“Of course, I am Kearika, you were telling me about your fight with-” Broad strokes Caius. “-the Zauberei.” I finish a little weakly. A grin lights up Kearika’s face at my reply.
“You are listening! So, she has me up against the wall, but I-” Kearika continues, and I go back to trying to keep her in fighting shape. I wonder if the other Zauberei will give up and leave now?
The house is in bad shape, the only remaining furniture is the chairs we are sitting on. The table, bookshelf and door are scattered around the house and blood is leaking across the stone floor. The air is hot, close and heavy with the tang of blood. At least it is not summer yet, or it would be unbearably hot as well.
With a huff Adalan gets up off his chair and begins dragging the fallen Zauberei out the door. Their armor scrapes and screeches against the rough floor, the sound sets my teeth on edge. I need to fix Kearika’s concussion. I wonder why my wards did not hold against her being hit, but did against the glass?
I put a hand on either side of her head, splaying my fingers out and concentrating on her concussion. At least I have treated these before, I know how to direct the aether. This will not tax me terribly.
A few minutes later Kearika’s concussion is gone and the bleeding on her head has stopped. We agreed on stitches afterwards, but Kearika flat out refused any extra bed rest. Now, on to more pressing matters, and more dangerous ones.
“Mendalde, I’d like to speak with you. Alone.” I say, trying to muster some confidence.
Kearika looks at curiously, then shrugs and gets up to help Adalan. Karl glares at me, and I wilt a little under his burning glare. Mendalde quirks an eyebrow, but after a second she brushes past me towards the room I’ve been staying in. So far, so good. Karl clears his throat, when I glance over at him he not so subtly adjusts his swords. His killer smirk only reinforces his point. Don’t annoy me.
I shrink a bit more into my robes. His smirk grows into a malevolent grin. Kearika clears her throat, Karl and I turn to look at her. She lifts up her halberd, and slams the steel capped end into the floor. Little chips of stone fly away from the impact. Kearika has that feral smile on her face, with her teeth bared.
“You hurt him at all, and I’ll kill you. Both of you.” She says, the cold certainty of it visible in her eyes.
Kearika is never subtle, is she? The grin falls of Karl’s face, replaced by an annoyed frown. I would not have it any other way. Kearika switches her fierce gaze from Karl to me, and gives me a warm smile. I smile back, and I feel better for being reminded that she’s watching out for me.
“If you’re all done posturing out there, maybe we could move this along?” Mendalde calls out from the other room. I set my shoulders and march towards the other room. Just stay calm, it is just Mendalde. I shudder at that thought.
As I step into the room and close the door behind me, Mendalde goes through a few twirling motions with her sword. One such twirl brings the tip within an inch of my throat, I flinch away from it and Mendalde smiles. I cannot let her scare me.
“What did you want to talk to me about Caius?” She asks with narrowed eyes. I stare into those darkened pits, slowly feeling myself slip away into them. Just getting lost in the darkness and the flickering color in her eyes. Why did I want to talk to her anyway? It was probably nothing.
“I-I can’t remember why I wanted to talk to you.” I say. I’m getting in the way, I should stop wasting her time. That’s not right, I have a reason to talk to Mendalde. What is it?
Muffled shouting comes from the other side of the door. I can hear Kearika’s voice.
“She’s done something to him, I can feel it! Get out of my way Karl!”
She’s done something to me? Everything’s fine. I should tell Kearika I’m fine.
“I’m fine Kearika. Mendalde and I are done talking.” I say flatly through the door. Am I fine? I do not feel fine. A surprised shout comes through the door, and something heavy hits the wall next to it.
“I told you to get out of my way.” Kearika says. Kearika shouldn’t come in here, she wouldn’t be happy if she did. I want Kearika to be happy, don’t I?
“Kearika, don’t come in here. I don’t want to make you unhappy.” I say, feeling like my brain has suddenly turned to sand. Why is it so hard to think?
“Well that tears it. I’m coming in!” Kearika yells. The door handle jiggles, but doesn’t budge. When did I lock the door? A loud thunk followed by splintering noises comes from the side of the door. Its followed by a grunt of exertion and another loud thunk.
