Their desire to relish in the minor victory was short lived. A horrid sound pierced through air and building alike. A siren, so ear splitting rung throughout the city. The two covered their ears to muffle the deafening alarm. It was without a doubt the loudest thing either of them had ever heard, far worse than the screech of any dying animal.
“What in the hell was that?!” shouted Dedricus, completely unnerved by the siren.
“If that thief’s story is true…” Ari began, swallowing nervously, “That was the defense system activating.”
Chapter 20
“How did we trip the Gods damn defense system?!” shouted Dedricus, drawing his sword and shield, as Ari held the broken branch tight
“I don’t want to think it was me breaking the branch, but I’m going to go with the obvious answer and say it was me breaking the branch!” he shouted back, as they both began running away from the pillar and back towards the intersection.
Dedricus didn’t want to let the blame fall upon the Half-Elf and carried on regardless, leading their return to the main intersection. In truth, he was mostly worried about the many golems they had seen coming back to life.
The two carefully jogged away from the tree, trying to remain as defensive as possible while heading to their meeting point. They hadn’t made it far by the time three sentinels approached them. Runes were etched across their bodies, now lit with a scarlet glow.
The stone sentinels advanced on them, completely unfaltering. Dedricus smashed the first, hacking it at the head with his blade. There was seemingly no effect, with the guardian pressing onwards. It swung out, causing him to pull his weapon free from the golem’s head and dodge back.
Placing one foot forward, making a feign step, he drove his weapon into the center of the sentinel’s chest. Much to his surprise, the golem deactivated and fell apart. As one neared Ari, he swirled his hands at his right side and thrust a large cone of rock. The spell struck the creature in the chest, destroying it and knocking it to the ground.
The final sentinel approached the blade ready young man, who raised his shield in anticipation of a strike. Bashing both fists on his barrier, he thrust his weapon deep into the golem’s core. It sparked with purple energy before falling apart. While he prefered to hold back a bit when fighting living things, defeating the unliving golems was easy for him.
“No time to stop. Let’s keep going.” said Dedricus, driving the retreat.
Ari nodded and chased after him. Hacking through several more sentries, the two of them made their way down the main street of Droja. The golems seemed to be coming from nowhere, with numbers only increasing.
Up ahead, they could see the intersection. Dedricus forced himself into a full sprint, worried about Kasyra. She did have her magic, but he couldn’t know for sure.
An explosion shook the city. It had come from the direction he and Ari were headed, by the meeting point. They only ran faster trying to meet up with their friend. Throwing themselves over some rubble that masked the intersection itself, both were taken aback by the sight.
Atop a pile of crumpled golems, stood Kasyra. She tossed one of their heads down to Ari, who caught it with both hands. The Elf was completely dumbfounded by her conquest over them..
“What?”
“How?”
“Uh, my dagger?” she said, performing her signature wave of the tiny weapon.
“Whatever.”
Bits of fallen sentinel that Kasyra had strewn across the road crunched under their boots. Dedricus led the retreat towards the greenhouse-like structure. Golems continued to flood from various alleys and backways, only to be mowed down. Striking and stabbing precisely, they fell easily to his momentum.
Another deafening alarm sounded. As the horrid beeping ceased, a cacophony of scraping stone and metal began closing in. It was unclear how many golems were on their heel. They tried to hurry, escaping any confrontation that they could.
Hitting a corner, the group turned to find five more sentinels approaching them. They seemed a bit larger than the hoards they had fought and were covered in glowing green runes. Ari, taking advantage of the space between them, knelt and placed one hand on the ground.
Thick roots burst from the below street binding some of the sentinels, gripping them in place. Dedricus charged shield first into the closest gollum. He bashed the sentinel back, knocking it loose of the Half-Elf’s embracing vines to the ground. He leapt up, attempting to bring his blade down on the golem’s head. It jerked forward, causing him to flinch a bit.
Before the sentinel could rise, Ari immobilized it with roots. Dedricus planted a firm boot on its chest and thrust his sword into the center of the golem’s chest. These seemed to be more difficult to kill than the others, fighting with much more resilience.
Taking no chances, Kasyra rushed ahead and thrust her dagger into one of the golem’s chest. The others, however, broke free and charged to Dedricus. With a savage arc of his shield, he forced all three back.
Trying to make use of his Magic, he conjured a bolt of necrotic energy aimed at one’s chest. The decay only broke upon the stone creation’s front. With a nervous laugh, he raised his shield, and left the offensive work to Ari.
As dire as the situation was, he couldn’t help but feel a sudden surge of frustration. It bothered him, being surrounded by magic-users, one who was hiding her powers, while his own abilities were so limited. Heat arose throughout his body not out of anger, but out of jealousy - jealousy bred from his own magical inadequacies.
Trying to put it aside, he kept up the defense for his friends. Despite more sentinels attacking, his shield would not fall. From behind him, roots and vines flew free from Ari’s hands as Kasyra made quick stabs. To the mercenary's surprise, she was damn good with the dagger they endlessly joked about. In the wake of the cataclysmic attacks, nothing remained aside from an empty street littered with the broken golem bodies.
