Hatchling

by Lupine King

  The real combatants were Avery and the two manifestation stage tellurians. One was surrounded by an earthen glow and the other was fast with a glimmer of qi focused at his feet. The three came at Avery in an inverted arrow formation trying to pressure him from the sides. The earthen tellurian was the only one who fought directly seeking to match Avery blow for blow whilst his unattributed counterpart struck fast accurate blows.

  Avery was a water attributed tellurian. He was also a true practitioner. This ensured that he was far faster than his opponents and that his strikes carried greater power. For a few moments, it seemed like he and the earthen bandit were evenly matched but that was just an illusion. The bandit's lack of formal training was too obvious and he relied too much on his qi in his blows.

  It only took a few strikes to reveal the rather large gap between the two of them. The man fought well but Avery's longsword just seemed to twist and turn in the air to meet both his and his colleagues' attacks without much effort.

  However, the stalemate was not favourable to him and his charge. There were still three other bandits on the side and Avery understood that they were probably the real threat. He intensified his efforts performing a flourish with his blade that disarmed his primary attacker but before he could press his advantage he heard a yell from behind.

  VALERIAN WAS PAYING close attention to the fight, something he knew the remaining three Vults were doing as well. It was apparent that this was just a probing attack. They were trying to gain a quick read on their opponents' strength before they all pitched in to reduce casualties and preserve strength.

  However, there was more to it than that. They could not have too many people attack at the same time in this small space without them getting in each other's way. That was an advantage that Valerian had to make use of as soon as possible and he had an idea.

  “Avery! Out of the way!” he yelled and then trusting the man to do so, he thrust his mace and arms forward releasing the spell he had been casting.

  ‘[Scything Blades]', he intoned mentally so as not to give his attack away.

  Sharp, fierce beams of golden metal essence appeared out of thin air assailing the bandits in front of him. Each beam was as sharp and as strong as an actual sword and carried nothing but the will to chop down everything in their path. Avery quickly used his superior speed to get out of the way with but his opponents had heard the warning as well. This meant that they were not as surprised and unprepared as Valerian had intended. Not stupid, they hurriedly took measures to protect themselves.

  The earth attributed tellurian immediately activated a skill, his skin transforming becoming like stone. Then he crossed his arms in front of his face to protect his eyes. The golden blades crashed down on him shattering into bursts of light when they struck his hardened skin. The wind attributed bandit was long gone, evading with a movement skill but the one remaining bandit suffered terribly. He managed to block two beams and take the last on his breastplate but one succeeded in catching him in the arm. It was not a serious wound but it ruined his momentum preventing him from reacting properly to the others.

  He did not have to worry though because the three sitting on the sidelines finally decided to act. An arrow tore through the air to make a frightful impact against Valerian's mage Guard. The glowing blue shroud shuddered and flashed with the impact stunning Valerian. He had not even noticed he was being attacked until the arrow broke apart on his shield. It broke his concentration, preventing him from casting the follow-up spell he was working on.

  That was not all. A light barrier appeared before the besieged bandits protecting them from the remainder of the [Scything Blades] spell.

  His eyes flicked over to the three who had until now stayed out of the battle. There he caught the meridian opener drawing the string of his longbow again and an arcanist whose body was surrounded by bright white light, wand pointing out to maintain the [Light Screen] that protected the others.

  ‘These bandits actually have a light attributed arcanist in their midst?' Valerian questioned mentally.

  He did not have time to ponder on this strange happenstance though. Their boss was no longer beside them. Sounds of clanging metal drew him to a spot about twenty yards away from where the man was attacking his minder with a flaming broadsword. That was not good news.

  LAIT ATTACKED THE VALET with fast furious attacks forcing the man to retreat steadily. The broadsword in his hands was coated with a thick layer of fire qi feeding of the air to produce bright flames. Each of his strikes carried all the force he could muster and whenever his opponent tried to open space between them he fired streams of sword qi to keep the pressure up. It was a costly strategy that caused him to expend qi and stamina in a manner he knew could not keep it up for long. That did not matter though. He had a plan.

  “Jaunt 3!” he yelled out.

  His men responded immediately. Their probe had worked well enough. Now, they could resort to standard procedure. All he had to do was pin his opponent down. His sword clashed with his opponent's, the fire qi on his broadsword sputtering when it met the water kind on the longsword. The two remained locked in place, each pushing forward in an attempt to overpower the other with strength.

  Lait fumed. The man held an elemental advantage over him, which made the battle harder. The longsword wielder was the greatest threat present and even he was not sure he could handle him on his own. Still, he was confident. Elemental advantages were not the only way to win fights.

  Avery was well and truly worried now. He looked over his opponent's shoulder to see the widening gap between himself and his charge. The bandit was deliberately forcing him away and to the side, in lieu of the rock face that towered behind Valerian and formerly himself. Unfortunately, there was little he could do. He could not afford to waste qi the way the other man was. Not with other foes to face. Two of which, the manifested tellurians, were closing in. A hand left his weapon to pull something from his jerkin. It was a small crystal plaque barely five centimetres long. He crushed it without hesitation.

