The main hallway of the Paladin agency building is packed with people conversing among themselves. I’m nearly shoulder to shoulder with them. Zadock, Hayden, and even Rhyndac are here, waiting for Emdal to give out his speech. Rhyndac is on the second floor, holding the railing that overlooks us. Seeing her doesn’t sit well with me after all the shit that went down at Tawaragata. I still haven’t forgotten my promise to kill Garret for violating Ulrika.
Damnit! I’m already getting pissed off.
I avert my eyes from seeing Rhyndac and put my attention to something else. When I shift my lips up towards my nose, the aroma of garlic butter pasta enters my nose. My anger fades when I think about Ulrika’s fantastic cooking early this morning.
“Ah, finally! He’s here,” Haleema says, standing on my right side with her hand on my shoulder. I look up to the second floor.
“That’s Emdal?” I ask.
“Mhmm.” He’s an elf with long black hair that reaches down to his upper stomach. On the left side of his head, he has a single braid. He’s wearing a white chest plate and armor on his right arm.
“He looks young to be your leader,” Ulrika says, laying her head on my shoulder and putting an arm around my lower back.
“He’s fifty-five,” Haleema says.
“Elven youthfulness. It makes me wonder how old you are, Haleema.”
“I’m twenty-five.”
“Wow, you’re the same age as me! Hear that, Kaio? Looks like you’re the baby of the group.”
“How old are you?”
“My husband is twenty-one,” Ulrika interjects before I can open my mouth to answer. Haleema’s eyes open wide. She covers her smile with three of her fingers.
“Usually, it’s the man who’s older, but love doesn’t care who’s older.”
Everyone in the room suddenly ceases talking. I look at a man to my right, and he’s looking up towards Emdal. On Emdal’s left side, a man places a tall cylinder rod-shaped next to him. It’s tall, towering a few feet over his head. When he waves his hand over it, it lights up a cyan color.
“My fellow warriors of peace. As of this hour, Nite has begun their attack,” Emdal says with a loud voice, gripping the handrail in front of him. All at once, people explode into loud whispers that I can’t understand. “Silence! Right now, we’ve spotted them surrounding the city. The mages and I have a shield protecting us, but we need to attack them before it drops.”
Emdal swirls his hands in a circle. A blue fog trail emits from the rod, then sends the fog over everyone. It rotates into a giant horizontal oval, showing us a glimpse of the cultist attacking the shield around the city.
“I bet there are orcs in their forces,” I say, eyeing a few big cultists. They’re covered from head to toe, so I don’t know for sure.
“I have no doubt. Do you remember Olly’s champions?” Haleema says.
“Those three giant guys that spawned from him? Do you think they’ll be around?” She nods her head with arms crossed under her breasts.
“Should I be worried?” Ulrika asks, looking directly at me.
“Maybe. I didn’t fight Olly’s champions, but those orcs roughed me up twice,” I answer.
“You’ll give’em a ruffing back, now that you’re much stronger.” She rubs my stomach, then taps it with her fingers. “Also, your mana is replenished. I can feel your aura flowing like a gentle stream of pure water.”
“The garlic and butter still linger on my lips.” She chuckles with her lips pulled into her mouth. “If it’s alright with you, I’d like to have more of it later today.”
“As you wish. I’ll make a bigger bowl just for you.”
“Guys, look,” Haleema says with her hand pointing up at the window to the outside walls. “That’s Garret!” He’s on a white horse sounded by two white-masked men in purple robes. They’re not armored, but Garret is. His armor looks like silver mixed in with a golden lining. In his left hand, he’s holding a rectangular shield with an insignia on the front.
“Is that a woman’s face?” I ask, squinting my eyes. Before I can get a closer look at the strange décor, our view of what’s going on fades to black. The swirling smoke dissipates into glistening glitter, then disappears into nothing. But, the magic from it absorbs into my body, multiplying the current manna in me.
“Take some of my mana. This will double your power on top of your maximum potential,” Emdal says.
“Holy cow! No way,” Ulrika whispers. I look at my hands, opening and closing them. I’m stunned at how much my power has increased today. Is this safe or even worthy for me to have? Should I be wielding this much destructive force?
“Protect this city at all cost. We mustn’t fail!” He leaps over the railing, gliding down over to me.
“Hunter.” He gently drops to the ground. The layers in his metal boots clack as he repositions his feet. “Huntress. Thank you two for coming and helping Haleema with the problem in Tawaragata. You three rid Nite’s stronghold there.”
“You’re welcome, sir,” I say.
“Mhmm,” Ulrika says in an unenthusiastic tone.
“Are you hunters ready to send these devils to the grave?”
“Yes, sir,” I say.
“Are we all ready,” he yells, raising his left fist in the air. Everyone in the room shouts their battle cry with a near-deafening volume. Emdal snaps his fingers, then floats above me. “Enter the portals outside and join with the soldiers. After that, wait for further instructions.” He grabs my left arm as he watches everyone head outside. “Kaioson, Ulrika. I have a special task for you two.”
