The last Soron mage was probably a Water School mage, a young Terran man. I only saw him use an offensive ability once when he manifested a spear of ice to throw. It was kind of a weak ability, and when I saw him heal a nasty wound on a comrade, it was obvious that his Body School magic was far more helpful in this battle. Perhaps he was even Soron’s dedicated healer. If so, he might even be an inverse, Body School mage.
The strength of the other side, the slaver side, was hard to accurately gauge. From my vantage point, it was even more obvious that they were not fighting seriously. From what I could see, though, there were a total of five notable fighters.
A big Terran man in heavy ceramic armor stood to the rear with an elegant feline Mo’hali woman. The man’s armor was white with blue accents, but he wore a grey cloak that matched the garb of the other slavers. The Mo’hali woman’s sub-race was hard to tell from a distance, but I thought she might be tiger race. What the hell she was doing with slavers in Berber, I couldn’t even guess.
The Mo’hali tiger woman’s bearing and the number of rings she wore made me think she was a mage of some sort, or at least a leader. One way or another, my instincts told me she was dangerous.
Fighting with the other slavers, I saw three mages. All of them were Terran women, but most of their features were obscured by the grey garments they wore. One was an earth mage, using her power creatively to protect her fellow fighters from arrows or magical attacks.
The second mage used water magic. I saw her extend a hand and manifest a magical beam that froze anything it touched. I remembered the patches of frost I’d seen in Soron.
The last mage was tricky to categorize. Despite the gusts of wind I saw her create, a thunderclap of displaced air was what clued me in to her power. All magic Schools had a dual nature, everyone on Ludus knew that. For instance, water magic came with at least some ability in body magic. Fire mages could also use matter magic. What was rarer was when the strongest magic a mage developed was the other side of that magical coin. These were inverse mages.
The last mage was an inverse mage. It seemed she was actually a Void School mage, the other side of air magic. I was not an expert on magic, but that seemed like a bad thing. She would be the first to die.
I near-silently sprang from tree to tree, completely undetected until it was too late. My original plan had been to use the surrounding confusion to kill each mage quickly and without fuss. I ambushed the inverse mage much like I had with the slaver guard back at the captives’ camp. Once again, Vistvis was put to good use. This time I sprang back after mortally wounding my enemy, just in case she could retaliate with magic. I didn’t know anything about Void magic, and I had decided to be cautious.
As a thunderclap rocked the air where I’d been standing, my suspicions were confirmed, but suddenly a number of eyes turned my direction.
So much for my plan.
I darted forward, using the most of my orb-enhance muscles to close with the water mage. She tried to hit me with a beam of magic but had not been expecting my speed. Against a normal woman, she would have frozen me, shattered my body. But as I was, it was relatively simple to dart behind a tree, avoid the beam, and stalk her.
When I sprang forward from behind cover, the panting mage drew in air to scream before Eneus punched through her chest. The slaver pointed at my head, but I brushed her hand up to one side, the magic attack going harmlessly wide. I savagely kicked the woman off my spear and barely turned in time to block a big, male slaver from taking my head off with his bronze axe.
Shock ran up my arm from the block, but I was not the same girl I once had been. The slaver was good—he immediately slid his blade down Eneus to try taking my fingers, but I’d already let go of the spear and had drawn my short sword. I slashed using my vib-blade power, but the ability probably hadn’t even been necessary. My aim had been true, and the weapon took him high in the throat.
As the slaver fell back, holding his ruined neck, I sheathed my sword and held out a hand towards the fallen Eneus. The spear’s cloth elongated to my hand, and I jerked the weapon back. Then I used a feather-jump to spring into the trees. One more mage needed to die.
I found the slaver earth mage in the rear of the enemy mass. She was between two other fighters, both of them big, hulking brutes. Based on how nervous she looked, she must have known that someone was targeting her.
For just a moment, I felt a flash of empathy. In that situation, I’d be nervous too. But then I remembered the heartbreaking little bodies I’d seen back in the prisoner camp. No, I’d already chosen my side. Running away was not an option anymore. I was no hero, but I wouldn’t just ignore something like I’d seen, either.
