The portal back to the room collapses in a fog-like smoke. Instead of pulling my sword out of my scabbard, I call it to my hand. Just like Thaa Alora, we’re surrounded by people attacking each other. Our allies are easily distinguishable because of their nonuniform appearance against Nite’s masked face and dark clothing.
Swords clash nonstop. Through the sea of people, I see pops of colorful magic being cast from the hands of mages.
“Ulrika, where is your family?” I say. Ulrika spins in circles turning her head left and right.
“Oh, no,” she whimpers.
“What’s wrong?”
“We’re already here.” She points straight ahead. Down the cobblestone street is a mansion a few hundred feet from us. “No!” She lunges forward, but I catch her by her waist.
“Ulrika, wait!” I point my sword towards the roof of the mansion, then rotate it flat. “Hold on tight to me as hard as you can.”
With all my strength, I secure her against my body. The moment she grips me with all her might, I send us flying towards the mansion. Once we close in over the courtyard, I aim my sword at an open space far from any action. I land on the ground, then Ulrika bolts from me, sprinting to the front door. She runs head-on into a cultist, taking them out as she makes her way to the house. I follow after her, casting my sword into people to give her a clear pathway.
We reach the door, but she’s having a tough time pushing it open. I can hear people fighting what seems to be at a distance from the door.
“Help me with this,” she says. I push alongside her, but it’s barely moving. “No, no, no, no!” She tries with all her might, screaming at the top of her lungs.
“Stand back. I’ll blast it open.”
Since this door isn’t budging with our combined strength, I summon a power move called “Delayed Gasm.” I cup my right hand behind my left hand with my thumbs locked. I charge a massive amount of explosive energy in my hand. Shockwaves pulsate out of my palm in a circular shape. The blast’s trajectory is too broad, so I curl my fingers in to direct it at the door. I let out a forceful yell.
“Umm...what was that about?” Ulrika says. A few seconds later, my power ripples the door open. Wood splinters fly inside, and nothing comes out at us.
“Ah, yes! Thyrna, thank you.”
“Your adoptive mother taught you that?”
“She only showed it to me once. I could barely cast it. I’m glad it worked, or I would’ve used multiple blasts to open this door.”
I rush inside with my sword near my head, ready to strike. Right in front of me, a woman is suspended by a chokehold by a heavily armored cultist. Around the room, men fight the cultist.
“Momma,” Ulrika screams. Her mother’s grip on their forearm drops and dangles. Ulrika lets out a short high shriek. “Momma!”
I catapult my sword into the cultist’s rib cage, sending him flying across the foyer. To the hallway’s right, a black mustache man beheads a cultist then runs over to Ulrika’s mother. They hug, then she looks over at us. Ulrika runs over to them, and I follow behind her.
“Momma, Spyro!” Ulrika says. The men around me take out their targets as I get closer to the two on the ground. Ulrika sheaths her swords and hugs her mother around her arms. “Mom, are you okay?” She checks her neck, hovering her fingers over the red lacerations.
“Is that you, Ulri?” Her mother says. She leans up closer to see Ulrika’s face.
“It’s me.”
“My God, what did you do to your hair?” The jest is enough to bring Ulrika into a weeping smile. Seeing such a wonderful moment nearly puts me in tears.
“Hey, what’s your name?” Spyros says at me.
“Kaioson,” I answer.
“Kaioson the magnificent hero,” Ulrika says. She lunges up to me, giving me a surprise firm kiss. One kiss turns into a lavish smooching session, but I restrain myself due to the fact we’re in a battle.
“Umm...Ulrika.”
“Forgive me.”
“We’ll resume this later, hmm?”
“Maybe,” she whispers, biting down on her lower lip and looking off. “The whole family is gonna drown me in their curious questions on where I went.” She puts her lips near my ear, then rotates my head to it. “After we take down Olly, I’ll need your comfort when I face my family.”
“Scared of them?”
