Escalation

by Matthew Peed

  “Bruce, my friend! Come in here for a moment.”

  I jerked and made my way inside. “My lord?”

  “None of that right now. I’m talking to you as Valamar to Bruce, my childhood friend and the person I trust more than anyone in this world.”

  I grew more shocked with every word but nodded. “I understand.” Val never talked like that unless it was about something of great importance.

  “You must be curious about all this?” he asked, and I nodded again. “A few days ago, I got a letter from Lady Ezal. Apparently, she is carrying my child.”

  “My lord—” I started but got a glare. “Val, surely you don’t believe this! How could she possibly know it’s yours? We were only there a short amount of time!” I argued. People were always trying to claim this or that to get favors or rewards from my master.

  “Of course, I was suspicious at first, but after I finished reading the letter, I got a gist of how she found out. I decided to trust my instinct, and we are heading there to confirm this. But I know for a fact that I was her first,” Val said with a severe expression that said he had thought it all through as well.

  “If it is true, is it really that big of a problem? You already said you wanted to marry her, and if she is carrying your heir, then all the better,” I said with a big smile, hoping to cheer him up. Having known him nearly his entire life, I knew that he’d come to truly care for this woman even though they’d only spent a few days together.

  “Indeed, if this all pans out, I will be incredibly happy. It’s just, I learned some . . . disturbing news when we made it back to the capital.” I remained silent and waited for him to continue. “It seems that my father would wed me to a woman named Helicilia.”

  My eyes widened in surprise. “What are the chances of it being a coincidence?” We had just heard that name from Sir Regan back in Robia. Apparently, she was something of a leader for the necromancers.

  “I don’t believe in coincidences,” Val said with a frown. I slowly nodded in reply. It was just too close together for it to be someone else. Val took a deep breath and continued. “Either Father is unaware, or he is very aware, and my father is not a stupid man.”

  “I understand,” I said and kneeled in front of him. “What do you need of me?”

  “If . . . if something should happen to me, I want you to take care of my child and Ezal. I know this is asking a lot of you, but I don’t want you to seek revenge for me.”

  I jerked my head up in surprise once again. Val was a very confident person, he wouldn’t order something like this without reason. “Val! If you know something, then we should change course or set up a diversion . . . anything!”

  “I’m afraid it wouldn’t help, and I don’t want to go into why. I just hope that we reach the valley without incident. Once we’re there, we’ll be safe,” he said, then reached down to set his hand on my shoulder. Well, reached down is pushing it a bit; my shoulder was almost level with his middle torso even while I was kneeling.

  “I . . . see . . .” I bowed my head. “I promise that no matter what, I will protect Lady Ezal and your child, my lord.”

  “Thank you, my friend,” Val said with a smile.

  A knock sounded at the door, and Avina looked in. “My lord, it’s time to depart.”

  “Thank you, Avina. Let’s go, Bruce.”

  We made our way out of the inn, and we were on our way shortly. We each had a horse that had reached the tier two realm, so they were quite powerful animals for riding. Mine was of the terra element, which gave it the strength to carry me in full armor and still be able to keep pace with the others. The day passed uneventfully with only a small attack by some bandits, which was handled in a matter of seconds without issue. We made good time with the fall weather seeming to hold back the cold for us a bit. We reached a small village just as the sun was setting and managed to rent the entire top floor of the one inn in town, as it was empty besides us.

  We set up the usual rotations for guard duty while Val got some rest. He’d barely spoken to anyone during the day and seemed to have worried the others, but I couldn’t blame him. I went to a room and pulled my workout equipment out of my storage ring and proceeded to do my presleep warm-up. As my mana was fire, I’d learned to be able to cultivate it from the heat my muscles put off while training. This type of mana seemed to be rare. I had tried to teach it to my brothers at the academy, but they were never able to understand it.

  I was in the middle of switching to another tool when I felt something was . . . off. I wasn’t sure what it was that rubbed me the wrong way. The place was silent, and outside, the village was asleep. I peeked out into the hall and saw Avina still guarding the marquis’s door, the cursed chain leading into the door of her own room. I decided to trust my instinct and made my way over.

