Collateral Damage
As I half flew, half ran around another few trees, I wondered if I should transition from floating time to “red focus.” I’d invented red focus a couple years ago, a refined combination of floating time and my hyper-aggressive red haze fighting focuses. Red focus was less risky than red haze, but both were more aggressive than I probably needed to be right now. With most of my emotions pushed in a tiny corner of my mind, my floating time helped me think clearly. I needed that right now.
I could admit now that getting into this situation to begin with was the kind of foolish thing I used to do when I’d first become orb-Bonded. Low-level frustration seethed behind my floating time, irritation with myself. There was no use dwelling on it while people happily tried to kill me, though. Instead I focused on my situation, trying to read the battlefield.
Luckily, I had a lot of experience now.
It seemed I’d been fighting with people throwing fire around ever since I left Bittertown, so I knew it was only a matter of time until Cait made things difficult for me again. I couldn’t see any of the bounty hunters, but I could hear them, especially Venu crashing through the prickly bushes to one side.
The high ground would offer better situational awareness and a bit of safety. I sprang up, using Flight to assist my jump and moved further back. A torrent of flames suddenly gushed through the underbrush beneath me and I grimaced. I wondered if I’d just been lucky in the past to put a shiv into Cait, or if she’d just gotten stronger since then. Either way, I was glad I was not on the ground anymore.
With a snarl, I kicked off a nearby tree, making myself a moving target, and triggered Pewpew in a slashing motion in the general direction Jialji’s group had been standing before. I should have done this from the get-go, I thought. Damn it. My tangled emotional state had probably almost gotten me killed several times over. At the very least it had put me in danger. I should have just killed these rotters from the air.
Pewpew’s violet light cut down a handful of trees in front of me, scything through them like a razor blade through hollow flower stems. Screams erupted, at least one person and more than one zebra. I winced for the zebras, remembering Durben, but the thought made me realize another thing I should have done earlier.
With the trees falling, I could barely make out where the last of the zebras stood, stamping in fear despite how well trained they obviously were. My heart heavy, I raised my fist again and triggered a scatter beam with Pewpew, moving my arm erratically with Vibration as I attacked. The last of the zebras fell, cut to pieces by the zigzag beam. Now the bounty hunters would be on foot. Even if I died, they would have a much more difficult time escaping my team.
There would be no escape for either of us now. This was a fight to the death.
I sprang from tree to tree, running through plans and dismissing them. Floating time helped me stay calm even while powerful airgun slugs slammed through tree branches around me, and unknown magic flickered, cutting through the surrounding forest like Pewpew had.
Damn. The sight of the magic really drove home how little I actually knew about Jialji’s group. Luckily, they knew just as little about me. I lowered my weight and sprang around, never staying in one place, letting my superhuman strength rocket me around in an evasive zigzag. My positioning was horrible right now. As I tried creating distance between me and the bounty hunters, I felt a trickle of pain and braced myself.
Backlash from using Pewpew hit me and my belly flopped. I’d trained for this, though, and didn’t miss a beat as the waves of nausea coursed through my body, weakness prickling my joints. I dipped lower, trying to make myself less of a target for my enemies’ magic and projectile weapons. My hands went to my necklace, and I touched the ringers on my fingers to it, whispering, “Armor.” The ancient, enchanted metal tunic I’d gotten from Dingeramat dungeon in Berber flowed and expanded, becoming a set of dark, ornate plate armor that covered my entire body.
The armor had saved my life many times over the years. It offered great protection, made me stronger, and also helped me control the backlash from using Pewpew. If I didn’t carefully manage the ring’s use, it could still knock me out or even kill me.
I triggered another arc of violet energy toward half-seen movement, and heard a cry. Perfect. Destroyed trees fell, and I jetted forward, dodging a flurry of crossbow bolts, bullets, and magic that filled the space I’d just occupied.
A bullet pinged off my armor, and the impact jarred my teeth. My protection held, but my vib-shield hadn’t caught it and the force of the impact made me nervous. The enchanted armor I wore was tough, but I had a feeling that Jialji was not using normal ammunition. In fact, the entire team seemed to be outfitted well. I’d grown over the last few years, but so had they. They must have.
