Chapter 112 – Backup
We’re halfway up the Drifting Isles when I realize my flames might give away our rescue attempt. Hoping I haven’t already blown it, I join Noli on Ollie’s back, clutching tight to the saddle’s many straps. Cold wind snaps at my feathers and stings my eyes, so I use Psionic Senses to watch our surroundings through Ollie.
He has better night vision than me, and while it’s not perfect, it’s better than nothing. I skim every new floating level we pass over, searching for any sign of a fight or Kanin’s spell circle. I should have come up here to check on progress before now. Dizzi had been filling me in on his progress, so it didn’t occur to me to visit myself, but now I don’t know where to search for either of them.
I stop that train of thought before the guilt can burrow too deep. I can’t change the past—but I might be able to do something about the present. Ollie carries us up to the steady beat of his wings.
“Wait,” I say after a minute, craning my neck back around to look behind us. I thought I caught a glimpse of something through Ollie’s eyes before he looked away. “Go back!”
“WHERE?” Ollie asks, already circling back.
Noli rapidly taps my arm, then points. I can’t see anything, but I trust her eyes more than my own. I mentally forward the direction to Ollie, and he drops down to the level Noli indicated. It’s only when we’re right about to land that I can make out the scene spread before us.
In the ruins of an ancient street, a giant spell circle has been carved into the stone. Some of the nearby ruins appear newly broken, and signs of a fight litter the square. I Check everything I see, and Echo helps resolve the chaotic scene into something more coherent.
Glass is scattered across the street, though even as I watch it begins to collect itself into one larger pile, like a rockslide in reverse. Dizzi is nearby, though she’s on her hands and knees, one wing angled unnaturally to the side: She’s missing 25 health points. Wounded, but not life-threatening.
And then there’s Mura Tal, face-down on the street with Aquenno of all people resting a hand on his back. A forcefield shimmers over the top of Mura Tal’s form, keeping him pinned.
“TADA!” Ollie says as he lands just outside the spell circle. “WE’RE HERE TO SAVE THE DAY!”
Before he’s even finished touching down I leap off his back, lighting new Jets to blast to Dizzi’s side.
“Are you alright?” I uselessly ask, skidding to a stop before her. Orbs of light begin to blink on around the square as Kanin summons Glow spells through a combination of mana and refracting glass. I use the opportunity to kneel down next to Dizzi and check her wing.
“I’m fine. I’m fine!” she protests. “Kanin saved me from the brunt of it. I think the champion thought I was you—trying to flee the Isles, or something.”
Before I can think to respond, Aquenno calls out to us. “What are all of you doing up here? Get back to the city! The danger is not yet over.”
Entirely fair, and exactly what I had in mind. “Come on,” I say to Dizzi, slinging her un-injured wing over my shoulder and wrapping an arm around her torso. “Let’s get you on Ollie’s back.” I’m abruptly very glad I hadn’t come alone.
Dizzi winces as I pull her upright. At the same time, a shadow darts our way.
I flinch as it stops abruptly in front of us, though Dizzi seems unsurprised. Glass is embedded in the shadowy flesh—along with Kanin’s translator.
“I can Displace her,” the shadowy blob says. “It’ll be faster.”
I glance over to where the pillar of broken glass has already reformed hands and is rapidly signing with Noli. Kanin can be in two places at once, it seems. Fascinating.
“It’s okay,” Dizzi assures me, shifting her weight off of me and gingerly holding her wing to the side. “He’s right—this’ll be faster.” She grimaces out a smile. “And probably less painful.”
I step back to let Kanin’s void wrap around Dizzi, the darkness collapsing upon itself like a black hole. Dizzi reappears from another volume of void hovering over Ollie’s back. That makes Kanin in three places at once—at least. I wonder if there’s more of him scattered around the square?
Aquenno lets out a strained grunt, still crouching over Mura Tal. The barrier beneath his hand flickers and wavers, but doesn’t go out.
“I’m not going to be able to restrain him forever,” he says. “And that signal he sent earlier will attract more champions. Depending on how far away they are, they could reach us any minute. You have to get back to the Fortress!"
“What about you?” I frown at the spell he’s maintaining. Both his and Mura Tal’s mana levels are plummeting as they pit their abilities against each other. “You can’t leave without that spell ending, can you?”
He meets my gaze with steady conviction. “Blair and I made our choice. I knew the consequences when I signed up for this.”
No. I haven’t known the man for long, but I can’t just leave him here to sacrifice himself for our sakes. If we could just get him back down to the city, he’d be safe within its barrier. With all of us working together, we should be able to hold Mura Tal back long enough to make it. It would certainly be a risk, letting the champion free, but it won’t be for long.
It’s as if Aquenno can hear all these thoughts. He shakes his head with a pained smile. “No time. Now do you want to go down with me, or are you going to—”
Glass flashes as it strikes Aquenno’s side. At nearly the same moment, the head of a spear bursts from the nereid’s shoulder—punching through the space that would have been Aquenno’s heart only a moment before. He gasps, looking down at the spearhead in shock.
