by CM Raymond
Gormer walked in just as Aysa took a deep breath and loosened the straps that held the device to the stub of her arm. He gasped, ran into the bulkhead, and dropped the bundle he carried.
Aysa drew back her truncated arm and her face flushed as she stared into Gormer’s glowing white eyes. “As soon as I let my guard down you sneak into my head!”
Aysa had no way of knowing how rare it was for Gormer to be so sincerely apologetic. “I’m sorry,” he stammered. “I can’t help it sometimes. My abilities...they’re growing and...kind of new. When something is that strong… I saw how you lost your arm. I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not asking you to be sorry for me, you sonofa—”
Vinnie stepped between them. “We’re all friends here,” he soothed. “My friend Gormer here can be a right good thorn in the arse, but he is a man of honor.” Gormer shook his head and stared. “I’ll likely never say that again,” Vinnie added, with a wink in Gormer’s direction. “He did not mean to violate your privacy.”
Aysa sat down and rested her arm on the table. “I’m sorry,” she muttered, unable to meet anyone’s eyes. “I don’t often remember that day so clearly—the day I cut off my own arm to escape.”
“How old were you?” Vinnie asked gently.
“Eight,” Aysa answered after a pause.
Gormer cleared his throat. “I was three when the remnant killed my whole family in front of me. We share something similar in our past. I bet that’s what I was sensing.”
Aysa smiled. “Sorry I yelled at you.”
“Ah,” Gormer patted her on the back, “I’m used to it. I kind of invite that sort of thing.”
He picked up the satchel and walked away whistling.
Chapter Fifteen
Julianne and her friends raced along the road. “We’re nearing the Witchpost!” She called. She slowed her horse and headed for the marker.
The Witchpost, a twisted pole made of some kind of ancient metal, torn to jagged strips and burnt black, was the marker used to navigate to the sealed portal near Tahn.
The group halted for a moment. Then, with a deep breath, Julianne led the way down the newly-made trail towards the portal.
MASTER?
Bastian’s voice bounced into her mind.
Bastian! What’s going on? We heard that explosion and came flying back, but I couldn’t contact you and—
Knocked… my head. Still a bit groggy.
Bastian’s thoughts grated with a raw kind of pain as he tried to channel magic while injured.
What’s wrong? She knew he wouldn’t be trying to contact her in this state if it wasn’t urgent.
There was an explosion, apparently. Near the portal. His thoughts scrambled and Julianne caught his failed attempt at shielding his memory—taken off guard, he’d jumped in fright then tumbled off a ladder.
So… you weren’t attacked? Julianne sent slyly.
Damnit! Fine. No, it was my own stupid accident. Bastian’s thoughts were infused with embarrassment.
Somehow, that reassured the Master Mystic. How bad is it?
I think my cheekbone is fractured. But Master—there’s more.
Julianne hissed out a worried breath.
Master… Bastian hesitated, his unease coming through clearly. Tahn is surrounded. There are a lot of Skrima, bigger, uglier monsters than we’ve seen so far. We’ve fought them back, and the wall is holding, but we can’t get out.
Julianne forced down her worry and tried to send her words with confidence. We’re on our way, Bastian.
Julianne reigned in her horse.
"What are ya stoppin’ for?" Garrett asked. “I thought we were in a hurry!”
"The only time I’ve ever seen you hurry is towards a bottle of whiskey,” Marcus teased. He quickly sobered when he saw Julianne's face. "What's wrong?"
"Bastian is hurt, Tahn is surrounded, and those beasts are flooding through the portal faster than anyone can stop them," Julianne told them without hesitation. "We’ll ride straight through to Tahn."
"Bastian told you that?" Marcus asked.
Julianne nodded somberly. "He… had a small accident, but he’s ok now."
"Did ya ask him about Bette?" Garrett asked after a moment of silence.
Julianne shook her head. "I'm sorry. As soon as he told me they were surrounded, I cut communications. I can reach out again if you’d like?"
Garrett shook his head. "I'll see the lass soon enough. She don’t need me checkin' up on ‘er."
