Accounts Payable

by Blaise Corvin

  “Hazard!” I yelled, grabbing Eneus by the sash and spinning the weapon like a mace again. Lisa changed one of her swords to a shield, but the blow still knocked her back.

  “Still using that charming war cry I see,” she grunted. She threw the sword in her hand at my head, and I ducked. With her newly empty hand, she generated a new weapon, a spear.

  I pushed the attack, recovering Eneus and trying to get around Lisa’s shield. She deftly blocked or deflected each strike, jabbing with her own weapon. As she counterattacked, I parried, then charged Eneus full of Vibration power and planted it right through her energy shield. The spear tip almost got her in the hip, but she dashed back, gathering her spear for a throw. At the same time, she let her shield disappear and conjured another spear, stabbing at me with the new weapon.

  I rolled my shoulders, dodging, but still got hit by the point. It didn’t penetrate very far into my armor, but the tip felt like it was on fire, branding me. Apparently it actually did burn me because I could smell my smoking flesh.

  My attention stayed on the other weapon—a thrown spear was a much greater threat. I dropped Eneus to spring into a spinning flip. After Lisa’s missile harmlessly passed under me, I did a back handspring, made myself weightless using Flight, and back flipped onto the roof of a building.

  My hand reached for Eneus, but Lisa’s newly formed sword cut the spear’s sash. After planting her foot on my fallen weapon she grinned at me, but the expression dropped off her face as the severed sash faded from existence in the air and a new one shot toward my hand. Lisa frowned, severing the cloth again, and bent down to pick up Eneus.

  Then she screamed.

  Smoke rose from her hand, and I crowed, “Bet you didn’t expect that!” When my spear’s sash finally hit my hand, I jerked it back. The moment I had hold of the weapon again, I rocketed toward my enemy, firing off two air drills while she was off-balance. Lisa’s eyes were wild as she formed a shield again, blocking my attacks instead of dodging.

  This was a good sign, so I grew more aggressive, alternating my attacks, pushing her back. I planted my feet for a particularly savage thrust, and as Lisa suddenly smiled at me, I knew I’d made a mistake. She darted to one side and punched the ground. Power flared around her wrist, making a bracelet glow through her armor. The ground rumbled and the cobblestone street shattered and an earthquake made the building shake around us, breaking windows and toppling walls.

  I lost my footing but used Flight to hover, so I was able to float above the shaking earth instead of stumbling onto one of Lisa’s blades. My focus didn’t waver from Lisa, but I floated back, wary. Then I suddenly got hit from behind, knocking me onto the unsteady ground. Without my armor, the demon on top of me would have already ripped me apart. I curled into a ball before explosively kicking the thing in the face, which let me see another one swooping in for the kill.

  At the same time, Lisa flashed and multiplied; there were suddenly three more of her. The copies all looked exactly like her down to every detail, moved like her, but the clones’ skin glowed and their armor was a slightly different color of purple than the original’s. I didn’t have time to process this new development, and without Heightened Reflexes, I might not have had time to react.

  The first copy of Lisa to reach me swung a glowing purple sword, and I barely rolled in time to avoid it. A flex of Flight sent me skidding across the ground, leaving behind the smoking furrow where the Lisa’s weapons had scored the stone. I flipped up, just in time to dodge another demon slamming down, its gorilla-like arms corded with muscle. A grunt escaped my lungs as I suddenly got slammed in the back and knocked to the ground again.

  Lisa had planned this trap beautifully. I dodged and parried wildly, but couldn’t create any space or get off a single counter. Three demons and four Lisas fought me, and I grew more overwhelmed with every heartbeat. The Lisa copies were weaker than the original, and Lisa seemed slower now too, but they were all still incredibly dangerous. One demon stayed overhead, lazily flying in small circles, and another bounded around, harrying me from above, preventing my escape with Flight.