“Just my mom.”
Ulrika pushes me backward towards the door. Her mother yells for her to come back, which makes Ulrika move me into a jogging speed. We move outside back into the fighting. Only a few of the Paladin fighters are here. The majority of our allies here are the city’s soldiers and knights. Haleema and her squad aren’t anywhere to be found in the courtyard, so I assume they’re still down the road.
“Kaio, duck!” I fall to the ground tucking my head down. A powerful gust of wind goes over my head, making my cape twirl. She runs and jumps over me, striking someone behind me. I don’t turn around till I hear a thud.
“Shit, thanks,” I say.
“Come on. We need to clear this place. I don’t want any of these assholes near my family.”
Ulrika and I split into two different directions. She flanks left while I move to my right. I can hear her vicious yells and sharp pitch swords smacking against her opponent’s weapons. As I slay my targets, I listen to the men and women she kills. Just by those sounds alone, I can focus more on my targets without looking over at her.
Just like the battle at Thaa Alora, some of these Nite fighters wield magical abilities. And once again, the aura they process is sickening. One person I’m running up to is using lighting base magic. Unlike real lightning, this ability’s speed doesn’t come out fast, yet his target doesn’t evade it. I spear my sword through their backplate just right before he kills one of the soldiers. Soon after that, I’m attacked by a three-spiked-ball chain mace barbaric man.
“Die, die, die,” he yells, missing me with every swing. It’s almost embarrassing seeing this performance. It’s amateur, wild, sloppy, and backed with an obscene amount of anger.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I say. I blast the weapon out of his hand, but it doesn’t stop him from trying to attack me with his hands.
“Die, die human!”
“Human?” I attempt to catch his hand so I can pull off his face mask, but his punches are painful to stop. He grips me by my collar and yells in my face with such a force that my vision blurs a bit. “Whoa, now. Was that necessary?” Ulrika comes out of nowhere, locking her arms around his neck and throwing him down to the ground away from us.
“What the hell are you doing?” She says.
“Uhh, talking.”
“Huh?!” The man roars as he pounces up at us. I pivot my left side to evade his tackle. Ulrika stabs him right in the gut in mid-air, then tosses his lifeless body off her sword. “Why were you talking with the enemy?”
“Relax. I wasn’t really having a conversation.”
“Oh..so what did you mean by that?”
“He called me human and was keen on wanting me dead. Hey, cover me for a quick sec.” I take off his helmet to peek at what type of person would say that. “Shit.”
“What?”
“It’s an orc.”
“An orc?!”
This isn’t the typical green orc I’m used to seeing. All the key features on his face say he’s an orc. Sharp ears, lower fangs protruding out the lower mouth. But his skin is an ashy green. It’s not the vibrant green I know of.
“These guys are bad news,” I say.
“I know they’re not supposed to be here in predominant human territory, but how bad are you thinking?”
“They’re battle-hardened and can be a major problem one on one.”
“Good thing I had my eye on you.”
“Thanks for the assist.”
“Let’s stick together until this is over.” She puts both swords in her left hand. With her free hand, she yanks me up to my feet. There’s still a sea of Nite targets around us, but our allies seem to be the majority.
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“Let’s swing counter-clockwise and help everyone out.”
“Rodger that!”
Ulrika and I double or triple-team cultists as we move around the front of her house. One by one, we dwindle their numbers. We push them back out into the street, nearing the origin point we came out off. At this point, it’s a losing battle for these cultists here, yet they’re persistent in fighting.
“Let’s stand down. I see no point for us to be in this. These guys know they’ve lost,” I say, slowly backing out.
“Are you sure about that, Kaio?” Ulrika says, standing firm with her swords still up. “Look at them. They’re still trying to kill everyone they can swing at!” Through the gaps of people’s arms, I watch them get picked off until none is standing. Some of the knights begin to overkill, stabbing the bodies on the ground.
“Are you satisfied, Ulrika?”
