Vengeance

 The following day they were assigned for another hunting mission. Madoc once again didn’t show up and Samuel was looking around with guilt clawing at his insides. He hadn’t just failed his friend, he made the situation even worse.

“Hey,” he greeted Yorath and Arianwen as they showed up. Their faces seemed haggard and Arianwen’s eyes were red. Yorath scowled at him and turned away, guiding Arianwen along without saying a word.

It hit Samuel harder than he had expected. Somehow he had managed to alienate the only friends he had made since coming to the new world in a single day.

“This mission will be a step up from your usual duties,” Ivor said. “This time your prey will also be dangerous.”

That came as somewhat of a surprise to Samuel. He had considered at least some of their hunts so far to be quite dangerous already.

“This monster has attacked a small village outside the city. The people have already evacuated and now we are tasked with disposing of the creature. As this is a dangerous mission, only the top three of this class will participate,” Ivor said. The last part sent murmurs across the classroom. “Yorath, Arianwen and Samuel. I will be your supervisor for this task.”

Samuel glanced at the duo. Arianwen gave a tiny sad smile, while Yorath didn’t react at all. Samuel could only sigh. Yorath had been a difficult person to get along with from the start. Now it looked like all the progress they had made was undone.

Ivor flew them to the outskirts of the village.

“I will leave you to do this your own way and will only intervene in case of an emergency,” Ivor said before gliding away and began observing them from above.

Yorath took point and approached the village. From behind the cover of the undergrowth they took several minutes to observe their situation until they finally saw their quarry. Samuel’s blood froze with dread. Even though Ivor had described their prey, he had hoped it was only a coincidence. Scurrying between the houses was an insectoid creature with a pair of claws and too many pairs of thin legs. His missing hand began hurting and he felt like throwing up.

“Anwen, we need to figure out if there is a usable water source. Freezing the insect should be our best option. Get to a vantage point and watch the creature. If it gets too close, make a distraction so I can get away,” Yorath said. He didn’t spare Samuel as much as a glance.

“Yorath, we all need to work together,” Samuel said as the two began enacting their plan.

“I don’t want to have anything to do with you. How can I trust you?” Yorath said. “Just be quiet and don’t get in our way.”

“Stop being so stubborn. You can hate me, just do it after our lives are no longer at stake,” Samuel said. That made Yorath stop. Emotions were warring across his face.

“Yorath,” Arianwen’s quiet voice pleaded.

“Did you do it?” Yorath whispered.

“What?” Samuel asked.

“Don’t play dumb with me,” Yorath hissed. “I saw your face. You wanted it. As sickening as that was, what bothers me the most is that you would have her join in as well.” He glanced back at Arianwen for a second. “What he did was wrong. I’m sure of it. He wasn’t always like that, was he?”

He was right, Samuel had understood but was reluctant to reply. “I didn’t do it. I went after you two but you were already gone.”

It looked as if a massive weight was lifted from Yoarth, though the scowl still remained. “I see.” He took a moment to think. “We can talk about it later.”

“I can try to get to the top of that barn,” Samuel said and pointed. “I would be able to see if we have a pond or well that we can use for this thing.”

“I don’t see any good way to get up there. I’m sure there are ladders in some of the buildings but we can’t really look for those right now,” Yorath said.

“Don’t worry about it. I can do it,” Samuel said with a smile.

He sneaked towards the pond through the tall grass. Despite his confident words, the thought of going anywhere near that monster was almost too much to bear. He got to the part of the barn where the roof was closest to the ground. He turned around and saw Yorath. He was looking with a confused expression and indicated that there was no danger just yet. I will pay it back. Even if it was not possible for it to be the same specimen that had disfigured him all that time ago, he felt that overcoming the monster would in some strange way set free from something within him.

Samuel sent out a blast of energy to the ground which sent him flying to the roof. Even without the use of the stronger artefacts he and Madoc had used during their escape from the wasteland, his control over magic was just able to get the upper part of his body over the edge of the roof. Without the second hand it was hard for him to get a sufficient grip on the shingles and he began sliding back down. Fear turned his grip to stone and a bent tile dug into his hand and brought him to a painful stop. I wish Madoc were here. The thought had come unbidden and it was hard for him to know whether it was the sharp wood digging into his hand or the memories of escaping slavery with Madoc that was threatening to bring tears to his eyes.

A loud crash sounded from a different part of the village and chilled Samuel’s blood. If it wasn’t for his two companions, the monster would have been upon him without him ever realising it. The speed at which the insect was able to attack with devastating might was still clear in his mind.

