by A F Kay
“That is disgusting,” Hamma said.
“Agreed. It should help with the poison, though.”
Ruwen passed his hand under the open Void Band, and a stack of Minor Swabs dropped out. He handed them to Hamma. The Minor Swabs would reduce bleed damage by one Health point per second for ten seconds. They probably wouldn’t need them since the Rod Spider Webbing had worked, but he wanted to have everything ready just in case. The open Void Band had consumed half his Energy and he closed it.
“How is he?” Ruwen asked.
The Stuffed Centipede of Solace stiffened and then fell off Sift’s face. Hamma picked it up and studied it briefly before setting it back on the ground.
“His Health isn’t dropping as fast, but it won’t change the outcome. This Rod Spider Webbing is impressive. I think his only chance is to remove the bolts along with whatever poison is on them, and then hope the webbing stops the bleeding before he dies.”
Ruwen nodded and bent down to grab one of the bolts.
Hamma pushed him back. “What are you doing?”
“Pulling out the bolt like you said.”
“Not like that, you’ll kill him. I’ll do it. You be ready with the Rod Spider Webbing.”
Ruwen nodded.
Hamma gently put Sift’s head on the ground and moved to kneel opposite Ruwen. She gripped the crossbow bolt with one hand and then snapped the fletching off with the other. Ruwen realized his Strength probably wasn’t high enough to do that. Hamma quickly broke the top of the other two bolts.
Sift looked pale, and all the blood on the street made Ruwen sick. He felt terrible for putting Sift in this position. This was truly all his fault.
“Hey!” Hamma said. “Focus.”
Ruwen looked at Hamma and nodded.
Hamma bit her lip. “Okay, this is what we are going to do. I’m going to push these through his body and out his back. You place a webbing on each side.”
“Got it.”
Ruwen eased Sift up into a sitting position. Hamma took the stack of Minor Swabs and placed them over the splintered end of a crossbow bolt. She took a deep breath and then slammed her palm forward. The bolt slid out of Sift’s back and Hamma grabbed the metal head, removing it.
Ruwen immediately tried to stick a Rod Spider Webbing on the wound, but the hole in Sift’s shirt had disappeared.
“Hurry up!” Hamma said.
Ruwen grabbed Sift’s shirt and pulled up. The cloth separated as it came in contact with the two remaining bolts and then reformed as soon as it passed. Sift’s shirt came off with ease.
Ruwen tossed the shirt to the side and placed the Rod Spider Webbing on the chest and back wounds. The blood trickled out, which worried Ruwen. Sift didn’t have much blood or time left.
Hamma’s eyes widened as she saw Sift’s giant snake tattoo, but she didn’t waste any time. As soon as Ruwen had the webbing applied, she slid the next bolt through Sift’s body.
Sift looked limp, and his lips had turned blue. Ruwen placed two more Rod Spider Webbings on his friend. He had three left.
“I’m not sure about this one,” Hamma said. “It looks like it's directly over his heart.”
“Then pull it out.”
For the first time, Ruwen saw Hamma hesitate. Her face twisted in pain. “I’m pretty sure we’ll kill him if we push the bolt through. But if it is in his heart, pulling it out might kill him, too. I don’t want to kill him.”
Ruwen understood. Hamma didn’t want to have Sift’s death on her conscience. A wrong decision here would seal Sift’s fate. He didn’t want Hamma living with that.
“Hold him for a second,” Ruwen said.
Ruwen placed the Rod Spider Webbing on the ground, grabbed the bolt, and yanked with everything he had. The bolt hadn’t penetrated very far into Sift’s body and came right out. Ruwen’s momentum threw him backward, and he slammed his head on to the road.
A ten flashed across Ruwen’s Health bar, and an instant headache formed. He quickly sat up to see Hamma placing Rod Spider Webbing over Sift’s wound as she laid him back down.
She placed her hands over Sift’s chest and chanted under her breath. A soft blue light surrounded her hands and fell like fog over Sift’s torso. He looked dead, and Ruwen’s gut twisted in misery. He should have tried to stop Sift from coming.
Hamma stayed focused on Sift but spoke to Ruwen. “Your Campfire is great. I can tell the difference in my Mana Regeneration.”
