I started to jog over toward them, but the next thing I knew, I was flying to the ground.
There was a flash and a sharp pain in my shoulder, then sound fled away save for a sharp ringing in my ears. I tried to roll over, but the pain only grew, causing me to scream.
Someone said something, but it was muffled and muted. I couldn’t make out the words or the speaker.
A hand fell on my shoulder, then a spike of pain flooded through me as something was wrenched from my body, followed by a cool, sweet sensation. Sound came rushing back in crystal clarity as the blue light of a Healing spell crossed over my eyes and ears.
I turned over and saw Claire standing there holding a jagged piece of metal covered in blood—my blood I realized. Behind her, the dropship was gone, or most of it. There was nothing left but a blazing hull.
“Izaiah!” I shouted as I jumped to my feet and lunged for the wreckage. McKenna raced after me and grabbed me around the waist, holding me back.
“It’s too late!” she yelled. “He’s gone.”
I froze and nearly collapsed.
All of my friends were dead.
No, not all of them. “Where’s Leon?”
McKenna shook her head. “I don’t know. I think he was thrown—”
“I’m here!” he shouted from behind me. “I’m all right and look who I found.”
Spinning around, I saw Leon walking towards us supporting a limping Bella.
“Bella!” I shouted as I raced forward and wrapped her in the biggest hug I could manage.
She winced and let out a hiss.
“Sorry,” I said. Pushing her back to arm's length, I looked her in the eyes. “I thought you were dead.”
“It’s going to take a lot more than a Summoner’s pet to kill me,” she said.
She took a step forward and flinched.
“Here, let me take care of that,” I said. I willed my power to heal her, and a blue light washed over her, causing her to stand a little taller.
“Where’s Izaiah?” Bella asked.
“He’s—he’s gone, Bella.”
She furrowed her brow in confusion. “What do you mean? Where’d he go?”
“That’s not—” I looked away and sighed. “He was nearly dead to begin with, and then… well, it exploded.”
“What do you mean he was nearly dead? What exploded?” Her voice was starting to take on an angry tone. Then she looked past me at what was left of the wreckage. “No,” she said, shaking her head. “No. Tell me he wasn’t in there. No!”
Her knees gave out, and I caught her, pulling her tight as she sobbed.
Claire stood off to the side, pacing back and forth and muttering to herself. When Bella saw her, she sucked in her cries and stiffened. “Wait a minute. I thought you said you saw us die?”
Now, it was my turn to be confused.
“In the future,” she said, glaring at Claire. “You said we died in the throne room, facing the supreme commander. You said that. You said you saw Izaiah die. How is he dead! How? You tell me how he’s dead now if you saw him die in the future! Tell me!”
Claire recoiled in shock. “I—I—I don’t—I don’t know. It doesn’t make any sense. None of this makes sense.”
“You’re not speaking clearly, Claire. What doesn’t make sense?” I asked.
“Bella’s right. Izaiah is supposed to die in the future,” Claire admitted. “But clearly not anymore. This wasn’t supposed to happen. None of this happened in the past. Lucian didn’t try to kill you, we didn’t run for our lives, Izaiah didn’t die here. The future is changing,” she explained.
Oh, chet. Not good. “It can’t have changed that much right?" I asked. "I mean Elsie is still the first Sovereign. Lucian is still attacking Balgyra. There’s still time to stop the destruction of the world, right?”
“I—I just—I don’t know. None of this was supposed to happen,” Claire repeated.
“What do you mean ‘you don’t know,’” Bella shouted.
“Hey! Calm down. Both of you,” I said. “This is a good thing. All right? It’s a good thing.”
I realized what I’d said after I’d said it, but I couldn’t take it back.
“This is a good thing?” Bella asked. “How is Izaiah dead a good thing?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—what I meant to say was if the future has changed, then that means we can still stop it,” I explained.
“I’m afraid I don’t follow,” Leon said.
McKenna chuckled. “Don’t worry, I don’t know what any of them are talking about. And I’m getting a little impatient here, Trevon is out there dead or dying, and I’m not wasting any more time talking.”
She turned to leave.
“Hold on a minute, okay? Hear me out,” I said, stepping in front of her and holding my hands up to stop her. “Up until now, we weren’t sure if the future was even changeable. What if, through our best efforts, the future still happened as it happened before? But now? Izaiah is gone. And he wasn’t supposed to die yet. That means the future can be changed. That means we can stop this. And if we do, won’t his sacrifice have been worth it?”
“Look, you and your little pals may be concerned about this deep, dark ominous future, but all I can think about is the here and now, got it?” McKenna asked. “Trevon is dying now, not in the future. Balgyra is attacking now, not in the future. So, let’s quit worrying about the future and stop what’s going on today.”
Everyone stood there silent.
It was hard to argue with her logic. What good would stopping the future be if we let the world fall to pieces in the process?
Before anyone could say anything, McKenna up and left. I started to follow her, but Bella took that moment to race past me toward the wreckage. Reversing my direction, I stretched out my arm to stop her, but it was too late.
