by Tj Dixon
“We got here as quickly as we could!” The monk protests.
“It didn’t seem very quick to me.” Lucy tells him disdainfully. Then she frowns. “Looks like they’ve made another hole already. It’s nowhere near here and you’ve got monks there already, but unless we deal with their most powerful mages quickly we’ll be in a lot of trouble.”
“Are you powerful enough to defeat those three if we’re able to keep the other enemies occupied?” Nico Na asks.
“One on one sure, but not three on one.” Lucy answers.
“Is there anyone else among your allies who could kill one or more of them?” Nico Na asks.
“Elucia could probably keep one of them busy, but you have her locked up. Sor could too if Dairon took over from her at preventing anyone porting. The faeries might be able to help too, but they’ll only help if Dairon asks them to.” Lucy says.
“If we let the prisoners out what’s to stop them betraying us again?” Nico Na snarls.
“If they wanted to betray you they could do it even if you don’t let them out. You don’t seriously think you could keep them locked up against their will, do you?” Lucy asks.
“If the Kuroneko was here we could.” Nico Na replies defiantly.
“Of course you could, but if she was here you wouldn’t need their help, would you?” Lucy asks, at which he can only growl in frustration. “So will you free them and ask for their help, or will you deal with the enemy yourselves?”
“That’s not my decision to make. We’ll need to ask the High Priestess and the High Monk.” Nico Na says.
“Well, be quick about it or you may be too late.” Lucy tells him.
“Come with us.” Nico Na says.
“No. Peter trusted me to protect his friends so I’m staying close to them. I’ll only leave them if it’s to attack the enemy.” Lucy says.
“Fine.” Nico Na growls and then without a backward glance he sprints off back the way we came. The rest of us glance at each other.
“The High Monk and High Priestess aren’t going to want to see us humans.” One of the other monks from our group says and we all nod in agreement.
“Let’s return to Yu Kii for now. There’s no point waiting here.” I say and there are a few nods.
“We can’t just leave you humans unguarded.” One of the catmen monks from the other group says. Lucy laughs.
“Shouldn’t you be more concerned by the humans outside the temple?” Lucy asks.
“It’s precisely because of the humans outside the temple that we need to keep a close eye on the humans inside the temple.” The catman monk replies.
“Those human monks just helped fight off the enemy whilst you strolled over here and arrived too late.” Lucy tells him with a stony glare.
“We didn’t stroll over here! They just happened to be closer.” The catman monk says furiously.
“I don’t have time to listen to you whine. Do whatever you want.” Lucy tells him and flies away from us towards the other humans that were fighting.
“That’s what I was going to do anyway.” He growls and then looks our way. “You humans can come with us.”
“What about Yu Kii and Haru Kii? They’re both unguarded at the moment.” I ask.
“They’re both former miko. I’m sure we can trust them.” He tells me with a glare.
“But what if they’re attacked?” I ask.
“I’m sure they can defend themselves.” The catman monk says with an uninterested shrug. He’s probably right that Yu Kii could defend herself and Haru Kii, but that doesn’t stop me worrying. Unfortunately though there’s not much I can do about it. As a catman he is my superior so I have to obey. I wish Nico Na had ordered us to return to Yu Kii and I’m sure that is what he would have wanted us to do, but he left in too much of a hurry to give us any orders.
“Where are we going?” Another monk from my group asks.
“To the closest armoury. It’s well positioned to respond to any attacks on this side of the temple.” The catman monk says more to the rest of his group than to the monk who asked. His group all nod in agreement. It’s not far from Yu Kii and Haru Kii so I’m a little relieved.
Chapter 18 (Aventurine)
The door opens with Rin standing right behind it. She’s wearing white shorts and shirt but is barefoot. She was wearing the same clothes the last time we saw her. She has a slightly sweet but smoky odour about her this time that’s presumably from her alchemy. She doesn’t look like she’s been sleeping.
“Are they ready?” Cherry asks urgently.
