Looming Shadow: Journey to Chaos book 2 (20 page)

After training,
Basilard insisted on walking them all home and Eric's was first. On their way
to Cutlass Bridge, Basilard asked the young battle mage if he still had the jar
of Aio's ashes. Tired as he was, the mention of Tasio's disguise sent him into
a rant about jerkass gods and emotional blackmail, but eventually said “yes.” The
older battle mage smiled wryly and patted him on the back.

“You'll get used to The
Trickster's Fun.”

“I'll have to!” Eric
grumbled. “I'm his abyss-cursed chosen one!”

He trudged into his
apartment and slammed his apartment door shut. At the turn of his key, one
hundred and one wards activated on all six sides of the building. Basilard
sighed in relief, but when he turned around, Nolien and Tiza stood in his way.

“Daylra, Mage Healer,
and Meat Shield have a question about Trickster Mage.”

Basilard grinned
broadly. “Ask away.”

Later that night, Eric
was awoken by a crash on the bridge above his house. The shockwave jilted him
out of bed. He cursed his mentor and his earthquake drills before he
comprehended the screaming. A chorus of panicked voices passed over his head as
crowds rushed to the port. He stood up and looked out the window to see what
was going on.

A veil of smoke
shrouded the river beneath his house, but he could still see silhouettes of
people running across the frozen water. There were so many they broke the ice
and people fell in. Before he could react, other mages pulled them out and
sealed the hole. The emblem of the Crowned Tiger shined in the darkness as the
royal mages shepherded the civilians. They urged their charges to stay calm,
but couldn't hear themselves over the screaming and crashes.

What could cause
such panic?

The old Eric would have
assumed it was none of his business. The old Eric would assume that he wouldn't
be able to help even if it
were
his business. The old Eric would rather
jump under the covers and suck his thumb than volunteer for a crisis. The new Eric
equipped his best armor as fast as he could, thought up several possible causes
and solutions to the crisis, and grabbed his staff on his way out the door.

Ash and smoke assaulted
his eyes and nose. Screams pierced his ears. A knight commander ordered his
unit while herding the panicked civilians. A gust of wind knocked them all down
and blew away the smoke. A particularly large chunk of debris fell over his
doorstep and he repelled it with his barrier into the water, where it caused a
small wave and rocked the civilians. The other mages sent him a nasty look
before a cloud of smoke hid them from sight.

They blame you for
this,
Shadow Dengel whispered.
Trickster's Choice.

“Not now!”

Soaring meteors lit up
the night and beams of power flew across the sky. Eric ran through the smoke and
the ground shook beneath his feet, causing him to slip on the stairs. At the
top were countless fleeing people and knights trying to keep them as orderly as
possible. One of them offered Eric a rag to cover his nose and mouth before
seeing the one on his face.

“Fog screen. What's the
problem?”

The knight dispersed a
pocket of smoke and pointed to the hole it created towards the center of the
city. Eric dropped his staff in shock.

From nose to tail, it
was longer than the city; from haunch to haunch, it was wider. It stood over
Roalt with a paw standing at each corner. A lupine mouth revealed rows of red
teeth. Glowing orbs the size of elephants stuck out of its body. Orichalcum
hairs grew from its lips to its tentacle tails; a coat of natural magic-repelling
mail. The only areas without this protection were the paws. They were shod with
mythril instead. This was no ordinary monster. It was one of the almighty S
class – a Tazul!

Shadow Dengel appeared
over the staff.
Run away, human worm. You cannot win.

Eric shook his head
violently and adjusted his grip on his staff, only to realize he wasn't holding
it. Just as he bent down, the Tazul fired on him and a beam of violet light
struck the crowd beside him. When it disappeared, the knight he spoke with was
gone. So were the other knights, their charges, and the buildings around them.
Not even their ashes remained! Eric's breath caught in his throat, then came in
fast, shallow gasps.

 
If I hadn't ducked...

You would have died.
You have no home field advantage this time, boy!

“I don't need it!” Eric
twirled his staff and pointed it down the street. “I have friends!”

