The Abandoned Sorcerer

by Nefarious

  They were a mix of men and women, some well-off looking while others looked like slum-dwellers. Amidst taking the sight in, Orion spotted Skitters: he stood on a raised platform, frantically gulping down a murky drink.

  31. Information bought with blood

  * * *

  The thief gulped down the potion and threw it to the side, the glass cracking against stone. He was visibly slobbering with his mouth agape as if he had swallowed fire, his chest heaving.

  “Kil thhem! Kill them!” he roared.

  Orion saw men and women pick up their weapons, their blades angled at him. “We’re only here for Skitters. Just let us get him and we’ll leave,” he shouted in response, his voice filling the warehouse and calming his armed enemies.

  “He’s a Zakari, a ZAKARI,” Skitters shouted, his tanned skin tinging purple.

  Those who had felt stoked by Orion’s naïve comment now suffered dread, and anyone near a potion sprinted over and struck the lids off.

  “You idiot,” Kora said to Orion, “For once listen to me. It’s your family or these scum,”

  It felt surreal as he looked around; he now had the reason to cut these people down, a reason he couldn’t oppose or ignore. Yet he found himself resisting, his body chilling at the thought of massacre. The adrenaline rush that had helped him kill the bandits couldn’t be felt, instead replaced by shame and fear.

  “THE POTIONS. DON’T LET THEM DRINK IT,” Kora’s voice sent shockwaves through his mind, warming his fingers.

  He acted without thought – it was all he could do. Ice spurt out of his right hand and he put his left on the ice sphere that formed. He shot a continuous stream of bullets at the glass and metallic containers, echoing the glass beaker Skitters had thrown as they shattered and tinkled. Even so, some people swallowed the putrid mix before he had a chance, in turn going into the labour that Skitters had just escaped from.

  The thief had completely changed now: veins protruded from across his skin, which itself had turned into a sickly mix of purple and green, and the mouth he had collared down now slobbered non-stop, his lips like the edge of a waterfall. Instead of mindlessly charging at them, he lifted a solid-oak desk, spun to build speed, then lobbed it at them.

  Before the table could explode into countless splinters, Kora leapt and punched it away, her fist making a wide dent as the table toppled over. “YOU CAN’T DIE HERE,” she yelled once more, before dodging another piece of furniture. “YOU HAVE TO KILL!”

  The words cracked Orion as he grinned despite the danger in front of him. His dad could have destroyed the entire warehouse with just one hand – he had seen his dad do similar before. And yet here he struggled against people who knew his identity, hence poisoning his plan. This was why he had wished someone else, heck, anyone else had been the last Zakari, because then he wouldn’t have to burden the murder of hundreds, thousands, maybe millions of innocents on his shoulders.

  But looking around for a final time, he figured maybe these people weren’t innocents. The glints of their blades, their gritted teeth, their squinted eyes, their bent brows, their tensed muscles. Anger, fear, disdain - like the Zakari name was some vile beast, like his very existence was something that had to be wiped away. Maybe they weren’t innocents, maybe they were some sort of cancer that had led to his House’s downfall.

  Despite his thoughts, the pale Seeker instinctively knew his anger was an irrational wind that would soon blow over as he noted the inconsistencies. But that required time and he wouldn’t have any time to think as long as these people wanted him dead. All he could do now was step back and let Kora take the controls. He had done his best to stamp out what the Zakari military training had instilled into him but right now, it didn’t seem all that bad. Skitters had lit the fuse and watched the explosion: it was now time for him to experience the flames.

  Orion looked up and saw a metal weight flying his way, followed by several other objects. How hurt he would be if they hit, if only. He rolled from his spot and vaulted onto a table. The woman below slashed at his ankle but he kicked her wrist, causing her to scream while tripping back. Stepping down, he picked her sword and ended her life, looking up to stare at the remaining enemies.

