by TR Cameron
Her teacher replied, “No one’s unstoppable.” She closed and hammered at him with her blades, faster than Ruby had ever seen her move, quicker than she ever hoped to be, even on her best day. Her swords slashed and tested, stabbing and cutting at legs, arms, and head. Aside from generating sparks and a couple of deep scratches, the attack showed no obvious effect.
The figure laughed again. “Now it is clear who is the master and who the student. It will be instructional for you to see your superior defeated.” He shifted his attention to Keshalla. Ruby had no idea what to do other than hope his metal skin was magical because she couldn’t conceive of how to get through it otherwise. She sheathed her dagger and her sword simultaneously, then pulled the throwing knife from her boot with her right hand, hiding the point under her outstretched fingers so as not to give him warning if he turned back to her.
She crafted a veil while Keshalla dodged and deflected attacks from their foe. It cost her a moment to ensure the concealment would hold up against all senses, but when it was ready, she slipped ahead quietly. Ruby waited for the opportunity she needed to present itself. When it did, she lunged forward like an Olympic fencer and stabbed the knife into the spot where shoulder and neck joined. The blow had all the brute strength she could put behind it, her hope that between sheer velocity and the weapon’s magic it would penetrate his skin. Please work.
The blade sank in no more than an inch, but it felt like a victory. She fired lightning at the area, and its touch on his skin was no more effective than her flames had been. Still, the dagger had created a vulnerability, and the electricity traveled through it beyond the protection of his metallic outer layer. He stiffened, rising on his toes, and Keshalla used that second of opportunity to disarm him, slamming both of her swords across in parallel horizontal strikes to knock the staff flying. The mad Mist Elf sank to his knees, clearly in pain. He cackled with a harsh burble. “You will heal me after you fail to master the sword. Then you will be mine.” Keshalla stepped over, yanked the knife out of his shoulder, and stabbed it deep into his throat. She blasted her power through it, and he collapsed, his metal features losing their suppleness and turning him into a seemingly lifeless statue.
Ruby collected the thrown blade she’d missed with and slipped it back into her boot. “Well, that sucked. A lot.”
Keshalla nodded, holding the other throwing knife in her hand. “He was brilliant. Insane, but brilliant. Such a waste.” Her teacher shook her head, then gazed up at the weapon hovering overhead. “By all accounts, you’ll have one more battle with the sword. I can’t help you with that, but know that I’ll be waiting, however long it takes. I’ll keep this in case he gets up.” She twitched the blade. “Now get to it before something else shows up to try to stop us.”
Chapter Ten
Ruby extended her telekinesis and pulled the hovering sword down to her. When it touched her palm, everything went white again, as it had when the insane Mist Elf had used his magic. She spun reflexively, swinging the weapon in a circle to defend against any attack that might be on the way. When the brilliance faded, she was no longer in the room, no sword was in her hand, and a figure stood to the side, clapping softly. The Mist Elf woman was dressed in a long flowing gown, had upswept hair piled atop her head, brilliant sapphire eyes, and thankfully not a hint of metal. The stranger said, “Welcome. It is wonderful to have someone finally break the monotony. I did so enjoy your little dance.” She delivered the words with bright humor and a smile that stripped them of all offense.
Ruby nodded, surreptitiously scanning the surrounding area for threats while appearing to focus her attention on the woman. “Thank you. I do try my best. What is this place?”
Laughter preceded the explanation. “You could call it your imagination, I suppose. Or mine. That said, I think a change of setting is in order.” She snapped her fingers, and the featureless plane they’d been standing on shifted and slid into a new configuration. What had been cracked earth under her feet was now sand, and ocean waves lapped behind the other woman. Her host lifted the hem of her long dress, slipped off the elegant shoes she wore underneath it and turned toward the water. “Won’t you join me?”
Ruby looked down and discovered she no longer wore her armor but a warrior’s dress, the skirt slit up both legs for unrestricted movement, and sandals with leather wrappings that extended to her calves. Okay, sure. This is definitely better than fighting a crazy person who carries a weapon made of people. She strolled forward until she stood at the woman's side, the comfortably cool water covering their feet. “I’m Ruby, Ruby Achera.” When no response was forthcoming, she prompted, “Who are you?”
The other woman’s laugh was like a soft bell chiming. “You can call me Shalia.”
“How long have you been, uh, here?” Ruby gestured vaguely at their surroundings.
“An eternity, it seems.”
Ruby stifled the frown that wanted to rise to her lips at her companion’s reticence. “Where were you before this?”
Shalia’s face turned thoughtful. “The memories are scattered, like birds buffeted by uncertain breezes. I remember caring for a village. I remember a descent into the mountain, but I can’t recall why I did it.” She shrugged. “Now, I remember you. Everything in between is foggy and ethereal.”
Ruby nodded. The sun hitting her felt nice, and she thought that maybe a vacation would do her well. Ha. As if there’s time for that. Speaking of which. “Uh, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do here. Do you know?”
“Of course. You have to win us over.”
Okay, who’s us? Is that the royal us? “Any clue how I might accomplish that?”
