As I scanned the chamber, something not quite catches my eye. To the rear of the royal guard there’s a spot. Almost like a shadow, but one so slippery my eyes can’t seem focus on it. Whenever I’d get close to making out what it is, it’d slip away again. A shadow that can’t be seen? Ice shoots through my veins and cold sweat rolls down my back.
Mendalde. Why is she here with the royal guard?
Caius starts next to me, my reaction bleeding over into him. He looks around in a panic and then shakes my arm.
“What is it Kearika?” He hisses.
“In the back, near the chamber wall. Don’t you see it?” I ask him, pointing in the spot’s general direction.
“N-no. Should I? There is just some weird shadow.” He replied, squinting at it.
“That’s Mendalde, Caius. She told me back in Hurendale that people aren’t allowed to look at her.” I tell him, shifting back and forth on the balls of my feet.
“How? I saw her head get torn off.” Caius says, rubbing his eyes and squinting at the shadow again.
“I’m sure it’s her. Besides, Avalin said she could survive something like that, remember?” I ask him.
“Fighting through the royal guard is out then.” He says, rising to his feet.
“Definitely. I want as much space between us and her as possible.” I reply.
“Look. the Zauberei are doing something.” Caius says, pointing to a commotion behind their lines. A score of them have pulled small bombs from their packs, their fuses burning haphazardly as they tumble through the air.
Caius and I wait until the first salvo of them gets thrown into the clash between the Zauberei and the royal guard. As a ragged line of explosions rips down their ranks as we sprint into the choking smoke. Caius has a hand planted on my back as we try to navigate the tangle of bodies and blood at top speed. At least the smoke isn’t an issue for us. Just like the siege of the house, my enhancements pierced the smoke with ease.
The mages are just over three quarters of the way across the chamber, so it would be long sprint with Caius behind me. Alone I could have made that dash in under ten seconds, with Caius it would take considerably longer. The two sides are crashing back together as they shook off the ringing explosions. A solid wall of violence collapses behind us as we run, the crash metal and bodies meeting is deafening.
We’re halfway to the mages when I lose my halberd. One of the royal guards is struggling to her feet, and she’s directly in our path. My hands slip and instead of knocking her back down, I impale her on the point of my halberd instead. Rather than slowing down to retrieve it and getting swept up in the melee, I opt to just let it go, though it pains me to do it. Have to get Caius through this.
The mages are no more than twenty feet away when a chilling laughter pierces the clamor of the battlefield. Cold, murderous laughter gives everyone pause as it slices through the bedlam. We’re so close! A wispy black smoke is flowing over the heads of the royal guard, swirling and condensing around us. Caius’s hand slips off my back, and I feel him tumble to the ground behind me. Dammit! I slide to a stop on the blood-soaked stone, spinning around to go back for him.
Karl stands in between us, that frigid smile on his face and his sword in his hand. Black smoke blows off it in wisps, reaching hungrily out towards the dead and dying around us. I don’t slow down, letting out a roar as Karl charges towards Caius. I throw all my weight into him as we connect with a bone shattering impact. He spins away from me, black smoke leaking from his pulverized face.
I skid to a stop next to Caius, who’s picking himself up off the ground, a dazed look on his face. I grab him by the arm and pull him up to standing. There’s a fist sized hole on the back of his robes, which is smoking. The silver wire in the fabric glows with heat, but he’s otherwise unharmed. I knew that robe was a good idea. Caius leans against me, still weaving back and forth as I steer us towards the mages.
Karl is standing again, laughing insanely as blackness pours out from his wounds. Wait. I didn’t hit him in the chest. Karl no longer has his white jacket and cape, instead he’s wearing the back leather of a royal guard. He bends down and picks up his sword from his corpse, rolling his neck as he does.
He advances on us, his blade flicking out at us as he draws closer. I deflect a few of his probing strikes with my silver dagger, trying to maneuver past him without exposing Caius to his blade. Karl continues to test my defenses, thrusting at my face and cutting at my legs. I stop some of his attacks but not all. The ones that I miss skitter off my wards, which are beginning to flicker and fail. Caius is growing heavier in my arms, and his feet are practically dragging across the floor.
