You're Not Allowed to Die (The Twenty-Sided Eye Series Book 1)

by Kip Terrington

  “Before I map this out, we need to get a few procedural issues out of the way. I don't know how many of you have worked in a group to attack something before. With that in mind, I'm going to act like none of you have done this, and spell things out. In a group, everyone has a different role, and they need to do their job without interfering with others. Being the biggest, and having the thickest skin, I'm going to be the tank. I will do everything I can to keep their attention on me. Moes, you will need to make them physical, but I want to keep you at a distance from them, if possible. How close do you need to be to change their form back to physical?” Joe asked.

  “I need to be within a hundred feet, and have a clear line of sight. I can block or mitigate most of their spells, but if they get close to me, I could be in trouble,” Moes said.

  “What if you were in the air?” Spooky suggested.

  “When it comes to fighting, I'd like to have my feet on the ground, if possible. It wouldn't be too difficult for them to knock these angels out of the air. And with a fall from a hundred feet, I think I'd be done for. And let's not forget, I'm not immortal,” Moes said.

  “Good thing to remember. I think I have an idea how to keep you safe with the angels. Get with me, before we leave, and I'll tell you what I have in mind. Okay, as I was saying, Moes, we’re going to have you fight from a distance. Your job is to keep them in physical form. Your secondary job is to monitor the health of the other group members, using whatever healing spells you can to keep their health in the clear,” Joe said.

  Bork held up some vials with red liquid in them. “Minor healing pots,” Bork said.

  “That's great, Bork. We'll have you distribute some of those to each member,” Joe said. Bork then held up a yellow vial.

  “Minor attack pots. Break on contact,” Bork said.

  “That could be handy also, but I think I want you and Grork to be responsible for removing the yeti children from danger,” Joe said. Grork hosted his pickaxe and grunted.

  “I hit,” Grork said.

  “You want to be the main DPS? Sorry, that means damage per second. Grork, here's the thing. In this scenario, the most important thing is saving the children. I want the kidnappers dead, but the children must be protected first. And that pickaxe of yours looks like it's good enough at defense, and you're big enough to shield a child. That's the job I'm assigning. Can you and Bork you follow my orders?” Joe asked.

  “Yes!” Grork said, then he and Bork bowed.

  “Good. That leaves you, Spooky. I'd like you with me, but I'm wondering if your binding magic can slow them down at all?” Joe asked.

  “We will have to see, but I assume they have an Achilles tendon,” Spooky said, as she pulled out her dagger and flew in a circle. She pretended to swipe at the ankles of an invisible foe. Joe smiled.

  “Yes, let's hope they do. Okay, that's everybody's jobs. Remember to listen for my commands. I may make changes mid battle. Whatever I say, do it without question, even if it doesn't make sense. Grork and Bork, you're going to be following me. If you fall behind, don't worry, I'm going to be leaving an obvious trail. Moes, I'm going to have the angels fly you on a parallel course with us. Once I find our targets, Spooky's going to have the angels sweep around, and bring you behind them. We're going to catch them in a pincer,” Joe said. Bork distributed the pots and Joe worked with Moes on his part of the plan. It was clear Moes did not like what Joe was saying.

  Chapter 10 - Disrespect

  Viola climbed up the old petrified tree and looked back toward the southwest. She could see three white flying creatures carrying a basket. Whatever was going on, it was out of the ordinary, and was really grating on her nerves. First, some dumb goblins and an inconsequential spirit confronted them, and now, whatever this was. The Wild Mountains were supposed to be safe for a Spirit Rogue; no one should be able to follow them. She knew they weren't leaving any tracks or traces of magic, but something was off about these mountains. Something had changed. Despite the fact that they were untrackable, someone was on course to intercept them. Viola climbed down the tree to confer with Luger, who had been waiting down below.

  “Did you confirm they're tracking us?” Luger asked.

  “I think so. Well, they're not going to surprise us. We’ve got some time before they reach us. Let's seek out high ground and prepare the battlefield. They want to chase the bear? That's fine, they can get caught by the claws,” Viola said, making a scratching motion that was more like a cat than a bear. Luger couldn't help but roll his eyes.

