by Eric Vall
Gawain still said nothing, and the longer he remained silent without making a move, the antsier I got. I didn’t want this to become a problem.
“Oi, I’m sure I’ve seen him somewhere before, Jimmy,” Frankie insisted, still looking over Gawain as though he were a modern marvel.
“Yeah, right.” Jimmy chuckled and smacked Frankie in the back of the head. “You can’t even remember where you put your damn keys every night, but you think you know who this little bee sting is?”
Jimmy looked over to me, then, but before he could get out anything, Frankie clapped his hands together and startled him.
“I know who you are!” He pointed at Gawain, who smirked. “You’re a Madox!”
The color in Jimmy’s face drained as he turned to face Gawain again. The longer he looked at Gawain, the more the realization that his pal was right settled in his features, and oh, was it glorious to see him flounder after making an ass of himself.
“A-A Madox,” he repeated to Frankie. “So sorry, sir.”
Immediately, Jimmy rushed to the lever to open the gate. The gate made an awful sound as the mechanism that pulled it up creaked and then chains rattled.
Frankie gawked at Gawain, and had it been any other situation, I would have felt nauseous. As it were, I thought it was hysterical these guards seemed to worship the ground Gawain’s family walked on, and I bit my lip to keep from outwardly laughing.
When Jimmy returned, out of breath from cranking the wheel so hard, he saluted Gawain and me.
“You and your partner are free to pass, Mr. Madox,” he told us, and Gawain simply looked ahead and began his trot with Holly. I waved to the guards and followed after on Eva, and we were off into the dawn as the sun began to crest over the Wilds.
“You really have some pull,” I commented as we rode side by side.
“Sometimes being me has its perks,” Gawain added, but the small smirk on his face didn’t quite reach the rest of his features.
“What about other times?” I pried. I didn’t think he’d tell me anything, but it was going to be a long, boring ride without some kind of conversation.
Gawain considered the question and then sighed. “It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. It’s just a name. I’m proud of it, but the rivalry between my family and the Keneficks adds a bad connotation to it.”
I balked, stunned Gawain had offered any information at all, much less something that deep.
“I thought the marriage between your brother and Nia’s sister was supposed to appease all of that.” I tilted my head curiously.
“It was supposed to, but our fathers are still very much at odds, especially with, well, you know.” Gawain shook his head.
Had he implied I had made things worse by defeating him in the duel earlier that year?
To be honest, I hadn’t considered that at all. I wouldn’t take it back, of course. It was a victory I was proud of, but it also made me a little sad to know his loss had been such a huge disappointment to his family that there was now an added resentment between him and his father. I wasn’t in the business of breaking up families.
“I’m sorry, Gawain,” I apologized, but I didn’t really know what I was apologizing for.
Gawain shook his head. “It’s a Madox problem. Best not concern yourself with my family affairs. It’ll only get you into trouble.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but I wasn’t sure I really wanted to know anyway. In any case, I was just glad he had started to open up to me, at least a little.
“So, where are we headed?” I asked to change the subject. I didn’t want him to dwell on the negative for too long.
“Tietra,” he confirmed. “According to the map and the mission files, it’s a little village to the west of Bathi Highlands, near the mountains, but close to a small river.”
I nodded, but I’d never heard of Tietra before.
“Did you read any of the files about it?” Gawain asked.
Sheepishly, I laughed. “No, not really.”
Gawain rolled his eyes, and I was suddenly reminded of how Nia would have done the same thing had she found out I’d been out drinking instead of going over my mission files. In hindsight, I should have gone over the file. It was my first mission that wasn’t part of the monster response squad. I didn’t want to mess it up.
“Tietra is hailed as one of the remaining villages that has an ancient library,” Gawain noted. “I guess it would make sense as to why the Headmaster would send us there, especially if he has a scholarly acquaintance there.”
I shook my head. “I’m sorry, but what is an ancient library? The way you said that makes me think it isn’t just a really old place with books.”
