Despite all evidence to the contrary, Prince Quell displays he does, in fact, have some common sense in him as he skids to a stop just short of the nearest cactus limb. I catch up half a second later, lunging around him and slamming my shield into the ground as the cactus jabs in our direction. I activate Devour, which pleases the Aegis to no end, and the part of the vine that’s touching the shield vanishes as the Aegis happily consumes it. I shut Devour off just as quickly, and my mana drops to 46/50.
[Devour, Level Up!] Echo announces. [At level two, the mana expenditure is reduced to 1 point every 2 seconds.]
“Wow,” Quell remarks. “You really do have to protect me!”
A murderous impulse briefly threatens to overtake me. I exercise an impressive level of self-control to stuff it back down. “You could have just believed me instead of putting both our lives at risk!”
“A hypothesis left untested is as good as—”
“Get back!” I shove him with my free hand as another vine comes for us.
Quell apparently wields all the dexterity of a toddler, because this just knocks him off his feet and back into the sand. I’d smack my forehead if I had the time.
Instead, I activate Repel—dropping my mana down to 36/50—and Endure. The vine strikes Aegis, and I don’t even feel it. I lift up the shield and slam it down on the limb, severing its end.
If my math is right, I’ve got about six minutes on Endure to take as many blows as I can. After that I’ll be out of mana, but hopefully by then I’ll have stored up enough hits for Repel to do some damage.
Earnest and Xamireb take up defensive positions on either side of Quell while he looks up at me from the sand with wide, surprised eyes.
“Fucking stay here,” I tell him, which summons horrified looks from the soldiers. I guess they’re not used to people talking to their royalty that way. Tough luck. I’ve never been much for etiquette.
I race into the fight, specifically targeting the biggest limbs. I crash through them like a wrecking ball thanks to Endure, the limbs snapping in half across the front of the Aegis.
[Repel, Level Up!] Echo declares as I progress. [Endure, Level Up!]
More notifications stream through my vision, but I mentally shove them to the side; I need to keep my wits about me while I’m in the middle of a fight.
Darian and Prince Constance are in the thick of it, and I fight my way toward them as fast as I’m able. It’s only as I approach them that I realize the draw the Aegis is sensing isn’t to the fight itself—nor to the carrion cactus—but to Prince Constance. Or rather, the sword in Prince Constance’s hand.
The black and red blade he wields appears eerily familiar. There’s an eye-like ruby stone in its guard, and the metal is so dark it’s nearly black. Red light runs up the blade and swirls around its hilt in a miasma of magic. Even as the Crimson Aegis feels drawn to it, I can feel the sword reflect that attention back at us.
Constance’s head snaps our way, and his gaze locks onto the Aegis in a look of surprise. Then it shifts up to me.
He disengages from the fight, letting Darian take his place.
“How did you acquire that shield?” he demands.
The Aegis is still urging me on, compulsively drawn to the sword. I can’t even tell what the shield wants—if it wants anything at all, or if it’s merely acting on instinct. From the way Constance draws back, angling his sword away from me, he must feel it, too.
“I, uh, found it lying in the desert,” I say.
He gives me a look of extreme incredulity.
“I know how it sounds,” I huff.
A vine whips in our direction, and I duck behind the Aegis. Constance whips out his sword, slashing through the limb. The severed vine falls to the ground between us.
“We’ll discuss this later,” he says. “If you’re here to fight, then fight. Captain Darian could use assistance. I can hold my own.”
A protest rises and dies on my tongue. I can also hold my own, I think. But I only lucked out in the last two fights, and Constance has already moved away; far enough to fight independently, but close enough to keep an eye on me. I can still feel the Aegis yearning after his sword. Maybe it’s for the best we’re not side-by-side in the middle of battle. I turn my attention to Darian and approach her instead.
[Mana: 27/50]
Just another couple minutes left on Endure and these blows will start to feel like something. We need to resolve this fight, and fast.
The Captain also seems surprised to see me, but she jerks her head anyway, signaling me over.
“Where in the Kingdom did you get a shield like that?” Darian asks.
“Found it in the sand,” I repeat.
She barks out a laugh. “Shit. Well, I’m not about to arrest you this second. You want to prove yourself? Cover me.”
I’m more than happy to block the next few blows that come her way, pieces of spiny, wet vegetation splattering off to either side as the cactus beats itself to pieces against me. Darian falls back, dropping her sword to the ground to sweep a circle and some squiggly symbols through the sand. She speaks a word, and an orange light fills the circle. Then the whole design collapses inward, the sand forming into a solid rock.
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“Move!” Darian orders.
I step to the side, and the rock launches from the ground like a cannonball. It blasts into the main stalk halfway up, carving a divot out of its side. If she’d hit straight on, it might have cut the thing in half.
Darian swears, then steps up beside me to resume fighting with her sword. Other soldiers are similarly shooting rocks and fireballs at it, but the only ones that match the size of Darian’s shots are performed by groups of soldiers working in tandem. Constance, meanwhile, is hanging back, cutting down anything that makes it through the front line of soldiers. I can’t help but watch him, even while embroiled in my own fight; his power and grace is almost hypnotic.
One vine makes it around the soldiers and spears toward a tent. Constance lunges after it, even though he’s far from within striking range. The miasma around his sword solidifies, however, and extends to be twice, three times the length of his blade. It slashes through the stalk, which disintegrates to ash, much like the effects of the Crimson Aegis’s Devour. No wonder he’s hanging back; he’s stopping the fight from spilling over into the rest of the camp.
[Mana depleted. Endure spell expired.]
