Chapter 22 No One is Ever Safe.
No one is ever safe.
Cover yourself in three layers of armor.
Hire the best bodyguards.
Conjure the best defensive magic.
But if death is coming, you’ll die to a heart attack.
Tonisha, the Lady of Ventures.
{27} Lokamesh (May) the 16th
We’re on our way to the mission site. The task is clearing a group of bandits who have taken over a village.
I let myself grieve quietly, bringing up in my head the few memories I had with the weird old man while trying not to focus too much on the group's chatter. Unfortunately, Nalfit's loud voice is too distracting for me.
“So you can't remove the helmet? Why?” Nalfit rains her questions on the poor Kolag. “I really really wanna see your face! I bet you're handsome with that body. How do you bathe? How do you take a dump? Why aren't you smelly if you take a dump in your armor… aw awkward! Forget I asked anything!”
“Gladly…” Kolag grunts in torment.
Oshi kisses the dumbfounded Lezere and nods to herself. “Hmm! Orc blood! Black fang blood tribe correct? You're from the north of the soundless isles, far north. How did you end up in here?” Nalfit said it'd be a good idea to invite Oshi too, that she's powerful. The half-dragon girl agreed to come for the payment of three hundred gems. Nothing I couldn't afford, and we can use another powerful spell caster on our side.
“By the boneless breath! What are you shaman?” Lezere draws her axe in alarm. “Don't touch me again!”
“Don't have to!” Oshi moves on to Purson with a large grin on her face.
“Janara will kill you if you kissed him,” I say quietly. “That's her boyfriend”
“By the hidden monarchs you’re all so uptight! Chill precious. It is just my way of saying hello.”
Purson, who noticed the exchange with Lezere, takes a step back and avoids the black scaled woman.
“Can we be on our way?” Kolag doesn’t bother to hide his irritation.
“Yes, let's go!”
This time at least, the location is closer to the magical door, and it only takes us half a day's hike to get there. Which means we have a whole month of freedom to explore the countryside after we're done with this task.
The bandits had taken over a small village. The place is so small, it doesn’t even have a fence. The residents are still alive, and our task is to both eliminate the bandits and set the residents free.
“How do you want to approach this chief?” Lezere asks as we crouch below the golden oats of their wheat fields. This village is about forty thatch houses concentrated in three main streets. They don’t even have a windmill, but the wheat field we crawl through is quite vast.
“Lezere and I will stay here and watch for a while. The rest of you can head back to the forest for now.”
“The longer we wait the longer these people suffer,” Kolag says in a dire voice.
“And the less time we have for ourselves,” Purson adds.
I raise my eyebrow at him. “I thought you couldn't wait to go back to Janara.”
“I could use the break. It's none of your business.”
“Ahem!” Kolag’s fake cough cuts the awkward moment short. “Less time to ourselves, more saving people!”
I look into his visor. “I know, Kolag. I’d prefer not going in blindly though, even if these people will suffer a little longer. Nothing good will come from charging in without knowing what we’re facing.”
He lets out a disgruntled grunt but doesn’t keep protesting.
We spend the next few days taking turns to watch the village from afar. It’s a group of about thirty bandits, and they have two leaders. A burly bearded man with a war hammer, and a lanky guy with a rapier.
The men who used to live in this village are either dead or imprisoned in one of the houses, they only let the women and children outside. The women are constantly harassed, while the children get kicked around if they aren't careful, but the bandits don't cross the line with the abuse.
After a few days of watching, I come up with a simple plan.
{27} Lokamesh (May) the 19th
The next day by the evening, Nalfit and I walk toward the village on the main road. We make sure the bandits spot us, a pair of harmless red-haired girls would be a bait they can't resist. They won’t attack us, they'd rather keep us alive.
About thirty meters from the village, Nalfit stops me. “Are you sure that's a farmer? He doesn't look like a farmer! I don't see Uncle Roy anywhere! Are you sure we're in the right place?” Her high soprano voice is louder than usual, there’s no way they'd miss us. “I don't like this! Come on, let's get out of here!”
Eight of the bandits already step toward us with grins on their faces. Nalfit grabs my hand and we pretend to run away, she even adds a shrill scream to make it more convincing.
The eight give chase, dashing toward us. “Don't run away! We're good people!” One of them shouts, his friends echo him with their maniacal laughter.
We get further away into the field, and let them catch us about a hundred meters away from the village. Nalfit lets out a series of ear-piercing shrieks that would convince anyone. The group gets closer, circling us within the sea of tall golden oats, the lust is apparent on their faces.
