Frozen mountains scatter across the horizon, a frozen wind whips through the narrow, icy trail. Swiftblade is thankful that Fat Tree is in front of her, A wind barrier, she amusedly thinks.
Just a few days ago, they were deep in the forest. Tracking down the escapee and that damnable Moonlit Maiden. So how in the world did they end up here? Step after step the goal seems further and further away. Swiftblade normally employs Fat Tree as her magic tracker, he's what enabled their ambush on Sir Kahlin and the escapee. But he's been fully lost ever since they entered this tundra.
And it seems like Mother Death was unprepared for this too, her clothes barely insulating, she shivers ahead of them. Her breath freezing against the snow and ice. Mother Death perks up, she hobbles ahead out of sight for the 100th time today. Ahead, is thank the King of Hells, a cave.
Fat Tree collapses in the entrance. Mother Death has already started building a fire, but she looks worn. This much creation magic is never good. It depletes the body, then the soul, and when abused enough it will take the very breath from your lungs and blood from your veins, robbing you of life and returning you to death. This much is true for both the living and the undead. Nobody can ignore the laws of thermo-magical-dynamics.
Swiftblade quietly asks, so as to no disturb Fat Tree, "Mother, what are we doing here?" Her faith remains unshaken, but Mother Death's sunken cheeks spark a strange protective feeling deep within.
Mother Death has begun brewing tea and hands Swiftblade a steaming cup. She takes a deep a long sigh. "I never expected Moonlit to have such an impressive barrier. We've been traversing through it. I took the liberty of converting each of our physical bodies into something a bit like magic, but also not. It allows us to physically enter into a spell. Very dangerous. Our bodies are extremely vulnerable in this state. It's an old workaround for ambushing wizards who do nothing but camp out in their towers. I just hadn't considered how unbearably complex barriers had gotten. I mean who the hell needs this many fucking nodes, whatever, paranoid freak. We should be there soon. I only pray we aren't too late. I have no clue how to track time in this realm."
Swiftblade sips her tea and basks in the light of being Mother's emotional support system. She cooly says, "When we get there, we should rest. We're in no condition to attack them. You need to be safe." Mother Death seems to be greatly displeased to hear this. She glares and scowls. Swiftblade feels like her heart might stop, she may even wish for that if Mother is truly displeased. But the moment fades and Mother Death sighs again, this time, shallower. "You're right." Silence engulfs them, but for Swiftblade it truly doesn't matter, she has found her own heaven, and it's right here in front of her, bubbling within.
Mother Death finds herself within deep thought. Why had she come here? I mean sure, the escapee was extremely important, and the mission needed an executive's help, but it didn't need hers. Was she bored? Disappointed with the results of the ritual? No, none of that mattered to her. She was sharp and honed. The result of being dedicated to a single purpose for longer than most others live. It was the magic. It had called her here. She couldn't understand why, but the escapee must be it.
Nobody had escaped from a ritual before. Sure, she had failed to properly collect souls many times. But that's why she carefully groomed the villages nearest her castle. A few miscellaneous souls had never upset anything. But to have escaped while it descended. To dodge the tentacles, after lethal doses of green fever? It made no sense. She must hear it from the girl's own lips. Before she slit her throat and installed the mechanisms to ensure a blunder of this caliber never happened again. Mother Death smiles a content smile. Thinking of the death of her enemies had always been one of her best grounding techniques.
She knows that Swiftblade is right. They would have to rest once they were out of this barrier. Which meant somehow avoiding the finely tuned magical detectors Moonlit would have. This does not mean stealth. That would only prolong the inevitable. It means distraction. To throw off the scent. To mask the smell of death with a greater stench. But what would do it? Sacrifice. She looks at Fat Tree. He would do nicely. Regeneration can be so nasty and tasteless. But dire times call for crude inventions.
It's my last day here. Things with MM have been pretty standoffish, but she's adjusting better than I would've thought. By that I mean, her tear streaked face is starting to finally lose inflammation. And she only breaks down crying in about half of our lessons. And I guess she's not visibly drunk anymore. I'm proud and she should be too.
I'm nervous for reuniting with Prince Rythel, but more than anything I'm excited to see the Queen again. It'll be such an honor to serve her, I just hope to see her smile again.
Now that I've figured out casting, we are cramming as much theory and history into the days as possible. All the farm women told me I was in for a snore fest, but I've never had any proper education before so it's exciting to learn the theories of creation and all the stuff that the smart people thought. I don't agree with most of it, but I think that's fun. I'm feeling more well rounded.
The only thing still weighing down on me is Sir Kahlin. I've been visiting him morning and night, but he still sleeps. MM told me that when we head back, she'll see to it that he's taken to the royal infirmary.
I finish the morning lessons and slowly walk toward the hill I always meet Ruby on for lunch. The sun's rays illuminate the hill into a lush, bright green. The strawberries are ripe and heavy. As I walk past the garden I pick one, it's fat and round. I bite into it and feel the juice roll down my chin. The sweetness fill my mouth and I greedily eat the rest, feeling refreshed and ready to eat more. Ruby is waving at me from the top of the hill and I wave back. She laughs like she always does when she has something fun to show me. There's a paper in her hand. I'm at the base of the hill about to make the ascent.
The peaceful scene, the serenity, it all ends in an instant.
BRRRRRRRRRRR, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, BRRRRRRRRRRR
The loud jarring sounds of alarm rip through the air from behind me. It's coming from the tower. I turn around and see the tower collapsing, there's some 2 story tall creature pummeling it into the ground. Stones fly through the air. Instinctively, I put up a barrier and debris smashes against it, the stones slowed as they approached me.
