by TR Cameron
Her dodges carried her into the middle of them, forcing the nearest pair to turn their wands into force blades to slash at her instead of risking hitting their comrades with ranged attacks. She leaned aside from the initial blow and pivoted to avoid the second. They were good, or at least good for wizards who didn’t spend much time training. However, they lacked armor to protect them, so when she extended her claws and slashed them, her foes wound up bloody. The first stumbled back in disbelief at the set of four deep cuts running down his chest, and she stabbed the other through the wand arm, forcing fingers that suddenly wouldn’t work to drop the implement. She spun into a kick that caught him in the head and took him out.
The move opened the firing lines for the other pair. She dove and rolled right before lightning cascaded over where she’d stood. A few thin tendrils snapped and buzzed near her but didn’t connect. She didn’t give the other one time to bring his fire beam in line but charged the one who’d hit her, ramming both sets of claws straight into his throat. He fell, beyond saving, and the scene shocked the other enough that she was able to skip into a sidekick and bounce the side of his head off a nearby wall. She punched him to make sure he wouldn’t get back up again, then turned to look for more trouble.
None materialized, but it was clear that they had now “gone loud.” Idryll said, “Ruby wants you to portal to safety.”
Morrigan growled, “No chance. We have to get downstairs and rescue the rest.”
She nodded. “Somehow I knew you’d say that.”
Neither humor nor mercy colored Morrigan's tone. “Let’s get to it before something bad happens.”
“I’ll go unlock all the cells. Hang on a minute.”
At first, only silence came from below, then a couple of minutes later, the sound of fighting wafted up the stairs. Ruby growled inwardly at the realization that at least Idryll, and probably Idryll and her sister, weren’t going to adhere to the plan she’d laid out. She muttered, “Idiots. Predictable. You suck.”
She paced momentarily, wondering how to deal with the traps in the stairwell, and shrugged. “If there’s no need for secrecy, there’s no need for subtlety.” Entering one of the rooms that might have been medical labs or might have been torture chambers, she used a blast of force to break the chair free of its moorings. She levitated it to the stairwell, yanked open the door, and threw it bouncing down the stairs to set off all the traps along the way. The chair from the other room repeated the process to ensure she’d triggered them all, and she rushed down the steps.
The others were about to enter the stairs leading to the first floor when she caught up to them. “You couldn’t listen, for once?”
Idryll shook her head. “I tried, really.”
Ruby nodded. “Oh, I’m so sure that you did. Probably worked really hard to convince her.”
Her sister’s pallor was concerning, and the look on her face promised violence to come. Morrigan snapped, “Less talking, more freeing prisoners.”
“Are you sure you won’t go back to where it’s safe? You don’t even have any equipment.”
“I have my magic. That’s all I need.”
While they’d been conversing, Idryll had secured her equipment belt and donned the backpack Ruby had brought along. The tiger-woman said, “If she stays at the back and attacks from surprise she’ll be fine.”
Ruby recalled the strategy from the second run with the agents and nodded. “Okay. It’s your call.” She opened the door and spotted another set of traps, then closed it again. “Hang on. I need to borrow a chair.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
When the smoke cleared, they pelted down the steps. Morrigan said, “It didn’t seem like these people are the ones running the show. They’re hirelings. So they probably have a solid reason not to hurt any of the captives.”
Ruby replied, “Good to know. Give me a sec.” She unpacked the small drone again and got it flying. “Okay, open the door a little.” She sent the tiny aircraft swinging through the gap, and it lasted all of three seconds before the feed vanished in the brilliance of a fireball. “Bastards. I spent a lot of time building that. Clearly, they’re aware we made it this far.”
She inhaled a centering breath. “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do, and no arguing. Idryll and I rush forward and engage whoever’s there. Morrigan, you open the doors and portal people to the receiving room at the abbey. Abbott Thomas is aware that he might have visitors.” She peeled off her stun knuckles and handed them to her sister. “They’re fully charged and can be recharged with lightning. Now, veil up.” She cast her illusion, layering it over her force shield, and concealed Idryll as well. Morrigan vanished as she applied her disguise. “Let’s do it.”
