My heart raced. Trent was lying unconscious on the ground about six feet in front of me. My eyes darted around looking for a culprit. It couldn’t have been Sam. He was carrying the gas container with both hands. I scrambled to jump toward a shelf, just to have something against my back in the even of a surprise attack.
What the hell just happened?!
Sam carried the tank normally, as if the crash just now were nothing more than a bucket of paint. He didn’t turn around.
I was no fool. I was next on the chopping block.
I quickly looked around for how I could turn the situation around. Luckily, Sam had taken off his helm before we came into the warehouse. I shot a water ball the size of a beach ball at the back of his head and he fell over. The gas container crashed and rolled, stopping in front of a shelf unit with rope, cooking oil, and other supplies. I ran around in circles, not stopping so I wouldn’t get caught by whatever knocked out Trent.
The guards ran after me and soon turned invisible, but they stopped making any kind of sound.
I figured they’d come straight at me, so I had to jump in circles, putting my hands out in front of me and shooting water balls in random directions to keep them away. They were no good. Without a direct hit to the head, the guards just grunted and braced themselves for impact. The chain mail they were wearing wasn’t in my favor either.
The only thing I managed to do was get them to stay away from me, cautious about my spellcard and also the fast-moving water. But I was burning through gallons at this rate.
Suddenly a voice shouted from close by, different than the two guards. Another party was in the room after all.
“Code Orange. Tell the vice-captain!”
Though still invisible, whoever that made sounds again. Their boots dragged across the floor. The sounds of their hands moving—everything clear as day. But only for a moment. That person was a pro at this. My water balls in their direction missed and hit the walls further ahead, as the room went silent once more.
Suddenly, the creaking of the main door trying to open drew my attention.
I didn’t need a visual for that. I spammed water balls in that direction and heard a loud thud as an especially lucky one struck a part of body not covered in metal.
One down. Maybe.
But I was getting fatigued. Having to be constantly alert for an invisible tackle or hands reaching me had worn me down. I didn’t know who had the card. Or if they all had one.
Suddenly, with my back against one of the shelves, a body slammed onto me, knocking over the shelf I was leaning against and me with it.
My back was on fire where one of the rectangular wood pieces struck it.
The person pinned me down, choking me. I couldn’t do anything with my water card from this distance. Lightheaded and gasping for air, my instincts took over. I felt for any objects around me, anything at all that had fallen from the shelves, and realized a metal wrench was just outside my reach. My fingers just slightly brushed the metal but I couldn’t get a grasp. I overextended my arm, not caring whether I broke it or pulled a muscle and eventually succeeded in bringing it closer. Just in time, as my eyes were starting to close.
With one lust breath, I whacked the person on top of me as hard as I could. He grunted loudly and finally passed out after I didn’t let up on the blows. I was out of breath, but I couldn’t stay down. I pushed his unconscious body off me and bolted up, resuming to shooting water balls to buy me some time. Someone was still here. Probably whoever had the card.
It hurt like hell to move. Between the sharp aches in my back and the bruises around my neck, I was trying not to limp as I moved.
He figured I’d tire myself out if I kept going. Well, I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of being right.
To my surprise, the door to the warehouse suddenly slammed shut. Then noise came from all over the warehouse. Random things started falling, and I couldn’t tell where the man had gone. He was trying to confuse me. This person wasn’t like the two guards—he was more clever.
A sharp laughter cut the air. “He’s just a brat. Can’t believe those two got done in. Really is hard to find good help these days.”
Metal objects started flying off one of the shelves toward me. I managed to dodge them all.
The man clicked his tongue in frustration.
“Why don’t you show yourself? You afraid of a little water?” I taunted.
“Said you were merchants, huh? Thought I wouldn’t recognize one of the leaders of the village we’d just raided? That you could get revenge with a little water card? Pfft. Country hicks are as stupid as they look. I’ll give you one chance. Throw me your card. Unless you want me to kill him.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
His voice was raspy and gruff, belonging to someone at least in their forties.
Damn it. Trent’s on the floor. How can I turn the tables on the bandit when I can’t see him?
“Tell me something,” I said. “You kidnapped a lady. Red hair. What’d you do with her?”
“Ah, her? She’s a nice fuck. Yells real good. ‘Bout the only thing worth much from that piss village.”
I couldn’t move a muscle. One wrong move and that’d be the end of Trent. I had to keep the conversation flowing and pray an idea hit me.
“Well, you weren’t her first. The guy on the floor beat you to her.”
Moving my eyes around without moving my face felt awkward. Nothing but garbage here. Do I flood this place?
He snorted. “And what of it? The bitch is mine now. Hurry up and toss the card. You got 3 seconds.”
“You really think I care that much about this guy?” I blurted out. “I can flood the whole warehouse and take you with me. I came for revenge and I’m about to get it.”
“You don’t look like the suicidal type to me, shortcake.”
Just then, it hit me. The idea I’d been waiting for. The shelves weren’t fixed to the walls. They had four legs planted firmly on the ground. If I made a wave big enough at least a few of them would topple over, or at least move and get in his way. It was the only thing I could do.
