Ferez grunted as he ripped his sword free from a pirate, stumbling as his legs almost gave out beneath him. It was just as well, as an axe whistled past just overhead, swung by a cowardly slaver who had seen fit to sneak up from behind while his peers were massacred. Ferez let himself drop, executing a very ugly, exhausted roll once he hit the ground, putting distance between himself and the new attacker. As he laboriously flipped onto his back, he was treated to the sight of an absolute giant of a man standing over him, axe raised for a follow up strike.
Ferez raised his hands and shot a stream of fire into the slaver’s eyes. Unintentional, he hadn’t had time to aim properly, but he decided it was a very happy accident as his foe screamed in agony, swinging his axe wildly about. He allowed himself a few seconds to lay there, catching his breath to the sound of panicked screaming, then clambered to his feet. He waited for an opening, then lurched forward, driving his sword into the pirate’s gut. The unfortunate man dropped his axe and fell to the ground, clutching the wound, unaware of Ferez stepping over him, sword tip poised above his heart. He let himself drop, his body weight doing the work his leaden arms were no longer capable of, the steel punching through the rib cage with an audible crack. Even after the giant had stilled, the fire mage remained in place, kneeling on the bloodied chest and leaning against the sword hilt. The mere thought of standing up again made his legs tremble.
A boom and crack reverberated through his skull, the sound’s origin coming from nearby.
“Gods damnit, Leo. Couldn’t you have picked a fight closer to the boats?” Ferez said as he stood, pushing against his sword as he drove with his legs, the combined efforts of all four limbs barely sufficient to get him upright.
He looked about, checking there were no more obstacles, otherwise known as people, between him and his friend. Aside from a few dozen bodies, he was alone on this part of the dock. Battle still raged behind him, near the boats, and ahead Leo and Nezir clashed, the wooden structure underfoot reduced to a mess of broken pylons and planks as they tore into each other, but the immediate area around him was devoid of living enemies as the few survivors from his onslaught had broken and fled back inside.
He set off towards the battling mages at an unsteady stagger. After the rigmarole of making it this far, his Talent reserves were dangerously low again, and his physical endurance was completely spent, but maybe he could lob a few Flash Bombs from the sidelines? For moral support, if nothing else. He needed to do something at any rate, or Leo was dead.
The water mage was giving a good showing, but he was on his last legs against such a powerful fighter. His armour was dented and warped from the impact of a dozen stone projectiles, his Resonance construct had long since exhausted it’s Talent supply and crumbled away, and his own water and ice constructs were growing flimsier by the moment. As Ferez stumbled closer, Nezir charged, ignoring a spear of ice as it shattered harmlessly against his stone suit and swung a fist at Leo. As he swung, the stone covering his forearm rippled, and an earthen blade erupted out. It crashed against Leo’s helm, knocking the armour off his head as it knocked the privateer to the ground. He hit the ground with a thud, the tortured structure beneath him holding his weight for a split second before it gave way, plunging him into the sea below.
Ferez screamed and rushed forward, hurling a ball of fire at the earth mage. Nezir looked up in surprise as the attack hit home, the projectile blowing him backwards off his feet, though the dock unfortunately held up where he fell. Ignoring the earth mage for the moment, Ferez slid to a halt where Leo had gone under, dropping to his stomach and searching the black water for his friend.
“Armour that heavy? Your friend is resting on the bottom of the sea now,” Nezir said. Ferez glanced up, the earth mage was climbing to his feet. He was moving slow, his fight with Leo had obviously taxed him. Ferez looked back down into the water.
“He’s an Aquis mage. He’s not going to drown,” Ferez replied, half believing the words.
“He was spent, High Mage. You saw that last spear of his, he had nothing left. That man is dead, or soon to be, at least. For what it’s worth, I hear drowning is quite a peaceful way to die.”
Ferez smiled a grim smile, his memory reaching back to his first adventure with Leo.
“You would be surprised, actually.”
“In that case, my condolences.”
“I already told you,” Ferez said, pushing himself up onto his knees, then climbing to his feet, bracing his arms against his legs as he straightened up with a soft groan. “He’s not going to drown.”
“Whatever comforts you in your final moments,” Nezir replied, shrugging. “Your tenacity is admirable, but I can tell you are spent as well. Your fight here taxed you too much, you cannot stand against me in this state.”
“I might not be able to kill you like this,” Ferez said, skirting around the hole in the docks and striding towards the pirate, “but I don’t need to. Just keep you tied down long enough for my army to arrive.”
“You’re that confident they will win? From here all I can see are the backs of my men as they push yours into the sea.”