I slowly, carefully descended my tree, getting lower over the earth mage. I couldn’t climb too low, but I needed to be closer. The timing would have to be just right...there! I drew my arm back and let fly with Eneus. The spear’s bright, blessed steel blade punched through the top of the mage’s head and actually sank some way into her body. Even through my constant anger, the sight made me blink.
The two hulking slavers next to the woman’s body shouted as she crumbled. I held out my hand and collected Eneus and thought about jumping down to finish them. Suddenly, my instincts screamed at me. I acted, springing away from the tree I’d been on before a jet of flame burst through the space I’d just occupied.
Uh oh, I thought. This was bad. I didn’t know who was after me, but being among the trees actually made it harder to dodge. My greatest advantage before had been stealth, but now I needed to get down—fast.
I found a hole through the tree branches and dove through it, a torrent of fire slicing through the area behind me and setting some of the trees on fire. With an effort of will, I amped up my Flight power the best I could, almost making myself weightless before I landed. My knees flexed easily, absorbing the energy of my impact. Then I dialed back my Flight ability to give myself some weight and took off, air-skating through the trees.
Another burst of fire warmed my heels, confirming that someone was definitely after me. I needed room to move. I angled my flight towards the field with the destroyed magic cars, hoping to create some more distance once I got there. My seething anger from before was quickly turning to frustration and nervousness.
Everything had been going great when nobody had known where I was and I had been exterminating regular slavers. Unfortunately, I’d run out of good luck about the same time I’d started running out of fury. Now was just Nora again. Luckily, I was also the new, improved version of Nora with a really good spear.
Once I burst into the clearing, I put all the power I could into air skating away. I risked a glance back and finally saw my pursuer, the big man in ceramic armor. The rotting man was moving almost as fast as I was. No, he could even be faster.
I had a decision to make. There was no regret in my heart for avenging the dead prisoners I’d found. Now I was in real danger, though. In the moment I’d seen the man in white armor pursuing me, I’d immediately understood he was incredibly dangerous. In fact, the feeling was similar to the first time I’d seen Jadanak the drake, just muted a bit.
At this point, I could probably just run away without a lot of guilt. Many slavers had lost their lives by my hand, after all. But now I had even more proof that the slavers had been holding back. This new man had been practically doing nothing on purpose. He had to have been.
The man in white armor was powerful. I didn’t think the white-armored slaver was as powerful as Vitaliya had been, but from what I’d seen of the fighting before, if he’d actually fought, the Soron guards would not have stood a chance.
In fact, I wasn’t sure how I knew, but I could tell this man was stronger than me. Damn.
I had a choice, and this was pretty much my point of no return. I could run and spare my own life, or I could stay and fight, and probably die, facing what was likely a powerful orb-Bonded enemy. With the first option, I would need to go grab Jessica and Chris first, of course. The oth
er option was to play hero.
There was no possible way I was a hero. But I had grown. Changed. I’d seen real evil now, and I wasn’t sure I could just walk away from that. The world was more complex than I’d thought before, but ironically, that made my place in it a bit simpler. Deep down, I knew I’d made my decision. It was stupid, but my heart and my head were in agreement. Unfortunately, what was right was not usually easy.
I’d also decided that I really hated slavers.
I zipped behind one of the destroyed magic cars and waited, but there was no pursuit. Then I heard the man call, “Who are you? How did Soron come to have such a powerful fighter?”
“The name’s Nora Hazard,” I hollered back. Since the man wanted to chat, that was fine by me. I kept a careful eye on my surroundings but took the time to situate my armor and weapons. Stalling worked in my favor since I’d killed all the slaver mages. The big, white-armored bastard could recite poetry for all I cared as long as he took a break from trying to kill me.
“I don’t remember you from last night.”
“That’s what they all say!” I yelled back. “Maybe you should drink less.”