Ruby ripped open the door, summoned a force shield in front of her, and charged into the hallway. Their enemies had organized themselves into two disparate groups. Nearer were several Atlanteans: dark-haired, dark-skinned, and to judge by the looks on their faces, dark-tempered. She shuddered as the artifact pulsed and twisted in her flesh, apparently recognizing its brethren. She reached back and drew her sword, needing the support of the pair inside, and grabbed her dagger with her other hand.
By the time the first blasts came her way, she had dodged aside and held up her knife to anchor a force barrier. It caught everything but the lightning that cascaded around her, chewing at her full-body shield. She shouted, “Kagji,” to reinforce it with her pendant. Realizing that the incoming magical barrage was too much for her to handle and still make any progress, she threw her dagger at the nearest foe and transferred the sword to her left hand.
The artifact took advantage of the instant where she wasn’t in contact with the weapon to send a wave of queasiness through her, almost causing her to fumble it. She sent fury spiraling inward, pushing away the discomfort and imagining the energy battering her unwanted passenger. It was on a rising tide of anger that she drew her pistol, and it was that rage that caused her to aim for center mass without even considering trying to wound her opponents.
Two squeezes of the trigger for each to start, and when the weapon clicked empty, all the Atlanteans were on the floor, bleeding. She calmly ejected the magazine and let it drop, then awkwardly shifted the pistol into her left hand along with the sword, pulled out a magazine from her vest, and slotted it in place. Racking the slide was equally difficult, but when she re-holstered the gun, it was ready to shoot. She spared a single glance for the seriously wounded individuals on the linoleum floor and shook her head. “You don’t go after kids and families. What the hell’s wrong with you people?”
She felt a disturbing lack of remorse as she strode forward to assist her partner.
Idryll had charged past Ruby en route to the second set of enemies. She noted that the hallway seemed shorter than the last, and ended in a larger door, then shunted those thoughts aside as she flowed into the middle of the group of women awaiting her. Several of them had drawn wands and blasted at her on the way in, but her natural agility had been more than equal to the task of dodging the attacks, and concern over hitting the others had limited their fire.
Fortunately, Idryll wasn’t limited at all. She punched the first woman she came to, an elf who blocked with a crisp strike and countered with a punch to Idryll's ribs. She bent away enough to blunt the impact, then kicked out with her right leg, slamming her shin into the other woman’s. Idryll had a lot of experience with the pain that a shin blow caused and had prepared for it. Her opponent wasn’t and sagged to the ground, screaming at the agony that coursed through her. Idryll dipped down and landed a shot to the woman’s face that banged her head off the floor, and she was no longer a concern.
While she was down, flame washed over her and her opponent. Her anti-magic deflector drank it in and cracked, but it had given her the time she needed to lurch into motion again. The witch that had cast it was off to her left, and Idryll slammed a kick into her stomach. Despite the force shield the woman summoned, the impact knocked her backward and gave
Idryll enough distance to leap and smash an elbow into her face. That one went down, too.
Pain ripped through her arm as daggers of ice slashed into her flesh, and she dropped and rolled away from them. When she came up, it was as a tiger, and her paws tore gouges into the floor as she hurtled forward to ram bodily into the witch who had attacked her and who could marshal nothing more than a scream in her defense. The other woman went flying, and Idryll whipped her claws out at the next closest, severing her hamstring and dropping her.
The final one cast a force shield around herself. Idryll leapt, wrapped her paws around the woman’s shoulders, and drove her strong jaws in at her throat. The witch went down from the impact, her shield collapsing until it lay right outside her skin, the teeth an inch away from her neck. She gasped, “I yield.” Idryll opened her mouth a little and gave a quick nod. Her foe threw her wand aside, and the protective barrier vanished. She considered tearing her foe’s throat out anyway, but a deal was a deal. Instead, she head-butted the woman, knocking her senseless, and turned to look for more enemies.