“You can’t be serious,” Gawain said as he stared at me incredulously.
I gave him a deadpan look, and he sighed heavily and muttered something about ‘having to teach me everything,’ I let it slide though in favor of learning more about this library thing.
“There are four libraries that are said to contain some of the original world’s history,” he began. “Two of them have supposedly been lost to time, but Tietra holds one of the remainders. There are rumors people have seen the others, but once they’ve been found, no one has been able to find them again. Probably sealed by magic of some kind.”
I hung on his every word. Secret libraries? Hidden lore about the world before there were monsters roaming about? It seemed too good to be true, and I wanted to know as much as I could about all of it.
“That’s amazing!” I exclaimed, and Eva whinnied as I bounced in the saddle. She didn’t like that, I guessed.
“Amazing indeed!” a voice called from behind Gawain and me.
We both turned and came to a stop on our horses when we realized we were being tailed. I immediately had my hand on a crystal, ready to battle if need be, and Gawain put his hand on his gun.
A big man I didn’t recognize at first rode up behind us, followed by a group of similarly dressed folks. From the looks of it, they were simple bandits, and probably not very good ones. There was only one who was dressed differently from the striped garb the others wore.
The girl was pale, and there were strands of short silver hair that hung in her red eyes. She was donned in mostly purple, with a tight corset top and a short pair of shorts that left little to the imagination. She was cute, to say the least, but she was trouble. She just had that look about her, and she flashed us a devilish grin.
“I think you have somethin’ of mine,” the big guy said to me, and he held out his hand. “Give it back.”
I blinked, confused. “You’re wasted, friend. I have nothing of yours.”
The big guy roared, and the others started to hoot and holler. He lowered a look on me that sent an odd shiver down my spine. Now that he mentioned it, the longer I looked at him, the more he did look familiar.
Then it clicked. He was the guy from the tavern where Varleth and I had stolen the tablet, and in that case, I very much had something he wanted back, and he was apparently ready to use force if he needed to.
When the realization dawned on my face, Gawain side-eyed me and begin to push his mana through the gun at his hip. “Friend of yours?”
“Something like that,” I answered through my gritted teeth.
“So, you do remember me,” the big guy cackled. “I’m so flattered!”
“What do you want?” I asked, but I already knew the answer. I just needed to stall for some time until Gawain was ready.
“You know what I came here for,” the big guy replied. “Give me back that tablet, and I might consider letting you get away with only one missing limb instead of two.”
“Wow, that’s super generous of you!” I mocked. “But as you can see, we don’t have it.”
The big guy laughed, the kind of laugh that was tacky, almost forced, but completely serious. “Don’t lie to me, mage. I know what you are, and I know you have the tablet.”
I narrowed my eyes, then looked back to Gawa
in, who nodded. He was ready.
“You know, you’re right. I do know who you are, what you want, and yes, we do have it. The question is, how far are you willing to go to take it back from us?” I taunted.
The big guy grinned, and his little cronies all sniggered. It was unsettling. He rode his horse, all black, and charged us. He headed straight for me with the intent of spooking Eva, but even as finicky as she was, she held steadfast.
When the big guy was nearly on top of me, Gawain shot his gun, and the bullet blazed through the air with a fiery wrath. The big guy stopped short, but nothing happened. The only indication that gave me the idea something was off was a flash of purple, followed by the slightest shift in the wind.
Suddenly, the girl clad in purple was standing in front of the big guy, her arms outstretched in front of her and fists closed. When she opened them, Gawain’s bullet fell to the ground.
I gasped, absolutely blown away. Who the hell was this girl, and what kind of magic was that?
The big guy cackled. “Good thing we brought our own mage this time. Didn’t want a repeat of our last rendezvous.”
“Shit,” I swore under my breath. Gawain seemed to share a similar sentiment as the hand he gripped his gun in shook a little.
“What’s the matter, boys?” the girl asked. “I thought you wanted to play?”
