“Assskk a ssstupid quessstion. We get it. Do you do thisssss offften?”
“I have the experience to put both of you to shame. You never realized that I was the one behind the bubble bum plot.”
All three friends gasped. Then Revas retorted with, “You never realized that we were behind the chicken and the egg plot.”
“How about you pool your resources?” Eric put in. “Together, you could terrorize the school.”
“I'd rather not work with dumb animals.” The cat and lizard imitated a chicken and bawked. Norej’s eyes narrowed. “Meet me in the chemistry lab. We'll talk.”
He marched out, his head high and shoulders back. Oito and Revas pulled down their eyelids and stuck out their tongues at his back. Annala rolled her eyes and pushed them out the door.
“Go. You might become friends from this.”
“Impossssible!”
“Yeah, and besides, you need us to walk you home.”
“I’ll be fine. I have my bow and my Eric. I mean, my friend Eric.”
The faces of the beastfolk simultaneously shifted into sly grins.
“Stop that! Go to the chem lab and plan your pranks.”
“If you want to be alone with him that badly…”
“Go! Or I’ll recite the Periodic Table of Elements, including all protons, neutrons, and electrons!”
They ran away. Annala turned shyly to Eric and squeezed her hands together behind her back.
“Sorry about that. Good friends can be annoying.”
“It’s no problem, but what were they talking about? Do you need to carry something heavy?”
“Oh, if only it was that simple.” She tugged her pointed ear. “You see, lately, an older man has taken an inappropriate interest in me.”
“Really!? Did you report him to the Justice Station?”
“Those assholes said she had to do it herself!”
Revas stood in the doorway in a fine fury. Oito stood behind, looking annoyed.
“I’m starting with hydrogen!”
“You can go all the way to Whateverogen and it won’t stop me from calling those lazy, tax-sucking idiots assholes.”
Oito yanked Revas’ cat ear. “Calm yoursssself.” To Eric, he said, “They can’t do anysssing until Nulsssso commitsssss a crime. Right now, he barely countssss asss a ssstalker.”
“He tried to put a collared leash on her neck! That’s not a crime!?”
Images of the elves walking off the slave ship flashed in Eric’s mind.
“Tell me what happened.”
Annala continued tugging on one ear and said, “I’ve noticed him following me on my way to and from school for a while now. It was shortly after Daughter of Fire Kasile announced at her coronation that plans for the Mana Mutation Summit to be hosted in Ataidar and take place at the Royal Palace would proceed as scheduled. Sometimes, he stays hidden but sometimes, he comes out and talks with me. He said his name is Nulso Xialin and that he runs a media company in Scholar Town. He’s offered me free photographs, an internship, claimed to be an old research partner of my mother, and asked me about you.”
“That guy is full of it!” Revas spat. “One time, he had the gall to say he could restore her shapeshifting ability!”
“You can’t shapeshift?”
“Not important!” Annala said. “A-an-anyway, he always carries an ordercraft subjugation collar with him and he usually addresses his words to my neck.”
The elfin slaves flashed again in his mind and, this time, they were accompanied by the punk that enslaved them. He had an impenetrable barrier that stopped his staff thrust cold and could negate his spells with a gesture. Internally shaking his head, he stated proudly, “If he’s an ordercrafter, I think I can handle him. I defeated one on my way here.”
A swift change of mode came over Annala and she stared at Eric with new respect. He hadn’t seen such admiration in her eyes since he killed Tahart in her defense.
“Really?! You can defeat – of course you can. Silly me! You’re the Trickster’s Choice! It stands to reason that you’d be able to kill minions of Order!”
As much as he enjoyed it, her gushing caused him greater guilt. When she pulled out her scry, saying she had to call someone and tell them about his accomplishment, he blurted out, “An orc helped!”
She paused.
“There was an orc who dismissed his order shield. I defeated him after that.”
Annala’s excitement dimmed so quickly and so far that Eric felt like trash. She put her scry away like she’d lost faith in him. Her disappointment could be read in every move of her body.
