Mana Mutation Menace (Journey to Chaos Book 3)

by Brian Wilkerson

  “Lightning shall illuminate the truth.”

  Nolien’s portal dropped him in the servant’s quarters. He ran as fast as he could to the courtyard, but on his way, he heard a scream. His upbringing compelled him to investigate and he found a soldier menacing a maid in a side room. Reluctantly, he raced into the room and the soldier turned away from his prey to face this interloper. The maid cowered in a corner, and behind her back, she snapped her fingers. The door slammed shut behind Nolien and locked.

  The soldier chopped with his sword and Nolien blocked with his staff. He was careful to angle his staff to blunt the force and better direct the blade away from himself. He followed through the motion to smack the soldier in the head with the butt of the staff and then strike him in the throat. The soldier fell backwards and lay still.

  “Are you all right, miss?”

  The maid threw her arms around his neck, heaped praises on him, and shoved a tiny poison-laden needle into his neck. To her surprise, he dodged easily. Then he grabbed her arms, twisted them around her back, and secured them with a zip tie.

  “If you want to pull the ‘Decoy Damsel’ trick, then you’ll have to go back in time before Tsilaer beat that foolishness out of me.”

  He pushed her to the ground and spun around in time to parry a thrust from the supposedly fallen soldier. His foe turned the blade sideways and then knocked him over with a bat swing. He rolled to his feet and chanted Nerve Paralysis, but it dissipated on contact with the armor. He dodged one swipe and ducked another while chanting Darkness Smog and it too dissipated. For that, he was kicked in the gut. When the soldier drew back their sword, he retreated to analyze what just happened.

  He examined the armor and the runes on it. He used Magic Sight to look for further information and saw a void around the armor. It was absorbing mana, which meant it was anti-magic armor. He threw experimental mana bolts to test his theory and all of them passed straight into the armor without impact.

  What did Tsilaer say about fighting mage killers?

  Tiza's portal dropped her directly outside the castle dungeons. Before her feet hit the ground, a force sent her tumbling through the open door. She landed in a cloud of dust that sprang up all over the main containment room. She coughed several times to clear her lungs of it. Then she raised her barrier to block a spell from someone at the top of the stairs. She crossed her arms in front of her and thrust them upwards to deflect it to the ceiling. It shattered on contact.

  Her attacker shut the door behind him and calmly walked down the stairs. He had the height of a boy about her age, maybe a few years younger. It was hard to tell because a blank mask concealed his face. Similarly, blank armor concealed his body to his fingertips. Nothing about his identity was given away except for his right hand. It held a rowan staff.

  "If a damsel wanders into a dungeon, she will soon be in distress."

  Even his voice was modulated to give it a creepy and toneless sound, but Tiza wasn't impressed. Her Third Eye saw right through his mask and its magic. His hair and eye color were the same as Nolien’s, and there were other resemblances too. Then there was the “spare heir” medallion hanging around his neck. It was simple to connect the dots.

  "If a Dosh makes a dare, he will soon be in danger."

  The blank mage did a double take. Tiza raised a hand to her mouth as she'd seen some haughty rich girls do and continued, "I'm right, aren't I? That disguise is pitiful. You'd think the House of Heleti could make something better, but then again, you're only a second son."

  "Second-born but FIRST RATE! I mean...I don't know what you're talking about. I am the Blank Mage that was sent by your mother to retrieve you."

  Tiza scoffed. "I know who my mother is and she wouldn’t send a loser like you.”

  Dosh Heleti brandished his staff and fired a hailstorm of bolts. Tiza dodged them despite the confined area and her fashionable heels. She ducked and weaved to the evil healer. Those bolts she couldn’t dodge she deflected with her gloved hands. Dosh amplified his volley, but she closed the distance regardless. When she was finally in arm’s reach, she delivered an upset punch to the solar plexus followed by an upper cut to his nose. The combo left him flat on his ass.

  “Just like I thought. You’re squishier than Tenderfoot.”