Her host laughed again. “You have already made great progress, Ruby. You’ve been polite, acceded to my request to share some time in the water, and have given me the honor of your name.” She sighed. “Now I must ask the important question, one that will determine whether you have a chance of surviving this experience.”
Ruby took an involuntary step backward. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Survive?”
Shalia turned to her with a soft smile. “Of course. You didn’t think the stakes would be any less, did you?”
“Well, I have to admit, given how nice you are, I was kind of hoping for it.”
The other woman shook her head sadly. “Unfortunately, I do not control all of this reality, only parts of it. I cannot change the requirements of the test.”
Ruby set her feet, turned her face to the sun, and closed her eyes to focus her thoughts. When she felt ready, she opened them and nodded. “All right, then. Fire away.”
“You are seeking a weapon of great power. How do you intend to employ it? Will you seek to rule? Will you wreak vengeance upon your enemies? Or will you lock us away in a cabinet against future threat?”
Ruby thought about the question carefully before answering. “It’s possible at times that I might engage in all three, I suppose. Sometimes power is necessary, sometimes vengeance aligns with removing a danger that would threaten others, and certainly, every warrior puts up her sword for a time between campaigns. However, my goal, my purpose, is to protect those who can’t protect themselves and to defend my chosen home from those who would do its people harm.”
“What if your perspective toward your chosen home changes?”
“I’m not the most virtuous person ever, and I certainly suffer from weaknesses, an abundance of them if you believe my family. Still, my purpose is charitable, maybe even noble. I believe if suddenly I could no longer be part of my community, I would find another to serve and defend.”
The other woman’s face tightened in concern. “Serve? You would acquire an item of power such as this and consider yourself a servant rather than a leader?”
“I would.”
She grinned. “Correct answer. You’re halfway there. Good luck with the other.”
Ruby’s reply, “What other?” was lost as the world around her wrenched, the beach scene replaced by a sno
wy mountaintop. Wind whipped with a keening wail, and she shivered in the provided garments, which were far more suitable for summer than winter. If this place is partially from my imagination, let’s see if I can do something about that. She focused on what she’d worn beneath the mountain and felt it on her skin. She imagined the outfit was warm and impervious to the elements, and suddenly that was true. Her tightened muscles relaxed.
From behind, a sarcastic snarl observed, “Well done. Of course, even a child could accomplish that.” She turned and saw a male Mist Elf dressed in long trousers and a knee-length tunic that recalled what Shalia had worn. “I am Tyrsh. Welcome to my mountain, Ruby Achera.”
She snarked, “What’s your deal?”
“There’s fire in you, excellent.” Arrogant laughter colored the words. “I’ve witnessed your martial prowess in the fight against our creator, as I have observed the few others who reached this place.”
“This mountaintop?” It came out a little more sarcastic than she’d intended.
“Don’t be an idiot,” he snapped. “Only one issue is at hand here. What will you sacrifice to reach your goals?”
She growled, “Is this where I have to say I’m willing to die for my principles?”
Tyrsh countered, “Are you?”
“Not if I can help it. Life is precious and staying alive means living to fight another day. I would not spend that particular coin so casually.”
He gave a sharp nod. “Where’s the line? Would you die to save one? To preserve ten? A hundred, a thousand, a million? What level of death would be worthy of your oh-so-noble self-sacrifice?”
Ruby put her hands on her hips to avoid throwing obscene gestures at him. His words had undercut her confidence and ticked her off besides. She gathered her remaining calm and exhaled. “It’s impossible to know, isn’t it? If it were the right person, I would do it without resistance. My sister, for instance. Idryll. Keshalla.” She gave a small shrug. “Other than that, such a question will always be situational. Since I’m not precognitive, I can’t predict what might happen.”
“A deflection,” he barked.
She shook her head. “The truth, and nothing but.”
His stance changed, relaxing from aggressive to languid. He didn’t quite smile, but there was satisfaction in his visage. “You’ll do, Ruby Achera. I look forward to seeing what you become. Use us wisely.”
She yelled the question at the front of her mind as the feeling of falling overwhelmed her senses. “Are there more than two of you?” No answer was forthcoming, and she snapped back into her body with enough force to fall backward, still holding the sword.
Keshalla was instantly at her side. “Are you okay?”
Ruby sighed as a wave of exhaustion swept over her. “So, you know that thing about artifact weapons being sentient and having a personality?”
She nodded. “I do. Did you get along with it?”
Ruby shook her head, unable to describe the intensity of the experience. “All I can say is that, appropriate to the man who created it, the sword has multiple personalities. And neither of the two I encountered has their full complement of mental marbles.”
Her teacher chuckled lightly for a moment, then sat and laughed harder. Eventually, Ruby had to join in. When they had both run out of mirth, Keshalla shook her head. “Well, minari, in that case, I can’t think of a more appropriate weapon for you.”
Chapter Eleven
Gabriel “The Nightmare” Sloane was not a happy man. In fact, that categorization understated the matter significantly. He was outraged, insulted, and filled with a fury that hadn’t left him since the moment the mewling bureaucrat from Magic City informed him they’d denied his petition to build a casino there. We’ll see about that. The letter of the law can be such a useful thing.
