In that moment, with the grey blanket concentrated along the ground and the surrounding fog thinning, Mareen saw her real enemies in the distance.
A woman held a bow, another held a staff, and two other women stood behind them. Of the two women standing in the rear, one was Areva. She wore blue and white, her hair dyed in pink stripes. The other was Terran and looked Asian. Her robe was dark and beautiful, with intricate needlework up the sides.
Mareen heard two dings in her head. Text began scrolling over her left eye:
Do’Birnwi Mo Ghinsja, Exile Born Areva, Berban
Dolos Orb, Specialist Type, Generation 1
Third Rank
and
“Death Witch” Liangyu, Terran, Chinese
Dolos Orb, Specialist Type, Generation 1
Fourth Rank
“Oh no,” whispered Mareen.
Brilliance
Checkmate, thought Liangyu. She watched in satisfaction as all her enemies were brought down by the grasping fog hands, pinned to the ground, and rendered helpless. The darker-skinned woman in wood armor struggled mightily, but even her obviously enhanced strength couldn’t break the bonds that held her.
“Good job, Ghinsja,” praised Liangyu. The other woman nodded, her brow furrowed in concentration, trying to hide her beaming at the compliment. Liangyu grinned inwardly. Her subordinates were easy to manipulate.
The Death Witch was in a great mood. She was about to be objectively wealthy. She would be able to save her descendants from drudgery, make them safe, and disappear into the mists of the future. Liangyu pointed at the dark man on the ground, the pervert wearing strange clothing. “Kill that one first,” she ordered Raquel.
“Understood,” the homely merc responded. She held out a hand and a ball of fire appeared on her palm, spinning while growing brighter.
Raquel released her fire magic and the bolt of energy struck the dark man in the leg. Each enemy had a fog hand over their mouths, preventing them from crying out, but Liangyu could hear the pervert scream past it. “What are you doing?” she demanded. “I said to kill him.”
“Yes, but this group cost me some of my people. Don’t you think we should make them suffer a bit?” Raquel’s expression was neutral, but Liangyu could see the spite burning in her eyes as she began forming another fire attack.
Liangyu wondered if she should let the mercenary leader have her way. On the other hand, insubordination just created more insubordination. She was opening her mouth, about to answer, when the red-haired woman’s head abruptly flew off. A heavy spray of blood arced through the air and splashed Liangyu across the face. The huge bronze circle blade that had decapitated the mercenary leader flew past the body into the distance.
She was so shocked, it took Liangyu a moment to process what was happening. An Asian man, the enemy Ghinsja had identified as probably being orb-Bonded, had appeared out of the fog at a dead run. He had the well-dressed Mo’hali boy at his heels. The man snarled and spun around. “Bezzi-ibbi!” he shouted. “Help the others!”
The Asian man with the goatee turned and Liangyu felt the gaze of impending death. After spending centuries molding and controlling the antithesis of life, she recognized when it touched her. She was truly about to die.
She didn’t want to attack directly, but she didn’t have a choice. Everything was happening too fast and her three remaining thralls were still behind her. Even if they had been closer, she didn’t trust them to keep her safe from this man.
She exhaled, the breath carrying much of her power with it. Her body immediately grew weak. The cost was great, but her breath formed a dark cloud like living smoke, shooting towards the muscular Asian man and melting into his chest. He fell to his knees with an anguished grunt, glaring at her, struggling to move. The dark magic Liangyu had just cast began immediately bleeding into his eyes.
“Matilda, use the artifact weapon! Now! Ghinsja, keep the rest of them pinned!” she yelled, her energy fading so fast the volume of her voice noticeably dropped.
Everything was going to hell! She had to stay strong, but she was feeling woozy. The direct magic attack had taken its toll. With iron resolve, Liangyu gritted her teeth and focused on maintaining consciousness.
Her attack would definitely kill the man, but not right away, not if he was orb-Bonded. She needed him gone before he could do any more damage.
* * *
Bezzi-ibbi ran forward, skidding to a stop next to Thirsty and using a cloth to smother the flames on his friend’s pants leg. The Jaguar Clan boy growled when he heard Henry cry out, but didn’t look back. He needed to focus.
