Law and Disorder (Magic City Chronicles Book 6)

by TR Cameron

  He looked back over his shoulder. “The junra and the companion are a team. If one isn’t worthy, neither is the other. You’ve proven you can work together, or you wouldn’t have reached this place. Now it’s time for her test.”

  Idryll laughed. “It’s like Christmas, my birthday, and Halloween all wrapped into one. Bring it on, scumbag.”

  Ruby shouted, “Kick his ass,” and the fight began.

  Chapter Twelve

  Idryll shifted to become a tiger, somehow positive they would fight the battle on four legs. Her opponent shrank in height but spread out in stature, transforming into a black-furred wolf. His uniform ebon color was a stark contrast to her multi-hued coat. When he spoke, she finally got to see what everyone meant when they told her how strange it looked when she talked in her tiger form. A mouth not made for words accused, “You are unworthy.”

  With a hiss, she circled to her left. He mirrored the move, maintaining the distance between them. She countered, “If you were worthy, I’m doubly or triply so. Believe me. I haven’t come this far and gone through this much only to fail my partner by losing to you, dog-face.”

  He laughed, and it sounded like a half-bark. “Many before you said the same, although more civilly. They, too, were incorrect.” Unlike most of the opponents she faced while in this form, he was bigger than she was and as impressively muscled. It would require cleverness and instinct to defeat him. She feinted, but instead of backpedaling as she’d assumed he would, he responded aggressively. Claws scraped along the floor as he charged forward and snapped at her leg when she dodged sideways. Faster than I expected. She turned the dodge into a counterattack, swiping out a clawed paw at his side. He displayed a strange agility that spoke to his part-humanoid nature and leapt in a spinning flip to the side, rather than forward or back.

  Apparently noting something in her expression, he gave another barking laugh. “When you’ve spent as long as I have in your various forms, they tend to run together.”

  “So you’re saying you have the brain of an ordinary wolf and the reaction speed and instincts of an elf? That should make you fairly easy to defeat.” Idryll rushed in during the beat in which he absorbed her message. She snapped at his front leg, catching it with a grazing blow that set him slightly off balance. She twisted and turned, her rear feet scrabbling in an arc as she drove herself toward him again.

  Stars blossomed in her vision as he brought his head around to slam into hers from the side, a move she’d never seen an opponent on four legs use. She stumbled and went down, and he jumped on her back, his teeth scraping the back of her neck. She channeled magic instinctively to her muscles and threw herself sideways, landing on top of him before he rolled them over again. Her body didn’t have enough strength to dislodge him, and those jaws were pushing his teeth in toward her spine.

  Instead of futilely continuing to try to pitch him off, she transformed into her humanoid figure. His weight crushed down on her, but his jaws no longer trapped her smaller neck. She used the opening to stab her fingers back over her shoulder, claws extended and aimed at his eyes. He had no option but to jump aside, and by the time he had recovered to come back at her, she was fully a tiger again.

  He offered her a nod. “Valid technique. Not bad.”

  She gave a derisive snort. “I’m only getting started, cupcake. Sure you don’t want to give this up?”

  He paused and cocked his head to the side for a moment. “You do understand what we’re doing here, right? I could never give up, for if I did, an unworthy candidate might complete the full venamisha. Someone like that could do irreparable damage.”

  Idryll gave a sober bow, touching her nose to her paw. “I apologize. They were only combat words. I respect the sacrifice that keeps you present here.”

  “Then make it worth the effort, companion.” He braced himself, and she charged. This time it was brute force against brute force as they met chest to chest, rearing up on back legs with muscles straining, biting and clawing at their opponent. A hard slice burned across her chest, blood flowing out immediately to stain her fur crimson. She returned a snap to his face that cut him above his eye, blood loss rendering him unable to see from that side. She landed on all four paws again and circled, but he moved faster than before, ensuring she couldn’t get into his blind spot. He growled and thrashed as she darted in, snapping his teeth onto the paw that had been heading for his other eye. He wrenched it hard, and the joint snapped. She limped away, cursing herself for being overly impetuous.

