A high-pitched screech screams in my ear like a dog whistle, as if the world itself were screaming at me to get up and fight. Why should I? Wouldn’t it be better to die? My left leg feels as if a thousand nails had been jammed into the bone, and the entire world beyond my fluttering eyes was covered in a thick white as if a cloud of ash had settled over me. Maybe I was already dead, and my soul was claimed by whatever came next. Above the screeching earth, permeating even the ash cloud I hear the steady beat of a distant drum.
Ba....dum. Ba...dum. Ba....dum.
It grows slower. More faint those distant drums.
Ba......dum. Ba........dum.
They’re intoxicating. Like a lullaby. Warm. It was warm. Inviting.
Ba.......dum. Ba............dum.
Sleep permeates. Sleep invites, and sleep begins to take me.
Ba......dum. Ba.
Master. Hurts.
Ba dum. Ba dum.
No. No. Now is not the time. Sleep could wait. Sleep had to wait. Two shadows approached through the cloud of ash. The rough leather of the wand was all he could feel at the moment, and the approaching shadows through the ash were all I could see. I knew the words I had to speak. I knew what he had to do. I lifted the wand to the sky and mouthed the words. Barely audible. The words pierced the screeching.
“I implore thee, o’ mighty Djinn,” mana begins to pour through my nose. Dry and hot. “Thou creatures of flame and wind and beauty. Come to my aid.”
Bright, orange blew away the cloud of ash that clouded me. Dry, hot mana is expelled through my pores as robed men scorch all that is around me in a fiery gale. The approaching Dogmen yelp and leap back out of the circle of fire. One thuds to the ground and rolls around in a feeble attempt to put out the flames.
The flow of mana awakens my senses. The first thing that returns, after sight and sound, is the intense feeling of pain radiating through my body. I feel my legs. Good, aside from the pain there’s still some feeling left in them. My fingers brush against the arrow still lodged into my thigh and I wince. I grab hold of the shaft and yank hard. I suppress a cry as the barbs tear muscle and sinew and flesh.
I tap the wand on my forehead and then on my core.
“By the light of Yahweh, God of Gods, and King of Kings.”
I allow the mana to completely fill my body. Unlike the mana from the earth and the air, this mana enters in and permeates without much effort, to the point where I can maintain both flows. Lucky. My left leg is still broken, but at least the bleeding had stopped, and it felt as if an anesthetic had been used, so my entire leg was numb. When the whirling gale stopped, I scrambled up and fell back as I tried to put some of my weight on my broken leg. A whistling draws my attention and I roll as sticks into the ground.
One of the nearby Dogmen was dead — scorched fur and flesh pooled on the ground beside it. The other one was pushing itself off the ground — pink scarred flesh beneath scorched fur shimmered like carnelian. It charges forward. I roll to put its body between myself and the archer; still perched high on the hill.
“By the order of Gob, King of the spirits of the Earth, I order you, oh gnomes, seize my foe.”
The charging Dogman lurches forward. A large hand had wrapped its way around its middle and held it in place. As the archer nocked another arrow, I pointed my wand at it.
“An awl, O’ thou servants of Gob the Highest, to strike my enemies.” The mana leaves, yet nothing happens.
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Gob, you bastard what are you doing?
As soon as its fingers let go of the bowstring, I roll over and bring up my left arm. The arrow strikes against the plate and skitters off. The hand crumbles and the struggling Dogman falls onto a pile of stone and soil, and in the distance the archer yelps. A spike had risen from the ground and impaled the distant creature.
The spear-wielding Dogman pushes itself off the ground.
“An arrow, o’ Djinn.” I speak.
Flame and air mix together at the tip of my wand into the shape of an arrow. It roars as it flies and strikes the Dogman in the face. The arrow explodes. Tendrils of flame and wind wrap around the Dogman’s head. As it opens its maw to howl in pain, the wind and air rush down his throat. It thrashes around on the ground as its lungs expand with the air and fire. A loud pop exudes from it and it lays still.