“Yes. My home is secured from these damned devils.” Her eyebrows are pulled down to the center of her forehead. She places her swords in their scabbards, giving me a frown through the entire process.
“Why are you giving me that look?” Her face stays the same, but a suppressed smile enters from the right corner of her mouth.
“We did it,” she sighs, hugging me.
“Indeed, but we still got some more fighting to do.”
“Or we can just keep the peace here and let the Paladins do their jobs.”
“Ulrika, I can’t morally allow that. We’re here for a reason. Olly is here, and we must find him.” I can tell she doesn’t like my reminder when her smile returns into a dissatisfying frown. “Oh, Ulrika, don’t give me that look.”
“I’m sorry, Kaioson,” she says, covering her mouth. I kiss her forehead to give her some ease in this situation.
Our calm moment gets erupted by an explosion hundreds of feet from us. Bodies fly upward into the sky, and one comes at us in a golden spherical bubble. I push Ulrika out of the way, then blast enough force at the person to slow or defuse their velocity. My power is enough to slow down the rate of speed. I catch them with my body but get knocked on my ass in the process.
“Fuck me,” I say, rolling my side while gripping my ass.
“Haleema? Kaioson?” Ulrika says. Haleema jumps off my body with eyes locked on the explosion.
“Kaioson, Ulrika, get ready! Olly’s here,” Haleema says.
There’s a powerful surge of magic emanating from the epicenter of the blast zone. It makes me feel faint and nauseated. A ball of yellow light comes hurtling towards us, and with it, someone yelling. Any person standing in its way gets ragdolled into the air. Their bodies coil as if there are no bones in their body.
“Kaioson, Ulrika, I need you to help me stop Olly’s charge!” Haleema says. A blimp of blue light covers our body, just like the aura that protected us from the building explosion in Rainor. “Use your magic at full power.”
“Is that really Olly?” Ulrika says.
“Yes!”
I quickly charge up my delayed gasm attack before Olly reaches us. Ulrika and Haleema seem to be ready with whatever they’re going to pull off. I’m worried that his impact will send us flying into the air, so I tether our whole bodies to the ground. Right as I take my eyes off them, he slams into us. We skid back several feet while anyone around us gets blasted away from us.
“Kaioson, what are you doing?” Haleema yells at me.
“My attack has to charge!” I say.
“Hello again, you bitch,” Olly says in a maniacal style of exaggerated laughter. “Are these you’re last remaining pawns? Are they ready to be sacrificed in the of the holy one, Zadione?”
“Fuck you, asshole!” Ulrika says.
“I’m gonna rip that tongue out of your fucking skull!” As we slide across the pavement, he reaches over to Ulrika. His hand goes through his yellow barrier and breaks past her wind shield. “Come here!” One of his fingers manages to touch her right cheek.
“Don’t you touch her,” I scream.
My attack detonates in Olly’s face. He goes flying in the opposite direction while Haleema, Ulrika, and I manage to stay on our feet. The ground beneath us is a crater, but from a quick glance, we’re okay.
“Are you ladies, alright?” I say just to double confirm.
“I’m good,” Haleema says.
“Holy cow! Where did that power come from?” Ulrika says.
Right as I’m about to answer her with a funny, smart remark, Olly flies into me. I tumble backward, slamming my back, legs, and knees on the hard ground. The moment I stop, I’m bombarded with heavy punches from him. I don’t know where to protect myself because all of his hits jump between my face and stomach. He pauses for a moment to grip my jaw. I take the short time to knee his dick and headbutt him square in the nose.
“Ahh,” he yells with his nose covered. He goes for a right hook, but I counter it by sending him on his back. I beat the living shit out of him with more aggression and precise hits to his face.
“Yeah, how does that feel?” I say, lashing out. He grabs both my hands and tries the same counter move I did on him. “That’s not going to work!” I kick him over my head, then stand up to my feet with my fist raised.
