by Andur
A wing of our attack crafts swarms the silver ship and the attacks from all directions start to show effect as the bullets get through and start causing damage. The silver ship starts to descend as explosions rock its insides.
That's the moment when Den points to our right. A huge silver ship is approaching fast from slightly above. Den pulls his communication device from his belt and starts to scream. “They intend to ram us! Dive! Dive! Now!”
82 - Overboard.
Norfolk, Northern Ocean
Ascathon
“They intend to ram us! Dive! Dive! Now!”
Our ship starts to tilt slightly, but there is no chance that the huge mass of the carrier can change its momentum in time. Everyone on deck runs for his life as the silver ship, which was coming from slightly above, starts to saw into the upper decks of my flagship as it passes by.
“My flagship!” Rage consumes me as I witness my beautiful work of art being messed up! I pour mana into my feet and leap. The jump carries me up to the hull of the enemy ship and I propel myself farther upward.
A guy in a robe and a forming fireball welcomes me as I arrive at the railing of the enemy ship. My sword flashes forward and claims his hand. The fireball is sucked into my blade and I grin as I continue hacking away bits and pieces of the enemy.
The weapon is absorbing the mana of my enemies as intended. Then I realize that there are more people on deck and turn my attention towards them. Just in time because there is a fireball coming my way.
I raise my hand and counter the spell with a bubble of water. Then I swing my sword and release the absorbed power in an arc towards the group of enemies. Two guys are blown overboard despite their barrier spells and a third is cleanly cleaved in half.
Several others are able to evade the attack and I quickly probe with my mind for their mental defences. One of them seems weaker than the rest and I assault his mind with all my will. I change his perception of his comrades into foes and he starts to attack the people at his side in a mad frenzy.
Attack spells of various kinds are coming my way and I erect a barrier to block them. I turn my blade downwards and ram it into the metal floor. Magical circles appear under me as I concentrate to change the nature of my barrier spell to redirect the onslaught of magical power into the hull of the ship under my feet.
Fire starts spew out of a portal which leads into the ship and the whole vessel tilts. People fall and start sliding over the deck to go overboard. I hold firmly to my sword until the onslaught stops because the attackers have other problems to deal with.
Then I jump while casting a levitation spell and the enemy ship topples over and starts to fall. I orient myself and find my flagship with an ugly wound in its upper hull. The enemy ship continued in its path after scraping the armour off my ship.
My attention wanders to another silver ship on collision course with me while it's heading towards my flagship. It's a bigger construction than the other ships I've seen so far. A command ship?
I head for the vessel and the people on its deck start attacking me with spells and mind magic. I feel the powerful onslaught as several minds try to overpower me at the same time. So I steel myself and start to pull mana from my mana crystal while punching through the shield of the enemy vessel.
While I land on the deck and start to hack at my closest opponent to refill my mana reserves, something impacts between the rows of defenders. People start flying left and right as Celestial creates a path of carnage through the enemy.
I grin and follow her when our path is suddenly stopped by a bandaged figure with two swords of light in his hands. He blocks Celestial's attack and breaks our momentum.
Another guy in full silver plate armour enters the scene. “So you must be Ascathon. You fit the descriptions. How about giving up now?”
Three familiar people with masks join the two men and Celestial retreats to my side. I frown and grip my sword tighter. “I think that's a little more than we can handle. The suckers from the Council are bad enough, but the other two seem to be strong too.”
A ray of light swings over the deck and I am just in time to recognize Jazira's spell and raise a barrier which envelops Celestial and me. The spell leaves a charred and smouldering deck behind. The enemy soldiers turned to ash in the blink of an eye. Just the five figures are unharmed, encircled by a barrier of their own.
“~Nyahaha. Why? I think three on five are still favourable odds if you count me in~” Jazira descends on a disk of light beside us.
“I think you shouldn't underestimate them.” I raise my sword to a defensive position. “And what are you thinking!? Firing a spell like that at your allies?”
“I trust in you. Something of that scale wouldn't harm someone whom I call an ally.” She answers cheerfully.
So in other words if we were turned into dust, we wouldn't be worth your time?
Jazira pulls on her lower lip and looks at the opposing party. “I will take the armour as an opponent. He looks like someone I can go all out against without breaking him too fast.”
“Then I'll take on the three elders. This time they won't stand up again several times!” Celestial and Jazira dash towards the enemy.
“What!?” What's wrong in their heads? Those guys are strong! It's not like massacring some weaklings.
Suddenly the bandage guy materializes in front of me and I am just in time to parry his left sword slashing down on me. His right sword stabs forward and I step backwards to get out of reach, but his sword still manages a nasty cut over my chest.
“And now I'll find out which curse you placed on me you sick bastard! I'll take my time with you to enjoy this!” He screams with glee.
I stare at the blood on my chest. “He cut me!? Through my armour!?” I immediately activate my battle aura and cast a regeneration spell.
The bandaged guy jumps forward and I parry left, turning my blade to divert his attack from the right. My barriers are cut by the light swords like paper. Just the mana crystal on my sword is able to withstand the strange weapons.
