Chapter 10 – A Thrashing
“This is unnecessary,” Leslie said as Remi hit the grass.
“No, you wanted this,” she said, pointing at them all one by one. “You all did.”
“Remi, I—” Olivia began but Remi just glared at her and Olivia shut up.
“I’ll take you all on,” Remi declared. “Literally, all of you.”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” Eckard said but Remi ignored him. She concentrated on her transformation and Leslie tapped Kettle in alarm.
“Get her now before she finishes,” he ordered. Kettle barreled towards her, cocking back his arm and preparing to smash her face in when Remi’s body transformed, but not in the way anyone was expecting.
His fist hit an armor of solid steel, making his knuckles give off a sickening crunch as his hand was immediately broken. He howled in agony as he backed away. Leslie squinted his eyes to examine Remi. Her white Sage robes weren’t present. She was standing there, but it was if her entire body was coated in steel. She didn’t move, but from how much pain Kettle was in, he figured that the defense was phenomenal.
“Interesting,” he said as the armor suddenly disappeared. Remi—just normal Remi—ran at the wounded Langoran and leapt into the air. Before he could focus his attention on her, white Sage robes draped over her as if someone had thrown a blanket around her body, and her Falchion eidolon was gripped firmly in her right hand.
She thrust it into Kettle’s head, killing him instantly.
“NO!” Leslie shouted, pointing at Burt. “We finish this now!”
They ran at Remi with their full speed, pumping energy into their legs. Remi narrowly dodged Leslie’s fist as it grazed against her cheek and she quickly ducked under Burt’s haymaker. With them both keeping up the pressure, she knew she wouldn’t have time to activate her armor, and besides, she was sure they wouldn’t fall for it again.
But that also meant she could use that knowledge against them.
She saw Burt’s fist coming directly toward her face and she fought everything within her that said to run or duck. She stood still, ready to accept the blow. But since he was looking out for her armor to reactivate, he suddenly stopped his assault, figuring that she was in the process of summoning it.
She wasn’t.
She whipped her eidolon forward and took off his arm and nearly half of his right side, causing him to teeter over from the loss of the weight. His body slammed into the ground at the same time Leslie managed to graze the other cheek with his knuckles. Frustrated, Leslie tried to tackle her, but with a burst of speed fueling her legs, she was able to pivot and let him go flying into the grass.
Her body shuddered from exhaustion, but she wasn’t yet finished.
She told it to shut up or die.
She grunted as she took a step back on her aching sole. Leslie rose to his feet and looked to his fallen comrades. Once he noticed that Burt was still breathing, albeit barely, he decided to be smart.
He abandoned the mission.
Keeping a wary eye on Remi who had reverted back to her normal state, he picked up Burt’s bleeding, limp body and began running deep into the woods.
“If you come back, I’ll finish the job!” she screamed, her voice echoing off the foliage. She clutched her sore throat and then turned to the people who she once considered friends.
“Fight me,” she demanded. Olivia and Eckard shook nervously. “I said fight me.”
“I’m not going to do that,” Olivia said, positioning her hand over the hilt of her sheathed sword. “There’s no point to this.”
“There is,” Remi replied, glancing momentarily at Kace. He was groaning and coming to.
Good, she thought. He’s not well enough to fight yet. I don’t want him to interfere.
“You have to fight me,” Remi stated. “Because until you come at me with all you’ve got, and I win, you’ll never respect me, let alone like me. You’ll continue to think I’m a liability when I’ve already proven over and over that when I must, I rise to the occasion. If beating you at your best won’t make you face the truth, then I don’t know what will.”
“I could hurt you,” Olivia said. Remi threw her hands up in the air.
“That’s what I’m talking about. You still think you’re better than me. But you’re afraid of who you’ll become if you admit it. Just do it already. Say it. Say you’re better. It coats your words every time you talk to me. It’s the topic of almost every conversation you have behind my back. It’s painfully obvious, so you might as well just admit it and then come over here for your ass whooping.”
“Fine,” Olivia said, glancing over at Eckard. “That means you too.”
“I know,” he mumbled. He reached back under his poncho and produced a sword that resembled a dagger in form. It was just a little longer.
“Thank you for this,” Remi said, sprinting toward them and letting the white Sage robe materialize around her, as if the wind itself was clothing her. Eckard surprisingly attacked first. He crouched low and just as Remi finished blinking, he was in her face, already thrusting his blade slowly into her stomach.
Thankfully, she was already anticipating a finishing blow from the start. She allowed the blade to continue piercing while she activated her armor, just where her abdomen was.
Eckard’s blade bounced off of her stomach but that didn’t deter him. He spun around and swung at her neck. She was sure he wasn’t out to kill her. He wasn’t the type. So that meant he was aiming to distract. She ducked under the blow, but she kept her eyes at his other hand, which was clenched, cocked, and aiming straight for her chin in an uppercut fashion.
