by Andrew Rowe
Fortunately, it didn’t hit anyone directly.
Marissa jumped and swung a fist at the snake head, but the tail whipped out of the way, and we got a better look at the main body.
It was tremendous, at least twenty feet tall, with the body of a lion and the head of a goat.
“A chimera,” Marissa mumbled, “Of the classic variety.”
The three of us fell back into formation while the chimera’s goat head bleated into the air.
“What do we do against a chimera?” Patrick asked.
“Dodge!” Marissa replied in a panicked tone.
The chimera had already started to charge.
We rushed the sides of the room while it closed the distance, trying to trample over us.
That did exactly what we’d been hoping to avoid. We were separated, with Marissa and I on the beast’s right side and Patrick on the left.
The tail swung toward Patrick again.
“Marissa, up!” I yelled.
She got my meaning, leaping into the air and aiming for the snake head before it could breathe fire again.
The tail switched directions and opened its mouth hungrily.
“Resh.” Marissa raised her arms to block, but she couldn’t do much against fire breath without fire or ice magic.
The snake-head breathed flame, but only for a moment. Patrick jammed his new sword into the chimera’s side, then stepped back and channeled a bolt of lightning into the metal.
The new sword was ruined, but it had done its job well.
Marissa flew through the flames, her shroud absorbing the brief blast, and slashed a blade-aura covered hand across the tail. Unfortunately, she hit too low, and the scales on the surface of the tail absorbed most of the blow. A flow of blood emerged from the wound, but the head wasn’t severed.
Marissa landed on Patrick’s side of the chimera. I lunged from the opposite side, stabbing it with Selys-Lyann.
The chimera swung toward me faster than I’d expected, hitting me hard with a claw.
I flew backward, losing my grip on the sword and impacting with a wall.
That was bad for me, but it was worse for the chimera.
Ice was already spreading from the wound, and it was getting further each moment.
My barrier was badly cracked by the attack, but between that and the two shrouds, I was still in pretty good shape.
Unfortunately, now I had the chimera’s attention, and I was unarmed and backed against a wall.
The chimera turned toward me and prepared to charge.
One, I counted, focusing on my right hand.
“Patrick, I need more height!” Marissa shouted as she charged at the creature from behind.
Two.
The chimera charged, the snake head poised to breathe down on me the moment it got close.
Marissa jumped.
“Levitate!”
Three.
Marissa flew twice as high this time, swung, and floated downward to the floor.
When she hit the ground, the serpent’s head fell next to her.
The chimera’s remaining head roared as it continued the charge.
I jumped, too.
Four. Good enough. Jump.
The ring of jumping carried me upward, and I slammed a fist into the goat’s head, releasing the mana I’d stored in my hand.
And just like that, I punched out a twenty-foot tall chimera.
The creature fell to the ground, insensate. Marissa moved closer and swept her hand across the other neck, finishing the job.
I groaned, rubbing my newly-bruised hand, and retrieved Selys-Lyann.
Patrick rushed to the woman in the corner. “It’s going to be okay.”
“You...killed it.” She mumbled. “You actually...killed it.”
“It’s okay. We’re going to get you to help.”
We probably should have insisted on bringing a healer, but it was far too late at this point. If we were lucky, maybe the student waiting outside was a Mender.
After sheathing Selys-Lyann, I checked the nearest other person, while Patrick attempted to calm the wounded woman. It was remarkable she was alive and conscious with such a serious injury — I assumed she was probably a Guardian or a Mender herself, and she had done something to stop the severed arm from bleeding.
After a minute of checking, the other two didn’t seem to be conscious or breathing. I was pretty sure they were dead, but I wasn’t an expert.
Either way, we’d found the three people. Marissa and I transported the fallen bodies as carefully as we could to the corner.
“We’re going to get out of here now,” Partrick explained.
“Wait,” the woman insisted. “Crystal...it should be in the next room...”
She looked at her severed hand, still holding the key. “We could still get to the crystal and finish our mission.”
I glanced at the other two. That was a sorely tempting prospect, but it wasn’t our mission. “I’m sorry, we can always come back for the crystal later.” I shook my head. “You and your companions need immediate medical treatment.”
She shook her head. “No, no... The crystal.”
“I’m with Corin here.” Patrick nodded.
“Same,” Marissa replied.
“Stay close.” Patrick picked up the severed hand, then rang the return bell.
We found ourselves outside.
***
The student outside was very, very surprised when six people appeared near him.
“Gaah!”
Ordinarily, I might have laughed, but I was in damage control mode. “We have three injured people here. Are you a Mender, by any chance?”
He shook his head. “No. Summoner. But I can summon something to get a message to town real fast, hold on.”
He summoned an air elemental, which flew to the settlement after receiving his instructions.
Then we waited, dealing with the wounded as best we could. I used a couple Lesser Regeneration spells on each of them, but I doubted it would accomplish much.
