She has a magic scarf-cape! Val gushed through the mindlink. Why didn’t anyone tell me she has a magic scarf-cape! How do you even get a magic scarf-cape? Aaaahhhh!
As my fourteen-year-old sister tried to smother her adoration, Anahita suddenly swooped downward, hovering a few dozen feet as she sped toward the gate. She clicked her feet together in a suspicious, deliberate sequence, and then flapped her wing-cape to shoot back upward.
She sailed over the city gates. And in her passage, the ground erupted with sharp needles of air, shredding apart the Wretches and wounding the greater Hordebeasts.
A trap spell! Val gushed as she ran with the rest of us. She even covered her escape with a trap spell! That is so! Coooool!
Anahita flapped her wings once again, and began soaring in a specific direction.
The surviving monsters bellowed in pain, but perked their heads at a cry from one of the Howlers on the walls. Their cries of rage turned to shouts of alarm as they realized an enemy was heading for their Pit. They crowded around the massive doors, banging on them as the Hordebeasts inside hurriedly opened them.
Should we attack? I heard Breyn asked, but Salima shook her head.
They still haven’t detected our presence, she explained as we slowed our rapid jog. If we fight in here, they will know there was more resistance in this city than the Lord Challenger’s Starsown.
She’s not my—nevermind, I interjected, but Salima’s right about the city. We’ll wait until Breena and I help Anahita lure them far away from the Pit. Then you all will destroy the lightly guarded Pit, and then we’ll slaughter these idiots somewhere out in the middle of the desert.
That does sound like the best option, Gabin said as the gate finally opened and the panicked Horde throng rushed out of the city.
The Howlers didn’t bother to close it. Instead they sunk their claws into the city wall and began climbing downward, dropping to the sands when they were only a few dozen feet from the ground.
Then they joined the throng and began chasing after the winged woman gliding gracefully through the sky.
Aren’t they being kind of dumb right now? Val asked as we followed the Horde some distance away. I mean, they’re leaving everything completely unguarded. The city’s wide open and everything!
Breena lifted off of my shoulder and began flying behind me.
They would have been a lot smarter if a Spawn or Malus Man was with them, she explained as she buzzed carefully out of view. But the only leaders they’ve had for decades were those false Challengers at the city square, and they’re all dead. The Cur in command isn’t used to giving orders on this level, and he’s panicking. I don’t think Anahita has ever hit them this hard, so they’re completely off balance, and expecting her to have another wild trick in store for taking out the Pit.
Does she? Val asked excitedly, her voice a few octaves shy of ‘fan girl squee.’
We passed under the massive doors, still trailing carefully behind the Horde throng, our Risen bodies letting us trail them all too easily.
No, Breena said flatly, or she would have already gone for it first. She’s just trying to make a statement to prevent more children being targeted.
And she’s at her limit, Breena whispered to me privately. I can tell by her tone. Something’s happened, and she doesn’t think she can get away from it anymore.
“Cavus,” I spat, and Teeth growled at the very mention of the name.
Probably, Breena acknowledged as she fluttered behind me.
But she did not sound completely certain.
We’ll figure it out when we catch up with her, I replied, keeping my eyes on the cloud of dust the Horde army was kicking up into the air. Ask her how far away the Horde Pit is.
Anahita’s figure continued flying through the air, getting smaller as she gained distance. Her speed seemed dependent on the wind, but there was plenty of it at the moment, and the Curs had to flap furiously just to remain in pursuit.
We slowed down a bit to make sure we wouldn’t overtake them.
Okay, she’s ready, Breena said as we crested another dune. She says ‘what does he mean he didn’t agree to that? He just said that he was going to heed my warning about the Pit. I was just about to compliment him for being smart. I’ve been jumping from rooftop to rooftop all this time thinking ‘thank goodness, now that the Challenger is finally here after almost FIFTY YEARS, he’s proving himself to be smart. Maybe he’ll even live up to all the gushing my primary body made over him when she was last here, and I can enjoy getting to know him. I’m just venting now, Breena. Don’t repeat anything but my question to him.
My bonded familiar let out an exhausted, satisfied breath.
Those were her exact words. Gosh, that was a mouthful to say, even through the mindlink, she complained, but at least I remembered it all. Now where were we?
I grinned as I ran.
Good job, Breena, I said, and tell her that I’m still listening. I just need to know where the Horde Pit is, and where she plans to meet up afterwards. And if you don’t mind, ask her if there’s anything else my people and I can help her with.
Anahita seemed to speed up in answer to my words. The Curs gliding after her swooped forward, increasing their own speed. Meanwhile, now that they weren’t confined to the city streets, the ground Hordebeasts finally picked up speed, tearing after the flying woman at a respectable pace.
But thanks to our Air magic enhancements, it wasn’t a pace we had any trouble following.
