by Andrew Rowe
“Interesting strategy.” Saffron turned toward her and tilted his head in acknowledgement. “You’ve summoned actual stone. Only the force carrying them is magical.”
The spears flew forward in a swarm, slamming into him.
On contact, they shattered into splinters.
“Unfortunately, they’re simply not good enough. I do commend your efforts, though.” He nodded. “Wait a moment. Why do you look so familiar?”
While they were distracted with each other, I reached into my bag.
I needed a way to get myself out of there, and I couldn’t do it while I was forced to remain seated.
“Retrieve: Ring of Derek Controlling.”
The ring that Orden had used to control Derek wasn’t explicitly designed to control him, but I used the name because it was memorable.
An ordinary Enchanter wouldn’t have had much use for the ring, unless they were the one who had made it. It stored a bit of Orden’s mana inside a rune, which made the runes respond to her voice commands.
I understood how it worked because I’d made several of the same type of rune while working on the tiles for Teft’s final exam.
Orden was a wise enough Enchanter to put anti-tampering runes on it to prevent any of the runes from being added or removed.
She did, not, however, account for an Arbiter, who could purify the mana in a rune that already existed.
I touched the rune that contained Orden’s mana and activated my Arbiter attunement. In moments, Orden’s mana signature was gone.
“You will desist at once.” Elora’s voice trembled.
“Will I now?...Oh, no. I know where I know you from.” Saffron broke into a fit of laughter, doubling over. “Oh, how fun! I never thought... No, I can’t. Ah, this is so unfortunate.”
A spear burst from the ground under him, its crystalline form sparkling like diamond.
It pierced straight through Saffron’s chest.
Blood pooled around the wound.
Elora waved a hand. Five more spears shot up from the ground, piercing through his body with similar ease.
“Trash.” Elora coughed. She must have been overusing her lung mana with all those spells. “You’ll pay for—”
Saffron’s hand reached down, snapping the first spear in twain. After that success, I saw a blur of rapid motion as he destroyed the rest.
He tumbled to the ground, then reached backward awkwardly to extract the remains of the spears from his body. “Fascinating.” He coughed, tossing a bit of spear to the ground. “That was unexpected.”
I slipped the ring on my hand.
I wasn’t sure it would work, but I had to try.
I whispered to myself, “Stand up.”
The ring activated immediately. I felt perception mana flood into me from the enchantments as the command took effect.
...But I didn’t stand.
Saffron’s spell was stronger than the ring.
I felt my heart pounding in my chest as panic threatened to overwhelm me. But I had to keep fighting. I wouldn’t let myself stop.
The conflicting commands burned in my mind, and I shivered with effort. “Stand up,” I repeated. The ring activated again.
Saffron cracked his neck, then his body blurred, and the remaining spears had been tossed to the side.
And as I watched, the gaping wounds on his body began to close. “It’s been quite some time since I’ve found anything that can hurt me.” Saffron bowed toward Elora. “You have truly impressed me.”
“Keep watching.” Elora clapped her hands together.
A dozen more of the diamantine spears burst from the ground.
But they didn’t hit anything.
Saffron was next to Elora now. “I’m afraid that won’t work a second time. I was quite distracted at first. But I was complimenting you. You shouldn’t be so rude.”
Elora took a step back. “You’re—”
He raised a bloodstained finger toward her lips. “Ssh.”
Elora glared at him.
“Stand up!” I told myself again, still shivering as the conflicting mana worked within my body.
Saffron’s spell snapped.
Slowly, I stood up, just in time to see Carter walking toward me.
Saffron was still staring at Elora. “Now, tell me, where did you get that face?”
Elora glared at him for one more moment, then looked to where the soldiers were lying bleeding on the ground.
“This is a simple question. Where. Did. You. Get. Your. Face.”
“My parents, obviously.” Elora took a step back.
Saffron shook his head. “No, no. That’s not what I meant. Think about my question.”
Carter dropped into a fighting stance as she approached, glaring at me. “You’re going to pay for screwing my cover.”
Resh, almost made it.
She’s probably Citrine level or higher, and a leg marked. That means she’s close combat focused. I don’t know if I can handle her.
I reached into my bag again as Carter drew closer. “Retrieve: Signaling Stick.”
Carter paused, staring as I pulled the stick out of the bag.
“Not one step closer.” I waved the stick. “You know what this is.”
Carter continued to approach, but more cautiously. “Might just be a stick you found on the floor.”
Elora was still talking to Saffron, but I couldn’t focus on that while my own life was at risk.
I moved my hands to brace for breaking it. “Think about how I recognized yours immediately, and how I recognized your mark.”
“You’re an Enchanter, you could have—”
I decided to gamble.
“I’d advise you to stop walking now. Sterling will be very upset if I call him all the way out here.”
I’d picked a random name, the first one I’d remembered from the “ess” names that Keras had given me.
From the way that Carter paled and took a step back, I took it I’d hit the mark. “Now, now, let’s not be hasty,” she said. “You just hand that over to me and we’ll get this sorted out.”
