by Sever Bronny
Augum whirled around to see Leera and Arthur on the ground, injured and writhing—but alive. Her elemental armor had mostly absorbed the blast, disappearing in the process and leaving her completely vulnerable, whereas Arthur gripped his left arm.
The sole remaining enemy and Augum locked gazes before both slapped their wrists together, roaring, “Annihilo!” Against all odds, the fireball and bolt of lightning met in the middle and exploded with such force that the blizzard was briefly blown back, leaving behind a vacuum of sound.
As the enemy warlock stood stunned from the explosion, Augum, used to training with chaos and enraged by the man’s treachery, shot his arms out, telekinetically gripping the man’s hands. He bent the warlock’s arms up to his head, forcing him to grip his own neck—and squeeze. The man’s eyes bulged as his face went blue. He tried to resist, to shake his head, to sputter and gasp—perhaps to once more yield—but Augum’s telekinetic might and rage overwhelmed his resistance.
As Augum’s stamina rapidly drained from the telekinetic exertion, he had a brief memory of his great-grandmother performing this very same feat on a traitor during the war. But whereas she had been patient and wise in the encounter, Augum’s fury knew no bounds, and soon the man’s face was as purple as his robe, his eyes crimson orbs, for blood had burst into them. The man’s fingers had pierced the flesh of his neck and blood leaked around them like a river. His legs twitched underneath him.
“He’s gone, Aug,” Leera wheezed, still lying in the snow. “He’s gone …”
Augum released his telekinetic grip with a gasp, surprised at the sheer rage avalanching through his veins. The man, fingers still lodged within his throat, fell forward with a soft thud.
Augum stared at the body, hands shaking and fingers curled claw-like. He felt a shadow over his soul, a shadow with the same loathing and anger that a certain man had once felt, a man Augum had repudiated only to later accept him forever as a part of himself.
Within that potent rage, Augum felt the stirrings of his father.
The Burden of the Blade
“Put her down here,” Jengo said, nodding sideways as he maintained his healing focus on Bridget, who lay in the snow before him.
Augum gently lay Leera down. She was wincing and shivering. “You’ll be fine, my love,” he whispered, sweeping her raven hair, matted with ice and blood, out of her eyes. She had sustained a nasty cut to her head he hadn’t noticed earlier. “Jengo will tend to you in a moment.” Then he glanced about, taking stock of his group.
Mary held an unconscious Esha. Although the ancient Dreadnought looked emaciated, she did not appear to be physically injured, indicating the Canterrans likely put her into an arcane slumber. Leland was being held protectively by his ghoul. Maxine, already healed by Jengo, was scowling as she rubbed a sore ankle. Olaf stood with his arms out, keeping the blizzard at bay. Haylee stood nearby, ready to step in to take her turn. Arthur, who had stumbled along behind Augum, had collapsed into the snow on his knees, tending to his arm.
“Where’s Cry?” Augum asked.
“I healed him and he went in search of Brandon,” Jengo replied without looking up from Bridget.
“It’s my fault,” Mary said. “I lost track of Brandon when we got attacked a second time.”
“You did what you could, the enemy must have hexed him hard,” Augum replied, returning his attention to his girl, who was already watching him.
“Fates you look awful, my love,” she croaked.
“I’ve been worse.” It was irritating not being able to see out of one eye, his lip was busted and his cheek throbbed, but he’d most certainly received graver injuries before. “Glad you’re all right.”
“I’ve gotten so used to training with my spectacles that I actually felt a little blind without them. Or at least a little off. I cannot believe we rescued Esha. She could change everything.”
“We aren’t out of danger yet. Still need to get everyone back to the library first.”
“You look troubled. You all right?”
“That bastard back there broke a sacred tenet of our kind. Got up after taking a knee.”
“Then he was a treacherous dog.”
Augum nodded absently, troubled by something else—the anger that had so completely consumed him, an uncompromising rage that wanted to inflict maximum pain and suffering. He was almost afraid to summon his shield, to see if the golden words had dimmed from dishonoring the Arcaner code of honor.
