by Edwin McRae
As Mark’s mind raced, searching for his next best move, Karina calmly set down her bucket and raised a hand. The surrounding tent flaps opened and vomited reivers. Archers loosed arrows that bounced off Mark’s obsidian armor. Men-at-arms charged at him, their gauntleted hands gripping large shields, their heavy armor rattling and clanking with every hurried step.
“Mark!” Citadel’s voice was shrill with panic, the ruby on the amulet flaring brightly. “I couldn’t feel them. I didn’t know they were-”
Mark ignored him as he closed the last few meters to Arix and brought Volcanic Bastard sweeping around in what he hoped to be a leg-severing arc. If he could cut the bastard’s legs out from under him, there was still a hope that Mark could scoop Vari up and outrun the reivers. But the executioner was ready for him. He shifted Vari to his arms and performed a graceful front aerial over Mark’s simmering blade.
Before he could recover and strike again, the first reiver hit him with a ring of steel against stone. The shield knocked him sideways, and before he could regain his feet, the man was on top of him, thick arms wrapped around his legs. A woman joined the man, her weight crushed the breath from his lungs as she threw her own body across his. A couple more like these two and Mark would be completely pinned down. Helpless. He had to get clear. “Ethereal Flesh,” he wheezed in desperation.
The sense of burden lifted from him as he melted away from the grasping soldiers and rose up in the air.
EP: 16/144
Mark aimed for his first Lurking Inferno, hoping to draw the reivers into his trap, but his progress was stopped short by a strong gust of wind. He tried to move again, only to be buffeted backwards. There was another gust behind him, then a third to his right. Mark tried to still the rising panic within him. The soldiers had formed a circle around him, their shields dropped in favor of thick woollen blankets they fanned toward him, his own vaporous form used against him. Such was the turmoil of air movement they created, he couldn’t move upwards either. It was like trying to climb a ladder during an earthquake. He was trapped and he could see that the reivers were going to keep this up for the full twenty minutes of the spell’s duration if they had to.
His only choice now was to take the fight to the reivers. He needed to fight his way over to Vari, free her, and together they’d kill the reivers and make a run for it before Arix resurrected. He was practically out of essence so he wasn’t going to be able to terrify the executioner this time.
As fast as he could will it, Mark solidified and went for his sword. He expected the reivers to shy back, to draw their weapons, but that’s when he realized that none of the soldiers had weapons. Uttering a shrill warcry, a heavily tattooed woman charged at him, arms curved outward in a fashion he knew all too well. He’d watched enough rugby games back home to recognize a tackle when he saw one. He sidestepped into a crouch and sliced the legs out from under her. She went down screaming. He straightened and drove his sword into the chain-clad chest of the next charging reiver, a big man with a wild mane of black hair. The man dropped like a stone and dragged Volcanic Bastard with him. Before Mark could pull his sword free, another reiver tackled him from behind, driving him down onto the man he’d just killed. He thrashed, trying to throw the reiver off, but the soldier was joined by one heavy body after another. Mark roared in frustration and fear, helpless against the crushing weight. An absurd image flitted through his panicked mind, of playtime at primary school when someone shouted “pile up” and Mark had been designated as the ‘lucky’ recipient.
Moments later, Mark felt his booted feet being bound together. The weight was lifted mercifully from his back as his hands were roughly grabbed and tied. A cloth gag was forced into his mouth. Finally he was hauled to his feet and brought face to face with a grinning inquisitor.
“You’re just in time, warlock,” she purred, “to witness something truly glorious.”
Karina clicked her fingers and two men-at-arms took Vari from Arix, flipped her upside and held her between them. Still smiling, Karina knelt down beside Vari’s upside-down face and gently tied her hair into a ponytail so that her dangling, black locks were tidied away.
“For what it’s worth, Mark, I am sorry about this,” offered Arix. The executioner knelt beside Mark and gently removed the Amulet of the Citadel. He held it to admire the workmanship. “This is much prettier than the last one. Like what you’ve done with the sword, Sid.”
