Three of the four Black Goiter Mastiffs charged toward the source of the explosion at the edge of the clearing. They had caught the scent of Brombelt, and without hesitation they jumped into the still hot crater. The knight of the Order of Libertas advanced, and when the three beasts leaped upon him he triggered a new explosion, even more powerful than the first two. The three Ferenkelts were obliterated by the devastating force of the spell, their entrails and shreds of flesh falling in a slimy, pouring rain onto the scorched earth, along with rocks and burning logs.

As he watched from his position in midair, Viryl's balance was disrupted by the shockwave, and the branches of the trees around him were torn by the wind. Viryl turned to Melfis, Lyndabel, and the Kelleric woman. The latter was visibly terrified, but Lyndabel and Melfis were on the lookout, ready to greet the knight, whatever his intentions. Viryl descended next to his allies, and waited for Brombelt's arrival with them.

After a few moments, the knight in amber armor appeared at the edge of the clearing and walked among the remaining large beasts, who simply studied him with fierce eyes and bared fangs. The four Ferenkelts had sensed Brombelt's killing instinct and had seen proof of his power, so they preferred to remain on the defensive and wait for him to make the first move.

Lyndabel gripped the hilt of her dagger tightly, and pointing it forward, she questioned Brombelt, “Why have you come in our way?”

“You’re really asking me that, little virgin?” Brombelt snapped back, getting into a fighting stance, “I’m here to kill Jawbreaker and the balding one! And anyone who tries to get in my way will meet the same fate!”

“Come now, Brombelt,” Melfis tried to soothe him, though his proverbial arrogance only made matters worse, “Why are you getting so worked up?”

“You bastards! You ruined all my fun!” Brombelt let out a howl of rage, nearly startling the Ferenkelts surrounding him.

“What were you planning to do to have fun? Did you want to blow up even more acres of woods?” Viryl teased him.

"Shut up, southerner! You Ferlonians are just disgusting parasites! You sleep in our beds, eat our supplies, consume our resources! And what did you do next? You helped that imbecile sabotage our holy crusade! That's treason!"

Brombelt's claim made no sense. First, it was the League’s and Rokmar’s generals who had decided that the Ferlonian troops should be split and incorporated between the two sides. Second, the Ferlonians had brought their own supplies with them, and had contributed their own men from the very beginning. Many of the soldiers who died at Malgadra were Ferlonians. But it was clear that Brombelt was out of his mind, and that this was an attempt to provoke an aggressive response from those he wished to challenge. As he spat those words dripping with venom from behind his crimson mask, he summoned his two ethereal knuckle-duster crossbows, ready for action.

Melfis realized that a fight was about to become inevitable, and while the outcome of Brombelt losing his temper had been largely anticipated, he had not prevented engaging a duel to the death with him.

He tried one last time to reason with him, this time without even a hint of mockery in his voice, “Brombelt Hotcap, you have to understand that I was just teaching that asshole blacksmith a well deserved lesson. I’m sorry you and Bellum were involved, but we requested the repair of our Exoplion before you did. Now we have two choices: we can slaughter each other like idiots or we can work together and — ”

Without even giving Melfis time to finish, Brombelt shot a fire dart, materialized a new one on the tip of his weapon and disappeared. The shot was aimed at Melfis, who deflected it with a lightning fast upward swing of his club. Upon impact, the dart released a burst of flame that engulfed Melfis' weapon, and then shot into the sky, describing a fiery parabola. The high flame terrified the beasts that were watching the battle, and they retreated further and further towards the edge of the clearing.

Even though Brombelt had masked his heat signature with his “Advanced Mimicry” spell, and despite sprinting at inhuman speed thanks to his “Lightning Step” spell, Viryl managed to follow his footprints for a few moments in the underbrush of the clearing and realized that Brombelt was targeting him. So he jumped and, lightened by his levitation spell, performed a forward somersault, narrowly avoiding the lunge that Brombelt made with the long tip of the bolt loaded in his right crossbow, using it as a knuckle duster.

Viryl landed facing the direction he expected Brombelt to be, crossed his spears, and brought them forward in a shearing motion, to trap Brombelt's neck between them and decapitate him with the “Cleavage Pulse” spell. The lance points didn’t meet any obstacle and the attack missed.

Brombelt was already in a crouching position and, supporting his weight with his arms, he kicked upwards, so as to lift the tips of Viryl's spears and expose his guard. Bringing his leg back to the ground, Brombelt took aim at Viryl's chest and prepared to throw a piercing dart. The blow from below broke Viryl's stance, preventing him from aiming a new thrust at his feet.

Melfis, observing the movement of Viryl's spears, guessed Brombelt's position and with a lightning strike of his mace aimed under the shafts of Viryl's weapons, he struck his enemy on the right shoulder and sent him tumbling away, before he was able to pull the trigger of his crossbow.

Brombelt was thrown six yards away and his camouflage spell was broken, causing him to reappear prone and panting among tufts of wild fennel and rosemary.