  A shrill ring in her ears alerted her to a back attack and she ducked just in time to avoid a spell bolt, then rolled to avoid another. Every bolt Dosh fired came back at her. Despite dodging them all a second time, they were ready for a third pass.

  “You’ll need more than that to beat me. I do this every day.” Privately, she added, “But it’s normally not this tiring.”

  This time, they didn’t wait their turn. All of them turned around as soon as Tiza dodged, making tighter circles each time. One struck the back of her leg, making her stumble, and then they all hit at once. Every part of her body hurt, her head throbbed, and she breathed heavily, but she stayed on her feet. Then Dosh swept them out from under her.

  She landed hard on her side. She rolled on instinct, but the move was sluggish. Dosh easily pinned her in place by sitting on her back. He placed one hand on her head and the other near her heart.

  “Sedation!”

  Boosted by the Order Domination Field, the spell overwhelmed her defenses. Immediately, she felt weak and unfocused. Her vision blurred. Dosh pulled two pairs of handcuffs from his pocket.

  “Who’s the loser now?”

  In a small storage closet in a remote part of the castle, Kallen peacefully meditated. Legs crossed, hands folded, eyes closed, and breathing steadily, she contemplated the Mystery of Chaos. She expanded her senses to include all the phases of reality and the River of Mana that bound them all together. She prayed for the fundamental energy that created the world and destroyed it. In this area where Order claimed absolute control, she focused on the chaos of her own body and soul, the legacy of her parents’ work, and the tip of her crystal.

  Back in reality, her sidekick was anything but calm.

  In a fighting stance, she dual wielded scimitars. They hadn’t been attacked by anything since the initial burst, but fresh adrenaline was still pumping through her body. They were in the midst of an Order take over and her boss was off in Lala land. It was all up to her to protect her body! How could she possibly be calm?

  “Hurry up with the mystical mojo, Boss!” she muttered. “We could be attacked any—”

  The door burst off its hinges and she jumped forward to skewer the first intruder. Elven metallurgy pierced the soldier’s armor and she kicked it back outside. An earth spell replaced the door and another one threw bars across it.

  “Go the abyss away!” she shouted. “You’re not getting in here!”

  In the castle courtyard, twenty soldiers had taken up positions around the Obelisk. They were all large, broad, and clad from head to toe in thick Ordercraft Armor. Around them lay the corpses of royal guards. Their bodies were broken and their souls fed to the Obelisk to increase its power and range. Then someone jumped out of a fourth-story window.

  While in free fall, he grew six extra limbs, turned them all into spears, and impaled ten of the soldiers with extreme prejudice. The chaotic power within the spears negated the bonuses given to them by the Order Domination Field and killed them instantly. The remaining half regrouped and scattered, thereby dodging the next two strikes. The elf rolled on impact and threw his arms out in a wide arc that prevented them from taking advantage of his recovery.

  “Only half? Hmm,” Ponix muttered to himself. “I must be rusty.”

  He zeroed in on the closest soldier while firing four spear limbs. The soldier hacked the first, dodged the second, but the third and fourth impaled him. Ponix transformed those spears into hooks and used him as a bludgeon on the twelfth soldier while firing two more spear limbs at the thirteen and fourteenth. They were guided missiles in their relentless pursuit.

  Meanwhile, the fifteenth through twentieth attacked at once. Ponix jumped up to free up his legs for
striking, then retrieved two more spears from the eleventh soldier and fired them all at the attacking soldiers. Instead of simply dodging, they grabbed the tendrils and pulled them away from Ponix’s main body. He grunted at the discomfort; elven shapeshifting only extended so far. The remaining two were free to approach him unopposed.

  “Always stay moving,” he muttered again. “How did I forget that?”

  By shifting into something slick and slippery, he escaped their grasp. Then he retracted his limbs, shifted his arms into drills, and charged forward propelled by a rear facing gas-based engine. They scattered only for him to swivel back to face them. By then, the two remaining limbs achieved their objectives and returned to him.

  “I am rusty. I might as well do this the old-fashioned way.”

