4/5/54

ALEXANDER GALDUR

Sprinting across the rocky terrain, I climbed hills and surveyed the artificial landscape from the many overhangs, cliffs, and rock-formed spires. Glancing at the clock tower, as we had come to call it, the words in bold clearly stated “Fight.” Using a small pump of light magic, I was able to maneuver across the difficult ground while my mind was occupied by the thoughts of the plan my team and I had crafted. At the moment, I searched for the enemy team. Once I had found them, I would return back to the group with the information, and we would make our attack.

The plan was composed of a few parts, and right now, we’re in the initial phases. After scaling a particularly high pillar of rock and dirt, I could see some undefined figures in a deep chasm. The chasm itself was a crack that continued underneath the surface. From there, I could barely see five indistinct humanoid figures doing… Something. Choosing to test my luck to come back with better information, I moved in a little closer, so I could tell what exactly the enemy was doing.

After descending from the pillar and going prone on top of a nearby hill, I could see all of them down there. Within the chasm, I could see them building defenses in the concave part of the walls surrounding them. The first thing that drew my eye were the walls of ice and the literal fortress being formed from a light blue material. It was ice, and despite it being decently warm, the ice stood tall, completely solid without showing even the slightest hint that it might be melting. A cold mist rolled from the structure, the temperatures around the wall dropping in accordance with the magic’s type.

Around the building, vines slithered around and decorated the earthen walls and ground. The roof of the indent they were in had dangling vines wriggling themselves into hard-to-spot nooks and crannies. Plant life started becoming more and more prominent by the second.

The two people building defenses weren’t the only ones working. Others were discussing their plans as well as prying loose rocks and earth to make cover that they could hide behind as well as obstruct our to-be approach. Deciding I had seen enough, I quickly crept out of sight and rushed to inform the others. Looking around, I followed a few stand-out landmarks and made my way back to the temporary place we decided to call our base.

“Okay, *huff* I-I found them. They’re- *huff* they’re around two miles from the clock tower in a chasm.” I wheezed. The difference between running across flat terrain and this badlands-type of environment was clear from the first few steps.

“Alright. Thank you, Lucas,” Henrietta ignored my fish-like gasping, “Remember: Lucas will guide us to where he spotted them. From there we’ll see what kind of set up they’re going with and respond appropriately. Preferably, we can go with the envelopment of a single flank, but we need to be able to adapt.”

“Hold on, Henrietta.” I interrupted, wanting to get in one final piece, “From what I saw, they were building defenses.”

“They were? Okay, in that case, they’re probably going to attack from a defensive position. In that case, envelopment of a single flank is definitely the right move. Lucas, what kind of defenses did they have?” Henrietta asked.

Responding quickly, I answered, “There were walls and ramparts of ice. They've settled in a chasm. It had an overhang that covered attacks from above and walls to keep the attacks coming from a single direction. In addition, there were vines and plant-life everywhere. They were moving too, crawling across the ceiling, walls, and ground. Finally, the members who’s magic wasn’t suited to building defenses had started digging up earth from the surrounding areas to make cover.”

“Hmm, in that case, we’ll need someone who can put up some pressure from the front to distract them from our attack. Okay, Tomos, Max, Fiona, you three need to head up the front. Tomos, it’ll be your job to protect everyone from projectiles. Max, set up traps behind you, and build walls in the front. Take some of the heat off of Tomos while preparing for attacks from behind. Fiona, you’ll need to be our frontal assault. Don’t worry about getting hurt, that’s what the other two are for. Just put up some pressure to keep their attention. If you can, try to take out their defenses. Lucas, I need you to get us to the side of their base. Preferably near the overhang. How steep are the walls?”

“About as close to a sheer drop as it can get.” I replied quickly.

“Is that so?” She pondered, “Okay, in that case, I’ll boost you up with cortisol, dopamine, testosterone, adrenaline, and endorphins while decreasing their testosterone and estrogen and raising their melatonin levels. From there, I'll need you to climb down the wall and attack them. Try to take a few out and then get out of there. Fiona, you provide covering fire for Lucas so he can escape, Alright?”

“Yes.” Fiona and I responded in sync.

