by Dante King
After another couple of minutes, I retrieved two more Cores. Amelia was ecstatic. She scooped up the Cores and her book. I let her carry those things so I could be free to fight if the need arose again.
“What are magical Beasts doing in these woods?” I asked as we set out again, out of the clearing. “Shouldn’t they be in the mines?” I was reminded of what Boris had said about Beasts roaming the lands outside Brightwater. Could what he had said be true?
Amelia looked at me for a long moment and then seemed to come to a decision. “They should be in the mines, yes. To tell the truth, that is a matter which concerns me a great deal.”
“You sound like you almost expected monsters to be outside the mines.”
“There have been rumors, but you needn’t concern yourself with them just yet.”
I felt like I was on the verge of learning more about what Amelia was actually doing out here, but just then I felt a powerful disturbance to my Mana pool. It was as if sudden warmth radiated at me from behind. My spine crawled with the sudden awareness of something powerful nearby.
“What’s that?” I said, spinning to scan the clearing. I didn’t see anything.
“What’s what?” Amleia asked.
“Don’t you feel that?”
“No, I don’t feel… oh, wait, yes, I can feel it now, but I’m not sure…”
Suddenly, we heard a low growl from behind us. It sounded like another large animal was stalking through the undergrowth.
“Another boar?” Amelia’s fingers whitened as she tightened them around her book and the Beast Cores.
“Quick, let’s get undercover. There!” I pointed to a large tree trunk which lay on the ground where it must have fallen years and years ago. Grass and ferns had grown up all around it, and we vaulted over it and crouched down.
We both looked out from behind it in time to see a bear lumbering into the clearing. Like the boar, this creature was bigger than a regular bear. Curled horns stuck out from the sides of its head. As it breathed, smoke trailed from its nostrils. It was clearly another Magical Beast.
The bear dropped to all fours and sniffed about on the ground. It snorted. A small burst of flame rushed out of its nostrils and singed the grass. Then it sniffed again, looked up in our direction, and reared suddenly up on its hind legs with a roar which sent flame gouting from its mouth and nostrils.
This monster was bigger than the boar I’d fought, and I’d only managed to take the boar out by stabbing it with a heated blade. Would heat harm a fire creature? I strongly doubted it. His flesh would be less sensitive to heat than the cold monster’s had been. Nor could I get close to the monster because of the flames it shot from its mouth.
I looked at my tattoo and thought about what Amelia had said. The spear element of my tattoo apparently represented projectile spells. If, as she said, my tattoo was some magical symbol which gave me the power to cast spells, then maybe the spear component could allow me to shoot projectiles? The whole concept seemed outlandish. Then again, before today, I never would have thought I could heat a knife blade with my mind.
“Get ready to run,” I whispered to Amelia. “I’m going to try something.”
She reached her hand out as if to stop me, but we both knew the monster could probably sense us by now and there was no use in hiding. Amelia made sure of her grip on her precious book and checked the Beast Cores where she’d stowed them in a leather pouch at her belt. When I was certain she was ready to flee, I stepped out from the tree and held up my left arm, brandishing my knife in my right hand. Then I pulled on my Mana and channeled its rippling flow into my left arm.
The monster sighted me and roared. Flames burst from its mouth and streamed behind it as it started to lumber toward me, reared up on its powerful hind legs. I pushed the Mana through my arm and out onto my hand. There was a crackling, and a glittering light appeared above my palm. Excitement flooded me as the light expanded and became a sphere of flame about twice the size of a man’s fist. I held a ball of fire neatly in my palm. The monster slowed, looking warily at me and snorting orange flame and smoke.
“That’s incredible,” Amelia whispered from beside me.
“I’m not done yet,” I said through my teeth as I struggled to contain the fireball in my hand.
I wasn’t sure whether a fire Beast would be harmed by a fireball, but it was the only spell I had in my arsenal, and that left me with no other choice. I didn’t know exactly how this would work, so I simply tried imagining hurling the ball and drew back my arm.