  ***

  They'd been jogging for hours and Joe's lungs burned a little. He thought he could feel lactic acid building up in his muscles. There was such a thing as too much authenticity, Joe thought. He looked down at his compass. The needle had grown longer. It was almost reaching the edge of the compass. Joe hoped this meant they were close. When one gets close to their prey, they need to stop, and make sure they’re prepared. Looking at the ground around him and where the needle was pointing, Joe figured their targets must have realized they were being followed. Directly in front of Joe was a large hill. It had some decent sized boulders at the top and petrified trees were peppering the hill. It was a prime spot to ambush someone. Joe decided to stop and watch the compass to see if the needle got smaller. He motioned for Spooky to come over.

  “Spooky, do you think you can tell me if this needle gets any smaller over the next 10 minutes?” Joe asked.

  “Are you seriously asking if I know how to do a measurement? Next time, don't ask me if I can, just ask me if I will,” Spooky said. Joe chose not to respond. How was he supposed to know her capabilities? It's not like he could read her mind. After a few minutes, she confirmed the needle had not grown or shrank. Joe told Spooky where he thought their targets were. She instructed the angels to sweep around the other side of the hill. Grork and Bork had not caught up yet, but Joe could hear them approaching. He figured that by the time the battle kicked off, they would be in place.

  “Hey, you! At the top of the hill, are you enjoying your little nap?” Joe yelled, and then waited for a response. There was none.

  “Either you're an extremely heavy sleeper, or you're too afraid to even speak to me. I'm guessing it's the latter. After all, only a coward would steal a child. You have to be the most pitiful, namby-pamby, scum-eating coward to even consider it. What's that I smell? Oh, my goodness, I must be downwind from you. Did you have an accident? Don't worry, it's pretty normal to lose control of your bowels when you're such a milquetoast, facing a superior enemy. Don't get me wrong, I understand that I'm imposing, but do you really have to hide? You BIG YELLOW BELLY BABY!” Joe taunted. He received no response, but Joe was not daunted. As the tank, it was his job to keep the enemy’s attention on him.

  “Hey, maybe I'm wrong. Not about you being a scaredy-cat that pooped their pants. That's a fact. No one's debating that. You’re a pants pooper. No, what I'm wrong about is that maybe that's not the main reason you're hiding. Maybe the main reason is that you just have extremely low intelligence. That's nothing to be ashamed of. We all have different potentials. You're just at the far left of the bell curve, that's all. In some ways, that makes you exceptional. It's not your fault that what you're exceptional in is being dumb. I mean, look at the spot you chose for an ambush. There's no one else in the world that would think someone would willing walk into this. I mean, that's what I would have thought, if an ignoramus, like yourself, hadn't proved me wrong. After all, you did choose this horrible position. Your real issue is how are you going to get out of it? From where you are, I can pick you off at my leisure. What are you going to do? You pungent pinhead, primitive pea-brained pot sniffer,” Joe continued with no sign of stopping.

  “Okay, honey, you can stop your alliteration right there. How long did it take you to think up that vitriolic monologue? Have you been dwelling on it since I beat you up like you were a little child? It is the same inconsequential spirit I dealt with earlier, right? Admittedly, your voice does sound a
little different. Less confident, maybe. Does that have something to do with the inadequacies of your physical form? But I have a question, not about your inadequacies. Don’t worry, you can keep those to yourself. More of a tradecraft question. How did you follow us?” Viola asked, intentionally allowing her voice to be heard in the physical realm.

  “Those children you're carrying are my subjects. A king and his people are linked. If you surrender peacefully, there may come a day you get to go back to your king. After your king pays severe reparations, of course,” Joe said. At that moment, Viola realized this was the king who had bound the yeti chief. If he could subdue a yeti, then he was much more dangerous than she had anticipated. She would have to eliminate him, otherwise there was little chance she would survive once surrendered. Once he searched the contents of her pack, to be faithful to his people, he would have to execute her. There was simply too much evidence of the many yeti deaths she had caused.