“Good. We go now.”

Guiding them turned out to be a rather easy affair. Following a much more direct route, it was a simple hop, skip, and a jump to the small crack in the ground that the enemy called their base. Seeing the ever growing structures and defenses growing from even a distance, the five of us split off at a declining road down to their fortress. Tomos determinedly, Max nervously, and Fiona purposefully strode down the earthen road, high walls of rock and dirt funneling them like cows to the slaughter.

On our end, Henrietta and I rushed ahead of them, both us not using magic to stay in top shape for the battle-to-come. We made it to the overhang much faster than the other three, so now it was just the waiting game. In the tense and somber silence, Henrietta eventually pointed out the arrival of the other three. They walked in, Tomos and Max sandwiching Fiona in a tightly-knit formation. We weren’t the only ones to see them, however, I heard the yelling below of people coming to attention. I couldn’t see anything happening, but vines began snaking towards the three, and ice shifted around to make a single, solid wall with slits in it to see out of and attack from.

Worried about the oncoming battle, I walked over to the side of the cliff to get a better view. Let’s see one, two, three… Wait. Hold on. Counting, recounting, calling Henrietta over and counting again, my worries were solidified as I realized there were only three of our enemies down there. Then the battle began.

The first thing that happened was a blast of water impacting Max in the chest. He was sent back about six feet, and when he got up, he limped and grasped his side. Tomos responded in suit with a spherical energy dome forming out of glowing blue triangles that interlocked into a tightly-woven barrier. Water impacted the magic, but it was repelled off the dome with considerable force instead of doing anything that could be considered damaging. Max, crouching, started placing down runes within the barrier.

He reached a hand out of the barrier, part of the shield dissolving to let him through, the detail so small that the enemy didn’t notice and created and activated a rune. A thick wall of ink shot out of the ground, swirling and glimmering because of its liquid-quality. A water beam hit it, but the result was like someone aiming a hose into a pool.

Fiona used the time to aim past through the barrier, a flaming arrow forming in the drawn-back string of the bow, and when released, it flew. A triangular panel receded into nothing, and with speeds that guns fluster at, the arrow exploded against one of the fortress walls before I could blink. Chunks of ice flew off the wall, but the shattered pieces disappeared as the wall reformed.

And so, the battle continued. I searched back and forth for the missing members of the enemy team. Suddenly, I caught a glimpse of two rapidly-moving objects; I squinted and saw two people approaching our distraction team from behind. A strong wind pushed them along, the swirling trail of dust behind them being proof of that.

I realized that they were doing the same thing we were, a very similar formation drawing my attention. They must’ve sent these two out to scout and make an attack that would’ve led us straight into their lying trap. They returned after not finding anything, only to find the sounds of battle echoing across the arid environment. Now, our distraction team would be taken out by the very same pincer attack we aimed for.

Stressing out over what to do, a nervous sweat formed on my brow. Then, I remembered something.

Riiiight. I can do that, can’t I?

MAXIMILLIAN WELLS

Mana draining rapidly, tensions high, and no real progress to speak of, I felt like throwing up. I just wanted to become a member of the DME to be someone’s hero, but this pressure is overwhelming. Noises so loud I thought I might go deaf, exhaustion actually tangible from the magic being used, and I just want to stop and curl up.

Taking a breath, I tried to settle my nerves. It’s just too much stress, and I feel like I’m failing the team. The ink walls I created can barely withstand a couple attacks, nothing’s come close enough to activate my traps and defenses, and all I can do is just mindlessly draw these runes.

I hate this feeling. Feeling useless. Worthless.

Startling me from my self-loathing, a bright, flashing arrow appeared. The three of us all looked at the sign and then looked at where it was pointing. Behind us, rushing down the only road to and from here, two people were sprinting with dust billowing behind them.

At first, I thought it might’ve been Lucas and Henrietta, but once I focused on their details, it was clear it wasn’t. Fumbling around, I didn’t know what to do until Fiona launched an arrow of fire at them. They evaded it, one of them diving right onto one of my runes. It activated, and a pillar of ink hammered into the one in the front. He was launched five feet into the air, limbs flailing at the sudden attack.

