The Last Technomancer

Chapter 11-Felix

The sharp echo of a gunshot pierced the predawn silence, jolting me awake. I sat up abruptly, my heart pounding in the quiet of the hospital shelter. Corwin and Jackie, who had been resting nearby, stirred alertly at the sound.

"Did you hear that?" Jackie whispered, her voice tense as she looked towards the tent flap, her face illuminated by the dim light filtering in.

"Yeah," I replied, my voice low. I glanced around at the others in the shelter. I crept to the closed door of the shelter and opened it slightly to peer out. What I saw chilled me to my bones. Armed men moved throughout the camp grabbing people and rounding them up. Through the dark I couldn’t quite make out what they looked like other than large hulking masses.

Human level 10

A quick inspection made me realize just how out of our depths we were. In the camp no one had hit level 10 yet, the highest of us were hovering around 7 or 8. I glanced out toward the tent Maura was staying in, she was all by herself at the edge of the camp. Suddenly a figure ran out of her tent pulling her along by the hand.

“Shit,” I hissed out under my breath.

“What’s wrong.” Corwin sat up from his cot supporting all of his weight on his good arm.

“Get dressed,” I instructed turning from my view from the tent flap. “Quietly, and quickly. There are high level people in camp. I think they’re taking us over. And I just saw them take Maura.

Jackie stood wide-eyed in stunned silence. While Corwin swung his legs over the cot and slid silently to the ground. Corwin attempted to pull up his pants but he was not used to navigating things with one arm yet.

“Felix.” He pleaded more than a little embarrassed at his unspoken request.

I turned and help him finish dressing. “Okay, Corwin. I’ve got an idea but you are not going to like it. I’m going to bandage your arm back up. You need to act way worse than you are. Under no circumstances do you tell them you’re a mage. Any surprise we have could be the difference between getting away or not. I don’t know what their end goal is.”

Corwin agreed. “Sure but why won’t I like it.”

“Oh buddy, that’s not the part you won’t like. We need Jackie to wear her camouflage cloak and leave. Hopefully to find others who can help us but either way we need to get her away from these men.” I softly urged Corwin to understand.

Corwin’s eyes swam and he nodded. I turned to the shellshocked Jackie who was shaking her head.

“No no no no no. I’m not leaving you guys. I’m not going to be alone.” She begged. I fetched the cloak from the belongings she’d strewn in the corner where she’d been staying.

“Corwin keep an eye out for a moment for me while I get your sister ready.” I grabbed our 15 remaining health potions and put them in Jackie’s spatial storage bag along with the leftover hunk of bread from dinner and a waterskin.

“Felix. Felix they’re coming this way!” Corwin hissed. “I think I can hit one of them” Corwin readied a firebolt and flung it out of the flap of the tent. “Dammit,” he swore. “I missed… I caught a tent on fire. At least I think it bought us some more time.”

Corwin turned and grabbed Jackie by the shoulder, looking her straight in the eye. "Jackie, listen to me. You have to go, now. It’s the only way you'll be safe, and we might have a chance to fight back. We need someone on the outside.”

“I’m not going to leave you.”

“Yes you are. If you want us to survive this you will because if someone hurts you I will be unable to hold back and I’m in no condition to defend you right now.”

Jackie's eyes were wide with fear, but she nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation. "Okay, Corwin, but please be careful," she whispered, her voice breaking.

As Corwin turned once more I helped her into her camouflage cloak, watching as it shifted to match the colors and textures of the tent walls. "Remember, use the terrain to your advantage, stay hidden, and find help. You can do this," I encouraged her, trying to bolster her confidence.

Jackie hugged me quickly, then Corwin. "Be safe," she murmured, before turning to slip out of the back of the tent, her form blending into the shadows until she was nearly invisible.

Corwin and I watched the flap where Jackie had disappeared, each of us silently hoping she'd make it to safety. Then, without another word, we turned our attention back to the front of the tent.

The healer woman, Josie, who had been taking opposite shifts from me here in the hospital shelter ducked in through the flap on the tent. She was holding her healing staff and breathing heavily. “There are men taking over the camp. They’ve been capturing everyone and killing anyone who resists. They’re on their way.”

"Alright, let’s make these invaders believe they’ve got us cornered," I said, checking the bandages on Corwin's arm to make sure they looked freshly applied and more severe than they actually were.

Just then, a commotion outside drew our attention. Corwin peeked out again and his face lit up with a mix of shock and hope. "Felix, it’s Maura! And she’s not alone; she's got someone with her... but I can’t tell what it is.”

I ran to join Corwin at the tent entrance. Maura was indeed there and beside her a figure continuously shifted in and out of focus, just like the being from class selection.

What the hell is going on? I thought to myself. They worked their way in this direction and I was too busy watching what she was doing when suddenly a duplicate of her appeared and ran off in the opposite direction. Several of the men gave chase and I knew getting away would not be easy. I just hope Jackie made it to the treeline.

Before I could react two men stepped into the shelter. A yellowed sneer under a dirtied mustache stuck out in the dim light of the shelter. “I found three more,” The man shouted to an unseen leader outside of the tent. His smile widened even further as he caught sight of Josie’s healing staff, “And we’re in luck! We got ourselves a healer!” He grabbed Josie and Corwin tugging them out of the shelter as his accomplice grabbed me and drug me along behind them.

As they pulled us out of the tent, I caught sight of Corwin, struggling to keep up and wincing with every step. The men didn't care, dragging us towards the center of the camp where others were being held.

The camp was chaos, with fires spreading and people crying out in fear and defiance. I searched desperately for any sign of Maura or Jackie, hoping against all odds that they were safe.

Suddenly an arrow flew past my face and into mustache’s clavicle. He wailed a guttural sound of pure rage. Letting go of us he and the man who had been holding me drew their weapons. Mustache was brandishing a handgun while his slightly smaller clean shaven lackey was now bearing a short curved blade in each hand.

Elara stepped out of the shadows arrow knocked and ready, “Let my friends go or the other one is going in your head,” she threatened.

“You bitch. You’ll be sorry,” Mustache wailed taking aim with his gun.

Elara loosed her arrow and Mustache fired. The arrow flew true and hit Mustache threw the eye. Gore flew from him onto his lackey who jumped backwards from the attack. I turned to look at Elara who was clutching her stomach. Blood was soaking her shirt and dripping down to the ground. She was staring at the treeline. Mouthed a silent, ‘run’ . I turned to see who she was looking at as Maura turned and disappeared into the forest.

Using the chaos to my advantage I ran after her.

I followed behind the pair at a distance. I wasn’t sure who this being with Maura was, and more importantly I wanted to know why they were sneaking off at the exact moment as our home was being destroyed. After a couple of hours walking we came across a cave. As they went inside and sat down I stayed out of view and sat against the side of the cave within hearing distance.

**

“You’re not alone,” Abzx assured Maura and without further explanation I heard them teleport away with a blip.

Maura let out a shuddering breath and more to herself than Byte she spoke aloud, “What am I supposed to do now?”

After having heard the entire conversation I realized, this was probably as good a moment as any to announce my presence.

With a deep calming breath I stood up and walked into the mouth of the cave.