Ned stood idly by as Imani chatted up a mage with an eye patch and a cigar he believed was a little too big when the explosions began.
Once upon a time he would’ve found himself scurrying for shelter, hiding from the chaos of what may or may not kill him. Now, his senses sharpened and his mind assessed the situation. He had come a long way from the boy he’d been eight years ago.
Ned drew mana from his core and basked in the sense of power that came with it as his mind shuffled through the spellforms linked to his specialization, magic he could cast without the wasted time of chanting spellforms.
He wasn’t the only one who’d grown, however. In the auditorium only the girls too young to be wearing what they were wearing and doing what they were doing gasped and shrieked and panicked. The rest of the assemblage stiffened into the familiar awareness of people most accustomed to this level of surprise and the violence that often came with it.
Ned turned to his priority, casting a quick spell around them. He enveloped himself and Imani in an orb of condensed wind as a massive slab fell on them. It broke apart a foot above them, littering about them in a chaotic formation of debris. The mages Imani had been talking to also came away unscathed and Ned had been too focused on keeping Imani safe to catch what they had done.
But it wasn’t important. What was important was the continuing symphony of explosions lighting up the ceiling.
Every mage around kept their attentions focused upwards, so when their new company came bursting in through the walls, only the sound of breaching hidden within the chaos of a falling building drew the attentions of the fewest mages. Ned was one of them, and he turned to the most outrageous sight he’d seen in a long time.
Groups of men breached through holes in the walls. Each group was clad in military black with a single member standing ahead of the group protected behind a transparent riot shield. Each group held roughly four men, each with an assault rifle that looked a little too big.
Ned picked up on the presence of long distance attacks and tightened his dome of compressed air around him and Imani. Every mage worthy of their rank possessed at least one shield spell in their arsenal. Those that did not, knew at least one defensive rune.
A mage to Ned’s side pulled up a shield of green mana that danced in front of him like a wall. As if to prove a point, one of the intruders raised his gun to his shoulder and fired off a shot. He jerked back from the impact of the shot as it boomed louder than a gun had any right to. A single bullet left its chamber and struck true.
It pierced the mage’s shield, silent in the chaos of destruction. Blood erupted in a backward splash as the bullet shattered the mage’s head. What was left of the mana shield dissipated as no will held it together anymore and true chaos erupted.
Ned seized Imani’s hand in his and darted left, ducking as he flipped tables over. His dome of air dissipated as he let it fall away since keeping it alive when they were men with guns that could pierce through spellforms was a waste of mana.
Imani followed behind him obediently, ducking as low as she could as the room erupted in a spray of bullets and gunshots and spellforms. The ambient mana in the room blew into chaos as every mage cast one spellform or the other, seeking protection or retribution. Ned cared nothing for them as he sought out an exit. He wasn’t a mage with the mindset of dying in battle, he believed more in living for tomorrow. And he’d be damned if he died by anything but the hands or teeth or claws of a monster.
Mages fought of their assailants, dying to gunshot wounds. A mage cast a spellform that pulled the shadows around him and a buckshot from a shotgun ripped both his shadows and him to shreds. Another mage blasted an enemy with the full force of condensed mana only to have it dissipate on impact with the riot shield. A soft symbol glowed when it happened and the mages that recognized it—some of them—turned and sought out exits.
Ned didn’t recognize the symbol as he ran, dragging Imani towards an exit in the side of the room, but he didn’t have to. Anyone in the room recognized a rune when they saw one. And many more knew what it meant when men with shields inscribed with runes came storming into a room. So they fled.
Their attackers were from a group that had come to life two years ago. Their guns were the tools with which they brought bloodshed but their shields were what made them famous. Inscribed with at least one rune, they held the power to dispel spells. It was the ultimate defense against magical attacks and no one was yet to know how they were created or who created them. Regardless of the mystery of their origin, the shields were what gave them the moniker they lived by: Anti-mages.
In the chaos and stampede of fleeing mages, some using any movement spell they could muster up, something bumped into Ned and his hold on Imani broke. He staggered to the side, struck by the very weight of the mage and stumbled over a table. Ned chanted a spellform as he hit the ground. His core boiled as it channeled the mana he needed through his mana channels and he called on the mana of the wind. In one short burst he pushed himself away from where he’d landed and the ground erupted from the impact of a gunshot.