  How long would it take to kill all of them? Too long came the answer. The sword in his hand froze over and he swung it, cracking the blade at the right moment such that shards shot into the crowd, prompting several cries – it was clear the metallic shards were better than his ice.

  While Orion moved at his own pace, Kora moved one step faster, sprinting around and slicing as many people as she could. Even when she got hit or cut, she still went on. The unleashed blood floating behind her body must have given away her plan as the unwounded enemies began to run from her, rushing to drink the remaining potions. Contrarily, the wounded ones soon realised their predicament as the small claw scratches began to leak an awful lot of blood, the amount that would have come had someone made fountains of their bodies.

  As the amount of blood at her deposal grew, so did the violence of her attacks. No longer were people passively bleeding to death but now the trails of blood behind her acted as bladed hounds, hunting those close enough. But at the same time, the enemies finally got their defence in action as two men shot an unwieldy crossbow, the bolt ripping through Kora’s arm and sending it flying.

  The blood blades quickly retreated and engulfed her stump and formed a shield as she roared in pain, growling at the table-sized crossbow. Even then, her attention quickly turned to Orion as she realised while she could heal, one hit and he was a goner. Yet he seemed to know no better as he was crouching with one knee down, his hands flat on the ground.

  Orion sensed the earth’s pulse, how it flowed through everything here but died in anything living. Adjusting to the same frequency, his Szu acted through the surrounding ground, making sinkholes from stone which swallowed the surrounding enemies and furniture. Straightening up, he noticed the menacing crossbow and the several others behind that were being loaded.

  Realising the threat, he sprayed the area with ice shards while moving closer. These weren’t chipped down ice spheres but instead straight from his right hand. After just a few seconds, he sensed his right arm failing as it lost strength, not long after, completely breaking down as it collapsed. Still, the pain was dull with Giah activated and the earth continued to feed him energy as he zipped around, reaping lives at an alarming pace.

  With the crossbows out of the way, Kora’s actions got louder and heavier as well, her blood hounds sharper as the streams grew thicker.

  Orion wasn’t even sure when he became aware but at some point, at some time, he realised Kora was shaking him.

  “Stop, Stop!” she yelled.

  So he listened and stopped.

  The adrenaline of the moment slowed as he noticed the surrounding quiet…

  32. Recovery

  Sorry about the lack of chapter on tuesday, dudes. I’ve been feeling not good, but I’m better now.

  * * *

  “Are you ok?” she asked. Due to her rushed transformation, her shirt and buttoned jacket had been ripped open, revealing her navel and hints of her breasts. Contrarily, despite being visibly strained, her trousers were still in one piece, though the same couldn’t be said for her boots or maroon cloak which she’d left in the tunnel.

  Orion felt his jaw quivering as he looked around, trying to take the whole scene in: the entirety of his destruction. Few furniture had survived the clash unscathed, the majority battered and coated in blood. But more than that, there was gore splattered and painted over all the surfaces. Worst of all, however, were the men and women littered like stringless puppets, their limbs bent in unnatural ways.

  They were a cancer that had caused his House’s downfall?! What a joke! How could a group of weaklings so far east have anything to do with one of the Empire’s pillars? With their strength, crushing an ant would be difficult, let alone the foundation of the civilised world…

  Despite these though
ts spreading fast, he quickly countered them. Even if he had over-villainised them in his mind, it didn’t change the fact they had pointed blades at him. It didn’t protect them from the fact they had wanted to murder him and Kora. He had done what was required of him to survive, for the last wisp of his family’s gold-encrusted lantern to shine on. Yet, this didn’t excuse him from what he had done – even if it had been a must, he had still done it. And he had to shoulder that burden for as long as he lived. And he wanted to puke.

  Lurching forward, he heaved his stomach out. Seconds later, with the acidic stench burning through his senses, he placed his hands on his knees and stood bent over. Kora patted his back.

  “It’s not your fault, he had planned to kill us from the start, you saw in the tunnel,” she said.

