by Eric Vall
Still, I forced my mind to push all of this aside, and I sifted through the stone and soil instead. I sent my focus outward beneath all of Tellish, and once I’d covered every inch, I took a steadying breath to redirect my mindset.
After a minute, I could sense the powers of my Defenders everywhere around me, but the presence was feeding into my veins through my element rather than the air. The potency of so many mages in one place immediately overwhelmed me, and the fact that the ground was flooding again only made matters more difficult.
I kept at it, though, as Defenders ran past me and fought to gain the upper hand, and the longer I stayed in this mindset, the more complex everything became.
I could sense the path my mages were taking across the ground, but I could also sense how many of them had their powers summoned, who among them were Terra Mages, and which buildings were already burnt down to the foundation.
Then I caught an irregularity, and I directed all of my attention to it.
“There,” I muttered.
The magery I was sensing two streets over wasn’t anything like the Defenders’ because its energy came and went in flux, and I knew I’d finally found one of the culprits.
Before I destroyed him, though, I rescanned the area for this same irregularity, and in only a couple minutes, I located four more.
“Kurna!” I barked as my eyes shot open, and the brawny mage came running over from the blaze.
He was drenched in sweat with half his face covered in blood, and he grabbed Urn on his way as he headed for me.
“Do you see the building beyond the blaze with the iron fence?” I asked.
The two generals nodded.
“There’s a possessed mage hiding in there on the second floor,” I told them. “Two more are across the street in an alley, one’s inside the building that just caught fire, and a fifth is two streets over. Take down the four, and I’ll flush out the fifth to find the portal.”
The men nodded before they headed down the street, and I ran back up the lane as I reloaded my spent magazine.
Then I summoned my magic again to scan the area where I’d first sensed an erratic power, but I slowed to a stop when I found nothing there. Then I widened my search area as I ducked into the shadows across the street, and I carefully proceeded with my pistol at the ready.
The mage I’d located couldn’t have gotten far in so short a time, but my Terra powers were turning up nothing on this entire side of town.
Only Haragh’s group was registering, but as I swept the area again, something felt off.
Haragh’s magic wasn’t present anymore, which could have been for several reasons, but when I focused more on the soil across the divide, my stomach dropped.
Everyone whose body wasn’t flat on the ground was stumbling around, and I broke into a run as I pulled out my second pistol. As much as I wanted to track down the portal the Master had used to send his troops here, any one mage who could take down nearly two hundred people at once wasn’t someone I’d let live.
I knew if I came barreling into view, I’d be an easy target for whoever was lurking on this side of town, though, so I picked up the pace and headed down three different side streets until I found the smoking building from before.
The flames eating through the upper floors were still working their way through the structure, and as the smoke drifted over the town, I summoned my powers to raise me up to the balcony next door. Then I climbed onto the railing and hoisted myself onto the roof, and with the smoke concealing my position, I scanned the rooftops in the area.
I could see Haragh’s divide from up here, too, and my adrenaline spiked as I saw him and Taru drop to their knees.
“Where are you?” I growled under my breath as I scanned more anxiously, but then I caught a flash of white about seven buildings over.
The possessed mage was in a building looking out from the window, and I softened the ground below before I plunged back to the street. Then I sprinted under the awnings until I was directly below the window, and I double checked my magazine before I jumped into the street and took my aim.
The window was deserted, though, and I froze as I quickly looked around to see if I’d misjudged the distance. It was definitely the same building, but now, there was no mage in sight, and I’d just given away my position.
I only made it two steps toward the awning before my lungs cinched in a vice, and whoever had gotten me didn’t stop there. Pain shot straight through my chest as my healing rune fought to retaliate, but the stabbing sensation in my lungs doubled me over in seconds flat. My muscles gave out as I crumpled to the ground, and I crashed down so hard, my wrist snapped under me as my nose smashed into the cobblestone.
Then I lost track of everything.