“As I was saying…”
Eric’s heart twisted at her tone.
“Humans cannot defeat ordercrafters because only Chaos itself can defeat them. Thus, I am theoretically better equipped to subdue Mr. Xialin than any member of Roalt’s Finest. They would have to produce chaotic weapons themselves, which no human has ever done outside of legends, or special order them from an elf village. This second option would be the more impressive of the two, considering the expense of the production of such weapons and the extensive red tape in both human and elf governments to prevent them falling into hands that would misuse them, or simply use them at all. My mom is working on resolving these two problems because she believes elves need to get out more so humans won’t think my dad is a typical elf, which is why she suggested study abroad and…”
She stopped and hugged herself.
“I’m rambling, sorry.”
“Don’t be. Although I might not be able to defeat him, I’m confident in my ability to escape him under cover of darkness.”
Without a word, he vanished beneath a Dark Veil.
“I guess that would be useful for evasion, unless he used Interdict to prohibit such casting, but I doubt he has the power or authority to do that on his own. In any case, it would be a useful set-up.”
She reached into a pocket and pulled out a charm shaped like a quiver. She said the words “heavenly change” and it became a full-sized quiver filled with arrows. She pulled out a second charm shaped like a bow. She said the words “heavenly change” and it transformed into a full-sized longbow. It was gleaming white from end to end, with golden runes engraved on its surface and wrapped along its length.
“This is a Death Killer bow. It works as a function of channeled life energy infused with chaotic energy; the first is in opposition to death anti-energy and the second is the primordial energy of which the universe is made and can be destroyed. The filigree work as compressors for the instant rune algorithms that control the energy flow when the string is pulled. Said algorithms are braced by information slots that can be filled and cleared as needed based on the enemy involved and, in doing so, bypass a number of defenses that could otherwise allow the target to negate the arrow's force or otherwise hinder its trajectory. I created it to destroy reapers and so it should prove effective against a mere divinely enhanced human.”
“Eric, translate!” Revas demanded. “She's explained five times and I still don't get it.”
“It uses special energy to attack its weak point.”
“Ooohhhh...”
Annala wrinkled her nose. “‘Special energy' is a gross over-simplification but correct.” She cleared her throat. “Revas, Oito, as you can see, I have this situation under control, so you can go to the chem lab. I bet Norej has set a welcome prank for you by now.”
“That two-faced jerk! I’ll get him for that!”
Revas ran out the door with Oito quickly following.
Annala giggled. “Shall we go?”
Eric placed his hand over his heart and bowed his head. “Rest assured, Lady Annala. This mercenary will escort you safely home.”
She giggled again. “I’ll withhold your pay if you don’t.”
They left the school side by side and mingled with the other couples. The fact that they were together was a bigger topic of discussion than the fact that they had weapons out. Eric kept his staff
ready and Annala kept her bow in hand.
There was no trouble for several blocks, not even traffic. Crowds parted when they saw The Trickster's Choice guarding a female elf. This picture joined the others on the Internet and a couple Chaosians declared it an omen and threw up their arms in prayer. All the attention made Annala uncomfortable so Eric sought to divert it to himself. Holding his staff high with one hand, he demanded peaches and noble titles for his service in escorting the priestess of Lady Chaos, Golden Cicada! This made Annala smile and she paused her scry conversation to add something.
“For the record,” she said to the crowds, “I am not seeking any scriptures on chaotic enlightenment.” Then to the person on the phone, she continued, “That's your job, Auntie H...”
When they were five blocks away from the school and seven from Annala's apartment, the trouble began. Eric felt it as a wave of intense spiritual power. It made his hair stand on end and opened the pores in his skin. He never felt something this powerful; not from Basilard, a veteran mercenary, and not from Dengel, a legendary elfin mage. He gulped and held his staff in a defensive posture. After two more blocks, they found him. Nulso Xialin stood between them and their destination.