Hadley reached for Julianne and put his hand on her arm. “Jules, these bastards… they’re like nothing you’ve ever seen. Are you sure we shouldn’t be trying to cut them off at the source?”
“Nothing I’ve ever seen?” Julianne asked. “Hadley… I saw into Hannah’s mind. I know, that sounds crazy, but the bracelets can do more than we realised. I know what we’re facing, I know the stakes.”
Hadley grinned. “Then we ride into the biggest fight we can find?”
Julianne nodded. "If I thought Tahn was holding its own, I would say otherwise. But they're surrounded, and it doesn't sound like that’s going to change anytime soon."
Marcus nodded grimly, and Garrett grumbled in agreement. Julianne's instincts warred. The eerie stillness of the forest itched at her skin, urging her to stay quiet and sneak through the shadows. At the same time, Tahn was in danger. Her friends were in danger.
"Let's go." Heedless of the noise, Julianne kicked her horse into a gallop. The beast was beginning to weary from the hurried journey, but as if it knew the end was in sight, the horse obliged. Behind her, a clatter of hoofbeats erupted as Marcus and Garrett followed.
Hunched over her saddle, staff resting against her leg, Julianne steeled her emotions. She didn't know what lay ahead, or if any of them would live through it. Her eyes glowed, a soft white light obscuring her irises as she embraced her magic.
Bastian, we’re coming, she sent. Julianne expected a response. She did not expect the bombardment of images and sounds that Bastian sent.
Tahn was under attack. Three of the Skrima were taking turns smashing their bony skull carapaces into the protective wall that surrounded the small town.
With each impact, the wall shuddered and bowed a little more. Atop the wall, archers and spear throwers hurtled a volley of weapons toward the monsters, sharp tips clattering against their armored skin.
“The wall is being breached!” Julianne called over her shoulder, kicking her horse to urge it to run even faster.
Trees flew past and the dirt road blurred as they sped toward danger. Julianne clung to her connection with Bastian. Even through her fatigue her blood pumped and her senses snapped, letting her hold the magic easily.
“Bette, NO!” Julianne couldn’t help the cry that escaped as the vision that rode in her mind showed the young rearick woman crouched atop the wall. Her muscles bunched, and she raised her axe, shooting a manic grin at the watching Bastian.
Bette jumped, and as she disappeared from Bastian’s sight, the thunder of hoofbeats passed Juliane’s horse.
“YA’LL NEVER TAKE ME SWEETHEART!” Garrett’s horse plunged past, lathered in sweat as he screamed an unintelligible cry. “I’M COMIN’! I’M COMIN’, ME LOVE!”
Julianne lost her connection with the other mystic and she looked ahead, eyes tearing as the wind tore at her face. Through the salty blur, a line of red marked the horizon.
Tahn.
The horses raced on, bringing the fighters ever closer to battle. When the haze of red solidified into Skrima forms, the horses whinnied and danced. Julianne urged hers on, yelling to cover the sound of the battle ahead.
The horse skidded to a stop, and Julianne lurched over its neck and tumbled to the dirt. “My staff!”
Marcus yanked his horse toward hers, which had reared to paw the air. He leaned down at an impossible angle and snatched her weapon, tossing it to her before he lost his seat and slid to the ground.
Hadley already stood nearby, his own staff gripp
ed in two hands as an excited grin spread over his face. “These fuckers won’t know what hit them.”
Marcus slapped his horse’s rump and sent it into the safety of the forest. “Go!” he barked, and took off at a sprint.
Julianne followed on his heels, her white cloak flapping behind her as she held her long wooden staff aloft. “For Tahn!” she yelled as they entered the battle.
Skrima shoved each other, stumbling as they tried to avoid the fighters at their feet. Marcus slipped past, twisting and turning and plunging his sword into any flesh he saw. Hadley slipped away and Julianne could do no more than trust that the young mystic knew how to fight their enemy better than she did.
Julianne shoved her staff between the feet of a Skrim on two legs and leaned against it, tangling the beast’s legs and sending it sprawling into another.
“Garrett?” she yelled.