A pervasive silence set in. All the scraping noises, the mobilization of sentinel units, had stopped. Once more, an alarm rang out. This one was much lower than the others before it, giving a horrid echo as it finished. What sounded like a very loud ignition came from behind the group, followed by a crackling noise approaching.
Dedricus turned to see two runed stones, floating three feet in the air, oscillating towards them very quickly. They were on either side of the street, tethered by some sort of purple energy. The current was violent, crackling and hissing, as the two runes carried it down the road. He panicked and began shoving everyone forward, giving them no time to even see what was happening.
“What’s going on?” asked Kasyra, as the young man was still shoving everyone.
“Just move!” he shouted back.
The buzz of the laser grew louder as they tried to run, not being able to fully outrun it. While running, Dedricus’ foot was caught upon a broken stone in the street. He tripped, taking everyone down with him. The group all shouted in unison, fearful of the amethyst ray that soon followed. The heat simply glided over them.
Poking his head up, the mercenary could see the beam carry on down the road. The two runes kept going, until they were no longer in view. Kasyra felt back for her hood, realizing it had been completely burnt off by the energy.
“That was close.”
“And kind of easy. Don't count that as a win just yet.” the young woman snapped back.
From one of the alleyways, they could hear another beam racing towards them. They narrowly evaded it as it tore across the street. That one seemed considerably faster and larger than the last.
They hurried forward, only to meet the beam from earlier. It was stopped, but lurched forward as they approached it. It shot down the road, screaming towards them. All three dropped to the floor and pressed all their weight down, causing it to just narrowly pass overhead. Throwing themselves back up, they ran even faster, avoiding the ambushes set up by the defense system.
Just steps away from the glass building, they were dropped by a blocka
de of planar beams. One was stretched across the road, while the other occupied the space between a nearby building. In the near distance, a floating violet beam was in pursuit of them.
The only option available for the group was to turn back and try to see if the space between a nearby building had a sewer entrance. It was a long shot, but no beam guarded earlier and it was the only change they had. Rearing back they head down the darkened path, hoping to find salvation. Nothing, then the dreaded sound.
Down by the entrance of the alley, two runes lift up from the street and connected between a purple beam with a loud buzz as a false wall rose up to block their escape. Even dropping under the beam wouldn’t save them.
As the group was cornered by the approaching Planar defense system, Kasyra unveiled her last resort. Taking a firm stance, with one leg stretched forward and the other to the side, she thrust her left hand downward and rose her right arm, as if she were wielding a shield. The action created a large dome of pure light energy around them.
The young woman persisted as she kept the protective barrier around herself and her friends. The destructive violet rays of energy rushed towards them, causing her to focus on her breathing. The intense collision rattle the barrier.
The two fought, with the beam trying to cut through dome with all its force. Sparks of unstable magical energy flew from where the two forces met. The hissing wore at Kasyra, whose face twitched as she continued fighting to keep up the defense. A broken window from a nearby building led several golems to crash down onto the barrier. They appeared to be immune to the beam’s cutting powers, as their stone bodies were not affected by the purple energy.
A large crack appeared in the dome, where it met with the Planar beam. The crack raced upwards, towards the top of the barrier. Unsure of whether or not she could keep it up, Kasyra peered back to her terrified friends, the two huddled together in fear.
Even though more cracks appeared along the front of the dome, the young woman was not ready to surrender. Roaring back, and pushing with a newfound resolve, she held firm. Dedricus found it to be both fascinating and terrifying, the extent of her powers. The sentries atop the dome began hammering it, adding further damage.
He was completely unsure of how much longer she could keep it up. Beads of sweat dripped down her face, straining to fight, but not giving up for a second. He could see tears welling in her eyes as more cracks attacked their sanctuary. Holding it any longer seemed impossible. All that stood between a horrible death and safety, was her.
Finally, the dome exploded. It unleashed an intense shockwave out in every direction. The force was so great, Dedricus and Ari were thrown back against the wall of the alley. Both had the wind knocked out of them, but were mostly okay.
Fragmented pieces of sentinels rained down around the group, as the ones climbing over the barrier had been utterly destroyed. At the center of the shockwave was Kasyra, who had collapsed to the floor. Her body was limp but she didn't appear to be injured. In the explosion, she had knocked away the false wall.
The mercenary clawed his way over to her, picking her up and resting her head in his lap. His lower lip quivered in fear, as she was unresponsive, thinking her dead. He stroked the top of her head, hoping for a miracle from the Gods.
“Stop being weird. Let’s just get out of here… I’m ready to go home.” she said feebly and without opening her eyes.
Dedricus broke down, light tears running down his cheeks. He lift her up and held her in a tight embrace. He decided there, as he held Kasyra, that when they got back to Boranath, he'd take his chances. Another loud beep sounded, before giving way and powering down. Ari looked hopeful that the defense system had deactivated, signalling their chance to leave.
Chapter 21
The walk back towards the plains was filled with nothing but silence. It was no secret that the revelation of Kasyra's powers frustrated Ari, who walked with an angered huff. He was right to be upset, but decided to let the quiet fester among them. The evening was creeping up on them shortly and they’d have to rest for the night.