 With winged feet, he
dashed towards the forge, but a shout pulled his attention to a nearby
building. There, a little boy was trapped on the second floor. It was burning.
The front wall had already collapsed and the floor was breaking by the second. Eric
crouched and Shadow Dengel blocked his view.

You can't save him.
Eric
jumped through the phantom and the air with the greatest of ease. Shadow Dengel
followed him.
You will die along with him.
Eric cleared the floor,
flipped in midair, and landed on his feet. Spreading his arms wide, he cleared
a section of fire away from the boy and was glomped by him. The force of it
made him stumble and his left foot fell through the floor.

“Just like a wooden
boat, support me now so I may
float
. Air Disk!”
 

A disc of air formed
under his feet and he was about to push off it when a burning beam fell from
above. He blocked it with his barrier, but the impact pushed his other foot and
his legs through the floor while the house continued to deteriorate. The boy
sobbed and held him tighter. Shadow Dengel looked down his hideous nose.

 
See you in the
Abyss, you failure.

Gritting his teeth,
Eric muttered, “A lift would be a gift. Wind Jump!”

A gust of wind pushed
him out of the floor and out of the house just before the rest of the building
collapsed around him. He landed hard on the street and skidded to a stop. For a
moment, the kid held still. Then he perked up and said, “Thanks, Trickster's
Vessel!”

Eric groaned. “Close
enough. What were you doing in there?”

“Uhh...” He tried to
escape Eric's grasp, but the mage held him fast. “I'm sorry! It was so shiny
and they didn't want it...”

A beam of light flashed
and vaporized the rubble. The Tazul roared and a shockwave rattled the city to
its foundations. Eric dropped his barrier when it passed and stood up.

“Kid, you have two
choices: come with me and pay for theft or run away and die.”

Fireballs fell from the
sky and peppered the road all around them. The only place of safety was the
small circle created by Eric's barrier.

“Pay! Definitely pay!”

“Then keep your mouth
closed and hold on!”

The Tazul shook itself
and spread a hailstorm of scales all over the city. Each one was bigger than a
human and heavier than an orc.
I can't dodge all those!
Eric looked for
any kind of cover. The Arsenal Lodge was just up ahead. It was built like a
fortress. He pushed himself faster as the scales fell; one to his left, one to
his right, one in front that he swerved around only to find himself running
straight into a fourth!

“DYNAMIC ENTRY!”

Boom! A leg of steel
kicked it just hard enough to divert its path away from his head and into a
cart behind him, which shattered instantly. The knightly figure landed and fist
bumped itself. Eric was about to thank them when it grabbed his arm and pulled
him inside the Arsenal Lodge.

“Stop gawking, Dimwit!”

The forge was undamaged
in every way. Although the scales fell all around it, none of them so much as
scratched the glass. Ax Arsenal himself was playing chess with his son at the
register counter. Both of them were decked out in the best equipment he had in
stock.

“Stay here,” he said
without looking away from the game. “You'll be safe.”

“There's an
S class
outside!” Eric shouted.

“I have faith in my
merchandise.”

“But it’s –”

“
I have faith in my
merchandise
.”

“But thoow! Did you
have to do that with a gauntlet?”

“You would have
splattered without me, idiot!”

“I was worried about
you! Where's Nolien?”

Tiza opened a
compartment above her pteruges and pulled out a scry. “Where else would he be?”
Eric rushed back out the door, but she grabbed his tunic collar before he could
build momentum. “Slow down, Leroy Jenkins. You need more than orc toenails if
you're going out there.”

Eric appraised his
armor and realized that he wasn't as quick as he thought. The armor, as tough
as human bone, was chipped in places, cracked in others, and all over scorched
by the fire. Reluctantly, he decided to wait while Tiza picked out replacements.
She walked the aisles and picked up the highest quality and most expensive
armor off the shelves.

“By the way, what's
that thing on your arm?”

Eric lifted his arm and
the kid rose with it like a leech.

“A thief I found on the
way here.”

“Okay.”

Tiza set the armor on
the ground and nonchalantly began to disarm him.

“Hey!”

“Hold still. This won't
take long.”