The tattoo on my arm flashed orange, and the spear passing through the flame lit up. The monster loped toward me, now only ten feet away. I thrust my hand forward and spread my fingers wide. The ball of fire flew through the air from my fingers.
It burst in the monster’s face with a hiss. Some smoke went up as it singed the Beast’s fur. The bear stopped for a moment, disoriented. The fire dissipated, and the bear snorted, shaking its head. It turned its face toward me again. Besides a few scorch marks on its fur, the fire had barely harmed it.
Oh, fuck.
“Time to run, Amelia!” I turned and grabbed her right arm. The Beast roared again and started forward.
But Amelia pulled her arm from my grasp. She lifted her hand and threw a stone. The monster was closing in on us. The stone struck it in the face, and a flash of blue light exploded around us. The shockwave from the blast hurled me backward, and I felt a wave of cold air rush over me. Amelia landed on the ground beside me, having been thrown by the shockwave as well.
I looked up and saw the bear frozen still, about a yard away from me. It was literally frozen solid. In a patch about three yards across, all the ground was covered in ice. The ice-coated area stopped just before my feet, which I was grateful for. I had been blasted with ice once already on this trip. I didn’t feel like having that happen again.
“You threw a Beast Core?” I could hear the incredulity in my own voice. What I’d thought was a stone had been a cold Core.
Amelia nodded. “You’d better hurry, the bear won’t stay frozen for long. Try casting a fireball again.”
I concentrated on my Mana pool and channeled some more Mana through my tattoo and into my hand, moving back a couple of yards as I did so. Amelia moved with me, her eyes on the Beast. I pushed the Mana out onto my hand. With a crackle and a flash, a fireball appeared in my palm. The tattoo on my arm glowed orange once more. At this range, I could easily hit the monster’s head. I took a breath, then drew back my arm and hurled the flaming ball again.
The fireball exploded in the Beast’s face, and I raised my hand to block the light. It was very bright at this short distance.
The Beast roared as the ice on its face was melted by the fireball, but its feet were still frozen fast.
I didn’t waste any time. I threw another fireball, and then another. I hoped the fireballs wouldn’t start a fire in this forest, but right now killing the monster was a more urgent priority. With each cast, I could feel the powerful Mana energy burning through me, but as I used it, I could feel it growing weaker.
After I had hurled six fireballs, I had the satisfaction of seeing the flesh sizzle and catch on fire. The ice melted all around the monster, and, like a felled tree, the Beast slumped to the ground.
I didn’t want to take any chances, so I walked over and stabbed the monster in the neck. Finally, it shuddered and stopped moving.
I looked back at Amelia. “Are you ok?” I asked.
She brushed herself off and came over to look at the Beast, the book in her hands as ever. After gazing at it for a long moment, she glanced up at me. “I’m fine. A little sick at the thought of how much money we lost by destroying that Beast Core. Other than that, fine. How are you feeling?”
“A bit lightheaded. I think I may have used a bit too much Mana there. But we killed the Beast. How did you know what to do with that Beast Core? I didn’t know they could harm monsters.”
“I wasn’t expecting such a powerful blas
t. But I saw that your fire attack didn’t hurt it much, so I thought that some cold damage might do the trick instead. I’m glad I was right.” She shuddered, obviously thinking about what would have happened if she had been wrong.
“I’m glad as well.” I crouched down beside the massive bear carcass. “Let’s check this one for Cores and quickly. We’ve got to get moving in case those slavers are still looking for us.”
At that very moment, I heard the sound of someone clapping slowly behind me. Amelia and I both spun around, and I felt her draw instinctively closer to me.
“Well, well, look what you’ve found for us.” It was, Alek, the slaver who I’d burned. As he stepped out from behind the trees, I had the satisfaction of seeing what a mess his face was. His companions had patched him up as well as they could, with a heavy wrap of bloody bandage around his face, but he moved drunkenly, as if the pain still threatened to overwhelm him.
