by Hans Bezdek
“Thanks for that,” said Ivsaar, smiling back at Sloane.
“No problem,” said Sloane, scanning the street for the third demon. “Where is-”
Pain erupted behind her as the third demon slashed down at her exposed back. She stumbled forward with a cry, holding her bow in close as she fell in order to not break it. The demon stalked up to her, bringing its hand up high again to finish her off. As it came down, Ivsaar jumped in front, blocking the strike with both of the blades.
The demon kicked her in the midsection, sending her flying over Sloane.
The distraction was long enough. Having brought her bow up and prepared another arrow with holy light, Sloane shot up at the demon’s face just a few feet away. Holy magic exploded as it connected with the creatures head, collapsing the demon down onto Sloane.
“Sloane!” cried out Ivsaar as the human laid underneath the dead demon.
“I’m okay,” groaned Sloane. “Help get this thing off me if you wouldn’t mind.”
The elf hurried over, and the two were able to shift the demon off of Sloane. The human got to her feet, wincing as she did. The cut from the demon's claws hurt enough, but being driven into the dirt and loose rocks took it to another level.
“How’s it look?” asked Sloane, turning her back to Ivsaar.
“It looks like you’ll have some scars even after the priests get done with you,” said Ivsaar. “You’ll not be forgetting this uprising anytime soon.”
Before a Sloane could respond, the building next to them exploded as a fireball connected with it. Parts of the building crashed around them as they ducked, along with a few strands of fire. Ivsaar disappeared as Sloane ran for cover, when another fireball went off behind her and brought down another building.
Sloane looked up to see two figures in black and blue robes, their hoods raised up, summoning fire into their hands as they entered the street. Another column from the burning building next to her collapsed, momentarily blocking her view from Kutarm’s mages.
Memories of Goldsworth burning suddenly filled Sloane’s mind, melding with the vision of the burning city before her eyes. She remembered children running around from the flames, trying to find their parents and safety. They would never find them. The history of centuries burned all around her, and there was no stopping it. The destruction of the town by the pyromancers was all-encompassing. The pyromancers were known for erasing the very existence of civilizations, and they were doing it to Goldsworth. And it was her fault…
“Sloane!” cried out a voice.
Moving more from instinct than anything, Sloane fought to her feet and started to move to her right. Another fireball exploded where she had lain, the sudden gust of power throwing her into what remained of a wall.
She couldn’t remember if she was in Nurem, or in Goldsworth, or dead. Everything was melding together in her mind. A figure appeared out of the flames, slowly walking toward her. Bringing her bow up, she slowly nocked an arrow. Was this a pyromancer? Had they learned that she lived, and had hunted her down here?
“Woah, what are you doing?” called out the figure.
Her hand shaking with nerves, Sloane let the arrow loose. The shot was wide, not coming close to her target. The figure rushed forward and grabbed Sloane, shaking her wildly.
“Sloane, what is wrong with you?!” shouted Ivsaar, shaking Sloane again.
“I-Ivsaar?” asked Sloane.
Another fireball went off in the distance, and she heard the shout of dwarves.
“Snap out of it!” demanded Ivsaar.
“The pyromancers… they’re here…” said Sloane.
“Pyromancers?” said Ivsaar, shaking her head. “What do they have to do with anything? Those are just some of Kutarm’s mages! They’re destroying Nurem!”
“Just like Goldsworth,” said Sloane quietly.
Ivsaar sighed. “Ah. I see what’s going on. I can’t imagine the horrors that you saw back there, but if you don’t help us take those mages out now, the same thing will happen here, in Nurem. Please, Sloane!”
Sloane shook her head and wiped a hand over her eyes. That’s right. She was in Nurem. She needed to help the Resistance. If she didn’t, the same thing would happen here.
“Okay, okay,” nodded Sloane. “I-I’ve got it now.”
“Good,” nodded Ivsaar, letting Sloane go and running back into the flames. “We’ve got to hurry!”
