I used the keyring to open a cage and helped the people step out before I turned back to Xena. "W-what uh.. what do you mean by that?"
She bowed her head again. "You have saved my life and my dignity. It is my honor to serve you until I pass into the next life and the dept is then repaid. It is the elven way."
Gods Below fucking damnit. Why the fuck would a species that lives for twelve HUNDRED years have a life debt tradition. Meh, at least they weren't all cannibals like in Jeremy's setting. I sighed. Paz lost it and started laughing at me. I scrubbed my hand down my face. Why me. "Why me? Three of us rescued you. And how do you know I'm not a bastard who took you for the same reasons they did?"
"You are a leader and you are the purest of heart." I glanced at Paz. She stopped laughing at that and looked guilty as SHIT. The Talk about Paz's secrets really was gonna be a doozy. The elf gestured to the keys in my hand and the slaves I was helping out of the final cage. Her nose wiggled. "And I know you're not a bastard because I have eyes."
"Yeah okay, fair enough." I turned to the group and did a quick head count. Altogether there were fifteen of us; three men and twelve women including me and Paz and Xena. "We've got to run east towards that distant hill. We've got to be quick but quiet. Any minute now-"
A titanic roar shook the night and we heard men around the camp begin panicking and screaming.
"And that's our signal. Come on ladies, let's go!" Paz took off at a trot and we all raced to catch up. She and I were in the roughest shape, so at least we didn't have to worry about anyone else falling behind. We just had to keep up ourselves.
We slipped between the last few tents and we were free of the wretched slaver camp. Fresh air at last! No more stench of animal shit, unwashed men, and fear. I feel like modern society really doesn't spend enough time appreciating indoor plumbing!
One of the girls screamed in surprise and terror. I whirled around just in time to see her become two separate pieces. A man stood behind her. No, not a man. He had to be at least ten or twelve feet tall and very likely had giant blood in his ancestry. He stood proudly in half-plate armor, sneering at us as he flicked the girl's blood off an axe that was bigger than I am.
Fuck me sideways.
He swung again, his eyes mad with bloodlust. Right at Paz; my life flashed before my eyes and I reached out a hand toward him although I was too far away even if I wasn't an insect to his hulking form. I still didn't have any spell points. The teleport had drained everything and that was only four or five hours ago. I hadn't had a rest.
And yet, still I reached with my mind and with my soul. I could never have done anything else. Not when it's Paz. The love of my life. The fire that burns in my breast. Everything happened in a split second, but it felt like an eternity.
The tips of my fingers blackened. The three people closest to me collapsed as black lines surged up their bodies. I felt that sickening nausea building in my stomach again, but.. it felt so very powerful. If devils had body hair, then I'm sure mine would all be standing on end. I clenched my teeth as every nerve in my body went off at once. And then white tendrils of lightning crawled out of my burned fingers and across the air and into the giant man's chest, melting a hole I could nearly have walked through. At the same moment, where Paz had been standing, a white rabbit fell, narrowly missing the axe blade as it swung through the space she had been in.
New Spell WeaveBolt of Lightning
3rd tier evoke element
Range: 150 feet
Cost: 3 spell points
A tendril of lighting extends out from your fingers and inflicts 25 lightning damage to everything in its path.
+10 damage per upcast tier.
New Talent UnlockedDark Essence
Rarity: Ultra rare
Whenever at least 75% of the cost of a spell is paid for with life essence instead of spell points, the effective tier of the spell will be heightened by all cumulative levels gained in the [Infernal Reaper], [Blood Witch], and [Spell-Song Weaver] classes.
It took a moment for the adrenaline to ebb. Panting and trembling, I looked around at the carnage. All the grass and underbrush and insects and anything else in a five foot circle around me was desiccated and dead. The dwarf man and two human women lay unmoving on the ground, covered in black lines.
Xena moved up and checked the three on the ground. She blessed the two women for the journey to the afterlife, but managed to heal the dwarf. He would live, they had not. I had killed two innocent escaped slaves to save Paz. And led a third to her death. I could feel the nausea crawling up my throat.
