The previous Sassy Saturday post can be read here: Dangerous Grunt Work
The context for this post is that Eric has finally reached Roalt, Ataidar, and reunited with his school friends. When the school day is over, Eric learns that an ordercrafter has been stalking Annala. To assure him that she has it under control, she brings out a special weapon.
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“I
guess that would be useful for evasion, unless he used Interdict to prohibit
such casting, but I doubt he has the power or authority to do that on his own.
In any case, it would be a useful set-up.”
She reached into a pocket and pulled
out a charm shaped like a quiver. She said the words “heavenly change” and it
became a full-sized quiver filled with arrows. She pulled out a second charm
shaped like a bow. She said the words “heavenly change” and it transformed into
a full-sized longbow. It was gleaming white from end to end, with golden runes
engraved on its surface and wrapped along its length.
“This is a Death Killer bow. It works
as a function of channeled life energy infused with chaotic energy; the first
is in opposition to death anti-energy and the second is the primordial energy
of which the universe is made and can be destroyed. The filigree work as
compressors for the instant rune algorithms that control the energy flow when
the string is pulled. Said algorithms are braced by information slots that can
be filled and cleared as needed based on the enemy involved and, in doing so,
bypass a number of defenses that could otherwise allow the target to negate the
arrow's force or otherwise hinder its trajectory. I created it to destroy
reapers and so it should prove effective against a mere divinely enhanced
human.”
“Eric, translate!” Revas demanded.
“She's explained five times and I still don't get it.”
“It uses special energy to attack its
weak point.”
“Ooohhhh...”
Annala wrinkled her nose. “‘Special energy'
is a gross over-simplification but correct.” She cleared her throat. “Revas,
Oito, as you can see, I have this situation under control, so you can go to the
chem lab. I bet Norej has set a welcome prank for you by now.”
“That two-faced jerk! I’ll get him for
that!”
Revas ran out the door with Oito
quickly following.
Annala giggled. “Shall we go?”
Eric placed his hand over his heart and
bowed his head. “Rest assured, Lady Annala. This mercenary will escort you
safely home.”
She giggled again. “I’ll withhold your
pay if you don’t.”
They left the school side by side and
mingled with the other couples. The fact that they were together was a bigger
topic of discussion than the fact that they had weapons out. Eric kept his
staff ready and Annala kept her bow in hand.
There was no trouble for several blocks, not even traffic. Crowds parted
when they saw The Trickster's Choice guarding a female elf. This picture joined
the others on the Internet and a couple Chaosians declared it an omen and threw
up their arms in prayer. All the attention made Annala uncomfortable so Eric
sought to divert it to himself. Holding his staff high with one hand, he
demanded peaches and noble titles for his service in escorting the priestess of
Lady Chaos, Golden Cicada! This made Annala smile and she paused her scry
conversation to add something.
“For the record,” she said to the crowds, “I am not seeking any
scriptures on chaotic enlightenment.” Then to the person on the phone, she
continued, “That's your job, Auntie H...”
When they were five blocks away from the school and seven from Annala's
apartment, the trouble began. Eric felt it as a wave of intense spiritual
power. It made his hair stand on end and opened the pores in his skin. He never
felt something this powerful; not from Basilard, a veteran mercenary, and not
from Dengel, a legendary elfin mage. He gulped and held his staff in a
defensive posture. After two more blocks, they found him. Nulso
Xialin stood between them and their destination.
He was a middle-aged human man, but his
sickly pale skin made him look undead. He wore his platinum blonde hair in a
low ponytail and it draped around his neck like a collar. The irises of his
eyes were pure silver grey, and the eyes themselves were sharp and focused on
his elfin prey. He stood a good foot taller than she. His clothes looked stiff
enough to serve as armor and an old-fashioned camera rested on top of his coat.
He was further protected by a bubble of eldritch light encompassing his body
and soul. It made Eric’s skin crawl. Annala cowered behind him.
“You can't hide from me, Golden Hair.
Today, I will solve your mana mutation problems.”
“Her only problem is you,” Eric
declared.
“Don’t you know? Elfin shapeshifting is
a controlled mana mutation and she can’t do it. She hides from this problem
like she’s hiding from me.”
Annala stepped out from behind Eric and
notched an arrow. It pointed at the ground, not at Nulso. Nevertheless, the bow
glowed as it powered up and a magic circle appeared beneath her feet. Eric
recognized only a handful of the runes, and they were “bypass defenses,”
“empower,” and “kill.”
At once, the street cleared as
civilians moved into buildings and off the street. Nearby stores closed and
homes locked. All of them knew that a fight between an elf, the Trickster's
Choice, and an ordercrafter was bound to be destructive. Others watched from
windows and balconies. They knew that
such a battle was bound to be entertaining. The only business still open was a
popcorn vendor.
“Who’s hiding? Leave me in peace!”
Nulso spread his hands in an open
gesture. “Your arrow can’t hurt me. Come with me and I can help you. Otherwise,
something bad will happen to your mortal
friend.”
Annala smirked. “Thank you for
threatening him. Ataidar has very good self-defense laws.”
She released the arrow and it pierced
Nulso’s bubble like a shroud. It lodged in his chest and discharged its payload
of magic power into his body. While he didn’t shout, it was clear he was in
great pain from the grimace he made.
“Cute and Intelligent Elf Girl: 1. Lame
Order Drone: 0.”
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Looming Shadow, and the rest of the Journey to Chaos series, is available for purchase at Amazon
To learn more about the heroines of Journey to Chaos, visit its Tvtropes character sheet.
The next Sassy Saturday post is Forged by Fire into a Queen
Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration). His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.