“Is he going to make it?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Hamma said calmly.
“Why are your hands glowing this time? Is it a stronger healing spell?” Ruwen asked hopefully.
“The spells before were combat heals,” Hamma said as the blue fog continued to surround Sift. “They are quick but inefficient. They don’t give off any light because, well, combat. Every archer loves a glowing target.”
“What’s this one? Is it powerful?”
“It’s a channeled heal called Uru’s Breath. Very Mana efficient. I can almost cast it continuously with your Campfire buff.”
“Come on, Sift, you can’t die,” Ruwen whispered.
“Did you notice the tip of the bolt you pulled from his chest?” Hamma asked.
Ruwen looked at the bolt he still held. The metal tip looked bent like it had struck a rock.
“Maybe it hit the road when I fell,” Ruwen said.
Hamma, her eyes locked on Sift, shook her head. “You only hit your head.”
When Sift had taken Ruwen up the side of Blapy and showed him the destruction the Blood Moss had caused, Sift had mentioned how he had used Spirit to strengthen his body. Ruwen hadn’t asked what that meant because he had still been trying to process the Cultivation incident and the immense storm he’d created.
Hamma nodded at the bolts on the ground. “I heard those strike you.”
Three crossbow bolts lay near each other. Their metal tips were bent just like the bolt in Ruwen’s hand. But if he told her the cloak’s shield had saved him, she would just want to know where it came from.
“You have some explaining to do,” Hamma said.
“I know.”
Ruwen rocked back and forth on his knees, praying silently to Uru to save his friend. He felt helpless as Sift teetered on the brink of death.
After a few more seconds, Hamma spoke softly. “I don’t know how much Health he has left because his visible Health pool is a lie, but it has stopped dropping.”
Hope surged in Ruwen.
Sift’s eyes fluttered open, and he looked at the Rod Spider Webbing covering his chest. “You covered me in Bendie poop!”
Chapter 2
Ruwen choked out a laugh as relief flooded him. Before he had the time to say anything, the sound of boots on the road reached him, and a few seconds later four Order Enforcement soldiers ran into view. Ruwen picked up the Stuffed Centipede of Solace and the remaining two pieces of Rod Spider Webbing and placed them in his Void Band.
These soldiers were city patrol, so they wore scale instead of plate armor. Each carried a long sword and a shield with Uru’s blue circle on it. The fighting path under the Order Class didn’t get all the advantages of the pure Fighter Class, but they made up for it with their auras and spells.
As the four soldiers approached, three buffs appeared at the top of Ruwen’s vision, and a debuff flashed under his resource bars. His shoulders relaxed, and some of his anxiety disappeared. He wasn’t that familiar with Order’s auras, so he looked at the buffs.
Shelter: +10 AC, +5% Resilience
Hearty: +2 Health Regeneration per second
Clarity: +1 Mana Regeneration per second
He glanced at the debuff.
Honesty: -10% Persuasion, -10% Disguise
The Honesty aura worried him a little. His Persuasion rating was 6.9 percent, of which 2 percent came from his Deception skill. The aura penalized him and made it 3.1 percent more likely he would tell the truth. And the truth was he knew who’d attacked him and why his Fade
ability hadn’t worked.
When he’d used Magnify, he’d seen a woman in a dress, her face hidden in shadow, but the rings on her fingers as she pointed at Ruwen had given her away. He had seen those same rings on the morning of his Ascension as he’d approached the temple. It was Slib’s mom, Annul Strongspell, who had ordered him killed. Ruwen had enough problems without accusing one of the wealthiest families in Deepwell of attempted murder.
Sift put on his shirt, and they all stood to meet the soldiers. Ruwen glanced at the clock above his map: 6:48 AM. That whole ordeal had taken less than ten minutes, and they were only five minutes from the Worker’s Lodge. Hopefully, they could still make it there on time.
A female soldier displaying the name Juhn knelt next to Sift. “Whistler? Are you injured?”
“I can’t whistle,” Sift replied.
Juhn cocked her head.
“Sift, she means your name. Whistler. Sift Whistler,” Ruwen said.
Sift’s eyes grew large, and he nodded. “Yes, Whistler is my name.” He tried whistling, but just spit came out, and Juhn leaned away from him until he’d finished.