While her teammates were fighting, Morrigan moved quickly from cell to cell, opening the doors and summoning portals to send the occupants to the abbey. She got a surprise in the middle when she opened the door, and an elf who’d hidden inside stabbed at her throat with a dagger. Her keyed-up reflexes were as high as they’d ever been though, and she blocked the blow and delivered an uppercut with the knuckles that snapped loudly and dropped him to the floor. Even without the shock, he would’ve been out from that shot. Serves you right, jerk.
She grabbed the blade and went to stick it in her belt, remembered she wasn’t wearing one and threw it away in disgust. “When I find out who’s behind all this, we’re going to have a nice long talk that involves many breaking bones and probably a lot of screaming.” The image amused her as she cleared the rest of the cells, then met up with Ruby and Idryll.
Her sister went down the list of missing people, and Morrigan checked them off one by one against those she’d sent through the portal. When they finished the list, two remained unrescued—twins, children of the Drow who owned Darkest Night. Ruby said, “Okay. They have to be behind that door, and if I have my map right, that’s the garage.”
Idryll nodded. “I concur.”
Morrigan knew the words were coming before they arrived, and still, she couldn’t think of an argument against them. Her sister said, “Mo, you have to go. It’s sure to be some sort of trap, and you don’t have any gear with you. Trust me. We’re all set. Head to the abbey and help our people get back where they belong.”
Tears welled in her eyes. Maybe at the realization that she was about to be safe for the first time since the ordeal began, or in gratitude to her sister and Idryll. Or maybe in frustration that she would miss out on whatever was behind the door. Still, she knew she’d be a liability, and while she would’ve taken the risk for herself, she couldn’t endanger the other two that way. She nodded and sniffed. “See you after. Be careful.”
Ruby grinned. “You know it.”
They headed for the garage, and Morrigan didn’t look back as she summoned a portal and hopped through to the safety of the abbey.
Chapter Thirty
They entered the garage and discovered the Drow kids inside, cowering at the opposite end of the space. The area was as wide as the entire building, but probably only about twenty feet deep, enough for two large cars end-to-end without too much room left over. No vehicles were present, only six Dark Elves in addition to the captives. One stepped forward, a woman with a white crewcut, battle leathers, dual swords, and knives. She said neutrally, “I presume you freed the others?”
Ruby nodded. “You have this single opportunity to surrender. Not all of your friends survived, and I can’t promise you will, either.”
She snorted. “Not my friends and their fate is irrelevant. You stand no chance of defeating us, no matter how good you are. All you did was make our negotiating position that much better.”
Idryll said, “With whoever hired you.”
The Drow inclined her head. “If you wish to believe it so.”
Ruby growled, “Last chance.”
The other woman countered, “Last chance for you to escape with your lives.”
“Pop the packs and hit them.” Ruby yanked the lanyard that activated the anti-magic emitter in her backpack and charged forward, drawing her pistol as she went. The leader stepped back, and the others closed ranks in front of her. She heard the hum of Idryll's pack activating and almost laughed at the shocked look on the Dark Elves’ faces when they tried to throw magic but couldn’t.
Ruby aimed her gun at the nearest, only to have it knocked from her grasp by an expertly thrown dagger that sliced along her hand. She shouted, “Ow,” and wished she had one of Margrave’s conceptual skin-absorbent-healing-packs at her disposal. Instead, she reached over her shoulder and grabbed her sword with the slick hand, squeezing it tightly and hoping the wound wasn’t as deep as it was painful.
Their foes reacted admirably to losing their magical advantage, drawing their preferred weapons and surging to meet them. Two came at Ruby and three went for Idryll, apparently finding her claws the greater threat. Well, now I’m insulted. The pair bracing her moved so she couldn’t hit them both with a single strike, and she stayed in motion to prevent them from surrounding her. One held daggers, and they licked out quickly and repeatedly, seeking an opening. She evaded them with quick steps and blocked them with her shield bracelets, trusting the metal cuffs to keep her from damage while she used her sword against the Drow holding a matching weapon.