MM told me that my time slow would activate based on my life being in danger. I shouldn't use it unless it's life or death.
Glancing over my shoulder I see Ruby's been struck. Fuck. Time slow activating must've been the difference. The debris has stopped flying around and I turn and race up the hill. With one hand I keep my barrier up, with the other I'm mending Ruby's wounds. Her face is pale, it must have struck her organs. I get to the top and fix the barrier's location around us, freeing my hand and concentration from casting it. Fixed barriers are some of the easiest semi-permanent spells. With my freed hand I start pulling the shrapnel from her body. It's painful but she manages to stay conscious, I wish I was a better wizard. My spells could induce anesthesia or at least heal her quicker. I try my best to ignore the noises behind us.
SLAM, SLAM
At last she's stable. Ruby is weak, but she manages to say, "Wow, Jess, you really got the hang of things. I'm sorry, I'm so useless."
"Ugh, shut up, you're so annoying. Just stay here and don't die, please. I'm gonna hook your river to some camouflage and a bit of shielding. Just stay still. And sorry about this." I push Ruby over the hill and she rolls into some bushes. Hells, that felt weird. I remind myself she's fine now, just needs more time to let the residual healing magic and her natural bodily healing response have a nice, sexy dance.
I hear her grunt something but I'm already in the air. I spiral and flip, unused to flying. I finally orientate myself and take a moment to bear witness to the horror. The tower has been crushed into rubble. MM is the only one fighting, and she's struggling. It's the dude that attacked me, Fat Tree. Except his skin is fully red, crackling off his body, steaming jetting out of his wounds. That and he's about 25 feet tall.
MM notices me in the air and I hear her pissed off voice ring in my skull, "Can you please cast something helpful. This thing is hopped the fuck off some magical steroids. The crash will be insane, but we don't have any time to worry about that. We gotta take him down now."
What a brilliant plan from our most esteemed tactician, MM.
You taught me one fucking attack spell. What do you want from me. And I'm pretty sure you did that as revenge for the whole adultifying you thing. Yet another fuck up for your pettiness.
Whatever, I can distract him, seems easy enough. I fly in low and hot shooting through the creatures legs, I aim my charged up missile true and hit him straight in the dick. Steroids or not, that should hurt like hells. He cries out in immense pain. Like that, all focus is on me. I really am just a natural, y'know. Quite the talent. Just like Ruby said. I smirk.
Fat Tree's face, and neck are puffing up. I zip upward but little do I know there's nowhere for me to run. I realize what he's doing too late. His mouth cracks open and emits a sound I'll never be able to hear. But it doesn't matter. It's the sound wave that impacts me. I feel my body shake, my bones clatter inside my flesh. My heart, it skips a beat, no two. I spit blood. All I hear is ringing. The ground spirals towards me. I slam into without slowing.
My entire body aches. But all things considered, I managed to defend myself, turning serious injuries into minor ones. I hobble to my feet as quickly as I can, desperate to not get hit by that freak again. My body screams at me but I could care less.
I hear what could be the moon falling into the planet, but instead is just Fat Tree getting chained up by MM's ultimate move and falling over. He's incapacitated now, and shrinks back to normal size. Hells, she made quick work of him.
MM gracefully lands beside me and says, "You look like shit." She side eyes me and sees the blood trickeling down my nose, rolling off my face and onto my shirt. I wipe it smearing it across my face. She sighs, "But you did good, you didn't even die, and you stayed combat viable. You make your teacher proud." Now's my turn to side eye her. She retorts, "We're gonna have to fight together in this one, as much as the King and the rest of the world thinks us trans wizards are more or less glorified killing machines, the rest of the girls here are duds. Ruby included. It's just us, Jessica." She heals me for the second time. "Don't make me do that again, I have no clue what we're up against but it's gonna be a lot worse than that."
"Where is Sir Kahlin? And the girls?"
"I told them to haul his useless ass out into the forest, I have no fucking clue how this fucker got in here with almost no detection. But he's not alone, that I do know. They should be safe in the woods, it's us they're after. And take note I said us, not me."
Me, again? If it's me they're after that would make this twice. After all, they were perfectly fine killing Sir Kahlin, but Fat Tree tried to kidnap me last time. I don't understand. Nobody wanted me, not even my own Father. But I have to accept facts as they are, something about me, the world wants it. The Queen, Sir Kahlin, MM, and even Mother Death. I grit my teeth. "Let's do this shit, MM."
And like that, things were cast right back into disarray. In front of us, two small beetles, once unnoticeable, now flowing with unfathomable magic power, shimmer and begin to glow a bright blinding light. They transform into that very Mother Death and Swiftblade. Standing a mere 10 feet in front of us. Mother Death is the first to speak, "So good to see you again, my precious child." Her eyes stare deep into my soul.
She raises her hand, the hill catches fire. A deep, voluminous fire. It spreads like water, pouring over the back of the hill and begins swallowing the forest. Mother Death hasn't adjusted her vision at all, after seeing the pain on my face, a smile appears.
I cry out, "NOOOO! RUBY! SIR KAHLIN!"
MM blurts out, "Jess! No! We can only focus on ourselves now, it's too dangerous."
But it's too late, I've already stepped forward.
Mother Death tilts her head to the side, her smile being swallowed by a calculative frown, her eyes narrowing. Her hand swishes through the air as she bring it down.
My leg is cleanly hacked off.