A Bright and Shiny Life

Fear jolts me back awake. Is this my fault? Did they discover the slaughtered camp sooner than I expected? Best not to mention it.

Tanyth laughs. “You know, I was a bit insulted when I heard about all the other cells being attacked, like I wasn’t even worth the bother. Absurd, I know. But it seems they were just saving me for last. Giving themselves time to consolidate their forces from the other attacks. I’m flattered.”

Well, if this was part of their plan, then it’s less likely I’m to blame, especially if they brought so many that Tanyth is worried. I start donning my gear.

She looks at me. “Gather all your stuff and head southeast– they haven’t finished the net there. We’ll hold them off while you escape.”

I nod. “Are you sure it won’t be better if I stay and help?”

She shakes her head. “There’s too many for a fledgling mage to make a difference. You’re too valuable right now to risk just to kill a few extra.”

I nod again and she goes to alert her cell. A moment later I am fully packed and dressed. I consider attaching the clasp to my hooded cloak, but it would take too long. The cloak’s natural dark green should be good enough to sneak around at night anyways.

I rush out the house under my concealment spell and head southeast into the woods as instructed. The farm is out of sight when a series of explosions disrupt the quiet night, followed by metal-on-metal clangs and screams. I keep running.

Suddenly several branches snap in front of me followed by swearing. I stop running and hide behind a tree. More murmured voices, they seemed disgruntled… likely distracted.

Creeping forward low to the ground I see four soldiers, one stuck in brambles. They were likely told not to use lights for fear of giving themselves away and so got separated from their larger group, then one of them stumbled and incapacitated themselves.

I should pass them… but, they are vulnerable. Fighting them by myself without a boon will be hard, but gaining a boon from them might keep me alive.

They’re only four and one of them has already taken themselves out. Concealment will let me eliminate one more, which will leave two… I should have the advantage. They’ll outnumber me, but clearly don’t have enhanced night vision, while mine is much better than human normal. Even if that weren’t the case, I am wearing dark green while they’re armour is almost silvery.

I consider briefly just roasting them with a firestream but decide against it. We’re deep enough into the woods that the light shouldn’t be seen by the main group, but there might be others nearby. Besides, it might kill them before I can sacrifice.

Instead, I find a couple good sized stones and untie the sling I keep wrapped around an arm like a bangle.

Gebal always said that no partisan should be without a sling. Just strips of twisted cloth: they’re cheap, extremely easy to hide, and ammunition is abundant. Sure, bows are probably more effective if you have them, especially if you don’t have any bullets. However, they’re still perfectly dangerous with stones, especially when used with enhanced strength.

I’m not a good shot with it, which is why I enchanted mine with increased accuracy.

The soldiers are still arguing over how best to free their companion when I loose a stone with an overhand throw and hit the farthest one right in the face.

They go down screaming and the others curse while closing their helmet visors.

“Where are they?” One shouts as they brandish their spear in my general direction.

I hit the other one in the helmet with a second stone. They go down with a clang, but quickly stand back up. The speaker panics and rushes towards a spot several paces to my side without them.

I sneak up behind them with a stout branch and bash them in the back of the knees– knocking them down with a thump. Then, leaping on their back I yank off their helmet. However, they’re stronger than me right now and easily throw me off before I can do anything else.

My back strikes a tree– painful but not deliberating. The soldier turns and sees me, so I take a short retreat through the trees and hide again. They try to follow but stumble from their damaged legs.

“Where’d they go?” Their companion says as they finally catch up to them.

“Vanished!” The first one shouts, clearly in pain.

“…where’s your helmet?”

“They bloody took it!”

“Why would they do that?!”

“How would I Ack!...”

They collapse with a cry as I hit them in their now exposed head with my last remaining stone.

“Shit, shit.” The last one curses as they decide to run after the direction of the shot.

Smiling, I slip past them and crouch next to the abandoned companion. With a practiced blur I cut my palm open, apply the symbols, and give their soul to Anar.

I rise feeling empowered, but not enough. I walk briskly to the first one I hit, and crouch over them.

“They’re here! Hey! They’re over here!” The one stuck in the brambles shouts.

I ignore them and perform the ritual granting me another burst of intoxicating power.

“Oh shit! It’s the Anar guy!” It seems I’m well known… troubling.

The soldier continues to shout, then, with a burst of strength, finally breaks free of the brambles only for me to kick their legs out under them before they can find their balance.

I leap on top, straddling the chest. They pull out a dagger and try to stab me, but I grab them by the wrist.

We struggle for control of the dagger with both hands pressing against each other’s. The dagger’s tip hovers inches from my throat. I’m a bit stronger than them with the boons but still too light. They lift me up and slam me down again, causing the dagger to glance my neck with a shallow cut.

