by Ray Torrens
“Exactly! Being a Protector is about keeping alive the traditions of allowing people to feel safe in their own homes. It’s about doing things to stand up for those who can’t. I am learning that, right now, when I protect Kaarina’s village like a Protector from the past would have done. I know that I have more skills to learn, but I have more to learn about other things too. I want to cultivate power, but I want to cultivate real heroism too. Don’t you remember what was written in that book of yours, the words I recited out loud to—” He stopped himself, realizing that he’d nearly spoken about being from another planet in front of Kaarina, who was now focused intently on their argument.
“I wrote that book, thank you. And yes, I remember.” Jakke was disarmed by that comment.
“Well then—I really do wish to cultivated heroism! You want this Protector thing to come back? Then people need to actually see that there’s someone out there looking after them.”
Jakke stared with such emotionless eyes that Mack was convinced he’d been lying about being created from a real man, and not just a computer program after all.
Eventually, he said, “Well, I suppose you will need more than one beginner’s move if you’re going to fight a bunch of hoodlums.”
Mack wasn’t composed enough to hide his wide grin.
Kaarina, relieved the fighting had stopped, clasped her hands in front of her face and beamed. “I’m so glad you’re going to save Avalu.”
Jakke ignored her and instead summoned a series of illustrations in the shame shimmering blue of his hologram. There were seven of them, and his knowledge of Muay Thai meant he could at least understand what each of them was showing him straight away. A block. roundhouse kick, front kick, a grapple, a throw, a takedown, and a jump.
“These are the seven basic moves granted to Protectors at the beginning of their training.”
“Do I get a weapon?”
“These are your weapon. A Protector only ever needs his body to win a fight. You should have an advantage even if there isn’t a single possession to your name. Your power comes from inside yourself. Besides, we have no desire to shed excessive blood. Our lack of swords is symbolic as much as it is practical due to our fighting style.”
Mack struggled not to wince as he thought about the caved in skull of the bandit. That hardly seemed any less violent.
“To learn these moves you need to utilize the training facilities at the temple, but there isn’t currently enough power for that.”
“So how do I get power?”
“The temple runs on power crystals, but they are not something easily obtained in this land anymore.”
“Right,” Kaarina chimed in. “I mean you’ve seen my village compared to this place. If we even had one power crystal, we could have so much more technology than we do. We live like peasants because we don’t have the energy to utilize better tech.”
“So, who do we steal these power crystals from?”
“I bet the bandits have some,” she said eagerly, bouncing on her heels. “See this is good for everyone, when we go in there and kick their asses. We get power for the temple, save Avalu. We should rally the villagers by the way. You can convince them to come and fight for you when you tell them you’re a Protector, I know you can. We can win. It’s perfect.”
“Kaarina.” Mack and Jakke said in stern unison, but she only continued talking even faster and more enthusiastically.
“I can hear in your voice that you don’t agree with me. They might not have fighting magic, but it doesn’t mean they can’t fight. They can help.”
“Jakke didn’t even want me to attack the bandits in the first place, there’s no way he’s planning on sending me in there without having learned the rest of these moves.” He glanced at the hologram, and hoped he was correct. “There must be some other way we can collect the crystals.”
Jakke hung his head. “I’m sure that the bandits will have power crystals, and inevitably you would have had to face them down for those power crystals anyway. But you’re right. Just to operate the training facility for a short time we don’t need an entire crystal. There’s a nearby mine that’s been barren for decades, but there might be at least a couple of shards remaining. Something small enough that you can at least learn some of the basic set. That should be your focus.”
Kaarina threw up her hands. “We’re wasting time.”
“We’re playing things smart,” Mack said, staring at her hard. “I think we should do it this way. Jakke knows what he’s talking about.”
She hesitated but didn’t look at the hologram. Instead she stared straight at Mack until her conviction wavered. “Okay. As long as you promise it won’t take too long.”
“I promise.”
“It might take longer than you think,” Jakke interrupted. “The mines have been barren of any real mining efforts for decades, but I can’t promise that they’ll be barren of life forms. There are always people looking for shelter in this land, and you might find anything down there.”
“Chances are that it’ll be something less dangerous than a horde of bandits though, right?” Mack asked.
“Exactly,” Jakke agreed, then with a wry smile added, “And more importantly, I have no choice but to let you do this one.”
Chapter Nine
Jakke sent them on their way with a new backpack full of supplies. He had a map, far updated from Kaarina’s and crafted with some kind of waterproof material so that it wouldn’t get ruined easily. There was a long piece of rope which was thick enough to bare their weight should it need to. Two glowing pendants which would light up their way were stowed in the bags, hidden away so they didn’t attract attention until they were already in the mines. He also had a knife, a pickaxe, and a shovel.
It shouldn’t have all fit into the backpack, but the gear was advanced enough that it all folded down into manageable sizes. It was made of a light but strong metal that didn’t weigh too much on his back.
“Be careful,” Jakke told them sternly as they made their way out of the temple. “Don’t engage unless you have to, and be wary of anything living that you see.”