After taking off the
ruined armor, she snapped, laced, and buckled the new armor in place. She was
remarkably efficient. It was the same practiced movement as a squire.
Didn't
ladies in the Grisly Tales do this for their knights...? Tiza’s more like a
knight herself…

“Done!” She looked over
her shoulder at the blacksmith and his son. “You don't mind, right?”

Ax moved a piece. “No.
Go ahead. Bring them back when you're dead…done.” His son fidgeted. “I meant ‘done.’”

“Okaayyy.” Tiza placed
the frozen-with-fear thief off to the side and secured him by bending a spear
about his waist. “On that cheery note, let's go!”

The two mercenaries ran
outside with Tiza taking point. Eric followed Tiza as she led the way to the
Heleti General Hospital in Healer Town where they would find Nolien. She
brushed aside fire and debris alike in her mighty armor. It not only protected
her from attack but also amplified her mana reserves and focused her power.
Eric wore the same set and it made him think he could wrestle a Cecri or blow
away a xethras.

As they ran down the
street, they spotted civilians threatened by the monster’s rampage. There was a
man pinned in place by a fallen cart and children trapped in a corner by a
meteor’s flame. The two shared a glance and went to work.

 Tiza grabbed the
wrecked cart and hoisted it over her head. The man crawled out from underneath
and Tiza tossed it down an alley. Then she hoisted the man himself onto her
shoulders. All the while, she told him that it was Tiza Sprial, Dragon’s Lair
warrior, that was saving him.

Eric pointed his staff
at the meteor and quelled its fire with his spirit alone. With a Wind Hand, he
lifted it, encased it in a wind sphere, and broke it down into dust. The armor
and accessories made both feats easy. The children looked upon him in both fear
and awe. Eric encased them in wind spheres as well and commanded them to follow
him.

The plaza for the
hospital was a wide-open area populated by benches, several statues, and a
fountain in the center. All of them were in ruins from the Tazul’s attack. When
the pair reached the later, it charged an overhead beam.

As soon as the gleam
fell over them, Eric grabbed Tiza's arm and sprang forward with his winged
feet. The jump stirred a cloud of dust that looked like a cloud at his feet and
the light of the flames colored his red hair to match. Nearby soldiers stopped
to stare at the flame-haired, cloud-riding, staff-bearing figure rushing
towards them.

“He really is the
Trickster's Choice...”

He cleared the glow
just as the beam struck the ground. The shockwave pushed him and the soldiers
all the way to the hospital. Nolien stood with other mages at the entrance to
unite their barriers and break the wave's power before it reached the main
building.

“Tenderfoot!” Tiza
broke free of Eric and dope-slapped Nolien. “What are you doing here!? You're
supposed to be at the place doing the thing with me! And Daylra. We had a
plan!”

“This is a hospital!
I'm a healer! The Griffocratic Oath!” He blocked another dope slap. “It's
important. We can talk about it later. Right now, we need your help moving
people out.”

Yes, run away like
the monkeys you are.
Eric spun around to see Shadow Dengel standing on the
Tazul's scales.
I would have stayed, defeated it, and propelled my fame to
greater heights.
The crystal orb slowly charged and its gleam fell over the
hospital.
Make your decision.

Eric gripped his staff
tight enough to whiten his knuckles. No one could stop that beam. Even if all
the mages and soldiers and even the invalids joined their barriers together,
they couldn’t stop it. The soldiers grabbed whoever they could carry and ran.
Many of the healers did likewise, but others found themselves unable to abandon
the hospital and the people there. Those unable to escape made their peace with
Death. Those unwilling to help ran for their lives. None of these options
suited Eric.

Instead, he renewed his
winged feet and jumped straight up towards the beast. Screaming obscenities, he
plunged his mage spear through Shadow Dengel's chest and into the crystal orb
behind it. The two crystals sparked and a jolt of power blasted him back to
earth. Shadow Dengel sneered at him the whole way down to the ground.

Tiza caught him, put
him on his feet, and dope-slapped him.

“Idiot! Don't go
rushing off! It's my job to protect you!”

Nolien put a hand on
his shoulder. “As your friends, we can't let you do this alone.”