by Dixon, TJ
“You watch it! You almost hit me!”
“Did I get it?” Rin asks.
“Yes, it is definitely dead. Can you melt your ice though so we can continue?”
“Done.” Rin says and I realise she started the moment I said it was dead. “Don’t forget to scoop up some of the remains to prove we killed it. You can use this bag because I don’t want to put it directly into my special bag.”
“This is really gross. Maybe this is why the bounty was so high.” I joke.
“You’d have to be damn strong or damn stupid to do this on your own though. One wrong move and it would be over.” Rin reminds me.
“I know. I was just joking.” I say.
“It’s hard to tell with you.” Rin says darkly. “Harder even than it is for you to tell with me.” I get the distinct impression she carries a grudge because I said that it was hard to tell when she was joking at some point, but I don’t remember when.
“Ok. Sorry. I’ve got it all. Could you put this bag in your special bag now?”
“Is it done up tight?”
“Yes.”
“If it leaks you will be sorry.”
“It shouldn’t leak.”
“It better not!” Rin says. “It’s in. Let’s continue.”
We crawl for a long way before reaching the next foe. It is almost on us when I sense it. There is no smell but it goes cold and glistens just a few feet ahead.
“Jenny fire now!” I call and try to summon a flame of my own, but Jenny is quick and the enemy is melted before I can finish summoning my flame. I cancel my magic and call back, “That’s enough.” I put what is left of this one in a different bag that Rin hands me. It feels just as disgusting as the last one.
After a few more minutes we reach the end of the tunnel and enter a small cavern. At first I think it is a dead end but then I feel air rising and quickly find a small hole in the floor. Below us I can sense something similar to lightning. It must be another of these monsters.
“This one must be vulnerable to earth.” I say and Yu Kii nods in agreement. “Can you get it from here?”
“No. It’s too far and I can’t sense it well enough.” Yu Kii tells me apologetically.
“How about if I use flight magic to lower both of us down there slowly? You’ll need to be ready to attack the moment you are able to because there is no telling how quickly it can attack us. If it attacks before you do I’ll port us both back up here.” I say.
“That should work. You had best be ready to port quickly though. I can port more accurately than I used to but I’m still not very quick. There’s no way I’ll be able to get us out of there in time.” Yu Kii tells me.
“Sure. Ready?” I ask.
“Yes.” Yu Kii answers tensely and everyone is looking on nervously. I slowly lower us both and keep my senses at their sharpest. After an eternity that is probably more like a minute or so Yu Kii starts chanting. It is unusual for her to chant but it allows her to use her sense purely for targeting instead of using it to help channel her magic. This increases her range to the maximum.
I sense the monster dying before I sense her magic. Since it is an air based monster and her attack is earth based I am not surprised. I port back up and then quickly lower us all down before any other monsters can arrive. As it happens even when we reach the bottom there are none near enough for us to sense. There is plenty of room for us all to stand but no apparent exit.
“You can gather this one up.” I say to Rin.
“Why me?” Rin complains.
“I did the last ones. Now it’s your turn.” I say firmly.
“Why not Jenny, or Hermes?” Rin tries desperately to escape this yucky duty. Both Jenny and Hermes take a quick step backwards.
“No complaining Rin.” I say shaking my head.
“Yu Kii?” Rin asks desperately.
“Sorry!” Yu Kii says and bows deeply whilst stepping back further.
“Traitor.” Rin says lightly, before getting down on her knees and gathering up the disgusting gooey remains. As she does so I try to sense an exit to the cavern we are in.
“It’s over there.” Yu Kii says and after a moment I can sense a slight flow of air coming from the wall but it is so slight I am concerned whether the hole is big enough. Sure enough it is too small to even crawl through but I can see the exit with a little help from Jenny’s magic. There don’t seem to be any enemies so I quickly port to the other end and find it is as empty as it seems but there is another tunnel that is tall enough for us to walk upright. It is still only wide enough for us to walk single file again but it is better than crawling.
“It’s safe to port here!” I call back and everyone ports to me. We walk in the same formation as when we crawled through the first tunnel. I can feel Rin’s glare on the back of my head. “You only had to do one.”
“So you’ll get someone else to do the next one?” Rin asks.
“Sure. Since we’re single file again it may well be me.” I say a little sadly.
“The next one where you have a choice.” Rin complains.
“Yes, yes. I’ll get Yu Kii to do the next one where there’s a choice.” I say.
“Ugh.” Yu Kii says.
“Ice attack now!” I shout sensing an enemy way too close for comfort. I feel the slimy substance touch my arm and I cry out in agony as my arm starts to burn. Then my arm is frozen along with the enemy. I fall to my knees but Rin quickly melts the ice and pours a healing ointment on my arm.
“Tell me sooner.” Rin complains.
“Sorry. Flame really isn’t my element.” I say wincing as the ointment stings. After a moment my arm feels much better.
“Sorry!” Jenny says. “I didn’t sense it either until it was right on top of us.”
“Don’t worry. Let’s continue.” I say.
“Are you sure you’re OK?” Rin asks
“Of course, your ointment did the trick.” I say and sharpen my senses. Walking on I sense enemies ahead. There must be a lot of them and not just one type. I hope this is their nest because if it is then we might have finished the job soon.