The man chuckled. “You’re not wearing the Soron guard uniform, are you? Maybe you’re a mercenary? If you are, why don’t you join with us? I’ll double whatever you’re making.”
“Tempting!” I shouted back while checking Eneus’ blade. It didn’t have a single mark. Not that I had expected it to. “But how do I know you won’t just blast me with fire the second I leave my cover here? Hell, I don’t even know your name.”
“Ah, I apologize. You can call me White Darkness. As for knowing if I will turn on you, you don’t. But there are a few things you should consider. First, you killed all of my mages before most back there even knew what was going on. This is impressive. Second, you have no hope of getting away. You are powerful, but not enough to really fight me. And finally, I am third rank orb-Bonded. You might not be able to tell from before but—”
“White Darkness? Really? How about ‘Eggshell’ instead? And no, I did notice that you were just hanging around with your thumb in your ass. You slaver rats have just been drawing the fighting out.”
I took a risk to re-tie my boots after speaking. Third rank orb-Bonded, I thought. What the hell had I gotten myself into? Unfortunately, if this guy wasn’t stopped, the Soron guards stood no chance. I’d already decided not to run away, so I was really going to do this. My hands shook as I finished with my laces and stood up.
“Hmm, I’m impressed. Yes, things are not as they seem. Nora, join us. You can be on the winning side. The dark gods are coming, and you can serve Dread Asag! It is better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven, don’t you agree?”
“What the fuck are you babbling about, Eggshell?” I shot back. His announcement had chilled my heart, reminding me of Yvadne’s insane last words in Bittertown. This was the second time I’d heard the name Asag. I definitely couldn’t ignore it, and decided that I’d get to the bottom of the matter...if I survived.
The man’s voice swelled like he was repeating something he said often. “Dark forces are coming to Ludus. This world will never be the same again, and only those on the winning side will avoid complete destruction. The future will be worse than you could ever imagine! Join us!”
“You mean we’ll be raped by demons and our entrails pulled out. Things like that?” I asked, repeating the words I’d heard from Yvadne before I’d put her down.
Eggshell sounded surprised. “Well, yes, actually.” He blinked at me and his mouth worked for a couple seconds before he finally asked, “If you already know this, why not join?”
“Because you rotting sons of rats torture and kill children, and should be exterminated like the vermin you are,” I snarled.
“Oh, you saw that then? How unfortunate. Some of the Faithful have...appetites. It really doesn’t matter, though. Nobody but the dark’s Faithful matter at all, Nora. They’d just be used for food, anyway. Does anyone shed a tear for meat animals?”
“Food? Is your brain rotten? Listen to you. So you want me to join your obviously evil, torturing, dark gods worshipping, slaver bad guys and wear grey pajamas? Okay, even if I agreed to all that, what would I call you? I doubt you’d let me call you Eggshell. Would I have to call you the Great Leader and Most Wonderful White Darkness? Would you allow Pajama Lord for short?”
“This is your last chance, Nora. Join us or die.” The man sounded irritated. Good.
I rolled my eyes. “Really? That’s the line you’re going to use? Do you think of yourself as a villain? That’s how villains talk in the myths and legends, you know. You probably actually do think of yourself as a—no, you definitely do. That’s right; you call yourself White Darkness. Do you introduce yourself that way in pubs? Like, does it work? Do women go, ‘Oh, White Darkness, I can’t stand this sexual tension, please take me to bed!’”
Out the corner of my eye, I noticed motion above me. He really wasn’t kidding about the last chance thing, I thought. I barely air skated to one side as the armored slaver turned the ground behind me into a smoking ruin. When my foot touched the ground again, I was already air skating in a different direction.
While training with Vitaliya and Gonzo, I’d seen the unpleasant girl’s display of power. After that, I’d given a lot of thought to how I would deal with mages in the future. It was a good thing I had. Eggshell’s fire lanced out at me, but I stayed one step ahead. The magic flames were fast, but they still took time to cross distances, and they needed mass to keep traveling. The mage had to adjust or move from side to side relatively slowly. If I got hit, I’d be in trouble, so I just focused on not getting hit.