Even with the anti-magic emitters running, Shalia and Tyrsh spoke into her mind, glorying in the battle. Making subtle shifts in accord with their suggestions got her inside the man’s guard. She slammed her hilt into his nose, and when he staggered backward, slashed down in a diagonal, opening a deep cut across his chest. He fell as blood flowed from the wound. She turned to the other. “Not much without your magic, are you?”
He threw a knife at her face in response. She blocked it and strode in, intent on ending him quickly and getting to the kids.
Idryll didn’t like the three-on-one odds at all and was determined to improve them immediately. She charged at the closest foe, arriving as he got his daggers properly seated in his grasp. She stabbed out, twisting her wrists, and her claws buried themselves in his upper arms. They tore down the length of the limbs, opening veins and sending him screaming to the ground. She took a painful but not particularly damaging kick to the side from a nearby enemy and swiped her claws at his leg, but he retracted it quickly enough to avoid damage.
Now that it was two on one, she circled with the pair, meeting feints from the daggers with swipes of her claws and evading blows from the longer sword. They said words, but she was deep in her predator’s mind, and the sounds they made were nothing but the bleating of prey. She twitched at the sword wielder, and the one with the knives took the opportunity to strike, as she’d hoped.
Idryll sidestepped and delivered a kick to his chest, then put the foot down and pivoted, bringing her other one up in a sweeping kick to his groin. Her foe doubled over, and she landed a punch to the back of his neck, sheathing her claws in a momentary act of mercy. He went face-first into the garage’s concrete floor, and she turned to engage the third. That opponent looked far less confident now than he had when she was outnumbered and angled his sword in a defensive stance. She grinned, showing her fangs. “Poor little elf. Now you’re all alone.”
Ruby finished off the one with the daggers quickly, a stab through an arm rendering it useless, followed by a quick kick that broke his leg. She snapped his other wrist to be sure he couldn’t easily reenter the fight and punched him in the temple before heading for the Drow leader. She looked at Ruby and shook her head slowly, backing as far away as she could. “Nice play, can’t argue with that.”
Ruby scowled. “Shut the hell up, hand over the kids, and lay down on your face
with your hands behind your head. I’m only going to ask once.”
The Dark Elf laughed. “You think you’ve won, but you have to remember. We’re on my home turf.” She hit a button, and one of a pair of innocuous old crates located at the back corners of the garage fell open with a pop to reveal a machine gun turret. The Drow finished, “Which means I have toys you haven’t even thought about.”
Before her foe could trigger the gun, Ruby grabbed the EMP Margrave had created and threw it at the turret. Only afterward did she remember the device required lightning to activate. She shouted, “Kill the bags,” and yanked on the lanyard. When she felt her power return, she blasted the thing with lightning, and the turret whirred to a stop without firing a single round.
However, the crate on the other side of the garage had already opened to reveal another. She had to call up a force shield to protect against it and summon a second in front of Idryll. The devices looked old, and she could only duck and hope the Dark Elves hadn’t loaded them with anti-magic bullets. The Drow had prepared the battleground well, and as the thing started to spit out rounds that deflected from her shield, Ruby realized the barrage was too strong for her to do anything but defend. Her enemy summoned a portal, pushed the kids through, and gave a saucy wave before departing.
When the bullets finally ran out, Ruby let out a string of curses, screaming them at the ceiling. When she’d finished, Idryll asked, “Feel better?”
“No. Shut up.” She used a force blast to create a hole in the garage door and stalked outside, but her minuscule hope that the Drow would’ve been trying to get outside turned out to be as whimsical as she’d imagined it would be. They’d saved most, but not all. The fury that inspired was all hers, no hint of the artifact tainting it.
