“Sara, comms,” I whisper and she nods in affirmation. She knows exactly how to respond, but I was hoping we wouldn’t need it so early. I don’t feel anything different, but Sara squeezes my hand as she increases her concentration. I take a deep breath as I wait for another command from the intrusive voice.
“All of you, halt and put your hands over your heads!” the voice calls again. I put my hands in the air as instructed, hesitating to let go of Sara for only a moment. I want to turn and look for the twins, but I am familiar enough with this situation to avoid sudden or unasked for movements, at least until I know I can get away with them. Unfortunately, I don’t know what we are dealing with here. What sort of weapons, magic, and procedures I might need to respond to. Still, I itch to check on the twins. It’s like a hook in my cheek wants me to turn around but I know it’s not safe to do so. I should have had my goggles on, I would have seen this coming and hidden in time. Or at least I’d be able to see the twins now.
It occurs to me the goggles are a convenience, and I can still cast all the necessary light magic directly. Unfortunately, I barely summon a spark of the mana necessary before the man shouts at me again. “If you try and cast a single spell I’ll kill you where you stand. Hold still, and do not cast!” I curse internally. Of course. It’s been so long since I’ve been this far from the Radiant Woods… I forgot what other mages have to deal with. My mana is visible here. Even with Autumn and I, there is not enough grief to completely erase the visibility of my mana to other mages. And so I am stuck blind to everything behind me. This knowledge digs into the back of my head like a slow drill. But I have to be smart. I have to wait.
“We aren’t attacking!” Ember assures our assailant. Good, she is finally fucking speaking. “Have you cut off his whisper sphere?” She adds under her breath.
“I think so,” Sara quietly confirms. “It doesn’t feel exactly the same, but it’s similar. It shouldn’t be working right now.”
“You think so, or you know? This isn’t a fucking game!” Embers hisses.
“She thinks, that’s what she fucking said. Just talk to this guy and try and get us out of this, you’ll have to gamble a little. That’s how this shit works,” I defend and Ember scoffs. At the moment we hear swearing behind us.
“Piece of shit,” the man challenging us complains and I smile.
“Sounds like she has it cut off,” I whisper.
“All of you, turn toward the sound of my voice!” the man commands. I comply and sigh in relief the moment I turn and see the twins doing the same. It is sickening, the amount of weight that simultaneously lifts and falls on my shoulders as I see them. I still carry a lot of anger for Autumn. I still rely on her continued survival. I never left that tower where I hoped she would jump as I tried to talk her down. I choke the complex well of emotions down and examine the man threatening us.
The first thing I notice is his humanity. He is neither an Ailur nor Volu. So the two new cultures Ember has described to me aren’t the only ones involved in border patrol. He has a bow pointed at us, one of the first I’ve actually seen in this world. With magic spells and no need to really hunt, the tools existed but were not widespread in Potestia. Interestingly, it is a compound bow. I am no historian but I don’t believe Earth had those before the 20th century. He also lacks a quiver or any other way to store arrows, although he has one drawn. He is, notably, struggling to hold the weapon steady. This may be the first time he has ever actually had to do his job. Which means he may be especially ready to let that arrow fly.
“We’re so sorry, you’re a Guardian of Stone, right?” Ember calls to him. I suppress a scoff. I guess she doesn’t always have thorns on her tongue, just with her allies. “We don’t mean any harm, we just got lost while camping, then when we saw the stone from a distance well, we’ve always wanted to see it!” This lie does seem to calm him a bit, but not enough. He is still trembling far more than someone with a drawn bow pointed at other people should. I’m fairly certain I could put up force mana in time to block an arrow if he does loose one, but I’d rather not risk it. And it seems like any too sudden movement will put that to the test. Hell, I feel like I’m back home already.
“You willingly approached the border with the Nexus, in a restricted area, just to see a stone?” He asks incredulously. “Do you think I’m an idiot?”
“No, of course not!” Ember assures him. “Truth be told, if anyone is an idiot it’s me. It’s just–” Ember starts but the arrow points directly at me as the assailant interrupts her.