I wasn’t sure how my enemies were communicating, but I wasn’t hearing any shouted commands or information. This worried me.
To one side, I saw a flash of the nearby stream and headed that direction. I had a plan. If it worked, the strategy I’d decided on would be savage and sneaky, but violence was often like that, at least for the winning side.
As I shot forward, I pulled a couple gadgets from my pack and made sure to keep touching on the ground or kicking off of trees. The way I kept barely getting hit by projectiles definitely meant they were tracking me somehow. I hoped it was by sound or vibration.
Unfortunately, I had no real way to track my enemies and I still hadn’t gotten a lock on any of their locations. The various ways I’d used Vibration in the past to track or even see in the dark would not work while I fled from tree to tree. They couldn’t know that, though.
Right before I reached the stream, I activated and tossed an apple-sized metal object. The bomb was expensive, running on a single fire-element magic stone. It would explode in three seconds. Then I triggered another scatter beam in a direction I hoped would at least make one of my pursuers nervous. Maybe it would even make them rush forward, perhaps on top of the bomb I’d just tossed.
Last, as I reached the stream, I threw my thumper device to the other side of the stream. The thumper was basically just a rock-sized cube that would jump forward in a set direction, moving forward and running into things. Despite being such a simple device, powered by a special coil that could be charged with magic stones, thumpers had come in handy for me many times.
When the bomb triggered, I rode the wave of the explosion, turning upstream and flying forward with all the power I had.
The bomb’s fire actually lit up the forest, making everything shine brightly for a few seconds under shady vegetation. Screams and shouts sounded behind me, and I hoped my plan would work. Otherwise, I wasn’t sure what else to do. Jialji’s team worked well together, and I’d underestimated how good their gear was. The weapons and magic they’d been throwing at me had been cutting through and blowing through trees. I had no doubt that if I went head to head with them, I would die.
Backlash from using Pewpew hit quickly this time, and I gritted my teeth. I fought through the pain and mentally willed my enemies not to see me. Time to flank, I thought. I tightened my grip on Eneus.
The seconds ticked by as I flew, willing myself to move faster. My flight was almost entirely soundless, and I hoped that if the bounty hunters moved past the explosion I’d just created, they might be thrown off my trail now by the thumper. My attack would hopefully make their group slow down, too, start moving more cautiously.
My shoulder blades itched under my armor, expecting to be hit in the back by lethal magic or enchanted bullets, but I was wonderfully whole when I finally judged it was time to turn, flying back the way I’d come and taking a looping path back to where I’d stepped out to confront the riders.
The forest had been devastated. Severed trees had fallen everywhere, like they’d been picked up and dropped by the Creator. Pewpew and whatever magic the bounty hunters had been using had neatly cut stumps and now they stuck out of the ground like angry, accusing spikes.
&nbs
p; My eyes skimmed over the diced and mangled bodies of the zebras, and in the near distance I spotted Cait. The fire mage had moved forward, but was obviously hanging back, and the reason why grew obvious as I darted forward. When I’d attacked earlier with Pewpew, I must have gotten her arm. The wound wasn’t bleeding, she’d probably cauterized it with her magic, but she held the stump with her good hand and cried.
I felt a twinge of sympathy but dismissed it. These people had tried to kill me twice, and I was not the same scared, powerless, ex-Jackal I had been.
Cait didn’t even see me before I struck. She grunted in surprise as my vib-blade charged spear slammed entirely through her chest. To her credit, she turned her head, trying to scream, but I’d punctured her lungs. Her good hand came up, fingers wreathed in flame, but I wordlessly chopped down her wrist as hard as I could.
I was already stronger than a Terran man to begin with, and while wearing my enchanted armor, I was stronger than a big, male Mo’hali. The blow pulverized the fire mage’s arm, and her gurgling, muted scream made her face twist in agony.
Murder and death are never pretty.
