I really don’t get how out of shape I am given how much running I have to do in my line of work. It just makes no bloody sense how I have so little stamina when I’ve spent five years running from soldiers, bounty hunters, criminals, monsters, and now dragons and combat mages.
On a hunch I’d gone to scout out the entrance to the Forest of Familiars. While Sheena and Alverd stayed with Alicia, I figured I’d at least make sure we weren’t in danger of being blindsided by the eventual attempt by the Magister Lords to hunt us down. While the Magisters were likely to be cautious about being overwhelmed by wild familiars or even damaging the fragile magical ecosystem of their forest, their patience was bound to run thin eventually.
Sure enough, my hunch was right. From my vantage point about sixty feet from the forest’s gated entrance, hidden behind a tree with a wide trunk, I could clearly see the column of combat mages marching in through the warded gate. Walking in two-by-two, combat staves in hand, gleaming white and gold uniforms with blue half capes hanging over their right shoulders, the combat mages looked like more than just standard rank and file.
The way they fell in behind the two Magisters in perfect lockstep led me to believe that they had to be the personal guard of the Council. Both of them had four mages. I would’ve brought more than that. Either these guys are better than they look or they must be seriously underestimating us. I squinted to try and get a better look at the Magisters themselves.
One of them was Zajj. The Attendant of Elemancy stood out like a sore thumb with his doom-and-gloom aesthetic. Dark eyes, dark robes, bitter-looking expression, the man looked like he had woken up this morning and chosen violence. The other Magister was one I didn’t know the name of. She was of middling height and build, but had a pair of antlers protruding from her brown hair, a gold circlet perched on her forehead, and a number of shiny magical trinkets swaying from said antlers. She had bronze skin and amber eyes, an angular face with a sharp chin, and a pair of necklaces with nearly a dozen runes strung into each one.
My heart nearly stopped when I focused on the necklaces. The runes were designed to intercept, negate, and counteract magic, specifically in the process of its casting. She was a practitioner of nullification magic. Godsdammit. That’s going to complicate things. Any spell I try to cast is gonna fizzle out before I can even aim, and I’m willing to bet those runes will even work on Sheena too. Nullification runes weren’t cheap, and they were worth every gold piece because they were a proven method of shutting down a mage fast.
I didn’t realize the Algrustians had a whole school built around nullification magic. But if this Magister is here, that means she’s gotta be the ace up their sleeves. A quick glance confirmed my suspicions: she was the only one with nullification runes. Makes sense. Wouldn’t want their own guys to get caught in the area of effect. It was at that moment that I saw a man enter the Forest at the head of yet another group of mages, and my eyes widened in shock.
Lord Albrecht was decked out in a combat mage’s uniform, albeit a more extravagant one with a reinforced plate of metal over his chest, and both a rune-enchanted sword at his hip and a combat staff in his hand. He wasn’t a captive. He was the one in charge of this incursion. I felt bitter bile rise up in my throat. It was him! He was the one behind all of this!
It makes perfect sense. All the while he pretends to be at odds with the Magisters and Sheena’s only ally, but in reality he’s working with them to undermine her. He knows how to play off her fears, insecurities and failings to hand the Magisters the rhetoric they spoon-feed to the Algrustian public. My mind raced as I put it all together. Then I frowned.
But then why bring Alicia back to us? If he and the Magisters are all buddy-buddy, it would make sense that he’d at least know about the assassin, and probably be the one who ordered the hit. So why save her? As I tried to make sense of what was going on, Albrecht began to issue orders to the mages.
“My guard will remain here at the entrance. Zajj, you and Katrile will take your men and scour the Forest for the others. Do what you will with the Ishmarian and her hangers-on, but we need Sheena alive.”
Zajj spat on the ground. “Don’t tell me what to do, Albrecht. I can think for myself. We wouldn’t be in this situation if you had-”
Albrecht cuffed the smaller human man over the head with his staff. Zajj snarled, then brandished his combat staff, a searing red blade of magical energy shaped like a hooked eagle talon emanating from its tip. “Try it again, lizardblood scum! I dare you! I’ll rip your entrails right out of you!” Growling like a territorial dog, he took up a stance with bent knees, ready to pounce.
Then his staff’s magic blade fizzled and popped before fading out of existence. The other Magister, Katrile, had put out her hand. Several of the runes on her necklaces were cycling between red, blue, and black flashes of light, and she sneered at Zajj.
“Save it, Zajj. Ishmarians aren’t known for being smart. You, on the other hand, have no excuse for acting like a whiny brat.”
