Chapter 36

Part 1

Part of me was happy Anesha hadn’t seen me fail so spectacularly. It was embarrassing, vexing, and disappointing that even with all my training, at the crucial moment, I fumbled! (Keep on him! Don’t let up!) The back-kick pushed me and Bryn apart. Relenting wasn’t an option; allowing another spell to be cast could’ve meant death! Bryn swiped his hand, and the orb appeared again! (Stomp ahead, front kick!) Again, my foot squished against that balloonish magic surrounding him! The blow rocketed him back and upwards on the disk, floating away from the schoolhouse! “You’re not getting away!” Not again, Bryn couldn’t escape!

“Filthy animal—” The warlock just couldn’t keep his mouth shut. Bryn ascended about twenty feet in the air, I leapt twenty-two, reeling back! A magical orb made with haste and fear wasn’t good enough to shield him from me. Every ounce of frustration was unleashed through a devastating overhead crescent kick! Sounding like a waterlogged exercise ball being whacked by an iron bat, twice, my kick smashed Bryn’s barrier and mage’s robe! He was blasted down and ricocheted off the ground!

The Magekin’s twirling body exploded from the bubble and ragdolled against a tree, causing his bulbous coat to spew water! Purple energy blared beneath the gold trimming of his mage’s robe; the flow of mana pointed to the armament protecting him, but something else too. (It’s like the robe drew in the mana, then popped. What’s happening? No time to figure it out! Have to end this!) I reached the ground before Bryn could recover. That was my perfect chance! (Even if I just break an arm, that should work!) Dirt flew from under my sneakers as I dashed for the downed warlock, ready for a basement dropkick! Suddenly, I was stopped. My head down, running with everything I had, and it felt like I’d crashed into a spongy wall! Sparkling in the moonlight, an merigold colored fist was held squarely against my cheek, halting all my momentum! (Where’d—)

“Surge, blistering water!”

“Fuck!” I threw up my guard as a geyser of water launched from Bryn’s palms! The spell’s force blistered my hands like a firehose, with a distracting sting along my right hand’s mangled fingertips! Everything was instantly saturated with warm water, including the mud beneath me! I was blasted back into the schoolhouse’s west side, through the opening; expecting that I’d be safe, though the assault continued!

Bryn climbed atop his broom-disc-thing and floated after me, keeping the pressure on. “Barbaric humans! You are ants – no primates!” My shoes slid across the quickly flooding schoolhouse floor! “Anesha Kyteler, Edith Ionesco, Kiara Kyteler, allowing themselves to be infected with such flights of fancy, by humans! Humans ruin all that they touch! Graewood is in turmoil! Master Caelan’s research, it would have changed the world, and yet, now it is slowed to a crawl!” His complaining was almost worse than the burning sensation along my hand! I swapped all the weight to my left, hoping to outlast the cascading spell and pain.

“Fate!” Jordie Mack and his team were still in the building! The three-man operation was to my back, still huddled around the injured Bobby Mack!

“I told you guys to run! What are you doing?! Leave!” The pressure did the exact opposite of what I hoped, it grew more intense as Bryn drew in more mana. “G-Get out of here! Now!” With just a second to spare, Mack Attack bolted off the stairs, dodging my propelled body! The seemingly endless flood ceased as my back broke the eastern wall, being rocketed off into the woods by one last explosion of water!

Crash landing in the dirt and grass, I was relieved to have survived. Knowing Bryn still was in the schoolhouse with Mack Attack, the aching across my body had to wait! I pushed up off my knees, and collapsed, or more precisely, my left side did. Flesh and bone had been gouged out of my shoulder, thighs, calf, hand, and forehead. Lochs of my hair and my fingertips were severed by blades of water. My shredded back was still recovering from the pukwudgie’s claw. I was keeping track of my own injuries; how couldn’t I? All of that, but Bryn’s last spell not only hit me the hardest, it snapped my forearm clean in half.

Part 2

Broken at the forearm, snapped clean in half, my radius or ulna, whatever, pierced the skin! It was worse than Anesha breaking my wrist, or even pieces of flesh being blasted away by water earlier! The slightest movement sent fire through every vein, muscle, and centimeter of skin, down to my numb hand! Any ability to move a finger in my left hand was gone. That hard, crimson stained, and viscera covered bone, sat atop skin with blood gushing out of the hole it tore to escape my arm!

“Young Fate!” Bramble struggled in through the brush, getting his paws slightly entangled amongst the weeds. “My word…” He immediately turned back and grabbed a far too large branch up in his mouth, lugging it over to my side. “Lean over, boy.” I did as he said, and the dogman suddenly latched onto the shirt under my jacket!