My runes chanted furiously in my head as I clutched my chest, and blood spilled across my face and into my eye while I struggled to right myself. I had no air and no strength left in me, and it felt like my lungs were being sucked into a vacuum. I couldn’t even think clearly enough to summon my powers, but as I blinked hard to clear the blood from my eyes, I saw a figure approaching.
I could hardly make out anything except the stark white of their hair in the moonlight, and the sway of their hips was most likely feminine. They crouched beside my head when they got close enough, and they kept my lungs in a vice as they stared at me in silence before an eerie chuckle fell from their lips.
“Looks like it’s my lucky day,” the woman said in a husky voice.
Then she snatched my wrist and rose to her feet, and as she began dragging me up the street, I tried to grab hold of any bit of stone I could to stop her.
My limbs were cold, though, and the ache in my lungs spread through my shoulders until it began shooting down my arms, and I knew I’d be dead within a minute if the Aer Mage didn’t ease up.
This very thought brought me around, though, because whoever this woman was could’ve killed me already. Instead, she recognized me and dragged me away, which meant she knew the Master wanted me alive.
So, I went deadweight on her, and I let my face knock against the heels of her boots as I scraped across the ground. The Aer Mage struggled against my weight as she continued onward, and I began to wonder if she was too far gone to realize she was about to kill me. I could already sense a heavy blackness blooming inside my mind, but in another twenty agonizing seconds, my lungs were finally released.
I kept myself limp as I feverishly drew one breath after another, and we were almost to the edge of town before my rune restored me again. I still couldn’t see for shit, but I wasn’t on the verge of death, and as the woman’s boots smacked into my brow bone with every step, I summoned my metal magic.
Then I sensed a sword on her left hip, and as we passed into the shadows of a building, I swiftly locked my right arm around the Aer Mage’s legs.
She had her magic sparked before she hit the ground, but she lost hold of my wrist, and I tore the sword from her belt as I flipped and planted my boot into her ribs.
The Aer Mage heaved as her powers wavered, and I drew a sliver of a breath before I raised the sword to deliver a death blow. The white-haired mage rolled and dodged the blade, though, and I knew I couldn’t out-maneuver her at this pace. So, I tore a pit open at her feet, and she circled around my back while I struggled to keep after her with my magic. Soon, I’d come full circle without catching her once, and I desperately tried to clear my vision as I restored the ground around me.
Then I caught a flash of white up ahead, and I bolted after the Aer Mage while I summoned my pistols to me.
By the time we hit the trees at the edge of Tellish, I’d ditched the sword for my pistols instead, and every glimpse of white I saw got a bullet a split second later.
The Aer Mage was still outpacing me, though, and when I heard another husky chuckle slip from her lips about twenty yards ahead, I stopped in my tracks.
The woods were almost pitch black beneath the blanket of pine overhead, and there was no one around
except me and this possessed mage. I had no doubt she was heading for a portal, but that chuckle didn’t carry the sound of a woman alluding her tracker. It was more like a chuckle someone would make when they’ve already won, and this Aer Mage was leading me into a trap.
She could take me down in seconds flat, but she let me chase her all this way, and if I followed her to the Master’s portal, I’d only make her job that much easier.
So, I turned around as I summoned my Terra powers, and I swapped out my lightning magazine for a fireball instead. Then I made my way back to Tellish at a calm pace, and I tracked the footsteps that were only twenty yards behind me while they followed.
I wasn’t focusing on just her placement, though. I was waiting for the presence that was becoming more identifiable to me every time I tried to sense magery through my element, and when I was thirty feet from the tree line, the Aer Mage summoned her powers.
Before she could snatch my lungs, I dropped the ground out from under her, and I flipped around to fire two bullets. One to the left of the pit, and one to the right.
Both bullets missed the Aer Mage like I’d expected, but they struck the pines instead and set off a blaze that exposed her position.
Then I fired three more times as the mage ducked and dove behind trunks, and when I had her surrounded in a growing inferno of enchanted flames, her gaze locked onto mine.