“What is it?” Rin asks as I stop.
“Lots of enemies. Possibly all four types. This could get really dangerous.”
“So what’s the plan?”
“I’ll lure them out with lightning and they should hopefully have to attack one at a time down this tunnel. That way we can focus the right attack on the enemy. Is everyone ready?”
“Yes.” Everyone nervously agrees. I close my eyes and strike the nearest enemy, an earth based one, with my lightning. Then all hell breaks loose. Rather than one at a time they are coming two at a time and we have to co-ordinate our attacks carefully, but quickly.
“Fire, earth! Ice, earth! Ice!” I shout calling out the attacks to use and striking with lightning when it is my element that is needed. Everyone is reacting as quickly as I had hoped. “Fire! Ice!” I call in quick succession as using both at the same time would only cancel each other’s attacks. I’m not counting but it continues for a while until finally the enemy stops coming. My own power is almost gone so I am relieved that they stopped before I ran out of power completely.
“Is that it?” Rin asks nervously.
“I think so but we had best keep our senses up and be ready to react in case there are more.” I say and lead the way slowly into the cavern. It is large but not as much as I expected. The bones on the floor shock me most. Some are probably animal bones but others are most likely from humans.
“Over here!” Yu Kii calls urgently. I run the few feet to her side and see what she has seen. There is a fire based monster but it is in the process of eating what I assume is a girl. I can only see her pale face with dead looking pale blue eyes and dark brown hair in twin braids but they certainly appear female. She is unconscious and looks dead but I sense life in her. I can’t see through the monster’s fiery goo so I have no idea how badly injured the girl is.
“Rin!” I say needlessly
as Rin starts to carefully use her magic. The monster unable to move with the girl inside it is helpless. Rin’s magic quickly kills it and we all gasp as we see the poor girl’s legs and arms are almost completely gone. She is wearing an academy uniform which has protected her upper body from the worst of it but has holes in places. The only blessing is that the goo from the monster has sealed her wounds preventing her from bleeding to death.
“Lucy?” Rin asks.
Lucy shakes her head and says. “It’s impossible for me in my current form. Did your mother make the potion with that Lady Hood?”
“Of course!” Rin says and grabs a vial from her bag. She drops a single drop into the girl’s mouth and her wounds start to fade but the difference is only slight. Rin pours more slowly into her mouth and I watch as her legs and arms are gradually restored. There are still a couple of drops left when the girl’s legs and arms are completely restored. She is still asleep.
“Does anyone know her?” I ask but everyone shakes their heads. “Rin could you port her back to your home and have your mother check that she’s OK? We’ll meet you there after we hand in the remains for the bounty.”
“Sure. You’ll need my bag, but don’t you dare put any directly in it. The bags you need are here.” Rin says showing me and handing me the pleasant job of collecting the remains! Rin then ports with the girl, who I hope is OK. She appears healed but those were some serious injuries and there is no telling what unseen injuries she may have had.
Everyone else helps me collect the remains and then we port back to the town hall. The woman who inspects the remains shares our distaste so is very quick. Yu Kii takes Rin’s share to hand to her later. We port to Rin’s home and see the girl is awake now. She is crying and hugging Rin. Rin looks clearly embarrassed but under the circumstances doesn’t try to stop the girl. In fact Rin is gently stroking her hair to try to soothe her.
“Hello.” The girl says awkwardly when she notices us.
“Hello.” I say back awkwardly. The others do the same.
“These are my comrades who helped save you.” Rin says softly trying to calm her. A moment passes and I am unable to think what to say or do. She is holding back her tears now but only just. Rin is the first one to break the silence. “My name’s Rin. This is Peter, Yu Kii, Hermes, Jenny and the mini one is Lucy. What’s your name?”
“Emma.” She replies with a sniffle.
Rin takes a deep breath and then says, “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to but what were you doing down there?”
“Bounty hunting.” She says and sniffs again.
Rin looks confused and says, “But there was nobody else registered for the bounty.”
“You were already registered, but I needed the money. I heard you had to ask for directions so I figured I could beat you to the bounty by porting straight there.”
“It’s a very difficult bounty for just one person.” Rin says. “Why didn’t you try an easier one?”
“It was the only one I figured I could do in time that would pay enough.”
“What did you need the money for?”
“Healing potions for my mother. She needs one each day. It’s the green type so it costs lots. I was almost out of money. If she doesn’t get one she’ll die.” Emma says and this time breaks back down into tears.
“If it’s the green type then my mother can make it if we can get the herbs we need. We have the goblin blood already. A certain idiot took out an army of them single handed.” She says and glares at me for a moment before returning her gaze gently to Emma.
“How much do you need for it?” Emma asks cautiously.
“You need it every day?” Rin asks.
“Yes.” Emma replies sadly.
“Has she had today’s yet?”
“Yes.”
“What year are you in when the new term starts?”
“Year two.”
“We’ll do it free for as long as she needs it, if you join our group and Peter’s company that he’ll be forming on graduation.”
Emma’s eyes go wide. “You’d really do that?”
