“Impossible.” Gespar snorted at his informant within Filam. “Your demihuman eyes have deceived you.”
The Crusibilis Knight and Raj the librarian sat in a secret meeting chamber beneath the Filam guard barracks. There was a simple wooden table between them, and four knights standing rigidly at each corner of the room.
“My eyes are sharper than yours, Sir Gespar.” Raj countered in her typical raspy near whisper. “Five hundred monsters and The Warlord himself were cut down not half a mile from where you now sit. If you seek a quarrel with the heroes that accomplished that feat, I wish you luck. Since the battle, a rumor has taken root that the man called Gray and his allies are champions sent by Ariel herself. The entire populace witnessed the battle through a powerful scrying spell in the sky. They watched those mighty four save them from a fate of certain death or worse. I leave you to decide what that means to oppose them.”
“Tricks and lies!” The Crusibilis Knight roared, slamming his mailed fist on the solid table. With a crack it broke in two. “From their false appraisals to their so called victory, all lies to be exposed!”
With startling agility, Raj saved her cup of tea in mid air. Without a single change to her expression, she took a sip and shrugged. “I wouldn’t fight him.”
That comment sobered Gespar. He settled back in his chair and seemed to think hard. He trusted this demihuman’s word, and as much as he hated to admit it he respected her power.
“You who’s magic is said to rival even the Red Knight’s?” He asked.
“I once had some respect for you, so for old times’ sake I’ll give you one last piece of advice. Do not let your pride fool you. He is death, and to fight him is to die.” She spelled it out clearly.
“I see.” Disgust contorted Gespar’s ugly hairless face. “The mighty Raj has become nothing but a spineless coward, easily fooled by simple tricks and illusions! We were right to cast your miserable kind out of the inner ring! Those four are criminal scum, frauds fit to be burned. And burn they shall!”
“Godspeed, Blue Knight.” A sardonic hint of a smile touched Raj’s face as she stood to leave.
“I haven’t released you.” Gespar growled. “It sounds like you would side with those enemies of the kingdom. Perhaps we should remind this rotten little termite mound what treason gets them!”
A glob of black slime was flying from Raj’s outstretched palm even before Gespar finished speaking. It struck one of the knights directly in his full helmeted face. In less than a second it animated and began forcing itself through the eye and mouth holes. The highly acidic summoned monster then began to slowly dissolve the face and skull underneath. There was no scream but the knight’s frantic jerking and muffled groaning advertised his agony.
The next closest knight stepped forward with a sweep of his two handed sword. Raj’s greatest physical asset, her wings, were a hindrance in this tight space and she failed to completely evade. The sword bit into her hip and she stumbled. The knight, believing victory at hand raised his sword again but was met with a crackling bolt of white lightning. It arced from the tip of his sword, and down into his body. Smoke poured from the gaps in his armor and he went completely stiff as every muscle in his body clenched violently.
Sensing danger, Raj tucked her wings and dove into a sidelong roll just as Gespar’s huge glowing claymore tore through the air where she had been standing. The swing sent a shearing arc of energy into the stone wall, leaving a gouge several inches deep. She stood up, facing the giant Gespar and his one remaining follower.
“You murdered two knights of the kingdom.” Gespar’s accusation was accompanied by a sickening smile. “That means we get to execute you the fun way.”
“Three.” Raj corrected grimly. A second later the knight next to Gespar dropped to the ground, writhing in agony. As he rolled to his belly, the reason became clear. The same black slime from before had slowly worked its way up the knight’s leg, and under his armor. There was no way to remove the armor and get to the slime before it finished its grizzly meal. “Soon to be four.”
Raj began to cast one of her most potent spells when something thumped into her back, right between her wings. She felt something strange just below her sternum, and couldn’t catch her breath. She touched there and felt something sharp poke her finger. She looked down to see a bloody arrowhead poking through just between and below her breasts. She was dimly aware that she was on one knee.
“In the back, with poison. Cowards.” She struggled out those last words before blackness overtook her.
“Get her healed. We have a show to put on...” Gespar’s voice reached her fast fading mind.
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“Gray what’s that sound?” Niiya tightened her grip on my hand as we approached the western gate.
There was some kind of distant commotion happening. People were crying out in horror and dismay, one voice was screaming above the din in obvious agony. I had an idea, one I had hoped to put off for a good while longer.
“Niiya.” I knelt down before her and locked my eyes onto hers. “You have seen the bad things in this world, the unfair and evil things that steal brothers from sisters and parents from daughters. If I could make you strong like me, you could protect yourself and stop those bad things from happening. Would you want that, even if it hurt for a moment?”
“Strong like you?” Niiya echoed, her eyes shining brightly with a mix of emotions.
“Strong enough to break boulders with your fists and throw the evil dogs that killed your family over the mountains.” I assured her with a grim smile.