Outwardly, he did his best to maintain a normal demeanor, wearing his typical bespoke business suit with a blood-red tie and the most expensive shoes in his closet. A chunky silver bracelet encircled his right wrist and could easily slide down over the knuckles to serve as a weapon. He’d used it before and imagined it was inevitable that he’d someday do so again. A stiletto rested in an inner pocket, more as a remembrance than anything else. A pair of rings, the family seals from two criminal organizations he’d ended, adorned his left hand. He’d killed the head of the first on behalf of the other and the leader of the second as revenge for trying to double-cross him. They all served as a reminder of his roots and a confirmation that whatever happened, he always came out on top.
His wife, Julianna, sat across from him in the back of his limousine. She’d crossed her long legs, and the tight red sheath clinging to her body showed them off to great advantage, right down to the matching stiletto heels. They each held whiskey tumblers filled with the most expensive brand he had on hand. Tonight was important. Tonight was pivotal. Whether he was destined to win or lose the war, he would luxuriate in every experience it brought to him, as he had with each challenge life had delivered so far.
His rumination was interrupted by a light knock on the window. He pushed the switch to lower it, and his black-uniformed security guard said, “Perimeter established. Goryo has checked in and says he’ll be on time. Trenton is about two minutes away.”
Sloane idly swirled the single sphere of ice in his drink. “We don’t have tracking on the specialist?”
The sharp-boned and muscular guard with a blond flat-top shook his head. “He switched vehicles. Again.”
He chuckled. “Paranoid bastard. I like him. Carry on.”
He rolled up the window and asked his wife, “What are your thoughts on all this?”
Her laugh was throaty and sexy, like everything else about her. He found her intelligence every bit as appealing as its container. “I think you should kill Trenton and his pet. Not punishing their failure makes you look too generous.”
He shook his head. “Not yet. They’re still useful as a distraction. I wholeheartedly agree that they have proven not to be the partners we’d hoped to find in Ely.” He was quiet for a moment, thinking through his options. “Perhaps they can at least clear the path for the specialist.”
Julianna nodded. “And if he, too, fails?”
Sloane’s mouth stretched into a thin smile. “Why, then, we start killing everyone we can find with an interest in Magic City until they give us what we want.”
She moved across to sit beside him and planted a light kiss full of promise on his lips. “There’s the man I love.”
Another discreet knock was a prelude to the door opening. The security agent said, “They’re clean, boss.” The dwarf was the first one in, followed by his partner. Both looked appropriately nervous, although he sensed an aura of rebellion in the nonhuman. He let the silence stretch, and Trenton babbled, “We’re out here in the middle of nowhere. We had to use old-school GPS to find the place. No cell signal at all.”
Of course, you idiot, that’s why I chose this location. Or, rather, why security chose it for me. “We’ve had a setback, above and beyond your consistent failures. It’s time to get completely serious. Tell me what you’re planning to do about the people interfering with our operations.”
His wife added, “You better make it perfect. You’ve failed us too many times.” He patted her leg possessively.
While Grentham's expression didn’t change, the dwarf’s voice sounded like it was on the verge of a tremble as he replied, “We have a good plan.”
Sloane interrupted, “You discussed it only in secure locations?”
Trenton nodded. “There is now a protected room at our headquarters. No signals in or out, and an anti-magic emitter, to be sure. Trust me, no one heard about it.”
“Well, that’s one intelligent move on your part. Continue.”
Grentham said, “Those people showed up in person at Spirits, so we think they might have a connection to or preference for that casino. Maybe they were hired as extra protection. We still have the gems we stole from there, so we figured we’d
use them as the bait in the trap.”
Julianna gave a moan that was on the edge of seductive. “Oh, do say more.”
Sloane pushed the distraction of her magnetism away and encouraged, “Indeed, please do.”
“Well, we thought we’d bring a fence in to buy the diamonds, set the meeting somewhere that gives us a solid advantage and be sure the details got out to them.”
Sloane shook his head. “You faced them before and failed. Do better.”
Trenton asked, “What if we let the information slip to all the criminal organizations who were part of the big robbery? They couldn’t help but show up, too, and in the chaos, we’d have the perfect chance to take out our targets.”
Grentham added, “They won’t be able to resist that kind of score. No one will.”
Sloane saw the war between the man’s greed and his desire for safety in his expression. Good. Don’t forget who you’re dealing with, little dwarf. You’ll stay alive a bit longer. He nodded. “Approved. Do it. But keep this in mind: it would be better that you die in the attempt than you fail me again. It’s sure to hurt less.” The duo bobbed their heads, and he waved them out of the car. When they were alone, he asked his wife, “So, what do you think?”
Julianna shook her head. “I think they won’t be around for much longer.”
He laughed. “I think the way you think is the most attractive thing about you.”
She took his hand and caressed it with a kiss. “Then perhaps you need to be reintroduced to some of the rest.”