Purson's arming sword finds the first bandit's neck, letting out a sickening sound of metal piercing flesh and bones.
Kolag takes care of the second. The shocked bandit stares at the large bastard sword sticking out of his chest with eyes wide as saucers.
Lezere slit the third's throat with her axe, he collapses with a spasm.
Oshi grabs the fourth, the scaled girl hugs the man from behind, pulling him down. She bites his neck, tearing out chunks of meat and gore as he screams in terror and pain.
Nalfit holds the hands of the two men who laid their hands on her. “Anfero gentlemen.” She says with her chirpy soprano voice. The clothing of the two are set alight. They flail and roll on the ground in an attempt to douse the flames that keep increasing despite their efforts, their screams are loud enough to be heard in the village.
As for me, I press my hand at the face of the thug who has his hand on my thigh. “Myrsha ritsa!”
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The last one runs away, waving his hands wildly. “Help! Ambush h…” by the third word Lezere's arrow finds its way to his neck and the bandit stumbles to the ground, choking on his own blood.
The pair of burning bandits keep screaming, Kolag finishes them off with his sword. Nalfit points at the wheat that caught fire. “pisfero” she says and the flames die out.
It was over before it even began.
Oshi keeps mutilating the bandit in her arms like a wild beast, tearing small chunks of his flesh and eating them. She lets out moans of joy while he screams for mercy.
I see Kolag looking at her. Although his face is hidden behind the helmet's visor, I know there's horror etched on it. I am surprised by the blatant act myself, but it makes sense. She’s a half-dragon, dragons probably eat humans too? I don’t know, it wouldn't surprise me if it was some sick idea she developed herself.
Bringing her with us was a mistake…
Kolag kills the bandit in her arms, but Oshi keeps tearing chunks of meat with her sharp teeth, her face filled with gore.
“Did you really have to scream so loud?! I can barely hear myself!” Purson berates Nalfit in an attempt to distract himself from the gory sight.
“I had to be convincing!” Nalfit seems to enjoy herself having the chance to scream like that, for whatever reason.
“I agree you could go easy on our ears,” I add.
She looks at me with an offended expression. “Hey! You're supposed to be on my side!”
“Not if it makes me deaf.”
“The rest of them are coming, chief!” Lezere's words cut the banter.
We’d be in trouble if the bandits hide in the village and use the women there as hostages, but they don’t, they rush out enraged. “Spread out in the field, Kolag get their attention!” This was planned from the start.
We crouch and move between the tall wheat, hiding. We planned to attack and hide, except for Kolag. Kolag marches toward the road, his armor standing out. Earlier in the ambush; we covered his armor with oats and straw, and he had to sit motionless for the bandits to miss his presence.
Yet, having him take the attention is advantageous to us. I doubt anything the bandits have can pierce his armor, so it’s better if they focused on him than us.
The bandits shower him with arrows. But Kolag stands there motionless, his long sword is stabbed in the ground with his hands resting on the hilt. Only two of the arrows cling against his armor and fall to the dirt.
Stop taking poses you damned bucket head! This is a battle! I move a stray hair out of my face with irritation. At least his pose seems to have annoyed the bandits just as much because they all rush toward him screaming from the top of their lungs.
We wait for them to get close enough and then…
*twang* Lezere's arrow hits one in the chest dropping him to the ground. Purson's crossbow hits another in his lower abdomen, the bandit clutches the bolt and collapses forward.
“Fotyr folo!” Nalfit's cantrip produces a fiery arrow that hits a third who catches fire and falls to the ground rolling in a desperate attempt to put out the fire.
“Felul felik!”
“Retreat!” The black-bearded leader is smarter than the rest of them, but it’s already too late, they’re inside our trap now. Oshi leaves the field behind them and steps into the road. Her orders are to block their path of retreat.
“Kush mikum!” She roars, stomping the ground with her scaled lizard-like leg. Her stomp creates a shockwave beneath the bandits' feet. They stumble, holding onto each other to stabilize themselves. A few fall to the ground. Oshi uses the momentum and breathes out a cloud of purplish gas. The bandits on her side of the road scream in pain.
By now Kolag catches up to the bandits from the opposite side. He swings his sword around wildly. He doesn’t try to hit them, just block their path.
We corner them on the road between the wheat fields. Kolag, two meters tall with his giant sword on one end, and Oshi is on the other, a savage gory woman who can breathe out acidic vapors.
They eye the wheat field with worry, they know this isn’t safe either. As if to emphasize the threat from the field, Lezere and Purson shoot out two more arrows, dropping another pair of bandits.