Ishmarian? I was thrown for a loop for a second. Albrecht is Ishmarian? And the Magisters know about that? What the actual hell is going on? Alverd had mentioned that Alicia had muttered something nonsensical about him during her period of unconsciousness, but he hadn’t given me any details. Regardless, if what I was hearing was true, then the conspiracy against Sheena was even more complex than I thought.
I wanted to stay and see what else I could find out, but I knew that every second I did was a risk of being discovered. Maybe Sheena can shed some light on this. Right now, I’ve got to get back. I was about to sneak away when Albrecht spoke again. “Yet I was the one who found out about the Slumbering Calamity hidden beneath the Academy. The one that was never accounted for. I also found out how to activate it without the help of your illustrious Council. So what does that make you, Katrile?”
Wait. Hold up. I shrank back against the tree. Sheena said the Calamities were weapons of war. That they were giant golems hidden beneath the Ivory Palace. So why is there one under the Academy? And what does that mean, unaccounted for? I was going to lean forward to hear better when something tugged at the hem of my robe. I whirled around in surprise.
A small, red-furred fox was pulling at my robe with her teeth. Now having my full attention, she pawed at my leg before pointing her snout in the direction I’d come from, back towards my friends.
“Deotra, wait.” My little familiar yowled at me indignantly, then took hold of my robe again and started trying to pull me away. It was cute, but ultimately futile. “Stop that!” I mumbled. I tried to pull my robe out of her mouth, but as I did so I put my weight down on my foot, which was precariously perched on the root of the tree. I lost my balance as my foot slipped sideways off the root, and in the process of throwing my hand out to cushion my fall, it fell upon a twig and snapped it in half.
Shit.
A second later, a beam of glowing light hit the tree about seven inches above my head, gouging a hole straight through it and filling my nostrils with the scent of scorched wood. I rolled onto my back, grabbing Deotra and pulling her tight to my chest. Three more beams proceeded to disintegrate the tree, two of which would have hit me had I not moved away in time. Scrambling to my feet, Deotra still held securely, I ran as fast as I could.
I wasn’t going to outrun the mages, not by a long shot. Still, I could slow them down. Concentrating body heat into the staff Deotra had given me, I waved it at the surrounding vegetation. It caught quickly, almost too quickly for me to believe, and as I ran the scenic forest behind me turned into a blazing inferno. Did I just threaten the entire Forest ecosystem with that fire? Probably. Do I have time to worry about that? Nope.
A lucky shot glanced off my right shoulder, pushing me to the left and into a nearby tree. Rebounding off of it, I landed flat on my back, nursing the front of my face where I had impacted the bark. Over the sound of the fire, I heard Zajj’s voice.
“Go around! Find the Witch-Queen. And I don’t care what Albrecht says, if she won’t come quietly then take her by force.” From my place on the ground, I watched his upside-down form stroll through the fire as his staff parted the flames like some kind of devil straight from a nightmare.
“I’ll deal with this one.”
The talon-shaped blade emerged from his staff, and he made his way over to where I was lying. I rolled to the side and stood up, trying not to sway as I put my weight on my unsteady knees. “I don’t suppose we could settle this over tea and crumpets, could we?” Zajj let out a war cry and pulled a fireball from his chest, the seething orb painting eerie orange light over his already villainous face.
“Guess not. Oh well.” I leveled my new staff at him, finding my footing at last. “Come on, tough guy. Hit me with your best shot.” The greasy-looking Magister flung the fireball at me, and almost without thinking I waved my staff in front of me, conjuring up the shimmering shield I’d used in the past to block similar spells.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
This time, however, as my hands guided the staff through the motion, I could feel an invisible force tug my arms through a different set of loops and twists. The circle became a figure eight, and when the shield burst into being, it was a burning dark blue like a freshly lit match rather than the normal ice water color it had before. Zajj’s fireball impacted it head on, and instead of it exploding, the shield “ate” the spell, absorbing the magic into itself without so much as a whimper.
Zajj’s mouth fell open in shock. Seeing his guard down, I pointed the staff at him. “You oughta get that looked at, pal. You could be that one in five mages the doctors are always talking about.” Then I propelled the stored magical energy out through the ruby and Zajj’s fireball shot back at him, now blue and three times bigger to boot. He was able to throw up his own defensive spell, but the fireball detonated on contact with it.
I saw him get thrown against a nearby tree, the spot where he’d been only a second earlier now a smoking crater. As he lay on the ground groaning, I saw Deotra dancing around my feet, a pleased look on her vulpine face. I leaned down and patted her head, and she purred with satisfaction. As Zajj hauled himself back up, I willed energy into the staff for a lightning bolt.
