I jerked away at the last minute, so that the weapon clipped my shoulder instead. The sharp sense of pain told me my protection had finally given way enough for the blow to leave a small gash, but I still retained the use of my arm. The other Earthborn swore in surprise as I stumbled to my feet a safe distance away.
“Subject is at Practitioner level in both Air and Lightning magic, and possess multiple weapons of power, as well as a surprisingly robust body,” I heard him say, as if he was dictating into some kind of recorder, pacing around me as he looked for another opening. “Chaos-based Horde mount proved insufficient to handle subject even with element of surprise, but package was still delivered to correct location. Primary mission successful.”
“Package?” I asked, then my eyes went wide. “You mean Merada.”
“Whatever her name is, cripplehead,” the man answered, his dark armor pulsing with runes. Those same runes ran along the shaft of his axe, and as I looked again, I realized his gear gleamed as if it had been polished with the same oil the Horde secreted and used in their tunnels. The blood along the edge of the axe slowly dried up, as if the weapon had drunk from my wound. “Her real boyfriend’s in town, and he asked us for a favor. But don’t worry about that,” he said as he hefted his axe higher. “You’re gonna be busy with real work, now that we finally have time to pay attention to you.”
“Sorry,” I growled out as my teeth itched and my vision reddened. “But could you repeat all that in English? I don’t speak the language of freshly ground beef.” I hefted my massive hand axe and took a step toward him. The Earth knight just laughed.
Merada, if you’re okay, you need to get out of that part of the woods.
Workin’ on it, she grumbled at me. There’s some kind of magic here. But what’s the hurry? Do ye need help?
I shook my head mentally at her, but then the Malus knight took back my attention.
“Little bitch, I battle heroes in the Spirit Kings and the Lightborn lands,” he said as he paced confidently around me. I noticed that he seemed completely healthy, despite the crashing through trees and the backlash from my lightning bolt earlier. “If you think I can’t handle your wounded ass, your head’s even more crippled than everyone thought.”
I let him laugh a second longer, and then I threw Toirneach at his face.
To my own surprise, he swore and batted the weapon out of the way at the last moment. I rushed him anyway, summoning Claimh Solais again. I cleared the distance between us in an instant and stabbed for a seam between the plates on his thigh. He twisted quickly, causing my glowing blade to glance off, then hissed in pain as he realized the plate still dented and sizzled slightly. When I tried to follow up, he slammed an armored elbow into my face and pushed me away.
I ducked under his next swing, angry with myself. Breaker’s new form made it my most powerful weapon, but short blades were still a bad match against advanced plate armor. It was a wonder my weapon was having any effect at all. So I summoned my mace into my other hand and swung at his shoulder, alternating my strikes between the two weapons.
“Son of a bitch,” the warrior snapped. “How many different weapons do you try to use?”
“Depends on how many different problems I have to deal with,” I snapped, not letting up on the pressure as I swung and stabbed at every opening he gave me.
To my frustration, he held up well, deflecting most of my attacks with the long haft of his axe. Every now and then, one of my blows would get through, and traces of Fire and Lightning magic would streak into the dented armor piece. But then a glowing glyph on the oiled plates would suddenly shine, and the spell would dissipate.
His armor was still taking too many dents, however, and while he was tough and skilled enough to keep up with me for now, he wasn’t fast enough to regain the offensive. My next mace-blow on his shoulder caused him to grunt loudly in pain. Then he suddenly started laughing.
I sacrificed the opportunity for a sarcastic quip at him to instead try and bash his head in, but he continued to crack up.
“It’s funny that you think you can still win,” he said as he jerked his head out of the way. “Because if the other guy even gets a piece of the Starsown, it’s all game over."
Right. Cavus. I realized I needed to hurry this up, until I remembered that the Icons were nearby.
Hang on! Breena sent to me, and I recalled that she had both the mindlink and the familiar bond with me, so she could occasionally figure out what was going on. We’re coming!
Breena, I sent urgently. Cavus is here. Get the Icons.