“Your friend there. Red eyes. A scar over the left. Black hair. Sounds awfully familiar to the Celestial Sage’s revelation about the demon queen. And you brought her this close to the nexus?” he interrogates and I police my expression as best I can. That’s one tick in favor of starting new body modifications now. If I am going to have to obscure my face and body either way, I might as well have the extra advantage in a fight. But perhaps he only made the connection because of our proximity to the border. Ember laughs as I contemplate how quickly I was identified, and it only takes me a breath to join her. It’s immediately obvious what angle she is hoping to take here.
“Oh, shit, you had me going for a second there. It’s not funny, comparing people to the actual demon queen! But I guess that is our fault. It’s something of a… game. We’re enthusiasts, of a sort. The scar is just makeup and her hair is dyed. We are so sorry, we meant to be in and out. We don’t want any trouble,” Ember insists. The man seems to relax and tense at the same time as his anxiety shifts to clear annoyance.
“Oh, you’re some of… those perverts,” He groans. Alright, rude. You do not need to be a pervert to dress up like me. I’m cool as shit! Although it is a relief to hear there are methods of hair dye available. Maybe I’ll be able to disguise my identity after all. “I don’t care what sort of sick interests you have. This is a restricted area. I’m going to have to take you all into custody. All of you, slowly lower yourselves onto your left knees, and your left knees only!”
Ember groans as the man instructs us one movement at a time to a more easily controlled position. “Don’t let him see your arm, or any of your prosthetics,” she hisses under her breath. “If he sees those, he will try to kill us.” I suppose these are probably not widespread in this new culture. Although they could be, if they aren’t being held back somehow like Potestia. It didn’t exactly take us decades to figure them out. Mana makes advancement much easier to pursue. Still, it seems like immediately trying to kill us is an extreme reaction.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“Kill us? Don’t tell me these are part of this fucking prophecy? If there was a prophecy about my missing limbs and you didn’t say shit I swear to God Ember…” I whisper back as I lower to my second knee.
“Don’t be absurd, of course there isn’t. He will still try to kill us if he sees them, however. Hide them, whatever it takes,” she insists.
“Why didn’t you say something about that before we tried to fucking sneak past them?” I counter quietly. Meanwhile I am forced to take a prone position at our enemies’ command.
“I–” she starts then stops, like the answer gets caught in her throat. “I–” again she can’t answer. It doesn’t sound like she is struggling to explain herself. Not in the way I would expect. Her voice is confident until something plugs it like a cork.
“He’s approaching,” Sara warns and we all quiet down. I’ll have to get an explanation later.
“Shit…” The man whispers as he approaches. There is a moment of silence as his footfalls stop and nothing happens. Then, he approaches me. He must have passed the twins which seems unwise, until an unfamiliar woman addresses him.
“Is your sphere working? I can’t contact Guardian one,” she inquires.
“No, something must be affecting all of them,” he answers with irritation. “And I only have one set of shackles. Toss me yours, we can at least restrain two of them for now. Fucking insane tourists.”
“It would be pretty strange for tourists to show up at the exact time our whisper spheres failed. Are you sure they don’t have a sage?” The woman questions. Meanwhile, I hear shuffling as she provides her partner with a spare set of shackles while, presumably, keeping her distance as his overwatch.
“No way a sage would just let us arrest them. I thought so too, especially with this one… I’ll admit I got a little spooked. But if she or any of the others were who they looked like, well. They would have just killed us both,” the man dismissed. Well, he’s not entirely wrong.
We could kill him, I suppose. But there are a few details that make this less than an ideal solution. I don’t actually know fuckall about this new country, or why these people are guarding the border like this. Since I am not actually an evil demon queen, I can’t just kill someone without at least some sense of the situation. Not even border patrol. For all I know, they are here for the supposed monsters in the Radiant Woods. Even if I could, people investigate when their guards die or disappear. I would much rather be caught and released than avoiding a manhunt on the road for the next few weeks. Provided that is an option, and Ember seems to think it is.
I guess this could be a long con from Ember but I don’t think so. Especially if she is worried about my limbs being discovered. In any case, I don’t mind leaning into the understanding. If we can get back on the road without being chased, I’m happy to let them briefly believe that the Demon Queen Lillith is a mindless murder machine. I feel the man’s presence as he hovers over me, and I sigh as I am of course one of the lucky two to be restrained. His knee rests on my back as he grabs my left hand and secures a shackle around it. I immediately feel the mana in most of my body dissipate. I immediately feel pained and faint as my tumors breathe in the freedom my missing mana gives them. So this is what these feel like without my circle.