“Karl? I told you to stay out of this!” Kearika yells.
The door rocks on its hinges under an impact. I should hit Mendalde. The thought appears in my head, and I look down at my staff in my hands. I look up at Mendalde, who’s staring at the door with an apprehensive look on her face. The door bounces on its hinges several times, each bounce accompanied by a meaty thwack.
I should hit Mendalde, really hard. I shrug, the thought seems to make sense and I am struggling to have any of my own right now. I grip my staff in both hands and smash the end of it against the back of Mendalde’s helmeted head. The blow catches her completely unaware and the force of it knocks the front of her head against the door. She whirls around, murder lighting up her eyes and as she brings her sword up.
“I’ll kill you for that.” She whispers icily.
With a resounding crash the door finally gives way to Kearika, and the whole thing smashes into Mendalde. She falls to the floor, dazed and flattened by the weight of the door. Kearika pins her there with a booted foot, and lowers the spiked tip of her halberd to Mendalde’s throat. With a pop everything snaps back to normalcy. The sun looks a little lower.
“How long have I been here?” I ask Kearika blearily.
“More than half an hour. I couldn’t hear you talking, so I became curious. I felt something happening to you, so I decided it was time to check on you. Karl trying to stop me just confirmed my suspicions.” She says.
“What did she do to you Caius?” Kearika asks,
“I do not know, I was about to ask her about her magic and then everything felt fine. Like I did not want to ask anything anymore.” I say, rubbing my forehead as I speak. I never read anything about necromancers having that sort of power. She did not use any aether for magic, I would have sensed that and stopped it. So what did she do?
“Have the Zauberei done anything while I was gone?” I ask.
Kearika shakes her head before she kneels down and shifts the door off of Mendalde. She picks Mendalde up by the front of her armor and shakes her roughly. Mendalde groans and stirs slightly but she doesn’t open her eyes. Kearika shrugs and just shakes her harder.
Mendalde’s eyes snap open, she grabs Kearika’s wrists and headbutts her. As she does her helmet shudders to life and bites Kearika. It’s teeth gouge Kearika deeply, tearing bloody furrows down her face. Kearika gives a pained cry as Mendalde presses closer with her animated wolf helmet.
Kearika struggles to free her hands, but Mendalde holds them tight in her grip. The wolf continues to savage Kearika, leaving long bloody trails across her head and face. Kearika stops fighting Mendalde, and falls with her to the floor. She drives bother her knees into Mendalde’s armored stomach as she does. The stone plate cracks slightly under the impact and Mendalde gasps as the air is driven from her lungs. I need to stop this, before Kearika kills her.
Creating wards and other defensive magic is my specialty, which required a deep understanding of the application of aether. Any mage could stop another mage, but usually by using a similar or greater amount of aether. In effect, they must know the spell being worked, or be able to shut it down through brute strength. I’ve been trained to do so with a minimal amount of effort.
Imagine a blade, with an edge so sharp it can cut the soul. I exhale slowly, blocking out the snarling and yelling. The veins in my arm grow cold as the aether races through them, travelling to the end of my staff where it forms a ragged, guttering
blade. The last scraps of the aether Mendalde gave me drains away, condensed at the end of my staff as an edge of swirling colors.
With a measured swipe, I cut through the helmet and Mendalde’s armor. The wolf gives a howl as it slowly crumbles to dust, the whole thing collapsing in on itself. Her armor follows suit, and for good measure I destroy the sword as well. It rapidly rots away into nothingness, leaving behind a fetid stench. Mendalde glares up at me, a blood chilling snarl on her face. At least she is not armored any more.
“Are you willing to talk now?” I ask her. When she doesn’t answer, Kearika elbows her in the face.
“Caius asked you a question. You can answer him, or deal with me.” Kearika say, a furious look in her eyes. Her blood streams down her face, splattering all over Mendalde. Mendalde looks out the door at Karl’s prostrate form and sighs.
“I think you should let me go, and stop asking questions.” Mendalde says, her voice taking on a deep resonant tone, her eyes becoming hypnotic again. Kearika slams her by the shoulders into the ground, and leans in toward her.