Ferez let out a sharp bark. “A very beautiful, powerful and downright terrifying woman is fighting there as we speak. You should be glad the press of bodies is blocking your view. The only thing getting pressed anywhere is your troops through the human meatgrinder that is Ingrid Luftfaust.”
“Is that so? I guess I had better kill you quickly and marshal my forces then.”
“Hmpf. I think you’re almost as drained as I am. I guess Leo was tougher than you expected, when he was actually ready for battle.”
Instead of continuing the verbal back and forth Nezir launched forward, propelling his suit, and him inside it, forward in a blur. Ferez dived to the side as the human missile shot past, rolling to his feet and spinning, hurling a Flash Bomb at Nezir’s back as he skidded to a halt. The explosive missed its mark as Nezir sprinted aside, running in an arc around Ferez, firing stone splinters from his gauntlets.
Ferez ducked and spun, dodging the first half dozen spikes and returning fire, but the damn suit made Nezir unnaturally spry. He could turn, stop and reverse direction in direct contradiction to the physical laws of motion, the man’s magic footing the energy bill. There was no way the fire mage could hit him without getting much, much closer.
He ducked a stone shard winging towards his face and ran at Nezir, the Terran accepting the challenge and charging too. Fire and broken stone exploded in the air between them as they unleashed a torrent of magic, the assaults cancelling out in a cacophonic precursor to the inevitable collision of bodies. Ferez yelled as they closed, launching himself through the air as Nezir did the same. They swung at the same time, fist crashing against fist, one wreathed in flame, the other encased in rock.
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Ferez snarled and detonated the magic in his hand, directing the roaring energy into Nezir even as the force from the Terran’s blow reverberated up his arm, splintering bone and ripping tendons. Both mages flew back from the impact, Ferez rolling to his feet and charging with sword gripped in his functional arm. Nezir was slower getting up, the blast scrambling his senses and momentarily breaking his link with his armour. As he rose Ferez thrust, his sword biting into the armour above the Terran’s sternum. Nezir cursed and twisted, just in time to avoid a fatal wound, but not fast enough to escape unscathed, as the high mage ripped the blade free in a spray of brown mud and red blood.
The pirate swore and stumbled back, firing a burst of splinters at point blank range. The attack was born of desperation, most of the shots going wide, except for one, cursed shard that tore through the edge of Ferez’s stomach. He dropped to a knee, dropping his sword to clutch the wound.
“I can’t believe you actually tagged me with a sword. And in that state no less? You are a scary man, High Mage,” Nezir said, his breath ragged.
Ferez didn’t immediately reply. He couldn’t. His body had performed admirably, but he knew this last burst was extending past his limits. The rock through the gut had been the final nail in the coffin. He laughed, the poetic irony of the expression sending him into a fit of uncontrolled laughter. With effort, he fought his mania under control and rose, unsteady, to his feet.
“That suit of yours is a pain the arse, Nezir. But it’s not impervious. You shift parts of it from solid stone to mud when you move, right? I just had to get you when the armour was weakened. Was hoping I’d do better than a flesh wound, though.”
“You figured that out while we fought? Damn. You know? If we had met one on one, no armies between us, no ambushes, I dare say you would kill me.”
“Of course, Nezir. You’re an up jumped Adept. That suit is an impressive innovation but beyond that you don’t have anything of note. I, on the other hand, am the Avatar of Flame, the greatest battlemage my college has ever produced.”
“You know, if you actually had stuck with a single nickname, it might have stuck.”
“Sorry?”
“Red Death, Avatar of Flame, uh, what was that other one?... Flaming Fiend?”
“Gods, I had forgotten about that one.”
“It was my favourite, if I’m being honest. But no one could keep track so everyone just defaulted to calling you ‘that bastard battlemage’.”
“They called me a bastard?”
“Of course, the crowds I socialise with have rarely had positive encounters with you.”
“That makes sense. So, do you think I could salvage a good nickname? If I stuck with one from now on?”
“You’re about to die, High Mage, so, no.”
“Humour me.”
“Alright, though you might not want to hear it. I think that ship has sailed. I think the best you can hope for is High Mage Ahud, now.”
“Blast and buggery,” Ferez spat.
“Sorry.”
“No, no, I did this. It’s not your fault.”
“That’s very gracious of you. Now that that’s out of the way, should we finish this?” Nezir asked as he stalked towards the fire mage.
“Yeah, I think so, though, you might not want to hear this.”
“Hear what?” Nezir asked, stopping just short of Ferez.
“You know how I noticed how your armour works mid-fight?”
“Yes?” the Terran asked, guarded.
“I noticed Leo’s Talent signature below us too.”
