Reflex

“Ow! Ow! Ow! Couldn’t it be nicer to me?” I said as the spirit owl swiped its claws at me again.

The bonding process had ended with many scratches, but Lyla’s regeneration helped me heal them instantly. It was probably how she could stand living with this barbaric thing. After a long and grueling night, I was able to connect with the spirit owl with Lyla’s help.

All this work and pain to hear better. Why am I doing this? Those were the thoughts I had back then. But as Zeroc swung fist after fist at me. I had to thank the reflexes that the owl granted me.

The strengthened defense from the boars and Lyla’s superhuman regeneration could stop my injuries but not the pain. Also, I was cautious about using too much mana. Sabedra warned me that if I consumed mana at a faster rate than I could handle, it could lead to drowsiness and even fainting. That might be why I had passed out after the intense fight with the shifter.

I could feel that dodging didn’t use much of my mana at all. Another efficient ability was the owl’s superior hearing. It helped me keep track of the movements in the tunnels. That was how I knew Zeroc was coming while I was getting to Res.

More soldiers were closing in. I assumed that they had found the soldiers we knocked out. It was getting hard to avoid casualties in this raid. Zeroc didn’t seem to care about hurting bystanders; his focus was only on me. Lyla lured the soldiers away from our fight by leaping around with the help of her spear, using it like a pole in pole vaulting.

“Why are you resisting? Give up and I can show you what real contentment feels like. Ask your friend; she can tell you,” Res said. In the chaos, I had only just noticed that another figure had joined Res. It was Coyote, in a befuddled state.

The unexpected sight of her made the fog in my mind flare up. I couldn’t ignore it like I had practiced in the past two days, so I responded by grabbing onto my head with both hands and yelling with all the lucidity I had left, “Clarity!”

My spell sent a light flashing in my hands. The calming fog didn’t get a chance to overtake my mind before getting banished again. But in this window where I attended to my inner crisis, Zeroc advanced with another attack.

I couldn’t dodge it in time; his punch landed with a crack. A sharp twinge drilled into my chest; it felt like my inner organs were being rearranged. Maybe my bones had shattered, but I couldn’t really feel the effects, as Lyla’s regeneration must have restored any of my broken parts.

The force of the punch knocked me shooting through the air, and I crashed onto the stone walls of the cavern. This second impact was worse than the first; it was as if my spine was twisted and pulled apart.

After dropping back to the ground, I checked if I could still move my limbs. No problem there. Whatever damage my spine sustained must have healed already. I silently praised Lyla’s luck of being born with such an incredible ability.

I had little time to rest, as Zeroc was charging straight at me, ready for his next set of attacks. But the distance between us gave me an opportunity to predict his movements. I yanked the mana handcuff off my belt, and stared at him, waiting for the right moment.

Zeroc was strong, but Res didn’t seem to be able to brainwash him completely. She had to leave him in this half-awake, drugged state; presumably, only in this state, she could control him. But the trade-off was that he was too relentless and single-minded with his attack style. He didn’t have any tactics in his fighting; only fixated on throwing punches at me. With seconds in advance to plan my counterattack, stopping him was simple.

He got close enough and delivered another jab to me. I dodged it and slipped one cuff around his outstretched arm. The cuff glowed blue once it locked around Zeroc’s wrist. I didn’t know how long it needed to sap away Zeroc’s magic.

Design-wise, it wouldn’t make sense if the handcuffs didn’t work instantly; otherwise, the person being restricted could use their magic to break the handcuffs. Apparently, this logic didn’t apply. Because Zeroc followed up with another punch that had the same intensity as before; the mana handcuffs appeared not to have worked at all.

Is one side not enough? Do I need to bind both his wrists for the handcuffs to work? I should have asked Sabedra more questions when I had the chance. I leapt backwards to retreat, but Zeroc just kept pursuing me.

Another punch came. Since there were soldiers approaching me from other sides, I couldn’t dodge Zeroc’s punch for fear that the soldiers would be hit instead. I caught Zeroc’s fist, and I felt barely any impact at all. The punch only looked intimidating. The handcuffs did their job.

Zeroc wanted to unleash another attack with his remaining arm, but I was quicker. I thrust my open palm at Zeroc. The shove hurled him backwards. I didn’t give him a chance to stand back up, jumping onto him and binding his free hand with the other cuff.

With Zeroc’s hands restrained, I set my sights on Res, and immediately launched myself at her. As predicted, she hid behind the dazed Coyote, using Coyote as a human shield.

I deliberately tweaked the path of my advance, so I would miss the two of them and end up behind Res. Before Res could react, I reached out for her arm, ready to pull it into another set of mana handcuffs.

A surprise attack interrupted me. The spirit owl’s reflex drove me backwards to evade it. I saw cinders on the floor where I was standing. What? Oh no. I had a dreadful guess as to who the attacker was.

Not who. It was a what.

My widened eyes turned to the center of the area, where the miniature sun was raging. It looked redder than before. Fiery tentacles poked out from all around the orb, flapping about as if daring me to attack Res again.

“I will protect you, Lady Res!” a voice shouted. Kieran, the soldier commander, rushed between Res and me. He aimed his sword at me, stance readied to intercept any of my attacks.

I can assure you, the ball of fire can do a better job than you.

It would be annoying to deal with them both at the same time, so I rushed up to Kieran. Before he could react, I yanked his sword from him by the blade and snapped it in half using one hand.

He gaped at his broken sword. While he was preoccupied with his surprise, I yanked him by his arm and tossed him aside, using a little too much force. He fell unconscious instantly. I heard him still breathing normally, so he should be fine.

I turned my attention back to the blazing sphere. It had to be a magic tool. And Sabedra described magic tools as a sort of programmable appliance. The miniature sun might follow a set of specific instructions. It didn’t seem to act with flexibility or aggression. It only protected Res when I attacked her directly.

What about when Zeroc attacked Res? He fainted before he could reach her, so the ball of fire might constantly evaluate every action we took, and would respond if it felt like Res’s safety was threatened.

My goal would be to not threaten Res at all while capturing her. I took a deep breath. Why am I always forced to complete impossible tasks?

I put on a smile and strode confidently to Res. “I will take you someplace safe.”

But I stopped in my tracks before reaching Res, because Res had pulled out a knife and pointed it at Coyote’s shoulder.

“She won’t feel any pain, but the cut might remain in the future. Can you ignore that? Can you ignore the illusion that is the future?” Res asked.

She lowered the knife closer to Coyote’s shoulder. Without thinking, I dashed right at Res. The orb launched a volley of flaming shots at me.

I grabbed Coyote’s shirt collar and flung her aside. She might have scraped her knees when she fell, but with the projectiles fast approaching, I didn’t have time to be gentle.

I opened my arms wide and gave Res a deep embrace, tackling her onto the ground. The tennis-ball-sized spheres of fire splattered onto my back. The sizzling sounds accompanied the feeling of a brutal pinch, as if my skin was being peeled off.

My body was regenerating itself, but the blaze flared on, devouring any recovered flesh. I bit my lip to distract myself from the pain, long enough to strap the mana handcuffs around Res’s arms. Res tried to stab me with her knife in her struggle to avoid the handcuffs, but I effortlessly snatched it from her and tossed it aside.

Once I was done, I yelled with all my might, “Lyla! I need healing.”

Lyla made her way to me, but so did a couple of soldiers. I drew out my dagger and held it against Res’s neck. “Soldiers! Don’t come near me, or-”

This turned out to be an impulsive mistake nudged on by pain, as the magic orb detected danger towards Res and fired another batch of flames at me. Hey! I wasn’t actually going to stab her!