  “Why don't you come up here so we can have a little chat?” Viola asked.

  Joe looked at the different routes he could take to get up the hill. Every single one of them looked as if faint shades of red glowed upon them. Some of the red he saw appeared so light that he might not have noticed it if he had not been studying the ground so intently. Joe wondered if the intensity of color was related to the difficulty or level of trap set out. Seeing the many different shades of red, it was clear they had not been too particular about where to set up their kill zone.

  “I hate to disappoint you, but I won't be stepping into your path of death. Your kill zone is going to remain king free. I'd rather start throwing rocks at you. I have a pretty good arm. Want to play catch?” Joe said. Looking on the ground, Joe found a baseball-sized rock that felt like a pebble in his big hand. Winding up like a major league pitcher, Joe threw the rock as hard as he could up the hill. It shattered against one of the boulders that provided cover for Viola. Looking back at the compass to confirm that his targets weren't trying to flank him, he discovered that one of them was. There were now two needles. One needle was still pointing northeast up the hill. The other needle was pointing north and moving slowly toward the west, down the compass dial. How long did it take to fly behind an enemy? He needed Moes to force these kidnappers into becoming visible. As if thinking about Moes made him appear, Joe saw the wings of the ivory angels above, and behind, the hill where their targets were located.

  “I see your winged white things have arrived, carrying some sort of basket. Is that bread for me?” Viola mocked.

  “Winged white things? Don't you know an angel when you see it? I’m guessing, though, that you’re probably more familiar with fallen angels,” Joe postulated.

  “I think something must be lost in translation. I've never heard of anything called an angel. By the way, if you think they're going to be able to drop whatever's is in that basket on me, you're mistaken. I'm pretty mobile,” Viola said.

  “Good to know. By the way, if you think your associate is going to be able to flank me on my left, without me knowing, you're mistaken. I have very good eyes,” Joe said. Joe noticed that the needle pointing to the flanking rogue stopped at the northeast direction. The flanking rogue was somewhere on the left side of the hill that Joe was facing. Even though Joe knew the general area where the target was, he couldn't see anything. The needle had stopped moving. His position being revealed had given the rogue pause. Joe decided to see if he could capitalize on this indecision.

  “Don’t stop moving just because I know where you are. Best to be mobile. Here, let me give you some motivation,” Joe said, raising his left hand and pointing as carefully as he could toward the flanking target. Joe’s hand glowed with a blue aura and he cast his highest Mind Magic spell. It was a Level 3 spell called Vertigo. As the name implied, the spell affected the target’s sense of balance, sometimes rendering them unable to move. If Joe had used Spirit Magic, the journeyman would have easily been able to block Joe’s lower level spells. If Joe had used the one Force Magic spell he had, it wouldn't have affected the non-physical Spirit Walker. The spell Joe had sent to the northeast hit its intended target. Sadly for Joe, however, it had not done much damage, causing only a mild form of nausea. The nausea was so weak it couldn't even be compared to the morning sickness that most expectant mothers dealt with. But, the simple fact that the spell hit Luger, made him scramble back and find cover. A rogue’s strength is in their stealth. If that is taken away, they're already half defeated. Joe could see that Moes was just about in position.

  “Did you just send some weak spell in an attempt to affect the balance of a Spirit Rogue? As far as I know, there are no low level spells that can effectively harm a Spirit Rogue’s balance. Do you have any idea who you're attacking? You should bow out,” Viola called out.

  “I was merely giving you the courtesy of knowing that I knew exactly where both of you are. Maybe you don't know where your colleague is? Otherwise, you might have known that he had stopped his flanking maneuver and was taking cover. I guess he's a coward, just like you. Why don't you come down that hill so we can have a talk? And by talk, of course, I mean surrender, give back the children, and beg for mercy,” Joe said.