With a grunt he pulled his legs onto the roof and began crawling to the top. Even that simple action required a great amount of exertion. He peeked over the edge to where he thought the sound had come from. The coast was clear and that made it even more terrifying as the beast could be anywhere. He crawled forward and began looking for a source of water. There was a well in the middle of the houses, however it was impossible to say whether it was operational as it looked neglected and partially collapsed.

He looked back and tried to make out Yorath and Arianwen in the dense foliage but couldn’t see either of them. I hope they weren’t discovered while providing the distraction for me.

A sudden crack sounded next to him and he was struck by flying pieces of the roof. The terrifying monster was standing on the other side of the partially shattered roof. Without sparing the situation a thought, Samuel shot himself away with a sideways blast of energy, making the roof cave in behind him. Can Ivor really act fast enough to save me from this thing?

As he was falling he heard Yorath’s shouts from afar but could not make out the words. They were in all likelihood about the danger that had just befallen him. He used another blast to try and break his fall to the ground, which still knocked the wind out of him. There was no time to waste. He turned to look around and began scrambling to his feet, his hand clumsy along the slick grass.

The prey turned hunter was already upon him, gliding through the air. Behind it, Yorath turned up and sent a large fireball flying. It made impact the moment the large insect touched the ground. Samuel had no time to be amazed at his accurate trajectory prediction as the blast of fire had no visible effect on the beast. We are doomed without water.

It was a single dash away from Samuel and he knew he was done for. However, the same moment it locked its legs for the deadly spring, Samuel was blasted away from the side. He grazed the wall of a building and rolled off. Looking back the way he had stood, Arianwen stood with her hands extended and a shocked expression. There was a loud crack as the monster broke through a wall of the building in front of which Samuel had stood just a moment ago.

Samuel got up and had to get his wet hair from his face. Wait. He had landed at the edge of a small pond.

“Water,” he shouted to get the attention of the other two. A small ball of fire flew straight up like a tiny firework followed by the second from a bit further away.

The game was on. He sent a stone flying into the house where the beast had landed and kept up the barrage while moving away to the other side of the pond. Yorath showed up from around the corner and positioned himself nearby.

“Anwen,” Yorath shouted.

A moment later she came running around the house. The monster spotted her and was not deterred by Samuel’s assault. He tried a larger rock and managed to knock the beast back just a little, however, it didn’t do any visible damage despite being the largest rock he was able to throw with sufficient speed at his current level of power. The amulet in his pocket felt hot through the shirt. It would be so easy for him to use it, he was even bleeding already. He reached for it and felt the chain through his shirt. His heart was drumming in his chest. This is it. It’s finally mine. All this power.

“Samuel,” Yorath hissed and distracted Samuel’s thoughts. Several globes of water were already hovering around him.

Samuel gave a quick nod and Yorath sent the balls flying. The first landed just behind Arianwen, leaving a small puddle, while the second flew towards the creature. Samuel froze the projectile and it flew in several sharp pieces. The monster evaded the projectiles and dashed after Arianwen once more.

Meanwhile she altered her course to keep the puddle between herself and the monster. As soon as it began winding for a dash, Samuel froze the puddle, which caused it to lose traction and began tumbling forward. Arianwen got out of the way and Yorath was able to land hits with two of the three remaining globes of water. Without giving it a chance to recover, Samuel began freezing it. The amount was proving almost to great for him and Arianwen joined in as the monster regained its footing and attempted to strike again. It’s movements grew sluggish.

Despite his exhaustion, Samuel felt the need to keep channelling his power and it was too hard to stop. It was as if several arms were holding his own hand extended and were drawing the power from within him. The presence of someone right next to him was palpable though he saw nothing. His knees began buckling and he was about to fall over when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“That’s enough,” Ivor said. “You all did well. We can take it from here.”

Several more wizards appeared out of nowhere and immediately began probing the frozen monster. After a couple of flashes of light, it was restrained and loaded onto large board, with which it was then flown away from the scene.

Ivor and the three students stared after them as they disappeared over the horizon.

“What are they planning to do with it?” Arianwen asked.

“Study it.” Ivor’s answer was as unhelpful as ever. After a moment he continued. “These creatures aren’t supposed to wander outside the wasteland. We have to figure out what it was doing here, how and why it arrived at this place. Something bad may be afoot.”

The flight back to the Academy was spent in awkward silence.