Sloane tried to control her breathing and chased after Ivsaar. When she broke through the flames, she saw a dozen dwarves trying to get close to the enemy mages. The mages had now switched from fire to electricity, launching bolts of lightning out at the dwarves. More of Kutarm’s men had appeared and were keeping some distance between the mages and the Resistance. There was no way for them to fight past the guards while the mages were peppering them with magical attacks.
Unbeknownst to Kutarm’s men, Ivsaar and Sloane were behind them.
Running nearly as fast as Zeke could, Ivsaar closed in on the mages before they knew what was happening. Knowing what she had to do, Sloane steadied another shot and aimed at the left mage. Mumbling another phrase, her arrowhead glowed blue. Letting loose, the arrow shot out and dropped a bit short of where she wanted it to go.
Instead of striking the mage in the back of the head, it struck them in the back of the leg. Ice sprang out from point of contact, spreading until the mage’s left leg was completely encased.
As the other mage turned to see what happened, Ivsaar brought both of her blades into the onlookers back. A fire erupted into the mages robes, but it didn’t matter. The blades had pierced what they needed to, and the mage was dead.
The other mage reached a hand out towards Ivsaar, a shot of electricity connecting and sending the elf tumbling. Before the mage could strike again, however, Sloane’s second arrow found its home in his back. Ice spread once again, and the mage fell backward, moving no more.
The dwarves, seeing what had happened, shifted their attention fully onto the regular men and began to make serious leeway.
Sloane ran up to Ivsaar, who had gotten back to her feet.
“That definitely stung,” grunted Ivsaar.
“Looked like it,” nodded Sloane. “I’m sorry I didn’t take the mage out on the first shot. I guess I was still…”
“Don’t worry about it,” said the elf, shaking her head and patting her on the shoulder.
As the rest of the guards died or ran off, Sloane went over to inspect the mages.
“Ivsaar… come look at this,” she said, bending down and moving their hoods back.
The elf came over, staring silently down at the dead bodies.
“What’s wrong?” asked one of the nearby dwarves. “The bloody mages comin back to life?!”
“Not quite that bad, but it's not good,” said Ivsaar, motioning for the dwarf to come look as well.
The three of them stared down at the purple humanoids underneath Kutarm’s robes. Their skin sparkled in the light of the fire from the nearby buildings. Their eyes were black, with yellow and white specks that floated around in them that looked like galaxies.
“Fae mages?!” gasped the dwarf. “B-But they’re workin with Kutarm?!”
“It appears so,” nodded Sloane. It was just like those Resistance fighters had said back at that outpost. It seemed like everything wrong in Linsuk was on the side of Kutarm, now. Demons… fae… all that was missing were-
“Undead!” cried out a woman gnome as she entered the street. “Our forces need help two streets over! Some undead have come, and are fighting alongside Kutarm’s men!”
The nearby dwarves roared and followed after the gnome as she turned to go fight the abominations.
“It appears we are winning the battle but there are still more that could use my help,” said Ivsaar. “You can stay and look for a priest to heal your back if you prefer.”
“Might as well wait until there are a few more things that need healing,” smirked Sloane, grabbing another arrow. �
��Let’s go!”
Chapter 17
Zeke took a deep breath, then hopped onto the first floating rock.
To his horror, the rock shifted underneath him, bobbing up and down slightly from his weight. Putting his arms out wide to help balance, he stood perfectly still for a few seconds until the rocking stopped.
“Fascinating!” commented Delvin. “So they do move after all. I wonder why the magic doesn’t just maintain the position...”
“I’m glad this is interesting for you,” said Zeke from between his teeth.
“It seems like the stone has stabilized,” said Delvin. “You don’t have to keep standing still.”
Easy for the gnome to say. It must have been nice to watch someone else jump from questionable floating rock to questionable floating rock, never knowing if or when the next one would fall.
“I’ll move when I’m fine and ready to, thank you,” said Zeke.