“You really are a piece of work, Arix the Damned,” said Citadel with as much venom as he could muster in his voice.
“Honestly, Sid. I wish there was another way.” He slipped the silver chain over his head. “But Mark just has to understand that you’re not like him and me.” He gestured at Vari and the gathered reivers. “None of these fuckers is.” Arix stood and looked down at Mark. “Flesh and blood. Real boys, that’s what we is. None of this Pinnochio shit. We’re players in a game, and she,” he finished, pointing at Vari, “is just one of the fucking pieces. You’ll understand that once she’s gone. It’ll all make sense again once you get the fuck home.”
“All very interesting, demon,” remarked Karina. “Now kindly shut up while I kill this traitorous little bitch.”
Vari’s eyes met Mark’s and he was taken aback by how little fear he saw in those warm, dark orbs. It seemed she had resigned herself to her fate. No whimpering. No begging. She was going out with dignity.
“Vari!” he tried to shout, but the gag turned it into a incomprehensible bellow. The sound of a terrified calf facing the slaughterhouse.
Vari closed her eyes as Karina unsheathed Blood of the Lost and drew its blade across the figurist’s throat.
28
[Vari]
Vari clamped both hands over her mouth to stifle the screams that threatened to burst from her throat. Her nostrils flared as she breathed in and out against the memory of the pain - the hot line of fire across her throat and the hungry darkness that followed.
This is what Mark goes through every time? she wondered. It wasn’t something she ever thought she could grow used to, not like he had. It wasn’t the pain. She’d suffered plenty of that in her life already. She knew how to weather suffering. No, it was the darkness that terrified her. A roiling mass of uncertainty that promised everything and nothing. It was a beshadowed mirror, reflecting her every hope and fear, taunting her with her own imaginings of what happens beyond the predictable boundaries of life.
Her chilling thoughts were mercifully interrupted by a notification.
Congratulations!
You have harnessed the power of Resurrection and respawned from your first death.
Your Personal XP Reward = 150 XP
She stood, did her best to shake off those chilling thoughts and focus on the task at hand. She’d successfully stolen the power of resurrection from Arix. Now she had to hijack the Breaking Dawn from Karina.
After repairing her pentagram, she searched the walls of the tent until she found a peg at the back that was looser than the others. She worked it loose some more, checked that the coast was clear, then slipped out under the canvas.
Vari crept towards the rear of Karina’s marquee as she puzzled over how she was going to get past Arix and free Mark. She figured that her best bet was to retrieve his gear from the inquisitor’s quarters, assuming they’d been stored there with her own cloak and staff after the warlock’s capture.
Rather than let the situation overwhelm her, Vari focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Perhaps she got a little too focused, because she almost ran headfirst into a urinating reiver as she rounded the next tent. The startled man spun about, almost splashing Vari in the process. Unfortunately for him, he chose to prioritize the tucking away of his privates over drawing his weapon. Vari lunged forward, clasped her hand around the soldier's throat and whispered, “Rend Flesh”. Skin and muscle parted beneath her fingers, only to begin knitting together again as his Vigorous Healing ability took effect. Vari wasn’t about to make the same mistake twi
ce. Had she taken into account the sergeant’s Vigorous Healing ability back at Citadel, Dayna might still be alive. “Rend Flesh,” she repeated, and this time blood gushed over her hand and down the reiver’s armored chest. He sank to his knees, gurgling quietly, his cry of alarm drowned in exsanguination. She gripped him with both hands as he toppled to the ground, softening the impact so that his jingling armor wouldn’t give her away.
You have killed a Level 3 Reiver Man-at-arms.
Your XP Reward = 30 XP
She heard another gurgle behind her and raised her hand to direct Rend Flesh at the fresh reiver target. The reiver was already dead. Bloodied claws lowered the woman’s corpse to the ground as steel-blue eyes regarded Vari with wary curiosity.