She had blue eyes so light they looked glacial, and her features were sharply angular with stark white brows to match her hair. One side of her head was shaved smooth, and the cold grin she wore looked venomous, but unlike the rest of the Master’s mages, this woman didn’t appear to be deteriorating at all. She was thriving, and when I fired two more times, the woman swiftly rolled out of my line of sight to hide behind the growing flames.
Then she dove straight through the fire before I could scan for her location, and she whipped her arm out wide to form a cyclone in the palm of her hand.
The shrill laugh of the Aer Mage split the air just before she hurled the cyclone at me, and I was blasted backward as her powers struck me in the chest like a cannonball. Whatever she’d used had enough strength to send me catapulting through the branches without stopping, and limbs snapped against my back until I finally broke through to the streets of Tellish.
I struck the side of a building before I could summon my powers, and when I slammed back to the ground, I laid there wheezing for air as my bones healed themselves.
I knew the Aer Mage would be gone before I even scanned the woods, but I was still seething when my powers sent back no sign of anyone. That woman had wielded her elements in a way I’d never seen an Aer Mage do before, and not only did she get away, but the portal she’d used was still out there somewhere
“Fuck,” I growled against the cobblestones, but my irritation was short-lived.
I was alive, and the first mage to come close to abducting me into the Master’s regime hadn’t succeeded. Tellish was saved from an all-out slaughter, too, and the only bodies I’d seen in the streets didn’t belong to any of my mages.
Now, I just needed to make sure Haragh and the others were okay, and I hauled myself to my feet as I did another scan of the area just in case. This entire side of town and the woods beyond were deserted aside from the citizens we’d saved, so I headed back down the street as I holstered my pistols.
Haragh and Taru were both on their feet and tending to the people when I got to the trench, and it looked like a good amount of them were making their way to their homes to survey the damage already. A couple dozen couldn’t breathe properly as the air siphoned into their lungs in dribbles, though, and when Haragh saw me, he came across the bridge to give me an update.
“They’ll need a healer,” the half-ogre told me as he jutted his chin toward the townsfolk.
I nodded. “Are you and Taru okay?”
“Yeah, we’ll be fine,” he grunted. “Did ye’ get the bastard who came up on us?”
“No, she’s gone, though,” I muttered. “I’m gonna go check on the rest of the town.”
“Better check on your face,” Haragh snorted.
I managed a tired smirk as I turned down the street, and I swiped some residual blood from my nose as I took stock of the damage in Tellish. Whole quarters were demolished or half-burnt, and debris littered the streets along with the bodies of possessed mages and citizens alike. Dense gray smoke cloaked every street while the Defenders worked to repair the destruction, and I could hear my generals near Lady Emonie’s estate.
It sounded like most of the survivors had gone there as well, so I made my way through the smoky lanes, and I restored ten buildings before I neared the torchlight outside Lady Emonie’s gates.
The outline of her armored guards lined the walkway while the townsfolk huddled in groups around her grounds, and I could hear the local healers making their rounds.
Kurna saw me coming through the smoke first, and he looked as worn out as I felt as he sent me a nod.
“Hey,” the brawny mage muttered.
“Hey,” I sighed.
Then a fan unfurled, and I caught sight of Lady Emonie in a little white bonnet and nightgown.
She was on the other side of Kurna with bulging eyes and flushed cheeks, and even though Urn was addressing her about his recommended protocol from this point forward, the dower woman didn’t seem to hear a word of it.
I followed the direction of her gaze as I looked down, and I realized my entire bare torso was smattered with blood and soot. My pants were also sagging low beneath my gun belt, and since I’d only grabbed this one article of clothing before I left the train car, I quickly shifted them a little higher up on my hips.
Lady Emonie’s fan was having a field day when I looked up again, and she drifted toward me as Urn trailed off mid-sentence.
“Defender Flynt,” the noblewoman murmured.
