by Pirateaba
Gazi looked amused as she shook her head.
“Liar. I can see the lies on your face, Krshia Silverfang.”
Krshia hesitated. Ryoka tried to get up again. No good. She flopped on the ground and felt something fall out of her pocket. Her iPhone. She stared at it.
Throw it at Gazi? Probably not.
The adventurer let go of Erin and gripped her sword two-handed as she raised it over Ceria’s head. The half-elf stared up bleakly at the raised sword.
“Gazi.”
Ryoka’s voice was a hoarse croak as she pushed herself upright. Erin stood right in front of Gazi, fist raised, knowing it was useless to attack. She would do it anyways, Ryoka knew. But she had to speak first.
Gazi didn’t even bother turning her head. She spoke to the air.
“Now. What could you possibly say that would stop me here? I am curious.”
Ryoka took one deep breath, and then another. The world was spinning. If she took one step she’d probably puke or fall over. But she had to say it. Weak spot.
Eyes.
She hoped Erin moved fast.
“The King of Destruction has awakened. Flos has returned.”
—-
Erin heard the words, but didn’t know what they meant. But they caused a hush, and she saw Gazi’s eye widen. Slowly, the Gazer turned.
Gazi the Omniscient. She could see through walls, across miles and even into the hearts of other people. She could see through lies.
Her central eye turned, and all four smaller eyes. They fixed on Ryoka, staring into her, searching for the truth. And Erin moved. Faster than she’d ever moved before. Her hand raised, and shot out.
Maybe Gazi saw it out of her peripherals, but she turned. Her sword cut down the two arrows streaking towards her face. Her right hand caught Ksmvr’s dagger as he hurled it at Gazi. Perhaps it was that which made Gazi too slow. Or it might have been the crimson gaze, the touch of fear that came from a gemstone burning in a skeleton’s eyes.
It might have been all of those things, or nothing. But Gazi’s hand came up—
And Erin poked Gazi in the eye.
It was a terrible feeling. Erin’s finger sunk into the open eyeball, straight through the cornea. Erin felt her fingertip pushing through horrible wetness, through the gooey center and felt something burst over her hand.
Gazi screamed.
An armored fist hit Erin in the chest. She felt herself go whumph as her ribs cracked. Erin didn’t fly—but she did move up and down in the air for a second or two. When she hit the ground, all the lights in the world went out for a while.
When Erin got up, Gazi was clutching at something. A gooey mess ran around her armored hand, and she looked—
She wasn’t smiling anymore. For the first time, Gazi’s secretive smile was gone, and her four good eyes stared at Erin with dark hatred.
“You.”
She strode towards Erin, but suddenly Relc was there. He laughed and threw himself at Gazi.
“[Triple Thrust] you stupid bi—”
She cut him as he cut her. Gazi’s cheek opened up as Relc’s caught a deep cut down his face. Gazi stopped and blinked. Bright orange-yellow blood dripped from her open wound.
More arrows flew. This time, Gazi’s sword was too slow. One caught her hair, and another splinted into her face, striking the mess of her eye. She cried out again.
“Gazi.”
Her other eyes flicked towards Klbkch and Relc and she sighed. Then she looked at Erin and Ryoka.
“Well done. Well done, the two of you. I should have been more careful.”
She turned and retreated from Klbkch and he approached with Ksmvr and Toren at his side. Towards the portal. The Antinium and skeleton let Gazi move back, swords raised warily. The Gnolls kept firing, and it was all Gazi could do to block their arrows now.
“You must leave or die here, Gazi of Reim.”
Gazi nodded at Klbkch.
“Yes. I must. But first: vengeance.”
Her sword blurred and touched an arrow as it flew at her.
“Watch—”
Ryoka pushed Erin aside just in time. The arrow missed both girls by inches and struck one of the bows a Gnoll carried. It shattered the weapon and the arrowhead glanced off and buried itself in the Gnoll’s fur. He howled in pain as Ksmvr and Klbkch moved to shield Erin.