“He took a hard blow to the head,” Ruwen said.
Juhn nodded and checked Sift’s head for injuries.
All the soldiers had their names set to public, and the information hovered over their heads. Two soldiers, Mavy and Warber, stood near the group, swords drawn and shields held ready for any additional trouble. The last soldier and the oldest of them crossed his arms and gave a small bow to Hamma. The name Officer Kaleb hovered over his head.
“Sister, what is your need?” Officer Kaleb asked.
Hamma returned the bow. “We were attacked. Six with crossbows, all masked. They tried to kill Ruwen, but Sift got in the way.”
Officer Kaleb nodded. “Mavy, get the Sketcher.”
Mavy sheathed her sword and placed the shield on her back. She removed a thin book about two hands long from a pouch on her belt and walked up to them. When she opened it up, instead of pages, a grey surface appeared.
“Any details?” Officer Kaleb asked Hamma.
Hamma took a deep breath. “They took direction from someone out of sight. The only one who spoke had a black crossbow, idlewood, I think. Voice inflection was male, mid-hundreds. From their stances, I would guess all were Fighters, not Observers, but trained well. They were very accurate and used poisoned bolts. So, possibly mercenaries or a household militia.”
Officer Kaleb nodded. “Excellent attention to detail, Sister. Are you training to be an Inquisitor?”
Hamma shook her head. “No, sir. Just observant.”
Ruwen stared at Hamma, impressed again by the young woman.
Officer Kaleb turned to Ruwen. “What about you, son? Anything to add?”
Ruwen faced the officer. Annul Strongspell, he wanted to scream. But instead, he bit his tongue. The desire to please Officer Kaleb and answer his questions felt overwhelming. He had to say something, or he would explode.
“Hamma saved Sift’s life,” Ruwen said in a rush.
The desire to talk abated and became manageable. Officer Kaleb’s Charisma must be really high, or he had some sort of Persuasion magic to affect Ruwen like this. He wasn’t familiar with the City Guard and their magic because he never got in trouble. This was the first time he’d actually ever talked to one, and they made him nervous.
Hamma frowned and looked down. “No, I didn’t. You had to.”
Why did Hamma look so sad?
Ruwen faced Officer Kaleb. “She saved us twice, actually. If she hadn't signaled you, they would’ve had the time to make sure we were dead.”
“Any idea why they attacked you?” Officer Kaleb asked.
Ruwen held up his left wrist.
“Well, that explains it. You’re the Death’s Grip causing all this ruckus?” Officer Kaleb asked.
The soldier used the term from the famous song where a farmer’s Void Band killed him nine times. Ruwen might reach that number even without his Void Band doing the work.
“Yes,” Ruwen said.
He immediately filled with relief and joy at answering truthfully.
“Anyone you know who wants to kill you?” Officer Kaleb asked.
Ruwen thought about Annul Strongspell, Naktos, Blapy, other deities he didn’t even know the names of, and probably a large percentage of the city.
“A lot,” Ruwen said.
“I suppose that’s true,” Officer Kaleb said. “You are both on private. Can you give us your info for the report, please?”
“Hamma Blakrock, Order, level six.”
Officer Kaleb tilted his head. “Any relation to Elyse?”
Hamma sighed. “My mom.”
Officer Kaleb whistled. “Well, we’re lucky nothing happened to you. Please let your mom know we came as fast as we could. Is there any chance you were the target?”
“No, they were clearly after Ruwen,” Hamma said.
Officer Kaleb turned to Ruwen.
“Ruwen Starfield, Worker, level two.” Ruwen prayed his Fabricate ability could counteract whatever magic Officer Kaleb used.
“You get all that, Mavy?” Officer Kaleb asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“Where were you headed?” Officer Kaleb asked them.
“The Lodge,” Ruwen replied.
“Then let’s file a report, notify all the other Sketchers, and escort them to the Worker’s Lodge,” Officer Kaleb said.
Mavy stretched her right arm into the air and quietly chanted. She brought the arm down and touched her forehead, then her lips, and finally, her heart. Her finger grew brighter with each touch. She pressed her glowing finger to the grey surface that held all her notes. The entire page pulsed white, and Mavy closed the Sketcher.