I felt her hiss in acknowledgment through the mindlink, send a whispering spell out, and then rush even faster toward my location.
Then, while I was distracted, the glyphs on my opponent’s axe flared, and he leaped backwards and performed a powerful, two-handed swing. The axe blade burst into smoky, dark-red flame as it slashed toward my torso. I jumped backwards and swung both of my weapons down to try and deflect the blow. As Claimh Solais struck the weapon, there was a bright flash, and both of us were forced away from each other. My enemy shook his smoking right hand in apparent pain, but he had maintained his grip on his weapon, unlike me.
I bit back an angry curse, frustrated at how long this had been taking.
Me too, Teeth suddenly spoke up. But at least the damn thing behind us finally went brain-dead.
How is that relevant? I demanded angrily. But then the massive corpse suddenly shuddered, despite going limp nearly a minute ago.
“What the hell?” the Malus knight asked in astonishment, and backed up. I didn’t want to take my eyes off of him, but some hazy substance was gathering at both edges of my peripheral vision.
Because it was dragonkind, Teeth replied.
Before I could point out how the new guy was contradicting himself, the hazy substances came into view.
The mist on my right was red and watery, flowing toward me in a line from the wyvern’s wounds. The mist on my left was smoky and gray. It flowed directly from the dragonling’s mouth. Before I could ask was going on, both mists drifted into my arms, and my mindscreen suddenly activated.
The Challenger has slain a creature distantly related to the being of his flesh pact. Lost vitality will be regained. His body will be slightly enhanced. Regeneration rates will be further improved.
The Challenger has slain a creature distantly related to the being of his soul pact. Lost mana will be regained. His mind and soul will be slightly enhanced. Regeneration rates will be further improved.
ERROR: Earthborn is exceeding Council’s parameters. Attempting to terminate per established protocol. Termination failed. Attempting to restrict growth per established protocol. Restrictions overcome. Dispatching notification that said Earthborn has exceeded Council parameters enough to be classified as a Stellar Criminal. Sending now… no response to notification. Parameters further restricting the Earthborn are under strain. Dispatching recommendation that Council further investigate failure of restrictions and personally terminate said Earthborn. Sending now… no response to recommendation. Error log complete.
That was weird, but not as weird as feeling two different types of mist sink into my body. The next moment, all of my fatigue washed out of my body, and I felt my vital guard and mana pool suddenly refresh. My muscles bulged slightly, as they became thicker, and I felt all of my senses sharpen by a small fraction.
“Hey, speedbump,” I said to my shocked and horrified opponent. “Catch.”
I dropped my mace just long enough to fire all ten of my finger bolts at my enemy. The normally tiny missiles were now longer than daggers, and they all arced out to strike my enemy at different angles, and his fancy magic armor was now too dented for its runes to protect him. He screamed in pain as his body locked up.
And since I had a free hand, Toirneach flew back into my grip. I hurled it right at my enemy’s head. It struck the helm with a satisfying crunch, but my opponent stumbled backwards instead of falling over dead.
Malus member is attempted to evacuate his projected body, Woadhome suddenly spoke in my mind. Evacuation has been successfully obstructed, per Planetary Lord’s projected intent.
“Good call,” I growled as I charged forward. Breaker returned to my hands in its bladeless form, and I used it to summon both of my long blades: the thin blue sword I had taken from the Hoarfolk king, as well as the flaming spatha Virtus’ former commander had wielded. I thrust both blades deep into my opponent’s ruined helm and discharged the full effect of my Outer Current spell. The Malus knight gave one last jerk as smoke curled out of his broken visor, and then he collapsed to the ground in a heap.
I panted for a handful of seconds as the adrenaline rush faded, still not nearly as tired as I should have felt. Then I scrambled to regain all of my fallen weapons, as well as the dead knight’s axe.
A small trail of pink and orange light zipped into view, and my tiny, spiky-haired friend flew up to me.
