Calris scrambled along the path, laying about with his sword as drakes leapt at him from the water. Around him in the city, he heard a desperate running battle as the stragglers fought back to the college. Men and beast alike screamed as they died, some far away, others close by, and at least one on the other side of the building he was sprinting past.
He didn’t have time to save them; he had his hands full keeping himself alive as another drake leapt at him, jaws snapping. Fortunately, only the smaller, younger drakes could get this close through the shallow water, and he drove his blade through its skull with only token resistance. Beside him, Ban was having a great old time, his axe chopping through hide and skull with ease, and Calris found himself jealous of his friend’s weapons.
They were getting close to the mages’ tents now. If their luck held, they should be able to beat the giant drake back to the college. The beast was so large it hadn’t been able to squeeze through the gate, and he could still hear it throwing itself against the wall, trying to smash its way into the city. Unfortunately, as they rounded a squat building to arrive at the tents, Calris heard the thunder of the wall coming down and assumed Maw’Groth was finally inside.
“Ban, keep watch. I’ll be back out in a second,” Calris shouted as he dove through the tent flap. He heard shouting outside as he upended packs and rifled through bedrolls, followed by the screech of a raptor. The screech cut out abruptly as Ban’s axe found its mark.
“Calris! Hurry up!”
“I’m hurrying! There’s shit everywhere in here! Where the fuck did they put it?” he muttered to himself as, outside, Ban battled another bird. Silence descended once more as Calris finally pulled the Key from Jasmine’s pack.
“You good out there, Ban?” he called, cautiously inching towards the entrance, Key in one hand, sword in the other. He breathed a sigh of relief as Ban answered.
“In a manner of speaking, mate.”
Calris lifted the flap and stepped out, brandishing the Key. “Found it! Now let’s get back to the- ah, shit.”
One of the cloaked guildsmen stood a few dozen meters away.
Right behind him, was Maw’Groth.
“A heads up would have been nice,” Calris grumbled.
“Oh, shut it. Like that would have changed anything.”
“It would have! If I’d known, I would have cut a hole in the back of the tent and slipped away while it was busy eating you.”
Ban laughed, taking a swing at him.
“Like that would have saved you any time. I’m pretty sure this thing wouldn’t even need to chew.”
While they talked, the man and the monster stood, staring at them. Calris hoped their confidence would give the man pause, but he doubted it. If anything, the assassin probably just thought they were idiots.
“Is this the part where you try to convince us to hand the Key over peacefully?” Calris called out.
The hooded man slowly shook his head.
“Why not?”
The hooded man pointed a thumb over his shoulder, back at Maw’Groth.
“That’s fair. So, what are you waiting for then?”
The hooded man shrugged, then waved his hand forward. And the beast started running.
“Leg it!” Ban shouted.
They sprinted as fast as they could, no thought given to their direction save what would keep them the furthest from its jaws, finding the nearest walkway and pounding the dirt as hard as they could. Their saving grace was that the other creatures all seemed to ignore them to converge on the college. Not that the giant behind them would need help once it caught up to them.
“Damn it all. I wish Rory was here. Ban? Any ideas?”
“The wall. It slowed him down last time,” Ban replied, wheezing already. Calris thought up another smartass remark, but decided Ban was having a rough enough time already.
“Reckon we’ll have time?”
“It’ll be close, but if we cut in now, we might just make it. We need to decide now though, he’s gaining on us.”
Calris risked a glance over his shoulder and saw Ban was right. The beast didn’t move fast by any stretch of the imagination, but every laborious step it took covered a good dozen meters. They couldn’t stay ahead of him long, and even if they could work back around to the college, he didn’t like their chances of getting through the throng that would be laying siege to it by now.
“Right. Wall it is, I’ll go ahead. And Ban?”
“Yes, Cal?”
“Big boy pants alright? I don’t want you dropping me off that wall.”
“No promises, Cal, you’ve been letting yourself go a bit lately.”
“Arse.”
They laughed as they cut off the path and aimed for the nearest section of wall. They were lucky. This part of the city hadn’t sunk as much as elsewhere, and though the ground sucked at their boots, it was still mostly solid. Calris broke ahead as they neared the wall, sheathing his sword, hurling the Key over the top and slamming back first against the slabs. He half crouched and cupped his hands in his lap as Ban put on a last burst of speed and launched himself up the wall, using Calris for a leg up and pivoting quickly on his gut at the top.