They nodded and then slipped out of the temple, keeping low and moving quietly to avoid any lurking bandits that might be waiting for them.
Soon, they’d left the abandoned ruins that surrounded the temple behind, and were traipsing across farmland that belonged to a small village similar to Avalu. They got a wave from the farmer, and he didn’t seem hostile. Mack was tempted to stop and talk to him—he was sure that he could get useful information about what lay on this side of the temple from the man—but he kept Jakke’s advice in mind and continued walking.
It took some time before they eventually crossed from farmland into woodland, and the temperature dropped.
“Kinda creepy in here,” Kaarina said, looking up. The sky had vanished, replaced by a canopy of looming leaves of green and gray.
“It’s not that far to go,” Mack replied, pulling the map from his pocket and double checking they were still on the right path. He was beyond grateful for the orienteering summer camp he’d once been on. It was a lot of years ago, but he could at least remember the basics of map reading, and Kaarina could understand the nuances of the Hautan cartography.
“I’ve got to admit, this whole cave thing isn’t very appealing to me. I hope it’s not too claustrophobic.”
Mack took Kaarina’s hand for a moment and squeezed it. “You’ll be fine.”
He went to let go, but she laced their fingers together instead.
They shared a smile and kept walking.
When he looked over his shoulder, Mack couldn’t see the edge of the forest anymore. It was all trees immediately around them, then just darkness.
A high-pitched whine pierced through the trees, and both flinched.
“What the hell was that?” he asked.
“It sounds hurt. It came from this direction.”
“We shouldn’t—”
“We’re just going
to investigate,” Kaarina urged, tugging on his hand. “I’m not saying we have to go up to whatever it was and interact, but we have no idea what it could be.”
He acquiesced and allowed her to pull him toward the source of the continued wailing. When they got closer, she hid behind a tree and peered out. “Oh,” she gasped, rushing forward.
“Kaarina!”
“It’s hurt!” she called over her shoulder. She fell to her knees beside a small, mangled looked creature whose leg was caught in some sort of bear trap. It was only three feet tall at the most, with a squashed-up face that reminded him of a pug. Its skin was dark brown and nobly.
“We don’t know what it is or what it’s doing,” he replied. “We should get out of here. You know what Jakke said.”
“Look at it,” she hissed. “You can’t just leave it here, surely.”
He was looking at it though, and that was making him suspicious. “Where’s the blood?” he asked. Considering the thing’s leg was trapped between sharp teeth of the trap, it didn’t look very mangled. He squinted, trying to see more clearly. “I just think we should get out of here.”
“I’ll just free it and we’ll be on our way. It’s not a big deal.”
But the creature was looking up at him with wide, dirty brown eyes and the wailing stopped abruptly. It mouthed what Mack was sure was a sorry. It pulled its leg free from the trap and scampered away from them
“It’s fake. Let’s run,” Mack bellowed.
But it was too late at that point.
More of the creatures, this time bigger and with crude weapons in their hands, swung down from the trees and surrounded the pair.
“Shit,” he hissed, falling into his stance. “I can’t take all of them at once, so stay moving and slow as many as you can without getting into combat directly.”
Two immediately lunged at him with their weapons. They looked like stakes made from rusty metal. One caught him on the arm, breaking the skin and making him grunt through his teeth.
He went on the offensive this time, more confident after a couple of battles under his belt. They were awkward for him to attack with his fists because they were so much shorter than him, but he caught one in the head and sent it flying backward until it landed with a crunch against one of the trees.
Chancing a glance over his shoulder, he saw Kaarina doing as he’d instructed. Instead of going for real damage with her sword, she was keeping her attacks wide and sweeping, forcing the tree dwelling humanoids backward, slowing them if they did dare to get too close and be nicked by the sword.
Mack delivered a kick to one creature after failing to punch it out of the way, and because of their small stature he easily swung his foot into the head of the thing. Even though that move wasn’t enhanced by teho yet, but he’d always had a good roundhouse.
There were so many that he was always on the verge of being swarmed. No matter how many Kaarina kept back on her side, there were more charging at him. Two caught him with their spikes, making him bleed but not going deep enough to inhibit his fighting ability. He punched another in the face twice and sent it out of action, and immediately turned to one that thought it could sneak an attack in.
It obviously hadn’t been expecting the enhanced speed that he got from his protector DNA, and that let Mack deliver a quick double punch with a single hand to its face.
The taking down of both goblins in seconds made the rest of the attackers visibly hesitate. There were possibly as many as fifteen remaining alive, but they all held back with hesitation. It seems they’d realized they were going to be on the losing side if they kept pursuing it.
When Mack took a step forward, it was the spook they needed to scatter. They barreled away from him in various directions, some scampering up trees and another diving toward the undergrowth to escape through the forest on foot.
He acted on instinct by chasing the one in front of him that had just gashed his arm with its spike and followed it through the undergrowth. For such stocky little creatures, they were surprisingly fast and obviously knew the terrain much better. It got away before Mack could catch up.
