249. THIRTY-TWO: WIREMU

I turned back to the entrance of the alley. The horses were coming fast. I positioned myself on one side in the shadows and tried to catch my breath while I waited. My shield had broken, but I griped my hammer. This had to be quick, or I would be done in.

The horses slowed nearing the ally's entrance, and three turned in. One galloped straight past. I assume they were trying to circle around where they thought we were. The first person into the ally had their chest crushed with a hammer. I let go of the hammer after delivering that blow and sprayed the second with super-heated sand. This also caused the horse to rear and charge, unseating her, and the horse galloped off down the ally. The third person had time to reign in the horse and was reaching for his whistle. I threw a knife into his chest and grabbed the horse's reins. I also grabbed him and dragged him off the horse, mounted and galloped in the opposite direction to the way the fourth one went. A whistle started blowing from the ally in a short, long, short, long pattern. I don’t know what that told them, but it told me I was in trouble.

I changed direction, but I know I was spotted as another whistle started up. This one came from above me. They had Avions searching for me, and now they have found me. I will need to get under cover to lose them. I changed direction again, but my Hearing Aid picked up the sound of other hooves closing in. I turned a corner randomly, and the two guards galloping down this street toward me pulled their horses to a stop as I pounded past. They turned and were soon riding hard, not far behind me.

I took another corner, and it was the wrong one. An arrow Power Shot into my horse, and I Tumbled off as he collapsed. As I rose to my feet, another Power Shot hit me in the chest. I had a thicker stone shield on as a vest, but the shot still cracked it and made me stagger back a step. The two riders behind me had grown to six, and they charged at me. The one in front swinging a mace. I dropped to the ground and triggered Granite Armour, so I didn’t get trampled. The horse tripped over me, and horse and rider went tumbling. The rider behind jumped her horse over us, and the others were urgently stopping and drawing weapons. I didn’t have the lung power for a drawn-out fight. I didn’t have the lung power to run either. Granite Armour takes a lot of Spiritual Energy, and that is why I had not used it until now. Running out of Spiritual Energy is a constant fear of mine, as that is how I defeated the original lava man. I have Puia, which helps a lot, but if Puia runs out of energy, he dies. If I run out, I am merely a defenceless, wounded hunter, probably meaning I will die.

As I got to my feet, another arrow slammed into me. However, the Granite Armour is on a totally different level from the shields. It also adds a lot of weight, so I didn’t even stagger as the Power Shot slammed into my back. It still took energy to melt the cracks and reform the Granite. I had left my hammer behind at the scene of the last fight, but I was not going to spend the energy to reform one. My armoured fists would be enough. I also don't want to give them time to form into a group, as Ruku’s training has shown me how dangerous that can be. The one thing I have learned about my enemy tonight is that they are coordinated, and the coordinator is very clever and skilled. I picked the largest bunch and charged them.

It was a sort of limping charge, but they were not far. The one with the shield came to meet me, and I punched the shield with my Granite-covered fist, breaking the wood and, I think her arm. She went to one knee from the pressure as she had not had time to brace properly. I followed it with a stomp on her leg that broke it, and I moved on to the next person.

I started receiving blows on my armour. I am usually more mobile, but I already suffered from a lack of oxygen and coughing up blood. A piercing thrust from a spear went through the lava joint in my leg armour and drew blood. They were not holding back on their skills. I created small Granite Spikes on my knuckles that easily pierce their light armour. I downed two others, but the spearman was a problem. He knew how to use it and keep his distance. The longer he delayed, the more reinforcements would arrive. I could hear the horses approaching.

I cleared the way to the wall of the building next to the road and crashed right through it. It was a stone wall, as most were, so it took a small Quake to loosen it. I through some lava around to start a fire to cause mayhem and obscuring smoke. I needed to get away from the eyes in the sky. I wanted to block the gap but didn’t think the energy cost was worth it for the few seconds. I threw some more darts through the gap as Puia formed a Beetle for me to ride.

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This greatly enlarged the fire as we crash through the building and out the wooden door opposite our entry. We were still taking hits, and some of the reinforcements had circled the building and were inbound. Another arrow struck. This time, my helmet took it, throwing my head sideways and making me spend more energy on repairs. I was continuously throwing darts. Forming them with my high levelled Granite Spike was the cheapest for me, energy-wise. I interspersed them with Lava Dart, which was mid-apprentice. Several pursuers dropped out of the running battle with injuries, I think I killed a couple. We were also taking damage. Puia’s legs were weak in this form, and he had to keep replacing them as they were easy targets. The archer was the biggest problem, and they kept well out of my range.

I wasn’t avoiding buildings, as I needed the fire and smoke to hide from the spies in the sky. I had altered my direction as we were moving downwind in the smoke from the previous fires. The smoke wasn’t helping my lungs at all, and we were both getting low on energy. I needed to lose them, but more and more guards were converging on our position. The sky was becoming lighter with the predawn. I don’t know how to get out of this.

We crashed out of the glass door of the latest building, a middle-class house, and a dark shape crashed down on us from overhead. I raised an arm to fend it off, and it broke over my arm. I realise it was a wooden barrel, and water cascaded over us both. A lot of it burst into steam, but it also fast-cooled three of Puia’s legs, and they became solid and broke off, and Puia collapsed on one side, throwing me off. He was hurt and in pain, and so was I. I sensed four more Avions coming in, carrying another barrel in a net of some kind and scrambled to my feet. The cold is Puia’s weakness as it hardens his lava and makes him use more energy.

I got to my feet, but some of my lava joints had also hardened, making it slow and more effort than usual. Another arrow slammed into my back, and then my pursuers were on me. I told Puia to sink into the ground and hide as the second barrel crashed on him, splashing me as well. All that remained of Puia was a pile of rock and steam as his essence abandoned the beetle form and sunk into the ground.

I kept fighting, but the water had made my armour sluggish. Then a horse galloped up, and the rider threw a bladder of water over me, locking my joints momentarily. I was running out of energy fast and would soon get locked into my armour. It could end up being my tomb. Another bladder of water showered me, and I fell onto my face.

“Quick, bring the sledge hammers!” I heard the yell.

Those around me kept pounding on me with their weapons. If I let the armour go, I would die under that rain of blows. If I kept the armour, I couldn’t move. The armour also had to turn to lava for me to absorb it, and water kept being thrown on me. I am not sure I have the energy to remove it.

I reached out to Tāoke through our bond to see if they were safe. I didn’t expect them to be out of the city yet, but I hoped they were at least hidden for the day. I got the sense they were in a wet underground cavern. That was strange. It was barely an hour and a half since we parted. Ponding started on my armour and my helmet, making it hard to think. I am not sure what I was trying to communicate any more and basically was saying goodbye. What I got back through the link was anger and energy. I used the energy to try to break out by spiking some feet and then heads and hearts as they fell over. The back of the armour was all cracked, and so was my helmet, and I used Granite Manipulation to break it open and get out of the trap my armour had become. Tāoke was on his way, and that lifted my spirits as much as the energy he shared.

Getting out of the armour was not quick enough, and I took an arrow in the back and a spear in the side. Then, something hard hit the back of my head, and I felt my consciousness starting to fade.

“Don’t kill him!” said a commanding voice. “He has killed or maimed thirty two of my people and destroyed half my palace. Get that drug into him and send our fastest horses for the Slave Taskmaster. He has to pay for what he cost me.”

I felt a potion being fed down my throat, and there was pain as my legs were crushed and my arms were broken. It all faded into black.