When the fog hands from the ground latched on to him with an iron grip, he released his Hero power, pushing it outward. He flexed his brain and extended his ability to Mareen’s location, too. The invisible bubble he created was enough to suppress Thirsty and Mareen’s power, but he merely focused on dissipating the fog. He hoped his intent would allow his friends to regain their power sooner, but either way, now at least they were safe from the grasping grey hands.
Mareen gasped and thrashed, undoing the releases on her armor and climbing to her knees. She yelled, “Henry! The Areva in the grey dress with the veil, Do Bir Mo Ghinsja or whatever. She’s the one controlling the fog! The one with pink streaks in her hair!”
Bezzi-ibbi turned in time to see Henry cry out and lift a shaking arm. He wheezed as he aimed his exogun at Do’Birnwi Mo Ghinsja, the Areva orb-Bonded woman. A couple of the enemies began to shout, but before they could move, there was a sharp, hypersonic crack of Henry firing his last remaining bullet. The Areva woman fell back, a look of shock plastered across the half of her face that still remained.
* * *
“Matilda, use the weapon!” Liangyu’s screamed as loud as she could, her eyes wild.
Ghinsja was dead. She was really dead. It was unreal.
Everything was ruined. Liangyu wasn’t even sure if she’d be able to escape alive. Staying awake was taking most of her concentration, but she’d be damned if she didn’t make the man that had killed her people pay. He was going to die anyway, but she wanted to watch his existence come to an end, even if it was her last act on Ludus.
* * *
When the fog began to lift, Aodh had shakily gotten to his feet. Time seemed to stand still for him when he saw Henry on his knees, obviously in great pain. Two enemies were still standing. The orb-Bonded woman—the text that scrolled over his left eye named her Liangyu—was swaying on her feet. She had a group of three large undead creatures behind her, but they weren’t moving. However, the other woman had a huge, boxy contraption on her shoulder and she was manipulating levers on it in a near-panic. It had an opening that was pointed directly at Henry.
In that moment, Aodh’s mind grew still and calm. He had no more worries, no doubts. He knew what he had to do. Henry was his friend and an important man. Aodh didn’t matter. He was just a weak fire mage from a farming community nobody had ever heard of.
Aodh got up despite his fatigue and bruises, then sprinted forward as fast as he could. His determination was so great, he didn’t even feel the familiar flash of fear as the bronze grenades on his belt jostled against each other.
He slid in front of Henry right before the blonde woman’s unfamiliar weapon began to glow. Aodh stood between his friend and destruction, his arms spread wide. He had found his certainty. He could not stand by and passively watch the people he cared about get hurt. He might be a coward, but he’d protect those important to him with his last breath, with his life if necessary.
As the light enveloped him, Aodh felt at peace with his decision. He might be a coward, but now he knew he wouldn’t live a life full of regret. With the burst of light came pain, pain that seemed to last an eternity in the space of a split second.
Aodh still felt no regrets as the brilliance took him.
* * *
Uluula got to her feet and moved as fast as she could, but the fog hands had wrenched her limbs around savagely while s
he’d been held down. She was sore in places she wasn’t even aware she could be sore in. She tried to join the fight again as quickly as she could, but she’d been too late.
She’d seen when one of the two remaining enemy women lifted some kind of boxy contraption to her shoulder, and she’d watched in horror as it fired a beam that passed through Aodh and hit Henry. Two unearthly shrieks shattered the scene—Mareen and Vitaliya’s raw, vocal emotion overlaid each other, seeming to make the air vibrate.
Uluula felt her heart drop. The horrible tableau seemed to freeze until, a heartbeat later, Aodh and Henry disappeared. Not a trace of them remained.
She snarled, and before she knew it, despite her aching body, she was rocketing over the ground, her blazing halberd leaving a fiery tail. She noted the look of surprise on the blonde woman’s face, feeling savage satisfaction as she slammed the blade of her weapon through the woman’s chest. Uluula dimly noted angry tongues of flame flying past her shoulder towards the other woman, but one of the three remaining undead had intervened, soaking up the flames.