  He shifted his left hand into a sword and his right into a shield while outfitting himself in his own style of armor. Dragon scales covered him from head to toe. Only his eyes, mouth, and chaotic-colored hair could still be seen. He lifted his weapon above his head and shouted,

  “FOR LADY CHAAAAOOOSSSS!”

  Chapter 7 “War Is Politics by Other Means”

  Kasile knew she was dying. Stripped of all mana, her kon was next and then her soul would be swallowed by the enforcer. That would be the end of her, and with her, the end of the Ataidar royal line. She paled and shriveled by the second. After all this time, the Sacred Fire bloodline would end without a drop of it being spilled.

  An electric current raced across her brain as her final thought clicked.

  She ripped out a chastity dagger and sliced down her right arm. Blood poured from the wound and she prayed to Fiol; not as the royal and semi-divine queen but as the Highest Public Servant. Instead of self-congratulating praise, she spoke of earnest supplication.

  Then the back of her left palm shined. The divine crest that was the Empty Throne of Ataidar burned in her skin. The Royal Crest that was the Crowned Tiger followed it on her right. Her skin became incandescent and the blood leaking from her wound became white fire. Her irises became pools of it.

  She gathered the bloody fire in her hand and launched it at the enforcer. It hissed in pain and ceased draining her. In response, she staggered back and forth while a peal of laughter ripped from her throat. The visiting rulers backed away.

  “No wonder I’ve had trouble controlling it! All this time, I’ve been laboring under the wrong impression! I should incinerate the Fire Sage for his help.”

  A pillar of fire roared into life around her. She outstretched her hands and blasted white flames to every corner of the room. It rose up the walls and floor and echoed her glee.

  “The true source, Fire Sage! The true Authority! Of course, I'm not queen. The throne is empty and tiger is crowned.”

  She raised her right hand above her head and a combination of blood and white flame streamed in a double helix around her arm. The blood soaked her opera glove, but the fire didn’t touch it. She brought it down, clenched, and both of them gushed forth.

  “My blood; my heritage; my responsibility. This is Kasile Landros Ataidar, daughter of the daughter of Fire!”

  “Madness!” Lunas exclaimed. “We must leave before she demands sacrifices! The enforcer will hold her off!”

  Most of the visitors had already fled during Kasile’s speech. The rest followed Lunas’ command. Kasile pointed her right pointer finger and a beam of white death lanced out at him. The enforcer intercepted and absorbed it. The prince, last of the delegates, ran away.

  “Siron! Stop him!"

  Pale faced and shaky-legged, Siron obeyed the command. On his way out, he checked for his rapier and dagger. Then the door closed, the lock melted, and a dome of white fire encompassed the door.

  “It’s just you and me now, enforcer.”

  The fragment of Order twisted the room’s reality. Ethereal lights appeared from nowhere to wrap around the unconscious guards. There were two for every delegate, totaling over two hundred professional warriors. They arose and arrayed themselves around Kasile. The Sacred Fire above them all diminished and wavered. Some of it drifted into orbit around the enforcer and alignment changed into dark Infernal Fire.

  “This is not that which needs to escape, Mortal Flesh.”

  It launched the corrupted fire at her in rapid volley spheres. She grabbed them as they came and purified them on the spot. Then she gathered it all into a ball and pressed it against her cut. It transformed back into blood and shot back into her system and then again into fire. There was no difference. As blood drained from her body, fire replaced it.

  “I understand now. You accused me of lying about my status as queen. You are right. The Fire Sage is right. I am not queen.”

  The mind-controlled bodyguards slashed with short swords and tomahawks. Mana bolts fell like rain. Kasile smirked and generated a dome of Sacred Fire. Not one of their bolts touched her and their weapons melted into slag before reaching her.

  “Fiol is queen here. She has ruled for two thousand years. I’m closer to Vice-Roy or High Priestess. Torch Day is to remind me of this fact: I am the torch carrying the fire, not the fire itself.”

  She thrust her arms to either side and sent Sacred Fire rolling over the bodyguards like a wave. It melted their armor and incinerated their clothing, but did not harm them personally. She gazed appreciatively, then snapped her fingers. Obeying her unspoken summoning, salamander spirits appeared around her.