“Here!” The voice that answered was not that of the burly rearick, but a woman—Bette.
Julianne ducked a fat tail and scurried toward the voice.
Bette ran past her, then returned at a sprint. Julianne darted out of her way as the rearick leapt and landed on Garrett’s back, then vaulted into the air.
“That’s me lass!” Garrett hollered. “Julianne, git on yer knees.”
“You’re not jumping off me,” Julianne snapped. She sprung away from a fat leathery foot and rolled because it was followed by an even fatter skull. She smacked it with her staff, but she missed the unprotected eye socket and her staff clattered away.
“THANKS!” Garrett hollered as he sank his axe behind the Skrim’s ear. The beast reared back, howling in pain.
Clinging to the embedded axe, Garrett swung into the air. With a twist of his wrist the axe dislodged, and he wrapped his legs around the Skrim’s neck and began to hack.
The incensed beast flew into a frenzy, stomping its feet and writhing. A hoof clipped Julianne’s shoulder and she toppled to the ground where another one landed right next to her head.
Julianne started to roll to the side but was jerked to a halt by her pinned braid. A moment later the Skrim moved again, and she was free.
“Have to get out of here,” she gasped. The press of monstrous bodies gave her little room to move.
“The wall! They’ve breached the wall!” The cry sent chills down Julianne’s spine.
The Skrima nearby shuffled, then walked, then ran toward the former barrier. The stampede gained momentum as Julianne watched in horror.
A mighty crash shook the ground as a Skrim fell beside her, sending a cloud of dirt into the air. When it settled, she vaguely noticed Garrett standing over the body, axe and armor soaked in blood and shedding pieces of flesh.
He, too, seemed stunned by the sudden change in circumstances. He panted, hands on knees as he watched the Skrima rush the town.
“Oh, fuck,” he said. “Now we’re well and truly screwed.”
Chapter Sixteen
Vinnie made short work of repairing Aysa’s magitech arm attachment. He used one of the team’s spare charged amphoralds that just happened to fit perfectly into the clever chamber built into the device.
“You’ll be bashing and shocking enemies to death with this in no time,” Vinnie told her when he was done. He sent Aysa away like a child with a new toy.
“Thanks!” Aysa exclaimed brightly and went off to sit with Boone and Gormer in the back of the Badger.
Astrid joined Vinnie at the controls as they rolled through the tunnel.
“Are you getting any more portal signals?” Astrid asked. She tried to read the array of dials within a square of red paint on a console panel. Behind panels of glass, the round dials spun in circles or lazily rolled back and forth, displaying numbers and symbols between two indicator lines etched into the glass.
Vinnie glanced at the instruments and shook his head. “I’m getting next to nothing. That portal must have opened directly in the tunnel. This far underground, my instruments just aren’t picking up anything.”
“Why would a portal open in this tunnel?” She knew the likely answer but wanted to hear Vinnie say it.
“It seems like too much of a coincidence,” Vinnie replied. “But you knew that already. You think someone is watching us. They know we’re coming.”
Astrid sighed and gritted her teeth. “I just wanted confirmation that I’m not paranoid.”
“And I’m glad Boone and Aysa didn’t ask how we came running when they needed us. They were too engrossed in the fight to wonder.”
“Let’s tell them when we know more,” Astrid suggested, glancing back at the others. Boone and Gormer were teaching Aysa how to play cards.
Vinnie thought about that for a moment. “I guess they’ll be as ready as we are if another portal opens. I’ll see it on the dials first.”
“Did you mute that alarm?” Astrid asked.
“Yes,” Vinnie replied. “And all the others.”
“There are others?”
Vinnie chuckled. “You have no idea. You haven’t even heard the emergency whistles yet. Let’s hope you don’t.”
“Hmm.” Astrid pinched her chin. “Bells and whistles. Why does that sound like it should be a thing?”
With all the armor retracted from the windows, the floodlights on the Badger’s roof reflected from the tunnel walls reduced the need for interior lighting. Vinnie had turned most of the inside lights off and dimmed the rest.
“We’ll be in the tunnel for a while,” Vinnie said. “Might as well make yourself comfortable.”