  Lait cursed again as he watched his adversary crush some sort of talisman. By this time, his men had taken their place around the man, surrounding him a triangular formation, but the damage was already done. A beam of energy streaked upwards to explode above them like a firework, forming a giant StormHawk a hundred meters in the sky anchored to the ground.

  This was the problem with fighting against nobles. Apart from their various defensive artefacts they almost always carried signal beacons in case they run into some trouble. Lucky for them it was not the sort of artefact that communicated directly with another party. If it was, they were done. At the very least, the other party would also know who was attacking their fellows. They had to hurry even more. This needed to be over before the reinforcements got here.

  With this in mind, they did not dither. Lait released a large beam of fiery sword qi at Avery. Simultaneously, four blades of sword qi appeared to lock down any escape routes and the last bandit stabbed his sword into the rocky dirt causing a shockwave to destabilise their opponent's footing.

  It was a beautiful combination. One they had practised and employed many times to great success. Sadly, Avery was not so simple. He had figured they would act together against him from the moment he noticed them taking their places in the formation. He had wanted to strike then but he saw Valerian struggling to endure under the attacks of the other three bandits.

  Remembering his duty, his qualms about overly expending qi fled. Before the earthen bandit's sword could make its way halfway to the ground he gathered his qi, crouched slightly and used one of his famous skills, the [Rising Geyser]. The skill forcefully expelled a large amount of water qi downwards, blasting him into the air and carrying him towards his charge, leaving his opponents to deal with the aftermath of their own attacks.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  Blocked In

  VALERIAN WAS CORNERED. He was now being attacked by three opponents at the same time and his shields could barely
handle the damage. Arrows, sword strikes and exploding light orbs from the end of the arcanist's wand all crashed against him. It made it even harder for him to attack since his concentration was focused on buttressing his shields to prevent the bandits from breaking through.

  He could be likened to a tortoise, stuck in a shell, afraid to stick his head out for fear of being eaten yet unable to do anything aside from preventing them from finding a way to break through his only protection. If they failed, he lived. If not, he became a meal. However, Valerian did not like to sit helplessly. He did not need to look to tell that Avery was still being led away by the other bandits. He could clearly hear the ringing of metal on metal coming from his direction. The crafty criminals had actually succeeded in separating him from his protector. The minder was even out from under the shadow of the forty-metre tall outcrop.

  ‘Shit!' he cursed.

  He could not let them have their way. As things stood, they would just wear him out till his shields came down and deal with him then. In the worst case scenario, the trio attacking Avery finished him off and came over to help his own attackers break through his safeguards. It was imperative that he regroup with Avery but how?

  He could not leave his position at the moment. Forget the attacks raining on him. The only reason his adversaries had not surrounded him was because he kept his back to the rock wall behind him and there was a massive boulder to the left. This restricted their attacks to his front. If he left this defensive position they would circle him and leave him with nowhere to go. Plus, it blocked his movements as well. They occupied the only way out.

  ‘I need to carve a path through them', he realised.

  That was easier said than done but luckily the makings of a plan begun to form in his head. With his mace raised high by his right hand to support his lifelines, he stretched his other hand out. The weapons he kept on his person responded, coming out of their resting places.

  The nine weapons rushed towards his enemies like they had minds of their own. The swordsman he attacked earlier scrambled out of the way, nearly ending up a pin cushion. Then, they swooped down like raptors towards the archer forcing him to also abandon his rapid assault in favour of cover.

  The weapons were not as good or as powerful as flying swords but they were still sharp and under his control, they could deal out some damage. His attackers knew this and made sure not to get in their way. This bought him the breathing room he needed to start casting a spell but a sudden blitz from the sky nearly rendered that moot.

  Crescents of frigid sword qi came down like rain upon the bandits around him. It tore apart the earth and in the archer's case ripped him apart. Valerian raised his head to see an awe-inspiring sight. Avery hung in the air, scowling like a vengeful spirit and sending down the crescents with each wave of his sword.

  The arcanist, someone Valerian was beginning to recognise as a warder – a specialist in defensive spells – raised his wand to form another light screen that he held up against the sword attacks. Valerian instantly seized this opportunity to cast his favourite single target spell – [Heart Seeking Bolts] at the swordsman who had so far defied all his attempts to deal with him.

  The flying weapons were instantly enhanced with the now familiar gold shine becoming deadly implements that boded swift death for anyone designated as their target. The sword-wielding bandit who had previously been lucky enough to somehow survive all of Valerian's previous attacks was unable to do so this time.

  Already busy trying to avoid death from above, he was not able to react when the spell caught up with him. Five quarrels drove themselves into his vulnerable organs whilst the daggers left crisscrossing slashes through his flesh. They barely even slowed when they went through him. Going in and out cleanly, leaving nothing but holes and spurts of blood in their wake.