  “Take these people to another room. This does not concern them.”

  They nodded and scattered. While they grabbed guards large and small, she continued, “My divine power is similar. It’s not mine. I’m borrowing it from the real goddess, yet I claimed that it was mine. Order is a sly bastard.”

  “Blasphemy!”

  Kasile placed her spotless left hand over her mouth in mock apology. “Ohh…Did I upset the emotionless drone?”

  Wind currents from nowhere gathered the bodyguards together. They pulled the salamanders out of the air. Both flesh and flame joined together with other objects in the room, from wooden tables to stone masonry to metal utensils. All of it melded together by the enforcer’s command. There was a flash like a newborn star and Kasile shielded her eyes. When she looked again, the mass was gone and in its place was a dragon.

  Taller than any giant, it wore full stainless steel scales embossed with ordercraft runes. Divine flames illuminated its body and streaked across it like lines of power. The enforcer flew into the head and its eyes glowed with silver-grey light. A fighting spirit composed of ordercraft mixed with Sacred Fire washed over Kasile and she looked upon it in fear.

  “An immortal creature forged from your own supposedly divine fire and animated by a fragment of the Original Spirit. Self-proclaimed high priestess, let us see if you can defeat this.”

  In the rooms and hallways of the castle, tricksters fought dimensional barriers, enforcer puppets, and mortal ordercrafters. Among them, Belldandy was the most powerful and removed obstacles most quickly, and for this reason, the Order Domination Field placed the most obstacles in her path. While she relished the opportunity to kill so many minions of her evil uncle, the path to the Obelisk was frustratingly long. Lesser tricksters faced dangers up to and including capture and imprisonment in Latrot. Thus, they moved more carefully and made slower progress.

  In the courtyard, Tasio and Aphelion engaged in a shapeshifter duel. Since both of them were tricksters, and thus made of chaotic energy, their default forms couldn’t hurt the other's. The only solution was to take a different form.

  Tasio became a flying elephant that fired explosive peanuts from its trunk. Aphelion dodged around him in the form of a rabbit-panther hybrid. After several peanuts cratered the well-cared-for courtyard, he generated multiple octopus tentacles to fling them back. Tasio crashed, shifted into an air-based jellyfish on contact and squirted stingers and ink at Aphelion. The human trickster countered by becoming human, stepping around them, and then trod on the jellyfish with iron skin. In response, Ta
sio turned into poop, and not just any poop. This was the squishiest, stinkiest, and stickiest poop ever to smear a sole. Then he turned into a blob monster and swallowed him whole. Aphelion became a tornado and scattered him across the courtyard.

  Outside the ordercrafter barracks, Kimberly imitated the emergency loyalty procedures devised by Fairtheora. As the Royal Sentinel, it was his job to protect the realm from ordercrafters. This included Kimberly and her teammates. If there ever came a time that anyone one of them was lost to Order’s control, then there were official methods to bring them to their senses. First, she stood in front of Thuy and asked, “Who gave you the armor you wear?”

  Order did not abide lies and so he compelled her to say, “Queen Kasile.”

  “Who gave you the home you live in?”

  “Queen Kasile.”

  “Who gave you the duty you live for?”

  “Queen Kasile.”

  “Who do you work for?”

  Given the above facts, there was only one acceptable answer. Thuy raised her badge high and shouted, “QUEEN KASILE!” Then she rubbed her eyes and tapped her head as if to dislodge water. “Thank you, ma’am.”

  “It’s nothing. We are trained professionals.”

  She took off the glove on her left hand and stuck her finger in her mouth. Then she jammed it into Daniela’s ear. Immediately, the younger girl jumped up and away.

  “Why did you do that? I've told you to stop that ever since we were...kids..." She bowed her head and mumbled, “Sorry, ma’am.”

  Kimberly put her glove back. “What are cousins for?”

  Finally, she interrupted the mercy match by pulling Jasmine into a kiss. At first, it was like kissing a statue, but then Jasmine responded. Kimberly pulled away at that point and said, “We can finish later.”