“Boy, oh, boy,” he says. He blows out his blood from his nose then pulls out a dagger and sword. “You’re just as deadly as that elven whore. I need to get rid of you both quickly.” I reach back to call my sword to my hand, but someone hands it to me.
“Ulrika?”
“I’m just as or more insane than the both of them combined,” Ulrika says. She points both of her swords at him with her right eye closed. “I will stab your eyes, skin your face, and place your decapitated head on a dunghill.”
“Whoa...”
She leans over to my ear and whispers, “I’m just kidding. I’m not that crazy, but I hope that scared him.”
“Just for that, I’ll save you for last,” he says. He flicks two of his fingers that are holding the dagger. I see a red line beam out and touch her. She drops to the ground as if she fainted.
“Ulrika?” I say. Her eyes are rolled up. She’s breathing but won’t wake up. “What did you do to her?” He laughs at me with his face raised to the sky. “Haleema!” She kneels over Ulrika with her thumb under Ulrika’s right eye. “What’s wrong with her?”
“She’s just knocked out.”
“I’m gonna kill you two!” He says, rushing us.
“Cover me for a sec,” I say.
Haleema nods her head, then warps her staff into her hand. As they duke it out, I sheathe her swords back into their scabbards. I protect her with my body while I find a suitable place to put her that’s far from the fighting. All of the Paladins and knights watch Haleema and Olly fight. I don’t trust any of them to keep Ulrika safe, so the logical conclusion I find is to place her in her home.
I hoist Ulrika into my arms and swing her head down into her chest so it’s not swinging behind her shoulders. Olly has his back turned to me. By Haleema’s quick glances, I believe she might confuse about what I’m doing, so I point with my eyes toward the house. She hammers him with pulsating light. I use the distraction to run over to the house. Her brother, Spyro, and her mother are at the door.
“Oh, gods! My baby,” her mother weeps.
“Ulrika is fine. She’s just unconscious. All of you need to find a secure place to hide until this is all over,” I say, then run back to assist Haleema.
I point my sword at his back to stab him in the cover of the lights. Right when Haleema stops flashing him, I fly with my sword. In the blink of an eye, he splits into two people. Their bodies fade in and out like they’re a heat mirage. I fly between them with my sword aiming for her. My sword stops itself from taking her life but leaves me open for a cheap kick shot to my stomach.
“Missed me!” He says, continuing to fight Haleema but with a doppelganger. I roll on my left side, nearly puking from the massive pain in my stomach. Again, I see people standing around, watching us struggle against this man.
“What are you all doing? Help us defeat him,” I say, coughing between my words. Some of the soldiers charge in with their weapons raised.
“Not today,” Olly’s voice echos. Three purple-colored lightning appear out of nowhere. Big heavily armored cultists wielding spear axes stop the advancement of the assist. “Pave the ground with their blood.” Two of them step back while the third swings at the crowd. Their weapon extends in a straight line, cutting down everyone in my view. “Protect me, my champions, while I try to kill this bitch!”
Three sparks come off Haleema’s body in the middle of the fight, then jump into the sky. They explode into a cloud, just like the crystal that summoned her when Nite attacked Thaa Alora. Rhyndac, Hayden, and Zadock fall out from it.
“You three, take those big guys out! Kaioson, get up and aid me,” Haleema says. I stumble to my feet, still on the edge of wanting to throw up.
I run up to one of Olly’s duplicates without my weapon for a few feet, then call it to my hand to blindside him with a strike. He steps forward just enough that my sword tip cuts through his clothing and maybe an inch deep in the skin. The double that’s attacking Haleema fazes back into the one I cut.
“You bastard,” he says, swinging at me.
“Lucky me,” I say.
