Wick cried out in alarm, his great slab of a shield slamming into existence in his arms as he leapt to interpose himself between Jyn’s fiery form and Valerie. “Stop this madness!”
The fire spread like a spilled drink. It rolled low across the ground as the two halves of Jyn’s burning body sank down. It was as if they were melting wax figures, flattening out until he’d turned into a deep red puddle with tongues of flame that flickered upwards seemingly at random. The air shimmered with the heat of the fire, but it gave off no smoke. Looking closer, Lucas could see tiny worm-like figures moving around in the flames, rapidly shifting in and out of glyphs.
Jyn wasn’t dead, Lucas realised. He didn’t know whether to feel relief or dread about that, considering all that had been said.
The sun was sinking below the horizon, burning the sky a deep red and throwing long shadows across the grassland to their East. To their west, not twenty paces away, the overgrown city loomed.
Lucas was behind Valerie, still desperately trying to make sense of this whole situation. From what he understood, Jyn wanted to steal his Gift. It was difficult to wrap his head around, and the knowledge settled in his gut like a hot stone. As much as he’d been wondering what he’d done to deserve such power thrust on him, it turned out he was a bit of a hypocrite; the idea of this power being taken away from him now was as horrifying as imagining someone scraping out his brain through his ears.
He was very, very confident it couldn’t be taken away from him with his life intact. It didn't feel like just something that had been grafted onto him upon his arrival, it was him, his very soul. Somehow, they’d woven it into his being.
His mana had been moving as slowly as possible in his pathways, and Lucas started pushing it to the opposite extreme, speeding the flow up until it was surging around his system, doing full circuits in seconds. Mana poured out of him, and he directed it towards the plants in his abruptly expanded range. Grasses and weeds lit up in his perception, but he left them primed for now, forming the shape of what he wanted but not enacting any changes. At the very edge of his perception, his mana tickled at the outer strands of the overgrowth spilling from the city.
Jamie howled in his chest, spitting at Lucas' enemies. It was like the monstercat was battering against its cage, wanting to get out and attack. Oddly, he seemed fixated on the fire.
“Stand aside, Ser Wick,” Valerie said with a voice as cold as ice. She held her sword at the ready; its blade had dimmed, but was quickly regaining luminance. Lucas dearly hoped she had more tricks up her sleeve, considering her beast-slaying attack had failed to put Jyn down for good.
“I cannot!” Wick shouted. His eyes were wild, flitting back and forth between the two hostile parties. “I am a shieldmaster, it is my duty to protect people. I will not stand idly by and watch humans come to harm, no matter what.”
The flames started to pulse, forming rapidly shifting peaks and valleys that seemed familiar. After a moment, Lucas placed it: it looked like a sound wave. The flames had already been roaring as if they were being fanned by a fey wind, and now, with the movement, the fluctuations in pitch and volume started to form a thin, crackling voice. “You may be a bulking brute, Wick,” said Jyn’s fire, “but you are no fool. You must surely realise she has no intention of letting any of us leave here alive.”
Wick shot a pleading look back at the fire. “Enough of this provocation, Ser Jyn! Matters do not have to escalate any further than they already have. I’m sure we can come to a peaceful solution.”
“You don't even believe that yourself,” said the fire, burning with contempt.
“I must believe it,” Wick said. His voice sounded far too small for such a large man. “I swore no comrade would ever come to harm in my company again, and I won’t gainsay myself. Not on that. Never on that.”
Lucas felt bad for him, then. But it was nice to know that at least one of these people were who they’d appeared to be, that he’d judged him correctly.
“That woman is not your comrade,” the fire said. It started rolling across the ground, spreading its range wider to their left, and Valerie shifted to keep herself between it and Lucas, forcing them both backwards. Her sword was shining like the full moon, now, pointing unerringly at a random spot in the fire. They’d called her a sensor, Lucas recalled. Was Jyn's 'real' body somewhere in the fire?
“I have been her shield and she has been my sword,” Wick growled.
“And have I not been your wand? Has Rena not been your bow?”
Wick twisted, his gaze landing on Rena at the same time as Lucas’ did. The Bowmaiden had stilled in place, off to the side of the confrontation. She had a black arrow nocked in her bow, pointed at the ground in front of her, and her eyes were on Lucas. Her face was pale, her arms trembling.
Lucas eyed her arrow, trying to remember which one it was, or if he’d even seen it before. He hadn’t taken her up on her offer to inspect her quiver, and now he cursed himself for it. Was it the arrow that she could teleport to, or the one that knocked things back with impossible force, or another entirely?
Out of all of them, she’d been the one he expected hostility from if his identity was uncovered. But if anything, she looked scared.
“Rena Luor,” Valerie said with a voice that promised violence. “If you aim that arrow at him, I will flay you and feed your skin to your dogs.”