Ruwen knew what Sketchers were, but had never seen one. When the soldier finished, it would send the information to all the other teams in the city with Sketchers. Had they seen someone’s face, Mavy would have drawn that in the Sketcher as well.
Officer Kaleb looked down at Sift. “You okay to walk?”
“Yes,” Sift said.
Officer Kaleb glanced at Juhn.
“I can’t find anything wrong, but his attributes are confusing,” Juhn said.
That was because they were fake and being provided by the giant snake tattoo on Sift’s chest. Ruwen didn’t know what would happen if they found out Sift was impersonating one of Uru’s subjects. But it probably wouldn’t be good. He needed to distract them.
“I’m really late. Big D is going to be mad at me,” Ruwen said.
It was actually 6:55 AM, and they would be there on time if they left right now. But, Ruwen wanted Officer Kaleb to feel pressured to move immediately.
Officer Kaleb grimaced. “Warber, collect these bolts for evidence. Let’s get moving. We’ll get these kids to the Lodge and then set them loose. I don’t want to talk to Big D if she’s upset.”
Me either, Ruwen thought.
Chapter 3
The Worker’s Lodge looked half full compared to Ruwen’s Ascendancy Day, but it seemed almost as noisy. As soon as Officer Kaleb dropped them off, Hamma pulled Ruwen and Sift to an empty table.
“Spill it,” Hamma said.
Ruwen froze as what seemed like the million secrets he kept all rushed into his thoughts.
His throat went dry. “Spill what?”
“Let’s start with him,” Hamma said, pointing at Sift.
“Me? Why do we have to start with me?” Sift asked.
“He’s had a lot of head trauma,” Ruwen said.
“Hey!” Sift said.
Hamma slashed the air with her hand. “No joking.”
Ruwen and Sift lost their smiles and faced Hamma.
“The bolt you pulled from Sift’s heart was bent like it had struck a rock, his visible stats are false, his tattoo is a piece of art, and his clothes look like they just came from the laundry, not an ambush,” Hamma said.
Sift bit his lip.
Ruwen rubbed hi
s temples. “Hamma, I don’t understand the bolt either, and I’m just as curious. But right now is not the time for that conversation.”
“Is it the right time to explain how you have a cloak that stopped three bolts, a magical centipede that bites people’s faces and –”
“It bit my face!” Sift screamed and rubbed his cheeks.
Ruwen winced at Sift’s volume and because he’d interrupted Hamma.
Hamma gritted her teeth and continued. “The Rod Spider Webbing is fantastic. I’ve never seen a better material for bleeding. Where did that come from? And while we didn’t use the Minor Swabs, I saw who made them. You. Last night. Did your safehouse have an alchemy lab? And let's not forget the two rings.” Hamma lifted Sift’s hand and pulled them off. “These are powerful magical items. Certainly not something you would get from around here. And you didn’t have them yesterday.”
Hamma held out the rings and dropped them in Ruwen’s hand. He slid them back on his fingers and took a few moments to collect his thoughts. There didn’t seem to be an easy way out of this situation. The clock read 7:03 AM. He was already late.
Hamma stood up straight. “Before you answer, I’ll tell you this. It’s been fun and terrifying hanging out with you. But I won’t tolerate a liar. If you lie to me, then this is goodbye.”
Ruwen’s stomach clenched. Uru had told him he’d have to swim in a sea of lies, which hadn’t seemed so bad at the time. Now, confronted with the reality of lying to a friend, he felt like puking.
Ruwen locked eyes with Hamma. “The truth is, I can’t tell you everything right now. Some secrets aren’t mine to tell, some are too dangerous to speak about here, some I don’t know, and some might get you killed.”
“How many secrets do you have?” Hamma asked.
“He snores,” Sift said. “Don’t let him leave that one out.”
Hamma frowned at Sift.
Ruwen stepped closer to Sift, and Hamma met Ruwen’s eyes again.
“I don’t want to lie to you,” Ruwen said. “Give me a little time to figure out what I can say and ask permission to tell you the rest. I hate secrets. In fact, here is one I can share. I know who tried to kill me just now.”