  They continued to circle, Idryll hopping to keep him from coming at her wounded side, him turning to protect his blind spot. She snarled, “I don’t suppose we could call this over.”

  He swung his head from side to side. “It only ends in a defeat. Surrender from my side is unacceptable. You, of course, may give up whenever you like.”

  She pretended to stumble, and he flinched in toward her before he corrected. His response was almost fast enough to keep him safe, but not quite. She raked a claw down his side, opening his skin and giving his lifeblood another path to escape. He snarled, all pretense of civilization gone, and charged in at her, his teeth seeking her throat. Two options presented themselves, and she chose the one she figured would be less expected.

  Idryll transformed into her human form and fell backward, her broken arm cradled against her body as she got her legs under his bulk. Her tiger muscles had stayed during the shape change, so she was able to hold his jaws away while her momentum carried her backward. She kicked out as her back rolled on the floor, pushing her legs out as powerfully as she could, and the wolf flew up and over her, then across the room to slam hard into the floor. She rose to her feet to continue the battle, but he was unconscious.

  A moment later, a wave of magic swept over her, and her wound healed painlessly. When her vision cleared, he stood before her in his humanoid form and sketched a shallow bow. “Well done, companion. You overcame instinct and used wisdom. It is rewarding to see someone like me pass the test.”

  Idryll nodded. “Thank you, guardian. Good luck with your future battles. You serve your partner well, even beyond his death.”

  He smiled and vanished, and Idryll walked over to the other two women. Keshalla said, “Nice move.”

  Ruby lifted an eyebrow. “You got that from Star Trek, didn’t you? Watching old reruns of William Shatner throwing around poorly costumed aliens.”

  Her partner laughed. “I’ll never tell.” She gestured with her chin at the doorway that lay beyond. “I wonder, what do you think we’ll find through there?”

  Ruby shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’m sure whatever it is, we’re up to the task.”

  The three turned and headed forward into the next room. It proved to be even grander than the ones they’d been in, a massive library with three stories of books wrapping around in a circle. Wooden stairs climbed from level to level. Where the rest of the castle had been dark, cold stone, this space was warm and inviting. Idryll groaned. “They’re going to ask you to read. How did they know your secret weakness?”

  Ruby replied, “Har har, very funny. In any case, it doesn’t look too scary in here. Maybe we’re past the hardest part of the test.”

  A pair of large wingback chairs near the room's far end had their backs facing the entrance. A fox suddenly leapt onto the top of one, then sat and stared at them. “Oh, I wouldn’t say that, junra. Of all the rooms you’ve faced, rest assured, this will be the most dangerous.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Ruby gave a soft sigh and tried not to let her irritation at the process of the venamisha show through. “Wow, what a shock. I’m Ruby, this is Idryll, and the one browsing the books over there is Keshalla.” Her mentor had stepped away immediately to examine the shelves.

  Her partner whispered, “Never saw her as much of a reader. More likely to hit someone with a book than open it.”

  She nodded. “Me neither, but she is crazy smart, so not a huge shock.”

  The fox responded,
“The good news is that you have reached your final challenge. Succeed in this test, and you will have completed the trials.”

  A surge of anticipation washed through her. “Really? All of them?”

  The creature replied crossly, “Indeed. I believe that’s what I said.”

  Ruby straightened and strode forward, feeling Idryll doing the same slightly behind and to her right. She stopped at a respectful distance. “So, what is the situation here?”

  He smiled. “Nothing complicated. You must defeat me to complete your test.”

  She frowned. “No offense, but you don’t seem like a particularly strong fighter in that form.” After the shapeshifter in the previous room, she was well aware he probably wasn’t revealing all of his abilities.

  He tilted his head slightly to the side. “No, with that, I cannot argue. Are you prepared?”

  Ruby looked over at Idryll, who nodded. She turned back to the fox. “I am.”

  “Very good. The battle will be fought on a different plane, but know that should you die there, your body here dies, as well. In that likely event, the observer shall be portaled back with her memories of the castle and what has transpired in it removed.”