… that would explain it.
Rena flinched violently and took a hasty step backwards, her bow coming up seemingly on reflex before she caught herself at the last moment and forced it back down. After a deep breath, she started moving with slow sideways steps, keeping her distance.
“Not helping,” Lucas breathed.
“Captain Vayon, please,” Wick begged, his eyes beseeching. Jyn’s fire was spreading out to the left, opposite to Rena on the right, forming a constantly shifting triangle with Valerie as its last point. Wick seemed caught in indecision about where to position himself between them, constantly turning on the spot, trying to keep watch on all three potential combatants. “Please,” he said again, speaking to them all.
“I will make this simple,” Valerie said. “This is the most important moment of any of our lives. Millions of souls are in the balance, under threat of fates worse than death, and their potential salvation stands behind me. I will go to unimaginable lengths to ensure he lives to reach that potential, but know that I will go to far, far greater lengths to ensure everything you’ve ever loved dies in agony if he doesn’t." And then she added on, as if an afterthought, "However, I have no quarrel with you if you stand down.”
It would be really rather nice if she'd stop saying things like that.
“She’s lying,” the flames said. “The moment news of Lucas Brown’s arrival spreads, mayhem will unfold. I know of multiple factions who’ll be out to secure him for their own interests, and I’m sure she knows more. She won’t let that information propagate.”
“I won’t,” Valerie agreed, sounding almost pleasant. “Hence why I’m making it clear what will happen if your lips are loose.”
“You don’t—” Rena began, only to freeze when Valerie’s gaze fell on her. A dark look appeared in her eyes, and she puffed out her chest, starting to move with more purpose as if forcing courage into her steps. “You don’t strike me as the type to take chances, Captain Vayon. Not just from the rumours about you: I thought that even before you told us who you are.”
“The fact I haven’t killed you already speaks to my willingness to negotiate, does it not?” Valerie said.
“Valerie,” Lucas murmured. She glanced at him over her shoulder, and he shook his head at her. She turned back around without any sign of having acknowledged the exchange.
“I find it difficult to trust a woman they call demontouched,” Jyn said, his fire glowing brighter as if to punctuate the last word.
Rena nodded in agreement. She seemed to firm her grip on her bow, though it was still pointed down. Her gaze was fixed on Lucas as she circled around them, forcing Wick to step in her path.
“I thought you, of all people, wouldn’t lend credence to superstitious nonsense,” Valerie said.
“Is it superstition? Based on what I see with my own eyes, Captain, I’m not sure. Threatening our families and friends, trying to intimidate us with threats of extreme violence, and that look in your eyes... Does that seem normal human behaviour to you, Ser Wick, Ser Rena?”
“You are posing a threat to the man she has travelled all the way here to find, and is considered vitally important by her Order,” Wick said, glaring. “You told me mere minutes ago that you know I’m no fool, and now you try such base manipulations? If you stand down, I’m certain no harm will come to you. Correct, Captain Vayon?”
“I’m not going to repeat myself,” Valerie said.
“They say you first fought on the frontlines when you were fourteen, Captain Vayon,” the fire crackled. “That must have been a harrowing experience, fighting demons at such a young age.”
“Your concern is touching,” Valerie said dryly. She lifted her sword, and the fire stopped in place where it had been trying to flank them again.
“I heard you killed a Dread General,” Rena said from her other side.
“It was hardly a feat of single combat,” Valerie replied. “But I did deal the final blow, so credit has fallen on me.”
“It’s still an impressive achievement,” Jyn said.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“One you should keep in mind as you consider your future actions,” Valerie said.
“Peace,” Wick pleaded.
“And what do you think of all this, Ser Rian?” The fire vibrated in place, making a sound that was almost laughter. “I thought it was strange that someone would give their child that name. It’s… uncommon to use the names of the Five. But no, you just gave the first that came to mind. That of your friend. Blissfully unaware of its significance. So many clues, in retrospect. So obvious.”
Lucas swallowed, trying to remember how to speak. His mouth was dry, his face bathed in sweat from the heat of Jyn’s fire. He couldn’t fathom how the others looked so unruffled by it. “I don’t want to fight any of you,” Lucas said.
“Tell that to your guard dog,” Rena said. Her bravado vanished the moment Valerie turned to regard her, and her shoulders hunched to her ears.
“I don’t understand what the two of you want here,” Lucas said, nearly pleading for answers.
“They want your power for themselves, whether that be by controlling you or stealing it from you,” Valerie said. “Whatever else they say to justify it to themselves, that’s the true reason they’re still here.”
“You talk as if you don’t want his power, Captain Vayon,” Jyn said, his fire brightening for a moment. The flames moved a little faster, covering extra ground, forcing Valerie to quickly reposition her sword and Lucas to stumble back to keep her between them. He could feel the heat of the flames against his face like he was staring into an open oven. His eyes were dry as sand.
