“How…” Ferez croaked, his voice breaking as he tried to speak.

“Hush! Hush now, you look terrible. These Calandorians are barbarians, are they not?”

Ferez glared back, not that he could do much else with his hands bound. But sitting upright, and with his tormentors turned to dust, his thoughts were slowly realigning. He had to come up with a plan, and fast. Maybe if he could keep the Umbrian talking?

“Thank you for your concern, though forgive me if it feels a little hollow. You did try to kill me recently.”

“Indeed. As I said though, it’s nothing personal. I was paid to kill Leonardo, and you got in the way. Although, now that you incinerated my employers, I guess I’ll never see the full payment,” Fahroul said with a sad smile on his face.

“Wait, what? I killed all of them?”

“Oh, yes. That was an incredibly impressive display of power, Mr. Ahud.”

“Please, call me Ferez.”

“Of course, Ferez,” the Umbrian said, the corner of his lip quirking in amusement.

“If they’re all dead, why finish the contract? You could just walk away.”

“What makes you think I haven’t? We’re here conversing, are we not?”

“I’m guessing this is a Griffon Rider outpost? Nod if I’m correct.”

Fahroul nodded, the quirked smile growing larger.

“So, you’ve broken in here, killed at least two riders and probably many more to get to me. You’re a contract killer, so I doubt this is a jailbreak.”

“It isn’t,” Fahroul agreed.

“Then you are here to kill us. Why?”

Fahroul frowned. “Professional standards, of course. I have a reputation to maintain.”

Ferez sighed and tilted his head back, staring at the bare rock ceiling. “Then why are we talking? Just get it over and done with, already. Unless!” he said, whipping his head back down, “You want to untie me and we can duel like civilised men?” He raised a hopeful eyebrow at the hitman.

Fahroul chuckled. “I like you, Ferez. I feel as though we could have been friends under different circumstances. And while I am intensely curious to see how you would fare against me with your Talent replenished, I’m afraid there’s no incentive for me to take that risk. Regardless of how small it is.”

“Not as small as you think,” the fire mage replied, narrowing his eyes.

“Perhaps. I guess we’ll never know.” The shadow mage extended a hand, shadows swirling around it, and Ferez braced. He looked inward, dipping into his pool of Talent and spreading it throughout his body, reinforcing it against the coming magical assault. There wasn’t much. His pool had begun replenishing while he slept, but it hadn’t gotten as far as he’d have liked. He could probably only buy himself a few seconds, certainly no more than ten, but he couldn’t bring himself to passively accept his fate. But as he marshalled his power, he noticed another presence somewhere else in the outpost.

Somewhere nearby.

Talent, two different signatures, was building rapidly. They peaked as a boom reverberated through the room, dust from the ceiling raining down on the two men. The signatures started moving rapidly in their direction, and Fahroul frowned, turning to face the door.

“How bothersome,” he muttered, preparing for battle. “That will bring the riders running. I expect I’ll need to kill everyone in the outpost now.”

“That should be the least of your worries,” Ferez snarled, fighting his restraints again.

Fahroul spared him the briefest glance before turning back to the door, a cloud of shadow roiling protectively in front of him as Ingrid and Leo’s Talent signatures stopped on the other side.

No doubt Fahroul was prepared for the door to be blown in, and a pissed off and very powerful Skjar woman to come storming through. That’s what the location of his shield suggested, anyway. So Ferez could only imagine his surprise when the door flew outwards, the air in the room being sucked into a chaotic vortex. The hitman was picked up and dragged through the air towards the doorway as Ingrid stepped into it. She slammed a fist into the flying mage’s face with such force that he catapulted back, over Ferez, and crashed into the far wall.

“Damnit, Ferez, why haven’t you escaped yet?” she snapped.

“How the Pit was I meant to escape, woman?”

“We both managed it,” she said, jerking a thumb at Leo, who was cautiously poking his head inside the ruined door frame. “Get him untied and on his feet. I’ll deal with Fahroul.”

She walked into the room and Ferez realised, despite her grand entrance, she was still unsteady on her feet, the tendons in her jaw straining against her alabaster skin. She wasn’t fully healed yet, but that didn’t stop her from slamming Fahroul into the ground as he tried to rise, then reversing the current and launching him into the ceiling. He grunted and lashed out with a ribbon of Umbral magic, but Ingrid brushed it aside and sent another stream into him, pinning him against the back wall, his arms outstretched at his side.

“Hurry up, Leo!”

The portly water mage obediently trundled over and started slicing through Ferez’s restraints with a knife of sharp ice. When the rope had fallen away, he hauled Ferez to his feet, the latter stripping off the Resonance gloves.

“Ingrid, I can believe, but how the Pit did you get out?”

Leo winked and held up a hand. With a flourish, he made a set of lock picks appear. “I learned from my experience in Ingrid’s dungeon. Now, shall we help your lovely lady?”

Ferez turned to find Fahroul still pinned to the wall. Their eyes locked, and rage flashed behind the shadow mage’s icy blue eyes.