Power flowed into the staff, but instead of it coming from a singular source within my body like normal, it seemed to draw from my fingers, feet, heart and mind all at once. It’s almost like the staff is able to intuit my attack and aid me in the casting. The trick is not to fight it, but work with it. I had to cut off the flow from my heart, as a sudden burst of pain in my chest caught me off guard. Crap, maybe a little too intuitive. Moderating this thing is gonna take some doing.
Still, there was more than enough juice to not only put a lightning spell together, but to make it more effective than ever. I hope this guy likes it extra crispy. Angling the staff, I bent my back knee to brace myself and let my spell loose.
The sheer force of the bolt that came out from the staff was almost enough to knock me off my feet, even with my foot dug in and my weight pushed forward. Instead of a singular bolt, the front end of the Staff of Farewells discharged a continuous stream of multi-pronged lightning, gouging streaks into the ground and nearby trees as it sought out Zajj. The Magister was unable to shield himself in time and several bolts converged on him, electrocuting him, and pinning him against the tree he’d hit earlier.
After a full ten seconds of turning Zajj into a human lightning rod, my staff finally ran out of power and the bolts faded. I don’t even feel winded at all. Hell, I bet I could do a dozen more of those. I may not fully understand what’s up with this staff yet, but damn if it isn’t exciting. For his part, Zajj coughed and sputtered, his clothes smoking, the air smelling like burnt skin and torched fabric.
“What… What the hell are you?” He wheezed, barely able to stand. “Your elemancy is on a completely different level. I’ve studied it my entire life and I’ve never conjured power like yours.” He weakly patted out a small flame on his shoulder. “How can some idiot from a rural hellhole hope to match a premier practitioner like myse-”
I shot him straight in the chest with a weaker lightning bolt, although I was sorely tempted to make it stronger. “Whaaaaat? You’re actually not on top of the food chain after all? Shocker.” I chuckled immaturely. “Listen, jackass. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll tell me what Albrecht’s plan is. And lose the high and mighty act while you’re at it.”
Like a sniveling weasel, Zajj shrunk into himself for a moment while he considered his options. Seeing that he had none, he sighed and tried to straighten himself a bit. “High and mighty? You don’t know the half of it. Albrecht doesn’t bother keeping me in the loop. I’m just the Council’s attack dog. You know how it is with elemancers. No nuance, no subtlety, just big explosions. I’m not important enough to know about the big picture, just enough to get rid of the obstacles in its way.”
Well, that’s an interesting take. Not sure I’ve ever heard anyone admit they weren’t essential to the giant evil conspiracy that the big boss man was cooking up before. “You’ve gotta know something, otherwise you’re just wasting my time.”
Zajj spat on the ground. “I was getting to that. What I do know is that Albrecht needs the Witch-Queen alive for something. Involves the Slumbering Calamity he found.”
He grunted in pain, then continued. “The former Wizard-King had some fun little notes stashed away somewhere, and Albrecht found them. Figured out that some time ago, a previous ruler found a way to build a bigger, better Calamity than the ones we already had. But it wasn’t just about making it more powerful, it was about fixing a key design flaw that the older Calamities had.”
“I don’t know the specifics. He didn’t inform me of why he needs Sheena alive. But I’m smart enough to guess.” He smirked at me, baring his teeth. “Every time the Calamities were activated, people died. Ishmarians, Algrustians, and even members of the royal family. It makes you wonder. A fifty foot tall golem made of dormicite that can yank a dragon out of the sky and stomp on it like vermin? Capable of shooting magic in every direction with more power than a dozen mages can accomplish working in tandem?”
He leaned forward with a manic look in his eyes. “Where does something like that get its power from? Why can’t it just operate indefinitely? Eventually the Calamities have to go back to sleep and we let them lie dormant for years before the Ishmarians come back and we have to do it all over again. The power has to come from somewhere, right?”
As the blood froze in my veins, Zajj continued. “Sheena is a spirit contractor. Her blood is infused with the power of magic, reinforced over countless generations of pureblooded elf royals all gifted with magical talent. Even someone like me can read the writing on the wall, especially when it’s written in blood.” He began to laugh.
“I’m gonna bet she’s the final ingredient. Somehow, using her, this new Calamity will be activated and remain functional permanently. And when it works, we’ll have the weapon we need to crush Ishmar once and for all, and no more annoying Witch-Queen to stand in the way of that war.”