Melfis pointed his mace at his opponent and ordered, “Stop it, Brombelt! You have no chance of defeating three knights alone!"

“Actually, I would like to avoid taking part in your childish squabbles if possible,” Lyndabel corrected him, looming over the Kelleric woman who was still lying terrified on the ground.

Viryl ignored Lyndabel's remark and seconded Melfis's words, “That's right! If you're pissed off because you don't have enough Fuligine Stone, then use it wisely! Take it out on your enemies, not your allies!"

Breathing heavily, Brombelt dropped to his knees and groaned, “Shut… up… Shut up!”

“Argh… I hate dramas and wasted time,” Melfis snorted, and ran forward with his mace raised and held with both hands, intent on ending the fight with a mighty final blow. When he brought his club down on Brombelt’s armor, Melfis felt as if he encountered no resistance, and his weapon stuck to his flaking body with the consistency of wet clay. Melfis realized it must be the spell “Viscous Substitution,” though he was unaware that Brombelt was able to cast it.

“Shit!” Melfis exclaimed and released his grip on his weapon, to instantly rematerialize it. Despite his speed, this time he was unable to shield himself from the piercing bolt that Brombelt fired straight at his heart. The bullet appeared on impact, lodged into the armor plate, and even if it went in deep, it did not cause any fatal damage. Melfis tore the arrowhead free, and a spray of blood sprayed from the wound. Melfis’s Exoplion immediately began the process of repairing and healing.

Neither Viryl nor Melfis could immediately discern Brombelt's new position, until it was revealed by a flurry of flaming bolts that ignited with bright sparks as they were launched.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

The attack was aimed at Viryl, who managed to waltz through the flame trails without being hit. Beyond him was Lyndabel, who could not step aside since she had to protect the civilian.

Lyndabel managed to block two arrows with her shield, which exploded in a flurry of flame in opposite directions, while four more struck the ground on either side of her, and from them rose tall columns of fire.

“Unforgivable — ” Lyndabel muttered in shock, then shouted louder, “What you have done is unforgivable, Brombelt Hotcap! Coward! With your reckless attack you could have struck a defenseless woman!”

While Lyndabel was howling at Brombelt, Viryl slipped through the enemy fire, moving toward its source, and blindly fired a paralyzing bullet. This time he got the enemy position correct, and the bullet pierced the chain mail at Brombelt's neck, fracturing his right clavicle and damaging his subclavian artery.

Brombelt reappeared on his feet, his arms outstretched and locked in the act of unleashing a new volley of darts, still as a pillar of salt, blood gushing from the wound in copious, rhythmic streams.

“Got it! Take him out, Melfis, he’s paralyzed!” Viryl announced triumphantly, watching his enemy fight against his refusing-to-cooperate musculature.

Melfis turned to Brombelt and began to stride toward him, hefting his spiked club, “Good work, pal. This time the miserable bastard won’t get away.”

Brombelt grunted and groaned as the wound at the base of his neck healed. Viryl broke his levitation spell and set his feet softly on the ground, anticipating the moment when Melfis would dispatch the vile foe with a mighty blow to his golden hood.

However, with Brombelt only a handful of yards away from his weapon, Melfis caught a glint in the eyes behind the crimson mask, and sensing what was about to happen, he ran for Viryl and Lyndabel. Lyndabel, more by experience than instinct, also caught on to Brombelt’s intentions, and she ran forward with her shield raised, casting “Negation” on it as quickly as she could.

A split second after the two riders crossed paths, an unprecedented explosion hit the clearing, incinerating the brush, knocking down the first line of trees surrounding it, and carving a crater about six feet deep. The Clouded Lynx and the Black Goitered Mastiff managed to escape into the forest, but the two Thornback Boars were caught squarely in the blast. The two massive specimens, each as large as four buffalo, were dismembered and charred to the bone.

Viryl was hit by the scorching wind of the explosion and knocked to the ground, but being behind Lyndabel he was not directly involved in the attack. The knight looked up at the sky, and for a moment he saw a vault of hellish flames and debris above him. The stench of smoke and burning flesh filled his nostrils, making it difficult to breathe.

After a few moments there was another explosion, just as loud as the first. In the midst of the chaos Viryl looked around and saw Melfis cowering on the ground face down, his big hands protecting the back of his head, and just behind him Lyndabel, who stood heroically holding up her shield against the searing wave. The Kelleric woman, further away from them, also seemed unharmed, though motionless. She had probably fainted.

Briefly there was night, and then light returned with another terrible blast, even louder than the first two. Once again Lyndabel was not caught unprepared, and answered the “Explosion” spell with “Negation”.

When it finally went quiet, Viryl heard Brombelt panting heavily. He looked up at him, and saw that he was no longer wearing his ethereal armor. He was just standing there, in the same position he remembered him, his pathetic face gaunt and his eyes bloodshot. He had probably used up every last drop of his Fuligine Stone.