Astrid moved to the middle of the Badger where Aysa sat with her arms folded across her chest and her eyes closed. It took her a few seconds to realize Aysa was trying to mediate.
“It works better if you put your hands on your knees,” Astrid suggested.
“It’s probably not going to work at all right now,” Aysa sighed.
“Are you worried?” Astrid asked.
“Aren’t you?” Aysa fired back.
Astrid nodded her head and her eyes couldn’t help but fall to Aysa’s braid.
“Do you want a battle braid like mine?” Aysa asked.
“What...oh...well…” Astrid trailed off.
“You don’t spend too much time on appearance, do you?”
Astrid balked and felt some color rise in her cheeks.
Aysa covered her mouth when she laughed. “I didn’t mean it like that! I mean, as a Well Knight—”
“Knight of the Wellspring,” Astrid corrected. “But you’re right. My order was more focused on being effective than being pretty.” Astrid shot a glance back to Gormer, then checked Vinnie. They didn't seem to be listening. “But that braid is pretty. I wouldn’t mind one like it. They’ll give me a hard time if they heard me say that.”
“No we won’t,” Vinnie called over his shoulder. “You’re a beautiful woman, my friend. Get the braid.”
“I vote braid,” Gormer chimed in.
Astrid rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders. “I’ve been out voted by my team with excellent hearing. I guess I have to, now.”
“Well, I do mine myself,” Aysa said. “I even built a special tool for it.” She turned her shield-arm over and pulled a small lever. The spring-loaded braiding comb popped out behind the shield. “I’ll show you.”
Astrid used Gormer’s shaving mirror to check out the handiwork. She hadn’t felt this way since she she turned sixteen and got dressed up for the solstice dance.
“I guess we’re pretty and deadly now,” Astrid declared.
“We’ve been in the tunnel for a long time,” Gormer noticed. “When do you think it will end?”
Astrid pointed to a soft yellow glow in the distance and smiled. “Soon.”
The glow of daylight grew ever-brighter as the tunnel angled gradually upward. Soon, Vinnie was able to turn off the magitech lighting. The Badger rolled out of the tunnel and hit the open road again.
At first, Astrid thought the formations on the side of the road were strange rocks. “A
ysa, Boone,” she urged as realization set in. Vinnie pulled back on the levers and brought the Badger to an abrupt halt. “Come up here and take a look at this!”
The road was bordered on both sides by piles of twisted, rusted metal twice as tall as the Badger. But the forms weren’t all skewed chaos. Perfectly round metal cylinders showed up here and there. Some of the hunks of metal were still straight and intact despite being centuries old.
“What is all this?” Aysa asked in breathy wonder.
“The leavings of the New Ancients,” Vinnie declared. “These are the vehicles that once traveled through the tunnel.”
“Let’s go out and look,” Gormer exclaimed like an excited child.
Vinnie shook his head and pointed at a bank of swinging, jerking dials. “We have portal activity here. Lots of it, just a few miles away.”
The road ahead was clear of trees and ancient wreckage as far as they could see. “Hold on,” Vinnie warned. He flicked switches and punched buttons, and the Badger adjusted its suspension for fast travel. Vinnie pushed the steering tillers forward, and the Badger jerked into motion.
The passengers scrambled to grab onto whatever they could to stay upright.
“Shit, Vinnie!” Gormer exclaimed.
“I told you to hang on,” Vinnie repeated with a devious grin as he leaned forward in his chair. The world rushed at them through the windshield as everyone secured themselves in their jump seats. The Badger swayed and dipped as its six tall wheels smoothed out the pocked and pitted road.
“How much energy are you using to go this fast?” Astrid asked.
Vinnie made a quick turn, and the Badger smashed its way through an overgrown path. It barreled through trees as much as three feet around as they hurtled down the mountain.
“Quite a bit,” Vinnie declared flatly.
“You’re not worried about breaking windows anymore?” Gormer asked nervously.
“No,” Vinnie replied. “I’ve proven they’re strong enough.”
“The hard way,” Gormer retorted, flinching as the Badger took down another tree.