  “Avina, how is it?”

  She glared at me but replied, “Same as usual. Nothing to my knowledge.”

  “I see. Well, I have something to discuss with Lord Val. Excuse me,” I said and went to knock on the door.

  Avina stepped in my way. “I can’t let you do that. My lord is trying to sleep!” she hissed at me angrily.

  “Sorry, it’s important.” I tried to force my way through.

  Before I could take a step forward, she leveled her spear at me. I slid back in reaction, to make some space. “Just . . . just turn around, Bruce.”

  “Avina! What is the meaning of this?!”

  “I’m sorry, but he left me no other choice! They said I could have him when they were done! They said he would be mine!” she shouted with a crazed look in her eyes.

  I willed my shield and sword from my storage ring, thankful that I worked out in my armor for added weight. The weapons appeared in my hands as I braced myself and said, “If you don’t move, I’ll make you move!”

  Avina’s frown deepened and she took a fighting stance. I grimaced but Val was more important. Small flames started to flicker along my shield as I readied myself. Bracing, I charged, shield leading the way. Her spear collided with my shield and managed to make a nasty gash but couldn’t penetrate it. I collided with her and slammed her through the door to Val’s room. Her body went flying after the door stopped resisting her, and she collided with a person who was in the room performing some type of spell.

  “VAL!” I shouted as I rushed to the bed and blocked it from the intruder. Val seemed to be in some type of trance but was slowly regaining his composure. “ENEMY ATTACK!” I shouted so that the others would be awakened.

  Several doors in the hall crashed open, and the others rushed in barely ten seconds later. Liuvan came in as well, and I leveled my sword at him. Understanding crossed his eyes, and he swung his halberd, making enough room to get to Avina.

  “Really?! We were finally going to be free, and you had to fuck up on the last night?!” Liuvan scolded Avina.

  “The brute interfered!”

  “That’s insulting!” I shouted back.

  Val shook his head and looked around. Taking in the situation in a glance, he stood up from the bed and moved next to me. The room wasn’t really built for this many people, and it was starting to get crowded. The floor creaked with all the weight in the room. He looked at Avina before asking, “Avina, how could you? After all we’ve been through together?”

  “BECAUSE YOU WOULD NEVER LOOK AT ME!” she screamed hysterically.

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t love you like that. You are like a little sister to me,” Val said with a sad smile.

  “It doesn’t matter anymore. Some very nice people said you would be all mine to do with as I please here soon.”

  “Is it the same for you, Liuvan?” Val asked.

  “Haha, that’s funny. But no, I was actually on the other team from the start,” Liuvan said, then tapped the chain. It melted and flowed into his halberd. Then he pulled off an amulet or medallion and tossed it to the ground. The darkness seemed to get a bit darker. “Ah, so liberating,” he said, then turned to the cloaked fig
ure that had been casting a spell on Val and nodded. The figure threw a globe of darkness outside through the window, which should have been warded for intruders, and it burst in the air.

  I suddenly felt a wave of mana rushing toward the inn, and I reacted by grabbing Val and using my Flame Fortress. I felt an intense impact, then the floor gave out under us. The next thing I knew, I was covered in debris from the building, but at least Val was safe. I sent out a burst of flames and blew the debris off us. When we looked around, we heard screams coming from all over the village and saw several buildings already on fire with a wicked green and black flame.

  “Val! Are you alright?” I asked urgently.

  “Yes, thanks to you.”

  We got up and looked for the others. Neldor had a white barrier around him but was pinned under a beam. I couldn’t see Urena, but I hoped that she was alright. Avina, Liuvan, and the cloaked figure were surrounded by the necromancer’s common barrier. They had quite a bit of debris surrounding them as well, which was probably why they hadn’t attacked yet.