An updraft of an unknown source blasted into him from below, softening his fall from a concussion-causing cropper to a dizzy, discombobulating dive. He groaned and forced himself to his feet with the help of his teammate.

Suddenly, the blinking sign disappeared—along with my pity party. I was useful. I wasn’t an active member like the others. Instead, I prepared, and I fortified, and I was a helpful support member of the team. And I’ll support them even more.

ALEXANDER GALDUR

Now that the warning was delivered, I relaxed my light magic, feeling the rapid drain cut off. The distance between myself and my magic increased the consumption rate exponentially, but I could still manage it. Now, though, I was preparing for something that would be considerably more exhausting.

“Lucas, are you ready to go?” Henrietta asked as I stretched my muscles.

“I guess. I’ll head down there now. You’ll give me a buff and handle the enemies?”

“Yeah, you should be okay to head down… Now.”

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For a moment I was the same, then, in a rush of power, I felt my body start shaking with uncontrolled energy. My focus increased but I also felt like my thoughts were suddenly running in parallel with one another. The exhaustion that had built up was gone, flushed out by pure power. My body was light, my muscles were tense, and all the aches and pains I had just disappeared.

I nodded at Henrietta and activated my light magic. Suddenly, I was rushing down the cliff face. My fears, anxiety, and worries about being caught or slipping and falling or any other number of awful things were no more. Clumsily but quickly, I scuttled down the wall. Once I was on the ground, I turned off my magic so I wasn’t a big, glowing target and hid in the shadows.

There were three people, each of them controlling one part of the fortress. A toned and muscular woman with green hair controlled the vines, a frail and small woman with icy hair was building their defenses, and a man with blue and brown hair was creating balls of water that then shot out in the form of pressurized streams.

Thinking about which person would be the best to take care of, I decided to attack their only form of offense from here. Bursting out of the shadows with pure light flooding through my veins, I sped towards the man. He didn’t even notice the sound of my footsteps as I rushed in and delivered a jab, cross, and left hook into his back and side.

He yelped in pain and spun around, but before he could retaliate, I jabbed twice that were followed by a cross, a left hook, a right hook, and an off-hand uppercut. Because he had twisted around so quickly, he needed a moment to register everything that was happening, and all my attacks landed in that second of disorientation.

The jabs hit his nose, stunning him, and the cross was the straw that broke the camel's back—or rather, in this case, broke the guy's nose. Not giving him the chance to react, the left hook jerked his head to the right… Where it was jerked to the left by my right hook. Finishing him off, my clumsily done uppercut was still powerful enough to send him sprawling on the ground.

Knowing that he could still power through his injuries, I grabbed his head and let a burst of light erupt from my palm into his eyes. Now, I wasn’t sure if his buddies noticed the sudden elimination of their teammate from his yelps of pain, but the scream that followed in response to the blinding finisher definitely did.

Choosing that retreat was probably the most wise course of action, I started sprinting back the way I came. After making it only about three feet or so, something tough and strong wrapped around my ankle. Suddenly, I was jerked into the air and when I looked down—no, actually up—I saw a thick, green vine had tightly coiled around my leg. While hanging in the air, I looked around and saw the green-haired woman with her arm raised in my direction. Her fist was already closed, but she made her grip tighter, and the vine tensed and began crushing my ankle.

My bones creaked under the pressure and a loud yelp cut through the air. As the vine’s grip grew tighter and tighter, I felt a jerk from inside of myself.

My vision grew dark, everything around growing dimmer. Colors faded into monochrome grays, and something raged against my will. Then, in a burst of color, an arrow made of pure flame streaked through the air. In a small, controlled explosion, the vine holding me up was severed.

I dropped, luckily landing on my back instead of my head. Still though, air was forced from my lungs in a painful gasp, and I was left wheezing. Forcing past the breathlessness and pain, in a mixture of fear of both the enemy and myself, I scrambled away. Arduously, I struggled up the cliff face. Right as I was about to put my hand on the next handhold, a spike of ice shot out of the side of the cliff.

Surprised, I lost focus and slid down the cliff. My body scraped against the rough exterior of the rocks until I managed to slow myself down enough to keep still. Looking up, I could see that where I once was previously, four spikes were jutting out from where my limbs were previously.

