pushing himself to the limits of what his body could handle. Even as he circulated more qi, the fog greedily sucked qi from his body, taking more from him the more he circulated. Oz set his eyes ahead of him and powered on with all his might, pushing one last burst of qi into his veins. Break through! One last bound!

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

He pulled a few feet ahead of the fog, breaking through its misty grasp. The tendrils receded back into the wall reluctantly, unwilling to lose their prey. A soft sound came from the fog wall, almost a hungry sigh, almost nothing but the wind. Oz shivered and pushed himself to put another few feet between himself and the wall. No, no, no, no thank you!

The wolves galloped alongside them, as desperate to escape the fog as the three of them. One of them stumbled and went down with a squeal. Loup whipped around, but too late. The fog overcame the wolf. It tried to jump to its feet, but even as it did, all the strength and power left its body. In a matter of seconds, it withered into a dry, desiccated corpse and fell to the ground, this time, never to rise again.

Loup bit her lip, anger and frustration flashing in her eyes. She turned away, running even faster. With a final leap, she cleared the ridge ahead of them and vanished on the other side. A moment later, Aisling followed her, and then Oz came to the ridge. He froze, staring down a sheer cliff.

Holy shit. Can we survive this jump? Is the light body technique enough?

We won’t survive if we don’t jump! Fflyn shouted back.

The wolves jumped past him, flinging themselves over the cliff.

Taking a quick breath, Oz followed them and the girls, leaping out into the void. Below him, the ground fell away. Far, far below, a field of sharp and jagged rocks awaited him.

Oh fuck, oh fuck. We’re going to die. We’re going to die! Fflyn despaired.

Quiet up there. I need to think!

In midair, Oz swapped his qi back into its general state and swept the field below him, using all his qi to sense the placement of the rocks, the sturdiness, the solidity. Right there! The rocks are solid, and they won’t shift. I can safely land without twisting an ankle or cutting myself.

The second he identified a landing spot, Oz shifted his qi back into martial mode, reinforcing his legs with all his strength while simultaneously activating the light body technique. He landed with a thump, letting his knees, hips, and ankles absorb as much of the blow as they could, then sprinted on, chasing after the girls once more.

Fflyn let out a sigh of relief. I knew you could do it.

Oh, sure you did, Oz replied, snorting to himself.

Leading the way, Loup sprinted the last few hundred yards of forest and burst out into an open field. She beelined for a run-down barn, leaping over a wooden fence with practiced ease and dodging through the field. She lifted the door and vanished inside, letting it fall behind her. Aisling darted inside a moment later, the faster wolves close behind.

The fog poured down the ravine, catching up to Oz with shocking quickness. Oz sprinted on. Once more, tendrils curled around him, seeking his qi. Qi drained out of him, Oz helpless to stop it. Ahead of him, wolf after wolf vanished into the barn. He gritted his teeth. A little further. Just a little further!

A shadow bounded up to the upper floor of the barn and slipped through the window. At that, Oz grinned. Aha. Caught you. It was a bit of a risk, but you couldn’t hang behind me, could you? Not when I fell back this far.

You did this on purpose? Fflyn asked, half terrified, half horrified, half angry.

It was a calculated risk. Don’t worry, I’m good at math.

Take calculated risks with your own body, dammit!

The barn loomed even as his body weakened. Desperate, Oz dropped into a slide, letting momentum carry him to the door. Seconds before he crashed into the old wood, Aisling lifted it, slamming it back down the moment he slid inside.

At the door, the fog stopped. It swirled around the barn, encompassing it, but didn’t permeate its walls. That soft keening cry, or perhaps, the sound of the wind through the trees, came again, but this time it sounded confused, almost lost. The fog crept on, searching for its prey.

Panting, Oz fell onto his back, sprawled out on the floor. “Can we never do that again?”

Aisling chuckled, sitting primly beside him. “I agree.”

“The fog only usually comes once a month. This time, it was early,” Loup commented. She bounded up to the hayloft to peer out a small window up high. From where he lay, all Oz could make out past the window was white fog, choking even the sky.

“I wonder if it was sent to seek us out?” Oz murmured, looking at Aisling.

She shrugged. “It’s possible. But if they knew we were here, why not pinpoint us and kill us directly?”

Oz thought for a moment, lying on the ground, then sat up and nodded. “That’s a good point. They probably don’t. I’m willing to bet that they only know that we disturbed their barrier and killed their zombies. We probably triggered some kind of automatic defense system that pops up on one of those conditions. Or both.”

Aisling nodded. “That’s true. A defensive spell formation would make a lot of sense, here.”

“Right. It’s basically the ideal conditions for one, after all. A large plot of land that isn’t actively contested, enough space to tie the spell into some foundational item, maybe even a ley line, and not a whole lot of scrutiny from the other mages,” Oz murmured, after consulting the books in his head. Unfortunately, I can’t go beyond basic defensive formation theory within the books that exist on the first floor, but it’s still better than nothing.

Loup narrowed her eyes at them. Her lip twitched, revealing lupine fangs. “It’s your fault?”

Oz cast his eyes at her and shrugged. “Yours too. You’re the one who dug up the formation.”

“I didn’t know what I was doing!” Loup snarled, jumping to her feet.

“We didn’t either,” Oz pointed out.

Loup growled, but settled back down. Petulantly, she thumped to her butt. The wolves crept close to her, lifting their nuzzles to sniff her face.

Aisling looked at him.

Oz gazed back. “What?”

“You’re changing.”

He frowned. Leaning in, he whispered, “Am I supposed to take credit for the death of her wolves and let her kill us? I’m trying to be a good person, but I’m not going to die for my beliefs.”

“A pragmatist,” Aisling commented.

“I try to be,” Oz said. “It’s just that there’s a big gap between…” He paused, looking down.

“Between?”

He laughed to himself and shook his head. “Between my reality, and reality.”

Aisling eyed him. She nodded and touched Oz’s chin, lifting his head to look into his eyes. “Strange.”

“What?”

“No… it’s nothing.” Aisling lowered her hand and looked away.

Oz stared at her for another moment, then sighed. He pushed himself to his feet, slapping the straw off his cloak. Well, if that’s that, then let’s go.

Go where?

Go chat with your friend, Fflyn! Oz leaped up into the hayloft, ignoring Fflyn’s incoherent screaming.