“You sure everything is all right?” Leera wheezed when he had finally gathered the courage to summon his shield.
He only gave a nod after seeing the words as bright as ever.
Leera’s gaze flicked to the shield before she focused on him, worry reflected in her dark eyes.
“Terrifying scrap,” Arthur muttered as he crawled over to Leera. “You were a sight to behold though. Whupped ’em good. I’m only sorry I didn’t do more.”
“You did enough,” Leera replied. “Saved us both, in fact.”
Arthur stared at her, then at Augum, who was holding her hand. Augum nodded once, grateful that Arthur had kept her alive. Arthur forced a smile before looking away.
“I’m sorry I did not help you, Augum,” Naoki whispered as she sat in the snow nearby, holding her legs. “Got a few shots in before they teamed up with spell volleys that eventually penetrated. Successive castings and all that.”
“Healed,” Jengo declared, patting Bridget’s arm. “Rest up before you move about,” and he went on to focus on Leera.
“How is Esha?” Augum asked before Jengo began his Diagnose spell.
“Breathing and stable. Have other priorities to attend to right now.”
“Understood.”
As Jengo went to work, Bridget recovered enough to begin delivering the Final Valediction on the fallen enemies. Augum patted his girl’s hand before joining her.
“Shouldn’t have happened like this,” he muttered, shaking his head when they finished.
“Damn right it shouldn’t have happened like this,” Maxine spat, rubbing her leg. “How come we weren’t put through any adverse weather training? Didn’t I say we needed to be tested in real-world conditions? Huh? Didn’t I say that? But nooo, no one wanted to listen to the grouchy woman.” She spat a gob of blood into the snow and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Now look at the state of us.”
“They were obviously well trained,” Haylee said. “Don’t get so discouraged.”
“Discouraged? Discouraged? We barely made it out alive, blondie.”
“You’re just sore you’re not in charge, and thank the gods for that.”
“If I were still in charge none of this would have happened.”
Leera rubbed her eyes with her good hand. “Shut up, will you? None of us died. Be thankful for that.”
“No, I will not shut up, and you need to listen to me. We need to get out of here before they send reinforcements, and we need to go now. And where the hell is Cry? Doodling in that stupid journal of his?”
Just as she finished, Cry stumbled from the blizzard with a dazed and bloody Brandon barely hanging on. Augum and Bridget shot to them and helped lower Brandon to the snow. Only then did Augum notice the small hole in the side of his head.
“Found him crawling about in a daze,” Cry said, resting his hands on his knees as he panted. “Had to follow his tracks to find him.”
Jengo, finished with Leera, began inspecting Brandon’s head. He muttered as he worked. “Lateral bifusion with a finger’s breadth penetration to the cerebellus nex. Looks like a spear.” Jengo looked up at Augum. “This is a deep wound and well beyond my expertise.”
“Urgency?”
“He’ll die within the hour without proper arcane attention.”
As Bridget pressed Brandon’s limp hand between hers, his eyes slipped into the back of his head.
“He’s unconscious,” Jengo noted. “We need to get him to Senior Arcaneologist Ning as soon as possible.”
> Olaf abruptly lost his concentration and the blizzard rushed in like floodwater. Everyone hunkered to protect themselves from the onslaught only for it to disappear when Haylee spread her arms out, taking up where Olaf had left off.
“Stamina ran out,” Olaf muttered, eyeing Bridget’s hands holding Brandon’s.
Naoki placed a soldier’s coat over Augum’s shoulders. “You were shivering again,” she said.
Leera looked at her distrustfully, then noticed his hip. “Uh … where’s Burden’s Edge?”
Augum slapped the empty scabbard on his thigh. Oh no. No no no … “I dropped it in the snow back there—” He was about to point when a wild thrill of horror zipped up his spine, for he realized that he had no reference point for where he had dropped it in the blizzard. “Where Bridget had fallen,” he blurted, looking at her, irrationally hoping that she somehow knew where that was.