His right stabs my left thigh before he retreats to evade my sword which is coming up from the earlier parade. He starts to circle around me while I take a proper stance again. “And that's why dual wielding is superior to two handed swords! What do you even intend to do with a big slow weapon like that!?”
He taunts me, but I only have eyes for my bleeding thigh. “That's two pieces of armour! AARRRGH!” I step forward and stab at him, offering an opening. He parries and immediately tries to close in like he did before, stabbing at me with his second sword.
I grab the blade of my longsword and bash his second weapon away with both hands. Then I close myself and bring the tip of my sword up, slashing at his left shoulder in the process. The tip of my blade is now inside his defence and I start stabbing downwards at him, using my longsword like a dagger for close combat. He tries to get away from me, but I follow and change the grip on my sword again.
Holding the sword with both hands at the blade, I bring it down like a hammer for a murder strike. He evades to the left and the crossguard of my sword impacts his shoulder, breaking something. He drops his weapon and the sword of light disappears.
I change to a normal grip again and start a series of swings which he parries with his remaining sword. His expression turns strained and then fearful as the continued exchange tires his remaining hand. Then our swords lock with each other and I catch his blade with my crossguard. I change my grip again to use the blade as a leverage to twist his weapon. But he is strong and stops my blade with pure force.
Having the movement of the dangerous weapon restricted I knee him in the side and hit him in the face while holding my sword with one hand. We separate and he tumbles backwards. I hack at his remaining sword hand. The other blade disappears too. “Pure swordsmanship doesn't help you in a fight with no rules!” I scream and hit him with the crossguard of my sword into the face. Then I use the pommel to hit him repeatedly as he goes down and blood spla
tters around. I turn the sword and stab the blade like an icepick with both hands into his belly.
I twist the blade to finish him off while he screams and an unbelievable stream of mana flows out of him. He goes silent and the flow stops. There is no more power left inside him. So I bend down and grab his clothes to pull him to the nearby railing.
I heave him with his upper body over the railing, but just a second before I let go, I stop. It isn't funny if they are unconscious! So I drop my sword and slap his face to wake him up.
He opens his eyes with a dazed expression and I shake him. He realizes his position and focuses on me. “Wait! I can help you! Do you know who I am?” He reaches with a pleading hand for me and I open my grip on his clothes. His body silently tilts over the railing and he is gone.
“AAAIIEEEEIEIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!”
Without mana there shouldn't be any chance that he survives a fall from that height. The water is as hard as stone at that speed. I correct my arm-guard, which slipped out of place during the fight. “Who cares who or what you are. Just another poor nameless bastard who died during a pointless war. Aw! He damaged two pieces of my armour!” I check the damage on my chest plate and wince as I realize that the gravure is destroyed.
I turn and find Jazira sitting on an empty breastplate with pieces of the silver plate armour all around her. She puffs her cheeks. “It was just a stupid doll!”
Celestial has the pieces of the elders neatly sorted after body parts at her feet. I guess cutting off their limbs is a possibility to render them harmless. Celestial doesn't look pleased either. “They were just fakes again! Like I thought. You were the only one who got a real enemy!”
83 - Sit and wait!
Norfolk, Sarn
Sera
All of us kids are in the living room. The others are listening to me while I hold a grand speech on top of the dinner table.
“I am really not sure what to think of this situation. Why do we have to hide? We aren't weak! I mean, is it really necessary for us to stay in the mansion while Sarn is under attack by those terrorists from the Inquisition?” I shake my fist at the group of kids around me. “I say that we should go out there and have some fun!”
“Oi! I always wanted to test myself against a real opponent!” Violetta gets up from her seat at the sofa.
“That's what I want to hear! I could even teach you one or two things if we get our hands on some enemies.” I form a fist and smile at Violetta.
“We should stay here and hide. Some of the explosions sound like they are getting closer to our mansion.” Fergus fiddles with his fingers.
Arran isn't convinced either. “Our parents and grandparents aren't that weak. I am sure that they are able to deal with those Inquisitors. You should keep in mind that we may be stronger than we look, but our bodies are still those of children. Maybe we can overpower a few trained adults if we work together. But something could always go wrong.”
“I am not sure about this. As the oldest I hold responsibility for all of you.” Liandra opposes me.
“To be precise. Sera is the oldest one here if you count her memories from her previous lives. The second oldest is me and you are third.” Arran points at Liandra.
“That... That doesn't count! You guys act much too childish! This is a matter of mental age and not of memories!” Liandra turns red. “We were told to stay here, so we stay!”
“This whole story interests me too. Could you two explain yourselves? You aren't acting like people with the experience of several lifetimes. I think that someone with so much wisdom would act completely different. Are you two playing a game with us to make us more comfortable?” Fergus arches an eyebrow and switches his gaze between Arran and me.
“I am at a loss on how to answer this. I guess it has something to do with our bodies? And that it's more convenient to act like you are expected to?” Arran looks at me with a complicated face.