“I want to save the people of our world,” Valerie growled, emotion peeking through her calm mien. “What do you want?”
“The very same,” Jyn said. His fires raised higher, twisted and undulating, and the silhouette was outlined in the blaze. “Do you truly believe the Summoning chose the best man for the job? That there is no one better out there to wield the prophesied power?”
“I believe in the First Order more than contemporary Wands who must work with far less information than their predecessors possessed.”
“You do recall the First Order’s summoning failed, don’t you? It’s been quite the topic of discussion, this past, oh, hundred years or so.”
Something seemed to settle, like the air had gone still. The former party stopped moving; they’d all noticed the same thing, and now they were waiting, anticipating.
Jyn’s flames hissed a sound approximating a groan. “Is there truly nothing that can convince you to step aside?”
“You already know there isn’t,” Valerie said.
“Please, all of you,” Wick said, voice tinged with despair. Helpless. “Don’t do this.”
“I’m sorry, Wick,” Jyn said. “When words fail, there is only one answer. And I do not believe there exists the words to solve this impasse.”
The shieldmaster straightened up, holding his head high and his shield before him. He turned on the spot, meeting each of their eyes one after another. Shimmering opalescent light started bleeding from his heart, and soon it covered his armour and shield.
“I am a Master of the Shield,” Wick said. “I wear a set of Radiant Plate forged by the artificers of Ancient Amyn. I hold a shield torn from a chunk of skyrock that fell from the heavens before my very eyes, like it was destined for me. I am sworn to be a guardian, a man who protects others from harm, and I have never once regretted giving that oath. I will do my duty today. If you wish to fight one another, you’ll have to go through me.”
“Then I apologise. You seem like a fine fellow,” Jyn said. The fire went still as if taking a breath, then started fluctuating rapidly, imitating rapid speech. “Ser Rena, think of Duskpoole. Remember how late the Order was in coming. That loathing you feel for them, that spite, that darkness that eats you from the inside out day after day, you could finally defeat it here. You can—”
Multiple things happened at once, almost too fast for Lucas to register them.
Valerie reached back and shoved him, hard. Her strength was immense, and he went flying onto his back. The breath left his lungs with the impact. He wheezed.
A screeching red arrow pierced through the empty air he’d just been occupying. He heard Wick roar with fury. Lucas’ heart tripped over a beat and went tumbling.
Jyn acted next. The mass of fire spun, forming a tornado of flame that reached up like a cobra rearing back to strike. It lashed down like a whip, fast as lightning, heading straight for Lucas.
A column of white light tore through the centre of the flames, parting it and dispersing it.
Valerie used the momentum of her upwards slash. She swung her sword over her head and then there was once again a flash of light tearing through the air. It took a beat for Lucas to realise she’d thrown her sword. It shot towards Rena, but suddenly Wick was somehow there, bellowing his defiance with his shoulder braced against his shield. There was a sound like a hammer striking an anvil, and Wick skidded back until he crashed into Rena, sending her flying.
But the Bowmaiden wasn’t out of the fight; righting herself in the air, she snatched another arrow from her quiver, nocking, drawing, aiming, and firing in one impossibly smooth motion. The arrow was already halfway to Lucas’ face before he even realised where she’d been aiming, but Wick was there again. Somehow, the giant of a man had overtaken the arrow’s flight and spun to put his shield in its path. Ribbons of red light rippled out from the impact, and Rena screamed a curse at him.
“No one dies today!” he roared back. “No one!”
With Wick distracted, the fire surged once more, this time attacking as a wide wave. Valerie dashed forward to meet it. She held her hand out to one side, and her sword rocketed through the air, hilt first. She caught it with ease and spun with the sword’s momentum, white light bleeding from her heart and into the blade. At the completion of her turn, the light in the sword speared out. It struck the ground with a resounding boom, scoring a deep groove in the fire’s path. The shockwave from the sheer force of the blow beat the fire back. Tonnes of dirt were flung high towards the sky. A cloud of dust rolled over Jyn's fire, turning the air hazy and red.
The opening exchange of the fight couldn’t have lasted more than a couple of seconds, but it was more than enough for Lucas to know he needed to get out of here. Easier thought than acted on.
Valerie was back at his side in an instant. She gripped him by the shirt and hauled him to his feet from where he'd been crouched, gaping. He felt like a ragdoll in her steel grip, and she shoved him behind her as she retreated. She slashed her sword to the side and batted an arrow out of the air. It shattered like glass, and there was another scream from Rena’s direction.
“I’ll have your head on a pike, Rena Luos!” she hissed. Her armour started glowing the same way her sword did, fed by moonlight streaming from her heart. But she didn’t attack.