He roared and burst into his Shadow Form, slicing through the wide air torrent, heading straight for Ingrid. He reached her, pulling back a fist that was somehow darker than the rest of him, prepared to strike. But he stopped as a small ball of fire hit his chest, sinking into the core of his body. Ingrid released the air stream and took a wobbly step back, a sinister smile on her face, as Fahroul turned to Ferez.

“That’s the best you can do?” he asked, his voice once again distorted by the Shadow Form.

Ferez stood, his hand out and palm up, a small smile on his face. In response, he cocked an eyebrow, and clenched his fist.

The Flash Bomb detonated, blowing Fahroul apart, strands of black smoke scattering about the room.

He started to reform, of course, but it would take him a few seconds and cost him a large amount of Talent. Ingrid cracked her knuckles and prepared to get to work, but Ferez stopped her, crossing the distance between them and placing a restraining hand on her shoulder.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Not here. It’s too close, we’ve got no room to manoeuvre.”

“We have him at a disadvantage! He can’t even attack us right now!” she said, shaking the hand off.

“And we can’t hurt him! We’d burn through our Talent keeping him dispersed before he runs dry, and then we would have no hope. We need to escape and come up with a proper plan.”

“Coward,” she said, taking a step towards where Fahroul’s form was rapidly gaining human proportions.

“Ingrid,” he said, grabbing her and spinning her to face him. “He almost killed you. You’re still…” He trailed off as he searched her eyes, begging her to listen. Initially, she met his gaze with contempt, but it quickly softened. She glanced away.

“Alright,” she said, quietly, then pushed past him to leave the room. Leo looked at Ferez with a shake of his head, then mimed being hung before he left as well.

They’re both fools, Ferez thought to himself as he turned back to Fahroul. The shadowy form had reassembled enough that the cold blue fires were once again burning in his face. Ferez locked eyes, and threw another Flash Bomb.

“See you soon, Fahroul,” he said, blowing him apart once more, then turning and striding out of the room. He caught up to Leo and Ingrid as they jogged through the rocky warren, the former whistling a merry tune, the latter staring straight ahead, refusing to make eye contact.

Don’t know what her problem is, but I’ll deal with it later, Ferez thought.

“Does anybody know where we are going?” he asked.

“Up,” Ingrid replied, curtly.

Ferez gave Leo an exasperated look, and the water mage smiled sympathetically. “We talked about it on the way to your cell. Griffon Rider outposts are built into mountain peaks, so hostile forces can’t reach them. There’s no paths to and from them. The only way in or out is to fly.”

“That’s not good,” Ferez said bluntly. “Neither of you two could fly the height of a mountain, and I would have no hope! Please tell me there’s more to the plan than ‘jump’.”

“Of course!” Leo said, holding a finger to his temple. He opened his mouth to say something and Ferez cut him off.

“I swear to the gods, Leo. If you say something about your mind being a steel trap, I will kill you myself.”

Leo shut his mouth, putting on an exaggerated pout. “Why do I even travel with you two? You’re both so mean to me.”

“Because you’re on the run from the world’s most dangerous hitman! You duped us into being your unwitting bodyguards, which is why we’re in this dilemma to start with, so don’t you dare get lippy!”

“Sheesh! Somebody’s sensitive today,” he mumbled. “But the plan, it’s brilliant in its simplicity, really. We’re going to the roost to steal a griffon.”

“You can’t be serious,” Ferez said, his face falling.

“Deadly serious! Come on, it can’t be that hard. They have saddles and reins. I’m sure it’s just like riding a horse.”

“Ingrid, come on. What’s the actual plan?” Ferez asked, an imploring edge to his voice. She still didn’t look at him when she spoke.

“Steal a griffon. Like the idiot said. Anyway, cut the chatter. We’ve got company.”

The trio rounded a corner and found a squad of Griffon Riders sprinting towards them. Their eyes widened in shock at finding three unrestrained mages wandering the halls, and they reached for swords and bolas’. None of them were quick enough as Ingrid sent a gust of wind down the hallway, turning it into a spinning vortex in the middle of the gaggle. The lucky ones were flung back down the hallway, the unlucky ones were propelled into the walls with bone crushing force, and one particularly unlucky bastard got caught up in the vortex itself, being slammed repeatedly against the ceiling as he puked up his last meal.

The trio sprinted through the carnage, Ferez snatching up a sword and tucking it into his belt, before they stumbled on a staircase spiralling up and out of sight. Ingrid didn’t hesitate, forging ahead as the others followed behind. Ferez marvelled at how her strength as she ran up the stairs, even with her injuries she just kept going, and going, and- ooop she just collapsed.

Ferez caught her, but she waved him off with a resolute glare, determined to keep moving under her own power. They kept going, Ingrid half dragging herself at times, before they eventually burst out into the light of the setting sun. They were atop the outpost, on a large flat square carved out of the mountain’s peak, the stone taking on an ominous, blood coloured hue in the dwindling light.

“Over there!” Ingrid said, panting as she pointed towards a large wooden structure that looked like a cross between a stable and an aviary. It was at least three storeys tall, circular at the base and rising to a central point with broad openings dotted along the walls.

