by Eric Vall
His gaze was eerily vacant like all the other minions we’d encountered, but there was an extra glint in his black eyes beyond that, and when I really registered this, my healing rune suddenly acted up.
That’s when I knew this guy wasn’t just a wild card anymore. He was full throttle all over the map with the rune branded on him, and somehow, he liked it. As he chuckled on, I wondered if he’d connected personally with the rune in some way, and it wasn’t just possessing him now, but feeding into his already unrestrained nature on a whole other level.
Then I thought about Dragir constantly warring against his bloody rune, and one conversation stuck out in my memory. He’d said the rune always offered itself up as the easiest solution to any irritation. No matter who it was that crossed him, the rune was more than ready and willing to boil their blood for him, and this was why he lived with such constant tension. He didn’t want to boil everyone’s blood.
But what if he hadn’t minded the rune? If Dragir had been the type to appreciate its appetite, what would it have been capable of, and would he have actually thrived off the connection to it?
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this one,” I muttered half to myself, and Hulsan nodded from Haragh’s other side.
“His magery’s strong,” the old man whispered. “Not well articulated, but unrestrained. Stay on your toes.”
I could hear the concern in Hulsan’s voice as he sent me a pointed look, but I wasn’t even thinking about myself at the moment. As I watched Dahko pace back and forth, half my mind was on the woman next to me, because Cayla’s words kept ringing in my ears, and I couldn’t ignore how right she was. One missed shot against a mage like Dahko would be the end of any of us, and Cayla was the only one with nothing to fall back on. Even Deya had magical defenses thanks to her necklace, but Cayla couldn’t disappear or become untraceable. She was wholly reliant on her skills with my guns, and with our enemies becoming too much for my weapons to handle, where did that leave her?
I hadn’t needed to worry about her lately because I was so sure she could handle herself, but now I was second guessing the attack we were about to attempt, and it was because of what she’d said. It didn’t matter that we had the element of surprise, or how many weapons we were packing between the five of us. Cayla was next to me, and all I could think of was the danger she was in and always would be in with the way we lived.
“Mason,” Aurora whispered, and I looked over to see the half-elf furrowing her brow in confusion. “What are we waiting for? That iron is red hot.”
I nodded and tried to refocus my attention, but I knew I couldn’t let this one go. There was virtually nothing I could do about it at the moment, though, so I pulled the 1911 from my belt, handed it over to Cayla, and slid the last two magazines from my pocket as well.
Cayla holstered her revolver, loaded the magazine and got the pistol cocked and locked before she secured the spare magazine in her belt, and I tried to let the notion that she would at least have better weaponry ease my nerves.
I would have to put some serious thought into a long-term solution as soon as we handled these fuckers, though.
“You’re on sniper duty,” I told the princess in a low voice, and she nodded diligently. “Don’t fire unless you absolutely have to, though, I don’t want you giving away your position too soon if this goes south.”
Then the Ignis Mage in the clearing finished heating the iron, and I finally gave the signal.
Chapter 15
The air surged with electricity as all of us sparked our magic, and the two branding irons were wrenched out of the Ignis Mage’s hand at the same moment both he and Dahko had the ground torn out from under them.
Then we burst from the cover of the brambles as Dahko bellowed furiously, and before I could slam the ground in on top of him, the man vaulted twenty feet into the air. He came crashing down on one knee, and with a swipe of his arm, he hurled the Ignis Mage up to level ground again.
I already had a solid slab of stone raised above my head, though, while I barreled down the hill, and I sent it flying at Dahko while Haragh tore a trench open beneath him again. Then the slab disintegrated into dust before it even made its mark, and the walls of the trench warped like a sheet of paper in the wind as everything began to shake.
Dahko’s black eyes locked onto mine as he morphed the ground to raise a pillar beneath him instead, and he shot up above us with a fiendish grin on his face. My rune flared in retaliation before he even made his attack, but the forest floor was suddenly gone, and my legs were running through air as I dropped into a pit so deep, I couldn’t see the bottom. Above me the light was fading as the walls closed in, and I swiftly tore a ledge from the rocky underground to catch my fall.