“We’ve managed to get thirteen done so far. As long as you space them evenly that should be enough.” Rin replies tiredly.
“That will have to do.” Cherry says.
“You’re welcome.” Rin says with a glare that turns into a yawn.
“Where are they?” Cherry asks.
“Over there.” Rin says, pointing at a pile of small shiny black spheres each no wider than my smallest finger. Rin moves aside.
“Thank you, Rin.” I say gratefully.
“Yes, thank you!” Cherry says and runs over to the pile of stones. Scooping them up into her hands she takes the entire pile and then passes them to me. I put all but one into my skirt pocket and then seal my pocket with magic.
“Make sure to be careful with them.” Rin warns me.
“Don’t worry, I will be.” I tell her honestly. They may be small but if they do what we asked for, these little stones are scary as hell. I trusted Peter to succeed and return from hell alive, so now I must ensure his friends are still here when he does return. Right now that’s the only way I can help him. These stones will help me do so.
“Good luck and don’t die.” Rin tells us.
“We won’t!” Cherry says and then grabbing my left hand picks us both up with flight magic. Without wasting a moment Cherry sends us soaring through the corridor to the temple entrance.
“Is it safe to go so fast?” I ask as Cherry moves us flat against a wall to dodge a group of catmen.
“Of course it is!” Cherry tells me cheerfully and then comes to a sharp halt as we reach the temple entrance.
“It’s you two we’re meant to be helping, right?” Asks a green haired, green eyed faery wearing a green silk skirt and shirt.
“Yes. Are the others almost here?” Cherry asks.
“They’re here already and we’re ready when you are.” The faery says and disappears.
“Ok, but you better keep us safe with illusions.” Cherry says.
“Don’t worry.” The now invisible faery says from right between us. “Dairon told us to keep you safe so that’s exactly what we’ll do. Just make sure to keep your flight path unpredictable and dodge any stray spells.”
“I will do. Now let’s go!” Cherry says and throwing the main temple door open she flies us straight through it and towards the enemy. In moments we are past the temple shield and bombarded with a hail of fireballs. Cherry dodges sharply to the right but the fireballs continue to pound the shield at the entrance. Looking back I see Cherry and myself still dodging the fireballs right at the entrance.
“The illusions are working.” I tell Cherry.
“Good, but don’t forget what we’re here for.” Cherry reminds me.
“I could hardly forget what we’re risking our lives for.” I tell Cherry.
“Then get started with the first one before they notice the illusion.” Cherry says.
“They won’t notice until you start.” An annoyed faery voice says.
“It would still be good to start quickly.” Another faery voice says sounding a bit worried.
“I’m starting, I’m starting!” I tell everyone before anyone else can give their opinion and more importantly before any enemies really do notice and try to kill us.
I focus my ice magic into the tiny stone in my hand. It greedily absorbs all the magic I send at it and tugs at my mana as if begging for more. I oblige by sending my mana into it even quicker until it begi
ns to glow with a fiery orange shimmer. I stop sending my ice magic but it gets quickly colder and colder, and the shimmer intensifies.
“Throw it!” Cherry reminds me urgently. I throw the stone to the ground and lose sight of it as it buries itself in the ground below. “Next!”
“Right away.” I say and take the next stone out of my pocket but as I do so a massive hail of ice shards are flung at us. Cherry dodges wildly flinging me upside down for a moment. I feel the stones begin to fall from my pocket but I freeze them in place. As I do so I feel them all tug at my mana. With so many trying to take my mana at once it hurts. Worse I mustn’t activate them all at once.
“Sorry.” Cherry apologises, still dodging a continued barrage of ice shards but a little less wildly.
“It’s ok.” I say with a wince and draw one stone out of the mass of ice in my pocket. I begin to fill it with my ice magic and resist the other stones.
“You don’t sound ok.” Cherry says worriedly.
“Just focus on dodging. I’ll do my job.” I tell Cherry.