The big guy backed off, and the rest of the cronies stood off to the side as well. It was just the three of us mages now. I hopped down from Eva, and Gawain followed suit with Holly. This was not how I had wanted our first mission to start out. So much for a good omen.
“Why are you in league with bandits?” I asked.
“What concern is it of yours?” she bit back. “All I need to know is you have something that doesn’t belong to you, and they want it back, so hand it over, and I’ll make your life a lot less difficult.”
Gawain snorted. “Sorry, but we’re not done using it.”
The girl giggled, though it was dry and falsely mirthless. “I know who you are, Gawain Madox, and you don’t scare me.”
I shot Gawain a glance. “How is it that your name precedes you everywhere?”
“Beats me.” Gawain shrugged. “I’ve never met with this particular flavor of trash before.”
“You should watch who you call trash, you slimy little insect!” the girl bristled, and suddenly the sky seemed a little darker, which was odd since the sun was still on the rise.
“Well, now you’ve pissed her off.” I sighed and put my hands on my hips. “So what is it you really want?” I asked her. “Clearly you’re trained in magic.”
The girl spat. “Yeah, I am. What does it matter? Just give me what I want.”
“Enough of this.” Gawain rolled his eyes and fired off another blazing shot, and again the girl caught it with the flash of purple lightning.
How did she keep doing that?
“It’s dark magic,” she explained almost as if she heard the question in my head. “It’s similar to a banisher, but not quite the same, either. I can manipulate light and dark, and I can use the darkness to drift in and out of seconds of time.”
“Whoa!” I exclaimed, and I nearly forgot I was supposed to be on my guard. “You can control time?”
“Didn’t you listen?” Gawain sighed. “She can create portals and transfer herself and other things from one place to another. It’s not time magic, but rather, it’s dabbling in the art of physics and matter.”
“Ooh, they do teach you a thing or two at that fancy school of yours,” she taunted.
“What’s your name?” I asked curiously.
“Really?” Gawain scoffed. “We’re about to fight her, and you want to ask her out on a date? How shallow are you?”
I shrugged. “I like to know the names of the people’s asses I’m kicking, especially if they’re pretty girls.”
“Penny,” she answered simply, “but don’t let the cutesy name fool you. I am the furthest thing from cute. You’ll learn that soon enough.”
Gawain and I both laughed a little at that.
“Well, Penny, it was lovely to meet you,” I started, “but I’m afraid our time is coming to a close.”
“Yes, it is a shame I’ll have to say goodbye so soon.” She mockingly wiped a tear from her eye. “Can’t say I’ll miss you, though. You’ve been nothing but trouble for me to track down with my magic, and frankly, I need the coins I was promised for retrieving that tablet, and the boys didn’t specify they wanted you alive.”
I smirked and then crashed a crystal to the ground. My wallerdon burst forth and roared to life. At the same time, Gawain clapped his hands, and they burst into flames which then shaped into long gouts, effectively fire swords that swirled and danced with brutally hot flames.
“No offense, but we’re not the type to take things easy just because you’re a girl.” I crossed my arms and watched as Gawain heaved a sigh.
“Oh, for the love of the Maker, can we fight already?” he whined.
Penny stifled a giggle into the back of her hand. “You two are a riot. Maybe I will miss you after all.” Then she balled her fists, and as she did, two dark orbs surrounded them. They pulsed, and I could feel the malice her magic was seeped in as the balls grew larger.
Without warning, the area around us turned pitch black. I couldn’t even see my hands in front of my face. The only light came from the twin fire blades that jutted from Gawain’s palms, and they flew about in a frenzy as he fended off … something. I couldn’t make out what it was, but it kept going at him. Over and over again, Gawain blocked, unable to make a move. I had to do something to help him.
I focused my energy and commanded my wallerdon to help, but I didn’t know what to do. No matter what I chose, I ran the risk of attacking Gawain, and being hit full force by a wallerdon was no fun. Well, I wouldn’t know first hand, but based on previous events, I could easily imagine it wasn’t a good time.
