by D. Levesque
Shaking her head, she explains softly, “No, you are right, but that is because of hatred, and that is something we need to get the humans to unlearn. And now we have someone powerful who maybe one day can teach them. They won’t learn from an Elf telling them what they need to do, but maybe you, as a human, can show them.”
“Well today, I hope to show some of them the error of their ways,” I tell her with some heat, although it’s not directed towards her.
Leeha grabs my gray leather vest and brings me down to her level. “Just don’t let it change you,” she replies. “I love you for who you are, not for what you can become. There is a reason that Elemental Summoners are feared. As they gain power, they try to destroy the world. They let the power get to them.”
Sighing, I kiss her on the forehead. “I am glad that I have you as my wife,” I tell her.
“And me as your Elemental!” pipes up Bridget with a cry. She has a big smile on her face, and I can’t help but laugh as I bend down and kiss her as well.
As I am facing Mig, I see that he isn’t rolling his eyes anymore when I kiss Leeha or Bridget. Hey, it’s a start. A couple of times when he was paralyzed and did that, I just wanted to go over and smash my fist into his face. But the girls held me back.
“Is Mig going to be all right here?” I ask.
Bridget turns and looks at him, and then turns back to me and nods. “Yes. The Elemental in there will monitor him.”
“Good, then I think we are good to go,” I tell them both, reaching down and slapping both of their shapely asses, startling them both enough to make them jump and look at me as I grin at them.
“Gods fucking hell. Why the fuck don’t we just kill her?” I hear a gravelly male voice shout in frustration.
“Because she will be useful, you twat, and if you hit her one more fucking time, you can explain to Milgaf why the most powerful animal mage we are bringing them is dead,” another person says in a high-pitched voice that is already getting on my nerves.
“Fine, but if she scratches me one more fucking time she will get there alive, but I might have to fucking drag her as I will break her fucking legs.”
“You just try, you fucking ape,” I hear a female voice shout defiantly. “I will burn you like I did that last fucking ape who tried to rape me.”
What the fuck? So was she the one who killed that mage at the Homestead? Good for her, I shout in my head. Leeha has a look of confusion on her face. Upon seeing me looking at her, she shakes it off and raises her hand in a fist. I nod to her, and in my head, I say Fire. Fire Bullets, and I repeat it five more times. Once I am done, I have thirty-six Fire Bullets floating around me. I look at Bridget and she has turned into her Fire Elemental, and Leeha has four Water Bullets of her own floating around her. She brings one finger up at a time, until she is on her last one, her thumb, and she hits the five mark.
You have used the spell Fire Bullet. You have used 10 points of power. X 6
We both sprint out of the bushes and into a clearing that is just grass, with a firepit in the middle, and that is when we see the rest of the Elves. I don’t have time to count them because the five humans suddenly shoot up in surprise. The Elves, on the other hand, stay seated as they look up at us in astonishment.
“What the fuck!”
“Where did he come from!”
“Fucking hell, did we miss an Elf?”
“Kill them!” shouts the high-pitched voice from earlier in a panic. At least he knows he is being attacked. But it’s probably too late.
Suddenly, I hear my Fire Bullets go off, and they end up hitting one mage in a brown robe, shredding through his chest and leaving a large crater in the middle of it. There is another one in a red robe; my bullets first take her legs off, and then mercifully, she gets a bullet through her throat, killing her. Both of them go down before they can even cast off anything. Shit, I didn’t want to have to kill a woman, but it’s them or me. And I know who I want to count among the living after this.
In my peripheral vision, I see another one in a brown robe and another in a red robe that Leeha takes out, also before they have a chance to cast a spell. The Fire mage’s head literally exploded. That leaves one. And fucking hell, he is a big one.
The man must be a good seven feet tall, and he has a large square shield in front of him. He is in full armor, and looks like what I always imagined a Knight would look like. His head is covered with a helmet that leaves his face open, but it has a nose guard. He has so many scars on his face that I think he should have been wearing a full helmet in battle.
