by Aaron Oster
“I think it’s safe to come subdue him now, men,” Gold called out.
A troupe of academy guards emerged from one of booths at his order and jogged over to the kneeling man.
“This isn’t over, mage!” Arnold yelled. “The North will prevail and the Central Kingdom will fall!”
“From where I’m standing,” Gold said, “it looks like you’ve lost. With their commander out of the fight, the soldiers will soon break and be routed. Then we’ll send word to King Herald that the treaty has been broken and he will call upon the other kingdoms to crush Edmund and his ilk.”
Arnold glared at him for another few moments; then he began to laugh.
It was a sound that chilled Sarah down to her very bones. This didn’t sound like the laugh of a man who’d been defeated.
“You think that I’m the one in command of this invasion?” he cackled, as blood flecked spittle flew from his lips.
“Do you really think that King Edmund would entrust his entire military to a hired mercenary? You really have begun slipping in your old age, Gold!” His laughter continued, but soon devolved into a coughing fit. His palms hit the ground as he heaved for air, then began vomiting up blood.
“If you are not the one in charge; then who is?” Gold demanded, taking a step forward and raising his hand.
“That would be me.”
Everyone turned at the sound of that voice and Sarah’s eyes widened, as the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen entered the arena.
She was tall, nearly six feet and was dressed in flanged armor pained a deep red. The armor hugged her body in a way that suggested everything, yet showed nothing. She had long golden hair, which billowed out around her as she walked and bright violet eyes that seemed to glow in the light of the mid-afternoon sun. She had flawless, lightly tanned skin and when she smiled; revealed a mouth full of perfect white teeth.
Sarah instantly hated this woman.
She didn’t know who she was, but anyone that perfect deserved it.
“Stop, you idiots!” Gold yelled.
Sarah turned back, just in time to see the group of guards who’d been surrounding Arnold, turned to run at the woman. Her smile didn’t diminish in the slightest, as she raised an open palm towards the oncoming men. Then she swished it downward in a chopping motion and the very air tore apart.
There was a loud crack, like the sound of shattering glass, and the guards exploded into a fountain of blood; except for their heads, which landed one by one, with wet thumps on the blood soaked ground.
Sarah screamed, feeling bile coat her mouth. Then she leaned to the side and threw up, retching and heaving as she emptied the contents of her stomach.
When she straightened, the woman had already made it to Arnold and was looking down at him disapprovingly.
“My father will be quite disappointed with your performance, Arnold. Just look at you, allowing yourself to be beaten this badly. Though I suppose I can’t really blame you; you were facing one of the most powerful mages this academy has to offer. Well, don’t just lie there! Get up!”
Arnold got slowly to his feet; face pale from pain and blood loss.
“Sarah; I want you to take Morgan and run.”
Sarah turned away from the woman as Gold began speaking.
“Why? Who is she?”
“That is Princess Katherine.”
Sarah felt her stomach drop.
She knew that name. Princess Katherine was King Edmund’s oldest daughter and one of the most powerful supers alive. She’d once overheard her father talking to someone about her and he’d estimated her rank to be close to the maximum.
Although there weren’t any wars in the last few centuries, there were always territorial disputes between the kingdoms, especially by the borders. That was where Katherine had made her name; mercilessly butchering thousands of soldiers and ending disputes within hours of her arrival.
“I see that you understand our current predicament, then,” Gold said when he saw her expression. His eyes flicked back to the princess, but she was still busy chastising Arnold.
“Take this.”
He pulled a small leather bag from his pocket and handed it to her. She took it, giving him a puzzled look as he bent down and lifted Morgan, who was still out cold.
“Do you think you can carry him?” he asked, as she pocketed the small pouch.
“He’s not any heavier than those chains you made me carry,” she tried to joke, but it fell flat.
Gold moved behind her and put Morgan onto her back.
She got a good grip under his knees and took his full weight as Gold let go.
He was surprisingly light, though she shouldn’t really be surprised by that. He may have been eating regular meals over the last three months, but that couldn’t erase years of malnutrition.
Gold looked them over one last time, then issued his instructions.
“CAMS is no longer safe. If Katherine is here, then I must assume that the academy has already fallen and the kingdom isn’t far behind.”
“What about King Herald? Surely he could stop her,” Sarah asked.
“Unfortunately, the king is far away at the moment on a diplomatic mission, along with his most powerful soldiers. That’s probably why the North felt secure enough to attack. By the time the king makes it back, they’ll already be securely dug in and it’ll be a challenge to get them out.”
“So, what do we do? My father won’t stop looking for me and if anyone finds out about Morgan, he’ll be hunted down and killed!”
“No, not everyone will kill him. Go to the East Kingdom; once there, head for the duchy of Duke Ingram and Duchess Helga. They’re old friends of mine and will be more than happy to take you in. They can be trusted to keep Morgan’s secret, and can help both you and him further your abilities. Everything you’ll need for the journey is in that bag I gave you. Now go; I’ll hold them off while you make your escape.”