Breena squinted and made a face as we ran. Before I could ask what was wrong, she began opening and closing her mouth rapidly, waving her hands about as if she was having an argument.
Having seen this happen before, I closed my mouth and focused on minding my own business.
“I can’t believe her,” Breena muttered out loud as she flew close to my ear. “‘You don’t understand, Breena,’” she mimicked in a dramatic variant of Anahita’s soft tone, “‘it doesn’t matter how many impossible things you’ve seen him done, in a row. My situation is different.’ I swear, if I hear that from another part of myself one more time…ugh, nevermind.” She stopped rolling her eyes and looked at me. “Okay, Wes. The thing is, she doesn’t believe you can help her. She says she’s doomed. Which you’ve heard before. And I told her you’ve heard that before, but she also says that her situation is unique, and that you can’t help her, and that you need to just give up and move on. So in other words, she’s trying to convince you that her situation is different from Stell’s, by saying the exact same things Stell has been saying, until we all ganged up on her and managed to beat some sense into her. Metaphorically, I mean,” she corrected, “don’t start thinking that we did the Starsown version of self-harm. But anyway. She wants you to ignore her and just focus on helping the citizens here, and then moving on to the next village. And to respect her wishes, and not follow her to her death.”
“Gee, what a surprise,” I said as we ran up the next dune. “But since you’re technically her, I’m going to assume I have your consent to ignore her wishes and not abandon her. Now, did she say where she was going?”
“Oh, you do get us,” Breena hummed sweetly. “And yes, I dragged that out of her. She’s going to fly close to the other group of Horde coming out of the Pit to try and pincer her in, then make a hard turn west for the open desert, and get as far away from everyone else as possible. Then she’ll pull all the Horde as far out into the open desert as possible, so that we can swoop in and strike at the Pit while it’s unprotected. She also wanted to thank you for actually listening, and she’s sorry she was a little rude earlier. And that she couldn’t really meet you in person. And that she doesn’t have time to say anything more.”
“That’s nice of her,” I said in a neutral tone, peering through the sand the Horde mob ahead of me was throwing up. “Ask her if she wouldn’t mind letting you know when she’s about to bank out into the middle of the desert.”
“She just said she didn’t have time to
say any more,” Breena pointed out in a tone that lacked argument, “and she can’t initiate a whisper spell on her own.”
“No, she can’t,” I replied, still running, “but she managed to speak to an entire crowd less than an hour ago without anyone’s help. Just ask her to send some kind of signal so that we know to stop following her. We can’t tell what a ‘hard turn’ is if we’re not sure where we’re going, in the middle of a desert.”
“Very fair point,” Breena said cheerfully, “and if someone else wasn’t being so dramatic right now, she’d already have realized that.”
She proceeded to reactivate her magic, and I turned my attention back to pursuit.
“She said you had a point,” Breena informed me a moment later. “She’s also mad at you again, by the way.”
I figured, but chose not to reply.
Four minutes later, the flying Curs over our heads began screeching. I peered through the clouds of sand and saw dark shapes flapping toward the woman still gliding through the air.
The Horde guarding the Pit had arrived to fence her in, apparently not willing to risk letting her get any closer to their lair.
Anahita flew straight toward them for a few more moments. Then she dipped one wing of her cloak and banked hard to the right. The swarm of gargoyle-like Horde flapped after her, followed by the jeering monsters on the ground.
“Here is your sign, Challenger,” Anahita’s soft voice carried to my ears, carried along by an Air magic spell. “Goodbye. I leave my world, and my other bodies, in your hands. Please care for them well.”
She twisted one more time in the air, and sped for the horizon.
Holy cow, her voice is hot, Teeth said immediately. Also, is she in trouble? Should we go help her?
For fuck’s—I started to say, before giving up and sending a message through the mindlink. Alright everyone, you know the plan. Let’s stick to it.
Which one? Eadric asked, as we all came to a stop. Yours, or the one that worked?
Surprised snickering swept through the group, though it was hushed later. Which meant that someone new had found the asshole funny.
Follow Anahita’s directions and wait for the Horde to get out of position, then everyone but Breena and I will head—I looked up quickly, at the second mass of Horde churning sand after the flying woman. Head toward the tracks that the second small army of Horde left behind when they charged out from the Pit after her. Follow them back to the lair, then enter it and blow it up with Ball-ee. Any questions?
Nope, Val said, I got it. Hide back and let everyone else fight, then sneak attack with our favorite heal-jelly.
You haven’t explained what you were going to do, though, Karim pointed out.
I haven’t? I asked, confused. Are you sure? I looked around at my group. Is anyone really unclear on what I’m about to do?
No, Breyn sighed, slumping his shoulders.
No, Weylin rolled his eyes.
Yes, Salima said, tilting her head as she looked at the others. What is he going to do?