I send four of my Fire Bullets at him, and I get a shock. He lifts his shield up and suddenly the shield gongs like a bell, and the warrior grins at me.
“Ya won’t get magic past me, you fucking mage. All you mages are the fucking same. You all think so highly of yourselves. Well, like all mages I am sent to bring in by your Mages Society, you will all die by my sword,” he says, as he produces a sword from his back. The thing is just as massive as him.
I send another four bullets at him, and again, the bullets are stopped by his shield.
“Shit,” Leeha says suddenly.
“What?” I ask her worriedly.
“He must have a mana stone,” she says, concern in her voice.
“What’s that? I thought there was only power here, not mana?”
“There is, but a mana stone, even a small fragment, which is what he must have since I don’t see it on his shield, will absorb power, any power.”
“All right, so what is a mana stone? Is there a way around it?”
“No, not unless you can overload it. They can only hold so much power before that power needs to be released, slowly over time,” she says.
“Overload it?” I ask her with a grin.
“What?” she says, looking at me oddly. But then she gets a grin on her face. “Yes! Overload it.”
“Now, let’s see,” I tell her. The warrior is just standing there, and I am sure he is waiting for me to hit him with another spell or keep casting until my own power goes down to nothing, as a normal mage would do. But today is your fucking unlucky day, buddy.
I cancel the Fire Bullets, as I want something with even more power than that. I close my eyes and open my arms wide.
“Fire. Earth, Air, Water. Make me large hammers of each type. Like a blacksmith’s hammer. I want them to hammer into his shield in the center,” I intone.
You have used a Spell command. You have used 1000 points of power.
You have used the spell Fire Hammer. You have used 10 points of power.
You have used the spell Earth Hammer. You have used 10 points of power.
You have used the spell Air Hammer. You have used 10 points of power.
You have used the spell Water Hammer. You have used 10 points of power.
I want to aim for the center. The rest of the shield is flat, except for the spot in the middle where I see a slight difference, almost like something is stuck there. Looking around with a grin, I see the exact tools that I had asked for are floating in the air around me. I have 24 hammers, six of each kind, and they look amazing. They have large hammerheads, about the size of a sledgehammer. A very large sledgehammer.
I bring my hand back, and the hammers follow me back slightly, and then I swing my hand towards the warrior, who had been looking on in bewilderment. That is, until all the hammers start coming at him. Suddenly he lifts his shield and braces his leg behind him.
The impact of the hammers hitting his shield pushes him back, inch by inch. By the time all 24 hammers have smacked into him, he has moved a good three feet. Once all the hammers have disappeared, he comes out from behind his shield with a big grin on his face. That grin disappears when he sees I am grinning back at him.
What he hasn’t noticed yet is that the front of his shield, the spot where I had figured out the mana stone or the fragment would be, is gone. There is a hole going right through it, and the metal is bent. He looks down swiftly to see what
I am staring at and then looks back up in horror. And that is probably the last thing he remembers, as Leeha sends a Water Bullet that hits him straight in the forehead, going through his helmet and out the back of his head, and then through the helmet itself. The warrior stands there for a couple of seconds, but then falls back onto his back, dead.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Looking at Leeha, I raise my eyebrow at her. “Did you just steal my kill?”
“What? I wanted in on the fight,” she says with a beautiful smile that makes her face light up.
Shaking my head, I walk towards my hot Elf of a wife and kiss her, wrapping my arms around her. She is soft in all the good places, and I remember how she looked naked the other night with Bridget, which brings up other memories that maybe should not be brought up on a battlefield, as they make me smile.
“Thanks,” I tell her softly. I know why she did it. She is trying to protect my innocence, but she need not have worried. I lost it already in this world.
“I should check with the Elves and make sure they are all right,” she says, pointing to the Elves who are still sitting down in the field, staring at me in shock. “Let me go talk to them first, all right? They are still looking scared, as you are a human,” she says, putting her hand flat on my chest.
I look over and see there is some fear in their faces, but also confusion. They are probably wondering why I am hugging and kissing an Elf, which makes me chuckle.
“Sure. Let me know if you need anything,” I tell her.