The hollow creaking of stone closing in around me made my gut drop, but as I took a deep breath, I wrenched my fists apart and forced the walls to stay open just enough. Then I catapulted myself from the pit and I came up into complete chaos.
Flames had ignited every tree surrounding the small valley while Aurora fiercely battled the Ignis Mage, and both of them left a trail of smoke and smoldering pine needles in their wake.
My heart leapt into my throat as I saw the Ignis Mage throw a ball of fire the size of Bobbie at my half-elf, but she managed to break it into a thousand fiery pieces that littered the ground around her. Then Aurora’s emerald eyes flared with rage, and a split second later, a torrent of searing white flames shot from both of her palms to engulf her opponent.
Hulsan and Haragh were both circling Dahko as they wielded a swarm of rubble around them, and I slammed my fist into the ground so forcefully, the tremors knocked the burly man off balance.
This didn’t interrupt his powers, though, and even as he tripped backwards, seven deadly spikes shot up around me. I leapt and reformed them just before I could be crushed between the growing spires, and Hulsan tore a wall up to try and pin Dahko to the ground next.
The twenty-foot wall tipped and crashed down with a thundering crack that sent a fresh tremor beneath my feet, but Dahko stood unharmed amongst the wreckage as he threw his head back with a deep, maniacal laugh.
My hackles rose at I realized he was enjoying himself, and this time, I let my Terra magic build in my veins before I finally unleashed it again. With a swipe of my arm, the ground surrounding Dahko tore open as dirt and gravel flew up in every direction, and I sent the debris straight at the man’s face to blind him. Then I thrust the ground up and sent him flying into the air, and as he laughed wildly on the way back down, I formed a bed of rocky spears to catch his fall.
He only tore them out of the ground, though, and as every spear came soaring in my direction, the crazed mage rolled through a softened landing with his palm still raised and at the ready.
That’s when Aurora turned on him as well, and with one hand countering the attacks of the Ignis Mage, she used the other to send a series of fireballs straight at the Terra Mage in quick succession.
“Behind you!” Hulsan suddenly hollered, and Aurora was forced to back down as Dahko’s wall nearly collapsed on top of her.
Then Hulsan dropped the burly man into a chasm once more, but this time, he slammed the ground shut so quickly, I was almost sure we had him.
Haragh turned on the Ignis Mage with a vicious roar, and as we both hurled one boulder after another, the spry mage leapt and dodged the onslaught with a deadly grin on his face. Then he tried to set the whole valley on fire with a broad wave of his arm, and as we all leapt out of the way of the flames, Aurora fiercely overpowered his attack. She sent the flames swelling right over him and doused the inferno separating us from her, but then the tremors started in the soil again, and I lunged to grab the half-elf by the waist.
Before Dahko could blast the ground apart, Aurora and I went tumbling into the brambles, and giant shards of debris crashed down around us as I pulled a wall up to shield the attack.
“He’s too strong!” Aurora panted frantically as the wall above us cracked down the m
iddle.
“We have them outnumbered,” I growled, and I broke the shield apart as I dragged her to her feet. Then I shoved her forward as flames burst from her palms once more, and the half-elf attacked with a renewed vengeance as she lashed out at Dahko.
He was forced to pull up every obstruction he could now, and I tore a pit open at his back and pulled up a wall for good measure while Aurora refused to let up. Then I let the wall drop just as Dahko’s foot slipped into the pit, and Aurora’s flames funneled after him in a blaze of amber light.
Her attack was derailed by the spry Ignis Mage, though, and the same bout of flames flipped like a fiery whip to slash me right down the middle.
I yelped as the pain sliced through me and brought me to my knees, but my rune chanted furiously in my mind as it worked to heal the burns, and within ten seconds, I was able to roll and avoid Dahko’s shower of boulders.