Calris was mildly surprised by the relative grace of the motion, but mostly just grateful, as the first thing he noticed once Ban cleared his field of vision was that Maw’Groth was really bloody close. It was only a few strides away, and Calris gagged as a wave of rancid breath washed over him, the stench of centuries of decaying meat threatening to overpower him. Holding his breath, he pushed off to gain some space, then ran and leapt at the wall, hands outstretched as Ban caught him and hauled him over. The two men collapsed in a pile on the far side as the stone behind them shuddered under the impact of tonnes of angry reptile.
“And to think, we hadn’t even practiced that!” Calris said, laughing and nudging Ban with his elbow.
“It’s to be expected, though, Cal. We are, after all, individuals of supreme natural talent and athletic ability.”
Calris was ready to concur when the wall behind them shuddered again under another heavy impact. Debris rained down on them and a few cracks spider-webbed across its face.
“Think we should continue to demonstrate our athletic ability by getting the fuck out of here?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Good, me too.”
*
Jasmine was nearing the college. Her lungs burned and her legs felt like lead, but she had a sense of satisfaction when she thought that just a few weeks ago she would have collapsed from exhaustion by now. As it was, the pain in her body just served to focus her, driving her onwards as she cast flame at any creature foolish enough to come near, and driving her away from the monstrous creature that had beaten down the wall and started rampaging after Calris and Ban.
She had learned a lot in the last few weeks, and she had stopped trying to kill every beast she came across, instead using just enough magic to drive them back to conserve her Talent. Powerful as she was, she was still no battlemage, or even a full Adept, and her significant reserves could disappear quickly if she were undisciplined with her attacks.
Which, if she was being honest, she usually was.
Still, she felt confident she had more than enough to hold the college entrance until Rory was back on his feet, and better yet, the college was close. Just one final segment of buildings stood between her and relative safety. She pushed through the jumble of mossy ruins, moving from a pile of rubble in a low crouch to a corner wall where she listened for the telltale sound of a drake gliding through the water or the screech of a charging raptor. As she strained her ears, she heard that very sound on the far side of the building she sheltered behind. She began creeping away in the opposite direction, until she heard a man’s shout from within answer the bird’s screech.
The sounds grew louder, the muted crack of rotten wood coming apart under claws and the desperate shouts of rage that couldn’t disguise the growing panic beneath. Biting her lip so hard it almost drew blood, Jasmine froze. She was already fatigued, both physically and magically, she didn’t have the Talent to spare to overcome a group of beasts on her own. And besides, the human warriors were inside a building. If she rescued them, they would just end up in the college doing essentially the same thing but against far more beasts than the handful beating down their door now.
There was a cry of pain and frantic shouting. Jasmine was no expert in the local language, but the tones of voice said everything they needed to. Something had just gone wrong. Her legs moved before she had consciously decided what to do, skidding around the corner and coming face to face with a pair of swamp drakes and an entire flock of raptors.
One of the drakes had a Gundagaal warrior by the leg and was pulling him out into the open air. Another warrior was holding on to his companion, his legs braced against the doorway as he fought a horrifying game of tug of war with the drake. The other warriors thrust their spears at the drake or the other creatures, trying to keep them from swarming the stricken warrior.
Her eyes locked briefly with the warrior being dragged. His face was a mask of pain and terror, his leg a mangled mess in the drake’s mouth and his body taxed to its limit by the forces competing for his fate. With a crack his shoulders dislocated, and from surprise or the sudden shift of his body weight, his companion lost his grip. The victorious drake hauled the tribesman out of the hut and the other animals pounced, swarming over the fallen warrior.
Jasmine screamed and poured a stream of fire into the melee, incinerating the flock of raptors. The smaller of the drakes whirled on her, jaws wide open as it kicked up a cloud of dust and charged. She lobbed a Flash Bomb down its gullet and clenched her fist, and the drake’s head erupted like a pumpkin smashed with a sledgehammer. Its corpse slid to a halt at her feet.