“Ah. If I were better—”
Gazi shrugged. She lowered her hand and revealed a ruined mess of an eye. She stared at Erin, and the girl stared back.
“Erin Solstice. One day, we shall meet again.”
And then Gazi stepped through the portal. Krshia fired one last arrow, but it missed the adventurer. Gazi’s form distorted and then—
Erin stared into a tunnel as long as forever. It stretched on and on, but somehow she could see the ending. A patch of grass ringed by runestones only a few feet away. Gazi stepped into the portal, and her foot travelled thousands of miles, stretching out to touch the grass on the other side.
Relc threw his spear through the portal. Erin saw it flying through the air, an arrow hurled across the world. Gazi turned and caught it. She tossed it casually back.
The tunnel of light began to close. The spear landed in the grass on Erin’s side, and then the magic ended. The portal closed. Reality went back to normal.
And Gazi was gone.
—-
“Gods.”
Zevara stood in the remains of the battlefield, looking around. It was a battlefield. There was no other word for the field of broken arrows, the patches of blood, and the bodies.
The bodies. Two of her guardsmen, and one Gnoll. Three people; not a high toll considering who they’d come up against, but too many. They lay on the ground, two clutching at wounds that hadn’t healed fast enough. The Gnoll was headless.
The dead and the wounded. Zevara couldn’t remember a time she’d seen so much violence in such a short time. Not since the previous Watch Captain. Not since the Necromancer.
She glanced up and looked over at another gathering, this one of the living. Ryoka and Erin sat in a protective circle of bodies. Ksmvr, the Gnolls, even the damn skeleton and the human mage stood around them protectively, though Gazi was long gone.
Ryoka was still swaying where she sat. The girl had a concussion and possibly fractured bones according to Pisces. Erin wasn’t badly hurt; the cuts on her face and her bruises had been easily fixed. But she was staring down at her hand. At her finger.
Zevara turned away. She looked at Relc, and at Klbkch, two of her best guardsmen, even if they were…Relc and Klbkch. She shook her head at them, and they nodded, understanding.
“What the hell just happened here? Why by all the dead gods would this…?”
She waved a hand helplessly at the scene. Relc just shook his head, but Klbkch cleared his throat.
“The humans, Watch Captain.”
“I know. I know the humans. But why? Why them? Why now? Why Gazi? Why?”
“I do not fully know. Perhaps we should ask when the time is right. But for now we must accept that the world is changing.”
“The world’s gonna end.”
Zevara looked at Relc. The Drake stared at the ground, ignoring the cuts and gashes he still hadn’t healed. She was no soldier, but she had the same sense he did.
Zevara looked at the sky. Revelations. There would be rumors spreading the instant they returned to the city, but the truth was far worse. Zevara felt it in her gut, the sense of urgency, the fear.
Peace was over. The King of Destruction had returned. If she didn’t hurry, she was going to die without ever telling Olesm she loved him.
—-
“I just want to sit by myself and not do anything. Just sit and play chess, okay? I’ll be better once I’m at the inn. Once I’m home.”
Erin told Krshia that for the hundredth time, she clutched the blanket around her hand even tighter, as if she could wipe away the memories, the feeling.
“I get that, but the Captai
n wants to talk to everyone in the city. We’ve got hot drinks and food. Just come with us.”
“If she does not want to go, she will not go. And you are in no position to demand such things now, yes?”
Krshia glared at Relc and the Drake glared back.
“Having a bunch of bows and your little archery group doesn’t mean you’re suddenly guardsmen, Krshia. You get in the way any more and I’ll hit you. With this.”
He lifted his spear and the Gnolls around Erin and Ryoka rumbled. Relc didn’t seem impressed, but Erin shook her head.
“No. No fighting. I’ll go. Ryoka?”
“Hm? Yeah?”
Ryoka nodded dizzily at Erin. Relc smiled.
“See? I’m right and you’re wrong, Krshia.”
“Well then, we shall go with Erin. As concerned citizens.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yes.”