Level 6 Wardog
Aka Captain Maribella of Credence
The class didn’t mean anything to her. Neither did the name. But Vari would have recognized those blue eyes anywhere. She’d seen them glaring over Dayna’s shoulder as their owner drove a dagger into the ranger’s brain. Now Vari knew how that must have felt and her stomach clenched at the thought of Dayna’s experience after that, of plunging into the vortex of the unknown.
She felt her lips curl into a snarl. The wardog recognized where this was going and raised both of her claws.
“Now isn’t the time,” she whispered. “Your warlock and I, we’re together in this.”
Not only was she a murderess, she was a turncoat too. Then again, Vari knew what the inquisitors were, what it was like to suffer under their yoke. She couldn’t exactly blame the woman for that. But she didn’t need to trust her either.
“Does he know who you are?”
The wardog shook her head.
Vari frowned and pointed at the marquee. “Get us into that tent. We need our gear, and whatever alchemy Karina has been cooking up.”
The wardog glanced over at the marquee and turned back briefly to smile before striking out. Two Level 4 reiver archers guarded the back of the marquee. Vari’s Rend Flesh wasn’t enough to kill them, not from a distance, but she managed to drown their cries in blood as the wardog finished them off in silence.
You have killed two Level 4 Reiver Archers.
Your XP reward per party member = 40 XP
Please note: Your party currently consists of two members.
After yanking out a few tent pegs, they were inside the marquee. Out front, Vari could hear Karina as she conducted the Breaking Dawn ceremony, reading out lilting words that hadn’t been spoken in centuries.
Vari donned her cloak and leaned her staff against the workbench as she perused the inquisitor’s stock of potions. There were some nasty biomancy concoctions that she didn’t recognize, and wanted nothing to do with. She had no wish to become another of Karina’s monstrosities, not like the wardog behind her. Nor did she want to unleash some horrendous malaise either. She unclipped the clasp on a small wooden box and gave a sigh of satisfaction at the twinkling vials within. Essence potions.
“What’s your EP like?” she whispered at the wardog.
“Fuck all left.” Vari tossed her one of the vials and motioned for her to drink it.
Maribella downed the brew in one gulp and then grinned through a predator’s teeth.
Vari ignored her as she sipped at her own essence potion and felt her insides tingle with the replenishment. She was just tucking a couple more potions into her belt when a voice interrupted her.
“Now here’s a couple of freaky ladies. A werewolf and a zombie. This is turning into an episode of Buffy the-”
Vari didn’t care what Arix thought about anything. “Rend Flesh!” she shouted, focusing on his throat.
He winced and slapped his hand to his neck. “Ow!” he whined. But when he lowered his hand there was no blood, just a long and ugly bruise stretching across his skin.
Too much HP and too many defensive buffs for her to make much of an impression on him. She looked to the murderess for help but the wardog was already on the move, lunging at Arix with teeth bared and claws outstretched. She was fast. The executioner was faster. He dropped, rolled, and headed straight for Vari. She didn’t have time to think before she found herself flying into Karina’s workbench. Pain seared across her back as her ribs cracked against the bench’s edge.
“Blinding Malaise,” she wheezed from the floor.
A milky film spread over Arix’s eyes. “Fucking hell!” he growled and began to swing his axe back and forth, establishing a defensive perimeter. The wardog crouched and watched with deadly intent, waiting for her moment to strike. That moment came at the end of an axe swing, while his hands were still being dragged away by the momentum of the follow through. She dove at him before he could correct his weight, dug her claws into his leather armor and dragged him down to the ground.
“Hey!” came a shout from the door flap. Sergeant Gunder stood there, mace in one hand, heavy shield in the other.
“Sculpt Bone!” she hissed and was rewarded with a loud crack as the big man’s tibia snapped. He went down with a roar of pain. Now she had to do something about her own fractured bones. “Sculpt Bone, Mend Flesh,” she muttered in quick succession. Pain shot through her side has her ribs realigned and fused back together. Then the warmth of healing followed, melting the agony away.
Vari stood, took up her staff and gave the groaning Sergeant Gunder a once over with Physik Perception. He had Vigorous Healing at Tier 3 and would be back on his feet in a few minutes if she didn’t do something about it.