  Keshalla looked back over her shoulder and scowled. “Messing with other people’s minds is not cool.”

  The fox flicked his tail but didn’t reply to the other woman. Instead, he addressed his final comments directly to her and Idryll. “Good luck, Ruby Achera, companion.”

  The transition from the library to a different place happened without fanfare. One second, Ruby stood in the comfortable room surrounded by books. The next, she stood in a broken landscape surrounded by mass quantities of nothingness. Red earth and black rocks abounded, the former dusty and dry, the latter sharp enough to cut. She muttered, “Obsidian, maybe, or something similar. I don’t like the looks of those edges.”

  Idryll replied, “Agreed.” The ground trembled, and a small hole five feet in front of them discharged a jet of steam that shot ten feet in the air and sustained for several seconds before falling away. Even from their distance, the heat of the eruption was palpable. Her partner continued, “Looks as if lethal steam is on the menu, as well. I’m not going to lie. I really don’t like this place. Let’s go back and fight the wolf guy again.”

  Ruby chuckled. “Probably not an option. Although I’m not sure who we’re fighting.” The answer came from a short distance away as the fox, now double the size of any of its species she’d ever seen, emerged from behind one of the rock projections. She muttered, “Too easy. There’s gotta be a trick here.” It revealed itself a moment later as a cacophony of voices repeated the first fox’s phrase, and a dozen more of the creatures appeared from hiding spots all around them. She drew her sword and dagger and turned in a slow circle to gauge the enemy’s numbers and positions. “So, that’s a lot.” In the corner of her eye, she saw Idryll's claws emerge, and her muscles grow and lengthen as she readied herself for battle. Ruby called, “Any rules?”

  One of the foxes off to the left replied, “Only that you die, junra.” Its voice was harsher, nastier sounding than the other guardians’ had been. I wonder if these are all different beings, or if they’re separate elements of a single being’s personality or some other thing entirely. Maybe I can find out afterward. If there is a later.

  The foxes moved, and Ruby and Idryll flowed in a practiced motion to stand back-to-back. She summoned a force shield around them both, leaving a tiny gap through which she could cast spells. She thrust the dagger through it and sent a wash of fire at the nearest pair of foxes, catching them in mid-charge. One was tan. The other had a coat that vaguely resembled the orange in her partner’s fur. Funny what you notice at times like this.

  The creatures ran through her magic as if it wasn’t even there, entirely unsinged. It didn’t take her mind long to jump from that realization to the conclusion that her shield wouldn’t be particularly valuable against them, either. She shouted, “Scatter,” and ran to the right. Well, this just got a lot more difficult.

  Idryll ran forward at Ruby’s command. She angled toward a trio of foxes that had clustered together, prepared to slash them to ribbons. Her instincts warned her of impending danger, and she threw herself instantly to the right in a spinning jump. Had she continued on her original course, the explosion of fire and steam that blasted out of the ground would’ve fully engulfed her. As it was, she took a painful burn along her left arm, which drew a surprised yelp. Well, that’s embarrassing. She landed cleanly and flipped into a cartwheel in case anyone had been aiming for her landing spot.

  When she stopped moving, two of the foxes were in close range, and the third was vanishing toward her back in her peripheral vision. She picked one and moved at him, angling to put him in the way of his partner so they couldn’t both attack at once. He jumped with his teeth bared, going straight for her throat. She smashed an arm across his trajectory, blocking his effort and knocking him aside while positioning herself for the strike from his partner that had to be coming.

  The other fox went for her leg, and she leapt forward over it, sensing the pack hunting instinct at work. The front two distract me while the third one rips out my Achilles tendon. It’s the strategy I’d use. She angled the jump so she would land near the one she’d batted aside, who was scrambling to regain his feet. She channeled the momentum of the move into a kick that sent him flying. There was no question that something inside him had broken, and he was out of the fight. On the one hand, she felt bad about it. The foxes were smaller and less well-armed, and dammit to hell, cute. On the other, they were trying to kill her, so there was only so much goodwill their novelty could buy.