Ned rolled to his feet, ever moving. He flared his aura, casting it as far as he could as he sought out Imani’s aura. Each mage’s aura had a signature of its own and he’d spent enough time around Imani to recognize hers even at a soft touch. When he didn’t find her, he found himself contemplating his own safety or risking himself to ensure hers even as his legs surged forward in acceptance of the former.
“NED!”
Ned’s ears perked up at the sound of his name as he ran. Someone was calling to him and they sounded desperate. It was as if they needed him to be safe.
Ned channeled his attention to his name, seeking it out.
“NED!” The voice called out, again.
It was female, barely audible in the chaos.
“NED! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!”
It didn’t sound like Imani’s voice but Ned couldn’t be so sure. In this madness and with all the noise, he could be mistaken. Luckily, the voice was close to the exit he chased after and he made a detour towards it.
“NED!” the person shouted at the top of her lungs.
Ned followed, drawn to it with hope. It might not be Imani but he refused to believe Ash would call for him. And knowing what he did about Chris and her infamy amongst the hunters, she would rather die than be caught dead calling out to anyone that desperately for any reason. Imani was the only other person who knew his name. Unless there was another mage named Ned here, which he highly doubted.
“NED!”
The voice sounded extremely close in the distortion of running people now and Ned knew he wouldn’t be seen, so he called back.
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“HERE!”
A hand darted out in the madness and grabbed him by the wrist almost immediately. It pulled him to the side and Ned thought he felt something blitz past his head. When he came face to face with the inquirer, it wasn’t Imani. A lady in a red dress too clean to be local looked at him scathingly, like filth unknowingly touched.
“Who the fuck are you?!”
……………………………………..
Zed struggled with the insanity going on around him as he ducked behind an upturned table. Everyone was running and everyone was shouting, either while casting spellforms or calling out to one another.
Did I just see a mage’s head get blown off?! He thought, confused.
Hunkered down behind the table, Zed tried to compose his thoughts. Order came to him in the chaos slowly. The first thing he needed to do was find Ash and the others. He remembered spotting Imani and her boyfriend talking to some mages the last time he saw them and couldn’t bring himself to care. He had acted like he didn’t care what Imani was doing in her love life but he did. However, Imani seemed like the kind of girl who took pleasure in attention, specifically of the kind she chose, the kind that implied she was different, cold, so he’d deigned to give her something different, something that presented her as nothing unique.
Anyone who’d believed his act would see him in a bad light but he couldn’t bring himself to care about that right now. Besides, one of the things he’d told her was true. Oliver was big enough to suffer the consequences of his decisions. If he wanted to date a girl he knew had a boyfriend, then heartbreak was going to be his companion and he had to learn to live with it.
The second thing Zed needed to do after confirming Jason and the others were safe was find an exit. He needed to get to the Jeep as quickly as he could. There was bound to be a level of safety anywhere that wasn’t the auditorium.
The table he hid behind splintered beside his head, a large hole of shattered wood exploding outwards.
They have guns that can break a mage’s shield, Zed, he thought with a self-deprecating frown. Don’t tell me you thought a rundown table was going to hold them back.
Zed rolled out from behind the table, charging forward with no actual destination in mind. His eyes sought out the others as he did. He saw Abed bump into Ned and Imani and winced as Ned was sent flying over a table and Imani was simply knocked to the ground.
Zed noticed Abed was moving alone, his under-aged lady friend nowhere to be found, and could only imagine what Ronda would have to say about that.
He charged left, seeking out any face he recognized when a mage practically dived past him, escaping a gunshot that shattered the shoulder of another mage. Zed stopped just in time to avoid another shot. The man wielding the gun had squeezed the trigger and fired off a shot that would’ve taken Zed’s head right off if he hadn’t stopped.
Zed turned to the man on nothing but reflex.
The man wore a mask that revealed only his eyes and he turned the gun on Zed. Zed moved quickly. His finger twitched, carving out a symbol, and he swung his hand forward, igniting the rune.
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* You have cast basic rune [Force].
* Basic rune [Force] has applied effect [Knockback] on enemy.
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A wave of mana with the visibility of a concentrated shockwave struck the man and sent him flying. He cascaded through the air and landed at an awkward angle.
