“Everyone okay?” Kai called out as he cleaned off his spear. A few Cyth had tried to go around the sides of their impromptu defensive point, but they’d fared equally as poorly as those at the front.
“I’m fine,” Cullan said, wiping off some of the black blood that was dripping from him. “A few scratches, but nothing much. My new friend here definitely helped as well.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Verdan said, hurrying over to check the construct for damage. A few sections of the stone were cracked, but by and large, it had come through unscathed.
Verdan’s eyes lingered on a Sigil that sat amid one of these cracks, but the Sigil itself was intact. A coincidence, perhaps, but something to watch for.
With the fighting over, Verdan took a moment to assess the Aether drain of the construct while the others gathered to push on. The Sigils he’d added provided only a small amount of Aether. The poor quality of material would allow nothing else. Still, there were enough of them across its body to cover a small amount of its upkeep. Quantity over quality, but that just meant there was more potential for a higher quality construct in the future.
“Any issues?” Kai asked softly, drawing Verdan from his thoughts and back to the matter at hand. “We’re going to push forward as Ruthin said that was most of the Cyth he saw.”
“Understood, and no issues, actually. In fact, it went surprisingly well,” Verdan said, stepping back from the construct and ordering it to the front of the group as they began to retrace Ruthin’s path. “It isn’t as strong as some of my past attempts, but my growing familiarity with the spell seems to be bringing out more autonomy.”
In truth, while the construct physically resembled Cullan, it acted like one of the Imperial guards that Verdan had worked with. Exactly how those two things would blend together would be interesting to watch.
“I see. Well, let’s put it to good use, then,” Kai said, rolling his shoulder absently as they turned the corner.
Kai’s work with Vaijon was promising, and they had made progress as Kai reported things. That was still a long way from Kai’s arm being fully healed, however, and Verdan could see that weighing on his friend.
Thankfully, Verdan doubted anything weaker than a Cyth Scerrd had the strength to influence it, which meant they should be fine.
“Which way from here?” Cullan called back to the Witches right as a trio of Cyth came rushing out of a side alley.
Verdan’s construct reacted immediately, its stone spear catching one of the Cyth in the chest even as the other two fell with daggers in their hearts.
“I’m glad he’s on our side,” Kai muttered as Ruthin went to retrieve his blades.
Verdan nodded emphatically. He’d seen little more than a flicker of movement from the wind Sorcerer, and both of those blades had hit precisely where they were meant to.
“Straight ahead and then we turn right. There’s more Cyth there, but we’re drawing close to one of the pockets of fighting that I can see,” Macha said, glancing around anxiously. “There should have been a few dozen more Cyth and another Bayne as well.”
“We’ll watch for them as we move,” Kai said firmly, giving Cullan a nod. “Let’s pick up the pace.”
-**-
Verdan heard the sound of battle from nearby as they crushed the latest band of Cyth that they’d happened across. This was the third since the initial fight, and each one had been larger than the last.
Wherever the bulk of the Cyth were, they were drawing close.
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Verdan’s construct was still holding up well, and its presence had let him assist with only a minimum of additional spellcasting. If it survived the next fight or two, he wouldn’t be surprised if it had actually saved him Aether overall.
A cry of pain echoed through the abandoned streets of the city, followed by the eager cries of the Cyth. Whatever was happening wasn’t going well for the defenders.
Ordering his construct forward, Verdan hurried along in its wake, leaving the remaining Cyth to his allies. There were still a few left, but it sounded like the situation was urgent.
The sounds were coming from a large and partially burnt out building that looked like it had already seen a fair amount of fighting.
Verdan’s construct strode in through the broken doorway at the front of the building, breaking some charred wood away in the process.
A handful of dead Cyth lay inside the building, along with a pair of humans wearing battered armour who were past the point of saving.
The building shook as something exploded above them and Verdan cursed as he rushed for the stairs, his construct leading the way and taking two steps up before its foot went through the damaged wood.
Grimacing, Verdan left it behind as he hurried onward, alarmed by the smoke that was starting to creep down into the stairwell.
A screeching sound came from somewhere above him and Verdan rushed up the last few steps to find a burning Cyth racing his way.
“Gwth!” Verdan sent the Cyth through the wall with a blast of force that crushed its chest and stopped its pained shrieking.
A wave of heat washed over Verdan as flames immolated a section of the corridor he’d entered, burning a second Cyth to death.
“Ast,” Verdan snapped, conjuring a shield as he hurried forward.
The corridor was lined with broken doors and small pieces of flaming debris, but Verdan’s focus stayed on the room at the end where the flames had come from.
He was moments from reaching it when a Cyth stumbled clear, bleeding badly from a deep cut to its chest. A tight thrust of Aether took it in the side of the head a moment later, and it fell limply to the ground right as Verdan reached the doorway.
An injured guard with a bloody sword braced when he saw movement but quickly relaxed as he realised that Verdan wasn’t another Cyth.
The interior of the room was chaotic and broken, with another two dead Cyth, as well as a pair of dead guards and an injured Sorcerer in red robes.
“Step aside,” Verdan said firmly, moving the guard to one side so he could approach the Sorcerer.
The injured man looked up at Verdan with a pained expression, one hand half-raised while the other pressed against a deep wound in his side.
“Let me help,” Verdan said softly, taking a knee in a position where he could see both of them. He doubted they would attack him, but neither looked to be in good shape and people made poor decisions when in these situations.
The Sorcerer hesitated for a moment, his eyes flicking to Verdan’s staff, before his hand dropped down and he gave a weak nod.
“Iacha.” Verdan reached out to briefly touch the Sorcerer’s shoulder as he sent a pulse of healing Aether into him. He would examine him further once the situation was stable, but that spell would at least keep him alive.
Getting to his feet, Verdan did the same for the injured guard before moving back to the doorway as he heard movement in the corridor.
“Verdan?” Ruthin called out as he moved down the corridor with daggers in hand, being careful to skirt past the parts that were still burning.
“Over here,” Verdan said, stepping fully into view before gesturing at the flames. “Wyr.”
Steam billowed out from the fire as Verdan drenched the area with water. The air was still smoky, though, so Verdan wanted to get the two survivors outside quickly.
“The others have secured the street, but there’s a Cyth Bayne nearby,” Ruthin said quietly as he moved over to join him. “It hasn’t attacked yet, but has driven Macha’s crows back. Kai thinks it is waiting for more Cyth to arrive.”
Verdan nodded and turned to the injured guard, who he just now realised was wearing the colours of the Defiant Flame Sect, albeit with a liberal application of soot and dirt. Not a guard after all, then, but a Sect retainer.
“Is there anyone else nearby we need to look for?”
“No, Lord Sorcerer.” The retainer was pale-faced and looked overwhelmed by everything that had happened. “We were sent out to try and scout for other survivors, but one of the roving packs caught our trail. More will come soon, though.”
“Understood. Can you carry him?” Verdan asked, gesturing to the Sorcerer, who had passed out since Verdan healed him.
The retainer nodded mechanically before hesitating and looking at Verdan and Ruthin for permission.
“Let me rephrase that,” Verdan said, meeting the man’s gaze and speaking firmly. “Pick him up and follow us.”
“Yes, Lord Sorcerer,” the retainer said, bracing to attention and doing just that.
Verdan instinctively wanted to correct him, to deny that he was a Sorcerer, but now wasn’t the time. Clear command was needed right now.
Thunder rolled outside and Verdan shared a worried look with Ruthin before hurrying to the stairs. That had been close, too close.