The Hero Returns

I reached for the Expanse. It came flooding in almost instantly, and without hesitation, I grabbed the Aijalon assassin off the ground with the same spell I had used on Old Man Hendriss and Andre. Or at least, that was what I meant to do.

Instead, when I tried to cast the spell, my head throbbed in pain. Right as that happened, the woman threw a knife at my left hand. It barely grazed my hand, but the sudden shock of pain was enough to mess up the spell’s hand gesture. Combine the Aijalon magical interference with the attack on my hand and my spell failed. Worse, I felt suddenly pained, like I had strained myself by trying to pick up a weight that was too heavy for me.

Illuminated by the moon, I could see the woman was smirking. She raised her short sword and crouched, preparing to dart forward. I scrambled to my feet and turned to make a dash for the portal.

In my way stood four hulking men in imperial military garb—not Aijalon, at least. They had spears outstretched, pointing at me, but did not move. I could maybe shove them aside with my Space magic, but in the time it took me to cast the spell…

I ducked and rolled, again narrowly dodging the Aijalon’s blade. I got it now. The mundane guards were there to make sure I didn’t run, while the Aijalon assassin took me out. It was funny. When I was younger, before the mage community had decided to flee to the Pocket, I had gone to Empire school. I remember hearing stories of how after the Golden Monarchs fell and the land descended into chaos, the Empire developed tactics to defeat troublesome mages. Back then, I had always been a bit skeptical that normal humans could ever be a match for mages. Now that I knew what Aijalon assassins were capable of, it all made sense.

I cursed at myself as the woman took another swipe at me which I only dodged by quickly backing up. Stupid! This was no time for reminiscing. If I didn’t find a way into the portal, I’d seriously die.

Trying to stall for time, I called out to the assassin “could we at least try to talk this out?”

She replied “Imperial Code 21 section 415.66. No mage is to leave their registered town of residence without receiving approval from the Imperial Magic Regulatory Board. Violations of this section are punishable by death.”

“…So I’ll take that as a no?”

She smirked again and said “and Imperial Code 21 section 96. No mage is to appear outdoors without a symbol of magehood prominently displayed on their clothing. Violations of this section are punishable—”

“By death. I get the picture.”

“Actually, violations of 21 section 96 are only punishable by torture of the offending mage and her family.” The assassin lunged at me. I had seen how fast Shemman could move, but this woman was even faster. I turned to dodge her charge, only to come face-to-face with one of the thugs. He sneered and hit me in the back of the knees with the butt end of his spear. I crumpled, crying out in pain.

The thugs kept their distance; I supposed they were cautious of tangling with a mage. I tried to get up, but my legs hurt too badly. The best I could manage was to push myself up into a sitting position. I looked up to see the assassin approaching calmly but cautiously, blade outstretched. I reached for the Expanse. I got nothing but a headache.

This was it. I had nothing. I couldn’t run, and my magic didn’t work. In the moonlight, I saw the woman raise her blade. I closed my eyes, preparing for the lethal strike.

Instead, I heard a loud grunt and the assassin say “darling, what do you think you’re doing?” I opened my eyes. Standing over me was a man in black robes. He had caught the woman’s arm, preventing her from killing me.

The man turned his face to me. “Rakel, you are not hurt, are you?”

“Shemman!” I almost burst into tears of relief, but quickly steadied myself. We weren’t out of it yet.

The female assassin said, “remove your hand, darling.”

“I shall not allow you to hurt Rakel.”

“And just why not? We are chosen members of our people to punish wicket devils like her.”

“Rakel is no devil.” Shemman looked back at the woman, then forcefully pushed her arm away from me. He said “Rakel, can you walk?”

I tried to stand up, but my legs still would not support me. “I can’t. Sorry.”

“Very well.” He said to the woman “Rubia. Stand down.”

The woman assassin, Rubia, said “it seems you have gone mad, darling, but I shall not let my love for you stand in the way of my duty.”

Excuse me, her love for him? I wanted to ask Shemman what exactly his relationship was with this woman, but thought better of it. Now was definitely not the time.

Shemman didn’t answer Rubia. Instead, moving just as fast as I remember him moving when he fought my father, he attacked with a pair of knives he produced from his sleeves. Rubia countered. The two exchanged blows so fast I couldn’t follow it. They didn’t stand still, either. Rubia was constantly trying to get around Shemman to get at me, forcing him to constantly sidestep to intercept her. This way, their duel resembled a pair of dancers circling a ballroom, with me at the center. The two seemed evenly matched. No—I think Rubia had a slight edge. I saw her blade nick the side of Shemman’s arm. It only drew a few drops of blood, but I knew in a fight like this, even the slightest distraction could make the difference.

We couldn’t stay here. I needed to get back to the Pocket. I tried for the Expanse again, but the addition of another Aijalon to the mix made it even more hopeless. Maybe, if I was at peak condition, I could have made some kind of magic work, but I was tired, in serious pain, and drained from the spell that kept the portal open. The Expanse continually eluded me.

I glanced desperately back in the direction of the portal. In the moonlight, I spotted the four thugs fighting someone very short. Suddenly, I realized it was Jepha. Despite being outnumbered 4 to 1, and despite the fact he was no more than 10, he was fighting. One of the men yelled “take this, brat!” and landed a blow with a crack that made me wince. Jepha cried out in pain.

Shemman, Jepha…they were risking their lives for me. And I was lying here on the ground, doing nothing.

“C’mon, Rakel.” I told myself as the sounds of battle raged around me. “You’re supposed to be the magical prodigy. Are you going to let a couple of Aijalon get to you?” Again, I opened myself up to the Expanse. Again, I was assailed with that sharp headache, but instead of letting go, I stubbornly clung to the Expanse. It felt like someone had driven a rusty knife into my head and was twisting it around, but gritted my teeth and refused to let go.

With a yell partly of determination and partly of pain, I let loose a blast of Space magic. This wasn’t a proper spell. I hadn’t performed any gestures, and the three Aijalon nearby prevented me from mentally performing the spell calculation. Instead, this was an uncontrolled burst of raw power. It was a horrifically inefficient use of the Expanse; I wouldn’t be able to use magic again for several hours. If Granny had seen this pitiful excuse for Space magic, she would have disowned me as her apprentice.

But despite all the flaws, my effort paid off. The blast acted like a concussive wave, knocking everyone in the clearing back. I had tried to focus on hitting my enemies, so as a result, Rubia and the thugs were pushed back further. This separated them from their respective combatants, giving Shemman and Jepha a moment’s break.

I couldn’t waste this opportunity. I had to get to the portal. But my body refused to move.

Shemman said “excellent job, Rakel!” He scooped me up in his arms, making me yelp in surprise. Carrying me like a princess, he bolted for the portal. In that moment, cradled in his arms, he looked down at me. Our eyes met.

Time seemed to stop while we held the gaze. In that moment, I couldn’t hear anything but the beating of my own heart.

Something grabbed my ankle. Then we were in the glowing mist of the portal. I felt the portal spell tremble as the portal activated, and the next moment Shemman and I tumbled to the familiar ground of the Pocket. I landed on top of him. My face ended up only inches away from his. When was the last time we had been this close?

“Rakel. Move.” There was something in his voice that demanded instant obedience. I rolled to the side, and with one swift motion, Shemman rose to his feet. Only then did I look up to see two other people: Jepha, standing a dozen feet away, and Rubia, about a foot from my feet, blade outstretched.