Karl dances around us, nimbly stepping over bodies and past the roaring combat that surrounds us. He’s done this before, he moves so naturally. I’m constantly turning my head, trying to take in everything going on around us, but Karl only watched me. With a short dash and a feint he gets around me and goes for Caius. There’s no way to block his attack, so instead I put myself in harm’s way.
The long blade of his sword strikes below my breastplate, penetrating my leather armor easily, and punches out through the front of me. Wards finally gave out, which means that sword is seriously bad news if it took them out on its own. With no other option I let Caius fall to the floor. If I don’t get rid of Karl somehow, he’ll kill us both anyway.
I stand over Caius, intent on keeping myself between him and everything else. The wound on my stomach is leaking a bubbling black liquid, and my eyes feel heavy. Karl steps in, running me through the shoulder as my numb arm refuse to move fast enough to block. He kicks me in the stomach, and I trip and fall over Caius. My head is swimming now and my vision has become blurry. He’s too fast.
Caius shifts under me, a twitch running through his body as a black haze advances on me. My vision snaps back into focus just after Karl rams his long blade down through my shin and into the stone beneath us. I howl from the pain, feeling my blood race through my body. The numbness is blown away by a burning warmth, which races outwards from my left hand.
I lay limply against Caius, waiting for Karl to get closer. His ego will force him closer, and then I can take him down. In the back of my mind Caius’s thoughts trickle back in as he wakes back up. Karl pulls out a knife, examining it in the flickering light. All around us men and women kill each other, yet none approach him. With a cold smile and an evil glint in his eyes as he flips the knife up into the air…
...and I explode up from the floor, my leg tearing away from the embedded sword...
...and Caius rises to his feet as he throws his hands out in front of him...
...and Karl draws a pistol from behind him, levelling it at my heart…
In a flash and a cloud of smoke the pistol goes off, blowing a hole straight through my breastplate. My knife slips out of nerveless fingers, and I take a few stumbling steps forward towards Karl. I try and pull my last throwing knife from my hip, but I only succeed in dropping it to the floor as well.
“I told you, I kill who I want.” Karl says, catching the falling knife in his hand. With one last smirk he smashes his fist into the side of my head, and everything goes black.
Chapter XXXI - Caius
Duras - Knihovna
29th of Telod, 1873 MD
I feel the shot that pierces Kearika’s heart, and for a second my own stops beating as well. As Karl smashes Kearika to the floor, the last words of my spell leave my lips. I fall to one knee as my hip spontaneously explodes back into bone fragments, backlash from the spell. She will only get up one more time. We need to get out of here.
Silvery wisps spiral up Karl’s legs, binding his arms and wrapping around his throat. He screams as they tighten, burning through his armor and flesh. The wisps grow longer, searing their way across his body. My hip grudgingly comes back together, but I find myself leaning on my staff as I walk up to him.
Kearika lies limp on the ground, the blood leaking from her intermingling with the blood coating th
e floor. She should have been healed by now. She is not dead, I would know that, so why is she not getting up?
The battle is not going well, the royal guard’s numbers allows them to absorb their tremendous losses. I can feel the deaths of the mages as the guards finally got to grips with them. Their deaths release huge amounts of aether and the air around their bodies ripples with energy. Here and there guardsmen disappear, consumed in brilliant flashes of light.
From the roiling mass of aether came the voices of the dead mages, their spirits calling out from beyond. Icy claws drag across my skin and burrow into my brain. There’s so much untapped power floating through the air, enough to get Kearika and I away from here and more.
Karl continues to struggle against my bindings, but to no avail. He may be powerful, but he is no mage. Without Mendalde he is only as dangerous as I allow him to be. A seething hatred burns in his eyes as I approach him. Gingerly I reach down and pick up Kearika’s knife, which had fallen inches away from her outstretched arm.