To be thorough, I drew my dagger and drew it across the short woman’s throat, but almost dropped the weapon when I heard Vistvis’ voice.
I blinked, expecting the tirade to continue, but when it didn’t I decided that she either didn’t have the energy to continue yelling at me, or didn’t want to waste it. She’d definitely gotten her point across, though. The trapped Areva woman must have been rotting angry to use what little energy she’d been hoarding over the years. It took a lot of power to speak directly into my mind on her own, even while I was touching the dagger.
If not for floating time, I would have felt embarrassed. Instead, I merely nodded. With a sharp tug, I yanked Eneus from the body of the stricken fire mage. I tried listening for my enemies but it was useless. My bomb and the bounty hunters’ magic had started several fires in the surrounding forest. The shifting trees and crackling flames were confusing my sense.
My advantage of surprise was not going to last, so I moved forward, bounding forward into flight again. The next thing I knew, I was bouncing off the ground, blinding pain shooting through my leg. Something had hit me in two places, but the armor on my back had held.
After lowering my weight to almost nothing and spun on the ground, reacting with experienced violence. I’d barely registered I’d been attacked before I’d thrown Eneus where I thought the threat had come from, the spear’s sash held between my fingers so I could channel my vib-blade power through the entire weapon. The trick allowed the spear to pass clean through several remaining trees, but I didn’t hit anything.
I saw a shadow move in the smoke above, and barely kicked myself away with my good leg in time to avoid death. The rodent-race Mo’hali slammed down, her daggers driving deep into the earth, tail held straight out behind her for balance.
“She’s here!” she screamed. Her weapons glowed with obvious enchantment and I felt lucky for my ancient, powerful armor. I leveled my fist at her, and triggered a scatter shot.
Somehow, the woman avoided the attack, her movements impossibly agile as she sprang to the side, then forward, her weapons extended.
Shit. If I used Pewpew again now, the double backlash might actually make me pass out, which would be very, very bad. Instead, I yanked Eneus back at the same time as I held out one hand and used my Vibration power to deliver two powerful vib-punches. The attacks weren’t enough to kill, but they hit like big clubs of air, knocking the vicious woman off course enough to miss me.
Eneus slapped into my hand right before she passed, and I managed to score a solid hit, the spear’s blade sinking deep into her hip. She managed to get one blade out far enough to make contact with my forearm, but thankfully, it clanged off my thick, dark armor.
The rodent woman rolled right into a cluster of rocks, and tried to stand, but her leg gave out. I was on her in a flash, ignoring the pain in my own leg and reversing Eneus to hit her with the shaft. The weapon’s haft cracked into her skull once, twice, and she went down in a boneless heap.
The struggle had been as intense as it had been brief. She’d truly come close to killing me. I raised my weapon for a killing strike, but hesitated, then slowly lowered it. My goal had been to kill Jialji and her party, but this woman hadn’t been with them in the past. I stared for a couple seconds, each moment an eternity, but finally gave in to pragmatism. I was no hero, just a woman trying to survive and find a little revenge.
Despite being unconscious, the Mo’hali woman grunted as Eneus punched through her torso. I should have put my spear through her head or neck, but this would do just as well. She wouldn’t be getting up again.
The grim deed done, I experimentally put some weight on my injured leg and winced. The puncture wasn’t as deep as it might have been, and both the wound and the damage to the armor would heal in time, but right now it hurt like hell and slowed me down. I would need to survive to heal.
As I stood over the body of my fallen enemy, torrents of pain began attacking my entire body, the price of using Pewpew. My nerves screamed in agony, and my knees trembled. I spit, and noticed a tinge of pink. Great. Feeling lightheaded, I resisted the urge to sit down. If I did that, I might just fall asleep, and I was sure Jialji would be more than happy to make sure I didn’t wake up.
I hoped my other enemies didn’t know where I was, but as the newly cut trees and vegetation continued to crash to the ground, I assumed it was doubtful. My actions before the fight had started, revealing myself, had been foolish, but I was done acting like a novice. Instead of rushing directly to meet my foes, I kicked off the ground and took off in a new direction, barely skimming the top of the flames consuming prickly bushes before dipping down again. Hopefully, I could flank again.