Olly combos his sword strikes with jabs from his dagger. Side slashes mixed with forwarding stabs seem to be his main style of maneuvers. All of his moves aren’t random or amateurish compared to his cultist bredren. I can tell whoever trained him has taught him well in magic and swordsmanship. He blasts me away with fire, so he can continue hammering Haleema with magic. The fire warms my whole body, but I know it was a lethal attempt. Such power would’ve incinerated anyone who hasn’t learned to handle fire-based skills. His failure at killing me gave me a boost in mana.
“Haleema, get out of the way!” I say. I coil my left middle and thumb fingers around my mouth. She flies up high in the sky to a safe distance. “Eat this! Dragon acid!”
I take a deep breath and exhale as slowly as I can muster so I won’t waste this moment. Fire comes out from the small hole I’m making. The fire spreads out in a cone, slamming into Olly with a viscosity of water. Some of the fire lands on me, but it has no effect. It doesn’t burn nor radiate with heat.
Haleema lands next to me, gazing at the power of my ability. Olly hasn’t moved from his spot. I can see he’s trying to resist the flames by breaking through the individual sections of the cone.
“Let me help you,” Haleema says. She etches a geometric symbol over her staff’s head, then fires a stream of dark red fire. “There’s no way he can stop this.” I nod my head in agreeance.
“Damn you both!” He yells. I can sense our power is overpowering him. His grunts become more noticeable. “Damnit!”
“Kaioson, we can end him here. This is our chance. We must force everything we got at him.”
I send my sword into its scabbard. Using both my index and thumb, I make a diamond shape hole with my other fingers interlaced. This’ll suck all the air out of my lugs but will be devastating for Olly. Right as air leaves my body to propel a massive fireball, Haleema and I synchronize our shots at him. He explodes, sending us flying back.
Somehow in mid-flight, she manages to pull me in by using a shielded tether. We tightly hold each other as I skid once again on the pavement. Her protection makes the sliding undetectable.
“Are you alright?” she says, hovering inches over my face.
“I’m good,” I say, gasping for air. A lock of Haleema’s curly hair falls, resting against my nose. It’s coarse to the touch yet fragrant.
“Sorry,” she snaps, putting her hair back. One of Olly’s allies falls on their back, with Hayden heroically posing on top of it. His hands are clinched against his hips as he stares into the sky.
“What a showoff.”
“You can say that again.” We laugh but stop when we look at each other again. “Sorry.” She crawls back off me, then Hayden, Zadock, and Rhyndac join us after dispatching their targets.
“Damn, those guys were tough. I’ve never fought anyone like them,” Hayden says.
“Agreed. Rhyndac, did you feel a hint of dark energy flowing within them?” Zadock says.
“Mhmm,” Rhyndac responds with arms crossed. “Nite is getting severely desperate to hire orcs. Speaking of low life bastards, is Olly vanquished?”
“I don’t know,” Haleema answers.
She helps me to my feet, and we walk over to the explosion site. It’s thick with black smoke, making it hard to see. Someone wraps their hands around my chest. Their nails gently claw around my nipples, then they rest their lips behind my left ear.
“Hi, Kaioson,” Rhyndac whispers. I’m frozen yet free to move my head. The smoke around me moves at a stagnant speed.
“Rhyndac? What do you want?”
“Just wanted to check on you. That’s all. No need to sound defensive.”
“I’m fine, now let go of me.”
“Hey, where’s your brawny lover? She’s usually right by your side.”
“She’s unconscious in her home. Olly knocked her out with some sort of single attack.” She hums with laughter and tightens her grip, pressing my back into her large breasts.
“How unfortunate.” The lack of care she’s showing for Ulrika angers me. I manage to break free of her paralyzing grip. “Oh, how’d you do that?” I give her a deep stare to see if it’ll make her leave me alone. All it does is make her giggle. “I’ll go wake her up, so you won’t be alone any further.” Her body morphs into a darker smoke than the one around me. It floats away towards Ulrika’s house, then she reappears back into her actual form.
“What a bizarre woman. I don’t think I'll ever get used to her so-called flirtatious personality.”