“Oh, r-right,” stammered the gnome. “Sorry.”
“Stop apologizing all the time,” sighed Zeke. He looked down at the rock and took another step. The rock bobbed up and down again. This was going to take some getting used to.
After several more combinations of steps and waiting, Zeke finally made it to the end of the first floating rock.
“Good job!” cheered Delvin.
“Thanks,” mumbled Zeke, his face turning a bit red. He wasn’t sure if that was worth congratulating over.
The test now was to jump over to the next rock. The elf peered down between the several foot gap between the rocks, and down to the ocean below. While the wind up here wasn’t too bad, probably thanks to the magic, the current below looked almost like it was caught in a hurricane. The waves crashed continuously against jagged rocks, and froth spun around endlessly. Zeke wasn’t too worried about them. The several hundred foot drop would kill him long before his body was smashed against the rocks.
“I shouldn’t have looked down,” groaned Zeke, shaking his head and taking a few wobbly steps back. “Is there anything you can do to help me float if I slip?”
Delvin thought about it for a moment. “I suppose I could have wings appear on your back… but that would just be for looks.”
“A simple ‘no’ would’ve worked,” mumbled Zeke. The elf looked around him to see if there was another way. There wasn’t. He had to jump to the next rock and continue the process several more times.
He decided that just going for it and missing was better than stressing all day and missing anyway. Taking a bouncing running start, the elf launched from the first floating rock, landing in the middle of the second stone.
“I-I did it!” laughed Zeke, down on all fours as he waited for the floating rock to stop shaking. His adrenaline was going wild now.
“I can’t believe it!” exclaimed Delvin.
“Not helping!” shouted Zeke back.
After the rock calmed, Zeke once again took to sprinting across, leaping as he came to the end, and landing in the middle of the next floating stone. All of the rocks seemed to bob under his weight in the same way, and he felt he was getting the hang of this.
“Do you see the Arcane Staff yet?” called out Delvin.
Zeke glanced back, gesturing at his rock. “I’m three rocks in, do you really think the thing is going to be that easy to find?!”
“Good point,” conceded Delvin.
The elf took a few more steps, then came to a decision. There were two rocks close enough to jump to. One was on a path that led to the wizard head, the other led to another cliff further below.
“Which one do you think I should take?” called out Zeke.
“T-That’s too much pressure for me!”
“How do you think I feel?!”
“But if you choose wrong and fall to your death, you have no one to blame but yourself,” reasoned the gnome.
“I don’t want to be the reason I die either!” shouted back Zeke. There had to be another way for him to decide.
“Maybe flip a coin?”
“That’s a good idea,” mumbled Zeke. He reached into his pocket, pulling out the Linsuk Resistance coin. This one would work just as good as any.
“Uh, maybe choose a regular coin?” called out Delvin, noticing the red coin.
“Why? This will work just as fine,” shrugged Zeke. “The ‘LR’ means I go left, the side with the swords means I go right.”
“Okay… but you might-”
Zeke flipped the coin into the air with his thumb. The coin was surprisingly lighter than it looked, which caused the casual flick to make the red coin go further out than Zeke intended. Reaching out in a panic, the elf nearly caught it as he stood on the edge of the rock. Nearly wasn’t enough, though, and the coin plummeted down into the ocean.
“Drop it…” finished Delvin.
Zeke and Delvin stared down at the ocean for a moment. The coin was supposed to grant them access to the Linsuk Resistance’s resources. That was an expensive coin to lose. Maybe he should’ve used a regular gold piece after all…
“That, uh, that’s okay,” said Zeke, mostly to himself. “As long as I stay near you or Sloane, that should be enough.”
“Y-Yeah,” said Delvin, sounding not the slightest bit convinced.
“Plus, once I get the Arcane Staff, everyone is going to want my help, regardless of any stupid coin… right?”
The gnome nodded, but wouldn’t make eye contact with him.
