Four Horsemen: Chapter 27

Chapter 27:

Mya took a deep sip of her beer, Petor tightened up the last of the straps on his shield and picked his spear out of the ground.

The days had passed quickly, she’d gathered information, on trade routes, Aetheria, the local villages, good prices and more. She’d reloaded all of her ammunition and even got new rounds from Valter. Both he and Petor had been training from waking up to collapsing into sleep. Smithing gear, growing plants, casting spells in caverns away from prying eyes.

Desari had taught the village how to preserve ingredients and given several seeds to Petor to grow, harvesting the plants herself to use in various potions.

Their stock in potent healing, stamina and mana potions had increased. As well as various supporting potions.

Mya had spent her hours working on repairing nets and rope. The inane task rewarding her with her own essence increases.

Going to take some time to get back all my strength.

Valter shifted his body around in his armor and spun the sword in his hand, he shook his shield out and grasped the handle within.

The two of them set themselves. Petor’s eyes focused, darting over Valter who looked at him the same.

Mya let out a piercing whistle.

The duo charged one another. Petor stabbed out with his spear, using its longer reach. Valter ducked and threw up his shield as the spear came down.

Sparks flew as Petor drew back his spear, interposing his shield between them both as his feet moved over the forest floor like he’d walked it a thousand times.

Valter raised his shield to cover for another attack and pressed Petor, moving in close.

Petor fended him off with his spear, their attacks lashed out at one another, throwing sparks, Mya could barely follow the flurry of blows.

Shields, spear and sword danced against one another.

The two men using their training, their strength, agility and history. Openings were sought out, feints tried.

Mya drank from her beer.

“They’re going to be terrors with the spells you’ve been teaching them,” She didn’t turn as Desari moved through the forest.

“I’m surprised you were able to sense me.”

“The spirits talk to me, and it does to have eyes in the back of your head when you’re a captain.” Ghostly eyes appeared on the back of her hat and winked at Desari.

“Interesting.”

“I deal in the trade and plying of souls. Hard to hide from when you’re alive,” Mya said. Desari stood beside her, watching the fight.

“Are we alive?”

Mya grinned and drank from her beer, letting out a sigh. “Well, I can taste I can feel. I am connected to this body as strongly as I was to the one I was born in. The question and answer for one such as I is a complicated one.”

Desari leaned against a tree, placing her foot against it, her cowl hiding her face in near shadow except for her chin. The sparks from the men’s fight illuminated her face periodically.

“It is my belief that the soul of a person is their entirety of being. A body is just the vehicle we use in the mortal plane. I have seen souls be in golems of all kinds, in ships and other creations. They inhabit these creations, compatibility is a large part to take into account when blending soul and golem. The right golem can enhance the power of a soul, and give them greater control over it. A soul can go between golems, whether that be the body they were born within, one created of metal or clay, or their avatar in the celestial plane.”

Valter feinted, Petor raised his shield as Valter dropped and spun, sweeping his leg.

Petor dug in his spear and re-directed his momentum, he landed on his  feet, tearing his spear’s butt from the ground and jabbing at Valter in a rush of blows as he fought back up to his feet.

Laughter bubbled out of Valter as Petor’s face was split into a wide grin.

“My answer is that the only death there is, is when someone’s soul is destroyed,” Mya said. “Nothing, not even essence of that person remaining. In that thought we never died, we just transferred from one body to the next. And these ones are essentially blended with our souls in such a way they’re like the first bodies we were born in.”

Desari’s gaze rested on her before drifting to the ongoing fight.

Mya looked over and watched it.

“Basically it matters little, this is the situation we are in and we should deal with it as such.”

“Bingo. Gah, all them big words hurt my head,” Mya took a larger drink from her beer.

“You’re much smarter than you pretend to be Mya.”

“And you’re a lot more sneakier and deadlier if you put your mind to it,” Mya’s voice cut the playfulness.

Desari’s head snapped over to look at her. Mya grinned. “You are too fun to mess with miss spell assassin.”

Petor and Valter broke apart, both of them breathing heavily, they straightened and lowered their shields.

“Well shit you still hit like a runaway cart,” Petor worked his arm.

“And you’d give one of those stone golems a run for their coppers. All this with a few days of strength training.” Valter shook his head, storing his sword and unstrapping his shield.

“Still weaker than you.” Petor did the same with his spear and shield.

“Yes, but you move much faster and you’re a nasty bastard with that spear. Never really got all the ways to use it. Just stab and draw.”

“You’re well versed with a lot of weapons though.”

“Trained with them all as a kid, best with the arbalest and the sword and shield though. The others I know how to use but not with a great amount of skill.” Valter freed his arm and put his shield away, clenching his arm.