Why is my magic not working? I need to see what is wrong with her before it is too late. With enough aether I could heal her, but using that much would burn me out.
The screaming aether is constantly intruding on my thoughts, weakening my concentration. I cannot take us from the Tower like this, even with the focusing chambers. There is too much death for me to pierce the aether. I need an experienced mage, someone with more power. There’s no way we would make it to the mage’s lines now. There are just too many people between us.
That leaves one option: Mendalde.
With a snap of my fingers Kearika’s halberd appears, the worn leather grip comfortable in my hands. I turn my attention back to Karl, carefully pressing the tip of the halberd against his throat. He snarls as he tries to impale himself on it, but he’s completely paralyzed by my magic.
“I want to make a deal with Mendalde. She teleports us out of here, and in exchange you live.” I tell him, meeting his gaze levelly. Karl rolls his eyes, but no sound comes from his mouth. With a flick of my hand I allow him to speak.
“You’ve got stones you know, but she doesn’t need to get involved. I’m going to break out of these chains of yours, and then I’m going to break what little spine you have.” He snarls. Blood trickles down his neck, the wickedly sharp tip of the halberd slicing through his skin as he speaks.
“You and I are not going to settle anything. These “chains” are the perfect prison for you. Mendalde might have layered you with protective spells and enchantments, but those are my specialty.” I tell him coldly.
I lay one hand on his chest, letting the heat of my magic flow into him. The gaping chest wound closes, healing over completely in seconds. After a few more moments all his cuts and scrapes have been healed as well. I take a deep breath and stare into his eyes, which are becoming bloodshot.
“What have you done to me Caius!” He raves, his face flushing a deep crimson as he struggles.
“You are going to tell Mendalde that we are going to make a deal.” I tell him, my voice deepening with each word. Karl’s eyes move spastically, but his snarl slides off his face as it goes slack. His eyes finally stop rolling around, replaced by an empty stare.
“Mendalde is coming.” Karl says slowly, fumbling over the words.
The left side of his face droops, blood leaks from his nose and eyes. I look over at Kearika, but she still hasn’t moved. I kneel next to her, leaving her halberd standing next to me. Straight through her heart, but that should not have stopped my healing. The wound must be cursed somehow. I can fix this, we just need to get out of here.
I see a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye, Kearika’s finely tuned instincts have me clumsily throwing myself backwards. A wooden blade whistles through the now empty space, gouging a chunk out of the floor. A sloppy block with Kearika’s halberd sends the next thrust through my swirling robe instead of my gut. I stumble back, my boots slipping in the gore underfoot.
Mendalde lets out a guttural shout, whipping the blood around her into a frenzy. It flows from the bodies around us, floating through the air in an orbit around her. It coalesces into a long undulating whip in her off hand. An errant Zauberei stumbles out of the melee, the whip streaks out and wraps itself around his neck. Mendalde pulls him into her long blade, then kicks his rapidly rotting corpse off the end of it.
Her face is calm as she advances towards me, the black pits of her eyes never looking away from mine. Her stone armor glistens red, but there isn’t a drop of blood on her flowing dress. As she passes the dying give out small cries, their hands outstretched as they collapse lifelessly. Karl had slipped through the melee, effortlessly weaving between combatants to hunt us. The melee moves away from Mendalde, those who stray too close are cut down.
My own magic courses through me, I would need every advantage to survive this. I’m strong enough to throw an armored man clear across a room. My skin is tougher than steel, and anything that made it through that would heal rapidly. Kearika’s halberd hums in my hands, the metal glowing from the aether flowing through it.
I just have to last long enough to get her to talk.
Mendalde dashes forward, clearing the gap in a blink of an eye, I catch her downward chop on the halberd’s edge. The wooden blade bites into the steel but skitters off, leaving a finger sized gouge in it. The smallest look of annoyance passes across her face as she ducks under my swipe. The whip wraps around my leg, tugging on it in an attempt to knock me to the floor. I kick the ensnared leg back, pulling Mendalde off balance and into me. She lets go of the whip and uses her free hand to push my halberd aside as she smashes the hilt of her sword into my head.