He was bearing down on me now while one palm threw Haragh off his feet, and the half-ogre’s snarls echoed above the battering of flames as he crashed into the hillside. Aurora screeched when the ground beneath her suddenly collapsed, but I caught her with a ledge before I sent her tumbling out of range.
Then a copper bullet whizzed over my head and missed Dahko by inches, and I let the ground under me break open just as the man’s large hand shot out to grab me by the throat. He fell into the pit after me, and both of us grabbed hold of the rocky walls at the same moment. Gravel broke loose as my feet scrambled for a toe hold, and from the other side of the massive pit, the crazed mage grinned feverishly at me with his matted hair falling over his vacant black eyes.
I could feel the presence of his Terra magic all around me as my own powers surged through the walls of the pit, but he was forcing his hold on the ground now. I could feel it in my veins that the walls would close in at any second, and my rune chanted furiously as I kept my gaze locked on Dahko. I couldn’t lose this one, there was too much at stake, but I couldn’t overpower his magery, and he only kept increasing his hold. For the first time in ages, I felt like I might actually be nearing my limit while I was locked in a power surge against the possessed mage, and I clamped my jaw painfully tight as I forced my Terra powers to hold out.
My vision started to tunnel as flames shot over the gaping chasm along with the sound of smashing boulders, but then I felt the presence of someone else’s strength in the soil.
Haragh was back and warring against Dahko with me, and as the ledge in the crazed man’s grip suddenly disintegrated, I used the last surge of power I had left to slingshot myself back up to higher ground.
I came crashing down hard as my connection to my magery snapped, and the air was knocked out of me while my vision doubled. I could hear Aurora breathing hard as she struggled to fend off the Ignis Mage somewhere close by, and Hulsan let out a vengeful grunt as a fresh bunch of rubble crashed down.
For a split second, I was overwhelmed by the realization that we couldn’t hold off the possessed mages, but just the thought sent a fresh wave of runic chanting through my mind, and I let it take over.
I shot to my feet despite my fading vision, and I let my Terra powers read the soil for me rather than bother looking around. Then I went after the Ignis Mage, and with my revolver in hand, I blindly forced him to flee the path of jagged spikes I sent up at his feet. The man stumbled as I went at him with both bullets and rocky spears now, and Aurora brought up a blaze at his back as I registered the sound of a bullet whooshing over me.
I was squinting hard to keep my focus, but I could tell the copper bullet missed the Ignis Mage by centimeters as a fireball burst open in the trees. Then the man dove into Aurora’s flames, and a split second later, the entire inferno flared and flew right at us.
Hulsan blocked the attack just in time with a rocky shield, but when the old man broke the wall apart to crush the Ignis Mage, the fucker was already gone.
Dahko stood there in the rubble, though, with his eyes twitching feverishly, and he was badly bruised from his drop into the pit with a bloody gash taken out of his forehead. Still, he stood with his Terra powers sparked at the ready, and I forced my own powers to the surface of my palms even though my vision was nearly gone now.
I could sense Hulsan barreling up the fiery hill to pursue the fleeing Ignis Mage, and Aurora’s breaths were ragged with exhaustion as she did her best to douse the flames for the old man. She remained poised at my side to attack while the two of us waited for Dahko to make his move, and that’s when I heard the heavy beat of leathery wings break through the sky not a mile away.
“Deya,” I gasped just as Dahko wrenched his arm toward the sky, and I grabbed Aurora’s wrist as the ground shot up beneath us.
I yanked the half-elf into my arms before the man’s jagged ridge could separate us, and as we rolled down the rocky slide, I hollered out to Haragh.
“Twenty seconds!” I yelled. “That’s all I need!”
Haragh’s powers sparked in an instant and sent Dahko flying backward, and as I rolled over Aurora to come to a crashing stop, I pulled up a wall and let Dahko slam headfirst into it.
Then I drove the ground upward as my vision blacked out completely, and I focused on nothing but the heavy beat of wings drawing closer. Aurora called out that Dahko had jumped from the pillar I had him on, but only a few seconds later, raging heat coursed around me with a thunderous roar.