  Avina and Liuvan swung their weapons, flinging the debris from them. A large number of cloaked figures emerged from the surroundings and encircled us. I gulped—it was quite a few, and I doubted we would be able to get out of this. I tightened the grip on my sword and shield until my knuckles turned white. Flames started to leak from the gaps in my armor. I wouldn’t let them take Val without a fight.

  A woman who didn’t bother to hide her features stepped out from the crowd. She was tall, with slightly wavy shoulder-length blonde hair, and burning eyes. I had to personally say that she was one of the most attractive women I had ever seen. She had shoulder length blond hair that was wavy She reminded me of a noble’s daughter.

  “Did you hate the idea of being my boy toy so much?” a sensual voice said, seeming to flow over to us.

  “I would rather die than marry a woman like you!” Val shouted back.

  “Pity, I just wanted to use you for a few nights,” she said with a sorrowful tone.

  “You promised he would be mine!” Avina screamed toward the woman, who I had to assume was Helicilia.

  Helicilia looked over to Avina with contempt. “Be quiet, girl,” she said, then waved her hand. Black spikes that had to number in the hundreds formed around her. I barely had time to blink before they shot toward Avina. A barrier of light went up around her, but it paled in comparison to the power of the attack. She was torn to pieces as the spikes ripped through her. She barely screamed before she lost the ability to continue doing so. I was honestly surprised that she was still alive before at least fifteen spikes tore through her head.

  “Monster!” Val shouted.

  “I get the job done, nothing more, nothing less. Now, as you can see, I am more than a match for you by myself, but I have several dozen more mages with me. So please, just come with me quietly,” she said as spells of all kinds started to form around us.

  I whispered so that only Val could hear me, “I’m going to charge her. Use my distraction to escape in any way you can.”

  “Bruce, no!” Val said, but I ignored him.

  Channeling every ounce of mana I had at my disposal, I exploded toward Helicilia. The ground cracked from the force of my acceleration, while I created the hottest flames surrounding me. Several spells flew toward me, many making impact, but my trusty armor outlasted them. I felt an intense pain in my stomach but kept up my charge.

  “Hmph, amusing,” I vaguely heard Helicilia say just as something engulfed me.

  My charge came to a complete stop, and I looked at what had me. The white of ancient bones surrounded me as a giant arm came out of a black tear in the air. More emerged from the black portal as a dragon made out of bone took shape in front of me. It tightened its grip on me and several of my bones started to crack.

  “Sorry . . . my . . . lord . . .” I gasped through gritted teeth. I could feel blood leaking from my nose and mouth.

  “Well, I can’t say I hate loyal followers, they are quite hard to come by. Hey, how about you come work for me?” Helicilia said as she ran a finger down my jaw.

  “N . . . ev . . . er,” I said.

  “Oh well,” she said and snapped her fingers.

  The bone dragon gripped harder. My armor cracked, which drove several pieces into my body. Blood burst through the claw marks and fell to the ground. I just barely maintained consciousness as the dragon tossed me aside. I landed nearly one hundred meters away, the impact jarring my body even more. If I were an average person, I would have been dead several times over. I couldn’t move anymore, but I channeled what little mana I had left into my eyes so I could watch what happened. I would need to know if I wanted to be able to rescue Val from them.

  “Now, back to business. I really do need you to come with me. Everyone thinks female virgins are the only good source of mana, but men are just as useful, especially one as powerful as you. It all depends on the fates.”

  “Ha . . . haha . . . . HAHAHA,” Val laughed. I saw Helicilia’s eyes narrow. “You might as well kill me. If you had told Avina what you were planning, she could have told you that I wasn’t one anymore as of a few weeks ago,” Val said, then laughed some more.

  Helicilia jerked her head to another mage, and he did something. When he nodded to her and she ground her teeth, I knew that had somehow confirmed what Val had confessed. “Pointless,” she said, then turned to her dragon. “Kill them.”

  The bone dragon roared, then charged toward the ruined inn. I tried to get up, but my body refused to move. A massive wave of mana came out of Val as he held his ground, his sword raised. The dragon brought its claw down, and Val responded by meeting it with his sword. A shock wave blasted out from the impact.