“Hey, what are you doing?!” He tore swathes of fabric from my shirt! “I like this shirt, you know?”

“Your arm, it will heal faster and correctly if we can put it into a splint.” He grabbed another long piece of wood. “I will assist. We must move quickly! Time is of the essence!” Bramble was right. I had no idea if any hit dealt to Bryn was even substantial. As far as I knew, he could've been attacking Jordie and the others totally unabated! “Ready yourself.” Pulling the wallet from my back pocket, I prepared for the worst. Just leaving my arm dangling was painful, but having the familiar push it forward with his fuzzy dog head was excruciating! My teeth chomped down on the leather wallet so intensely the money inside was likely ruined. Laying my fractured forearm down across the wood, with Bramble forcing the bone back in through tender flesh, we managed to work the makeshift splint into place! “From here, let the seed heal you. It is best we retreat.”

“Can’t. We’re too deep in, aren’t we? Plus…” The Mack Attack crew was still inside. Wasting any time would put them in danger! “I’m going. Ugh…” Searing pain through my arm wouldn’t subside. It hurt so bad, I wanted to vomit again on an empty stomach! In opposition to that, my other wounds had slowly begun to close! (The seed healed my other hand? That and…I think the wounds on my legs are closing.) A small relief; bleeding from my other wounds and severed fingertips slowly petered out as pain faded. (…Am I going to have to kill Bryn? Dammit! I’ll break every bone in his body and destroy his familiar if I’ve got to! At least then he’ll be alive.) Not my most thorough plan but disabling Bryn seemed like the only way to avoid taking his life. Staggering back toward the schoolhouse, mana rushed outward! (Move!) I barely avoided another onslaught of water blasts! (Am I giving off that much mana? Are his senses that sharp?!) More water drills were volleyed from inside the building, almost too precise. Even managing to dodge them by hitting the dirt and rolling, I couldn’t breathe a sigh of relief! (I can’t get close!) Mustering some strength, I leapt back into the brush!

“Young Fate!” The dogman concealed himself so masterfully among the bushes, I’d forgotten he was even with me! “Approaching from the front may not yield the best results.”

“I get that, but how else can I get in on him…?” Though I prepared for more spells, nothing came. “He’s not coming out?” Tracking the shots’ angles, I could determine Bryn also hadn’t moved much further than the building’s opened west end. “Bramble, am I giving off enough mana to be tracked right now?”

“Obviously.”

“No, I mean, am I giving off enough to be tracked perfectly? Bryn’s been pinpointing me this whole time.”

“I cannot make assumptions about his tracking ability, yet few Graewood Magekin are trained in the ways of magic hunting. To my knowledge, it is far more common in Europe. Even My Lady was not trained in such techniques. Considering her master…one would believe if it were desired, she would have been.”

“Then, how? And why isn’t he coming out?” Muttering boomed from inside the schoolhouse. It must’ve been Bryn’s familiar again. “I doubt I can reason with him. A show of force is all I’ve got.” An idea came. “Could he be more injured from my last kick than I realized?” Considering that Bryn was launched into a tree and nearly wrapped around it, the warlock was lucky to have survived. “If I can’t go in from the front, then I’ll make him come out! Bramble, find the Mack Attack guys and get them outside.”

“I can only assume we are on the same page.” Both Bramble and I dashed toward the schoolhouse! The air grew damp; another blast was coming! Through the wall, as expected, where Bryn last was; spirals of water! Not even bothering to weave, I hopped them, cringing at the sensation of bones in my left arm jostling beneath the skin! Even hugged tight to my chest, the slightest movement poured fire backwards from my hand to my shoulder! Another volley came; I back flipped away from those! The shots were clearly following me, and not Bramble; who, with his chubby dogman body, was struggling into the east end. Those short shar pei legs were only but so nimble, and scaling the wall I was blasted through was proving difficult.

(Hurry up, Bramble! Not sure if I’m going to be able to keep his attention!) A shot nearly grazed my forehead, but I shifted back in time! Those crawl marks being twisted sent shivers back up my spine again! Another targeted my left thigh. (I can dodge this—) The pressure was lower, weaker, but four shots fired simultaneously! Each made contact, blistering my right foot, sternum, left shoulder, and thigh! (Damn! That hurt, but I need to stay focused.) My plan was already in motion! If I was too beat up, all that effort would be wasted! Bryn’s accuracy didn’t waver, but the shots came less frequently. (He must be running low on mana. He’ll have to draw some from the area soon! It’s the perfect—)

“Young Fate!” Bramble’s voice! “Now, go!” He brought the Mack Attack crew through the hole; the time had come! I put everything into my battered legs. Shots were incoming, but they didn’t matter. I halted completely, digging into the mud behind my sneakers, and leapt with all my strength!