“I’m here!” she shouted. “I’m here! And the Icons are on their way too! Let’s go get Merada before Cavus does!”
“Yeah,” I said, sucking in another breath.
Then I realized I had no idea how Cavus would show up, and growled again.
“Wes, you need to stop doing that,” Breena admonished, still speaking quickly. “It’s becoming a habit. And Merada is still okay so as long as we just run and get her everything should be fine so let’s go hurry right now!”
I nodded in agreement, refreshed all my spells, and we took off.
Breena led the way, holding a private conversation with Merada, who, for some reason, was still having trouble leaving the darkened section of the wood. I let her do that for all of two seconds before I rudely butted in.
What’s going on? I demanded. What’s up with that darkened wood?
We don’t know, Breena replied quickly. She keeps making wrong turns and she doesn’t know why.
That doesn’t sound like her, I replied worriedly.
It’s not, Merada retorted angrily. I be travelin’ most of these woods for over a hundred years. None of the trees should be this dark or this… strange.
At that point, my paranoia kicked into full gear.
Breena, I’m sorry, but we need to hurry.
Wes, what do you mea—
I ran even faster, snatching Breena out of the air. She let out an outraged and undignified squawk, but I ignored her and began casting the newest Air spell she had taught me. The cloak of air surrounded me, lifted me off of my feet, and began flying us through the air several times faster than either of us had been traveling a moment ago.
Berry-blast it, Wes! Breena started to scream through the mindlink. Just-because-you-have-a-valid-reason-does-not-make-it-okay-because-you-can’t-just-sweep-me-off-my-feet-whenever-you-feel-like-it-and-I’m-totally-punching-you-later-and-hurry-up-so-we-get-there-in-time-and-switch-me-to-your-right-bicep-because-it’s-the-comfy-one!
I smiled at her, in spite of all my stress and worry, and flew forward.
The Woadland forests were wide spaces, where large trees gave each other plenty of room. As long as I did not fly low enough to hit the bushes, or high enough to hit the branches, I was fine. I followed Breena’s directions through the mindlink, and within minutes we had reached our destination.
It wasn’t that it was a dark part of the forest. There were many parts of the Woadlands where the tree cover was just too thick to let more than a little sunlight down. But the trees themselves were black.
And they flickered.
They moved and stretched, as if they were actual shadows instead of trees. Before my very eyes, they seemed to reposition, shifting by the roots without ever leaving the ground.
Merada, I sent worriedly. The trees are moving around. Other than the Woadfathers, can you think of a reason for that to happen?
No, she sent back angrily. That be impossible! There are no woods like that here!
She’s right, Breena sent, concern pouring through the mindlink. Something bad is happening here, Wes.
Woadhome, I sent to the planet itself. Explain what is happening in this location.
Query not understood, the planet sent back in a rustling voice. Please elaborate request.
That was a bad sign.
There are shadowy trees several dozen yards ahead of me that may or may not actually be trees, I replied as patiently as I could. I need you to confirm what type of magic is making that happen.
There is no such location currently on the Woadlands, Woadhome replied. Further update. Detecting extraplanar boundary superseding the normal terrain in the location specified by the Woadlord. Suspecting hostile presence in that location. Discretion advised.
I rummaged through mind to find an appropriate swear word, gave up, and settled for something potentially more constructive.
Woadhome, I sent next. Would the Icons be able to enter the location, and what power level could they sustain if they did?
Negative, Woadhome replied. Boundary appears to be impassable to Icon-level lifeforms, as it directly separates them from their source of power. Method of construction unknown. Boundary’s direct destruction is possible with Icon-level power, but would trap any current inhabitants within said realm.
“Wes,” Breena whispered audibly. “What’s happening?”
“The planet says that the Icons won’t be able to go in after Merada,” I whispered back. “We’re gonna have to try and get her out.”
Breena must have relayed that information to Merada, because the fiery brunette immediately offered her opinion.
I don’t need ye to come barrelin’ in and get lost with me! Just wait for me to figure it out! Or light a fire or somethin’, and see if that helps!