Follow Anahita and try and save her from whatever problem she’s having, Val drolled, since she’s his steward or girlfriend or whatever.
Wait, she is? the Dunegraced woman asked, sounding further confused. Did she…agree to those?
She probably doesn’t know she agreed, Weylin offered helpfully, but trust me, it’s not as bad as it sounds. It’s just very complicated.
I sighed dramatically, to give everyone what they needed.
Breena and I can’t help you all fight, I began patiently, because our presence will trigger whatever trap the Horde have in their lair. That was probably why they were able to hit us so hard last time. So the only thing left for us to do is to fly after Anahita and help her draw the Horde even further away. And if she really is in some kind of extra danger, then we have to help save her from it, or Stell loses a Satellite on this world, and suffers whatever consequences that entails, all while being on the run herself. I’ll stay connected with you all via the mindlink. If that goes haywire for whatever reason, Breena and Petal will use their whisper magic to maintain communication.
I turned and looked at the Horde. They were still in full pursuit, but it was clear that Anahita was gaining more distance on them. They’d eventually realize that they couldn’t catch her, and then return to guarding the Pit.
Unless they had an even bigger fish to catch.
I gave the signal to act, and we committed the cardinal sin of splitting the party.
CHAPTER 22: SPLITTING UP
Salima and Weylin led the others toward the Pit. Breena and I took off toward the merging armies of Horde. The pink-haired woman fluttered behind me as I loped forward, buzzing magical calculations as I twirled my hands in a series of arcane gestures. My magic took longer, since I was running, but the idiots still hadn’t noticed me yet, so we had time.
But I was ready in a few minutes, and as the Horde finally gave up their chase I unleashed my chain of spells.
A fireball billowed effortlessly out of each hand—courtesy of casting the spell so much, and of insights gained from the Path of the Archmage. They passed through hastily Scripted and Shaped sand, duplicating and enlarging multiple times before impacting against the two still-merging armies of ground Hordebeasts.
Explosions of yellow-colored heat rocked the sand as bestial bodies burned, shattered, and flew through the air. My attack had killed dozens, possibly even hundreds of the monsters, but packs of survivors still picked themselves off the floor.
That was fine. I had killed more than I had expected to.
Which meant that I was still managing to grow, despite all the restrictions I was struggling under.
But with that done, I turned my attention to the sky, where the more dangerous Hordebeasts awaited.
Breena had been working on a spell of her own while I was casting my magics. The Air and Water sprite had unleashed one of the spells she had read out loud to us yesterday afternoon, knocking the leathery gargoyles about the air in a moderately powerful whirlwind. It wasn’t anything near the level of what Fragglerock had thrown about, but it didn’t need to be.
It just had to distract the fliers long enough for our lightning bolts to tear through them.
This time, Breena supplemented my lightning with her own, channeled through the power of her Boom stick. Her spells joined mine as they passed through the remaining sand-Scripts, turning the formerly clear sky into an inverted super-cell of electricity.
The gargoyle-like Curs twitched, charred, and shattered as a hundred of their number tumbled out of the sky.
The survivors of the ground and air armies took several moments to collect what was left of their wits, finally glancing in my direction.
“Hey, guys!” I shouted, waving both of my arms into the air. “Guess who’s been trying to reach you about your expired warranties?”
Breena groaned at my words.
That was terrible. Even for you, she complained as the Hordebeasts began shouting in rage at the sight of me.
I shrugged and tried to process just how many Horde remained. It had been difficult to get an accurate count on the Curs because they had joined the earlier chase only a few at a time, with one or two flying out of a building every minute, instead of all of them darting after Anahita at the very beginning. Now though, I could tell that there were still over a hundred total, counting the reinforcements from the Pit.
And there were still several hundred Hordebeasts on the ground, counting that same wave of reinforcements.
Meaning that as long as Breena and I fought efficiently, we could probably still tear through them, just between the two of us.
Problem coming your way, I heard Eadric say through the mindlink. Looks like several of the armored super-Spawn we had fought before are just now leaving the Pit.
Shit, I thought, suddenly regretting our splitting up. Do they see you all?
Negative, the dwarf responded after a brief pause. Looks like they’re all coming aft
er you. Do you want us to engage them?
Let them pass, I decided. You can probably beat them, but if you engage them now, it will blow the element of surprise, and there’s no telling what kind of bullshit defenses are left that will activate later. Besides, I’ve still got plenty of mana left, and plenty of time before they catch up to me.
Well yes, but actually no, Eadric corrected. These Spawn can actually fly. Some kind of magic, flaming, green wings. They’re almost out of range, but Salima and Weylin want to know if they should shoot them.
We could have asked him that, Weylin grumbled.
Go ahead and let them come, I replied. Breena is still with me. We can at least manage until you all destroy the Pit.
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