“Fine, let’s all be guardsmen, then. I’d like to see you become a Senior Guardsman. We’ll take care of the humans. You Gnolls just go back to the city and—”
Relc stopped shouting and turned around. The Gnolls looked too. Erin had no idea what they were sensing or…hearing?
“Hold up. What the heck is that?”
Something echoed on the faintest edge of Erin’s hearing. Howling? No. Not like Gnolls. But the sound of wind, yes. And suddenly it felt colder.
A lot colder.
“Oh gods, it’s here! Winter is coming everyone. Get ready!”
Relc roared and everyone around him was suddenly moving. Erin looked around, confused. Relc growled as he grabbed the blanket from Erin and held it up around her and Ryoka.
“As if we needed anything else.”
“What? What’s happening.”
“Winter is here.”
Klbkch said it calmly as he appeared with another blanket. And then Erin and Ryoka saw it.
From down over the mountains it came. A storm? Or maybe it was just the wind, frozen and made corporeal. It was a white and grey wave that crashed down like an avalanche, but instead of breaking on the ground, angled up at the last moment and blew straight across the plains.
It headed straight towards the group, and for a second Erin thought she heard voices.
“Look, look, sisters! A group of travelers out in the open!”
“A band of warriors! The dogs and once-Dragons have been fighting!”
“And humans! And the slaves! And even a dead thing!”
Laughter, bright and tinkly, like crackling icicles. Erin squinted. Were there…blue shapes in the oncoming storm? But then the tone of the light, ethereal voices changed.
“Look! There! A half-breed! A filthy whore!”
“Kill it!”
“Bury it in snow!”
“Let’s dump snow on all of them!”
“Here it comes!”
Relc shouted, and the storm enveloped Erin in a sea of white. She was thrown to the ground, tumbled around, and then she was cold and wet and the world was missing.
“Erin! Erin!”
Something grabbed Erin as she struggled to sit up. Relc pulled Erin up and she gasped and spluttered as he freed her from the—
…Snow?
Suddenly, the world was changed. The grass was gone. Erin found herself shivering, waist-deep in pure white snow, and the air was suddenly frosty, and the skies grey and clouded.
“What—what—?”
Relc grinned at Erin and handed her the blanket back.
“Winter just arrived. Let’s get back to the city, huh? We’re going to need warm clothes; this one looks pretty cold.”
“What?”
Across from her, Ryoka pushed her way out of the snow, spluttering. She looked around.
“What the fuck?”
The storm was gone, as if it had never been. Only the snow remained, and the suddenly frozen landscape. And also the group of hovering creatures that swirled and swooped in the air above Erin and Ryoka’s heads.
“They’re not dead! The half-breed lives!”
“Let’s bury them again! Deeper!”
“No, let’s cut off her hair and tear out her eyes!”
“Look, look! This human is different! See how different she looks, sisters?”
One of the creatures floated down next to Ryoka, and pointed. Ryoka recoiled as they all flew around her, still speaking in their voices-that-weren’t-voices.
“You’re right! How strange! How odd!”
“Can she see us, we wonder?”
“Impossible!”
Relc grimaced. He swatted at the faeries and shook his head.
“Ugh. It’s them. I hate those things.”
One of the transparent…things floated in front of Relc’s face. He shook his head, eyes not focusing fully on…her. She blew into his face and he recoiled, shouting and clawing at the frost on his nose.
“We hate you too!”
2.07
They sat together in the inn. Two girls, alike in gender and different in pretty much every other respect.
Ryoka Griffin and Erin Solstice eyed each other over the smooth mahogany table. Silence hung in the air between them. Taut. Tense.
It was finally time for them to talk.
“Well. It seems we have a lot to talk about.”
Ryoka was the first to break the silence. She looked up at Erin, and then down at her hands. Quite honestly, she didn’t know where to begin.
“I suppose—we should start with how we got here.”
It was the basis of all things. Sharing information. They needed to pool data, make plans for the future. Their survival could depend on it.