Lucas felt like a spectator to this battle. Everything was happening so fast, it was hard to think, hard to even keep up with the flow of the fight as Valerie manhandled him around.
Jyn’s flames stalked around the edge of the battle, trying and failing to flank Valerie. Wick was always in his way whenever he tried an attack. The shieldmaster seemed to have a preternatural sense for when attacks were coming and an ability to put himself in their way in defiance of physics or sense.
There were burning constructs of countless animals stampeding through the flames, launching themselves out intermittently to test their luck against Wick’s shield. Fire broke against his invisible wall of force like waves on rocks, flames blooming outwards on impact. The pyromancer was roaring something at the shieldmaster through his flame speech, but Wick was resolute.
As Valerie shoved Lucas across the ground, simultaneously batting away Rena’s arrows, he came to the realisation that more and more of the plants covering the city walls were coming into his range. He dared a glance over his shoulder, and sure enough she was moving him towards the city.
“Valerie?” his voice came out horribly high pitched.
“Form a tunnel for us,” she growled without looking back.
Fires raged ahead of them, the inferno growing by the second and slowly cutting off any other escape route. Wick was still holding Jyn’s fires back from attacking them a few paces away. Similarly, Rena’s arrows couldn’t get past Valerie’s defences.
The battle fell into a somewhat predictable rhythm, giving Lucas a few short moments to think. They were in a stalemate, of sorts. Valerie couldn’t go on the offensive as she was protecting him, and even if she did so Wick would likely try to stop her. Meanwhile, Jyn and Rena couldn’t gain an advantage while Wick and Valerie’s defences were so strong.
A plan struck him like a bullet to the skull. His mana had been slipping into nearby plants since before the battle, and now he called on them to serve him.
Grasses and weeds doubled their height in an instant all around him. Step one done. Next, his mana slipped into all the networked plants in his range, slapping aside the demon’s will with ease. Calling on every drop of mana he had to spare, he dragged as many vines as he could along the ground, snaking them through the suddenly longer grass.
Right towards Jyn’s roiling sea of fire.
The moment came. Lucas tore his will out of the vines just as the fire reached them, letting the plant demon’s influence return.
The fire had been moving at speed, and it swallowed up huge masses of the vine in an instant. Immediately, mana surged through the network. A wave of foamy white sap washed over the flames affecting the plants, but the plant demon wasn’t done there. Its mana flooded into the wall of plants beside the battle, and little blue flecks started appearing in the sea of green. Then they burst. Below the roar of the flames, Lucas heard the sound of countless little pops. It was music to his ears.
Hundreds of streams of pale blue liquid sailed through the air like an artillery strike, and this time they didn’t miss their target. The fire was simply too big. Lucas figured Jyn couldn’t have been controlling every bit of such a huge, moving blaze at once like some living avatar of flame, and he was proven right. Parts of the fire recoiled away, but plenty fell under the Icebloom fluid. Sparkling blue mist billowed into the air with the satisfying hiss of quenched flames. If it had ended there, with some of the Jyn’s fire put out and the man forced into a brief retreat, Lucas would have felt triumphant.
But then the mist started infecting the fire. It was the strangest thing Lucas had ever seen, defying all he knew about physics—but, he supposed, this wasn’t physics at play. This was magic.
The mist seemed to multiply whenever it came into contact with flame, converting the heat of the flames to the cold of the cloud in the blink of an eye, and soon it was spreading through the fire faster than the fire could retreat. The fire surged away, retreating.
Through the mist and the blaze, Lucas could see an area of the fire that was building in intensity, gathering together and turning white from sheer heat. It packed together, coalescing into Jyn’s fire-man form. The burning mannequin raised its hands, forming a square between its thumbs and index fingers.
Lucas wasted no more time. Pivoting on his heel, he ran towards the city walls and the overgrowth he never would have imagined he could find salvation in. Throwing out his mana ahead of him, he forced the vines to part like a curtain and dived through. He landed on his stomach, winding himself, then turned back.
It seemed Valerie hadn’t wasted any time either.
Wick was distracted by placing himself in the way of Jyn’s upcoming attack; Valerie’s defensive fighting had lulled him into a false sense of security.
Moonlight shone on her sword, feeding from her glowing armour. It was radiant, brighter than Lucas had ever seen it, hard to even look at. But he couldn’t look away as she levelled the tip of the blade at Rena.
The world went white.
For a moment, all Lucas knew was Wick’s bellow of rage and pain. It was perhaps the worst sound he’d ever heard. When Lucas’ vision returned, there was a smoking white scar in the landscape where Rena had been.
Valerie didn't stand around inspecting her kill. Instead, she pivoted and dived into the tunnel, landing at Lucas’ side. Grabbing hold of him once more, she dragged him deeper into the overgrowth.
Lucas let the overgrowth close around them. Wick was still wailing with anguish when the plants cut them off from the world.