I press my bag against the ground and stare at the swirling foggy skies. I was alive. I was alive. My entire body shakes. I roll over to vomit, then roll back onto my back. I was alive. My lip quivers as hot tears roll down my cheek. I am alive. I made it. I wipe the tears away from my eye. I wasn’t out of the fire yet.
I pull myself across the grass and grab hold of the spear. I stick the pointed end into the ground and use it to pull myself up, and then use it as a crutch to lean against.
“What happened there? What was that explosion.”
“Air and earth manas are opposites, they do not mix.”
“Is fire and water the same?”
“Yes.”
“You couldn’t have fucking told me that before? Fuck.”
“You didn’t ask.”
I sigh.
“Show me my stats. I want to see something. Why is my magic so much stronger than before?”
NAME: LAWRENCE ABLE
AGE:30
OCCUPATION: NOVICE MAGE
LEVEL: 10
EXPERIENCE: 300/1000
ADDITIONAL STAT POINTS 0
SKILL POINTS 0
STATS:
STRENGTH: 14(-2)
STAMINA: 14(-4)
PERCEPTIVENESS: 10 (+3)
INTELLIGENCE: 17
CREATIVITY: 16
ENDURANCE: 14 (-6)
MAGIC: 22 (+2)
“How did my magic stat go up so much?”
“Through the use of Mana Manipulation and Mana Sensing.”
“That happens?”
“Yes.”
“Huh.”
I wince as I accidentally put some weight on my leg.
“Show me my skills. I want to see what those ‘djinn,’ spells were. First, what is a Djinn?”
“They are beings of living air and fire.”
“Like elementals?”
“No. They do not have authority over air and fire. They are merely composed of them.”
“Is there a difference?”
“It’d be like calling you a meat elemental.”
“Just show me my skills. I don’t need the snark at the moment.”
The screen shifts and widens to show me my skill page:
MAGIC
LESSER HEAL 30/999
EMBER 12/999
ENSNARE 12/999
ROCK THROW 3/999
GUST 5/999
MEDITATION 6/999
SALAMANDER’S BREATH 1/999
FLAME BOLT 2/999
DJINN’S DANCE 2/999
EARTH SPIKE 3/999
DJINN’S ARROW 1/999
CLOSE QUARTERS COMBAT
JAB 13/999
STRAIGHT 12/999
HOOK 16/999
GRAPPLE 20/999
BITE 1/999
WEAPONS:
SPEAR 4/999
KNIFE 2/999
DAGGER 8/999
PASSIVE SKILLS:
MAGIC AFFINITY 10/999
DUELING 4/999
HEALING AFFINITY 13/999
MANA SENSITIVITY 12/999
FIRE AFFINITY 10/999
EARTH AFFINITY 10/999
WIND AFFINITY 8/999
GRIT 10/999
SHADOW RESISTANCE 3/999
PAIN TOLERANCE 18/999
MANA MANIPULATION 11/999
CRIME SKILLS:
LOOTING 12/999
SNEAKING 3/999
AMBUSH 5/999
CONJURATION SKILLS
FAMILIAR CONTRACT 3/999
I’m surprised about how much higher a lot of the skills have gotten. I look down to the “Conuration skills,” section.
“Familiar contract is a conjuration skill?”
“Yes.”
“What is conjuration?” I ask.
“The ability to call forth beings using your magic.”
“Does that mean I can summon Clio here? And she’ll be here? And shadow as well?”
“Yes, though it will be dangerous for them.”
“As in the conjuration can go wrong?”
“No. You are bringing them into a warzone. Look around you, do you believe your animals would have been able to survive this?”
I do as he said. The bodies of many beings lay broken, burned, and shattered. Honestly, I should have been one of them. The grass is torn and scorched, and the very earth has changed in some places.
“Okay, thank you.” I sigh.
The Shard’s screen closes, and I begin to hobble in the direction of the garrison, confident that the temple was near.