It was a risk I had to take. The wallerdon stomped through the darkness and closed in on Gawain. It only stopped when there was a shrill shriek that almost certainly belonged to Penny. Even Gawain was taken aback as the onslaught stopped.
Darkness continued to surround us, but there was nothing but the crackle of fire filling the air. It was quiet, too quiet. Suddenly, the darkness began to shift, and it created something like a suction as it spiraled around us. Wind whipped through my hair so hard that the strands stung my face. I shielded it the best I could, but I couldn’t lose my focus.
“What’s happening?” I screamed, but I didn’t receive a response. I caught a glimpse of my wallerdon, and it was then I noticed where Penny’s scream had come from.
Beneath the massive flat foot of my wallerdon was Penny’s leg, or rather, what was left of it. Blood pooled at the base, and there was bound to be nothing left of the bone. It was likely little more than dust anymore. I shuddered at the thought, and I felt a bit of remorse for the loss of her limb.
At least, I had until I realized what she was doing.
By the light of Gawain’s fire as he still stood dumbstruck beside Penny, I could see dregs of darkness swirling around the foot of my wallerdon. It started to creep up its thick, rocky hide and sink into the cracks, but that’s not all it was doing.
I recalled my monster before it could sustain too much damage and saw the real purpose of the darkness that surrounded Penny. She was rebuilding her leg. The darkness molded to her skin as though it had always been there. The structure wasn’t sound, it couldn’t have been, but she stood on it to test its durability. It moved as she did, but there was something off about it I couldn’t place my finger on.
“What did you do?” I asked her, shocked beyond belief.
“I did what anyone would do when a stupid summoner tries to flatten someone,” she spat, and she stepped through a portal into the darkness to appear right before me. “I created a new limb. Do you like it?”
Penny cackled, and it was maniacal. Her voice dripped with the kind of malice
that made my skin crawl and my stomach churn.
“You don’t?” she asked, and her lips were close to mine. “That’s a shame. I thought we had something special, stupid summoner.”
I reared my arm back and gripped the dagger at my hip. Before I could draw it, however, Penny’s arm shot forward and grabbed me by the throat. I coughed as I struggled to breathe.
“You really thought you could escape the darkness? That’s cute.” Penny’s words echoed in my ears, as though I could hear her from all directions. “Everyone has darkness inside of them, stupid summoner. You would do well to remember that.”
I unsheathed my blade and was immediately met with resistance. The dark magic that encompassed the area seemed to weigh the blade down. It was almost impossible to hold, much less use in battle.
Was the rhin reacting to the dark magic? If it was as Penny said, and the dark magic was similar to the power of a banisher, then that was very well possible. The rhin must have been able to sense the malice in the darkness. With that realization, I’d have to think of another way.
Unable to hold it any longer, the dagger tumbled from my grasp and landed on the ground beside me. I gasped for air and gulped in what I could.
What was Gawain doing? Why wasn’t he coming to help me?
I tried to call out to him, but my voice couldn’t reach. Hell, I wasn’t even sure if the words that came out of my mouth were words at all. Beyond Penny’s head, I could still see his flame swords, though they had started to dim.
Had she done something to him while I couldn’t see?
Penny snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Eyes on me, stupid summoner.” I turned my attention back to her. “Madox won’t be able to bother us now,” she cooed and squeezed my neck tighter.
I was lightheaded, and if the world wasn’t already dark around me, I was sure I’d be able to tell the edges of my vision had gone blurry.
There had to be a way out of this. Slowly, I inched my fingers around a small crystal and clutched it in my grasp. I crushed it with my hands, and immediately felt the slime of my speed slug. I surged my mana through it, and with a quick left hook, I slammed Penny in the face. She staggered back with a cry, and I took the chance while I caught my breath to properly attach the speed slug to the back of my neck. Its power ran through me, and I felt invincible despite having been on the brink of death only seconds ago.