“I’m over here, Eggshell!” I yelled. Then I committed to combat, dropping into my floating mind. This would be a serious fight, and I would need every edge I could get. The time for taunts, for tricks was over. I was in a fight to the death.
The armored slaver leader seemed to agree, answering me with another blast of fire. With that, the real fight began.
Grappling
I air skated to one side, presenting a difficult target for Eggshell’s magic attacks. Floating time felt different than before, more focused. I dodged another blast of fire, then sprang forward, closing the distance. He’s so fast, I thought as the man pulled a shield from his back and drew his sword before I’d even reached him.
The armored slaver easily used his shield to parry my thrust with Eneus. Then he whipped his sword forward. I barely drew and blocked with my bronze sword in time, before watching in horror as my weapon was cut like it was made of wax. Eggshell’s sword descended in a glittering arc to my side and slammed into me with a lurching sense of pressure.
Luckily, my armor held better than my sword had, but the man’s blade still cut deep. Eggshell’s eyes widened. He’d obviously been expecting the fight to end right there. I air skated back, throwing my ruined sword away and holding my wounded side with one hand. Damn. I’d underestimated the man. His sword’s leaf-shaped blade shined. The weapon was obviously made of blessed steel. It had to be enchanted or something, too.
My side was cold at first but then started to throb. I risked a glance down and wished I hadn’t. My bronze armor looked almost burned, and the faint smell of cooked meat assaulted my nostrils.
“Enchanted?” I asked.
“Not quite. More like superheated. What about your armor?”
“I think so. Seems to be,” I admitted.
Eggshell threw his head back, laughing. I panted, trying to get my pain under control. My floating time mode was helping. I’d have to adjust my strategies around my new injury.
This close to the armored slaver, I realized he really was quite attractive. He wore earrings and makeup, and his height, bearing, and facial features made him look refined. Even his artfully sculpted facial hair was meant to enhance his appearance. The man definitely fancied himself quite a bit, and he honestly was pretty.
Too bad I needed to kill h
im. It seemed a bit of a waste.
In the cold rationality of my floating time mode, I could tell I was outmatched, but that had never stopped me before. It wouldn’t stop me now, either. I’d survived Dingeramat; I would not be killed by some child-killing, slaver, pretty boy fop.
“It is truly too bad you won’t join us, but I suppose I can just take your equipment after killing you,” the evil orb-Bonded said.
“Same. And you’re ugly,” I spat.
Eggshell narrowed his eyes and pointed his sword at me. A lance of fire arced out, but I’d already air skated away. A plan was taking form in my mind, which was good because fighting fairly wasn’t going to get me anywhere.
My opponent was faster than me, stronger, had powerful magic, and his armor was probably enchanted, or at least very high quality. A third rank orb-Bonded fighter was definitely a force to be reckoned with. If I had not been orb-Bonded myself, I would have been helpless.
As I air skated around, avoiding each fire attack, I frowned. Eggshell still wasn’t using his full power. He should have been closing with me, forcing me into a bind. Hell, I was wounded. At first, I thought he might be drawing this fight out like the battle before, but then I realized it was just arrogance. He was enjoying himself.
Maybe I could use that against him.
I darted in again, and Eggshell almost lazily tried to roast me alive with fire as I closed. When I was close enough, I stabbed with Eneus, but as before, Eggshell parried with his shield. When he attacked, chopping with his sword, I blocked with my spear. He probably expected the blade to cut right through the spear’s wooden shaft. However, I had a feeling he was going to be surprised. In fact, I was betting my life on it.
Luckily, I was right. The orb-Bonded man’s enhanced sword stopped on Eneus, didn’t even scratch my spear. Eggshell gasped in surprise. The force of the blow still knocked me to one side from my enemy’s massive strength. I dug in, stopped the motion, and savagely kicked outwards, catching Eggshell’s shield. This time it was his turn to be off balance.
Mitigating Risk Page 24