“Not going to happen. You stand down, and I’ll talk this over with your master directly. Then you can tell him why you were involved with interrupting my mission for this nonsense.”
“I didn’t—”
My gamble was working, but there was a problem.
Saffron seemed to have run out of patience for Elora, and now his hands were wrapped around her neck.
If I let things go, maybe I could have simply talked my way out of the situation. If I’d sold Carter with my lies, maybe Saffron would have listened, too.
But even if I didn’t approve of everything that Elora had done, I couldn’t just watch her die.
Not just out of my general pacifism, in this case.
She was my best lead on information about my brother.
I took a few steps forward, ignoring Carter. She actually stepped away from me as I moved closer to Saffron.
I whispered to myself. “Don’t listen to any of Saffron’s commands.”
The ring activated again. I didn’t know if doing that in advance would be enough to shield me if he commanded me again, but it was better than nothing.
Then I addressed Saffron directly, putting on a veil of false confidence. “Please stop that, Saffron. My master has made something of an investment in that one, and I’ve been asked to ensure she isn’t harmed.” I casually waved the stick in the air, hoping it would get his attention.
He turned his head toward me. “What master are you... Wait, how are you standing?”
I raised my hand and showed him the ring. “A small gift from my master protected me.” I considered my next words closely. “Sterling would not be pleased if I was forced to do the bidding of others.”
“Sterling.” He almost spat the word. “This girl is one of his projects?”
I nodded with the utmost confidence, having zero idea of what I was talking about. “Of course. Can’t you see w
hy?”
He glanced at her, then back to me. “This is a bit perverse, even by his standards.” Saffron grinned. “But I can see the appeal. There is one problem, however.”
“Oh?”
Saffron turned back to Elora. “I’ve always enjoyed breaking my brother’s toys.”
I heard a snap.
Elora’s fingers.
And then she vanished.
Saffron’s shoulders sagged. “Really? She can teleport?” He blurred again, appearing at Carter’s side. “Idiot. You didn’t tell me they had a teleporter.”
“Forgive me, Lord Saffron. I assumed you knew.”
“Deflecting blame? You’ll be punished for that later. But for now, I should finish here, hmm?” Saffron turned to me. “Now, tell me your name, rank, and authentication phrase.”
The ring activated, sending me command to obey.
I appear to have made a terrible mistake.
I’d purified the rune that was responsible for filtering when the ring activated.
At the moment, that meant that it would activate if anyone gave me a verbal command. I could fix that eventually, but it would require making permanent modifications to the ring.
My previous command to ignore Saffron was still at work. The end result was that a surge of pain flooded through my body as the commands conflicted. I wasn’t ready for it like I had been when I’d activated the ring in the first place, and I ended up falling backward in surprise.
Saffron stalked forward toward me. “I said now, boy.”
I fought to resist as the compulsion activated again. A few moments later, I would have failed.
Elora Theas appeared next to me and grabbed me by the arm.
I didn’t resist in the slightest.
She snapped her fingers, and then we were elsewhere.
***
We appeared right outside of Derek’s mansion.
Elora fell forward and vomited noisily. I managed to steady her enough that she didn’t fall into her own mess.
My own head was still swimming, but I was clearly in better shape than she was.
“Door.” Elora managed to say.
I grabbed the handle and pulled the door open.
By the time I turned back to her, Elora had fallen to the ground. Not in her mess, fortunately. But her eyes were closed.
I picked her up and shouted as I walked inside. “Derek! Keras! Help!”
I carried Elora inside, only managing a few steps before Derek came running down the stairs.
He was unarmed.
He looked like he’d just gotten out of bed, wearing nightclothes, a silver bracelet on his right wrist, and a crimson bracelet on the left. He was also wearing a necklace that looked vaguely familiar.
“Corin? What’s...?”
He took a moment to process what he was seeing. “I’ll take her.”
Derek ran over, gingerly slipping his arms under Elora and lifting her. “Close the door and tell me what happened.”
“Get Keras. Now.”
I ran back to the door, lifting the horizontal bar across it. This manor was built like a fortress, and the door was designed accordingly.
“Keras isn’t here right now. Why?”
A fist burst through the front door.
“Because there is a slim possibility we may have been followed by a Child of the Tyrant in Gold.”
Derek stared at the door. “Oh. Yeah, that’s bad.” Derek looked from side to side. “Take her somewhere safe.”
Elora groaned in his arms. “...No. Down.”
Derek set Elora down gently on the floor, then put his hand on the crimson bracelet. “Delsys, I summon you.”
A crimson-skinned figure appeared at his side, blazing winds whipping around him. Derek pointed at the back of the room. “Find Keras and bring him back here immediately.
The flame creature nodded, then seemed to condense as it shifted in form to a blazing bird and flew out straight through the rear wall, leaving a bird-shaped hole.
The door flew off its hinges.
Saffron stood in the doorway. “I do not like it when people leave me in the middle of a conversation.”
Derek took a step forward. “Sir, you’ve just broken my front door. I do not appreciate that.”