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The final drake eyed her off and, after a second, dropped the leg in its mouth. It hissed and turned to face her, standing its ground. Jasmine smirked, raised her hand, and fired a Flash Bomb into its head. The beast staggered, but didn’t go down. After taking a second to collect itself, it looked back at her, unperturbed by the attack. With what could only be described as calculated disdain, the drake turned away from Jasmine and resumed its assault on the hut.
“You arrogant bastard!” she screamed at the lizard, as it ignored her and drove against the wall of spears. Somewhere in Jasmine’s head, a small voice pointed out that, with everything that had happened recently, being snubbed by a swamp drake was not a particularly significant issue, and that she should stay calm and develop a rational plan to deal safely with the situation. But that voice was drowned out by a much louder, angrier voice expressing wordless outrage at the beast’s blatant disrespect.
She ran up behind the drake and leapt onto its back, crawling hand over hand towards its skull as it thrashed, trying to dislodge her. Gritting her teeth, she held on tight, continuing her inexorable march up its back until finally she sat just behind its skull.
“Feel the wrath of the Wildfire Lady!” she screamed as she placed her hands over the lizard’s eyes and unleashed concentrated fire through the physical chink in its armour. The beast hissed, but didn’t have time to do anything else before the inside of its skull turned to ash. Jasmine gave a satisfied grunt as she climbed off its back, but frowned as she wobbled slightly on her feet.
She had used more Talent than she meant to, but she did her best to maintain her composure as she turned to face the tribesmen creeping cautiously from the ruined building. Their faces wore a mixture of fear and awe that Jasmine found extremely gratifying, and her anger over the beast’s initial indifference faded.
“Are you able to move?” she asked in her best ‘imperious’ voice.
One of them nodded lamely.
“Then get to the college. We are making our stand there. Go ahead, I’ll bring up the rear and keep the raptors at bay.”
They stood, staring at her for a few more moments, not sure what to make of this strange young woman, before they turned and ran towards the college.
Jasmine jogged along behind them, feeling good despite her flagging reserves. She had killed a pair of drakes, rescued a handful of warriors, and struck the fear of the gods into them as she did so. Despite everything that was happening, she couldn’t help but feel optimistic.
*
Calris waded through waist deep water, trying to put as much distance between him and the city as possible. Beside him, Ban was having an even worse time of it; what was waist deep to Calris nearly reached Ban’s chest, and the steady stream of curses coming from the short marine made it clear he was not enjoying the experience.
“Look at it this way, Ban, at least all the swamp drakes in the area are preoccupied in the city. And we haven’t heard that old bastard break down the wall either.” Calris said in an attempt to cheer up his friend.
“Fuck them and fuck this water.”
Calris nodded, satisfied his attempt was at least partially successful.
“So, where do you think we are? Or, more importantly, where is Levi’s village?”
Ban stopped and squinted up at the sky, turning his head this way and that, brow furrowed in thought.
“That way,” he finally said, pointing with confidence into the jungle.
“You sure?”
“The entrance to the city was on the eastern side and, based off the sun, we legged it to the south, so we head north-north east, find the outskirts and follow them around to the walkway. From there, it’ll be a hop, a skip and a jump to the village.”
“Well then, lead the way.”
The two men struggled through the water back towards the causeway, eventually hitting some dry land, much to Ban’s relief. They broke into a run and were making good progress when Calris slowed, head cocked to the side, before he stopped running altogether. Ban turned, asking a question with a raised eyebrow.
Calris held up a hand for silence, and slowly pointed to the jungle off to their flank. Both men silently drew their weapons and listened, identifying a telltale rustle. With a nod, they hooked off to either side of the sound, to catch whatever was stalking them in a pincer move. Calris crept through the undergrowth on his hands and knees, passing below the fronds and vines to avoid disturbing the branches above him. He could see a guild cloak, just a couple of meters in front of him, and he quickened his pace, eager to fight something human for once. When he was so close he could almost reach out and touch the hem, he leapt to his feet and slashed at the assassin. Opposite him, Ban did the same, swinging his axes low as Calris’ sword went high.
Both their weapons passed through empty air as the assassin flipped between the blades, planted one hand on the ground and kicked their legs in a broad sweep, regaining their feet to calmly face them both.
“You know that is straight up bullshit, El. You’re like a bloody acrobat,” Ban said as he hefted his axes and reset his stance, closing up next to Calris.
“You should see me in the bedroom, handsome.”