“I know where that is,” Olaf said, readying to reenter the snowstorm. “Come on, I’ll take you there and hold the blizzard back.”
“That means me too,” Mary, his protector, said, gently easing Esha to the snow before standing.
Naoki stepped to Augum’s side. “And me.”
Maxine stepped before Augum. “I’m coming with you.”
Leland and his ghoul began jumping excitedly while clapping their hands. “I come too! I come too!”
“They don’t have time for babysitting,” Maxine snapped.
“No, I help find sword! I help find! Save us time.”
“He’s a good spotter,” Augum said, tapping his temple. “Helped us once, didn’t he? But you should come too to keep watch.”
While Leland and his ghoul performed a celebratory hip wiggle, Maxine made a distasteful sucking sound between her teeth.
Cry picked up an enemy dagger and tossed it to Augum’s feet. “A fresh casting would be wise. Enchant that to find your way back.”
“Good thinking,” and so Augum enchanted the dagger, knowing the group could be split up again. Yes, it was a fourth Object Track enchantment he would have to juggle, but it would add another layer of safety.
Then, as those joining him to look for Burden’s Edge did the same, he turned to Jengo. “When you’re done healing, use your Group Teleport scroll to get everyone with you back to the library. Send Klines only if we don’t join you soon after.”
“Understood.”
“Hurry back,” Leera whispered, giving Augum’s hand a squeeze.
He squeezed back. “We will,” and the seven of them set off into the blizzard.
Olaf led the way, hands out front, keeping the blizzard back—but only barely.
“How’s your stamina?” Augum asked.
“Low,” Olaf replied through gritted teeth.
“Save it then.”
Olaf dropped the protective arcanery and the blizzard attacked their faces once more. They soon stumbled upon the body of a soldier. “This is one of the soldiers Brandon fought,” Olaf said, “which means Bridget and I were thrown in this direction …” He took a few strides. “I got knocked unconscious somewhere around here.” He extended his arms. “Ready?”
Augum nodded. “Do it.”
Olaf took a breath, his face reddening as he strained to fight the blizzard back. The wind and snow died and it went blessedly quiet.
Augum, Naoki, Mary and Leland’s ghoul spread out and began searching for the blade. But it soon became clear to Augum that, although they were in the vicinity, it was like looking for a pebble on a beach. Panic rose like bile as he began searching more frantically, raking at the snow with both arms and digging as fast as he could. Leland’s ghoul, unaffected by the cold, increased its pace as well.
Mary, who had been gingerly sweeping the snow aside with her feet, stopped and turned to Naoki. “Burn it with a fireball.”
Naoki nodded. “That might work.”
But before she could try, Leland turned away from them. “Secretary Klines is here. She will teleport the others back. She is saying to find her using the dagger.”
“Sounds good, though we’ve first got to—” But Augum’s voice was cut off by the blizzard roaring back in as Olaf let go with a huff.
Augum pointed at the ground. “Hit it, Naoki!”
She slapped her wrists together. “Annihilo!” and walloped the ground with a fireball, roughly clearing a three-by-three-foot area.
“Again!” Augum called, still digging. She repeated the effort but still Burden’s Edge did not appear. “Again—!” he called, desperation oozing into his voice. Gods help him, he couldn’t lose Burden’s Edge. The precious ancestral blade represented his family, his ancestry, his honor, his future. He couldn’t lose it. He just couldn’t …
“It’s only a stupid sword!” Maxine called over the wind. “Let it go.”
“It’s not just some ‘stupid sword!’” Augum frothed.
They glared at each other.
“It is just a stupid sword,” Maxine repeated.
Augum felt himself ballooning like Leera.
“We’re freezing, Augum,” Mary said above the wind, holding herself and hopping from foot to foot to keep warm.
Leland squeaked and looked up into the blizzard with his blind eyes, his ghoul mimicking the gesture.
Augum looked up with his one good eye, and although he couldn’t see anything, the hair on his arms rose. He knew in his soul what Leland was seeing in his mind.