“Ok.” Cherry says. “They seem to have a very good idea of where we are. Are you faeries still with us?”
“Yes and we’re very busy trying to fool the enemy. They’re pretty smart for humans.” An annoyed faery voice says.
“Plus those stones are a pain to hide now all of them are active.” Another faery voice says.
“All of them!” Cherry exclaims.
“I almost lost them when we were attacked so I had to freeze them.” I tell Cherry.
“Which activated them. Damn! I’m sorry Aventurine.” Cherry says.
“It beats getting skewered.” I reply. “This one’s almost ready. Are we in place?”
“Yes, anywhere around here will do so when it’s ready just chuck it.” Cherry says. Just as she finishes it begins to glow with that fiery orange shimmer. I stop sending my ice magic and just like the last one it gets colder and colder, and the shimmer intensifies. I throw it to the ground without looking and draw the next stone from the ice.
I begin to fill this one and sigh with relief as the pain gets a little weaker. It is only a little weaker though. I’ll be glad when we’ve finished. As I’m thinking that a shard of ice scratches my left cheek. I grunt in pain as the cold burns my whole cheek.
“Sorry!” Cherry calls out.
“It’s’right.” I mumble as my cheek swells right out. Then the stone in my hand begins to shimmer. I stop sending my ice magic into it. “Here alright?”
“No, just a moment.” Cherry says and flies us quickly to the next point. “Here will do!”
I throw the stone to the ground and draw the next stone out of the ice. I begin to fill it with ice magic and the pain from the stones weakens but my cheek gets more painful. Then a sea of flames surrounds us. Cherry shields but her shield collapses under the fiery onslaught. Unable to switch my mana into a shield quickly enough I can only watch as the flames roar towards us. Then a second shield catches them.
“It seems they’re getting serious.” Lucy says from right beside my right ear. I turn my head in shock but I still can’t see her. The pain and swelling in my cheek suddenly disappear. It must be Lucy’s famous healing magic we’ve all heard so much about.
“Lucy!” Cherry exclaims.
“I figured you might need a hand. Peter wouldn’t be happy if he came back and found you two dead.” Lucy says.
“How did you know what we were planning?” Cherry asks as she finally emerges from the sea of flames.
“Rin told me about your daring plan.” Lucy says.
“I’m not sure whether to thank her for saving us or curse her for betraying our secret.” Cherry says with a laugh.
“Just focus on your flight magic.” Lucy warns her.
“I am!” Cherry protests.
“Will here do?” I ask Cherry as the stone begins to glow.
“No, just a moment. Ok, here will do.” Cherry says so I throw the stone to the ground and draw the next stone out from the ice. I send ice magic into it and again the pain gets a little weaker. Not counting this one there are still eight stones tugging at my mana, so it still hurts but not anywhere near as badly as when there were twelve stones tugging at my mana. As I focus on my ice magic and the stones I notice that it is getting harder to see.
“Is it getting darker or is that just me?” I ask.
“It’s not just you.” Cherry says.
“There’s water magic in the air. Poison mist.” Lucy says. “Don’t worry though. I’m shielding us so we’re perfectly safe.”
“They’re really going all out to kill us, aren’t they?” I ask.
“No, they’re getting a little serious but if they were going all out we’d be in trouble.” Lucy tells us.
“How long on the next stone?” Cherry asks.
“Almost ready.” I say and as I say it the stone begins to glow. “Actually it is ready.”
“Great, drop it here.” Cherry says so I drop the stone to the ground.
“Five down, eight to go.” I tell Cherry as I draw the next stone out of the ice. I quickly focus my ice magic on it and the pain from the pull of the stones becomes more of an irritation than actual pain.
“The mist is getting thicker. If it gets much worse I’ll need to rely purely on my magical senses.” Cherry says but she doesn’t sound worried.
“You’re mostly using them already, aren’t you?” Lucy asks.
“I am for the sake of dodging everything, because I can’t always see everything in time if at all with my eyesight, but it’s nice to be able to see too.” Cherry says.