Saffron turned his gaze toward Derek. “I’m terribly sorry, I mean no offense. I just need to dismember those two a little bit, then I’ll fix your door...” He shook his head. “No, I probably won’t.”
Derek’s aura brightened to Emerald, and he put a hand on the silver bracelet. “Tavare, I sum—”
“Stop, Derek.” Elora grabbed his leg. She was still having trouble standing. “He absorbs magic. It works on summons.”
Absorbs?
I’d seen him make those monsters vanish, but I hadn’t understood what was happening.
Derek nodded. “Get yourself and Corin out of here. At least until you recover enough to help.”
Saffron took a step forward. “Those are my prey.” His eyes narrowed. “I did not give them permission to leave.”
Saffron vanished again.
When he reappeared, his fingers were an inch away from punching though the center of Elora’s chest.
Saffron’s expression was perplexed. He struggled to move further.
Derek had grabbed him around the wrist. “I think not.”
Then Derek slammed a fist into Saffron’s face.
The Child of the Tyrant fell backward with a bloody lip.
Saffron raised a hand, wiping away the blood with an already-filthy hand. “Now that...is interesting.”
“Derek. Be. Careful.” I managed. Then I ran for the stairs.
From the corner of my eye, I saw a fight that was little more than a blur.
It was immediately evident that I had never seen Derek use a fraction of his true strength.
When Derek flew past me and crashed into the stairwell, it became apparent that even his true strength might not be enough.
Derek was moving again in an instant.
And I was running again a moment later.
When I was on the second floor, I paused. What could I even do in a fight like this?
The first order of business was pulling off the Ring of Derek Controlling. I dropped it back into my bag, along with the stick. I’d look into modifying the ring later, but for the moment, it was a liability if anyone could command me to do anything.
If I wanted to escape, that seemed fairly simple. I could go to the roof, jump off, and use the ring of jumping to flee to safety.
But would that even work? This thing had followed us all the way here in moments.
It clearly had some kind of tracking and teleportation, not to mention movement that was so fast I couldn’t even perceive it.
How can I fight this thing?
I could get Selys-Lyann, but he absorbs magic. Selys-Lyann probably wouldn’t hurt him, if I could even land a hit at all.
Absorbing magic...
I ran toward Sera’s room instead of my own.
I found Ceris, the Song of Harmony, lying next to her bed.
Like deflects like.
Will it work?
I wasn’t sure, but I had to try.
I grabbed the sword and ran down the stairs.
Derek swung a fist at Saffron, but the Tyrant’s child stepped back and avoided the swing.
Blood was trailing down the right side of Derek’s face. His right eye was closed.
Saffron pointed at Derek. “I tire of this. Sit.”
Derek’s necklace flashed with sudden light. “Nah.”
Then Derek stepped in and slammed a fist into Saffron’s gut.
Saffron stumbled back, startled. “What? How?”
Derek didn’t slow down to explain, he just launched a hail of punches that sent the Tyrant’s child staggering back.
Meanwhile, I could see Elora on the opposite side of the room. There was a growing aura of mana around her hands, white mixed with crimson.
Saffro
n swept at Derek’s legs, but Derek hopped over it and kicked Saffron in the chest. The Tyrant’s child stumbled back, snarled, and then caught Derek’s arm on the next swing.
“This has been absolutely delightful. But I’m afraid you’re just not good enough.” Saffron shook his head. “A disappointment, really. I was hoping...”
Derek slammed his other fist into Saffron’s jaw, knocking the Tyrant’s child back a step.
Saffron just shook his head and kept talking. “...For a real challenge today. Like I used to have, before... Ah, it doesn’t matter.” A blur.
Derek flew backward, slamming into a stone wall.
Elora continued to focus, a swirling nimbus of light around her growing stronger with every moment.
I slowed as I went down the stairs.
Saffron turned his head toward me. “Oh, hello. You’re the one I was meaning to talk to later. But now I’m in a poor mood, so I think I’m just going to go ahead and kill you either way.”
Haste.
I wasn’t anywhere close to fast enough to hit him, even layering as much mana as I could throughout my body.
I didn’t try.
I just threw Ceris toward Derek as quickly as I could.
Saffron blurred and almost casually snatched the sword out of the air. “What’s...? Ah!”
He dropped the sword as his hand began to burn where he touched Ceris’ grip.
Then Derek slammed into his back and pressed him into the wall. “Now, hold still.”
Derek grabbed Saffron’s arms and pinned him against the stone.
I rushed for Ceris.
Elora’s hands glowed brighter, almost blinding to look at. I’d never seen that much mana collected into a single spell. Not even close.
“Elora, hit him now!”
“You’re in the way, idiot!”
“I know! Hit him through me!” Derek yelled.
Saffron laughed. “Are you joking? There’s no way—”
“You absolute idiot!” Elora pointed her right hand. “Fine! If you want to die here, die!”
Elora began to chant, mana emerging from her mouth.
“Burning bright with starry light,
Your strength and mine are one...”
Saffron’s struggles against Derek intensified, but Derek managed to keep him pressed against the wall. For the moment, at least.