I nod. “First of all there is the issue that we may be old and have seen a lot of stuff, but at the same time our memory isn't perfect. Arran, what did you do during your eight hundredth reincarnation?”
Arran throw his hand up in the air. “How the hell should I know? But I could tell you what I did during my four hundred fifty sixth!” His expression turns creepy as he remembers something.
I smile and continue. “See? It's not like we remember every little detail. Everything starts to blur at some point. We remember events and lives which were out of the ordinary or worth remembering. I think that if someone would remember such a long timespan without forgetting anything...”
“... I would turn insane! Although I would like to remember some things in more detail.” Arran finishes my sentence for me and starts to drool with a stupid expression.
“And there are also events which we don't want to remember. Like being caught by a particular demon lord.” I smile as Arran curls up into a ball and starts to shiver.
“There is also the fact that you start acting on your impulses and whims at some point. Think about it. Would you want to be a responsible person for thousands of years? Being the perfect cool headed adult like you guys imagine it also means to leave out on a lot of fun. At my age I am mostly interested in having fun and doing something new and interesting. I don't want to know how it's for my parents who are much older than me.” I end my speech and look down at the others.
“I guess that sounds reasonable.” Fergus shrugs his shoulders after thinking for a moment.
“So in the end you guys are just playing around because everything will start anew anyway!” Violetta points an accusing finger at me.
“Eh!? Nooo! I've been found out!” I wriggle a little on my table.
Fergus looks up with a worried expression. “Now that explosion was really close. And that sounded like a breaking door!”
Just at this moment the door to our room bursts open and three hooded figures enter the room. They are heavily armed and one of them points his dagger at us. “Take them! They'll be good hostages!”
Norfolk, Sarn
Irda
I have to get back to the mansion! A group of them managed to get past me! Oh, my cute little granddaughter. Those bastards attacked the townsfolk just to draw our attention away from the mansion. Their actions are inexcusable.
The street takes another turn and I find our guards at the entrance to my son's property on the ground. A hooded figure is standing beside them. Probably a lookout. I attack without thinking and summon an arcane spear. One of my favourite spells.
The hooded figure turns his head towards me and I launch my spell at him. He tries to stop it but isn't in time. The arcane spear nails the Inquisitor to the wall beside the entrance and I continue on my way. Inside our property I find several unconscious guards on the ground. Probably the attackers used some kind of poison to knock them out.
A dreadful feeling crawls up my spine as I start to imagine what those bastards did to the kids. How could they even overpower all the guards?
I continue to walk rapidly towards the mansion. Everything looks deserted and without a sign of life. There are some of the hooded figures on the ground. Probably they didn't manage to put all our guards to sleep.
The main door of the mansion is broken and I continue forward with careful steps. There is nobody inside the reception room.
A distant scream alarms me and I storm towards the private area. Another scream leads me to the upper floor and I find the door to the living room broken open.
“AAAAAA!”
“Sera!”
I dash into the living room and find a gruesome scene. There is blood everywhere and a dead Inquisitor is lying on the ground. It looks like he received the combined force of several magical attacks.
Another one is bound and gagged while sitting on a chair. His gaze turns towards me with pleading eyes.
Arran is sitting on the sofa with a book in his hands. He gives off an impression that nothing is wrong. Then he looks up and smiles. “Hi, aunti. Is the attac
k over?”
My gaze wanders across the room and I find Fergus in a corner with a pale face. He is teetering back and forth while mumbling something.
A third attacker is bound with his belly upside onto the table in the middle of the room. Sera is sitting on top of him with a kitchen knife in her hand. Liandra and Violetta are listening with interested expressions to her explanations. “And that's another good spot. If you stab there you cause unbelievable pain, but the subject won't die. At least not immediately.” She stabs the blade into the Inquisitors belly and starts to twist.
“AAARRGH!”
“Isn't twisting bad? If he bleeds too much he'll lose consciousness.” Violetta points out a valid point.
“That's not that big of a problem. Humans don't die as fast as you might expect. Hmm. Time to heal him up again. I think we covered most of the non vital parts of the body. Should we continue with the vital ones?” Sera asks and the person under her starts to wriggle like mad.
The knife flashes down again and the wriggling stops. “That's a basic one. Simply severing the spinal cord is instantaneous and without risk. ~Heal!~ ~Electrify!~” The Inquisitor opens his eyes again while he twitches without control. “Remember that combo. It restarts almost everyone as long as the brain wasn't destroyed. Remember to apply it immediately. The chance for success gets lower if you wait too long.”
“As long as you don't cause a trauma, you can always heal them back up again. Are you ready to try it Liandra?” Sera looks up and turns around.
Liandra starts to fiddle with her fingers. “I am not sure. My healing magic isn't that good.”
Sera smiles. “Don't worry, we have a replacement in case you mess up. There is still much to learn. We aren't even done with the basics yet! Violetta, you can practice on the other one while I train with Liandra.”
The bound Inquisitor in the chair throws himself to the ground and crawls towards me on his stomach.