“Is that an offer? Because I’d much rather wrestle than fight if you get my drift.”
He helpfully waggled his eyebrows to make sure she did, in fact, get his drift.
“Well, I would rather wrestle then fight. But unfortunately I’ve got adult supervision with me today and they would frown on that sort of behaviour. Just hand over the artefact and I’ll let you go on your way.”
Calris settled into his own fighting stance, waiting for Ban to kick things off.
“Righto. Cal, give it to her,” Ban said, lowering his axes.
Calris damn near dropped his sword. “What the Pit are you on about, Ban?”
“You remember what happened last time we ran into her, right?”
“That doesn’t mean we just cave and give her the bloody Key.”
“Why not?”
“Because we have a job to do! I didn’t take you for a coward, mate.”
Ban scowled and lashed out, kicking Calris hard in the shins.
“Fuck off. I’m not a coward, and you know it. But the way I see it, we have two jobs; protect the Key, and protect the mages. We can try to protect the Key, but I doubt we’ll be successful, and in the process we’ll get our arses kicked, probably severely, and then we’ll be unable to protect the mages either. We won’t make it to the village, the cavalry won’t arrive and the mages will be eaten by that giant lizard. We lose on all accounts.”
Calris had to admit Ban had a point. They lost hard at the Keep, and they may very well lose here too if they started this fight. But just giving up felt wrong.
He gave Elizabeth an appraising look. She appeared relaxed, hands limp by her side, looking bored, to be honest. But her eyes were still sharp, and her weight was over her forward leg, ready to burst forward on the attack. She was trying to look relaxed, but she was taught as a bowstring. Something was different this time, besides the fact that Calris wasn’t fatally wounded.
“Come on, Elizabeth, just walk away. We don’t need to do this.”
“I’m sorry, Cal, really, I am. But if I walk away empty-handed, my life is forfeit. I need that Key.”
So that’s it.
She couldn’t treat this as a game anymore, and that made her nervous. Which made her distracted.
Calris shot forward, sword swinging, meeting Elizabeth’s as she stepped forward to counter. He felt resistance to his blow, but not enough to stop him, and he drove forward, forcing her back and lashing out with a kick aimed at her thigh. She was still fast though, and she checked it with her shin, drawing a second blade and thrusting it at Calris’ face. He threw himself back, stumbling on a root, but Elizabeth’s follow up was stymied as Ban leapt into the fray.
The idiot punctuated every swing of his axes with a “sorry, darlin’” to which Elizabeth replied with either “it’s alright, snookums” or a delighted chuckle. Calris shook his head and launched back into the fight. The three of them circled, lunged, parried and thrust, Calris feeling some of the old rush return as he fought someone as good as he was.
No, not as good. Better. He realised her victory at the Keep hadn’t just been because of his injuries. Together, he and Ban still had the upper hand, shutting down her attacks and forcing her on the defensive, but even relatively fresh they couldn’t land anything decisive, and she hadn’t busted out any of her old bag of tricks yet. Despite his mounting frustration, he kept pushing, trying to use his size and strength to compensate for the gulf in skill and speed between them.
The approach paid off when she tried to pivot away from a blow but failed to get clear. She turned his blade with her own in the nick of time, but she was off balance, and the force of the blow knocked her down. She rolled deftly to her feet, of course, but caught Calris’ boot in her shoulder and went sprawling again. Calris kept his momentum and swung the hilt of his sword at her head as she scrambled to her feet, but missed as she used an Umbral amulet to whisk herself to safety.
But the two marines had seen that trick before. She re-materialised in front of Ban; her face registering surprise as the blunt edge of an axe crashed into the side of her neck, not hard enough to cause serious damage, but enough to drive her to her knees. Her jaw dropped open and her eyes glazed over as she slumped to the ground, the fight knocked out of her. Ban backed away a few paces and sank onto his haunches, blowing like a forge bellow.
“You know, Cal… one… of these days… you’re going to run across her when I’m not around to save you…” he paused, sucking in another breath to give him the air to finish, “and then you’re really going to be in trouble!”
“No more trouble than you.”
“Pfft na, I wouldn’t let it get to this point in the first place. I would have given her the bloody Key and taken her out for dinner. Don’t suppose there’s much chance of that happening now though,” he mumbled, glaring at Calris.