Katrina had come with Orion.
Tricksy, Tricksy
“Orion!” Augum shouted, pushing them to move. “Back to the dagger! I’ll keep searching for the blade.”
Maxine made an emphatic slashing motion. “As much a fool as you are, I vowed to protect you. I stay with you.”
“No!” Naoki snapped. “I stay with him. Augum commanded you to protect Leland. Lead them all back to the dagger.”
They glanced up at the blizzard, which gave no indication that anything flew above them. Yet Leland’s and his ghoul’s heads slowly swiveled as if watching a bird circle lower and lower.
Leland moaned urgently and his ghoul picked him up. “Her thoughts are loud,” the ghoul said. “And awful scary. She knows we’re here. She’s searching for you, Augum.”
Augum was taking shallow breaths. “Has she found the spot where the dagger is?”
Leland’s and his ghoul’s heads kept lowering until Augum felt the ground rumble underneath him.
“Yes,” the ghoul replied.
“And Leera and Bridget and everyone else?”
“They’re gone. She’s waiting. She senses she has to wait.”
Gods, Klines is going to teleport right into Katrina’s clutches.
Leland pressed his fingertips to the side of his temple as he stared into the blizzard. “She’s remembering her loss in the arena,” Leland’s ghoul said. “The shame hurts her. And she’s mad that you dare to hold her uncle and future husband hostage. Really, really mad.”
Augum knew what he had to do. “Go. Now. I’ll draw her away from the dagger.” He looked to Naoki. “You too. You will not sacrifice yourself on this day for me.”
Naoki looked at him almost coldly with her puffy eye, the cut on her forehead glaring, for Jengo hadn’t had time to heal her. “I stay with you, Dragoon Stone,” she repeated.
Augum grabbed Naoki’s robe. “I know what you’re trying to do!” He shoved her toward Maxine. “You’re leaving. I command it.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks. “It’s not just a sword, Augum. It’s not just a sword …”
“I’m frightened.” Mary’s mousy voice was barely audible over the din. She too was staring into the blizzard, eyes wide.
Maxine grabbed Olaf’s and Mary’s arms and pulled. “Move it, you fools. Leland—you too. Naoki!” But Naoki merely stepped away when she reached for her, resolve etched on her face.
Out of time, Augum made a decision. “Fine, stay.” He looked to Maxine. “I’m going to try something in twenty heartbeats. Circle around on Orion’s right side. K
eep low and tight. If something happens to Klines, have Olaf use his Group Teleport scroll as trained.”
Maxine leveled a hard gaze at Augum. “I hope to hell that you know what you’re doing,” and she turned her back on him and disappeared with Mary, Leland and his ghoul.
Olaf glanced at Augum forlornly. The two exchanged nods before Olaf disappeared into the blizzard as well. Augum was all too aware that Olaf had struggled to learn the scroll in the best of circumstances in training. Out here, it’d be a long shot for him to get it right. He hoped Klines was able to get them out instead.
He removed the borrowed fur coat and tossed it aside, knowing he’d need mobility. “Ready yourself,” he said to Naoki, pointing toward the location of the dagger, where Orion sat in waiting. “First Offensive, ten-degree angle above the horizon, offset by five degrees to the left of the dragon.” It was tactical siege terminology he had learned in Military Strategy class.
Naoki stepped beside him and readied her hands. “I understand.”
“My count. Three. Two. One—” They slapped their wrists together. “Annihilo!” and sent a bolt of lightning and a fireball into the blizzard at the correct angle—near the dragon but not directly over it. Enough for it to advance in their direction without stumbling on Maxine and the others.
“Again. Three. Two. One—Annihilo!” Another blast. “Now Amplify.”
They touched their throats. “Amplifico.”
“Katrina!” Calling her name felt dangerous, like taunting a tiger. No, much worse …
“Katrina!” they both shouted. “Kaaatriiinaaaaa—!”
The ground rumbled. Katrina had lifted off and was on her way. Augum approximated seven heartbeats until she found them.