“Guess you don’t know me very well,” I said, reaching into my crotch. I’d never summoned this much water before. I grabbed the card out of instinct, as if to stop it from overheating.
My pants shone brightly and thousands of gallons of water poured out of the space in front of me, heading toward Trent’s direction.
“Fuck!” the bandit yelled, running away from the incoming wave. I set 9900 gallons, leaving me with about 70 for emergency water balls after how much I’d used today. The water levels of the warehouse rose. Trent was swept away first, but soon a lot of the shelves moved, and several toppled over. Thankfully the bastard had closed the door on me.
Soon, we were wading through a pool about two and a half feet deep. Trent’s mouth and nose had probably taken in water, and he sunk to the bottom.
“Phew,” I heard from across the room. “Is that all?”
It wasn’t enough to get the man. But it did give me an idea. I’d look around the room for a disturbance in the water. He was invisible but still took up space, so the water on the surface would be broken up.
I got you.
The bastard was slowly inching toward me from the right, trying not to make a sound. But I’d already narrowed his location. Without looking his way, I shot a bunch of water balls in his direction. It took about two seconds between each round. The second one smacked him dead on the head. The body fell over with a loud splash, accompanied by a thud on the floor.
I did it.
I had to get Trent out of here before any other bandits or knights came looking. I waded through the water and rescued him from the bottom. I didn’t know CPR so I tried to recall movies I had seen. I punched him in the chest first, hoping he would cough up water. Then his stomach. I pulled him up and squeezed him from his stomach upward. I did that for almost ten minutes straight until my arms were ready to fall off.
When that didn’t work, I had no choice but to give him mouth-to-mouth, blowing air down his esophagus.
“Wake up, Trent! Wake up!”
I gave him a hard slap across the face. One turned to two, then three. He’d only been in the water for less than thirty seconds. There was no way he was dead.
“I said WAKE UP!”
The final slap did it. Trent woke up with eyes wide open, taking an absurd amount of air into his nostrils and coughing repeatedly.
“Trent. Calm down and breathe,” I instructed. He sat upright, moving his hands through the water. He spent about two minutes just coughing.
“Did you do this?” he said through a heavy breath.
“Who else? We were right. The bandits and Holy Knights are working together. Someone with a card for Invisibility knocked you out. I beat him somehow. He and the two guards are in this water somewhere.”
My eyes shot wide as I remembered something.
The card! The invisibility card!
Shit. Where was he again? I’d lost sight of him.
“Trent! Hurry up and help me find the body. We need his invisibility card.”
“Agreed,” he said, struggling to push himself off the ground. “That card may be the only way we get out of here alive.”
We sifted through more water, around where I remembered him falling. My foot bumped against something soft. It was definitely a beer belly.
“Found him,” I said, drawing Trent over. I dug my hand through his pockets, took off his shoes and searched in through whatever I could think of but still fell short of finding the card. Besides I a set of keys dangling around his belt, there was nothing of interest.
Damn. Where could it be? I feel like I’ve looked everywhere.
I gulped from an unnerving realization.
It’s in his crotch isn’t it?
I cursed the fact that he was as creative as me. Bracing myself, I slid my hand down his pants and touched something soft. It wasn’t the card. I flipped the bandit over and tried his ass. Finally, my hands touched something hard and glassy.
I immediately registered it. “Register! Hear me, gods! The card is mine!”
A purple cone of light erupted from the card, creating a hologram in the air. The card showed a man surrounded by trees fading away into nothing. It was like an animated film lasting only a few seconds. But I could watch it over and over.
I opened my dashboard and checked out the card’s specs.
Deck Dashboard (Normal)
Spellcards
Utility: 0
Normal: 2 [Select] _ Passive: 1 General: 1
Great: 1 [Select] _ Passive: 0 General: 0 Dark: 1 Holy: 0
Epic: 0 _ Passive: 0 General: 0 Dark: 0 Holy: 0 Summon: 0
Ultimate: 0 _ Passive: 0 General: 0 Dark: 0 Holy: 0 Summon: 0 Creation: 0
God: 0 _ World: 0
Attributes
Strength: 10 (+25%) Mind: 13 (+25%) Spirit: 20 (+25%) Agility: 10 (+25%)
Skills
Shearing, Physical Training, Running
Status
None
So it’s Great tier. Dark attribute. Alright, where are the card specs?
Card of Invisibility (Great) (Dark)
(Trees and man pictured)
[The wielder of this card may become invisible for twelve hours elapsed time. When invisible, any sound created by target is silenced unless the card wielder allows it. Additionally, wielder may select up to fifty targets of dimensions 10 feet by 10 feet by three feet or less within a twenty-foot radius. Additional targets divide total elapsed time of effect. Once targets are affected by card, limitless range for dispel is applied. Card recharges over 72 hours. Stack with other Great-tier cards for extra time or faster cool down.]
Not bad. I could have a lot of fun with this one.