Bracing his hands on his knees to catch his breath, he turned and was glad to find Kaarina right behind him.
She rested a hand on his arm and performed the magic that healed his wounds. “Sorry,” she said, glancing away. “I got us into trouble.”
“It’s fine, we weren’t seriously injured, and we didn’t go that far off the right path. We’ll just keep going for the mine. You didn’t get hurt badly did you?”
“No, I’m fine. That was a good tactic by the way. It allowed me to actually focus on utilizing my sword’s enchantment to the fullest.”
“I agree,” replied Mack excitedly.
They chatted more about how their fighting styles would mesh together as they walked, staring at the map to make sure they were heading back the way they’d come. They passed the fake trap, which had been used to make that scrawnier creature look like it was in peril.
Kaarina stopped abruptly just when they’d gotten back onto the path they were meant to be taking. “There’s something coming. More of those creatures.”
“We should hide.”
She hesitated but then nodded. They stood close together behind a tree and listened as the same whine that had lured them in the first place started up again.
“Shut up,” another voice said. “Save it for the next trap.”
The whining got louder and Kaarina tried to look around the tree, but Mack stopped her. He didn’t want their position given away, in case the surviving creatures had gone to get reinforcements.
“Would you stop with that racket? What has gotten into you?” The gruff complaint was accompanied by what sounded like a blow.
That was when Kaarina broke free of the arm Mack had put up to stop her investigating. Didn’t she ever learn? She peered around the tree and gasped in horror.
He couldn’t resist then and poked his head around too. The creature that had baited them into the trap was being dragged along the ground by a metal chain around his neck. Its mouth was open unnaturally wide as it cried out in pain.
Kaarina had moved before he could stop her, darting out from behind the tree with her sword drawn. There was pure anger on her face as she witnessed the helpless little creature being tortured by the larger of its kind. Her katana began to shimmer like it had before, only this time there were a reddish glow around her hands going up the hilt of the weapon and licking out across the blade in wavy tendrils of magical energy.
“What the fuck is that?” Mack started to ask, but the dainty elf quickly leapt into action.
She took the larger beast by surprise with her overhead slicing attack, which allowed her to break its skin easily. Instead of being slowed this time—the red magical energy visibly transferred through the edge of the katana and into the beast. It was completely stunned for a second. That gave her enough time to bring around the sword with all her might and lop the stunned creature’s head straight.
Mack watched with a slack jaw. The head of the beast rolled over and came to a halt when it hit Mack’s foot, its eyes still open in shock.
“Kaarina!” he finally shouted when he’d gotten over the unexpected, yet frankly impressive, display.
“Look at what it was doing to the poor thing!” she fired back, working at the chain around the goblin thing’s neck, trying to figure out how to loosen it.
Her task was made harder by how the goblin was wrapping its arms around her legs and clinging on for dear life. “You save. You saved,” it repeated again and again.
It was much smaller than the ones he’d fought, two feet tall at the highest, and even uglier than he’d first though. The dark green skin was covered in patches of gray that looked like they could be moss and the nobbles made it look diseased. It blended in perfectly to the rest of the dark forest.
“You’re safe now,” Kaarina promised. “That thing is dead. It’s not going to hurt you anymore.”
“That one’s dead, but that thing almost got us killed twice now.” He pointed an accusatory finger at the little creature. “I can’t believe you’re trying to help it now,” Mack argued, though he’d seen the word ‘sorry’ it had mouthed before the ambush happened. He doubted the creature had a choice.
“I slave,” it hurried to explain. “They made. Not my fault. I not hurt, just want to live, be happy, not trap.”
“See,” Kaarina said, giving him a told you so look.
“Please help,” he begged, clinging tighter to Kaarina’s leg. “Please. Please don’t leave here. They be back. They chain again. Hurt me.”
She finally got the chains from around the things neck, and it immediately climbed up her like a monkey, perching on her shoulder. A tail he hadn’t realized was there curled around its body. Mack pulled a face at the thought of the thing touching him, but she didn’t seem to mind. Kaarina had a lot more compassion than most.
“We can’t leave it here,” she said.
“I not ‘it.’ I Vekku.”
“If we leave him here, he’ll be punished because us,” she said.
Mack rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t trust him.”
“I help. What you need? I help.”
“Do you know anything about the mine nearby?” she asked. “The big hole in the ground?”
“Yes!” Vekku answered eagerly. “We been there, we get food. Mmm. I show. Come, come!” It tightened a grip on her shirt. “Please, I help.”
Mack hesitated, staring Vekku down and waiting for him to break. He didn’t get what he wanted. Vekku’s face was open and seemingly honest. “Okay,” he conceded. “You can come with us.”
Chapter Ten
Getting into the mine was easy. There were no guards or anything like that, and rather than a mine shaft that would have been difficult to abseil down and even harder to get back up, there was instead a path down at a sensible gradient that was easy to navigate.