“Try anything, anything at all and I’ll stop being so restrained.” Kearika snarls to Mendalde. Even with our damaged link I can feel the rage pouring out from her, the barely checked urge to end this in the simplest way possible. Mendalde shakes her head and nods weakly.
“Okay, I’ll answer some questions.” She says.
“Are you a Necromancer?” I ask directly.
“Is that all? Why yes Caius, I am.” Mendalde replies with a weak chuckle.
“What are you doing pretending to be a Tower mage? How did you stay hidden for so long? Are there more like you?” I ask, anxiously leaning in closer to Mendalde. Mendalde rolls her eyes and gives me a sarcastic smirk.
“What makes you think I’m pretending? I’ve always been with the Tower. I didn’t have trouble hiding because the Tower knows about me, has always known about me. As for the rest of the order, I’m not naming names if that’s what you want.” She says dryly.
I stand up quickly and begin pacing, Kearika gives me a worried look. Mendalde cannot be out here on Tower business. The necromancers were wiped out by the tower hundreds of years ago, whenever there is even a rumor of necromancy the Tower roots it out. She has to be lying.
“Lying will not help you Mendalde. Kearika and I will drag the two of you before the council to be tried for your crimes.” I say softly. They will know what to do with this.
“Who do you think sent me out here to exterminate this little rebellion?” Mendalde says with a snicker. Exterminate the Zauberei? That seems a tad extreme.
“What are you talking about Mendalde, the Tower does not just slaughter people just because they do not like mages.” I say.
“They do when those people kill mages, they do when that same group threatens to wrest control of their empire away from them. Open your eyes Caius, I’m here because the Tower needs people like me!” Mendalde snaps.
“The Tower serves the Kingdom, they do not control it!” I shout, a deep sense of frustration welling up inside of me. I will not listen to her slander the Tower like this. They may be ambitious, but they would not work with Necromancers!
“Caius, what do you think the War of the Souls was?” Kearika asks me, slowly relaxing her grip on Mendalde as she does.
“That war started because your people’s shamans were performing dangerous magic! Their dabbling’s might have destroyed your whole tribe!” I snap at her, feeling cornered.
“Caius, you’ve studied the magic of my tribe. You know that’s not what they were doing!” Kearika shouts as she jumps to her feet. Mendalde slowly crawls away on her back, trying to skirt around Kearika and I.
“You want me to believe the Kingdom went to war with your tribe, just because the Tower told them to? Do you realize how preposterous that sounds?” I yell. This is not happening.
“Yes! That’s exactly what I’m saying. We know in the North that the Tower went to war with us so they could take what our shamans had learned. They wanted the secrets of our teachings, they wanted the power that comes with them!” Kearika exclaims.
“It’s true laddie.” Adalan says from the doorway, the barrel of his weapon resting against the crown of Mendalde’s head. She’d crawled all the way to Karl and has been working on getting his sword free.
“At least, that’s what we thought in the war. I know I did, and so did my wife.” Adalan says softly. Mendalde gives a small huff and stops working at the sword hilt.
“Unfortunately, right now’s not really the time for this sort of discussion. The Zauberei seem like they’re getting ready for one last go. Can we all at least agree to work together for a little while longer?” Adalan asks tiredly
Mendalde nods slowly, as do Kearika and I. I am going to get to the bottom of this.
“I’m okay with that for now.” Karl says from the floor. We all turn to look at him.
“You’ve been awake this whole time?” Mendalde asks with venom in her voice.
“It’s been a very long day for me álainn” Karl says, still lying face down on the ground “and this floor is very comfortable. Especially after being hit in the face.”
“He was in my way.” Kearika says with a shrug. I roll my eyes and reach into my pouches for more water to clean off Kearika’s face. I try to be gentle as I wipe the crusting blood off her face, but she still winces at my ministrations.
“I am sorry for yelling at you Kearika, I should not have lost my temper.” I say Kearika looks down at me with those fierce blue eyes of her, her scowl softening into a grin.
“Don’t worry about it Caius, I’m a big girl. You raising your voice isn’t going to hurt me.” She says. I smile back at her, and she shrugs before pulling me into a hug. A hug speckled with blood and sweat, but still a much appreciated one.