I didn’t hold out much hope for the two that were unconscious, but I didn’t say anything for fear that announcing that they were dead might disturb the survivor.
About ten minutes later, she lost consciousness, too.
I put my silver phoenix sigil on her, kicking myself for waiting so long, and then activated it. I explained what I was doing out loud because a part of me knew that none of this was real, as realistic as it was, and I wanted whoever was judging the whole thing to know that I was using a regeneration item on her.
Fortunately, regeneration spells and items weren’t harmful to people that were uninjured. That would have been a little awkward, otherwise.
It was about ten minutes after that the medics arrived, carrying each of the people away. One of them took my sigil off and handed it back to me, explaining they would take it from there.
I was grateful to have my sigil back and pinned it back on.
“Well,” the student assigned to watching us said, “Good work. I didn’t think you’d make it out of there.”
I nodded somberly. I’d have felt better if we’d managed to help all three victims, but two of them seemed beyond help by the time we’d gotten to the last room.
Would that have been possible if we’d made it through the temple faster?
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know the answer to that, but if I got a chance after the test was over, I planned to ask.
***
We returned to Teft. Patrick was upbeat in spite of losing his new sword.
I was kicking myself for failing to take any of those weird metal bars with me before we left the forge. I could have stored them in the Jaden Box. In fairness, though, we were clearly being observed and that might have caused me problems later.
We explained what had happened to Teft, and he nodded along. “May I have the key that you forged?”
We handed it to him.
“Good. This may make our next trip into the Temp
le of Fire considerably easier.” He paused for a moment, then said, “You’re dismissed for the day. Good work.”
We retrieved our things, got directions to where we were supposed to make camp, and got some much needed food and rest.
***
We spent the next few days working within the settlement itself. I spent most of my time reinforcing the enchantments on the area, just as Teft had originally intended for me to do.
It felt good to get to use my enchanting skills for something practical that could potentially help protect a big group of people. I knew it was all just a test, but if this was the type of thing that an Enchanter did for the military, I didn’t hate it as much as I’d expected.
Desmond, Kyra, and Rupert met up with us each day after they’d finished their own work. I got used to having them in our camp.
Roland, Jin, and Sera, however, did not. Apparently they’d all ended up being assigned to duties “elsewhere”.
I hoped that meant that Sera and Jin might be going to the Vanreach Mountains, but that turned out to be a bit too optimistic.
When they finally met back up with us almost a week later, Sera explained that they’d simply been on long-distance reconnaissance duty, searching for a good location for another settlement site.
I’d gotten so used to working at the settlement that it almost came as a shock when Teft told us it was time to leave. “Congratulations. You haven’t completely failed at all of your responsibilities here. Now it’s time to go home, and you’ll find out if your performance was good enough to make it to the next year.”
That wasn’t exactly encouraging, but it was as good as I could expect out of Teft.
“One question before we go,” I asked.
“Hm?”
“Those people we got out of the temple. Did any of them survive?”
Teft looked stymied for a moment, then he smiled softly and nodded. “Yes. One of them made it. You did well.”
That might have been an on-the-spot decision, but it still felt good to know that maybe we’d done at least a little bit of good.
I hoped that if we encountered a similar scenario that was real, we’d manage to do even better.
***
The whole team was reassembled for the journey back to the train station. Minus the two people who had already been eliminated, of course.
The trek back was much easier than the way there. We’d gotten used to each other, as well as being outdoors.
I was still anxious to get home, though. I needed a real shower.
We were a little surprised when a group of people met us on the road. They were adults, meaning they weren’t a group of students working for the Tails of Orochi looking to get in a last-minute ambush.
At first, I expected them to be a group of Soaring Wings who were there to escort us back.
But they weren’t wearing armor or the right colors.
They were dressed in Valian military uniforms. Two men and two women, well-equipped.
“Students, attention.” The lead figure stepped forward. He was a broad-shouldered man with brown hair streaked with just a hint of gray.
We didn’t know who they were, but we still knew how to snap to attention.
“We are here on behalf of Valia’s Divinatory Division.” He turned toward me. “Corin Cadence, you’re going to need to come with us.”
Divinatory Division?
...Meaning military intelligence?
That can’t possibly be good.
I inspected them again, activating my attunement.
Their auras were clear, suppressed. That implied that they were all at least Sunstone level, in order to have that level of control. They were carrying some enchanted items, too.
Carnelian-level shield sigils and weapons. That wasn’t terribly surprising — the military would have better standard-issue gear than students — but it was still impressive.
That wasn’t what gave me a pause for concern, though.
I could see the glow of attunement marks on most of the four. The speaker had a heart mark.
Two of the others had marks on their right hands. Unsurprising for combatants.
The last had a mark on her left leg.
None of that was a problem.
The worrying part was that the last soldier, with the leg mark, also had a glowing spot in the back of her right shoulder.
That wasn’t a spot for attunements.