I snorted. “I guess this is the part where you lament that you would’ve gotten away with it if not for us meddling adventurers, huh?”
“No, this is the part where I express amazement that I distracted you long enough for my men to sneak up on you.”
The Staff of Farewells reacted before I did, pulling my arm up and into the series of movements needed to conjure a shield, although this time it was in the shape of a box with an x through it. The shield flickered into place as two blasts hit me from behind, the twin lances of ice molding into the surface of the shield without a sound.
Looking over my shoulder, I could see two of Zajj’s guards running towards me, their combat staves pointed forward like spears, more ice lances shooting out, twin blades of crimson energy already angling to skewer me. Pushing off from the tree, Zajj screamed and ignited his talonlike blade, also charging from the complete opposite direction.
Dammit Kuro, you forgot Rule Four. Never let the other guy monologue, just blast him in the face and be done with it. With my attackers bearing down on me, I tried to decide which ones to respond to. There’s not enough time. I could hit Zajj but his minions will run me through, but if I turn he’ll slice me like beef at the butcher’s block.
Then something bounded off my shoulder and towards the two combat mages. A tiny blue ball of fire, foxlike in shape, landed on one of them, scrabbling up onto his face, and proceeding to claw at his eyes furiously. With the most adorably murderous battle cry ever, Deotra savaged the combat mage’s face with teeth and claws. He dropped his staff and tried to pry her off, but to no avail. His friend stopped to try and pull her off, but a swipe of her tail sent blue fire into his eyes and he too shrieked in pain. That’s my girl.
Staring down Zajj, I lowered the shield and ran towards him. Holding onto the Staff of Farewells with both hands, I could feel it feeding an image of what it could do into my mind. The power to turn my enemy’s strength against them, to wield it even as I steal it out from under them. There isn’t any kind of magic in the whole world like this. As Zajj swung his staff at me, I thrust the Staff of Farewells forward to parry.
As soon as the horizontally oriented Staff of Farewells made contact with Zajj’s, his blade sputtered out. The ruby at the end of the Staff of Farewells sparked once, twice, then turned a deep amethyst before a clear, glasslike teardrop-shaped blade of humming purple light emanated from it. Both Zajj and I stared at it, the majesty, beauty, and unexpectedness of such a spectacle enrapturing us both.
At that moment, while he was mesmerized by the blade, I pivoted my left foot, stepped forward on my right, and with a twist of my body, swung the front of the staff forward and sliced his head clean off his shoulders. There was barely a sound as the teardrop blade scythed through his neck, and not even a hiss of exhalation as his head parted from his body. A second later, both hit the ground, and I was left standing, the victor in our little scuffle.
I was about to catch my breath when Deotra barreled into me in her humanoid form. She wrapped her arms around me and nuzzled my face with her own, her eyes full of tears, her fox ears plastered against the sides of her head in worry.
“Are you alright?! I was so worried. I let my guard down and those men snuck up on you. Please forgive me.”
I ran my hand through her messy hair, scritching the back of one ear. “It’s fine. I’m not hurt. You did well, Deotra.” She squeezed me tighter, and I found it a little difficult to breathe. “Okay, okay, I get it. You were scared. I promise I’m not angry.”
She looked up at me, sniffling. “I’ll do better next time, so don’t hate me. Please don’t abandon me.”
Oh gods. Her eyes. She had a desperate look, like she had jumped to the worst possible conclusion and was already thinking of ways to make it worse. “Hey, calm down. I said I wasn’t angry. I’m not going to abandon you.” I hugged her tight. “I should’ve been paying better attention. It’s not your fault. If anything, you’re the reason I’m still alive.”
By chance, I looked over her shoulder at the two dead combat mages behind her. I immediately regretted that decision, as they no longer had any recognizable facial features to speak of. I felt my stomach lurch, but averted my gaze before it could get any worse. Beneath me, Deotra spoke, and her voice was full of hate and determination. Her eyes were dull and hollow, and seemingly devoid of anything resembling compassion.
“That’s right. I’d never let anyone hurt you. Never.”
Why do I get the sense that the danger hasn’t yet passed?
I coughed tersely. “I have to warn the others. Can you do me a favor?” Deotra’s eyes lit back up, sparkling at the prospect of earning my approval.
“Anything for you.” I shuddered a bit, then spoke. “Can you scout for the rest of the mages, then meet me back at our camp? I may have an idea on how to get us out of this.”
She cocked her head to the side. “How do you plan on doing that?”
I gave her a sly grin. “Trust me, you’re probably going to enjoy it.”