She accepted the blow.
The hit was so strong that it lifted her off her feet for a moment, but she couldn’t concentrate on the pain. She let her Sage robes dematerialize, giving off the illusion of defeat.
It was Eckard’s undoing.
She could see him smile as her toes hit the grass and immediately she lunged toward him, transforming her body into the suit of armor. She fell on top of him with her full weight.
He heaved under her weight, losing all the air in her body while she winced under the crunch of steel against shattered bone. Eckard blacked out.
The armor fell off of her like a shell, and the pieces vanished into thin air. She climbed to her feet, using Eckard’s body as support and then she faced her rival. Olivia had her sword blazing so hot that it had turned white, and the look on her face was nothing short of contempt.
“I didn’t kill him,” Remi said. “Just some cracked ribs and a warning to never mess with me again.”
“You’re nuts,” Olivia said, inching forward.
“Why didn’t you help him back there?” Remi asked, trying to steady her breath. “You would have had a better chance of winning if the two of you attacked me at once.”
“Because I can beat you all by myself.”
“There’s that foolish pride again.”
“I haven’t shown you everything I can do, Remi.”
“And obviously, neither did I. I never revealed that armor technique to you.”
“No...you sure didn’t. What’s the point of that anyways? You can’t move when you’re in it.”
“That is the point,” Remi sighed. “My body can’t take too many hits. Even that uppercut back there hurt like crazy. It feels like my jaw is about to fall off…I had to come up with a way to protect myself.”
“My blade can cut through that armor of yours. I’m sure of it.”
“It probably can. I need a long time to build up density.”
“Then just admit that you’re weak and we’ll put an end to this.”
“And then what? Go back to being friends and just travel together like nothing happened? No thank you.”
“Wait,” Olivia blinked. “What do you mean? We’re not traveling together after this?”
“You actually thought I would?”
“But you need me to protect you…or to keep you warm.”
“I gave you up because they would have killed us all, not because I wanted to.”
“You’re lying, but that’s okay. I proved you were wrong. They couldn’t do anything to us in the end.”
“How was I supposed to know how it would all turn out?”
“I don’t know. But you sure showed who you are. Now come at me already. We’re both wasting energy.”
“Is that what I want?” Olivia scoffed, examining her friend. “Because it looks to me like you’re barely standing. Maybe I should just wait this out.”
“Fine, I’ll come to you,” Remi sighed. She took one step forward and Olivia lost it. She screamed in rage as she swung her blazing sword at Remi, slicing through the trees around her whenever she missed. Remi kept her focus tight on Olivia’s movements, recalling how she moved and what they had worked on together in training. No matter how much Olivia claimed she had secret moves, Remi was confident that it was just another lie.
Olivia was transparent to nearly all but herself. And Remi was going to prove it.
“Transform!” Olivia shouted as she nearly brought the fiery blade down onto Remi’s head. Remi refused. She knew that she was taking a big risk, but the rewards of winning far outweighed the consequences of losing. For the sake of her friend’s sanity and growth, as well as her own, Olivia had to have her pride broken.
“TRANSFORM!” Olivia roared as her swings became shorter in succession. Remi was barely able to keep up with the assault now, but she told her body not to stop. Just a little longer. Just a little more kindling of Olivia’s fire.
“Why aren’t you transforming?” Olivia practically wept, attempting a weak kick at Remi’s torso. Remi side-stepped it and then slammed her right fist into Olivia’s face, sending her reeling backwards into a tree. As the back of her head hit the tree, her arm flailed up and swiped through it, bringing down the giant over them both.
Remi rolled out of the way as Olivia sliced through it just as it came on top of her. She was safe, but shaken. Remi moved in quickly. Before Olivia could gain her composure, Remi punched her hard again, and then again. Dodged a swing of Olivia’s blade, and then continued her attack.
No boosts in power. No extra speed. No Sage abilities.
Just solid bone against raw flesh.
Olivia cried out as she was hit once again, and she fell onto her butt. Remi kicked Olivia’s hand and the blazing hot sword was thrust to the side, slowly leaving a scar into the soil it lay upon. Remi jumped on top of Olivia and began hitting her mercilessly, ignoring her pleas.
Olivia wouldn’t stop if the situation was reversed. And Remi needed her to know that she didn’t have to either.
She was more in control than her friend realized.
Remi hit her friend in the cheek one last time and then she got up. She nearly stumbled from the vertigo, feeling the adrenaline leaving her body. But it didn’t matter. It was finished.
Kace strolled over to her and she fell into his arms. He picked her up and was about to say something when he heard her lightly snoring. He looked over at Eckard and Olivia. Eckard was still unconscious but Olivia was wide awake, weeping over the wounds Remi had inflicted on her. He didn’t bother asking if she was okay. He just left her writhing while he walked on with Remi in his embrace.
The Sorcerer's Ring (Book #1 of the Seven Sorcerers Saga) Page 15