But I did remember something else that could be found in that location on someone’s body.
I took a deep breath and stepped forward. “Sir. May I ask what this is about, sir?”
He shook his head. “You will be informed of everything you need to know in private. Please come this way.”
“Sir, may I have a few moments to hand off some key information and items my team will need to complete their assignment before we leave?”
He tensed his jaw. “You have two minutes.”
“Sera, come here.” I waved for her to follow me and headed to the back of the wagon.
“What’s this about, Corin?” Sera asked. “The Tenjin situation?”
I shook my head, shuffling through the bag at my side. “I don’t know. Probably. But that’s not what concerns me. Those aren’t Valian soldiers.”
“What?”
“Or at least, not just Valian soldiers.” I pulled the Jaden Box out of my bag and flipped open the lid. “Retrieve: Empty Vial.”
An empty alchemical vial appeared. I opened the top.
“Hold this open.”
She held the box. “Corin...?”
I drew my sword just an inch and ran my index finger across the blade.
Then I put my finger over the vial and squeezed.
“Corin! What are you...oh.” She quieted, considering. “You handing me the box along with it?”
I shook my head. “No, it’s not ready for a summoning spell, and I might need the contents. But I want you to hold onto the vial and use it to track me if necessary.”
I stoppered the vial and handed it to her.
She frowned, shoving it in a pouch. “We could probably just track you using me, you know.”
I didn’t want to say that I still wasn’t sure that we were blood related. “You’ll probably get better range with my blood. Just find a Diviner if you don’t see me soon. And if you need to follow me, bring Derek and Keras. These guys are dangerous.” I leaned forward and whispered in her ears. “Servants of the Tyrant.”
Her eyes widened. “Seriously?”
I gave her an apologetic tip of my head.
“You shouldn’t go with them. We should fight.”
I shook my head. “Four adults, each of whom is at least Sunstone. Probably Citrine or Emerald. No. Most, if not all, of us would die even if all of us were coordinated. And we’re not. We’re a bunch of students.”
“Precautions?” Sera asked. “I’ll have Vanniv watch you from the sky.”
I nodded. “Roland can monitor me, too—”
“Time to go, kid!” One of the soldiers yelled.
“Keep the team intact. I’ll be back.”
“Let me go with you,” Sera grabbed my arm. “They’ll want me, too, if they know I’m your family.”
I shook my head. “No. Too much of a risk. If my blood dries up, you’re the best method for tracking me down. And there’s no reason to put us both in danger at the same time.”
I pulled free from her. “Gotta go, Sis.”
“...Sis?”
I shrugged a shoulder. “It works.”
I turned and walked off to join the soldiers.
Together, we marched into the woods.
I was already making my first move.
When I’d left Sera, I hadn’t just cut my finger.
I’d attached a strand of mana to the box, too. And I was going to keep making that strand longer as I walked.
I’d leave myself a trail that I could follow back to the others — or that they could follow to me, if they picked
it up. Vanniv’s airborne surveillance would be more effective for that, but I wanted redundancies.
“So...mind telling me what this is about?”
The leader shook his head. “Not yet. You’re not in trouble, though. Don’t worry about failing out of your class. That’ll be taken care of.”
Hah, like that was what I was worried about.
“Thanks, that makes me feel a little better.”
Completely, blatantly untrue.
We kept walking.
What was I doing?
The soldiers looked relatively at-ease, but I couldn’t be.
If I had miscalculated, there was a reasonable chance that they were going to kill me out here. I had no chance of winning against four people of Sunstone level or higher. None.
Should I have taken Sera’s route and tried to rally everyone for a fight?
No, I told myself. That would have just gotten other people killed. And I need to know what these people want with me.
We walked for what felt like at least an hour.
They weren’t silent during that time. It was worse than that — they were casual. One of them — Michel, I got from context — talked about wanting to go see a new play that was coming out soon. She was one of the ones with a hand-mark.
Another, Woods, complained about his feet hurting.
Carter wanted Woods to read a book that she was excited about.
The leader, Thomas, wanted Michel to go drinking with him.
None of that was important.
I was studying little details when I could.
Michel isn’t wearing a glove. It took me a few minutes to get at an angle where I could take a look without appearing too obvious.
Guardian. Older generation mark, but I think it’s Citrine.
Woods doesn’t just have sore feet. He favors his right leg. He has an old injury. He’s wearing a glove, but from the way he talks, I think he’s a close combat fighter, too. He’s wearing a sword. The others have dueling canes.
Carter is the one with the shoulder mark. Can’t get a good look at it, or at her leg mark.
Thomas is breathing a little more heavily than the others. A cold, maybe. I don’t think I can do anything with that right now. Wait, hold on. He has a second mark on his back. Lungs, then.
That made him more dangerous, but at least it wasn’t another shoulder mark. I didn’t know what those did, but from what Keras had explained, anyone with one would be at least a Citrine or Emerald level threat.