Deciding against flipping another coin, Zeke had a different idea. Knowing that he’d need luck to determine which way to go, he pulled Lucky back out and laid it at his feet.
“What are you doing now?” asked Delvin. “Throwing your dagger into the ocean?”
“No!” shouted Zeke, glaring back at the gnome over his shoulder. “I’m going to spin it and go in the direction it points.”
The gnome looked like he wanted to say something about this plan but wisely kept his mouth shut.
“Please work,” whispered Zeke, gently spinning the dagger. He kept it between his feet, careful that it wouldn’t go flying. Lucky spun around a few times, slowed, then came to a stop. It pointed directly in between the two rocks.
Zeke cursed the stupid blade under his breath and picked it back up.
“Which way was it pointing?” asked Delvin.
Zeke didn’t have the heart to explain it pointed in neither direction. Maybe the dagger wasn’t so Lucky after all. Time after time, it just seemed to make things worse. Now it hadn’t even done its simplest job right.
The elf narrowed his eyes as he looked between the rocks. Actually… the dagger had pointed at something: the stone carving of the wizard.
“It told me to go to the wizard’s head,” called out Zeke, jumping over to the rock to his left.
Following the rock path to the wizard, Zeke thought back to what that elf, Ivsaar, had said. She warned him that the Arcane Staff would be protected in some way. She hadn’t expanded on it but told him to be wary. She must’ve been talking about these floating rocks, right? While they weren’t the easiest things to run on, he was surprised if this was all that there was protecting the Fourth Staff.
“Do you see the Arcane Staff yet?” called out Delvin as Zeke neared his destination.
“I’m pretty sure you’ll know if I find it!” shouted back Zeke. They were starting to get pretty far apart.
“But what if I don’t?” he called back.
Ignoring him, Zeke made it to the rock before the wizard’s head. The head was carved out of a larger stone than any of the others and had a long base. A small ledge was all around the base of its chin. Zeke guessed he could walk on it, but wanted to wait until he absolutely had to. It was much thinner than the rocks floating around the head.
Hopping to a rock in front of the face, he looked closer at it. He had thought there could be a hole inside the mouth, but there wasn’t. Everything was fully closed off.
Jumping to another rock to the side, he glanced around the back of the wizard. His eye ca
ught on a faint purple glow, a few feet below where the ledge was.
That must be where to look!
Hurrying back to the rock closest to the wizard’s face, Zeke leaped onto the thin ledge. He immediately regretted it, nearly falling off. Instinctively, he threw his hands up, digging Lucky into a hole near the wizard’s mouth.
It looked like the dagger had helped him twice in just a few minutes. He really needed to reward it with a sheath.
Going as quickly as he felt was safe, Zeke shimmied around to the backside of the large carving. He looked down as he went until again he saw the purple glow. He snuck around the ledge a bit more, trying to get directly above it. He wasn’t sure how he was going to get down to it, but-
“WOAH!” shouted Zeke, losing his footing.
The elf frantically threw his hands around as he slipped off the ledge, trying desperately to catch a hold of something. The stone was cleanly cut on the back, however, and there were no nooks or crannies to save him this time.
As Zeke fell to his death, in a last ditch effort he stabbed up with Lucky at the glowing purple object. Closing his eyes, Zeke embraced that he was going to his end after all. Except… it didn’t happen. Instead, it felt like his shoulder nearly popped out of place as the arm that held his dagger held him up.
Thump.
What was that noise?
Opening his eyes, he saw that his dagger was caught in the purple glow. A stone step emerged from underneath him, then another, and another. Having no idea what was happening but glad it was, Zeke quickly swung himself onto the nearest step. The section of the wall around the glowing purple spot began to sink in as more steps appeared, eventually leading back up to the bottom of the wizard’s face.
When the wall behind the purple glow finally completely disappeared, Zeke saw why his dagger caught. The glow was surrounding a closed circle, which Lucky had perfectly gotten stuck into. The elf could now see that the circle was on the end of a long stick… a staff.