Nezir looked down, swore and tried to run, but a blade of ice punched through the wooden boards, whipping around him in a circle before he could get clear. He reached out, grasping for the edge of the hole that opened up as he fell, missing by a whisper and plunging into the water. A second later, a hand rose up from the same hole and latched onto the docks. A familiar voice came from within.
“Could you give us a hand? I’m one short these days.”
Ferez scoffed and fell to his knees, grabbing Leo’s wrist with his good arm and hauling him up.
“You and me both now, it seems,” he grunted as they laboriously manoeuvred the water mage onto dry land. His armour had disappeared with the exception of the Resonance metal over his arm stump.
“Really? What happened?” he asked.
“I cunningly countered Nezir’s attack with my own.”
“While he was wearing that stone suit thingy?”
“Regrettably, yes.”
“Ooft. How bad is the damage?”
“I think he’s splintered every bone in the arm.”
“That’s rough, buddy. For what it’s worth, you’ll learn to jack off with your spare hand pretty quickly. Give it a couple of weeks and you won’t even miss it.”
“Do you want me to push you back in?” Ferez asked, scowling.
“What? I was being supportive!”
“You’re such a dickhead.”
“Yeah. Saved your life just now though.”
“This is true. Then I pulled you to safety so we’re even I think.”
“Oh, pish posh. I would have got up eventually.”
“We barely got you out working together. If you still had your armour on there would have been no hope. What happened to it, incidentally. Don’t tell me you managed to unbuckle yourself while you were drowning?”
“Ferez, I’m a naval commander. I had the suit of armour built with a quick release strap in case I ever fell into the drink and couldn’t fall back on my magic. I pull it and everything just falls away. Brilliant, right?”
“Surprisingly so, actually.”
“Yeah, I’m nothing if not clever. Although, I kind of wish I was still wearing it now,” Leo said, looking up at the fortress, his face drawn and pale. Ferez followed his gaze towards the stronghold entrance.
There was a fairly sizeable force of pirates charging through said doorway, heading straight towards them.
“Shit. Can you fight?”
“I’m buggered, Ferez. I’m not sure I can stand right now. You?”
“I know for a fact I can’t stand right now.”
Leo sighed and sank back onto his hands, legs splayed in front of him.
“Alright. Fingers crossed they feel like talking before they kill us then. Buy some time.”
“That would be nice, wouldn’t it?” Ferez replied as the pirates reached them, quickly surrounding them. “Oh! This is a promising start! I wonder if someone is going to start monologuing?”
“That would be fantastic, wouldn’t it? Hey!” Leo shouted at the men around them. “Is one of you about the start monologuing?”
The pirates looked at each other, confused, before one brave soul spoke up.
“About what?”
“I dunno, anything really. How you’re going to kill us? Your brilliant plan for defending the Wail? Pit, I’d take a monologue about your breakfast if that’s all you’ve got.
“No, I don’t think anyone was planning on monologuing. We’re just waiting for the Crimson Blade to come back.”
“Son, he went into the water. He was wounded and covered in stone. He’s gone.”
“You think he’s dead?” the pirate asked, a smile slowly spreading over his face. “Yeah, he’s in the water. But what’s underneath the water?”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Leo sighed as the dock started to shake. The intensity grew until a column of stone broke through the wooden planks in a spray of water. They were pelted with salty droplets as the spray settled to reveal Nezir standing atop the plinth.
“That was clever,” he said, stepping off the platform, a step shooting out from its side beneath his foot. He descended the spire in this manner, until he was standing just before them.
Damn, but that looked pretty smooth, Ferez thought.
“Damn, but that looked pretty smooth,” Leo said.
“Shh! Don’t say it out loud,” Ferez hissed.
“Why not?”
“Don’t give him the satisfaction.”
“It’s a bit late for that now,” Nezir said, hands planted on his hips as he looked down at them. “That was clever, you two. Very clever. But not clever enough, I’m afraid. Any last words before I rip you apart?”
Leo opened his mouth and an inhuman screech split the air. His mouth snapped shut, his eyebrows rocketing up his forehead.
“That wasn’t you, was it?” Ferez asked.
“Most certainly was not,” Leo replied.
Ferez turned back to Nezir, the pirate’s head swivelling around seeking the source of the sound.
“Looks like our reinforcements just arrived,” he said as Windshear burst through the press of bodies, a broken pirate body in under each claw and a third in its beak. It hurled the corpse into the gaggle of pirates with bone crushing force and screeched again as a figure stood up in his saddle. It was Leanne, one arm in a sling, the other clutching a bloodied lance.
“The cavalry has arrived, Patriarch!” she announced.