Sarah stared wide eyed as the man smiled at her and patted her shoulder.
“Wait. Can you win against her?”
“Oh, most definitely not,” he replied with a wide grin.
“You can’t stay here, you’ll die!”
“Yes, but if I can save my students, then I’ll gladly sacrifice myself,” he said solemnly.
Sarah felt her bottom lip begin to tremble, but Gold continued speaking.
“Then again, I do have a way to escape once you’ve made it far enough away, so maybe I’ll use that instead of dying,” he said, with a thoughtful expression.
“You’re a real asshole, you know that?” Sarah yelled.
“Yup! Now you better get going. I think the Princess is gearing up for a fight.”
Sarah turned her head and sure enough, Katherine was now approaching them; Arnold staggering along behind her and looking thoroughly miserable.
44
Sarah dug in her heels and ran, clutching tighter to Morgan’s legs as she felt him shifting around on her back. She heard a shout from behind her and looked back to see Gold raising a massive wall of stone between himself and Katherine.
There was no way that would stop her, but it might slow her down.
There was a loud, echoing boom and Sarah heard the distinct sound of cracking stone. She didn’t look back this time, instead focusing on running even faster. She exited the arena and swung her head back and forth, looking for her best path out of the academy.
She knew that there were many ways to get in and out, but the streets were swarming with soldiers and she didn’t want to run into any.
Finally making a decision, she turned east and dashed down the cobbled path.
She’d decided it would be best to take the most direct route and hope she didn’t run into anyone.
As she ran, she could see the damage that had been done to the academy. Over half of the structures she passed were either on fire, completely destroyed, or were in the process of being looted. Soldiers were moving around in small groups and attacking anyone
in sight; so whenever she spotted a soldier in red, she would duck behind a building and wait for them to pass.
The dead were also a prevalent sight as she wound her way through the ruined grounds. Bodies littered streets; some still breathing, while others lay ominously still. Sarah thought she preferred the dead; every time she passed a living person, they would cry out for help. Their piteous pleas were enough to make her sick; and had she not already emptied the contents of her stomach, she would be doing so now.
She came to the end of a block and, lost in her thoughts, dashed carelessly out between two buildings, and right into a group of soldiers. Both groups stared at each other for a few moments; then the lead soldier raised his hand and blasted something at her.
Sarah’s mage shield flared to life around her and the attack bounced off. The other soldiers began to take aim, but she wasn’t about to wait around and let them kill her. She dashed past them and into the mouth of an alley.
Maybe they wouldn’t bother following her.
“After her!” She heard one of them cry out.
Of course they wouldn’t let her go.
There were six of them in all and, with Sarah encumbered as she was, she knew they would catch up with her soon. She took a sharp corner and her foot skidded on a patch of blood. She was lucky she had; as the corner of the building near her head was blown clean off.
She grimaced, flinching away from the wall and trying to run faster.
“We’re gaining on her! She can’t keep it up for much longer!”
Sarah chanced a glance over her shoulder and cursed once more.
They were only thirty or so feet back and would catch her within a matter of seconds.
She burst out from the alley and found herself running through an open courtyard. There was a huge water fountain right in the middle of the cobbled space; and just beyond she could see an exit heading into the city.
The courtyard was completely deserted; meaning that none of the soldiers had made it here yet. If she could somehow manage to stop them, then she and Morgan could escape.
Dashing around the fountain, she lowered Morgan gently to the ground. The lip of the fountain should protect him from any stray attacks, she thought.
“I hope you wake up soon, Morgan. I could really use your help!” she said, rising quickly to her feet.
She’d just managed to make it to the front of the fountain when the soldiers emerged into the courtyard.
“Finally decided to give up?” the lead soldier asked with a smirk, as the others quickly spread out into a semi-circle before the fountain.
“Not even close, asshole!” Sarah yelled, then used her condense water skill.
Her skill was unique, in that she could use it on as large a scale as she wanted; albeit at a massive increase in mana consumption. She somehow had a feeling that this was not a time to be conserving mana.
Sarah gritted her teeth as her MP began plummeting at an alarming rate. The lead soldier had taken another step forward when the fountain behind her exploded and over a thousand gallons of water rose into the air.
What she was doing right now was only possible, due to the presence of the fountain. It would have been impossible to conjure this much water otherwise.
The lead soldier’s cocky look vanished in an instant and he opened his mouth to issue a command, but never got the chance.
Sarah screamed as the water moved around her in a swirling vortex; then she thrust her arms outward, sending the water in a wide arc at the soldiers. Two of them managed to fire off attacks before the water hit. One completely missed her, but the other slammed into her shoulder.
Her shield just managed to absorb the attack before shattering under the pressure, but she didn’t let up on her attack for a moment. As soon as the water hit all of her targets, she triggered the secondary effect of the skill. There was a loud cracking sound as the water froze solid and she slumped to the ground as her MP hit zero.