Before I knew it, I had soared into the sky to meet the partly shadowed moon staring back at me. Over my left shoulder, the lights of Whispering Hills shined beyond the forest’s edge, and past that, Gold River. Innocent people lived in those towns with the world around them changing rapidly. Much like in Greenville, regular humans were about to drown in a world of magic and monsters, with me at the epicenter. If I was going to selfishly live, and fight for my own survival, then I needed to do so for them too!

Four beams of water targeted me! Twisting to maneuver between them on my way back down caused all my wounds to strain. Weaving around the blasts, I clenched the muscles in my core and legs… “Why don’t you come out and see me?!” Crashing down on the roof with all of my weight! The schoolhouse’s windows exploded, the roof crunched, and the ground around the building trembled and fractured! Inside, brittle walls and floors collapsed throughout the structure, filling the dilapidated former school with debris as everything imploded! The Mack Attack crew and Bramble covered their heads while diving into the bushes; just escaping enormous dust clouds being belched outward! “Phew.” It took a minute to hit me. “Ah.” That could’ve killed Bryn! “Ah!”

Part 3

Their movements were synched, ballet like, moving in tune perfectly despite their arms being fashioned to their backs in what could only be an agonizing manner. Akin to dolls, familiars in corsets wheezed and gasped under bulbous leather wrapped heads. If the manifestations had organs, abdomens squeezed firmly within their shiny black prisons, they would have been inflamed. “Trounce her! Drag the wretch before me on her knees, beaten and made humbled!” Extending his riding crop magically into a whip; Killian cracked it, sending a shiver up his two familiars’ tightly laced spines!

A flurry of thunderous kicks boomed by me; retreating, I ended up with an oak to my back! Powerful enough strikes to shatter that tree trunk upon contact without losing momentum, a last moment dodge saved my life. Their style was undeniably beautiful, twirling with every graceful movement; lo' they were no match for my master. Master, even when her back was to someone, never left an opening. Walking behind her, it was akin to following a lioness. No, a ‘lioness’ couldn’t properly describe the fierce energy emanating from all parts of her demeanor; that woman was unlike any other, human or Magekin!

“Ignite!” A small spell, that flickering light burst forth from my snapping fingers. The explosion successfully interrupted one familiar’s onslaught! Through smoke and destruction; however, the other persisted! (Foolish!) Beautiful as those wide swinging attacks were, they remained amateurish at best! “Raze, earth beneath my feet!” Ducking under that kick, my next strike would be devastating! A combination of magic, and technique, master would’ve been proud! (Infernal Serpent strike!) My leg, wrapped in searing fiery fury struck! The split was magnificent, a perfect ninety degrees upward! Like a serpent striking a bird too foolish to respect its fangs, my blazing foot swung outward and up to bite the head of the familiar!

“What?!” I relished in Killian’s disbelief. “Do not stand there, get her!” Again, he cracked his whip, and the familiar I’d blasted back with my ‘ignite’ spell, chased! I barely dodged away from the charred manifestation, refusing to relent! Continuing to cartwheel back allowed me some space; oh, how I regretted breathing in the scent of burnt leather along that familiar’s shapely legs. “Shred!” I knew that spell.

My arms, the second mana graced my wrists, I knew of Killian’s plan. An extra strong leap moved me up and away from the sundering spell, leaving vibrating mana to tear apart air alone. (I need to counterattack!) The second my feet reached the ground; calculations ran through my head; I called upon my mana within me and spoke the words! “Striking flash—” The familiar I kicked! It was in my face, obstructing my vision! “—oh thunderous arrow!” The lightning bolt shot forth over my forearm, launched by its electrical magic bowstring, discharging every joule into the creature’s head! (Another!) I reeled back, loading another bolt. Once more, my view was blocked by that familiar. The shot left my arm, aimed for Killian, though, I knew it would be intercepted. Crackling electricity resounded as it made contact with the leather-bound manifestation’s head, knocking it off its feet. (I must conserve mana. Only but so many more of those lay in my arsenal for now, so it would be wise to change tactics.) My cache was not low, yet maintaining it and my focus on the barrier was essential!

“Bind!” Targeting my legs, I evaded.

(He keeps changing spells. Killian, you are unnerved. Likely only having fought in training with other Magekin, maybe he had slaughtered some beasts. Regardless of one’s magical ability, it all means nothing if one is not trained to use them.) I resummoned my saber, assessing the situation. (His collar is high, up to the chin. My blade may not be able to cut through the mage’s robe, lo' his head is unprotected!) I chased, full speed! One of the familiars jumped, trying to run me through with their pointed stiletto feet, yet I weaved!