  Surrounded by enemies, the ground shaking, I didn’t have many options left. I thought quickly, but the situation was grim. There weren’t many ways I was going to avoid death in the next few moments. Even my last usage of Pewpew wouldn’t save me, so I did the only thing I could think of that might save me, one of my last trump cards. I fell all the way into my adomopathy ability, predicting my enemies’ moves, learning to be faster, more precise every second.

  My movements grew crisper, sharper, and as I’d experienced before, I reacted to my enemies almost the moment they began to move—sometimes seemingly before they’d decided to act. I launched myself forward, adjusting my trajectory with Flight to precisely dodge multiple attacks. I buried Eneus through the chest of a Lisa clone so fast it didn’t even show any surprise until after I was already withdrawing my spear. The copy soundlessly screamed, then turned into smoking motes of pale purple light as I bounded back.

  Immersing myself in adomopathy was powerful, and I was turning the tide, but Lisa played it smart, not leaving herself open. I couldn’t keep this ability up for very long, so I needed to make this time count. Underneath floating time, I briefly wished that Lisa could be just a little less calculating and skilled.

  The next few moments were a cold, deadly dance of thrusting, slashing, and acrobatics. I changed Eneus’ length constantly, sometimes pushing the weapon shorter as I stabbed. My attacks were unpredictable, and the demons in particular couldn’t keep up. They were big and hard to kill, but kept getting in each other’s way.

  Lisa and her clones were much better coordinated than the demons, but slower. This was lucky for me. I knew why Lisa had drawn out her copies, and it had been a good trap, but now I would have been in greater trouble if she’d been solo.

  The battle was like a brutal game of positioning. I air skated through the street, trying to open up distance to move. If I got too far ahead, the demons would climb buildings and pounce together, or use the cover to stalk me unseen. This standoff lasted until I finally scored a deathblow on another of the vile creatures, opening up a foot-deep cut through its skull.

  Lisa hadn’t replaced the copy of herself I’d killed, and I was pretty sure the effect was an ability, not the result of an enchanted item. This made me think her clones were an ability with a mandatory time of effect, like my deep-dive adomopathy. Maybe she needed to concentrate further, or would lose something if she tried making another clone, or maybe there was a limit of times she could use it, or time between uses. Either way, I was not complaining—for once, something in this fight worked in my favor.

  My enemies tried attacking faster, becoming frantic now that they were down to three Lisas and two demons. Luckily, they had no idea what the limit of my deep-dive adomopathy was, and didn’t know I was almost at my limit. Floating time helped extend it, but the ability required so much concentration to maintain that it physically drained me, and I didn’t have much endurance left to spare.

  I was running out of magic power to fuel my Element: Air abilities too. Panic was a killer as sure as an enemy, so I dumped the last of my focus into maintaining floating time, desperate not to lose it. Then I put more energy into offense, using Flight to incorporate movements I’d seen Lisa make.

  Eneus spun in my hands as I glided across the ground using Flight. My feet hovered as I slid and pivoted. Slashing this way increased my power several times, made my attacks more unpredictable, and Eneus’ blade cleaved through a flying demon’s scaly arm. It shrieked, exposing its vulnerable throat inside its mouth, and I took its head off with an air drill.

  The Lisas all attacked at once, but I slid across the ground on my back, managing to catch a copy in the leg with an air drill. The attack didn’t “kill” it, but when I came up, using Flight to sling my body up like I was on rails, my thrust through the clone’s head turned it into floating lights.

  I lengthened Eneu
s, using the spear’s handle like a baseball bat to knock a charging demon to one side. As it crashed into a smoking wall behind me, I shortened my weapon, threw it into the air, and began throwing Vib-punches at the last copy of Lisa with both hands. The attacks wouldn’t penetrate her glowing armor, and weren’t even lethal, but they did knock the spinning, attacking doppelganger off-balance. I caught Eneus out of the air and threw the spear through the clone’s neck.

  Flight propelled me forward in a leap, and I sprang off the wall in front of me, pulling Eneus to me with its sash. The spear sped forward, and I used its momentum to my advantage, slamming it through the demon that was still pulling itself out of the wall it had just destroyed. A screaming family inside the building huddled against the far side, as far away from the demon’s drooling, snapping jaws as they could get. The creature screamed as it died, making the family inside wilt in fear.