He was a middle-aged human man, but his sickly pale skin made him look undead. He wore his platinum blonde hair in a low ponytail and it draped around his neck like a collar. The irises of his eyes were pure silver grey, and the eyes themselves were sharp and focused on his elfin prey. He stood a good foot taller than she. His clothes looked stiff enough to serve as armor and an old-fashioned camera rested on top of his coat. He was further protected by a bubble of eldritch light encompassing his body and soul. It made Eric’s skin crawl. Annala cowered behind him.
“You can't hide from me, Golden Hair. Today, I will solve your mana mutation problems.”
“Her only problem is you,” Eric declared.
“Don’t you know? Elfin shapeshifting is a controlled mana mutation and she can’t do it. She hides from this problem like she’s hiding from me.”
Annala stepped out from behind Eric and notched an arrow. It pointed at the ground, not at Nulso. Nevertheless, the bow glowed as it powered up and a magic circle appeared beneath her feet. Eric recognized only a handful of the runes, and they were “bypass defenses,” “empower,” and “kill.”
At once, the street cleared as civilians moved into buildings and off the street. Nearby stores closed and homes locked. All of them knew that a fight between an elf, the Trickster's Choice, and an ordercrafter was bound to be destructive. Others watched from windows and balconies. They knew that such a battle was bound to be entertaining. The only business still open was a popcorn vendor.
“Who’s hiding? Leave me in peace!”
Nulso spread his hands in an open gesture. “Your arrow can’t hurt me. Come with me and I can help you. Otherwise, something bad will happen to your mortal friend.”
Annala smirked. “Thank you for threatening him. Ataidar has very good self-defense laws.”
She released the arrow and it pierced Nulso’s bubble like a shroud. It lodged in his chest and discharged its payload of magic power into his body. While he didn’t shout, it was clear he was in great pain from the grimace he made.
“Cute and Intelligent Elf Girl: 1. Lame Order Drone: 0.”
Nulso removed the arrow, reformatted it for Order’s power, and placed it in his pocket.
“You are arrogant and complacent. I don't need Order's power to put you in your place.”
Nulso's spirit pillar grew as high as a building and his spiritual power radiated a full square block. By proximity alone, he made bystanders faint. Eric was forced to lean on his staff. The intensity of his power was unlike anything he’d ever felt. It was more than oppressive; it demanded submission and pushed his head down. Nulso did all this without moving. His first offensive gesture was to withdraw a metal collar attached to a three-foot-long steel cable leash.
“Over my dead body! Those who are empowered by Order the First Born are feeble before Lady Chaos the Matriarch. In her name, bow down!”
Nulso blinked and then laughed. “You have no authority to use those words. You are a pitiful mage if you do not understand that.”
Summoning his own spiritual power, Eric raised his head and unleashed the full force of his Evil Eye. All the pain, suffering, and sorrow he had gathered over his entire life, he flung at Nulso. It was returned ten-fold.
Nulso’s Evil Eye was like being flash frozen from the inside out. The only difference was the absence of eventual numbness. Eric felt only the burning pain of tissue damage. Nulso's spiritual power was all around him; crushing him, squeezing him. Out of his mind with terror, he fainted.
“Foolish child. Your suffering and hatred are nothing compared to mine.”
Opening his mouth, Nulso took a deep breath and blue energy left the body of everyone unconscious. It streamed down his throat. He caught another arrow that bypassed his barrier and held it still while he swallowed the stolen energy. He briefly glowed blue while his hand burned and sizzled with golden-brown smoke.
“Even if my barrier can’t stop the arrows, it can slow them down enough for me to catch them.”
He stepped forward and runes on the collar shone dimly. Annala jumped away from him, grabbed another arrow, and notched it by the time her feet touched the ground. A magic circle appeared beneath her feet, the arrow charged, and she shouted,
“Those touched by chaos will never falter! Their sword shall pierce any shield and their will shall burst all restraints! They shall be free all the days of their lives!”
The arrow flew towards Nulso like an amber missile. It bypassed his barrier and headed straight for his forehead. Then he caught it. Just like the previous arrow, he caught it without difficulty.
“Wh-wha...”