Lyndabel faltered once her task was done, then fell to one knee, exhausted. Melfis rose to his feet, coughed, and walked toward the defeated foe, calling him, “You have been a fool, Brombelt.”

Brombelt barked in despair, still unable to move. Showing no mercy, Melfis punched him in the pit of the stomach, just below the Exoplion, and threw him a dozen yards away, beyond the crater, onto the fallen logs at the edge of the clearing. The blow was probably enough to kill what was now just an ordinary human, but the three knights never had a chance to know that for sure. In fact, the Lynx and the Hound, which had been lurking out the fight in the woods, immediately took advantage of the opportunity to jump out of their hiding place and tear him to pieces.

Melfis took advantage of the opportunity provided by the human bait and, after enchanting his spiked club with the “Freezing” spell, he ran forward and swung a blow at the ground. The soil beneath the Ferenkelts cracked and exploded into thousands of slabs of sharp, blue stone, over an area of disproportionate size. The monsters' legs and bellies were lashed by the attack, and their bodies were gripped by ice. Taken by surprise, they growled and roared in despair, as if to protest their fate, but their bodily tissues, devoured by frostbite, were now paralyzed and dead, destined for gangrene.

Viryl and Lyndabel watched Melfis in silence. It was the first time he had cast a spell of such wide reach.

Melfis released his spiked mace and ethereal armor, and turned to his two allies, watching them from the far edge of the still-smoking crater. Lulled by the terrible groans of the dying beasts, Melfis announced, “And with that, I used up my Fuligine Stone. I am sorry, but if there are any more beasts on our path, you will have to deal with them yourselves.”

*****

When the battle was over, Lyndabel stood up and looked back. She was greeted by a desolate sight. The enemy camp had been largely uprooted and flattened, along with the trees at the edge of the clearing. Some of the Suljukian warriors had been blown off their perches by the shockwaves of the explosions and tumbled from their positions, and they were still groaning and writhing on the ground. Others were still in the tall branches of the holm oaks, on the verge of suffocation from the secretions that the toxic gas from Melfis’s spell had forced into their airways. The flames from Brombelt’s flames still burned, but they were quickly dying down because of the lush green vegetation and the damp ground. It had rained often that spring.

After wandering far and wide across the battlefield, Lyndabel's gaze fell on the Kelleric woman. She was still breathing, so she hurried to her rescue. Seeing his ally pass by, Viryl struggled to his feet and followed her.

Once beside the woman, Lyndabel leaned over her and shook her shoulder to wake her up. After a few failed attempts, the woman flinched and tried in vain to pull away. Raising her arms as if to shield her face and clutching her legs, the woman muttered something barely intelligible. As expected, it was Kellerian language.

Still leaning over the woman, Lyndabel raised her head and sought Viryl’s gaze, who was watching the scene with his arms folded.

“Oh, don’t look at me. You’re the nerd here,” Viryl shrugged, sensing Lyndabel’s cry for help. They had both studied the Kellerian classic literary texts during their time at the academy, but those were written in an ancient, complex language that was very different from contemporary Kellerian.

Lyndabel took a deep breath and dissolved her ethereal armor, so that the woman could see her face and know she was no threat. Then, struggling to say a few stuttering words in Kelleric, she said to her, “ We are not enemies. Security. We kill… Infidels… followers of Ashalmek . We free Arvis. Your name, what is it? ”

Thirty-two years later, day two of Neviticus, 11:22 p.m., Meridania’s red-light district,

“You got a problem with my methods, you old fool?” Hammerless asked boldly, the steel nail fluttering in front of him in quick, nervous flicks.

Melfis tilted his head and the nail melted like wax. Drops of molten metal fell onto Hammerless’s ethereal armor boots as he loomed forward. The prostitute backed away, holding her breath, and then, taking advantage of the two knights’ distraction, slipped out of a back door behind her desk.

Undaunted, Melfis approached Hammerless with a puffed-out chest. “You can’t do whatever the fuck you want around all these civilians.”

“Mind your place, Jawbreaker. I’m the leader of this mission,” Hammerless growled.

“I don’t give a crap. We don’t need more shit to clean and mouths to shut just because you are a frustrated moron,” Melfis stood his ground.

“You think I’m afraid of you?!” Hammerless barked, and lunged at Melfis, generating two bubbles of compressed air in his palms, ready to explode them on his ally’s armor. Melfis ran toward him, and with a swift move grabbed his helmet and threw him into the waiting room, before he had time to execute his attack. The compressed air bubbles exploded as Hammerless hit the ground, and the shockwaves sent flyers, chairs, and flowerpots flying everywhere. The brothel patrons quickly moved out of the way, moving to the corners of the lobby to avoid being caught in the clash between the two knights.

Melfis ran forward before Hammerless could get up, grabbed him by the edge of his cuirass, lifted him up, and with a kick in the buttocks sent him through the brothel door, smashing it in its wake.

Looking out over the jamb of the broken door, Melfis said, “I’ll cool your temper, asshole.”