“The next stone is ready. Will here do?” I ask.
“Yes, here’s fine.” Cherry says. I draw the next stone out of the ice and then focus my ice magic on it.
“We’re halfway through the stones. Are we about halfway around the temple yet?” I ask.
“We will be when we drop the next stone. That’s the seventh, right?” Cherry asks.
“Yes.” I reply.
“We can do this.” Cherry says sounding very relieved.
“You’d better hope the enemy don’t find the stones before they’re all active.” Lucy says.
“They won’t.” A smug faery voice says.
“Good, but if they do I’ll pluck your wings as punishment.” Lucy says.
“You wouldn’t dare! You don’t even know where I, ouch! Don’t pull on the wings, don’t pull on the wings!” The faery voice says now in a bit of a panic.
“Then make sure the enemy really don’t find those stones.” Lucy says.
“The whole legion is out here to make sure they don’t.” The faery voice says.
“Then either they do their job properly or it will be a whole legion worth of roast faery wings for dinner tonight.” Lucy says.
“She’s evil.” A terrified faery voice says and there are a few mutters that sound like agreement.
“You bet I am, but only when I want to be.” Lucy says cheerfully.
“The next stone’s ready.” I say as it begins to glow.
“Just a few moments. Sorry, got distracted.” Cherry admits and flies us quickly forwards.
“Too straight!” A faery yells and sure enough a massive bolt of lightning hits Lucy’s shield.
“Don’t get careless.” Lucy says sounding very pained. Then a bolt of light envelopes us for a moment. Lucy yelps and then the light is behind us, still almost blinding even looking away from it. “Another moment and we’d have been dead. Don’t make any more stupid mistakes Cherry, or you’ll be the one I’m punishing.”
“Sorry!” Cherry apologises. The glowing stone in my hand is now tugging viciously at my mana and burning with cold.
“Will here do?” I ask unable to hide the pain from my voice.
“Just a little further. Almost there. Here.” Cherry says and I try to drop the stone. It’s frozen onto my hand though and won’t come off.
“It won’t come off. I need both hands. Can you hold my ar
m instead of my hand?” I ask Cherry.
“Just a moment.” Cherry says and loops the loop to dodge a hail of burning metal shards. Then she moves her hand from my left hand to my wrist and then a couple of inches up my arm. “Will this do?”
“That’s fine.” I gasp and moving my right hand close enough I pry the stone from my right hand. As I drop the stone the pain vanishes. I breathe a sigh of relief and then wait a few moments to get my breath back. Having recovered my breath I draw the next stone from the ice and begin to fill it with ice magic.
“We’re over half way.” Cherry says happily.
“Don’t relax yet. There are still six more stones and countless enemy mages trying to kill us.” Lucy warns her.
“Don’t worry, I’m not.” Cherry says.
“It feels odd to be fighting other Contractians.” I say.
“You can’t always choose your enemies. Sometimes they choose you.” Lucy says with a sigh.
“Is here ok?” I ask as the stone begins to glow.
“Yes, here’s fine.” Cherry says so I drop the stone.
“Just five left.” I say and draw the next stone out of the ice. I begin to fill it with mana. A huge ice spear as big as an ancient tree is lobbed just in front of us but Cherry easily dodges.
“Their attacks are getting less accurate.” Cherry says.
“That’s because there are less stones left.” A faery voice says. “We can hide five active stones a lot easier than we can hide twelve.”
“Still don’t get careless.” Lucy warns.
“I won’t, even if I don’t have any wings to pluck.” Cherry says.
“I could pluck your hair instead.” Lucy suggests.
“Please don’t!” Cherry exclaims.
“How about your eyes?” Lucy asks.
“No!” Cherry answers and then quickly dodges a hail of sharp stones each about the size of my fist.
“It’s ready.” I tell Cherry.
“Just a minute, just ah, here.” Cherry says, so again I drop the glowing stone.