Those fuckers were about to skewer me.

Rushing along, I slipped a few more times, leaving my skin scraped and bloody, but every time I did, I avoided another spike from skewering me.

Eventually, after a long, hard, and painful experience, I reached the top of the cliff. They probably could have blocked off my exit entirely, but my guess was that they were too busy dealing with the other three to focus on an escaping enemy.

I glanced at my allies fighting, but I was startled at the scene before me. There were two people lying on the ground unconscious. One was Tomos and the other was one of the attackers. Actually, Max was also on the ground, but he wasn’t unconscious. Yet.

The guy with blonde hair who seemed to have some form of wind control sat on Max's chest, fingers wrapped tightly around Max's throat. Max gasped for air and flailed, but without a proper look at the surface he was working on, he wouldn't be able to create his runes. While the man was bloodied and hurt, it was clear that Max was even more so, and with a lack of air and an excess of panic, Max was unable to assemble a plan to escape his predicament. After a long few seconds, Max finally went limp, the oxygen deprivation finally making his brain shut off. Then, after a second more of keeping his windpipe closed, the man unsteadily stood up.

While still registering the sight of my friend being strangled, I noticed that someone was missing from the body count. After looking at every detail around, I realized that Fiona was indeed missing. She must have run away during the fight after realizing it was a lost cause. I wanted to blame her for the choice, but it was the right decision at the moment. It’s better if we can regroup and replan than just being left with an inadequate scout and a support member.

I relayed the observation to Henrietta to which she responded, “I know. I was watching from up here. She took a shot at the vine holding you up from over there.” She then pointed to a boulder on the opposite side of the chasm. I strained my eyes to see if I could spot her, and I caught a glimpse of red and orange hair as she peeked over her cover.

“Should we go to her? She seems to have a better position than us.” I asked.

Henrietta shook her head, “No, if I saw her go there, the chances are the enemy saw too. We’ll choose a different location, and while I go there, you guide Fiona to where we choose.”

I nodded along as it made sense, and she chose a small overhang to hide under. It was relatively close by with some cliff faces blocking it from direct sight. We had to walk around just to find it, so hopefully it will give us some protection for a little longer. Wordlessly, we split up, myself heading towards Fiona and Henrietta going to the meet-up point.

After crossing the cliff, I approached the boulder I had seen Fiona behind, but when I rounded the corner, I was startled to see her bow facing me, a flaming arrow spiraling in the drawn-back string. As soon as she saw it was me, however, the arrow extinguished itself from existence and she apologized.

“Sorry about that. I’m just a little on-edge.”

I shook my head, “It’s alright; we all are. Come on, we’re going to rendezvous with Henrietta. Follow me.”

She got up and followed behind me as I led her past cliffs and to the overhang. We tried to keep behind cover and take twists and turns to lose any followers, but it wouldn’t surprise me if anyone had kept up. I kept checking behind me and didn’t see anyone, so I hoped that we were all clear. After we met back up with who was basically our leader, I put a finger over my lips and snuck away from the group. After looking around and not seeing anyone, I walked through the slight breeze and back to the group.

We took a moment to plan again, but there wasn’t a lot we could do with only three people.

“Should we try stealth? Take them by surprise maybe?” I suggested.

“No, it wouldn't work,” Henrietta quickly shot the idea down, “There are only two directions we could approach from if they keep their current base, and we’ve exhausted both options already. They’ll know where to look. In addition, you are stealthy and you are quick, but you can’t be both together. You’ll stick out like a glowing thumb if you try.”

Fiona was the next to bring something up, “Should we try ranged warfare? I think that could work.”

Henrietta took a moment to consider the idea and agreed with the plan, “Yeah, that could work. If Lucas and I take care of defense while you attack, we might be able to do it. Lucas has already taken out their main ranged force, so the only one capable of some semblance of that is the guy who can control wind. Will he be able to defend against your arrows though?”

“They’re made of fire and respond to my will, so without the force of something like a tornado, it should be quite difficult.”

“Um, speaking of defense, how will we get past theirs. Her arrows might be able to melt the walls and kill the vines, but they can just replace those until we’re exhausted.”