Her blow bounces off my forehead, doing nothing but increasing Mendalde’s annoyance. With a growl she kicks me in the chest, sending herself stumbling backwards. Seeing an opening I thrust with the point of the halberd, hoping to actually wound Mendalde. My hopes are dashed when Mendalde sidesteps the attack, locks her blade behind the axe head of the halberd and deftly pins it to the floor.
“Mendalde, we just want to leave here.” I gasp at her, trying to lift the halberd but to no avail.
She responds by hammering her fists into my jaw, snapping my head up. I let go of my weapon, trying to grab a hold of her and use my enhanced strength. She bats my hands away, throwing another combination of punches into my face and throat. I shrug all of them off, finally catching a hold of her wrist. Those actually hurt!
A burst of black flame nearly takes my head off, and the second one evaporates against my robes. The silver wire on the inside grows hot, the fabric begins to smoke faintly. I turn and bring her elbow down over my shoulder, snapping her arm backwards. With a howl of pain Mendalde grabs me by the back of my neck with her remaining hand.
“Submit or die Caius.” She growls, the talons on her armor digging into my throat.
I try to pry her hand off my neck, but my strength is gone and I can feel blood running down my skin. My legs buckle, dropping me to the floor as she drains the life out of me. Mendalde kneels down in front of me, my abused throat caving in under her grip. I...I can’t heal! Mendalde’s eyes glow a faint blue as I grow weaker, the same light spreading along the veins of her arm. All warmth has left my body as I sag in Mendalde’s grip.
The wailing voices of the dead have become unbearably loud. I can feel the cold touch of them on my skin, their grasping hands pulling me away. I have to do something.
As my vision fades into incomprehensibility, I finally lose all sense of Kearika. My arms hang limply by my side, I cannot resist her anymore. Now I can see myself, kneeling down on the blood-soaked floor. My eyes are their original brown, dull and unfocused, staring straight into me.
“Your soul is mine Caius; your power is mine. The Tower is mine.” Mendalde whispers in my ear, her dry voice clear.
A gleaming silver axe flashes in front of me, and in its reflection, I see Mendalde’s face. It lops her hand off at the wrist. With a gasp I open my own eyes, gaspi
ng for breath. I slip back from Mendalde’s furious glare, but isn’t directed at me.
“This might not kill you, but I hope like hell it hurts.” Alaric snarls as he cleaves Mendalde’s shoulder with his axe. Mendalde hurls a ball of fire at Alaric, but he sidesteps easily. She missed?
I begin crawling towards Kearika as Alaric presses his advantage. Another blow shatters one of Mendalde’s knees, but her counterattack causes Alaric’s hand to bloat and decompose. Alaric drops his axe to the floor and draws a silver knife from his hip. A blast of flame from Mendalde knocks him flat on his back, his knife twirling into the melee. A Zauberei in flowing silver chain leaps forward, interposing herself between the two of them.
I’ve finally reached Kearika, I even managed to drag her halberd with me. Karl is free of his bonds; his corpse is still burning on the ground. His new body is stalking towards us, his blade leading the way.
With a shaking finger I draw the symbols for a teleportation spell in the blood surrounding us. I never was good at teleportation, but with enough power I can do it. I spare a glance towards the crackling aether floating through the air. Karl’s boot pins my wrist to the ground as I finish the last symbol.
“Where do you think you’re going Caius?” He asks, pressing the tip of his blade against my neck.
If we don’t get out of here now, we’ll die here. The Zauberei are finally breaking, their ranks being overrun by the royal guard. They’d have to fight their way out of these chambers, and then the Tower as well. The mage’s lines are collapsing as well, because they’re finally teleporting away.
I’m not going to stay here and be Mendalde’s plaything, and I’m certainly not going to leave Kearika here either. Teleporting us anywhere significant would require a lot of power, even with the spell drawn out in blood. Power that’s floating through the air above us.
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