  My deep dive into adomopathy ended. I felt everything slow down. Uh oh.

  Out the corner of my eye, I caught sight of the last demon diving, claws extended. With a sucking sound, I yanked Eneus out of the dead demon I stood on and leapt backwards in a spinning dive. The demon barely missed me. After landing a crouch, I thrust deeply with a Vibration-enhanced Eneus. The demon screamed, but the strike had probably not been lethal, so I used some of the last of my magic power to open large, messy wounds with air drills. The disgusting creature would probably die now, but I jumped forward to make sure, and to create distance between myself and Lisa. When I was mid-leap, I was suddenly slammed through the air in a different direction.

  Staccato energy blasts, like deadly hail, formed a constant pressure on my back. I ducked my unprotected head to protect it. The rapid-fire attacks weren’t enough to penetrate my armor, at least at first, but I could feel the dark, magical protection weakening. I couldn’t escape. If I tried to break away, I’d need to change my body’s orientation. Lisa’s bolts were already hitting me, so she might be able to get my head. Making an air shield was not an option either.

  I briefly regretted leaving my helmet off but I’d probably already be dead several times without full range of vision. After a quick scan of my surroundings, I saved myself in the only way I could think of. I used Flight to slightly change the direction Lisa’s attacks were naturally pushing me, sped up, and dove toward a blazing wooden wall. I managed a single air drill before impact, and with my head covered by my arms, I crashed into the burning building.

  After a noisy, dirty, painful roll, I came to a stop in the middle of a broken dinner table. I shook off a sense of deja vu, collecting my thoughts as I rose. My mind felt like it was moving several times faster than normal.

  I knew several things now. One thing I’d already been wondering was if Lisa had any enchanted items. As it turned out, she obviously did—at least one—and a powerful one at that. It made sense that she hadn’t used any more mundane enchanted tools until now—her abilities were strong enough she wouldn’t need them. She’d probably been biding her time, waiting to spring new abilities and her enchanted items at the same time. I had to assume she had more of both, and maybe more uses from the earthquake bracelet.

  Lisa could create copies of herself, but they had limits. She either couldn’t make more of them for a time after she used the ability, or couldn’t make new ones without sacrificing focus. The last guess seemed right, since she’d been moving more slowly while she’d had clones, but she seemed to have gotten her speed back now. Maybe she’d recovered after I’d destroyed the last of the clones.

  The last important thing I’d been able to discover was that Lisa could command the demons, and do so without any obvious signals. I didn’t know how any of this worked, but I was not willing to pass off the group of attacking demons as a coincidence.

  I nodded to myself and eyeballed the building around me. It was stifling hot, but I was still alive, and had time to think. There was no way Lisa was coming in after me quite yet, and I doubted she’d use any enchanted items or her energy blasts to flush me out or try to take me out. Using up resources without even knowing where I was would not be smart.

  One thing was sure, dragging this fight on was going to play in her favor. I actually believed I had more endurance than she did, but I’d been tired before I ever got to Mensk, and I was taking a lot more damage. Lisa was tough as hell, tougher and stronger than me, even with my armor activated. Thank the Creator it was still empowering and protecting me.

  I fingered the armor and winced, noting all the damage. Adrenaline filled my veins with fire, blocking the pain, but I was still aware of my wounds. I had multiple cuts; one on my side was bad enough to make my clothing slick under my armor. After reaching right through the armor, something only I could do, I checked the wound with gentle fingers. It was deep. A couple deep cuts on my legs hurt like hell but hadn’t damaged anything important.

  At least one rib was broken, maybe two. A cut on my forehead was dripping, but luckily the blood was staying out of my eye. I spat, checking my phlegm, and was not surprised to see blood in it too.

  I was a mess. This fight needed to end soon or I was going to be torn apart. I would have greatly preferred to be fresh, with the little enchanted weapons and tools that I liked to have on hand. Right now it didn’t matter, though. I was almost out of tricks, and I had a feeling that Lisa had plenty more.