“Alright,” Ferez said as they jogged towards the… bird cage. “We get in there, then what? How does one steal a griffon?”

“You don’t!” a voice shouted from behind them. They turned to find Bill in the doorway, face drawn as he leaned heavily against the frame. He held his sword in one hand.

His other arm was missing.

With a groan, he pushed off and stumbled towards them. As he reached Ferez, he buckled, his sword clattering to the blood-red stone. The fire mage barely caught him before he hit the ground and subsequently tried not to grimace as his robes turned damp where the man’s stub of an arm pressed against the fabric.

The Calandorian was pale, his face drawn, a faint sheen of sweat on his brow. He didn’t have long to live.

“You bastards… brought him here…” he said through clenched teeth.

Ferez tried to dredge up some sympathy for the man who had him tortured. Looking at him in his sorry state, it was surprisingly easy. “Sorry about that. I tried to explain but, well… you had me waterboarded,” he said, genuine sorrow in his voice.

“Aye, that I did. My bad. Tell me, the wedding? The knife game? Was it all the truth?”

Ferez stared into Bill’s eyes, and slowly nodded.

“Bah! What a fool I am.” He scrunched his eyes shut and groaned as pain lanced through his body from somewhere. “I came up here to retreat, bring back reinforcements. But I do believe I’m done for. That demon is tearing through the garrison. There weren’t many of us to start with, and we aren’t for fighting at close quarters. The open sky is our battlefield,” he said, opening his eyes and gazing into the sky. They were wistful. “If I’d known that was the last time I’d fly…” he trailed off, his eyes starting to roll back in his head. With an effort, he shook himself back awake. “Can you kill him?” he asked, suddenly seizing Ferez’s collar in an iron grip, a manic intensity in his eyes.

The mage shook his head. “Not here. He’s too powerful, even for the three of us.”

“Bollocks,” Bill said, releasing his grip and fumbling at his own collar. With effort, he wormed his uncooperative hand inside his shirt, and produced a small tin whistle.

“Take this, it’s for Windshear. He might be a bit standoffish at first, but so long as he can see you hold the whistle, he’ll let you ride. Get him out of here for me, yeah?”

“I will, Bill.”

The soldier smiled, satisfied, and closed his eyes. Ferez gently lowered himself to the ground and stood to face the others.

“Looks like that’s one problem solved,” he said brightly.

“Not the one you needed,” Fahroul said from the shadow of the doorway.

“By Aquina’s pert backside, man!” Leo snapped. “Can you fuck off for just a minute? Just one! We aren’t asking for much!”

Fahroul’s eyebrows rose at the uncharacteristically aggressive display. “Where did that come from?”

“Ferez and Bill just had a moment! And now you’ve completely ruined it. Honestly! Arsehole,” Leo shook his head, then discretely whispered, “blow the fucking whistle!”

Right!

Ferez launched a Flash Bomb at Fahroul and sprinted for the cage, the others right behind him as he blew every millilitre of air in his lungs through the small instrument. A screech from the cage answered him.

The griffon shot out of the entrance, but skidded to a halt when it saw the three mages charging at it. It screamed a challenge and crouched, prepared for battle.

“No, you dumb bird. We want to ride you, not fight!” Ferez blew the whistle again, and the griffon cocked its head, confused by the sound of its command whistle coming from the three miscreants its rider had picked off the valley floor earlier. It stopped looking like it would tear them apart, at least, but it didn’t make any moves to approach them.

Ferez risked a glance back. Fahroul had recovered and was striding across the landing towards them. He hadn’t engaged his Shadow Form yet, but smoke was already curling around his hands. Meeting Ferez’s eyes, he hurled a ball of umbral magic. The fire mage cursed and spun, throwing up a shell of fire to block it and countering with another Flash Bomb. Fahroul phased out and disappeared, reappearing a few meters to the side as the projectile sailed harmlessly past.

“That worked surprisingly well against my Shadow Form,” the hitman called, “but I won’t give you another opportunity.”

Ferez grit his teeth. The Shadow Form was dangerous, but uniquely vulnerable to his bombs. In his regular form, he wasn’t as powerful, but he could move faster with Shadow Step, and he was plenty scary, even like this. If the three of them were fully healed, they might have stood a chance, but with Ingrid injured? He didn’t like their chances.

The bastard was smiling now, taking his time as he approached. The second they turned their backs, he could close the distance with Shadow Step, and they were still too far from Windshear to make a run for it.

He threw the whistle at Leo. “Get Ingrid out of here.”

Expecting Leo to argue, he gave him a warning glare, but it wasn’t needed. The water mage regarded him for a few moments, then nodded, grabbing Ingrid by the wrist and dragging her towards the griffon.

“Wait, you can’t be serious!” she said, but her protests were feeble. She could barely muster the strength to punch Leo in an attempt to break his grip, though she certainly tried. Content they were on their way, Ferez turned his full attention to Fahroul once more.

“You said you were curious. Let’s see how this plays out,” he said.