She looked to the melee that was raging between the executioner and the wardog, and momentarily considered using Sculpt Bone to break one of Arix’s legs, to give Maribella an advantage. Although the wardog had received a number of deep gashes from Arix’s axe, they were healing up fast, even more rapidly than Vigorous Healing would enable. This was Karina’s biomancy at play.
Before Vari could act, the executioner gave a growl of frustration, flung his axe behind him and raised his silver gauntlets.
“Righteous Fury!” he roared. “Time to eat silver, bitch!”
His body was bathed in a steel-blue aura as he moved in on Maribella, fists lashing out with blinding speed. The wardog ducked under the first couple of jabs but was then caught by a right hook that sent her sprawling. Smoke puffed from singed fur where the silver knuckles had connected with her cheek.
“Justice Prevails,” purred the executioner through his triumphant sneer. Once again his body glowed with steel-blue light and Vari watched in quiet horror as three separate claw wounds healed away to nothing.
It seemed the wardog wasn’t going to be able to take the executioner alone, and Vari knew she wouldn’t last two seconds with Arix once Maribella went down. They needed Mark, right now.
She looked down at the reiver sergeant and sighed with frustration. He was hiding behind his shield now. She wasn’t going to be able to finish him off with her staff and he had too many hit points to bother with Rend Flesh. She broke his other leg with a Sculpt Bone and then cast Blinding Malaise on Arix again, if only to slow down his assault on the wardog.
“Fuck! You are so motherfucking annoying, Vari! When I’m finished taming this mutt, I’m going to chop you into doggie treats! Then I’m going to-” The rest of his words were cut short by the claws that raked across his face and split his lip open. With a feral howl, he lunged for Maribella and drove her to the ground. Even without his eyes, he seemed to be able to sense his opponent’s position and strike back accordingly.
Your Sculpt Bone spell has reached Tier 5.
Your Blinding Malaise spell has reached Tier 2.
Vari waved the notifications aside, drank down another essence potion, gathered Mark’s gear from where it lay in the corner, and got out of there before the executioner made good on his threats. She stepped outside and was greeted with the sight of her own blood being tipped over a set of sun-kissed altars. Her welcome was made even warmer by two reiver archers, bowstrings drawn and arrows nocked.
She closed her eyes a
nd shouted, “Illuminate!”, willing her Ring of Radiance to flash at maximum power. She opened her eyes again when she heard the yelps of pain and heard the arrows swish past her, missing her by a hair’s breadth. Two Sculpt Bones later and the archers were flat on their backs, clutching at their sundered legs.
You have neutralized two Level 4 Archers.
Your XP reward per party member = 40 XP
Karina turned and fixed her with a baleful glare even while she continued to chant the words of the Breaking Dawn. The altars were glowing now, brighter than the sun that touched them. Vari looked from Karina to Mark. He stood bound to a post with a gag wrapped around his mouth, his face a mess of blood and bruises. Vari longed to heal him, to ease his pain and enfold him in her arms. But first she needed to halt the ritual.
Vari knew she wouldn’t be able to touch Karina with her spells. The inquisitors trained figurists. Karina would have a natural resistance to anything Vari could throw at her. So she did the only thing left to her. She threw down Mark’s gear and jumped onto the closest altar. She raised her staff high, stepped off the altar, and brought her weapon down onto the inquisitor with the full weight of her descent. With a shriek, Karina raised one arm to block the staff while the other went for the sacrificial dagger on her belt.
Hardwood connected with bone and Vari felt the latter give way. The inquisitor’s forearm snapped like a branch under a woodsman’s axe and her shriek turned to a scream of agonized rage as she drew her dagger and thrust it at Vari. The figurist didn’t bother to dodge. Physik Perception told her that the blade would pierce her just to the right of her belly button and cut a hole in her lower intestine. It would be painful but not final. She stood her ground and drove her staff into the woman’s face. Through the pain that swept across her belly, Vari heard a satisfying crunch as Karina’s jawbone cracked.