Vitaliya screamed incoherently as she threw her magic at Liangyu, the last remaining enemy. The Death Witch. The undead creature blocking all the attacks looked like a giant birdman with huge claws where its fingers should have been. Its dead eyes showed no intellect, but it held out a hand, generating a shield that stopped all of Vitaliya’s attacks.
A huge spear of ice slammed into the barrier a moment later, Gonzo having recovered. Uluula wrenched her halberd out of the body of the blonde woman she’d just killed and turned in time to see Mareen throwing herself at the undead thing, tears streaming down her face. Her hammer hit with such force, the barrier shattered and she pulped half the bird creature’s body in one swing.
Another undead monster stepped forward and backhanded Mareen. Her body flew across the ground to land in a sobbing heap.
Uluula felt anger rising to give company to her shame. She’d allowed Jason’s best friend to be killed. How could she even look him in the eye again? However, she’d just watched her own best friend get attacked. Mareen could have been killed or crippled.
Uluula hissed and began stalking toward the dazed, orb-Bonded woman, Liangyu. The white-haired Areva woman was furious. She and her friends hadn’t even chosen this fight! These hravam had attacked them first!
Lost in murderous thoughts, Uluula was shocked when she ran face first into an invisible shield. She blinked in surprise and confusion. Then she heard a voice that somehow chilled her soul. The voice stated, “That’s enough of that. Go no further.” Uluula felt her heart sink when Keeja and another woman descended from the sky.
Keeja looked distinctly unhappy, but the other woman, a dark Areva in a robe far too large for her, was grinning nastily.
* * *
Thirsty felt numb as she watched the two women slowly drift down to stand on the ground. Keeja alighted near Vitaliya, but the unfamiliar, dark Areva woman stood between Uluula and Liangyu. Thirsty heard a distant pop; the sound was familiar, but she dismissed it. Her eyes were transfixed on the new arrival. For some reason, she felt terrible dread.
Vitaliya sobbed and threw another stream of fire, but the new woman lazily waved her hand and the fire vanished. She tugged the neck of her oversized robe down, revealing a gold necklace like Keeja’s. Even Thirsty knew what that meant.
The woman said, “Unfortunately, I cannot hold that attack against you since I had not announced myself yet. I am Biivan, High Priestess of Dolos. Please attack me again.” She smiled.
Keeja growled, “I protest this, Biivan. We are not supposed to use our free actions like this. You are meddling in the affairs of orb-Bonded.”
“I can do whatever I want within the rules. I am a High Priestess! For one of your supposed power, you act too timid for your station.”
Keeja snarled, “Yes, I know your stance. I just had to spend this entire battle observing in the air with you, per our code, but I know your reputation. I would have accompanied you anyway to ensure you wouldn’t bend the rules—exactly as you are now.”
Biivan smirked. “My reputation? Is it because I experiment on children? Who cares? They are only mortals. How is my indulgence in my studies any different than giving orbs to mortals of different worlds on Ludus? How is it any different than supplying the Mo’hali with rings so they can kill themselves? How is it any different than those experiments you did a couple hundred years ago?”
“The difference,” Keeja snarled, “is that you offer no choice. You just take, you do as you please. You act like you are a god.”
“Am I not a god, at least to these small creatures?” Biivan gestured toward the Delvers. “You are a High Priestess. You should have more pride.”
Thirsty sucked in a breath when she noticed Uluula take a step forward. The pale Areva woman set her shoulders and calmly said, “Please move. I have business with the orb-Bonded woman behind you.”
“Oh, I don’t think so, little toy. In fact, white hair? Are you of the Blue? Some things never change in the Quadrant, do they?” Biivan laughed. The sound was dark, ominous, and made Thirsty feel dirty. “No, I think I will stay right here and intervene until Liangyu is ready to move again. I have to salvage this disaster somehow, even if it means only saving my mortal business partner. We have an understanding. It’s hard to find tools with the…malleable morality necessary to pursue my research.”
Thirsty glanced around and was disheartened by the state of the team. Gonzo was barely conscious. Mareen was hugging herself and sobbing so deeply that she produced vibrations more than sound. Vitaliya was dazed, probably from overexerting her power. The red-haired woman’s eyes were dull, almost lifeless, but her tears fell to the ground in a steady rain of despair.