“Make me strong Gray!” Niiya flattened her ears and held up her fists in determination. “I don't care if it hurts.”
“You won’t ever have to hide in fear again.” I promised her as I stood.
“Soul Brand.” I uttered the words and held my hand out toward her chest.
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Rename
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Evolution Sickness!? Is that what takes me down every time I evolve? Damn right I paid the Soul Energy to spare her that.
I stepped back as a thick cloud of black ash formed around Niiya. It adhered to her , making her a stark black silhouette. The silhouette glowed with menacing black power, and began to grow. I could sense power exploding within her, and could feel the invisible but absolutely real string of fate now connecting us. A growl came from the blackness, throaty and deep like a proper big cat. The sound sent a chill shooting up my spine. Those hard wired instincts that recognized the sound of an apex predator still fired regardless of my relative strength or safety it seemed.
The black ash dissipated and left me staring with open mouthed shock and awe.
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A crowd was gathered in the large plaza of Filam’s normally lively and happy market district. A shoddy platform had been hastily constructed from the wrecked stalls of a few demihuman merchants. Surrounding the platform, two hundred fully armored knights of the kingdom mounted on giant armored boars formed a ring two ranks deep. Their blank helmets and large pauldrons gave them an inhuman, golem like appearance. Around that ring at a safe distance from the knights and their vicious mounts, several hundred citizens of Filam stood with expressions ranging from shock to outrage and disgust.
On the center of the platform, Raj knelt in a growing pool of her own blood. Behind her stood the hulking blue knight and the cowering duchess Carmine. Where Raj’s majestic wings had been, there were only splintered and gory stubs of bone. Gespar had hacked them away not with his own unearthly sharp weapon but a crude hatchet used to split kindling.
“This filth has spat upon the crown by showing allegiance to treasonous criminals.” He called out over the agonized groans of the tengu at his feet. “The one calling himself Gray and any associates of his are hereby named outlaws of the highest order for threatening a royal citizen. They used lies and tricks to usurp the authority of your own duchess and you would call them heroes?” Gespar glared out at the assembled crowd.
“I reckon you went too far there, lad.” Hurstag, the guildmaster bravely stumped forward from the assembled crowd. “That girl is a peaceful librarian and a friend to many of us, including meself. There’s only one person I see here that ought be labeled filth and an outlaw, and I’m looking at him.”
A resounding cheer suddenly erupted from the crowd, and calls for the knights to leave soon followed.
“I was hoping it would come to that.” Gespar growled, not caring that he couldn’t be heard over the growing tumult.
Rocks, dirt clods, and even some produce from the stalls began soaring at the mounted knights.
“Have it your way, vermin!” Gespar roared. “Fifth Unit! Purge them all! Run them down!”He might have said more but was forced to leap back suddenly. A black streaking bolt from the sky impacted the ground just in front of the platform inside the ring of knights with enough force to send dirt and cobblestones flying in all directions.
“I went to all that trouble to save these guys, and now you think I’ll let a few pigs riding pigs fuck that up?” My voice shook. I could barely contain the outrage roaring up in me. I hadn’t been this pissed since the night I found Niiya. Speaking of her... “Niiya. Use your skills to protect the people from the men riding the pigs.” I used our brand new telepathy skill.
“Are they bad like the wolves?” Her voice in my head was still sweet and as cute as ever, much unlike what the poor bastard knights were about to encounter.
“They are worse Niiya. If left alone they will kill hundreds of innocent mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters. Be the one that stops it, let your new strength guide you.” My mental response left no room for debate.
“Gray.” She sounded surprised. “They don’t scare me. They’re big and scary, but I’m not scared!”
“It’s a great feeling, isn’t it?” All of this conversation happened in a mere blink, our link allowed us to exchange thoughts far faster than normal speech. I wonder if she gained some of my fighter’s mentality from Soul Brand or if she really was just that badass deep down. “They shouldn’t be able to do much to you, but if you happen to get hurt remember what I told you.” I couldn’t help but add as I stood from my crouch in the small crater my landing had caused.
“Your petty illusions won’t shake me, or my knights!” The big blue apparent leader on the platform called down to me.
As he finished speaking, the entire area fell into a muted, shadowy fog. It was way too creepy. It was almost identical to Silent Hill if you remember that diaper soaker of a game (I turned it off after ten minutes and never played it again by the way). This must be Niiya's Domain ability.
“I normally play the diplomacy card first.” I called up to the platform, then looked at the poor tengu now lying in her own blood, shivering in obvious shock. “But you really fucked up, Mr. Knockoff Megatron.”
He attacked me in that instant. It was pretty fast. To be honest the me from yesterday would be dead three times over. I didn’t move, the sword struck hard and I took a step back. He was fairly strong and I would have a bruise for a second, but...