Zed didn’t take the time to see the outcome as he ran forward.
He moved through the chaos, fingers twitching and signing, casting runes left and right to ensure his safety. At some point he didn’t even care what he aimed at or why. He simply cast his runes because there were runes to cast and mana to cast them.
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* You have cast basic rune [Force].
* Basic rune [Force] has applied effect [Knockback] on enemy.
* You have cast basic rune [Force shield].
* Basic rune [Force shield] has applied effect [Deflect].
* You have cast basic rune [Force].
* Basic rune [Force] has applied effect [Knockback] on [Broken table].
* You have cast basic rune [Force].
* Basic rune [Force] has applied effect [Knockback] on [Unknown mage].
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Zed winced as a mage staggering out of his path was sent tumbling into one of the armed men and hoped he hadn’t just gotten the man killed.
Another explosion rang out and he turned in time to cast another rune as something fell on him, it was large and blotted out his sight.
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* You have cast basic rune [Force shield].
* Basic rune [Force shield] has applied effect [Deflect] on [Broken wall].
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Zed ignored the notification as the slab of concrete was sent flying off in another direction. He wondered why a piece of wall was falling from above rather than flying at him. The answer came to him as another explosion happened and a piece of wall flew into a mage. The mage looked like what a mummified corpse without its bandages, wearing a cowboy costume complete with a cowboy hat, would resemble. The piece of broken wall slammed into the mage, effectively taking him with it and crushing him against a wall.
Before long Zed spotted Chris and turned his attention to her. She was busy casting spellforms and was lit up in colorful waves. The air around her shimmered in multiple colors of green and blue and yellow and pink as she rattled off spellforms with a deadly accuracy. She cared nothing for aim as she sent spells flying. Ice shot out of her hand only to be followed by a crackle of electricity, then a ball of spiked purple mana. Each one left her as she moved, eyes searching, her head on a swivel.
Her eyes caught Zed and they locked with his for the briefest moment. Chris frowned at him but rushed forward and Zed followed towards her. He took two steps before a gunshot roared very loudly in his ear and pain flared in his mind.
It sent him spinning as he raised his hands, casting a rune on reflex. The action led him to the source of his pain as he raised only his left hand. Where his right arm was supposed to be was a horrid mess of blood and bones at the shoulder. As for his right arm, it dangled from a mess of loose skin. It was all that kept it still connected to him.
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* You have been dealt a fatal blow.
* You are critically wounded.
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He felt tears well up in his eyes from the pain and a part of his mind went blank. The rune for [Force] failed to come to him, it’s shape in his mind shattered momentarily under the weight of his pain. Zed discarded it and ignited the next best thing, going for defense when he had intended to kill the cause of his pain as the man shot him again.
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* You have cast basic rune [Force shield].
* Basic rune [Force shield] has applied effect [Deflect] on [T-94 .950 caliber runebullet].
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Zed felt the air crack in front of him and saw the man that had taken his arm. The summoned shield in front of him was cracked like a pane of glass, deep fractures spreading from a large crack as the bullet ricocheted and a mage somewhere shouted out in pain.
The man looked Zed dead in the eye and shot him again. The recoil of the shot rocked the man’s shoulder and Zed drilled his focus and mana into keeping the rune active; keeping his shield protecting him. The second shot ricocheted off the shield, leaving another deep crack in the shield and it glowed a dying blue.
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* Basic rune [Force shield] has applied effect [Deflect] on [T-95 .950 caliber runebullet].
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Zed frowned at the impact and the strain of keeping the rune up against the onslaught. The man steadied himself for another shot when electricity shot into him from the side. It went through him before he squeezed the trigger, sending him flying in a sea of sparks. Relieved of his assailant, Zed was about to breathe a sigh of relief when dread filled him again.
Another man stood not too far from where Zed stood, gun aimed straight at him.
The man pulled the trigger and Zed channeled what was left of his focus as blood loss darkened his vision.
The explosion of a gunshot rang out.
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* Basic rune [Force shield] has applied effect [Deflect] on [T-95 .950 caliber runebullet].
* [T-95 .950 caliber runebullet] attack power is too high.
* [T-95 .950 caliber runebullet] has resisted effect [Deflect].
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Zed stared forward as the shield shattered before his eyes. Only one thought grew in his mind.
Fuck.