Of course, that is the mana in most of my body. My… unique appendages continue to gather mana from all around me, even pulling some from the overloaded cancer cells throughout my body. My mouth fills with the taste of copper but I am able to flood my veins with mana from my arm and legs. It’s only as the magic returns and fights against this dissipating cuff that I realize blackness had started to edge at my vision and blood had begun to run down my nose. Yet, I am fine. It is both a relieving and terrifying revelation. What would disable most mages would kill me, if not for these tools. These tools partially designed by Ember. Ember who… fuck. Ember who told me not to let this shit head discover them.
Just as this thought finally makes it through the dizziness, I feel him grasping my right arm to cuff as well. I can read the future in the moment of hesitation that follows but it’s too late. He is forcing my sleeve up. “She’s a cultist!” he cries. I can’t see him. I can’t see anything but the dirt, mud, and leaves. But I can feel it. Like the moment before a car crash or that breath before diving into the water. Ember was right. He is about to kill me.
I erect a wall of force behind my back and hear the strain of the arrow as inertia pushes it into a greater opposing force. It was maybe an inch from my skull when I stopped it. Well. That just about answers how careful I have to be with this man’s life. His knee is still lodged in my back, indicating he rapidly drew and released an arrow from extremely close range. But he is not strong enough, not to hold me down. Especially not after he just tried to fucking murder me.
I tear both my arms from him, noticing greater resistance with my right than left. It is considerably feebler, which will take some getting used to.
I stand as if there was no weight on my back at all and my would-be murderer stumbles to the ground, a look of pure terror on his face. My boot lands on his neck, reinforced by force mana and holding him down as I scan the area for his friend. I don’t find her immediately and anxiety wraps its hands around my throat. I look toward Sara, then the twins, and finally Ember. Sara and Ember have already regained their feet where August and Autumn struggle. Where is the other one? Where is she?
I finally remember my goggles and rush to put them on. There is a strangled howl of pain that sends chills through my spine. Who is it? Who’s hurt this time? Who did I let die this time? The world is color. The goggles let me see everyone but I can’t make out what state they are in. Someone is trying to scream… gurgling, choking on blood. I shouldn’t have bothered with the fucking goggles, she took advantage of my guard being down! I failed again. I was right here but I failed again! But something isn’t right. They are all still standing. On alert. Using their own mana. No one is– the gurgling cries cut off and I almost slip in the blood beneath my foot. Fuck. I’d forgotten him. But where– there she is. I catch a flicker of color behind me. I put up a force barrier, but I am too slow. Her arrow flies past me, toward Henry.
I scream and charge her. I want to save him. I have to stop her from hurting him again. I think she is one of the bird people? I can’t remember what they are called. I can’t remember anything. The color takes over and fills my vision and my consciousness alike. I am still screaming, and hitting, and hitting. I am on the ground, my fists colliding with the bird woman. The world is blue and red and black. I keep swinging. I keep screaming. I keep sobbing. I am still hitting her. Beating her. Making her pay. I can’t stop myself. My right hand holds her throat as my left swings again and again. Hands try to catch it but I refuse to slow down. Another set of hands grabs my right shoulder and tries to pull me off. I can’t remember what I am doing here. I have to save Henry.
“Annie!” Sara screams into my ear. “Annie we are alright! We are all okay! You can stop now! Please, stop now!” I feel dizzy as her voice finally breaks through to me. I pause and pant. My fist protests in agonized pain. Someone pulls the goggles I used to find my opponent off. Below me is the Volu woman who tried to kill one of us. What is left of her. She is no longer recognizable as a previously sapient creature. Sara is trying to heal me, and as I look at my remaining human hand I see why. My fingers are mangled and broken, unable to take the strength I’d put behind each blow. They are open and bleeding, with fragments of beak lodged into them. I hadn’t even noticed.
“Is He– is August alright?” I finally ask. “Is everyone alright? Did I save them?” I plead. Sara looks at me with sorrow like I haven’t seen since she thought her father had fled from her.