I was surprised he managed to sneak up on us. Obviously, we’d been distracted fighting the monsters. Well, I would just burn the other half of his face off to teach him a lesson. I concentrated on my Mana, preparing myself to shoot more fireballs. I found that in a few seconds, if I concentrated, I could feel my Mana pool beginning to replenish.
“With these Cores we’ll make a much higher profit margin from our journey,” Alek gloated. “We’ll make so much that I might even be able to convince my companions to give up their share in your price as a slave. Then I can take you back to the wagons and spend a few days slicing you up with a hot knife for what you did to my face!”
I heard crunching on the ground behind me and spun round. I could see the other four trollmen in the clearing, circling to surround us.
Alek leered, which twisted up his injured cheek so that he winced in pain. “I want my revenge on you, you bastard. Maybe I’ll leave enough of you standing so that I can still sell you in the mines. Fighter like you might be worth a lot, even if I rip out your fingernails and cut your balls off first. I’m amazed that you managed to kill that monster with just a dagger, but you won’t get a second chance with me. And looks like you don’t have no torch to burn me with either.”
So, they couldn’t have seen me using a fireball against the monster. They also didn’t seem to realize that I’d used magic to burn Alek’s face. This particular fellow seemed to have a selective memory since he believed I’d burned his face with a torch.
I smiled. They didn’t know what I could do. I might just be able to turn this fight to my advantage. Then again, I did have all five of them surrounding me, but my Mana was starting to feel like it had regenerated almost to full.
“I am looking forward to teaching you a little lesson,” Alek growled. “Come on, let’s see how well you can wield that knife against me. He’s mine, lads,” he called to his companions. “Leave this bastard to me!”
With those words, Alek lunged. He was armed with a vicious two-handed scimitar, jagged-edged and deadly sharp. He ran at me with this monster of a blade raised up high above his head, roaring like a bull. I side-stepped neatly and blasted a fireball into his stomach. His leather armor was no protection. The ball of fire burnt right through his flesh and left a gaping chasm where the left side of his abdomen should have been. The reek of burning flesh filled the air, and his guts spilled out, steaming and wiggling like live fish from a net. Alek staggered back, dragging his entrails after him. The sword slipped from his grip. His mouth was open as if he was trying to speak, but only a choking, gurgling sound came out. Then he collapsed in a heap and lay still.
The other four trollmen were yelling in fear and horror. I heard one of them puking, and another shouted, “God’s teeth! What did he do?”
I ignored them for the moment and picked up the fallen slaver’s huge sword in a two-handed grip.
As he stared up at me, there was nothing in his eyes but fear. Just as if I was chopping wood for the fire back home, I swung the sword round in a great arc and brought it thudding down on his neck. There was a wet crunch, and his staring head rolled away from the rest of him as his body jerked in its death convulsions. Blood, driven by his still-beating heart, pumped weakly out into the dirt.
I stood and turned to survey the battlefield. Amelia was standing to my left, a few yards away. She’d laid her book on the ground behind her, but still clutched the Beast Cores in her hands. I saw that she’d taken one of the smaller ones and held it alone in her right hand. I saw her measuring the distance between us and the rest of the slavers, gauging the angle for a throw.
“No, Amelia, they’re too close—we’d be caught up in the blast. Leave this to me; I think I can handle them.”
She nodded, and I saw the tension go out of her arm as she realized what I said was true.
The trollmen had regrouped, and they now stood bunched together, looking pale but determined. The one standing closest to us sneered and tried his best to put courage into his faltering voice. “We weren’t going to give him a cut of the profits anyway. You did us a favor, kid.”
Then he drew a shortsword from where it hung on his belt. “But you’re still coming with us. Both of you.”
He darted toward Amelia, but I shot another fireball straight for his chest. My aim was a bit off, and the flaming projectile crashed into his head instead, incinerating it. Even better.
I was in no mood for mercy now. These men had never shown mercy to anyone.