Right. That was a good idea.
Light dispels shadow. Breena was a Sunrise Sprite now. And I had a weapon whose name literally translated into ‘sword of light.’
Breena began to glow with orange, pink, and red light. I drew Claimh Solais and held it aloft, willing the blade’s light to shine as intensely as it could. The shadows shrank away from our light, letting it blast a pillar into the sky above our heads.
Merada! I sent. Can you see the light?
What light?
Damn it.
“Breena, we have to go in,” I decided.
I didn’t want another battle with Cavus right now. Wait, no. That was a lie. I wanted to kill him and tear him into tiny pieces of ground compost, and make all of Stell watch, so that every piece of her knew that he was dead for good and would never hurt her ever again. But every now and then, two of my brain cells bumped together and processed just how many times he’d kicked my ass so far, except when I had help from a special power that people kept insisting was slowly killing me somehow.
But Merada wasn’t having the idea.
What are ye two panickin’ about? Is this about that boogeyman Wes told me about earlier? I don’t—
Merada suddenly went silent.
A second later, the normally fearless woman radiated a rare sense of uncertainty through the mindlink.
What was that? She asked herself, not realizing the mindlink was still open. Then more comprehension, and more fear, flowed out of the powerful woman. Somethin’ else is here, I felt her think.
I charged forward.
Chapter 6: Hands Held Through the Dark
Breena followed me as we rushed to the location where our mindlink said Merada was. Shadows and shapes shifted all around us, dissolving when they came too close to Breena’s glow or Claimh Solais’ blaze. Branches and vines and tree trunks would materialize right in front of us, as if to redirect us to somewhere else, only to crumble into black dust upon contact with our light.
Something hissed angrily at us as we came closer and closer to Merada. I heard her snarl and curse back at the thing, and as we drew near, I began to hear the twang of her bowstring.
“Will ye stop foolin’ around and just come out? I’ve got places to be!”
The next hiss sounded
like a snicker, and Merada began snarling more oaths.
Two facts occurred to me.
The first was that Merada was a skilled huntress, and could snipe white-robed Hoarfolk in the middle of a snow storm. She shouldn’t have any trouble finding a monster, even in this twisted nightmare realm.
The second was that this thing was hissing at people from two different places. Which meant that Cavus had brought a friend, or he was large enough to be in two places at once.
Then again, I still had no idea what Cavus was capable of, or how he normally operated. Aside from being an egomaniacal creep.
But I got my answer all the same, just moments later.
“Ugly boy, stop.”
A shiver ran through me, and I could feel Breena tremble as well. Then we both threw it off a moment later, and kept running.
“Ugly boy, listen,” the sinister voice said next.
I really wished I had been able to use my invisibility shroud, but I couldn’t use more than one version of Breaker at once, and I needed the light function for the moment. And it seemed that Cavus, and apparently the Malus Men now, could counteract the shroud, so it was a useless frustration anyway.
“Ugly boy, please,” Cavus insisted, though I couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from. “Parley. Parley with me, ugly boy.”
Keep an eye on Merada while I talk to him, I sent regretfully to Breena, since talking to Cavus might keep him too occupied to go after Merada.
“I don’t want to parley with you,” I said to the invisible depraved giant. “I want you to leave my friend alone. And to get off my world.”
“We’re not on your world right now, ugly boy,” Cavus said, in that patient tone he had used right before the first time he tried to kill me. “We’re somewhere else. Somewhere I can take you seriously. But I don’t want to take you seriously, ugly boy. I don’t want to spend any time on you at all. I made this place so that I could be with my little Stell. And you’re getting in the way of that plan, ugly, stupid boy, for no reason at all. It’s wrong, and it’s gross.”
“Fuck you,” Teeth said, seizing control of my mouth and making my jaws itch all over. “She’s not your little Stell, and I will fight you fang and claw before I ever let you hurt her.”
Lighting Distant Shores (Challenger's Call Book 4) Page 7
