A FARAWAY LORD OF LIGHTNING part II

In a split-second of silence, Tia's stone magic suddenly bursts forward.  The bullet-rock is sent perfectly straight from her staff orb and to her target.  It hits the small shield of one of the mercenaries, practically exploding in his hand.  All the other mercenaries look to him as he falls to the ground.  They all suddenly jump behind trees for cover, most of them smiling from hoping for a fight.  Tia quickly exhales, then focuses her power to be ready to fire another shot of stone magic.  The lead mercenary raises his hand for all the men to hold their positions for now.

Tia shouts at them in a commanding voice.  "Between a merc-leader and a Crest Mage, we both know that was a warning shot!  I won't miss next time!"

A soft and distant thunder rolls in the distance.  A thunder that inches closer to them all.

The mercenary leader, Steinar, glances to the sky.  He then looks to his man with a broken hand on the ground.  He tries not to scream in pain, grunting comically and holding it in.  Steinar rolls his eyes at him.  He then looks toward the farmhouse and shouts back.  "Sorry, are we trespassing Miss?!  We didn't mean to, of course.  My name's Steinar.  We just had a party and been drinking-- we were told there was a shortcut--"

"Cut the crap!"  Tia interrupts him.  Steinar lightly smiles.  "You're sent by the Prince!  Obviously sending his own soldiers to burn down his citizen's farms would be pretty bad for appearances, wouldn't it?!"

The mercenary with the broken hand finally manages to lean himself behind a tree.  "Guess she figured us out already, huh boss?"

"Shut the hell up."  Steinar casually commands him.  He thinks for a moment, glancing at the broken shield for a few moments.  "Stone magic.  That was interesting, but... it wasn't impressive."  He then shouts back at Tia.  "Okay-- I may be a mercenary leader... but you're no Crest Mage!"

Once more, thunder rolls by, louder and longer.  Tia maintains her cool, but slightly squints her eyes in frustration.  She watches, ready for her next shot.

"Tell ya what!"  Steinar adjusts one of his leather gloves.  "If you let me step forward, you and I can reach a negotiation!  I'm betting you're just a hired mage following through on a job-- hell, I can respect that!  So let's just you and me talk!  How about it?!"

Tia waits for a moment before responding.  "I can hear you fine right now!"

Steinar gives an irritated expression.  "Dammit.  This is already a pain in the ass."  He then shouts to Tia, beginning his negotiation.  "I have a new contract here with me!  We were just told to scare up the place a bit if you refused the new offer!  Let me walk up in peace, and I can show you the new contract so you can actually read it."

"Just say the new offer!"  Tia is growing just slightly nervous as she holds the next shot, using her energy to hold it back.  A third thundering in the skies as it gets closer quickly.  The wind rises ever so slightly.

"Nothing on the farm changes!  The offer's even been dropped in your favor!  We just need a signature!  Fifty-percent tax and everybody wins!"

Grant suddenly stands out of his chair enraged.  "Over forty-percent of my profits go to keeping this farm alive and paying my workers!  Honest men who you bastards scared off!!  Now, maintaining this damn place got twice as hard-- you idiots!!"

Tia reaches over and makes Grant sit back down.  She whisper-shouts at him with frustration.  "You trying to get killed?!  What if they have archers, or--"

Ksssshhhhh!!!

The crystal orb on Tia's staff suddenly shatters in a dozens of pieces in a quick flash of light that dies.  Her eyes are widened as she hears the sound, knowing all her magic capability just vanished.  Grant sees this too and his eyes also freeze with shock.  Tia swiftly turns to look at her staff.  "What?!  No-- what just--"  Tia realizes what is happening, and she acts fast, grabbing Grant and pulling him as they both jump back and in through the screen door into the house just as several arrows hit the balcony in various spots.  They're not hit as they both scramble to take cover on each side of the opened balcony door.

Steinar gives a psychotic smile of victory.  "Her staff is broken!  Burn the house to the ground, boys!!"

Emboldened by their sudden steep advantage against them, the mercenaries cheer as their bloodthirst rushes them out of their forest cover and straight toward the farmhouse.

Looking at her broken staff.  "Dammit.  Anti-magic-- I didn't even notice."  Tia looks to Grant.  "Come on-- we got to get out of here!"