I stumble back from the next vine that strikes my shield, red light flashing over its surface. Repel is still doing its thing, storing up energy with every attack, but now that Endure is done, I won’t be able to stand against the blows much longer. I need to get close and expel the blast. Hopefully, this time, it’ll be enough to finish off the damage the other soldiers have started.
The Aegis gets excited as it catches wind of my plan. Yes! Revenge! This time our Repel will take the plant monster down.
“Except this is twice as big as the last one,” I grumble. “We don’t have nearly enough stored power to take it down.”
“What?” Darian asks.
I shake my head. “Nothing.”
Aegis disagrees with me vehemently, becoming all the more determined to prove its superiority. It focuses on the base of the carrion cactus. There! That is where we’ll launch our attack.
I frown. You mean we can focus Repel? I think. I figure since it can read my thoughts anyway, I don’t need to be replying to it out loud and making everyone around me think I’m crazier than they already do. It doesn’t have to be a big shockwave?
Aegis is offended. Of course not! As if it would lack such precision. It is a highly adaptable shield, which is what makes it the best.
Good lord, this thing is full of itself. At least it would be more tolerable if it didn’t keep forgetting to tell me all the abilities it has.
Aegis is equally insulted by this. (Apparently, anything that isn’t unadulterated praise is an insult.) It can tell me everything! But I keep putting it in that between space. It hasn’t had a chance to get a word in.
I snort at that. Yeah, it’s real reserved. But there will be time to pick its brain later—or whatever brain-like equivalent a demon shield has—assuming it’ll really be as cooperative as it claims. For now, though, we’ve got a cactus monster to take care of.
“My turn for cover,” I tell Darian. “I’ve got something that might end this, but I’ll need to get closer enough for a clear shot.”
“What do you mean?” she asks. “You only have a shield.”
“If it is what I think it is,” Constance says, slashing his way back over to us, “it can do far more than block. Isn’t that right?”
I can’t help but be drawn to his sword again. The Aegis wants it. Needs it!
What do you want with it? I wonder.
But the Aegis can’t even explain. It just knows they’re supposed to be together.
“It’s got a few offensive abilities,” I say, meeting Constance’s gaze. He, too, is staring at the Aegis, almost a hungry look in his eyes. In this moment, I can see some resemblance to his brother. He, too, reluctantly looks away.
“If it’s a distraction you need, that is something I can provide,” he says.
“Sure,” I say, even though he’s already turning away from me. Strangely, he sheathes his sword and the mental itch the Aegis was vanishes as a result. I let out a relieved breath. “What are you going to…”
Prince Constance inhales, raising his hands before him. Light sparks at his fingertips. When he exhales, it’s like his breath has caught the light on his hands and tossed it up into the air. The colors swirl into a funnel, growing larger, brighter, more solid. In mere moments, it resolves into the form of a second carrion cactus, exactly replicating the first.
I stare at the incredible display of magic. The original carrion cactus likewise appears surprised. It shrieks, drawing its limbs back, before stabbing at the newly appeared creature. The vine appears to skewer straight through the replica, sending a quiver through the creature like a ripple across a projector screen. Constance’s carrion cactus sways to the side, slipping through the vine unharmed, then returns a challenging screech of its own.
“Well?” Darian demands, breaking me from my awe. “Hurry up! If you’ve got a plan, get to it!”
“Sorry—right.” I tear my gaze away from the dueling giants and return my focus to the main creature’s stalk. Bracing my free hand against the Aegis, I duck my head low, put my shoulder into it, and stalk forward. Despite Constance’s distraction, some of the smaller feelers still head my way. A few deflect off the front of my shield, but some also come from the sides. Darian makes quick work of these, shredding anything that ventures too close. She’s incredibly proficient with a sword, slicing away attacks I don’t even see coming. I’ve got to get her to teach me some of the basics. Or maybe Constance can teach me some of that magic.
You know, assuming they don’t throw me in cell at the end of all this.
As we get close, the attacks become more pressing, the stalks much thicker and their strikes more powerful. Is this close enough? I ask the Aegis. We only have one shot and we can’t afford to miss.
Miss? It would never miss. The Aegis is infallible! Though of course, getting closer would make its perfect aim even more perfect.
I grimace. I don’t think you know what perfect means.
But this is as far as I’m willing to push it. I focus on the base of the carrion cactus. Do I just have to picture it? Intend for the attack to be focused instead of broad? I’m not really sure if I’m the one controlling the spell, or if Aegis is. Either way, I will for the attack to launch in a thin, concentrated blast, and Echo says, [Repel executed.]
A flash of red light bursts from Aegis. It fires straight forward like a bolt of lightning, spearing through the stalk of the plant and—thankfully—burying itself in the sand on the other side. It’s a good thing I hadn’t aimed it any higher, or I could have hit soldiers on the other side of camp.
I blink against the light, a hole burned in the center of my vision. Was that enough? Did I sever it? I glance off to the side to try to make out the damage with the part of my night vision that hasn’t just been wiped out.
“Back!” Darian shouts, a hand on my shoulder.
I stumble from the unexpected pull and nearly fall backward myself. (I guess I shouldn’t have been so hard on Quell for falling on his ass when I pushed him.) I manage to keep upright, but then the pull turns into a shove, something hard kicks against my heel, and I slip over the sand as my leg gives out and the weight of the shield pulls me over. I crash to the sand, and a moment later, something slams into the ground next to me, sending a shockwave through the camp.
My vision hasn’t fully recovered yet, but it’s not hard to make out the fallen stalk of the carrion cactus inches away from my feet. Right where I’d been standing only moments before.
[Role Requirement fulfilled,] Echo says matter-of-factly.
[Sanity Level: 100%]