“What is it?” I ask.
“Garret. I heard he did an unspeakable act.” I turn to Haleema, hoping she didn’t report the details to him.
“What did you say?”
“She didn’t tell me what he did. The details of what went down stay between you.”
“So, what do you want from us?”
“Kill Garret. Since he’s a paragon, he’s a more significant threat than any of the cultists on the field.” Hearing him giving me the authority to smite him is music to my ears. I don’t want Ulrika to see my excitement, so I bite my inner cheek near my mouth to avoid smiling.
“I understand.”
“Haleema, aid them with their task.”
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“I will,” Haleema says with a bow.
“May the High Father help us all.” A portal manifests behind him. He salutes us, steps through it, then closes.
“Finally,” I say, rubbing my hands slowly up and down. “A chance to get this dog for what he did.”
“Easy, my love. I praise you for defending my honor, but don’t get too excited,” Ulrika says, squeezing my shoulders.
“Sorry. My hatred towards him never died. He needs to pay for what he did.”
“Kaio,” she whispers with a gentle, soothing voice. I’m pacified by it. My anger towards Garret simmers down as I lose myself in Ulrika’s soft smile. Even my heart rate dies down to its standard rate. “I just want you to have a clear head when we face him. If you’re angry, you’ll become sloppy.” I gently touch her hips with all of my fingers. Before I can pull her in for a hug, she lunges into me and delivers me one. At first, I’m surprised by it, but I embrace her without delay. I focus on every detail of her body touching me and the soapy scent in her soft hair. I fear my stress and anger will get the best of me, so I need to engrave this moment in the forefront of my mind.
“Kaioson,” Haleema says, standing behind Ulrika, looking at the front door. I look at her, waiting for her to say something. “It’s time to go. We’re the only ones here.”
“Haleema, really? Let us have our moment,” Ulrika snaps at her.
“Oh! Forgive me.” I quietly laugh at Ulrika maintaining this intimate moment. Haleema blushes with a smile as she looks off to her left.
“I’ll go over there,” she says through her hands. She walks away from us in the direction of the door. I stay on Ulrika, taking every precious time before going off to battle.
“I’m ready,” I say, pulling my head back to look at Ulrika.
“Are you sure? If you want to keep hugging, let’s continue. Kiss me if you feel inclined to.”
“You’re so amazing,” I say, lightly stroking her right cheek. “I’m good. It’s time. Let’s protect this city and get that asshole.” She presses my hand against her face and snuggles into it like she’s feeling the softness of a pillow. I pull my hand slowly away from her. Her head tracks where it’s going as she tries to pull it back with her hands. My hand slips past her gentle grasp, leaving her fingers locked in a curl position.
“Alright,” she whispers, putting her hands to her side. “If things get too overwhelming for you and we’re separated, call for me. I’ll come like a hurricane.”
“I won’t hesitate to yell for you if the need arises.” She surprises me with a quick kiss, but I take on the following three without an issue.
We all finally go through the portal that’s outside the building. It warps us behind a legion of soldiers and Paladins. They’re in a military row formation, separated into a series of platoons. At the far left end, there’s a calvary of armored Knights. Directly behind me is a military fortress with warwolves (trebuchet) stationed on top of it. One by one, they fire into the air, catapulting flaming boulder-like rocks through the shield. Far in the distance, lightning strikes three out of the six boulders, destroying them into small pieces.
“I bet that was Garret,” Haleema says.
“Or the people standing around him,” I say. More flaming bulders fly over our heads. The same lightning strike takes out a few of them in midair.
“I’m ready,” Ulrika says, with her hands gripping the handle of her swords. She faces us, then wields them. I take out my sword by conjuring it into my hand. She smiles big enough to almost bear her lovely dimples. “One more kiss before we go to war?” I put my right arm around her waist and give her four kisses.
“More the merrier,” I say. We rest our foreheads on each other for a moment. Ulrika’s closeness brings my excitement to a sober level. I focus on her slow breathing from her mouth. The gentle air flowing in and out is oddly soothing to listen to. It’s louder than all the voices around me. I can stay here all day and be hypnotized by her, but we have a monumental task to complete.
I close my eyes and release myself from Ulrika’s presence. When I open my eyes, I feel light. My adrenalin shoots back up, giving me an intoxicating buzz.
The mages and warlock Paladins begin their air assault. The shield disappears, and the ground units charge at the cultist in front of them. I maintain a walking stride just to keep myself calm. Haleema joins me on my left side with her eyes locked straight ahead. Ulrika comes to my right, glances at me with a smirk, then darts forward. The grass around her feet swirls. She leaps, then a burst of powerful air catapults her in the air.
“Here we go,” Haleema says. She uses the same levitating magic that made us fly. We fly up in the air, following behind Ulrika.