She reached into the cockpit and came back out a moment later with something in her hand.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Izaiah’s pendant,” she said, holding up a silver necklace with an engraved piece of metal at the end. “It’s an old military tradition that’s been largely abandoned since affinity marks came into use, but Lucian’s crew still uses them. I—I couldn’t leave it behind.”
“What’s it say?”
“Just his name and birthdate, but it’s his, you know?” she replied, sniffling.
“You two were close,” I noted.
“You would have been, too, if you hadn’t abandoned us.”
“For the last time, I didn’t—”
“Sorry. I know you don’t remember any of this. It’s just so easy to blame you,” she said as a tear ran down her eye.
I embraced her and rubbed her back. “Well, I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere.”
“You might not be, but McKenna has, and if you want to find that cave, we’d better catch up to her,” Claire cut in with an annoyed tone in her voice. “You two can make up later.”
Bella nodded.
I smiled. “Let’s get going then.”
By the time we caught up to McKenna, she’d made her way back to the military base.
Even though the fight was over, it was sheer chaos everywhere I looked. Soldiers ran about every which way, wails and groans filled the air, and many of the buildings lay in crumbled heaps.
Despite all of this, McKenna was calm, standing firm in front of a supply cache. She picked up a small pistol off the table and placed it into a holster at her boot, then grabbed a larger rifle and slipped it over her shoulder.
“Well, don’t just stand there,” McKenna said. “If you’re coming with me, now’s your last chance to stock up on supplies.” She looked at a man who stood on the other side of the table and added. “Hook them up, will you?”
I stepped up and took a look at the assortment of goods available: a wide variety of weapons, some small flasks filled with colored liquid, and a few pendants and rings.
“What does this do?” I asked, lifting one
of the rings engraved with a shield.
“The Impervious Ring,” the quartermaster answered. “Once you activate it, it’ll completely block the next hit, regardless of how strong it is. It’s made out of steel, though, so it’s not the greatest quality.”
“What’s that mean?” I asked.
The man ruffled his face in confusion.
Leon stepped up. “It means you can’t use it that often. The higher the rarity material used to craft the item, the sooner you can use the power again. This one has a six-hour cool-down.”
“Six hours?” I asked.
Leon shrugged.
“Hey, you’ve got something like this right?” I asked, glancing down at his hand where his unique ring sat on his finger. “What’s it do?”
“N—Nothing! I mean it’s not important. It—”
I leveled a glare at him.
“It’s just personal, okay?”
“Like a family heirloom?” I asked.
“Sure,” he said, then he looked away.
I turned back to the attendant. “Got anything better than this?”
“Afraid not,” the quartermaster replied. “We haven’t had a new shipment of supplies in a while. This is all I’ve got left.”
“All right, well, I’ll take the ring, a fresh stock of arrows, and two draughts of magic flasks.”
The man gathered the items for me. “That’ll be 350 rifs.”
“You’re kidding right?” I asked.
“Do I look like I’m joking?” he replied, his face flat and expressionless.
“But you gave McKenna her stuff for free,” I said.
“Commander McKenna is a member of the Allyrian army,” the quartermaster said. “Non-military personnel must pay the requisite fees.”
“Giles—” McKenna said.
“Don’t you ‘Giles’ me, it’s code three-five-eight of the Active Ordnance Act.”
“It’s fine, I’ll pay,” I said, offering my hand.
The quartermaster picked up a device and scanned my affinity mark. A light spun around in a circle and then flashed red.
“It appears you have insufficient funds,” he said.
Tapping my neural link, I checked my account.
-32,123 FAME – DANGEROUS
0 RIFKELS
Chet.
If practically saving the entire army didn’t net me any rifs, how was I supposed to earn money? On the bright side, I was no longer a “traitor.”
“By the gods, here,” Bella said, extending her hand.
The quartermaster scanned her mark, the light went around again, and this time it flashed green, emitting a pleasant tone.
“Very good, you’re all set,” he said.
I scooped up my gear and stepped away in a hurry, grumbling as I went.
No sooner had I restocked my quiver, then Claire said, “You’d best come over here before we head out.”
Turning my head, I saw her standing in front of what looked like a computer screen at the top of a tall pedestal alongside the infirmary.
“And this is?”
“RAS. Remote Augmentation Station,” she explained. “For your AP.”
I stepped up to the device and placed my hand into the open cavity beneath the screen. A red light appeared and scanned my affinity mark, then the screen lit up. All my currently available magika appeared along with their current class and cost to upgrade.
17 AP AVAILABLE
FIRE-C2 – 2 AP
ICE-C2 – 2 AP
LIGHTNING-C2 – 2 AP
SHIELD-C2 – 2 AP
HEAL-C2 – 2 AP
ENRAGE-C1 – 1 AP
STEALTH-C2 – 2 AP
CLONE-C2 – 2 AP
LIGHT-C2 – 2 AP
DETECT-C2 – 2 AP
Right away, I noticed I had a lot of magika I hadn’t realized I possessed. Alton must have added them into the gauntlet. I hadn’t had much time to take a look and test things out.
Clone, Light, and Detect, huh? Seems pretty self-explanatory. Those could come in handy for sure.