“Can I borrow Bridget?” she asks me sweetly.
“Of course!” Bridget says before I can answer. She looks at me with a grin as I glance over at her. “What? You were going to say yes anyhow,” she says, sticking her tongue out.
Laughing, I wave her and Leeha towards the group of Elves.
Leeha, with Bridget in tow, heads towards them. They are pretty young from what I can see, except for one. They look like they range in age from a little girl who is around twelve years old, right up to one who appears to be in her early twenties and is the only one standing.
“Who are you,” says a familiar voice. Ah, that would be the one that threatened one of the mages.
“I am Leeha. This is Bridget,” Leeha tells her. “Who are you? Is everyone all right?”
“Leeha?” she says, repeating the name. “I’m Nolea. Those monsters attacked our Homestead,” she says and then points at me. “Why are you with a human?” she asks Leeha suspiciously.
“You mean my husband?” Leeha asks her, and all the Elves to look at me in shock. Yeah, thanks. Way to make me the focus of attention, Leeha. Which was probably her intention.
“He’s your husband?” Nolea asks Leeha in disbelief.
“Yes. You just saw us kiss, didn’t you?” Leeha tells her with a grin.
“But,” Nolea says, looking back my way in disbelief, “he’s human.”
“Oh, and he is my lover as well,” Bridget pipes up happily.
“What?” Nolea asks her, now in a daze.
“He’s my-” Bridget begins to answer.
“I heard you!” Nolea exclaims. “But I mean! He’s human!” she says again in a tone that tells me she is trying to wrap her head around it.
“And?” Bridget tells her with a giggle. “He has a big—,”
“Anyhow!” Leeha cries suddenly. “Are you the oldest one here, Nolea?”
Nolea looks at Bridget first, then at me suspiciously, before looking back at Leeha. I just smile at her and don’t bother answering the questioning look she is giving me.
“I am. I’m twenty-two. Most of the kids are younger. Bilar there,” she says, pointing to a young gentleman who had stood up protectively when Leeha and Bridget had walked towards Nolea, “is the second oldest at eighteen—the rest range from the age of twelve to sixteen.” Her voice gets hard as she continues. “They killed everyone at the Homestead. Though I did kill one of them bastards, but then they threatened to kill all the kids if I tried magic again.”
“Yes, we saw that. I am truly sorry about your loss. So you’re a Fire mage?” Leeha asks Nolea.
“Yes,” she says proudly. “One of the strongest ones in our Homestead,” but then her demeanor collapses as she says with tears in her eyes, “and the only one now.”
“Were they taking you all to the city of Bromar?” Leeha asks Nolea softly.
“No,” Nolea answers, shaking her head. “I heard them mentioning something about taking us to the Lake of Ruins.”
“What? Why?” Leeha asks her, and I can tell that the answer confuses her. “Bromar is a half-day from here! The Lake of Ruins is a good four days!”
“We aren’t sure. Though I heard something about power, that was all I heard,” Nolea tells Leeha apologetically.
“No, you have been through enough,” Leeha softly replies.
“What are we to do now, Leeha? We have no Homestead left,” Nolea says softly, the tears coming back.
“We can take you to my parent’s Homestead, near the City of Lomar. We were heading to your Homestead to talk to the Elders. Were there any that weren’t at the Homestead that may have survived?” Leeha asks her with hope in her voice.
Nolea shakes her head without replying and Leeha sighs. “Shit. And you’re sure they mentioned the Lake of Ruins?” She asks her intensely.
Nodding, Nolea confirms, “Yes, but we don’t know why.”
Leeha looks at me and I say, “Fire Rat?”
“That was my thought. What the fuck are the humans doing there that is disrupting the hunting grounds of the monsters that live there?” she tells me.
“Well, since they,” I point to the dead mages and the warrior, “are dead, we can’t ask them. But we still have Mig,” I say.
“We need to investigate this, Alex,” Leeha tells me with a look I know well. I have to agree with her, though. We came to inform the Elders of what is happening with the monsters from the Lake of Ruin. Instead, we find out that they were all killed and these Elves were all taken. But why only the young?