  “It’s not my fault but it’ll always be on me, in my mind,” he said in a wheezy voice.

  She stopped patting and rubbed his back at this, keeping quiet for a few seconds. “Why don’t you wash yourself. Maybe it’s all the blood,”

  He shook his head but listened regardless. He walked over to his bag, which had been sliced open during the fight, and found a dented canteen of water. Rinsing his hands in the stream, he watched the blood wash off his hands and onto the ground. It almost gave him some peace of mind until he looked up, once again meeting the carnage in mutual silence. Glancing down, he saw his hands were red again, covered and sticky. Every time he washed his hands, the process repeated until he gave up and stared at Kora, his eyes wide and shaking.

  “The blood, it’s not going. It won’t go, Kora, it won’t,” he said, his voice breaking.

  She looked down and saw the same hands he had cleaned seconds before, clear of any blood. Glancing down her own body she saw blood across her skin. Nevertheless, she stepped forward and hugged him.

  In little time, he placed his head over her shoulder and began to sob, letting out all the grief he had built up in his heart. It was only after his cries waned that she spoke.

  “Come on, you killed those bandits before and you were fine,”

  “That’s different, all of it’s different. They wanted to kill me because I’m a Zakari. Do you realise how many people would follow them, queue up for a chance at my House? And I have to kill all of them, all of them!”

  She snorted, before realising her mistake. What he needed now was support, not someone to laugh at him. “It’s all the same – no difference,”

  “I’m the same, no different from those who killed my mum. Cold-blooded, heartless, destr—”

  This startled Kora – he had never gone into detail about how his House had fallen. As much as she wanted to hear more, she knew that would only make it harder for him to bounce back. And if he truly desired to take revenge for his family, then killing a bunch of weaklings would only be the first step among the many he’d have to take. As for her, she knew, as ardently as he denied it, the Zakari had been involved with Yhaoli. He was her key to it all and some more, but he didn’t need to know either. All he had to do was recover.

  “You’re not one of them, Jax. Remember what you told me, you’re a Zakari, the greatest, remember?” she said. It worked as he calmed, and his breath slowed – it seemed he was as proud of his family as she was hers, despite the distasteful, and sometimes downright sour, things they did.

  “Alright, I can feel the heat from your cheeks, you blushing maiden. Why don’t you take a seat while I check what these bastards were up to? That way we can leave this place quicker,” she continued. While she had been joking, it didn’t surprise her when he moved back and sat down near the entrance with cheeks the colour of apples.

  ******

  Kora walked over with several notes in her hand, mentally exhausted but also thrilled about what she had found. She had used her blood magic to clean any blood-soaked papers, although some had been too blurred to recover. Together they confessed more than she had expected.

  Orion lay by the entrance, his eyes shut and head facing up. She thought he was dozing since it had been hours since they had entered the warehouse, but his eyelids snapped open as she grew close, giving her a gentle, albeit, nervous smile.

  “Thanks for…” he paused.

  “It’s alright, I knew what I signed up for. But anyway, look at this,” she said while thrusting the papers into his hand, and sitting down next to him. She was now wearing looted clothes, covering her skin from the chill that nipped away. “Do you remember when Rats was talking about Grima?”

  He nodded.

  “He said him, but Madam said they – that wasn’t an accident; I think all these people were Grima, a pseudonym they wove together.”

  “Mmm. I figured,”

  “Then why didn’t you say anything?” she asked.

  “My mind was on… other matters,”

  She rolled her eyes, earning a half-smile from him.

  “Anyway,” she carried on, “It seems the rumour about them knowing all about Visgamar isn’t bullshit. The stuff I read, they go from small matters to massive ones. Look at this one,” she said while pinching a note from the stack, “It’s about the Honeyed Spitroast, the inn Flynn stayed. I told you the innkeeper was a dealer,”

  He read through the note and finally felt a crack in his cold mask. It detailed the prices the innkeeper offered, estimated strengths of his products, and other stuff like where he hid the goods and how much it would cost to bribe him.