Elizabeth stirred where she lay.
“I won’t take this personally, Ban. You might get your chance another day,” she said as she pulled herself back into a sitting position. “But we haven’t finished today’s business yet.”
Ban huffed and turned to her, his face imploring.
“Oh, come on, El. We won. It was far closer than I would like to admit given it was two on one-”
“Ooh, I just went all tingly,” she cut in, winking at him.
“-but even you can’t come back from a hit like that. To be honest, I’m surprised you’re able to sit up already.”
“You know what I think, Ban? I think you must really like me. Because you pulled that hit way more than you should have. I’m fresh as a spring daisy and ready to kick your arse,” she said, climbing unsteadily to her feet.
Calris sighed and twirled his sword. It was impressive she was moving, sure, but no one took a hit like that from Ban and kept fighting. It just wasn’t possible. The two men advanced on her, though Ban had put his axes away and was opting to try and reason with her. Calris had no illusions about how successful that would be, and he kept his sword drawn.
“Last chance boys, give me the Key and no one has to get hurt.”
“That’s not going to happen Elizabeth.”
She sighed, and Calris swore her disappointment was genuine.
“Suit yourself.”
Elizabeth threw her cloak back to reveal an array of Resonance weapons. In a smooth motion, she plucked an orb from its pouch and flung it into the air between them. She was too close for it to be a Pyris bomb, so it had to be Aetheris. Calris scrunched his eyes shut while he waited for the dull thwump of the device activating.
Instead, the only thwump he heard was the sound his skull made when the hilt of Elizabeth’s dagger crashed into his temple. He opened his eyes as he fell to the ground, but couldn’t see anything except darkness interspersed with pinpricks of light as he heard Ban drop to the ground next to him. He struggled to get up and made it as far as his hands and knees before a swift kick to his midriff re-broke his ribs.
Again.
Then she stomped on his sword hand, shattering the bones.
He cried out in pain and rolled onto his back, nursing his shattered hand with his good one as he kicked away from her. Within a few kicks of his legs, he gave up, the pain in his chest stilling any further movement. Looking up with mounting horror, he found Elizabeth, Key in one hand, a tube in the other pointed directly at Ban’s head. He was on his knees, eyes unfocussed, but beyond that, looked in relatively good condition. His axes were out, but wisely, he made no move to attack.
“Easy there, El. Let’s not do anything rash,” Calris said through clenched teeth, willing her not to activate the device.
“Oh? You want mercy? Like the mercy you would have given me?”
“If we were going to kill you, we would have. I think you know that.”
“Denying me the Key would have been a death sentence, as sure as driving a blade between my ribs,” she hissed. “You have no idea the kind of man you’ve crossed.”
“So that’s it then?” Ban said, interrupting them both. “You’re just going to execute us here and now? What next, El? You’re still going to be in the pocket of the bloke who has you shitting bricks for your life right now. You deserve better than that.”
Elizabeth’s head whipped back around to focus on Ban, her eyes wide and mouth hanging ajar. It opened and closed a few times, trying to speak, though she had been struck mute by the comment. They stared at each other for what felt like a very long time, even if it was only a few moments. Calris was dimly aware of the sweat rolling down his forehead and the mosquitos buzzing around his ears, but the only thing he cared about was the woman pointing death at his best friend.
Her face betrayed a war of emotions. The composure she had faked at the start of the fight was gone, and despite her victory, she looked smaller and weaker now than she had before. She looked terrified.
And in the grip of terror, people were dangerously erratic. Ban shifted and for a horrible second Calris thought Elizabeth would panic and kill him, but she held her fire and Ban settled back onto his butt, legs splayed out in front of him.
“Relax, Cal, we lost the fight, but it’s not the end of the world yet. We’ll regroup, get your ribs fixed up, again, and then we’ll track her down and go round three. You’ll see.”
Elizabeth’s eyebrows furrowed, and her lips turned down in a scowl.
“Are you sure about that?” she asked, her voice dangerously low.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure. In fact, you want to know what I think, El? I think you’re sweet on me, and you haven’t shot me yet because you can’t,” he finished, settling back with a smug grin on his face.
Like the sun breaking out from dark clouds, Elizabeth cocked her head and smiled, a smile so sweet it would have charmed the birds from the trees.