“Ignite!” Killian frantically unleashed a spark, which I cut it down with my blade! The explosion sent a shock through my right hand, numbing it, lo’ I was too close for Killian to make an escape! “Fool.” Truly, I was one for underestimating Killian. Obviously, if I were prepared to face Magekin from Graewood; the inverse was to be expected, and they possessed the extra resource of my master. “Now!” A surge of mana from the ground, I misjudged it! Like a flower blooming through dirt, the chasmic maw of a familiar swallowed up the gravel and earth beneath me, taking away my footing! In any other case, I’d have recovered without difficulty, lo’, behind my head, I could sense the two familiars’ mana; a set of kicks were aimed at me! With only a second for decision, I vaulted off the lip of the gargantuan flowered familiar, reaching to connect my blade with Killian’s head! A mistake.

Deep within the being’s wide spiraling mouth, an eye watched my movements; launching forth an attack! I could only block, taking the hit to my wrists and neck! I landed on the ground, unable to fully right myself, but with minimal harm! (What hit me? A spell?) Chains. Long and gleaming, ran from a black leather collar and cuffs around my neck and wrists.

“Hehehe…” That laugh, of course. “Hahaha!” Into a cackle. “Fight in close, maintain pressure, attack with strikes! As expected, as I thought, as I knew! Your master, you should curse her name for exposing your strategies to us! Hahaha!” Unfashioning the bindings proved immediately pointless. Upturning tremendously large mounds of earth, that familiar lumbered free of its cavernous hole. Diminutive, yet sturdy black legs sprouted outward, similar to flower stems, holding up a leather tulip-shaped body. That spiraling mouth was akin to petals; lined with silvery beads on the lips, chains squeezed through the red folioles. “Time to rein in the dog.”

A tug came from the chains, drawing me in! My boot soles slid through the gravel and dirt; I could not manage stopping as the maw of that familiar reeled in the chains! “Ig—”

“None of that!” A band came from the tulip’s maw, wrapping my mouth and sealing my speech! “You shall learn to speak only when allowed.”

“…” A Magekin is rendered helpless without use of their mouth and hands in many cases. Should one be bound in such a way, chances of survival would be minimal. (How…exciting!)

Part 4

I jumped down off the roof with my legs going to jelly as soon as I landed. Nothing felt broken or dislocated; all the tension must’ve left me on impact even with the seed pumping mana like crazy. Seeing the school then, that destruction was heartbreaking! Such a lovely establishment, obliterated by me! Only the frame, parts of the walls, roof, and beams still stood from where I could see. “Fate!” My name being called shook me!

Being so intensely focused on Bryn, Jordie Mack and Mack Attack had slipped my mind. “Jordie? You guys, ok?”

“Are you okay, bro?! Look at you!” Blood soaked through my pants from reopened wounds, still sopping wet from that water cannon, and my hair was cut at an awkward angle; none of that counted my wounds. Fingertips severed on my right hand, left forearm barely held together in a splint, back had at least closed up. I was an absolute mess.

“…I’ll survive.” The thick collar of my khaki jacket hadn’t been so much as scratched; one of many tiny victories noted to keep me from plummeting into despair. “For now, you guys back up. I need to check something. Bramble, stay with them.” Managing to survive while protecting people didn’t assuage that feeling of failure. All that training only to barely win a fight and be forced to kill someone! Half a building was dropped onto that warlock; I couldn’t disable or restrain him. (I…got too hotheaded. He didn’t need to die; I hardly tried to reason with him.) Grief was quickly discarded as a geyser shot up from within the depths of the collapsed building!

“Fate, was it?” Warm mist filled the forest, raining down upon us. “Listen closely, Fate! I, Bryn Wooton, will not only make a name upon your death and defeat…” Emerging from the ruins, Bryn limped with murderous intent in his eyes and a monster upon his back. “I shall carry that feat, with my head held high as I enter Lord Caelan’s family!” He shrieked. From beneath the golden ribbons affixed to his mint green mage’s robe, starkly meridgold arms, four of them, coursed with purple mana pumping throughout the veins. Those lengthy arms, fanning outward like dragonfly wings, were thinner than paper yet wider than a car’s doors! Around his neck, from beneath the shimmering ribbon, a flat, nearly two-dimensional, rectangular head slid out. “Me…and my masterfully crafted familiar, deserve to walk alongside such a master.”

With a frenzied red eye, and smile to match, that flat familiar spoke. “Bryn, now is the time to kill them. All of them.”

End of chapter 36