Thirsty wanted to help, but she was down to a single enchanted bracelet left. Without her magic, she was just a fierce bitch with great fashion sense. Unfortunately, none of that would be of much use against a High Priestess. She couldn’t even attack with words. If she tried to read this new, evil wannabe munchkin Biivan bitch, it’d probably just get her killed for no reason.
She glanced at Keeja, hoping the other High Priestess would do something, but the demigoddess just stood there with her hands on her hips, a look of open disgust on her face.
Uluula seemed to read Thirsty’s mind. She asked, “Keeja, a little help? We need to at least find out where Henry and Aodh went. If I have to, I’m going to cut that Liangyu woman’s fingers off until she tells us what we want to know.”
Thirsty swallowed. The way Uluula spoke made it clear she had been entirely serious.
Biivan snorted, the sound ugly and condescending. “Keeja, you let these tiny beings talk to you like this? And you keep company with mortals stupid enough to even suggest torturing the Death Witch?” The creepy High Priestess laughed for a while, holding her sides, but suddenly stopped, growing still. She glared glaring at Uluula and in a different tone she hissed, “Perhaps I should dissect you while you’re living? You dare even hold a weapon in my presence?”
“Keeja,” Thirsty wailed, “help her! Please!” The entire world was falling apart. The wounded drag queen was watching her friends all fall and fail. It couldn’t all be for nothing!
“I’m sorry, my legs are restrained with cable.” Keeja’s sounded miserable. “Biivan is bending the rules, but she’s using a free action like I did when I went to the dungeon with Jason. If you attack her, she has the right to kill you even though you are under my protection.”
“Yes, white-haired child of the Blue, strike me,” Biivan purred at Uluula. “Perhaps I can send you to where the artifact weapon sent your friends—oblivion. Would you like to follow them?”
Behind the evil High Priestess, Liangyu swayed, one of her zombie creatures holding her upright. Thirsty thought she heard the Death Witch whisper something.
Uluula gripped her weapon tightly and slowly began moving to an attack stance when a voice rang out that shocked Thirsty to the bone. “Uluula, stop, come
back.”
Thirsty turned her head and felt tears of relief when she saw something entirely unexpected. Jason strode out of the dying mists, his bronze armor covered in condensation. The tall man had his sword in his hand. He was slightly panting, and his expression was set in a snarl.
Thirsty felt a sense of hope chased by a chill. It was great to see Jason after he’d been gone for so long, but the man didn’t have the look of someone who was in control.
Thirsty twisted her last remaining bracelet and sincerely hoped she wouldn’t have to use it.
Silver Eyes
Mourad was alive. In excruciating pain, but alive. She was aware her situation could be a lot worse, and felt grateful for her continued existence. However, since her present was accounted for, now it was time to secure her future.
After fighting with the freakishly strong, dark-skinned woman wielding an enormous hammer, Mourad had forsaken the battle, eventually leaving behind all the sounds entirely. Nobody from her team had checked on her after she’d been knocked into the fog. She knew the lack of loyalty was usually just part of being a mercenary, but it still rankled. Still, she’d hated working for Liangyu, and with everyone distracted, she knew she might be able to make some of her own luck.
She’d been spending the last few days watching carefully for opportunities to exploit, opportunities exactly like the one she currently found herself in. The big, armored woman limped along, nursing her side and cursing softly. The burn she’d suffered hadn’t been too bad, just surprising. Meanwhile, the dark-skinned girl had hurt her badly, and it hadn’t even been a solid blow!
The world wasn’t fair. Even as skilled as Mourad was, against an orb-Bonded opponent, she’d only roughly been on the same level. Maybe she could fix that soon. The warrior woman smiled grimly. She fought through the pain and made her way back to the military outpost that Liangyu had been using as a base.
Mourad wasn’t sure, but she had a strong suspicion that Liangyu hid all the team’s valuables and treasure, probably because she wanted to only wear her sheer, fancy robes to maintain the dark, mysterious look. Mourad snorted. Vanity was for fools.
Delvers LLC: Obligations Incurred Page 24