Ulrika lands behind the enemy’s lines and shoots out high pressured air from her hands. Two of the cultist clothes shred apart from the force. They fly into the hands of our allies, where they’re swiftly killed by a series of stabs.
Before landing, I cup my hands into a V shape. I open my fingers wide enough to target ten cultists then fire one concussive blow out of my palms. My attack hits right when I touch the ground, forcefully knocking down all ten of them. I see some of their backs fold back like someone folding a piece of paper in that quick moment. To make sure they’re dead, I see a few of the knights and Paladins thrust their weapons into the bodies.
The cultist line begins to break into pieces. It looks like a squiggly line from where I’m standing, with the bend coming towards Ulrika, Haleema, and me. We take the opportunity to attack anyone who comes near us. Ulrika and Haleema try to smite all they can, but the ones who evade their sudden death die by my hands.
In a matter of seconds, I take down fifteen cultists with single strikes. My sword is caked in their blood. It runs down my blade, dripping off the tip every few seconds. I ignite my sword to vaporize it clean. When I examine my spotless blade, I wonder about how simple it was to kill these people. Something strange is going on, but I can’t put my finger on what it can be.
“Way too easy,” I say out loud to myself. I touch one of the cultist’s back and notice they’re not wearing armor. As I gaze at the other bodies around me, I can see none of them are protected.
Suddenly, our ally’s thunderous shouting scare me to the point I almost drop my sword. I panic, and raise my sword to my face, then turn around. Upon the small hill, there’s another wave getting ready for a second assault. Unlike the ones dead all around us, I can see the shimmer of armor on their bodies. Ulrika stands on my right, looking at them with a smirk and rubbing my back.
“You did well,” Ulrika says.
“Thanks. The real fight is about to begin.”
“Mhmm. This could be a pain in the ass.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.” She tilts her head to me with her left eyebrow raised high into her forehead.
“What we just did was like what happened in Thaa Alora. Stick to your training, and you’ll come out okay.”
“I’m so not used to this type of fighting.” Her raised brow gets replaced with a soft smile. “You know my history. The types of people I fought are nowhere close to these radicals.”
“Yet you fought and prevailed. Stop doubting your abilities, Kaio. You’re doing great!” The cultists on the hill yell out their war cry to match the volume of our soldiers. Out from the center of the enemy line, Garret emerges atop his horse. He removes his helmet, and then raises his sword in the air.
“Charge!” A woman yells far to my left.
“Halt!” Emdal says.
A quarter of our left-wing forces rush out, including four of our cavalry. Once they reach halfway to the cultist line, the clouds above Garret turn dark. A storm rapidly forms, striking the knight’s blade with lightning. Thunder cracks through the sky over my head, shaking the ground beneath us like an earthquake. He swings his sword from right to left, electrocuting all of our rushing forces with a continual stream of lightning.
“Damn! Garret could wipe us all if we’re not careful,” Emdal says. I look over at him, but Ulrika staring up into the cloud catches my attention.
“What are you looking at?” I ask.
“An opportunity,” she says, reaching for the sky with both hands. Out of the dark clouds, a small tornado begins to spiral down.
“They’re coming!” Haleema says. The second wave comes rushing down the hill. I can feel spurts of dark magic emitting from them. Garret stays put.
“Everyone, charge! Keep your distance from the knight!” Emdal says, running forward with everyone. Haleema runs too, so I follow right behind her.
“Kaio, wait! I need you to protect me so I can reverse this spell and disperse the weather. I’m a sitting duck here,” Ulrika yells. I pull back, looking up, watching half a tornado reverse into the clouds. “Kaio, ahead!” A fireball comes hurling straight at her. I stand in front of its path, sucking the mana into my body before it reaches me. I convert that power and add it to my own to double my magic lethality.
“Take this,” I say, sticking my fingers in the dirt. I pour lava deep into the ground. It starts cracking the ground in a zig-zag pattern up to the fighting. My fire is so hot that the ground sinks like it’s almost melting.
“Whoa! What are you doing?” Plums of hot air rise from the cracks right in front of us. Once the lava reaches the cultist, I erupt it on them. My attack takes out a few of the cultists, but someone turns the fire into water.
“Shit! Someone is counter casting,” I say.
“Must be a mage on their end.”
“Damn. That means I can’t use any attack they can see coming.” Some of the sunlight begins to break through the clouds, taking us out of its gloomy light. “So, are you pushing away the clouds?”
“That’s an easy way to put it.” She drops her hands, but the clouds continue to dissipate. “I’m neutralizing the static in the air by pushing the cold air above in random directions. I also could create lighting, heavy rain, and snowstorms if I really tried.”
“I thought you could only manipulate air. Why didn’t you practice this when we trained?”
“Well... I—” People yelling from the frontline catch her attention. The fight is in full swing, and the battle line is mixed into a bloody moshpit. “We need to go offer our assistance.”
“I’m right behind you.” We run over to everyone with our swords in hand. I set my eyes on Garret, eagerly waiting for the moment I fight him.