“We’ll get this figured out once we get out of here.” She says, and I nod in agreement. Mendalde and Karl make gagging noises and Kearika turns to scowl at them.
Screaming filters in through the destroyed main entrance. A few seconds later, an armored body comes through it. We all jump at the crash, Karl scrabbles up from the floor and readies himself. The body twitches and leaks blood from dozens of finger sized holes its armor. The shrieking continues outside, but over it a loud hissing can be heard. Hissing?
Oh no.
The shrieking stops outside, cutting off with a metallic crunch! I glance over at Kearika, who’s gone pale at the sound.
“Kearika. Kearika!” I hiss at her, after a moment she woodenly turns to look at me me with wide eyes “Get our packs. It is time to go!”
She nods shakily and goes to retrieve them from our rooms. An odd clanking sound comes from outside, the sound of an armored body being dragged towards us.
Another heavily armored corpse comes sailing in through the door, this one missing both arms. A lithe shadow comes in from outside, one with talons and claws. Kearika comes back with both of our packs on her shoulders, her halberd held out shakily in front of her.
The elf rushes in, the same one from the mountain. Who could forget a throatful of teeth? Karl and Mendalde surge forward to meet it. Karl’s blade lashes out, the tip digging deeply into its armored scales. A lightning fast slap from a clawed hand turns his face into a bloody ruin and he falls to the ground. Why did it chase us so far? Elves are supposed to be highly territorial.
Mendalde gives a shriek and her hands flare with that flickering flame of hers. The elf dashes forward and lashes out with one hand, its claws wrapping around Mendalde’s throat. Effortlessly the elf lifts her from the floor. Mendalde smashes a handful of black fire into its face, but it sizzles harmlessly on the elf’s armored hide. With a scoff it throws her across the house, and she smashes into the back wall. It stalks towards us, a hungry light in its eyes.
“I told you I’d come Kearika. I told you.” It hisses and it begins to laugh as it comes closer. Adalan forces his way past us and takes a shot with his blunderbuss. The elf casually smashes
him to the ground, and he doesn’t get back up.
With a wild howl Kearika chops with her halberd, which buries itself in the elf’s shoulder. How is it this tough? Kearika managed to run it through last time with a bandit’s sword! The elf snarls, a sound like butter hitting a hot pan. Kearika struggles to pull her halberd out, a look of wild fear plastered across her face. That red smoke from before leaks out around the edges of the wound, giving the air a metallic tang.
“It’s not your turn yet little one.” It hisses, casually grabbing Kearika by her armor and throwing her across the room next to Mendalde. With a wince, it pulls the halberd from its shoulder and comes closer to me. It’s sizzling, sparking red blood drips off the edge of it, turning to smoke as it falls.
“I have a promise to keep.” It says as it stalks closer to me. I do not feel afraid, how odd. I was terrified last time, nearly overwhelmed by its presence. I keep backing away until there’s nowhere to go, the elf has me up against a wall.
The elf swings Kearika’s halberd in a blur that buries it in my ribs with a meaty thunk. I look down at it, the blade is so deep it almost reaches the middle of me. That is, unfortunate. The pain is crippling, so intense that I can’t even scream. My legs buckle, but I can’t fall, the elf keeps me up with the halberd. Think Caius, there has to be a way out.
My own aether supply is nearly depleted. Pouring out with my blood I suppose. I cannot even use my magic, it will only help the elf. I wonder how Mendalde could use hers? The elf leans in close, staring into my eyes. I glassily look back into those predatory grey orbs, my hands scrabbling against the blood slick halberd. The elf shakes the halberd, snarling at me and raising its clawed hand to take my head off. I close my eyes and look away. After a few seconds of still having my head attached, I crack my eyes back open.
“Worthless.” It snarls. The elf gives me a disgusted look and wrenches the halberd out. I give a strangled gasp, finally collapsing to the floor and trying to keep my blood inside. Kearika and Mendalde have struggled their feet, coming up behind the elf. I convulse as my magic starts to take me apart to heal my mortal wound. As my body comes apart the blood loss slows, but the elf heals as well.
Whisper of the End Page 16