My heart like ice, I could feel the wound on my leg begin filling my enchanted armor with blood. Two enemies down was a great start, but I was still in great danger. Maybe if I survived and got revenge I would feel triumph, but at this moment I just felt numb. A mental picture of the fallen Mo’hali flashed across my memory and I snarled.
I was definitely no hero.
Consequences
My plan, simple as it was, revolved around flying around from another direction and catching my enemies off guard. I flew silently, much faster than a normal person could run, and stayed alert. Despite my wariness, I still almost died when Ven came plummeting out of the sky with his huge sword raised.
Instinct saved my life. When the man’s shadow touched me, I immediately rolled, and managed to get Eneus up in time to block the massive strike. The force of the blow drove me to the ground, jarring my arms from the impact. Even as I was slammed down, I realized my enemy must have been using his incredible strength to jump around looking for me, probably after hearing the Mo’hali’s warning. I spotted something in Ven’s ear similar to what my own team wore for communication. Mystery solved.
I lowered my body weight to be more nimble and tried to spring back up, spinning on the ground. This caused problems when I blocked Ven’s next attack. The blow sent me reeling back, crashing into the nearby stream.
Ven wasted no time, hopping forward to slam his sword down again, and I barely managed to parry the blow. Impact from the sword hitting the water threw spray up into the air, fine as mist. My entire body was forced under the cold water and if not for floating time, I might have choked in surprise. Instead I sat up, ignoring my complaining body, and thrust with my vib-blade enhanced spear. Ven parried and readied for another strike.
I pointed a fist at the orb-Bonded man and triggered a point-blank Pewpew beam, then gaped as he cried and stumbled back—still whole. His armor smoked, but the beam hadn’t cut him in half, or even seemed to have slowed him. I’d never seen armor that could stop Pewpew’s attack before. The big man must be wearing magic-reactive
armor. I’d heard of it before—expensive, amazing equipment. The material wouldn’t be able to withstand attacks forever, though—not that I had a lot of time to work with. Ven rocked back for a moment, then surged forward, hacking at me again.
The orb-Bonded man’s strength didn’t compare to Gwen Jones on my team, but was still overwhelming. He kept me just off balance enough to keep me on the defensive. Even as strong as I was in my armor, his shattering blows made my entire body shake. If Eneus had been a lesser weapon, it would have already broken, and I’d probably be missing parts too.
I gathered weight to stand, then lowered it again to jump out of the water. Using my Flight power to move back, I tried to get my feet to air skate away over the water, but Ven wouldn’t allow it—he didn’t miss a beat. The big warrior leapt into the water and threw out one arm. I didn’t realize what was happening until it was too late.
A line had snaked out of his bracer, wrapping around my arm. I’d seen strength-based orb-Bonded, and even earth mages, rip off arms, so I knew what would probably be coming. There was no time to switch Eneus to my other hand, or draw Vistvis to cut the line, so I used one of my new abilities I’d developed recently. I briefly concentrated and a line of Vibration energy extended from my finger. It was only about an inch long, but it was enough to sever the line before Ven could yank it back.
After the line was cut, I darted back. Ven jumped forward again, deeper into the water, and as I warily watched him for more tricks, I suddenly got slammed sideways. I rolled in the air, moving with the attack. Pain blossomed in my chest, and I could feel a sharp sting, a small, but painful wound. My armor had stopped most of the attack, but whatever had hit me had kicked like a zebra.
What on Ludus!? Over the last three years, my armor had held against almost every attack. Then this battle had happened, changing everything. Whatever I had just been hit with was potent. I felt surprised, vulnerable.
On one bank of the stream, Jialji calmly lined up another shot, speaking under her breath, using her magic communication tool. Damn. The bullet from her airgun hadn’t killed me, but all she needed was one good hit on my unprotected head. Not for the first time, I wished my armor had a helmet. Maybe if I lived through this battle, I’d finally be able to find a separate helm worth wearing.
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