Grant is motionless in his mental defeat.  The shouting of the mercenaries getting closer with each moment.  "What else was I expecting to happen?  Fighting back like that.  I should have just let them have it.  My pride has killed this place.  My family's legacy to ashes under my name."

Tia's emotions surface through her anger and determination to keep living.  "Oh-- shut up, old man!  You can still live your life!  So just let go so we can get out of here now--"

Silence.  Complete silence.  Tia looks to the doorway.  Even their running has stopped.

Inching toward the balcony with caution, she begins to see the mercenaries in her view.  They are indeed, all stopped in their tracks.  They all look at something ahead of them, at the front of the house.  They are not nervous, only cautious.  Tia inches a bit closer to the edge of the balcony to look down and see for herself.  Tia's eyes widen at the sight.  Her expression is one of both fear and thankfulness.

Reiji stands between the mercenaries and the farmhouse.

I stand in front of cutthroats and killers.  Warriors of experience.  I hide my trembling hands.  The house's front lantern is directly behind me.  To them, I should only be a dark silhouette.  I don't have the nerve to shout, but maybe I don't need to.  Remain calm.  They're close enough to hear me.

"Get out of the way, now."  Steinar commands me.  I silently fight against the part of me that wants to.  One of the mercenaries-- an archer, raises his aim straight at me.  I focus intensely and can feel the air is absolutely electric as the winds pick up and another thunder bellows by us.  Steinar holds his hand to his archer, holding the shot.  Maybe I should finally test this out.  Steinar gives me a devious smile.  "Well I feel no bloodlust or malice from you at all, so I'll give you one more last chance to step out of our way."

"It sounds like you all want to die tonight."

Practically all the mercenaries give either wide eyes or a slight step backwards.  Did I really just say that?  I was trying to sound cool, but that was... almost crazy.

Steinar gives a chuckle then becomes serious.  "Shoot him."

The archer fires his arrow at me.  He aimed for my shoulder.  Instead of hitting me at all, the arrowhead hits something else, and in a sudden pink flash of static, the arrow falls to the ground.  Holy crap!  It actually works!  No, no-- maintain your cool.  Don't move.  Intimidation is the best tactic right now.  No one has to die.

The archer is completely stunned, and so are most of the men, including Steinar.  The archer is visibly mad, as if I just cheated him.  Instead, he swiftly turns to face one of their own men, hiding in some bushes near the house.  "What the hell was that?!"

The mercenary in the bushes is a mage, holding a very short staff with crystal orb.  He sweats from sheer confusion.  I see.  Sneaky guy.  He was the one who disrupted Tia's staff somehow.

"Catch!"  Tia's concerning voice, I immediately know she's talking to me.

I swiftly glance back and upward to her.  She tosses something almost plate-like.  I barely catch it, desperately fumbling for a few moments.  Suddenly, all of my cool and dangerous aura has practically vanished.  I look in my hands to see I'm holding a mask of some sort.

Tia shouts at me.  "Don't let them see your face!"

I put it on.  It's a very simplistic mask in its facial design.  Four-point star shapes for eyes.  No mouth.  Two colors, split down the middle.  A demonic jester?  This'll work for now.

Steinar then smiles, having figured it out.  "I think I get it now.  You're just a novice mage playing hero.  You got a few tricks to try and scare us, but the truth is you're terrified right now!"

Time to deal with this, now.  Here goes nothing.  I get down on one knee, placing my right palm flat on the ground.

"Get him!!!"  Steinar remains in the back after ordering all of them to attack me at once.  Perfect.

With the closest mercenaries only ten feet from me, I do it.  Focus my power on top and across the ground like a shockwave.  Focus on the amount!  After a sudden flash of pink bolts that zap across the ground and hit all of them at once.  They are electrocuted for less than a second, and they all fall face-forward at the same time, completely limp.  Upon hitting the ground, they all let go of their weapons too.

I stand back up to my feet and brush my knee.  I see that they are all still breathing.  No deaths.  I see that Steinar was slightly affected by it as he is now on his knees.  I must have got him with half the power?  I tilt my head in a curious way.  "Huh.  What do ya know?"

Tia suddenly starts laughing from the balcony.  "I knew my student was a genius!"

I can see that Steinar's legs and arm have gone numb for now.  I stare at him as he scrambles to pick up his sword.

I start walking to him.