  “I'm going to enjoy killing you,” Viola said. During Joe's verbal sparring, Spooky had not been idle. Having seen Joe fire off his low level spell, Spooky knew where Luger was. This allowed her to place her angels in a spot where Moes would have a direct line of sight on Luger’s position. At the same time, she had flown back to Grork and Bork and made sure that they came to the battle at the far left of Joe. This would enable them to outflank Luger and, hopefully, rescue the children when Moes made the rogue visible. Joe heard his goblin companions moving to the far left of the flanking rogue. Moving with stealth was not one of their assets, but Joe couldn't blame them. They had been running for hours. High up in the air, to the northwest of Joe’s position, Moes was finally at an angle where he could attack.

  Mustering his courage, Moes grabbed one of the ropes attached to his basket and pulled himself up in a kneeling position. Steadying himself, and looking over the edge of the basket, he could see Luger, in spirit form, taking cover behind a rock. But the rock only provided him cover from Joe. To a Spirit Walker, Joe was not a true threat. Moes, however, was a master of Spirit Magic. Somehow standing ramrod still, Moes aimed his hand down toward Luger and began a complex series of signs and sub vocalizations. He cast a Level 8 spell called, Spirit to Flesh. In a wonderful twist of fate, this was the opposite spell that Viola had used to capture the yeti children. Above Moes’ hand, the spell erupted in a silver aura and shot down toward Luger, looking like a frozen rope through thin air. The translucent form of Luger began to fill with color and become more solid. This forced transition was unfamiliar to Luger, and a scream rang out. It started in a high-pitched spirit form and became ragged and physical.

  Viola’s eyes widened. She had thought the basket contained a weapon that could not affect her. Finding out that it contained a pint-sized master of spirit was not welcome news. This fight could not be won in Spirit Walker form. Almost before Luger’s forced transition was complete, Viola voluntarily began her own. Her transition was less violent than her partner’s, but it had similar consequences. Neither Luger nor Viola could hold the energy of a sleeping yeti child while in physical form. One of the sleeping yeti children fell to the ground beside Viola, not waking from the impact of the ground. Knowing that she had to focus if she was to survive this fight, she forgot the yeti child where it lay. Running forward and simultaneously preparing an attack spell, she analyzed the situation around Moes.

  From this distance, it would be difficult to land a highly effective attack against the Spirit Master. As far as she knew, neither halflings nor Spirit Masters could fly, so he would be vulnerable to the impact of the ground. Truly seeing the flying creatures carrying him, now, she understood that they would have no defense against her attacks. Viola saw that they were constructs, with no spirit of their own. The spirit, who anim
ated them, had a tenuous hold. She could cut each tether one by one, and they would fall to the ground like any other lifeless stone.

  Raising both hands high, she aimed at the closest angel. Pulling her hands apart she released a silver blade of spirit, using the Level 5 spell, Spirit Slice. The spell was more effective than she could have hoped. As the spell hit, the angel became inanimate stone. The neutralized angel fell from the sky, straight down, pulling the basket and the other two angels with it. Its grip around the rope was now a stone’s grip. The other two angels could not stop the descent, though they tried. The two remaining animated angels pulled hard on the rope, but the dead rock continued to fall and shattered on impact. The basket followed close behind. If Moes had been in it, he would have been dead. The other two stone angels made it to the ground with only minor damage to their feet. Moes, to Viola’s astonishment, had not moved an inch. It appeared as if he was still standing ramrod-straight. Strapped tightly and securely to his back, was Joe’s very own MIL Bar. When Joe willed it, it became immovable. It didn't matter if it was 60 feet up; immovable was immovable.

  Viola, though surprised by the halfling’s ability to fly, was not about to let grass grow under her feet. The halfling master was preparing a powerful spell, and his focus was lasered on her. She had to find a way to interrupt his spells. Reaching into her pack, she did not pull out an offensive weapon, nor did she pull out a defensive one. She pulled out a flare, hoping his concentration on her would work in her favor. Just before he finished his spell, she ignited the flare and held it between her and him. Despite the blinding flare, Moes was able to send his spell off. If it had been darker, he might not have. He cast the Level 9 spell, Extraction. This spell concentrated and spun spirit, forcing it to act as a drill, which then penetrated and drained the energy of the target. This spell was often used when Spirit Masters dueled. The loser was left a spiritless husk.