The half-elf slammed into me with all of her strength to throw me back into the brambles, and she laid gasping on top of me as I clutched my throbbing head. My healing rune was furiously working to restore me already, though, and as the chaos of the battle suddenly quieted down, I heard Cayla running down the hill.
“Is he alive?” the princess demanded anxiously.
“I’m alive,” I groaned, but I couldn’t see a damned thing.
“Don’t move,” Aurora commanded. “I’m going to find Haragh and Hulsan.”
“No, you’re not,” I said through gritted teeth, but when I tried to sit up, my head spun, and I came crashing down again.
“Neither of you are going anywhere,” Cayla snapped, and as I registered the erratic beat of Aurora’s pulse, I realized she was as done as I was.
So, I felt around and clutched the half-elf’s trembling wrist to keep her in place, and as my rune overwhelmed my senses, I focused on the fact that we were all still alive. More than anything, I wanted to send out my Terra powers to locate my half-ogre friend and the old man, but I knew I had nothing left in me.
Dahko had forced me to my limit, and the realization that he wasn’t even close to worn out by then made my limbs go numb.
“We have to find Deya,” I panted.
“She’s okay,” Cayla assured me, “she flew south after she burnt up Dahko.”
“Where’s that fucking Ignis Mage?” I growled.
“We don’t know,” Aurora said as she struggled to breathe. “I can’t see, Mason, c-can you see?”
“No,” I replied, and I forced myself to sound calm about this. “Focus on breathing and calm down, we both need to recover.”
I felt Aurora’s cheek settle against my chest, but her shaking made my heart stutter anxiously, and I willed my rune to heal me faster so I could check to be sure she was okay.
Cayla’s heartbeat was strong and steady, though, so I let this calm me down a little, and within five minutes, I could make out the blurred boughs above me. Sunlight shone down now that most of the trees were badly burned, and the smell of smoke filled the air. Aurora’s breathing evened out, but her tremors didn’t stop, and as soon as my head didn’t feel like there was a twenty-pound brick sitting on it, I shifted to sit up.
“Someone’s coming,” I muttered as I registered the sound of hurried footsteps about fifty feet beyond the hill, and Aurora tensed in my lap. “It’s either Haragh or Hulsan, they’re not fast enough to be the Ignis Mage.”
I squinted hard to make out the state of the half-elf in my lap, and even with my vision impaired, I could tell she was pretty banged
up. There was a dark shadow under Cayla’s right eye, too, and fresh blood dripped down her cheek.
“What happened?” I asked the princess.
“Dahko’s rubble was everywhere,” she said in a low voice. “I couldn’t shield my face in time.”
“Bastard,” I growled as I swiped the blood from her porcelain cheek.
“I tried to get him,” Cayla said, and I nodded.
“I know.”
Then Hulsan called over the top of the hill, and he limped his way over to us as fast as he could while he coughed heartily from the dense smoke.
“Everyone alright down here?” he asked.
“Aurora still can’t see,” I told the man, “but I’m recovering.”
“How long has it been?”
“About five minutes,” I replied.
“Get her moving,” the old man instructed, and he stooped to help Aurora to her feet. “If the vision’s gone that long, the circulation goes next, keep her up, and help support her weight.”
I immediately joined in the effort of getting Aurora back on her feet, and the half-elf pressed her weight against me as she swayed in place.
“I’m okay,” she mumbled, “I’m just dizzy.”
“Yeah, that’s alright, we’ll keep you steady,” Hulsan assured her. “Walk a few steps, nice and slow.”
“Where’s Haragh?” I asked the old man as we carefully led Aurora around the shattered clearing. “Did you get that Ignis Mage?”
“We got him,” Hulsan said in a low voice. “Haragh’s knocked out, though. He’ll come around soon enough. I only left him to check and see if you were all okay. Where’s Dahko?”
“Deya got him,” I told the man.
“The elf?” he asked incredulously.
I was about to respond when Cayla gasped, and we all halted as she grabbed my arm.