“Yes.”
“What do I have to do in this group?”
“We train together, go on bounty hunts together and gather materials for my mother. As a group it’s much safer than going on bounty hunts alone. As a company of course we will be part of the military but an independent company is much safer than a regular company.”
“I’ll do it.” Emma says smiling for the first time. She still has tear stains but smiling instead of crying she looks much prettier, and I am relieved. Rin even got us a new member.
“You’ll need to sign a contract.” Rin says and the girl nods.
“Of course.” She says. I’ve never asked anyone to sign one but it may not be a bad idea.
“My mother will prepare the contract and get you to sign it whilst we gather the herbs we need for the potion. Wait here a moment whilst I get her.” Rin says and leaves. It’s a little awkward. She looks down to avoid our gaze and we don’t really know what to say any more than she does. I am relieved when Rin returns with her mother. Rin ports us and we are in a forest that looks familiar.
“That’s the academy over there.” Rin says and I realise where we are.
“Oh. This isn’t far from where those goblins were.”
“Just because your idiocy came in handy don’t expect me to get all happy that you fought an army without us.” Rin says with a glare and I decide not to mention the goblins again. “We are here for herbs this time. It shouldn’t be dangerous but you never know. There could be students here up to no good, or there could be stray monsters. They seem to have been turning up more and more in places they shouldn’t.”
It turns out it really isn’t dangerous but it takes ages to find just a few. I am worried how we will find enough to make the potion every day so I ask. “Is there anywhere we can get them easier?”
“No, but if we can find the seeds then we can grow them ourselves. Hermes take these back to my mother so she can start on the potion. We will continue searching for more, and the seeds.” Rin says. Hermes is only gone a minute. We are searching until it gets dark, and then continue with some help from Jenny’s light.
It is late when Rin exclaims, “This is them!” She is holding a large handful of seeds. I breathe a sigh of relief but suddenly go tense as I sense something close and above us. It resonates with an evil power that scares the hell out of me.
“Everyone port back now!” I whisper urgently and wait to port until everyone is gone. A shield would only attract attention. Against this evil power I know instinctually, without knowing why, that it would be useless. I am about to port when something sharp pierces the back of my shoulder. I port anyway but the pain is intense.
“What was it?” Rin asks calmly but then senses something is wrong and I can sense the panic in her eyes. Suddenly everything goes black and I feel the floor hit me. I hear gasps above me and feel something painfully tugged out of me using magic. Something cold but soothing is applied to the wound. I can hear voices but not the words and even they are fading fast.
I hear a dark evil voice whisper in my ear. It isn’t words exactly but it somehow conveys thoughts of pain and suffering. I then see images of my friend’s bodies twisted and thrown about like pieces of wood. Then I do hear words. “Welcome to Hell.”
Chapter 16 (Multiple)
(Lucy)
Peter tells us to port so I dive onto Hermes shoulder as she is closest. Just before Hermes ports us I sense what Peter obviously sensed. The sheer stench of evil makes me shiver but somehow it seems familiar. I am glad to be away from it as Hermes ports.
Peter ports in front of me but the moment I see him I know something is wrong with Peter. I can feel something evil in him. It is the same stench but much weaker. Rin doesn’t seem to realise it as she asks him what he sensed.
I watch helplessly as Peter falls to the floor. My healing power would only strengthen the thin
g inside him. Rin uses magic to pull out what looks like a shrivelled black feather and applies an ointment to stop the bleeding.
“Jenny! Burn it!” I call out urgently realising what it is. It lunges out of Rin’s control towards Rin’s heart but Jenny is quicker and it is ash.
“What was it?” Rin asks me desperately.
“A Death Bird.” I say grimly and Rin bursts into tears. It is clear Hermes and Jenny are also on the verge of tears. Rin’s mother looks grim and shakes her head when Rin looks to her. Emma is clearly in shock even though she has only just met Peter. He was trying to help her when this happened.
“What’s a Death Bird?” Yu Kii asks confused but clearly sensing the seriousness of the situation.
“It’s a creature created by the Fallen Angels. It eats souls and magic. Even those who survive are driven insane. Healing power just strengthens it.”
“Then how do we save Peter?” Yu Kii asks me.
“…”
“There must be a way!” She says desperately and then I recall something from over ten thousand years ago.
“There was once but I don’t know if it still exists. It was a very long time ago.”
“How?” She asks and everyone else is staring at me like I’ve gone mad, but surely praying that I know what I’m talking about.
“Hermes. Port me to my mother’s home immediately.”
“Um, OK.” She says and does so.
“Fetch Lady Fillia immediately.” I order the guard and this time she recognises me and obeys.
“Lucy?” My mother asks realising something is wrong.
“Is the Oracle of the Thousand Seas still alive?”
“No. She was killed over three thousand years ago now. You should know that.”
“Is there anyone else who knows how to soul dive?”
“What happened?” My mother asks fearfully.
“Death Bird.”
“Give up.”
“No.”
“Where was this Death Bird?”
“The forest of the academy.”
“Then the fallen angels are close to making their move. Are you willing to give up immortality for this boy? To risk your life and the fate of Contractia too?”