  “And this is even better,” she said while handing another page.

  This one talked about how Rats was seen many times near Madam’s home. It went onto list approximate times, detail as to who accompanied him, and the reactions he had when leaving. While vague, although that was to be expected considering the loyal protection he had around him, it seemed to hint at a relationship or at least a casual affair.

  “Ok, this is clearly important stuff so why hadn’t they prepared any defences. Skitters knew I was a Zakari from the start so why did that shock the rest of them?” he asked.

  “I’m guessing he was hiding it from them for personal gain, but it backfired. I don’t think he figured out my identity so he probably guessed you’d stay behind to look after me after I got stabbed,”

  “No, I would have chased him down and killed the scum,”

  “Mmm,” she nodded with exaggerated vigour, mocking him. “You know what? I think you would have stayed behind to make sure I was in tip-toppity condition before you left, by which time they would have gotten those crossbows pointed at the entrance. You’re not the most unpredictable person, you know? Quite the contrary,” she replied.

  He grunted. “So, what now? Can we leave through those doors?” he said pointing to the far corner.

  “No, I checked and we’re on some run-down docks or something. Everything’s like rotten around here. It’ll be quicker if we go through the tunnel, but wait, I haven’t finished. My bag got ripped when I changed so it’s likely to have leaked by now but look at this,” she said showing a potion, “Doesn’t it look similar to the stuff Old Joe makes? Murky oily colour, gives super strength, still easy targets but…”

  “I don’t want to kill anyone more. I feel shit,” Orion said, looking away from the bottle.

  “Fine,”

  “Oh yeah,” he said, “Did you kill Skitters? I don’t remember doing it,”

  She nodded while hoisting a looted backpack over her shoulders. “I told you, still easy targets. Come on then, let’s get outta here,”

  33. The Hand that Moves

  * * *

  The Laeshi scrambled through the tunnel, going as fast he could. His lips curled into an ear-to-ear grin and his eyes gleamed with a sparkle he hadn’t felt in years. His heart thumped faster, threatening to burst out of its fleshy confines, leaving him in a state of focus.

  After Bian and the human had disappeared into the house, he had found a perch to watch from. But as time passed, he had gotten increasingly anxious until he gave in and risked a closer look, then an even closer one. Eventually, he
found himself in front of the door with sweat rolling down his forehead. The door had been unlocked, and he had let himself in, quickly finding the opening in the storage room.

  His nocturnal vision had allowed him to pace through the tunnel while on the lookout for any signs of them in front. When he came to the branching passages dimly lit from above, his choice had come easy due to the fresh and heavy imprints in the ground. Not long later, he had arrived at the warehouse just as the melee was maturing, in perfect time to watch Bian fight. His vision had been blurred since he had stayed in the tunnel but he was confident from her transformation she was the missing Cruorem.

  But she was nothing, nothing at all next to the dazzling jewel she fought alongside. Next to a Zakari…

  The Laeshi had stayed for a while longer, waiting to see what other secrets he could discover, until they showed signs of wanting to leave, at which he had begun his sprint back.

  Seeing the end of the tunnel, he sped up and rushed out, coming back into the house. Making his way out, he sprung up and flapped his way into the sky, only stopping to rest on the top of a building a distance away. He dove into his pockets and found the curled horn. Shooting back into the air, he began to blow it, going on for ten minutes to make sure his minions heard, after all, he’d rather not lose them here after gaining such a gem. Afterwards, he sped away from the city, drool dripping down his chin.

  He couldn’t imagine what the Cruorems would reward him.

  * * *

  The Seekers made it out of the tunnel, wheezing as they had rushed through the passage. They understood the warehouse held a pivotal role in the war for Visgamar so knew Smith had to know about it as soon as possible. Kora had picked up the items she had dropped in the tunnel, though she chose to buy a new cloak after seeing the state of her old maroon one.