With these many choices, I would need to be strategic in my allocation of AP.
“Looks like we’re all set,” McKenna shouted. “Let’s move it.”
“Hold on; I’m almost done,” I said, which was a complete lie, considering I hadn’t even started.
“Trevon has waited long enough. You’ll either catch up or you won’t, but I’m not wasting any more time,” she retorted.
Sighing, I turned back to the screen. I tapped the attack magikas and upgraded them all to Class 3. 11 AP left.
Healing and Shield. Definitely needed—7 AP to go.
I saw what Enrage could do during the battle with the ironhorn, so I double tapped that one, making it a Class 3 and using up 3 more AP.
“We’re leaving!” McKenna yelled.
I quickly tapped Fire again and logged out, then ran to catch up with the others.
I had no idea how much MP a Class 4 attack spell would cost, but it would probably prove invaluable to have. At the same time, if it cost me all my available mana, I didn’t want to pick my most versatile magika, Lightning, so Fire it was.
I wouldn’t know whether it was a good or bad idea until I had a chance to use it.
Thirty-Four
Our party traveled quietly through the woods, the air hanging heavy around us as we each remained lost in our thoughts. There were many things to process from the battle to Izaiah’s death, our worries about the future, and if it was even possible what we were attempting to do. Maybe we are all just on edge.
Bella kept her distance, and I was respecting that. Though, if I were to admit it to myself, I had begun to have feelings for her. She couldn’t know that, though, or I’d never hear the end of it.
She would likely try to say my feelings were there all along or that my memory had started to come back, but I’d made peace with the fact that my memories were never coming back.
Forbidden magic came with a price and from everything Claire and my father had surmised, I was paying the penalty for being at the epicenter of its release. If I hadn’t been thrown into this situation or if the dagger had been used under slightly more ideal circumstances, some might even call my reset a blessing—a clean slate.
Perhaps that may have even been the original intention of the magika. Maybe it was supposed to allow a person to start over without any of the baggage that life brings with it.
But not just start over: start better. The double experience perk allowed me to rapidly catch up to my peers without all the cumbersome, dragged-out training that they received.
It was rough at first. But now I was a level 26, and my strength was growing by the minute.
Of course, I still had a long way to go to reach the power level of the supreme commander if we hoped to defeat him. But we couldn’t fight what we didn’t know. There had to be some way to figure out who he was before the accident that marred his face.
“Tell me about the war,” I said to McKenna, breaking the long-held silence as we walked next to each other.
“What’s there to tell?" She replied with a shrug. “Things go boom. People die. Someone wins. The end.”
I snorted. “You know what I mean.”
McKenna stopped walking. “No, I don’t know what you mean because you and your friends have been talking gibberish since I met you. If it weren’t for Trevon being out here, you’d be on your own right now. I don’t need to get caught up in all this hocus pocus nonsense.”
Without waiting for a response, she resumed walking at double speed.
I ran at a brisk jog to catch up. “I’m sorry about your fiancé, I really am. I hope we find him in time. But we’re talking about the end of the world here.”
An explosion sounded in the distance.
“Look around you,” she said. “The world is ending for someone every minute here on the front lines.”
“That’s exactly my point, though,” I said. “My friends and I have lived at the palace
. We don’t know the war like you do. Perhaps if you could shed some light on the situation, we might be able to connect the dots a little easier.”
“The only light I care about right now is Trevon.”
It was clear I wasn’t going to get the answers out of her that I wanted. “Tell me about Trevon then.”
“What about him?” she asked.
“How did you meet? What’s he like?”
“You want to have small talk?” she asked incredulously. “Now? Here? This is what’s important to you?”
“Well, no,” I admitted. “But if I’m being honest, it’s a little uncomfortable in all of this silence.”
She glared at me but then her face softened, and she breathed a sigh of resignation. “You don’t give up easily, do you?”
“It’s one of my more endearing qualities,” I said with a smile.
A sound erupted from McKenna that was part snort, part chortle.
By then, Claire had drawn closer. “What’s going on?”
“Charlotte, here, was about to spill her life story,” I answered.
“You wish,” McKenna retorted.
“Shouldn’t we stay focused on our mission?” Claire asked.
McKenna nodded. “That’s what I said.”
“We’re all a little too on edge,” I countered. “Come on, it’ll do us some good to take our mind off all this.” I gestured around at our perilous surroundings.
“Fine,” McKenna responded. “Trevon and I met during basic training.”
“Let me guess,” I said, cutting in, “Trevon was best in your class, and you hated him at first, but eventually his wily intellect and dashingly good looks won you over?”
“Whose story is this, mine or yours?” she barked.
I held up my hands in surrender. “Go on," I said, making a motion of sealing my lips shut.
She cast me a glare and then sighed. “You weren’t too far off,” she admitted, “but it was the other way around.”
“You were the best in your class?” Claire asked.
McKenna nodded.
“When did you graduate?”
“Three years ago,” McKenna answered.
Claire stopped dead in her tracks, her brow furrowed.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Sworn Guardian: A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure (Forbidden Magic Book 1) Page 25