“Just as a mage requires magic theory to support his spells, so is faith needed for prayers.” Between his fingers, he snapped the arrow in two. “Your arrow cannot hurt me, oh ye of little faith.”
“I have plenty of faith!” Annala shouted. “Lady Chaos –”
“Apostate!”
The word struck her like a physical blow and stole the strength from her legs. She fell backwards, her bow clattering on the ground, and repeated, “I’m not. I’m not.” Over and over again.
“Your scripture doesn’t work against me. Allow a true believer to show you how it’s done.”
He pushed both fists before his chest and closed his eyes. His aura flared and he began to speak. “No soul escapes the All-seeing Eye. No power exists beyond the All-controlling Hand. Resistance is forlorn.”
The aura retracted and fit around him like ghostly armor. He opened his eyes and stared with solid grey eyes.
Adrenaline pumping, Annala fired a fourth arrow. Nulso’s Armor of Stability deflected it and he stepped forward. Annala fired a fifth time and Nulso didn’t break stride as his ethereal armor deflected it. By the sixth arrow, he was close enough to grab her bow. With an effortless yank, he threw it away.
Panting with fear, Annala drew a dagger and stabbed him, but he caught that too. Then he grabbed the wrist holding it. Twisting her arm behind her back, he joined the other hand to it and held them both with one of his own. Annala squirmed and kicked while he drew the first arrow of the battle out of his pocket and twisted it around her wrists like handcuffs.
He whispered in her ear, “Be glad. Your suffering will lead to a cure for mana mutation.”
“My family will save me!”
Nulso placed the collar around her neck. “Your family isn’t here.”
A blue mana bolt exploded against his head, knocking him clear away from Annala and into a building on the other side of the street.
A human woman stepped out of the shadows. She wore a white cloak over a stained darker colored tunic and pants. Her long, pale blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail, thus putting her mad eyes on full display. In one hand, she held a rowan staff that affixed a sapphire at one end a
nd an emerald at the other. Her second hand brought a listening crystal to her mouth.
“Memo to myself. In the future, reserve extensive experiments for when my niece is not being stalked. End memo.”
“Auntie H!” Annala ran into her arms. “You cut it biologically close.”
Hasina smiled and hugged her. “Sorry, my little guinea pig. Pemas insisted that I close up my work before leaving.”
Annala tilted her head. “You were operating on a patient?”
Hasina continued smiling. “Sure, let’s call it that.”
“Well if it isn't my partner in science, Ginger Hasina!” Nulso bellowed. “I wasn't expecting you to drop by and interfere.”
“Good afternoon, Harry Butchin,” Hasina said in reply. “My niece called and said you volunteered for my next experiment.”
Nulso looked down at the elf with stern disapproval. Annala scurried behind Hasina.
“Harry Butchin is dead. My name is Nulso Xialin. As for your ‘niece,’ good girls shouldn't tell lies. After I defeat 'Auntie H,' I will make sure she never lies again.”
Hasina pounded her fists. “Now who's lying?”
Nulso expanded his spirit pillar a second time, but Hasina was not affected. As a captain level mage in the Dragon's Lair, she possessed far greater fortitude than a novice like Eric. Unlike Annala, she also possessed a genuinely pious soul. She walked straight up to him and socked him in the gut. He bent over from the impact and then she kneed his chin. This made him fall over backward.
“You may work for Order now, but you’re still a wimp.”
He stood up and scowled. “You’re still a brute. Working for Chaos is why you have more lawsuits than patents.”
Hasina scowled in return. “You abandoned our work and I kept it alive despite the cost.”
Shapes slithered out of Nulso’s aura and took the form of miniature people. They put on a show of a crowd chasing someone away from a building. Hasina’s jaw tightened while Nulso grinned sadly.
“If you had come with me, then you would see how misguided you are. The true path to curing mana mutation is not more mana mutation. Why can’t you see reason?”
“It must be the glare coming off your orderly cage.”
Looming Shadow: Journey to Chaos book 2 Page 9