Upon finding a sheltered spot under a stoney ridge, the Half-Elf threw down his Core Tree branch and travel bag, and sat on a rock away from his companions. Dedricus took to starting a fire, using a collection of dried sticks they found along the way, and cooking an early dinner.
Kasyra already knew why he was so angry. The mercenary did too, but decided staying out of it was for the best. It was very strange to see the two of them having their first major fight. He ignored it and focused on his cooking.
“I didn't mean to keep it a secret from you.” she said in her lightest tone, approaching the Elf from behind.
“Then why didn't you tell me sooner?”
The young woman defended herself by claiming her powers as a liability. They were volatile and destructive, giving her little control over them. This was only proven true by how Dedricus and Ari were knocked away when the barrier exploded. She explained how, even in Amberbrook, using her radiant magic would have caused a scene.
“So, Ravious’ guards in Relothra? The sentry units in Droja? The whole time it was your magic, not your ‘dagger’ you love referring to?”
“Yes. It’s powerful and I don’t like using it.”
“Well… None of that explains why you hid it from me.”
“Only a handful of people know about it. If it weren't for me having to save Dedricus, he wouldn't know either.”
“So you knew, huh?” asked Ari, turning to the mercenary.
He nod his head in response. He wouldn't lie to his friend. Sparing no detail, he told what he knew about Kasyra’s powers.
“I could have helped you!” the Elf chastised, pointing a firm finger at her.
“Helped me with what? It's been fifteen years and no one has been able to help me! The College of Magic could barely help me! What makes you so much better?”
“You never gave me the chance to.”
“Sometimes, you just know how it’s going to end. You know nothing about Light Magic, don’t you!”
“Nothing a little research couldn’t have revealed!” he retorted, crossing his arms and pressing his thin brows together.
“And I was right.”
Dedricus retreated to silence as the two tore at their throats, spewing words neither one meant. The Elf was mildly justified in his anger, but was trying far too hard to prove he could have assisted Kasyra in any way at all. To her, it was silly that he argued for potential knowledge on something she had hunted for her whole life. Perhaps he was caught up in pride for his research.
As they continued at it, the mercenary made dinner. Ari had found a growth of puffball mushrooms earlier and thought it an easy dinner for the group. He cooked it in a pan, over the fire, with carrots and onions.
The food sizzling in the pan took his mind off the verbal exchange. While things typically boiled down to being his fault, he was happy to be out of the crossfire for once in his life. It was almost tragic, however, as the fallout of Kasyra and Ari’s fight would be the hot topic and not such a fine dinner.
“How could I not be upset? My only two friends left in this miserable dust bowl hide something, as big as that, from me!” exclaimed Ari, seemingly backed into a corner by the argument.
“Maybe if I knew this wouldn’t be your exact reaction, I’d have said something sooner!”
Having heard enough, Dedricus stood up and shouted, “Stop it! Both of you!”
Ari seemed ready to give in, while Kasyra was in no mood to back off. The mercenary figured he’d throw in his opinion, hoping to remedy the situation and provide them both a dinner to get over it all. He offered them the chance to speak, one at a time.
“Kasyra, tell Ari what the problem is.” ushered Dedricus, giving her the opportunity to convey her frustration to the Half-Elf.
“I just wish he could accept the fact that I was uncomfortable sharing my secret. Instead, he just decided to go off thinking he could fix any of my problems.” she said
with an aggressive tone.
He nodded and turned his hand to Ari, who was skeptical to speak. He began with a heavy sigh.
“She’s my friend. We’re all friends. I’d do just as much to help her as you would. It's kind of painful to see her thinking there’s just nothing I can do at all. We could take it on together. That’s all I’m trying to say.”
The mercenary passed his gaze to both, only to get a pair of irate glares. Despite both surrendering and taking their places by the fire, they refused to speak. Dinner was completed by sprinkling salt and pepper over the pan. He retrieved three tin plates from his bag and began scooping the mushrooms and carrots onto them.
Passing the plates around, Dedricus looked down at what he had made. The puffball mushrooms had deflated and the carrots were shriveled. It wasn’t glamorous and it really made him miss his kitchen. He’d be back soon enough.
Even then, Ari got his Core Tree seeds from Droja. It was all a shot in the dark and proved to be a worthy venture. The mercenary would be lying if he said he didn’t care at this point. He cared deeply and was excited to see what was in store for them. With a slight smile, he jabbed his fork into one of the mushrooms.
“You blow my mind with your cooking!” Kasyra laughed after swallowing a bite of her food.
“Oh?” Dedricus asked in response.
“Even out here, in the middle of nowhere, you can make mushrooms taste decent enough.”
“It’s literally just salt and pepper.”
“My ‘just salt and pepper’ tastes like crap. You really can cook.” the Elf added.
The mercenary smiled at his friends, who both admired his cooking skills. While Kasyra was one to shower praise, it was tough to get a positive comment out of Ari. It felt good to hear such things from the two of them.
The Sufferer's Chronicle - Book 1: The Soul Prison Page 10