I waited for her to continue, but apparently that’s all she had to say.
“Lady Emonie,” I said with a light bow. “Tellish is being restored, but there’s a large group of people on the southern side of town who require immediate assistance. Can you spare a few healers? If not, I can offer my own.”
“Not at all,” Lady Emonie insisted. “I’ll see they’re cared for immediately. You look as if you’re in great need of care as well, Defender Flynt. Can I offer you anything? My entire town and all of its assets are at your disposal.”
“Don’t trouble yourself,” I replied. “I’ll be just fine as soon as I get some rest.”
Lady Emonie made a noise that sounded like all the air had left her lungs as her blush deepened, and her fan fluttered into a blur as she leaned ever so slightly toward me. That’s when I realized she was actually smelling me, and I had a feeling this was the smoky scent Cayla was trying for earlier.
I glanced at Kurna to find the man grinning at his boots, and when I noticed half the noblewoman’s town were gathered close by, I cleared my throat.
“I’ll leave you to tend to your people,” I said as I gestured for Kurna to follow. “I hope you sleep well despite recent events, and I assure you the Defenders will continue to do anything they can to ensure your safety.”
“C-Certainly, Defender Flynt,” Lady Emonie stammered. “I would expect nothing less of your Order.”
Then the woman curtsied to me as if she’d forgotten her title placed her above me, and Kurna’s brows shot up as he headed to the street.
I was right behind him while we made our way back to the tracks, and the man held his tongue until we were well out of ear shot before he couldn’t contain his chuckles any longer.
“If you keep showing off, I’m gonna have to outdo you one of these days,” Kurna informed me.
“I’m not showing off, I left in a hurry,” I muttered as I brushed some dried blood off from my chest. “How did it go with the last four mages?”
“They didn’t give up easily, but we managed it,” Kurna replied.
“Let’s get in touch with Raynor if we can,”
I decided. “There was probably an attack tonight in Falmount, but we need to make sure the Master’s not sending his mages there while I’m gone.”
“If he is, I honestly think they can handle it there,” the brawny mage admitted. “These new pistols of yours are unstoppable. We didn’t lose one Defender in all of that mess. Not one.”
“Yeah, but depending on which mages the Master decides to use, they could still not be enough,” I muttered.
Kurna’s grin faded. “What do you mean?”
“What was the name of the Aer Mage you told me about when I got back from Nalnora?” I asked. “A woman with white hair, half shaved.”
“Aloshi,” Kurna recalled. “Don’t tell me … ”
“Yep,” I sighed. “You weren’t kidding about her. She’s a hell of a mage. Took down nearly two hundred of the citizens plus Haragh and Taru, then she managed to drag me off.”
Kurna cursed under his breath. “You shouldn’t have taken her on alone.”
“I had no idea who she was until it was too late,” I said. “Then I figured I’d kill her and let the portal go for now, but when I pursued her, I realized she was leading me to the portal on purpose. I don’t doubt she’d have gotten me if I didn’t catch on in time.”
“Of course,” the Ignis Mage agreed. “By now, the Master must know you’ve been tracking his soldiers to get rid of the portals. Enough have made it away to inform him of what you’re up to. You’d better lay low and let us take care of this element from now on.”
“So you can get abducted?” I snorted. “No thanks. I’d be worried about coming up against you without a branding, let alone with one.”
“It’d be better than you,” Kurna argued. “You’re a head of the Order. The whole kingdom relies on you. Suppose the Master’s tracking your travels right now, and sent Aloshi to bring you in? Hulsan said himself he wants you in his ranks, and I may be skilled, but you’re a damned killing machine. No one would survive if he got a hold of you.”
“Then we need to rethink our strategies,” I said as I brushed some dried blood from my hair. “Right now, I don’t think Aloshi was sent here to get me. She’s incredibly effective, and it’s more likely she was leading this attack. I just happened to make the mistake of taking her on alone. It won’t happen again, though.”