  It took him a full second to register that he had just been killed. Unsure of what to do he tried to stem the flow of blood from his throat with one hand, whilst the other clutched at his chest. But they never quite got there. His vision merely faded and he fell to the ground.

  No one had the time to care about him. The arcanist simply wrapped his shield more solidly around himself and Avery finally fell to the ground. Whatever skill he was using to extend his hang time had expired. The moment he landed, he rushed to Valerian's side yelling out.

  “Hurry! We have to go”.

  Relief evident on his face, Valerian dashed off with his protector. The two of them left the now arriving Lait and the rest of his men behind. The bandit leader was cursing again even as he urged his men to follow. They could not afford to let them get away.

  Conversely, Avery and Valerian knew they could not let themselves be caught. They may have killed two of the bandits but they only got the weakest ones. The group was well organised. Two people in the meridian opening stage, two in the manifestation stage, one mana condensation stage arcanist and a true practitioner. They also had effective coordination, communication and strategies. It would seem the Vults deserved their reputation.

  The remaining bandits were undoubtedly the toughest and most powerful. They would not be hesitating or underestimating them again either and they were bound to be pissed that two of their own died. They had to make sure to leave them as far behind as possible. Sadly, they did not make it far. They barely got two kilometres from their campsite when a barrier of light suddenly appeared to block their way. Heading towards the scrubby woods on the side revealed that their way was blocked off by beams of sword qi coming from their rear.

  Turning around, they were confronted with the sight of their pursuers closing in on them. The arcanist was in the lead flying their way on a platform of light. Right after him was Lait, the bandit leader. The man's face was contorted in fury and his flaming broadsword looked particularly menacing. In contrast to the furious tellurian and the smug looking arcanist the remaining two weren't very eye-catching.

  Exits covered, Valerian's eyes swept the area scanning it for anything that could help them in the plight. He noticed that there was a wide crevice in the rock wall to their right. It got him thinking.

  “Avery, let's make our way over there”, he said pointing to the cleft.

  “Why?” the man asked incredulously. He had been thinking of how he'd break through the barrier ahead.

  “We don't have time. Just trust me!” he uttered before dashing there and leaving his minder with no choice but to follow.

  The man did not understand. They were already cornered. Why put themselves in an even better trap with no way out? The crevice was only eight metres wide at the mouth and had high wall not unscalable for cultivators in normal conditions. However, given the kind of tail they had, they would definitely be shot down if they tried to climb it.

  Still, he followed Valerian, praying to his ancestors that the boy actually had a plan.

  Once they made their way a bit ways in, Valerian asked his protector. “Can you buy me about a minute's worth of time?” he said in a serious tone. “Make sure they don't come close. What I am about to do cannot be interrupted”, he stressed.

  Avery looked at him wondering what exactly he was planning. For a moment, Valerian was unsure whether the man would follow his order but he just nodded and rushed back out of the crevice to face their pursuers. The young man just sighed in relief and got to work.

  From his spatial ring, he took out six cubes of tempered steel. They were large, blocky and heavy, measuring fifty centimetres at the side. He just left them lying around him and began to force himself into a focused state. He pushed himself to ignore the sounds of combat coming from close by. Rather, he imposed a strange calm attentiveness upon himself.

  This attentiveness was trained on the world essence around him. In a few seconds, it was all he felt, all he saw and all he cared about. He fixated on the flow and ebb of the essence around him. Then, cupping his right hand, he raised it in front of him, his left holding his focus loosely. Under his control and compelled by his arcane energy a stream of m
etal elemental essence collected in his palm to form a glyph. Once one was formed another followed, soon they were pouring out of his palm to gather around him. Before long, a multitude of glimmering symbol shaped motes of metal essence was floating around him.

  This was Valerian's chosen method of glyph creation. It was also the one Jonas used and the only one he had received full training in. Many other arcanists chose to directly draw the glyphs out of world essence either with their fingers or an arcane writing implement often a personal, stylus-like focus. However, that required training and practice in calligraphy not only to draw glyphs correctly but also do so speedily.

  Directly condensing them from world essence was more difficult than the standard path. It required a lot of focus, willpower, visualisation and control of over both world essence and personal arcane energy but in return, it was faster and far more precise.

  So long as the mental image of the glyph was accurate and vivid the ones produced would be the same as well. You just had to picture them in your head and force the world essence into that shape.

  That was what he was doing now. He started slow but his speed quickly picked up, condensing glyphs faster than he ever had before. When they were all done he did not rest. He began to conduct them into places and configurations for his array using hand motions to help the process along. Soon, he had a rather complicated one circle array half a meter in diameter.

  It floated before him, a bunch of indistinct bits of glowing gold light. It was Valerian's best work yet, but he was still not done. With a strong pulse of arcane energy, the six steel cubes rose into the air to hover around him. Now ready, he came out of his hyper-focused state to implement his plan.