  What I needed was a plan. I crept through the building to a different part of the wall I’d crashed through. The fire was on the outside, but I had to stand back from the heat. A few small holes had been opened by fire and falling debris that I could peer through. I crouched, waiting for the right moment. When I saw Lisa stalking around outside, I acted.

  I sprang forward, using Flight to rocket out of the burning building, ramming through the damaged wall. Lisa’s eyes widened in shock and she grunted as she was suddenly put on the defensive. I whirled, ducked, stabbed, slashed, and whirled Eneus like a hammer. When Lisa pounded out a complex series of blows with her glowing energy swords, creating room, I knew what she was probably about to do. Her hand came up to pepper me with energy blasts, but I was ready.

  Eneus spun in my hands, giving more substance to my Vibration-enhanced air shield. I walked forward as the barrier stopped all of Lisa’s attacks. She grimaced and chuckled without humor. “Why won’t you just die? I regret ever helping you, Nora Hazard. You have been a constant irritation for longer than you have any right.”

  “Go fuck yourself with a spiny shark, Pretender,” I grated. “You are nothing but a bully and a scavenger.”

  Her smile fell but she still showed her teeth. A second later I was close enough to slash, trying to take her face off with my spear. She parried the strike and jumped back, coming in with a flurry of attacks. I dodged the first, parried, and disengaged. This fight was definitely wearing on too long. I could sense that my attacks were getting slower, sloppy. Something needed to change. After a quick scan, I spotted another weakened, smouldering wall nearby, and got an idea.

  Maybe I could take advantage of the evil bitch’s ego. My spear came up in a guard, and I desperately tried to think of something to say that would enrage her. I glared, and her return look, full of smug condescension, was like a splash of cold water. My mind blanked. What could I possibly say to this woman to make her lose reason? Lisa was many things, but a hothead was not one of them. Her words were sharp, but as a fighter, she rarely did anything without reason.

  As I stood in the street, unmoving, staring down Lisa, I was genuinely startled when I heard a loud chime in my head. The sound was similar but different to the ones that came with information about new orb-Bonded or Heroes I saw. Text scrolled over my left eye, and I read:

  Congratulation to Aodh Anthony O’Breen for ascending as rule of Berber!

  Aodh Anthony O’Breen has met the requirements for taking the throne of Berber, and completed the Ritual of the Crown.

  Please show your support for the new king of Berber!

  Lisa must have seen the message too,
because she looked like someone had just grabbed her heart. She gasped, and all the blood rushed from her face. Her shoulders slumped, but she straightened quickly, her eyes coming up to meet mine. Something had changed.

  Unexpectedly, Lisa shrieked in rage and sprang forward. “You—! Delaying me! The mission!”

  A glowing, magical platform appeared in front of her, and she launched herself up from it, creating more steps as she went until she could hurl herself behind me, flipping, her whirling blades almost taking my arm off. If I hadn’t been braced and prepared for a charge, the maneuver might have worked. I couldn’t believe how fast she’d moved, how smoothly she’d gotten behind me. She’d obviously been waiting to use that ability, for which I was grateful. Of course, now I was facing the wrong direction for my plan to work.

  For a few seconds, I fought like mad, stamping, thrusting, parrying, and spinning until I was oriented the right way again. Then I waited for my chance, finally allowing myself to slip on a rock I’d spotted earlier. I was only off balance for a moment, but Lisa didn’t disappoint me. She leveled her hand and hammered me with energy blasts.

  My arm came up, protecting my head, and I allowed myself to be blown backward. I gave myself a push and reduced the friction under my feet with a cushion of air until I was crashing through yet another wall. This time I quickly scrambled up, moving to one side, and cocked Eneus back to throw.

  I saw Lisa through a hole in the wall, but she was wary, stalking back and forth, obviously remembering the last time I’d crashed through. I thought she looked too angry, enough that she might have dropped floating time. She held her weapons steady, and was still on guard, but her impatient stomping around might give me an opening.