“Why the young?” I ask Leeha.
“What?” she responds, tilting her head at me questioningly.
“Why only the young Elves? Why not the older ones as well?” I ask her, waving to the young Elves around us who are watching us talk, their heads swiveling back and forth between Leeha and me. “Are older Elves never taken?”
She stares at me in shock and then looks at all the young Elves quickly. “Nolea, what is so special about these kids? I saw other children dead at the Homestead. What is so special about all of you?” she asks her quickly.
“What? Oh, they only wanted magic users. We have all shown we can use Elementals and magic. I mean, some of the younger ones aren’t trained yet. But they tortured the Elders until they pointed us out. Then they killed them all,” Nolea says bitterly.
“Alex, that makes no sense! Why would they only take magic users?” she asks me pleadingly, as if I would know the reason for that massacre back there.
“I don’t know, but I know someone who might,” I tell her, pointing back to where we had left Mig.
“Yes, we do,” Leeha says through gritted teeth, and there is fire in her eyes. For a Water mage, that is saying a lot.
“What about them?” I remind her, pointing to all the other Elves.
“Right,” Leeha says, nodding her head. “We need to get them back to my parents,” she starts, but Nolea interrupts her.
“I can lead us there,” she says. “I was there last year with my father.” She chokes up and Leeha takes her into her arms. I guess her father died back at the Homestead we were just at. Shit, I am sure all these kids lost their parents. After a minute of comfort, Nolea nods and smiles at her in thanks. Taking a deep breath, she continues. “I can take us there. I know the way.”
“It’s a long journey,” I say, but both of them look at me oddly. “What?”
“Alex, they are Elves. They will survive. We are born in the forests,” Leeha says with a la
ugh. “I would be more worried if you were leading them,” she finishes with a smile.
“Because I’m human,” I tell her with a chuckle.
“Yes. Humans don’t seem to do well outside of their cities. I mean, some humans do all right in the wild, but they are so loud. They feel the need to crash through a forest as if they own it. I am surprised they are even able to hunt at times,” Leeha laments, shaking her head in disgust.
“But we might be slower than usual,” Nolea says. She points to a young girl, close to the age of twelve or so, who is sitting on the ground. That is when I notice her leg is crooked. As I look closer, I see it’s actually not crooked, it’s fucking broken. “Bilar and I have been taking turns carrying her. The slavers wanted to kill her, but we told them we would carry her. And so, we will carry her again.”
The girl begins to cry and says, “I am sorry for being so useless, Nolea.”
Nolea kneels down next to her and hugs her. “Hush, you aren’t useless. We will get you to Leeha’s Homestead, don’t you worry.”
“Oh!” Bridget says suddenly. “Alex can heal you!”
Nolea looks up at her, confused. “What do you mean, heal? Like a splint or something for her leg?”
“No! Alex is special. He can heal you. Well, I guess I would be healing you, as I am his Elemental.”
“What?” Nolea cries out skeptically, and I suppress a groan.
“Yes. Here, let me,” Bridget says and throws herself on the ground next to the little girl. “Oh. What’s your name?” Bridget asks the girl with a smile.
“I’m Jila?” Jila says hesitantly, sounding somewhat scared.
“Well, Jila. Don’t you worry. Alex will have you healed in no time. Now, this won’t hurt one bit. So hold still, all right?”
Jila looks at Nolea for guidance and at Nolea’s slow nod, Jila turns back to Bridget and says, “All right.”
Bridget puts her hands gently on her leg and looks up at me. “I will need only Mind for this, to numb the pain for her, Alex.”
I not to her and I say, “Mind,”
Suddenly Bridget changes to her Mind Elemental, and she is all purple. There are gasps of amazement from around us. Then a green glow goes from Bridget’s hands to Jila’s leg. Inside of me I can feel the pull of energy that is leaving the Chakra in my head. It’s a slow pull, not a torrent. As I watch, I can physically see Jila’s leg straighten with the healing that Bridget-well I,-am doing, through her.