  She spun and found the other two stalking toward her again, having been joined by a second pair. “Four on one? A couple more friends and maybe it will be a fair fight.” They uttered a sound much like laughing and suddenly increased in size, a ripple through their body that left them bigger when it had passed. She sighed and muttered, “Sure, just had to open your mouth, didn’t you, Idryll?”

  Ruby was surprised at the creatures’ agility. She’d figured they would be nimble, but the way they were able to twist and turn and redirect their flight while in midair was entirely unexpected. One gave her a nasty bite on her cheek when she’d thought it would pass harmlessly by while she defended against another and somehow caught her, anyway. She swung her sword in a wide, low arc, spinning in a circle to clear the surrounding area. The one who jumped at her face during that maneuver got a dagger strike in the side for its trouble and fell away, bleeding. Don’t feel guilty, Ruby. They’re not really animals, and even if they were, they’re trying to kill you. She received a warning from her sword’s inhabitants and lashed out blindly to her right, cleanly cutting a fox in half as it went for her neck. Suddenly her opponents doubled in size, ratcheting up the danger to a substantially greater level. She called, “Watch out, they get bigger.”

  Idryll's reply was a short laugh, followed by, “Thanks for the information. Already aware.”

  “You could’ve shared.”

  “Little busy over here, no time to talk.”

  Ruby had been turning a slow circle, keeping her sword pointed at anyone who looked like they might charge. She’d apparently done so for long enough that her movements had become predictable. A heavy weight hit her in the back, and she felt teeth at the nape of her neck. She dove forward in a roll, losing the dagger as her wrist slammed off a small, thankfully non-bladed rock in her path and numbed her hand. She came up angry and summoned her magic, willing it into her muscles and bloodstream to increase her speed. Her blade flashed out as she went on the offensive, and her enemies responded by splitting away and coming back at her from several directions at once. She called, “Rotate,” and dashed toward Idryll.

  At the command, Idryll turned and ran toward Ruby’s position. One tactic they practiced seemingly endlessly was switching opponents during a battle, and Idryll ran at the trio of foxes that remained of her
partner’s foes. The nearest tried to scramble away, clearly caught off guard. However, she was faster than Ruby, faster than the fox could have expected, and she slammed a brutal kick into his side that sent him into another. She shouted, “Goal,” and spun to smash a backfist into the body that was flying at her back. He hit the ground hard and didn’t rise. “Similar instincts, buddy, unfortunately for you.”

  The lone remaining fox doubled in size, and Idryll shook her head. “Seems unfair that when you knock out a small one, you get a bigger one.” She drove in, attacking with teeth and claws. It met her furious rush, scoring blows as it took her to the ground and used its back legs to rake at her. She snarled and transformed into her full tiger form, matching the attack. They each rolled aside to disengage, and both came up bleeding. Idryll growled, “Surrender.”

  The fox smiled, and it looked like the face of the guardian from the library. “Not an option. Defeat me or die. Oh, and did I mention this is a test for you both? If one of you dies, so does the other.”

  Sarcasm filled her mind. Well, I had considered giving up and dying, but if it also means my partner fails, I guess I’ll keep fighting. Idiot fox. Worst combat taunt ever. Idryll set her feet, gathered her strength, and charged.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Ruby was pleased to see that Idryll had reduced her opponents to four but would have loved seeing a smaller number. One, maybe. I’m sure I can handle one of the little guys with no problem. She positioned her sword in front of her defensively and maneuvered to keep all four of them in sight, backpedaling when they tried to circle her. That’s a good way to get burned, Ruby. Literally.

  She stopped and reached out with her force magic, grabbing her dagger and pulling it toward her, then adding more force behind it to magically hurl the weapon at the fox closest to it. The blade pinioned it in the hip, and that foe went down, out of the fight. The other three snarled and charged her as one. She got the sword in the way of the first, its claws scraping off the metal and a yelp of pain signaling that the blade had scored. She ducked under the second one as it leapt high toward her throat. Its paws tangled in her hair as it arrested its motion and jerked her backward.