The headless slaver fell face first into the dirt, his shortsword dropping from his lifeless hand. The other three slavers were glancing from each other to their fallen comrade and back again, looks of fear and panic on their faces. I saw them make their decision; it took all of a second for their fear to turn to anger. Together, they drew their swords and charged.
Amelia snatched the shortsword from the dead slaver and raised it in an unpracticed grip. I raised the jagged scimitar in a one-handed grip and pulled my knife with my other hand. I blocked one blow from a trollman’s blade and ducked beneath a swipe from another. As they started to close around me, I danced on my feet and used my newly acquired scimitar to keep the three remaining slavers at bay. Amelia got behind me, holding her blade up but leaving the fighting to me. As I dodged and parried enemy attacks, I pulled Mana into my arm and fed it through my tattoo. The flame motif in the center of the tattoo lit up, glowing through the thin top layer of my skin. I concentrated on the shortsword in my hand even as I thrust and parried. I saw smoke rising from my hand and felt heat starting to radiate from the steel. Power flooded me. It felt amazing.
I fed more Mana through my hand and into the blade. Then the whole blade burst into flames. I felt my Mana start to drop, but I fed just a bit more in and the sword became a conflagration.
The slavers stumbled backward as I swept the flaming blade in a great arc around me.
With a yell of triumph, I charged after the trollmen as they fled. I cut one down with a slash across his back. A shallow wound, but the sword did more than scratch him with its edge. He screamed as flames enveloped his filthy tunic and crawled up his hair.
Another slaver turned to face me, and I thrust my sword into his stomach as he retreated in panic. The pointed tip plunged into his abdomen with a hiss, and the smell of burning flesh filled my nostrils even as he died on the point of my weapon.
The last of the trollmen was already a good twelve paces away. I was out of breath, and I didn’t want to get too far from Amelia. I pulled Mana back from my sword, and the flames died away, leaving the blade a charred black color. I only had a fraction of my Mana remaining. Would it be enough? Time to find out. I raised my hand, poured Mana into my tattoo, and shot a fireball at the fleeing slaver.
The ball of flame struck him in the back. I took a few steps toward him so I could end his life, but I stopped short. There was no need. The fire was consuming his clothing and sizzled into his flesh, eating away organs in a matter of seconds until there was nothing left but a charred, greasy black mass on the scorched ground.
My vision was dim
ming at the edges. Suddenly out of breath, I sat down hard. Maybe I’d overdone it just a little.
Amelia ran over to me. “You did it,” she cried. “You saved us.” Her voice was slightly muffled through the ringing in my ears.
I concentrated on my Mana again and felt the level rise a bit. The darkness receded from my vision, and I could hear clearly again. My throat was parched though, and I realized it was a long time since I’d eaten or drunk properly.
“That was incredible,” I panted.
Amelia laughed and gave me a hand up.
“Come on,” I said. “Now that we’ve dealt with the threat of these slavers, let’s turn back for the road. The slavers’ wagons will have food and water, and maybe other gear we can use. We might as well take what we can from them.”
Amelia put her hand to her stomach. “That sounds like a good idea.”
I took a look at the bodies, but except for the short-bladed swords and sheaths they carried, there was nothing of value on any of them. We took a sword each and strapped them onto our belts. At least we would not go on with our adventure completely unarmed. Amelia picked up her book from the edge of the clearing, and I watched with interest as she carefully brushed stray bits of grass from the spine. I would have to ask her about that book once we got going.
We extracted a single Core from the bear before leaving the clearing, and Amelia slipped it into her leather pouch along with the others.
As we walked away from the scene of the battle, Amelia looked at my arm again. “Your tattoo is still glowing. It’s as if your magic is channeled directly through the tattoo. Almost as if the tattoo itself is acting as a vector.”
I held my arm up and looked. She was right. “Yeah, it does seem that way.” The flame and the spear both still had a faint yellow outline which was fading back into the skin.
“This is a rare form of magic. I didn’t believe this was possible before today.” Amelia murmured slowly.
“Didn’t believe what was possible?” I asked.