Snarling, I anchor myself by wrapping my legs around theirs. The leverage allows me to push the dagger far enough away to safely grab my own blade.

Their eyes widen and they give one last effort to drive the dagger through my throat now that I am only holding it back with one hand, but I stab them through the forearm causing them to drop it.

Their weapon gone, they grab me by the hair with their good hand and try to pull me in for a headbutt. I bash the arm aside, yank their helmet off, and smash my dagger’s hilt into their face until they go unconscious.

Twigs break behind me and I dodge to the side an instant before something flies through the space with a splat.

“Shit!” The last soldier says as they stare fixated at where I was just crouched. I turn to where they’re looking and see a hand axe buried in the clumsy soldier’s head.

A howl of rage escapes against a voice that commands silence! They spoiled my prize!

I charge with a yell. They thrust their spear– but the fear and confusion manifest in their posture allows me to twist past the point and tackle them to the ground. They try to resist but I furiously tear off their helmet and repeatedly punch them in the face until long after they go still.

Eventually I stop– breathing heavy as I observe their pulped face.

Shit, I didn’t kill them already, did I?

I feel for the pulse and sigh in relief when I find it. I quickly start to apply the symbols but stop. I was counting on getting all four, I don’t know if I’ll get enough of what I need with just three.

The sacrifice boon normally applies its benefits evenly across all affected qualities, but the power can be forced into fewer areas for greater effect. The downside is this reduces the total benefit gained but can be focused on what the situation needs. The only exception is the enhancement to magic which cannot be reduced or enlarge as the rest of the boon is dependent on it.

Right now, what I need most is better hearing and night vision which will help me detect enemies and run easier in the dark. So, I change the symbols to focus the ritual entirely on those two facets.

The feeling when I give the soul is… weird. Rather than a general rush of pleasure, there’s a pressure building up behind my eyes and ears, then it’s gone, and everything seems a bit brighter. It’s still pleasant, but unsettling.

That done, I focus my new hearing on my surroundings. They’re still fighting at the house. Less explosions, but more sounds of metal. Then, quieter and closer, I make out several soldiers crashing through the woods towards me.

It’s time to go.

The fighting sounds continues as I run. It’s gradually dying down, but about ten minutes later it’s completely overwhelmed by a short whistle followed by a loud boom.

I curse recognizing the sound of a cascade orb being cast at near point-blank range. After that the fighting sounds are completely over.

I keep running for hours, stopping several times to use my crystal pendulum in the hope that the meagre tool might jam their tracking efforts while being too weak to give myself away.

I don’t know how well it’s working, but at the very least I don’t spot any more Arkothans. I do occasionally hear them but am able to easily slip away each time.

I don’t just rely on divination though. Gebal did teach me a few mundane ways to avoid pursuit, some of which can even annoy diviners. Nothing too fancy. Mostly just a few careful back trackings and ignoring my pendulum whenever I come across a stream in favour of wading through for a ways before following the divination again.

I stop next to a bush with berries that are edible but foul tasting and smell worse when their skin is broken. I smear some on my boots. A competent tracker should be able to figure it out after a while, but after a few miles I veer back into a stream and continue in it for perhaps a mile more. Hopefully they’ll have started to associate my smell with the pungent berry and forgotten my previous one by the time they find where I exit the stream.

Eventually even the stamina from the boons isn’t enough and I stop half collapsed against a tree– gulping down water and panting hard.

Running farther won’t do me any good. If I am being tracked, it’ll be by knights or chevalier mounts who’ll eventually catch up regardless of how long I keep running. If my efforts to throw them haven’t worked yet, then nothing I do will. So, either I’m safe, or I’m not. If I’m not, then it’s better to face them rested with my boons still active.

Besides, it’ll be another week before I leave Caethlon, and I won’t really be safe until I do. Running longer now won’t make enough of a difference.

I pull out the crystal pendulum and use it to find shelter. Since the divination isn’t about my enemies it can’t be countered by them (though it does still provide a minor counter against their efforts), and so quickly leads me to a large willow by a stream. I sigh in relief– happy to have water included.

Should I climb the tree or sleep at the base?... The better rest is worth more than being a little more concealed, so base.

I don’t start a fire, despite how cool the night is. Rather I just set my head against my pack and wrap myself tightly in my cloak. I fiddle with the magic clasp while eating a bit of hard tack and eventually get my cloak to reasonably match the colour of my specific surroundings (made visible by enhanced night vision). The fiddling distracts my mind and allows me to drift into a deep sleep with the soothing sound of the stream a few paces away.

My dreams are filled with blood. I lay naked on a cold stone slab as I’ve seen so many in the temple of Anar. A figure in the patriarch’s robes approaches with ritual knife drawn… but under the hood is my own face. I draw back the dagger, and stab into my chest.

I wake with a smile, then disappointment when the pleasure of sacrifice doesn’t come.