Ryoka took a deep breath. From the beginning. She’d put all her secrets on the line and hope Erin did the same.
“Erin, I came down towards Liscor because I was doing a delivery. A special one. You see, I met this man named Teriarch. And he put some kind of—of spell on me. It made me travel towards the Blood Fields and—”
Ryoka broke off sharply. Erin was raising a hand.
“What is it.”
“I’m sorry. But can we just—not do this right now?”
Oh of course. Ryoka closed her eyes. Erin was probably exhausted from meeting Gazi and rescuing Ceria. But this was important.
“I guess we can start tomorrow if necessary. I can sleep—”
Erin shook her head.
“No, not that. I mean this. Can we just cut the act for a second and take a break? From this stupid story, I mean. Why do we have to have a serious conversation now? Can’t we rest for, I dunno, five days and then go from there?”
Ryoka hesitated.
“But the script says we talk now and—”
“The script can go to hell! I’m sick of it!”
Erin glared at Ryoka.
“I’ve been here for nine months, and I still haven’t gotten a proper romantic relationship. Or even a wand or something like that.”
Ryoka paused. Erin sighed and put her face in her hands.
“And now I have to poke someone’s eye out? Do you know what that feels like? I mean, come on. I know you’re a professional, Ryoka, but I need a break. I’m sorry.”
Erin put her head down on the table. Ryoka patted her on the back and looked around. Then she lowered her voice conspiratorially.
“You think you’ve got it bad? At least you only have to deal with the inn. Every time I’m in a chapter I have to run for my life or nearly get eaten or—or have my leg run over by a frickin’ cart.”
Ryoka made a face at Erin.
“It’s been six months of this crap. Twice a week I have to run around, fight monsters, and complain about how stupid people are.”
Erin nodded. She sat up as Ryoka sighed.
“I know. And what’s with the frying pans, anyways? Who uses frying pans?”
“I know. I didn’t even get a weapon! What am I, too stupid to buy a sword? How hard is it honestly to use one. Put the pointy end in people. Simple!”
The two girls sat togethe
r and began to complain. Ryoka was nodding as Erin laid out her grievances.
“You’d think the author would at least give me a magic wand or something. I mean, is it beyond the realm of possibility that I’d fall into an ancient tomb or stumble over a mage’s corpse. I could have been Harry Potter. Instead I’m…Dudley.”
“Oh come on, you’re not fat.”
“It’s going to happen sooner or later. How do you think I deal with stress? Every time I nearly die I eat half a pig’s worth of food.”
Erin shuddered and shook her head. Ryoka winced sympathetically.
“Okay, how about this?”
The Asian girl spread her hands on the table and looked at Erin.
“Crossovers. They’re a good waste of time. Nothing plot-centric ever happens in a crossover. If we get one with another story, we could waste a chapter or two that way. Take a break.”
She grinned at Erin.
“You could magically appear in Hogwarts and meet Harry Potter for a day. Learn some magic, only it would only work with a wand – which you can’t bring back. That’s a good crossover. Plus, you could see if you can’t get a leg up on Ginny Weasly. Put the moves on scar boy.”
Ryoka nudged Erin with an elbow.
“Huh, huh?”
Erin made a face that wasn’t too enthusiastic.
“That would be cool. I guess. But you know that will never happen. Harry Potter’s over, and besides, there are all those licensing issues.”
That was true. Ryoka had to think about that.
“Well—what about other web serials? Maybe another author would go for a chapter trade. Like…what about Worm?”
“Worm? Do you want to die horribly?”
Erin glared at Ryoka, and the other girl held up her hands.
“Okay, okay. Good point. How about a webcomic? Those are nice.”
“That takes too long to draw.”
“Not unless we’re stick figures. We could try Order of the Stick.”
“I dunno. I don’t think I’d look good in 2D. Besides, you know the author’s too lazy to do any of that.”
“True.”
The two sat in silence for a few minutes. At last, Erin spoke.