It all happens so fast I’m barely able to process it. I’m still summoning fire to my hands as the spear wrenches itself from Aquenno’s shoulder, and the champion is flung to the side like a rag doll. Glass and shadows catch him, but the barrier around Mura Tal flickers out.
Ollie growls, the sound so low I can feel it resonating in the ground beneath my feet. “FYRE. WE’RE IN DANGER.”
Like a pane of reality shifting to the side, an arachnoid steps into view. Her skin and hair is the color of sand, and her clothes are pure white. Where did she come from? There’s not enough shadows with Kanin’s Glow spells around for her to have remained hidden. I should have been able to see her attack coming—warned Aquenno before she struck.
But when I Check her stats, the answers to all these questions become clear, and my stomach turns to ice.
[Name: Zeyaelid]
[Title: Demigod]
[Species: Arachnoid]
[Class: Silk Paladin]
[Level: 81]
[HP: 650/650]
[Mana: 2854/3000]
[Allegiance: Lorata]
“Stay back,” I mentally tell Ollie. “Don’t attack.”
I’d like his chances against Mura Tal, but Lorata’s second champion is on a different level entirely.
“BUT MY ROLE,” Ollie objects, at least replying back mentally as well so as not to draw the champion’s attention. “IT’S LIKE EARLIER. YOU’RE IN DANGER.”
“I’m sorry,” I tell him, mind racing for a solution. “Hold on. I’ll find a way to resolve this quickly.” Though how I’ll do that, I have no idea.
Zeyaelid stops at the dhampyr’s side, though her attention remains on Aquenno. She wrinkles her nose, as if presented with an especially foul stench.
“One of Blair’s champions.” Her voice is as smooth and cold as silk. “I would not have expected sedition from her.”
Aquenno grits his teeth as he clasps a hand to his shoulder, blue blood seeping between his fingers. Noli hurries to his side, but there’s nothing any of us can do about his wound; he needs a healer.
Mura Tal groans as he rolls onto his back. Zeyaelid watches this passively without attempting to help him up. “And I wouldn’t have expected you to be so easily subdued.”
“I was betrayed,” he snarls, stumbling to his feet. He bares his teeth at Aquenno. “The coward attacked me while my back was turned!”
Aquenno pushes himself to his feet in obvious pain, pieces of glass rearranging to help prop him up. Even in the midst of this moment, thick with tension, a part of me can’t help but curiously note all the different ways Kanin has split his glass and void. Is that something I can use? I need every asset available. At the thought, I reach for the Dungeon Core, but it’s too far beneath us, entirely out of my range. I’ll have to make do with what we have here.
Aquenno grinds his teeth as blood continues to stain his tunic, but he looks unwavering up at Zeyaelid. “The situation is more complex than it appears. I can explain.”
“Really?” The champion raises an eyebrow. “Then please illuminate me.”
Aquenno hesitates.
As the champions talk, a new message appears in my Interface. From the way it’s glitching, I don’t even need to check the name.
[K̶a̵n̷i̶n̸: can you stall?]
I glance toward Ollie. If I do anything to draw the champions’ attention…
Well, I wouldn’t be putting Ollie in any more danger than he’s already in, what with his Role already triggered. I’m reluctant to make it worse, however.
[Fyre: Do you have something in mind?]
[K̶a̵n̷i̶n̸: yes]
[K̶a̵n̷i̶n̸: probably]
[K̶a̵n̷i̶n̸: hopefully]
Not exactly the confident response I’d been hoping for. But if Kanin is working on a plan, then I’ll have to help however I can. Plus, stalling helps give me time to figure out a solution, too.
I take in a breath, and make myself take one step forward. “It’s me you’re looking for. I am a ruler of the Fortress—”
“Ignore her,” Mura Tal interrupts, speaking to Zeyaelid. “She must be a decoy. The real queen wouldn’t leave the city and put herself at risk for subordinates.”
Oh, I wouldn’t, would I?
[Blaze activated.]
A fireball burst to life around me in a dazzling display. Dizzi and Aquenno both shrink back, and even Ollie shies away from the sudden heat. I even have Fire Resistance and it’s hot against my skin; but that means it must be doubly so for the champions. The night illuminates in a flickering orange glow, and the only shadows that remain in the square take shelter in Kanin’s glass.
Mura Tal hisses against the light, but Zeyaelid’s gaze turns on me with an unnerving intensity.
“My name is Fyre,” I call out, channeling every ounce of authority I’ve managed to cultivate over the last six months. “I am co-ruler of Fyreneth’s Fortress, and I will not be ignored.”
“Ah.” Zeyaelid’s lips peel back in an unkind smile. “Now that is interesting.”
Well, Kanin had wanted a distraction, and I’m always advising Mirzayael to put more faith in her allies. Time to practice what I preach.
I just hope I haven’t made a terrible mistake.