“This is what stupid bluffs get you!” The man towered over me nearly as large as The Warlord had. He pulled back for a second swing, this one aimed to take my head off by the look of it.
In one motion I extended the claw of my left pinky finger and held it up to intercept the blade. It stopped dead with a shower of sparks. I did it! The epic ‘or so you thought bitch!’ move that every anime fan dreams about. I held that pose for a long second with satisfaction. His rising pulse sang like a sweet siren in my ears, and his posture shrank back as he yanked his weapon away.
“Just now realizing that all the crazy shit you heard about me was real?” I guessed out loud based on all the ‘illusion’ talk. “Having some regrets? Trying to find a way out?”
“My knights... My knights! Protect me, kill this man. What? What are you waiting...?” He leaped back and screamed and slowly trailed off as he looked around.
He couldn’t even see beyond a few feet. The area around us was lost in the gray ash. There was no sound of the tumultuous crowd, nor the battle cries of the knights or horrible squeals of pigs. There was nothing but him, Raj, the unconscious (guess she fainted) duchess, and me.
“Demon!” He shrieked. “You’ve pulled us to the hells!”
“Told... you so.” Raj gasped with a chuckle.
Gespar spun on her. His intent was painfully cliche and obvious - grab the girl I came to save and hold her hostage so I would let him escape. Sorry pal I’ve seen this shtick once or twice.
I blinked forward, and buried my claws into the back of his armor and the soft body inside. White energy crackled and seared into my hands. It would have been lethal to most, but my regeneration healed the damage literally a second later.
“Please excuse us, Raj. Hang in there and I’ll fix you up soon I promise.” I said to the librarian. She was hurt badly but I could tell she wasn’t near death. “Me and this tinker toy need to talk in private.”
With a thought, bat like wings formed of pure shadow appeared on my back. They spanned fifteen feet across and when they were active I could move in any three dimensional direction at insane speeds. The knight flailed and thrashed but my claws were stronger.
“This city will be buried! Mark my-!”
Whatever else he meant to say was lost in a rush of wind. We launched away from the ground like a rocket, climbing hundreds of feet in a few seconds. We burst out of Niiya’s creepy Domain into the early morning sky. From here I could clearly see the scope of the skill’s influence and it was staggering. It must extend a hundred meters in every direction from where she activated it.
I swallowed my queasiness from flying and put on my most intimidating face before hurling the still thrashing and cursing knight even higher above us. I blinked up and turned, coming face to helmet with him before sinking my claws once more through his armor and into his ribs. To his credit he didn’t cry out, he merely grimaced and straightened to stare at me.
“Known alot of pain in your time, have you?” I asked him.
“I am a prince, you demon spawned worm!” His answer made me suddenly bored. “Your death won’t be painless.”
“You are just a whole damn bucket of stereotypes. If this were a book I could guess at least half of your lines.” I rolled my eyes and decided to get down to business. “Go ahead and tell me why you can so casually order the execution of an entire city over some hearsay from that coward of a duchess.” I focused my Royalty skill in hopes that I could coerce some information out of him. Surprisingly, he relaxed in my claws almost instantly.
“That’s not a city.” He spat. “It’s a tub of meat to fatten up monsters to be harvested by the true saviors of this world. Demihuman scum, worshipers of Ariel the goddess who would abandon us in our darkest days, they are only fit to serve as fodder.” I yawned, interrupting his momentum.
“It’s just basic human supremacy bullshit?” I was honestly disappointed. “Here I thought I was gonna get some tragic backstory out of you, but I guess sometimes people really are shitbags for no good reason.”
“The tragic backstory is the thousands of kingdom citizens just trying to survive on the southern and eastern borders as dwarves tunnel and plant explosives beneath their homes. Beast folk prowl the night, slaughtering their livestock, poisoning the meat, and salting their fields. The demihuman atrocities know no limits and yet we tolerate them within our own borders!?” His tirade had developed a pretty good flow so I let it go for a second. “I will see every last one of them purged!”
“So you’re just an idiot. Okay I see it now.” I chuckled. “A cruel, self important little dork. Those ‘atrocities’ are sound military tactics employed by a small defending force in the face of overwhelming military incursion. So you’re forcing demihumans and poor people here into fringe communities and keeping adventurers away from them with economic and political leverage. Then when monsters happen to do your dirty work for you, you bring out an army to collect the XP.”
“Happen to?” He quoted me. “We make sure of it! The Warlord was a seed I planted myself! Too bad about that little slave that summoned him.” The knight sounded proud of himself. “Doesn’t that make you angry, don’t you want to kill me right away!?”
I snorted out a laugh. “That’s your angle? You gave up hope of escape and want to avoid torture?” I shook my head. “I’m going to take everything from you, and put your fate in the hands of a very talented woman. Your soldiers got the easy ticket out compared to you, and if you could see what they’re going through right now that would frighten the life out of you.”