The rabbit turned back into my cute ginger, none the worse off for her near decapitation. The smell finally hit me as I stepped closer to the giant man with the hole in his chest. Have you ever smelled melted flesh? Because I have now. I dropped to my knees and the first heave cost me what little had been in my stomach. That's fine, who needs calories anyway. The other five heaves were dry and just for fun and I was sobbing by the third.
Paz knelt by my side and just held me in her arms, rubbing slow, comforting circles on my back. "You saved my life." Her voice was quiet, calm.
"You s-saved yourself." I gasped out between sobs.
Xena knelt and put a hand on my other shoulder. It was oddly comforting and I wondered if she were using magic on me. "You saved all of us. Luca and Tiff and Soo are happier journeying to the next life than going back to that camp. Trust me." Somehow I did trust her, and the tears eventually stopped.
They pulled me back up onto wobbly knees. I looked around at the remainder of our group. They were looking at me as if I were some kind of leader; and even with a touch of hope. I nodded. "Okay. Let's go folks." So we trudged onward.
As the sun peeked up in front of us, my poor tiny ginger and my.. servant? maid? sworn to carry my burdens? were both leaning against me as the three of us supported each other. We had walked all night and everyone's feet were dragging. I looked up and I swear to all the gods Above and Below, we hadn't gotten even an inch closer to that motherfucking, gods-forsaken hill. Beside me, Paz snorted contemptuously.
"Alright!" I barked a little more loudly than I'd intended. "We're fucking doing this." Everyone stopped and turned back to us, drawn by the tone of drama. Paz looked up at me, her eyes widening with concern. "Can you fucking read my mind, or what?" I glared accusingly down at her.
"Oh, that." She looked away, her voice colored with both relief and tension. "When people.. invoke the gods, I kinda feel it?"
I stared at her for a very long moment. "And you really HATE the gods."
"I.." she fidgeted but then seemed to make up her mind, steeled herself, and glared back up at me. "Yes. Of course I do. Everyone should! People put far too much faith in them. They're just as capable of being monsters as the rest of us. More so, even! Because they have all that power that goes unchecked and unchallenged!" Her nostrils were flaring and her fists were clenched.
A corner of my mind flickered with some recognition, but I was too tired and shoved it aside. Another part of my brain said to walk away. We were exhausted and starving and emotions were running high. I knew that if this kept going, we might say something we didn't mean; something that we would regret. Or maybe even something that couldn't be unsaid. I pushed it aside.
"And of course, you have to make your issues everyone else's problem?" I angrily planted my hands on my hips.
"It's already your problem! You mortals are just too fucking stupid to realize it!" She planted her hand against my chest and shoved me. She actually fucking shoved me!
"What the fuck!?!" I grabbed her hair, screaming as we tripped over each other and rolled around in the dirt. We were both kicking and clawing and swearing at each other. I honestly couldn't even have told you what I was upset about.
One of the women leaned over to another. "I'm scared. The moms are fighting."
"I can't tell if they're fighting or fucking."
Finally too exhausted to move any more, Paz and I flopped onto our backs in the dirt and stared up at the early morning sky, our chests heaving and our faces plastered with sweat. I was scratched from head to toe and bitten in more than one place. My girl does not fight fair. I pulled myself to my feet and kept walking without looking back.
At mid day, we took a break and spread out looking for berries or bugs or a particularly pleasant looking bush. Anything to quench the pain in our stomachs. We didn't find SHIT.
By dusk, I collapsed into the dirt. "J-just leave me. I can't go on."
Xena crouched beside me. "Miss, it's not much farther. I know you can make it. I believe in you."
Paz stepped over on my other side. "Nah, I think we should totally leave her here."
Betrayal! I stared up at my fiery ginger. "You'd really leave me for dead after one argument?"
Paz crossed her arms, gave an exaggerated sigh, and smiled down at her Little Blonde Dumdum. "If only I were that lucky. But no idiot, we made it."
I rolled over in the dirt and saw Jack lounging in the shade with three horses and four large saddlebags of supplies. He looked up at me. "What took y'all so long?"
I looked up at the sky. "Thank the gods Above." Paz rolled her eyes at me.