Despite her exhaustion and her mounting headache, Sarah couldn’t help but marvel at what she’d just done.
All of the soldiers were frozen solid inside a three foot thick wall of ice. Even if they did manage to survive, they wouldn’t be giving chase anytime soon. All she needed was a minute or two to recover, then she and Morgan could be on their way.
She got to her feet, swaying a bit with the fatigue and made her way back around the now ruined fountain. Morgan was still lying unconscious and she began to worry at how long it was taking him to wake up.
It had been nearly twenty minutes since he’d passed out and she didn’t have any idea of what amount of time was normal for this. Then she noticed something that she hadn’t before. It was very slight and she would have missed it, had she not been looking very carefully. He was breathing again.
Sarah quickly placed her ear to his chest and after a few seconds, she heard a very faint heartbeat.
He’d done it! The reiki core had successfully shifted over and was now acting as his heart, which meant that he should be waking up any second now.
Sarah straightened from her kneeling position over him and felt herself smiling, even though what was happening around them was horrible. The academy had been sacked and thousands were most likely dead, but she just couldn’t bring herself to care about that at the moment. Morgan was alive and that was all that mattered to her.
“There they are! I told you I saw the bitch heading this way!”
Sarah felt her blood run cold as she heard that voice. It belonged to the last person she’d wanted to run into at the moment.
Looking up from her kneeling position, she saw Grub and Frush emerging from the alley and they were both grinning from ear to ear.
∞
Morgan’s eyes opened and he took a deep, shuddering breath. He blinked a few times as bright sunlight filtered down through the foliage overhead. He was sitting in a clearing surrounded on all sides by massive trees that towered hundreds of feet above his head.
Where was he?
Getting slowly to his feet, Morgan began to look around the clearing, until his eyes focused on a small cottage near the opposite end. A table was set out in front and a man sat there, sipping tea and reading a book.
How strange. The last thing he remembered was the arena. How had he gotten here? He decided that his best option would be to ask the stranger. Maybe he could help him.
“Excuse me,” he called out as he approached the man. “Can you tell me where I am?”
The man looked up from his book as Morgan called out, and he smiled, closing it and placing it down on the table.
“That is a difficult question to answer, young supermage, but have a seat and I will do my best to explain.”
The man had a deep and mellow voice which Morgan found very relaxing.
He knew he should have been surprised that the man knew what he was, but for some reason he just wasn’t. The man seemed to exude an aura of peace and he felt better just standing near him.
Morgan took a seat across from the man and got his first good look at him. The man had very plain features. Short black hair, dark colored eyes and a dark complexion.
He felt as though he knew this man, but at the same time he’d never seen him before.
Then the man smiled once again; his white teeth contrasting with his dark skin and Morgan felt all his worries simply melt away.
It didn’t matter who this man was. So long as he could sit here and bask in his aura, he would be content.
“It’s good to finally meet you, Morgan. I would have liked to meet you sooner, but circumstances beyond my control have made that difficult until now.”
“Who are you? Where are we? How do you know who I am? And why would you want to meet me?” Morgan asked
The man laughed at this; a deep resounding sound that made Morgan smile for some reason.
“Please, do excuse me,” the man said as his laughter died down. “It has been so long since I have experienced the exuberance of youth.” He chuckled agai
n, then settled back into his chair.
“To answer your first question; my name is Dabu and I am a supermage who has reached omniscience. As to where we are; let’s just say that we are in a world between worlds, neither in the realm of mortals, nor in the realm of gods. Though it has been quite some time since I have walked in the realms of mortals, I cannot help checking in from time to time; and that, young Morgan, is how I came to know of you. As to why I wanted to meet you… Well you are a special one, even among supermages. Your aura stands out like a bonfire in a ring of candles. I know you must have many questions, but staying here for too long is perilous for those who have not yet broken the bonds of mortality. You are also desperately needed back on your world, so I will allow you to ask three questions; after which you will have five minutes to look over your new status. I am sorry that I can’t do more, but for now this is all I can do.”
Morgan slumped back into his chair as the deluge of new information washed over him.
He had a thousand questions, but he could only ask three? Why was it, that everyone he met who had answers, always had to be so cryptic?!
“You said that you were a supermage who had reached omniscience; what did you mean by that?”
This was the first question he’d decided to ask, as it pertained directly to his new ability.
“Omniscient is the highest rank a supermage can achieve. Unlike regular supers and mages, supermages do not stop growing after 50 ranks. Supermages will grow until they reach rank 99 and only after that will they become omniscient.”
Morgan gritted his teeth in frustration.
He really wished he hadn’t asked that question. The answer had only given him more questions.
“You implied that you are immortal, how is that possible?”
This was another question that he needed answered. If he could somehow find a way to avoid dying, fighting powerful enemies would become a whole lot easier.
“Once a supermage reaches their final rank, the path to immortality becomes clear. I’m sorry that I can’t give you a straight answer, but even if I explained it to you, your mind would not be able to comprehend it.”