  Neldor had cast some type of holy magic, which caused Val to glow. The bones of the claw started to smoke when it made contact with Val’s sword. They exchanged blows a few more times before the dragon roared and seemed to heave a deep breath. Shadows gathered in its chest, then, with a release of its breath, a dense wave of darkness washed over the two, even taking Liuvan with it.

  I could barely make out Neldor struggling to maintain a barrier made of light against the darkness. I couldn’t even yell when I saw the barrier give out and the shadows swallow them completely. It lasted nearly an entire minute before the bone dragon finally closed its mouth.

  “Finally. This has been a tremendous waste of time,” Helicilia said as she walked over to where Val would be. “At least this righteous fool has been dealt with,” she continued, then ground her foot into something.

  I heard what sounded like bones shatter, then I just couldn’t maintain my will anymore. I wanted to swear to seek her out and kill her a thousand times, but my promise to Val kept echoing in my mind.

  ~~~

  I awoke who knew how long later when I felt a wetness. I opened my eyes slowly, not sure what to expect when I looked around. What I saw was smoke rising from the smoldering husks of buildings in the background. The inn was a pile of rubble, with most of it having been turned into ash. I listened but couldn’t hear anything but the pattering of rain on my armor and the ground nearby.

  I tried to move but could barely budge myself. I concentrated, willing my armor into my storage ring. A couple hundred kilos lighter and I was able to sit up slowly. I saw a smoldering body a few meters away while I spat to get the taste of the air out my mouth.

  I crawled toward the inn slowly, still not able to walk. I couldn’t believe that Val and the others were dead. It felt like a nightmare to me, and I just wanted to wake up. I was completely coated in mud by the time I made it to the ruin of the inn. I lifted my body, barely managing to get to my feet. Finally, I stumbled forward into what remained of Val’s room, the few posts that still maintained their shape.

  There were several corpses . . . more like skeletons. It was as if all their fluids and insides had been sucked out of them. The corpse that would have been Val’s also had its head crushed in. I moved over to it and reached
down under the shirt. There would be an amulet there that only Val was able to remove even if he died. I sucked in a breath when I felt it, that meant this . . .

  “AA-HH!”

  I don’t know how long I yelled, but I heard a sound next to my foot. I jerked my head down and saw Liuvan’s body twitching. I was just about to grab him when I noticed a green glow from his face reflected in the water on the ground. I pulled my sword from my ring and watched as Liuvan’s body started to moan like the undead were prone to in the presence of life.

  “Fuck you!” I said and stabbed my sword into the back of its head.

  Flames blasted out from my blade and roasted the already blackened body until it turned to ash. I breathed heavily as my anger passed a bit. More moans sounded out from the village. As I was probably the only living thing bigger than a bug within a kilometer, they were most likely all headed toward me.

  I pulled a spare shield that was lighter than my usual one out of my ring and looked toward the village edge. There was a stable that looked mostly intact. I had to hope there was a horse still alive inside. A form rushed from a nearby building, an undead that had already evolved. A moan that was close to a roar came from it as it ran toward me.

  “Come at me!” I shouted, then I let my flames roar for me. They engulfed me while the sound of the fire echoed, and the heat turned the ground black.

  The creature jumped when it was about ten meters away from me. I braced myself, then swung my sword over my head. The trusted blade sliced the creature in half, and black blood splattered over me. I wiped it off with the back of my hand and spit on the corpse, the upper half of which was still moving. I coated my foot in flames and brought it down to crush the thing’s skull.

  Several more forms were making their way toward me. I cracked my neck. It looked like I wasn’t going to be leaving here that easily, after all. I condensed my flames to a blue color with white edges and lined the edge of my blade. With a quick look around, I found a stone wall that had been built for carriage storage. I moved toward it slowly but managed to reach it before the undead could reach me. Then I put my back to it so that they couldn’t surround me.