After a moment of thought, Henrietta composed an answer, “There are two ways I can think of: one, you try to take out the walls with your light magic. This would be a particularly awful idea because of how long it would take as well as the limits of your magic. The other is much more reasonable and probably the best we can do. We wait.”

“We wait?” Fiona and I asked.

“Yes, we wait. One of the disadvantages of going fully defensive is if we don’t attack. If we wait, we’ll be in a better condition while their magic will eventually run out. Even if it’s a feint, taking it down will still come to our advantage. The only member that can put up a sudden attack is their scout. If we work together, he should be an easy target to take care of.”

After all of us agreeing on the plan, we strode back to the boulder that Fiona had taken cover behind originally. It gave us a clear shot at the enemy while being far enough up that they would have to either climb to get us or walk through the chasm. Either way, they would be easy pickings.

From there, we waited. And waited. And waited. I couldn’t tell how long it had been since we first started waiting. There was only the roof above our heads, the ground beneath our feet, and the ice and vine fortress in the chasm. Nothing changed, nothing shifted. Everything stayed the same. It must have been at least an hour or two when the walls finally came down.

A crack. Fiona was the first to notice. Then another. And another. Crack after crack appeared over the fortress until the entire thing shattered. In an ear-piercing snap, the entire structure caved in, a veritable mountain of magic-formed ice dust falling down in an avalanche. But before it could crush our foes, it seemed to dissipate and dissolve as it crashed in. the powder exploding in all directions and just… ceasing to be.

There, left in the spot where the fortress previously towered, three people loitered about. One person, the woman with icy blue hair, was kneeling on the ground, sweating profusely as she gasped for breath. In a split second decision, Fiona suddenly began launching her arrows, flame soon erupting from the points of impact. Fire spread, booms rang out, and destruction was left in the wake of our attack.

Vines shriveled up, smoke pouring from their husks. In the smoke, something light blue and sparkling caught my eye. A wall of ice, resisting the bombardment, and following it, I saw it trailing across the cliff and finally leading to where a single man was standing. Now, he was rushing towards us, dust and smoke following him in a vortex. I yelled a warning to my allies, and before they could react, I rushed to meet him.

The wind pushed him along as did the light did to me, and we reached each other in what should’ve been a tense and long walk. Instead, it was only a few seconds as we both sped at each other at supernatural speeds. He made the first move, a powerful gust of wind separated from the force pushing him along, and it hit me in a sudden rush, making me stumble and force to brace against the impact.

He took advantage of the attack and kicked out with a lightning fast attack. It hit me right in the chin and sent me to the ground. With a hard thud, my ass made touchdown, and he soon landed atop me. He then began choking me like he did with Max. In a breathless panic, I felt something lash out, but it was an unexpected feeling that took both him and I by surprise.

Think again!

A blinding flash of light lit up the world, and he yelled in pain and surprise. I didn’t even blink—or have to for that matter—before I shoved him off of me. In a blur, I punched him in the nose. He could control the wind to push him along, but my light was a part of me. His speed was external, mine was internal, and that meant my reaction speed was heightened as well.

I uppercutted him on my way to getting up, and now that he was the one sprawled across the ground, I pounced on him. Then, I began beating him into the ground. With each punch that landed, a flash erupted out, making sure his eyes were just as messed up as his face.

After one final punch, I got up, feeling just how sore my knuckles were. Plus, the world was swimming a little, and my chin ached.

Wobbling around a little, I managed to get a grasp of both my sight and thoughts even though they felt like they were moving through molasses.

Then, I saw my allies, both bound by vines, strapped to the ground. Looking around in a panic, I felt my legs suddenly being pulled out from under me. I was dragged off the cliff, and I yelled and screamed in panic and fear as I hurtled to the ground. Then, two meters off the ground, I stopped, and bounced around a few times. Before I could look up to see why I had stopped, two icy spikes poked at my throat and a voice called out and asked, “Oi, no sudden moves. Do you surrender?”

Looking down, I saw the green-haired woman and icy-haired woman standing beneath me.

“I surrender… Please don’t knock me out.”