“Surrender if you want to live!” I stand up before they think it’d be a good idea to scatter in the wheat field.
With the large armored silhouette swinging a sword on one side, a dragon girl breathing acidic gas on the other, and an unknown amount of enemies in the fields on both sides, I hope their leader will see reason. I have to offer them a way out, a cornered beast will fight twice as hard. They still outnumber us after all.
The black-bearded man throws his warhammer and raises his hands, but the rest of his men don't follow his example. They raise their weapons toward Kolag and Oshi who stops breathing her acid. I step closer to the group, showing my confidence in my safety. The mana patterns for ‘Kinetic Defense’ already forming in my mind.
“How do I know you won't kill us anyway?” The man asks nervously.
I move in and walk up to him wordlessly, pretending I am in total control. I have to make him fear me, that'd be the only way to break his will to fight.
I place my hand on one of the bandit's chests, “Myrsha ritsa!”
“Ok! Ok! We surrender! We have no reason to fight for that madman anyway! You're here to kill him right?”
“Kill who?” I ask confused as I gesture for Lezere to bring the ropes and tie them up.
The bandit's leader's face turns from apathetic into horrified in an instant. “You're not? So you're just some random heroes?! You have to get out of here! There's a…” A thick, spotted snake spools out of the bandit’s ear, slicked in his blood. I recoil as I watch, rooted in place. How such a creature can fit inside a man’s head. Was it wrapped around his brain? Does it control him somehow? Why is it appearing now?
This strange animal extends a full meter from the man’s head, twists around and sinks its fangs into it’s unfortunate host’s neck. The burly man’s skin flushes grey. It spreads, flickering across his neck and along his arms, until his body becomes a lifeless statue.
A shocked gasp is stuck in my throat at the sight, seconds before he was living and breathing, now a dead statue. His leathery armor and clothes are still hanging on the statue. Only now do I remember to close my mouth.
*crack, crack* the statue's surface breaks down, the leathery armor the bandit wore falls to the ground.
A lanky young man stands in place of the broken statue, the person I mistakenly assumed was the second bandit leader.
“Tsk tsk. Someone had been given too much freedom.” The baritone voice is cheerful as the handsome young man looks all around. “So many good experimenting materials you've brought me, and there are beautiful women too! Good job guys!” he pats on the nearby bandit's backs in a friendly manner. “You see, I for once would…”
Quickly! Before he finishes his monologue! With my heart bursting out of my ribs, I bolt forward. I form my familiar mana patterns, add silent patterns, and push my hand against his chest. Myrsha ritsa!
He doesn’t explode, and my wrist feels as if it’s on fire. The thick snake coils around my wrist with its fangs deep beneath my skin. I can't move! No! I'm not dying here!!! I won't!
“Whew! A close one! I almost died!” He pats the nearest bandits on the shoulder and points at me. “She almost killed me!” He leans closer and caresses my cheek. It feels as if he’s caressing my skin, except I can’t move a muscle. From what I can see, my hand is indeed gray stone. I can feel the snake slowly climb on my shoulder inside my sleeve. “You're a feisty one aren't you?!”
*~*~*
Shavi’s sword.
Names: Shavi’s sword, Shavi’s invisible sword, Shavi’s wind blade, aero blade, wind blade.
Element: air
Sub element: air
Level: 0
Words: felul felik
Translation: wind aircut
Quicken: X
Patterns: 3
Gestures: point at the target.
Offering: X
Requirement: breathable air around the caster.
Range: 15 meters.
Target: aimed spell.
Duration: instant.
Effect: an invisible thin blade of compressed air travels swiftly toward the aimed point. The blade lose the magic that holds the concentrated air together after 15 meters.
Cost: 6 gems of wind mana.
Bound cost: X
Altered cost: 4 gems per alteration pattern.
*~*~*
Power level: 2nd stage apprentice.
Mana pools status:
Crown-knot: Affinity 10:
Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 66
Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5:
Air: Affinity 4: formed: 18 gems
Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 9 gems
Light: Affinity 3:
Water: Affinity 6:
Earth: Affinity 1:
Wood: Affinity 2:
Gravity: Affinity 9: formed: 41 gems
Cantrip known:
Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword.
Fire: Nuriss’ Flame.
Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burst. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s Lesser Shield. Imari’s Minor Telekinesis. Leo’s Pull. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light body. Alino’s Heavy body.
Focus capability: 9 patterns
Social status: An apprentice.
Wealth: 778 gems. 865 Diamonds
Items: 2 healing potions.
Companions:
???
Injuries and scars: Petrified.