“Guess its time for us to cast some spells?” Petor turned to Desari and Mya.

“One with the biggest explosion wins!” Mya shoved her mug into the air.

“This way,” Petor waved them to follow.

He led them through the bare trees to a rocky out cropping. The area had been smoothed and shaped into rolling hills that covered a large circular area. Moss, hardy bushes and small trees that had grown up through the cracks covered the rock.

“Strange landscape, must have been formed by some phenomenon,” Desari said.

“And now a perfect place to test out spells.” Mya raised her voice. “What you gonna cast?”

Petor and Valter looked at one another Valter indicated for him to go first.

“Thanks, well I can cast the weaker version of Arcane blast and then a Glacial freeze.” He faced the hill.

Mana swelled-translucent green flame detonated above the ground, unleashing a blast that tore away moss and shrubs, bending trees. They burned up in green flame as the same translucent green flames filled Petor’s eyes.

He turned and reached out. White and blue flashed, creating a soundless blast that froze the air, the plants, frost spreading across the ground before suddenly stopping.

“Well, guess that the nova uses my mana and that means anything in the blast gets leeched heavily. The freeze spell not so much.” Petor  drew his sling and whirled it once, hitting a bush turned to ice.

It shattered with the sound of broken glass.

“Impressive.” Valter said. “Can I use the cold from your spell?”

“Sure,” Petor held out his hand to it and moved back

Mya moved her mouth around tasting Petor’s mana.

“Tastes demonic your spell Petor,” Mya said. “Reminds me of pirates that would summon up the demons to fight. No wait, it tastes like demons?”

“That would make sense,” Petor said but didn’t elaborate.

Everyone had their secrets.

“Have to find something to make sure that them celestial types don’t track you. I think its only with big spells and now you’ve absorbed everything I can barely taste it, just when you did that Arcane Nova.”

“Good to know, thanks.”

Mya raised her mug and watched Valter.

He checked the twin hammers on his belt, one with runes glowing as if they held a banked fire. The others runes shimmered like ice crystals.

The ice and all marks of the Glacial Freeze streamed towards his icy hammer, the slight glow brightening like water turning to ice, a thousand crystals going white and then connecting and spreading backwards clear with a deep blue spreading through.

The air became thick and pooled as the cold rushed out of his hammer, Mya could see it shimmer, somewhat like air would on a hot day.

A cloud of heat created a sphere  around the thick air and compressed.

A spark flared in the center of the obscuring cloud and air.

Light blinded, in a fire ball that drew in all the air within the cloud, and then detonated, scouring the ground, hurling the wind and a following wave of heat at them that was diverted to Valter.

Mya forgot to drink her beer.

“Fuck.”

Valter was panting, clearly low on mana as he grinned at them.

A section of the ground collapsed under where the spell had detonated. The stone was scorched around it. Bushes and trees burned as air came back to them. They snuffed out with Desari calling a rain spell over the area.

“I guess you’ve both got the idea of chain casting under your belts now,” Desari said.

The rain continued to fall as Petor shook his head. Valter studied the destruction.

“The casting time is long and the conditions required are unoptimal. Would be best to do them separate, had to dip into my reserves rather deeply,” Valter said.

“Well I have one other grouping of spells that I was thinking of trying together,” Petor rubbed the back of his head.

A section of the hill exploded outwards, a snake with a head as big as a cart flickered its tongue, turning its eyes on the group.

“Ah shit,” Petor pulled out his shield and started strapping it on.

The creature let out a hiss of anger and pushed out of its home, fully fifty meters long. The ground formed and shifted under its body.

“Well looks like we know what made the weird lumpy hill!” Mya threw her beer into storage and drew out a rifle and round shot. She planted the butt of the rifle on the ground, casting a spell upon the round shot before depositing it down the barrel of the rifle.

She pulled up the ramrod turned it and then shoved it down after the round shot, pushing it all the way down to the powder.

Desari had pulled out the book covered in runes that glowed and released a purple fog, flipping through pages.

Petor and Valter were pulling on their shields as fast as they could.

The serpent dropped down on the stone, the stone underneath forming to its body as it weaved back and forth, charging them.

Mya pulled the ramrod out, turned it and put it back into the holder under the barrel, she kicked the hammer down all the way and threw the weapon up.

She brought it to her shoulder aiming for the beast’s eye and stroked the trigger.

The beast reared as the hammer was released, a flash of powder blinding her as she blinked to see the impact.

The beast cried out, she’d missed its eye but shot right up its snout.

It reared back as blood shot out of its snout.

Petor fired a mana blast from his spear, it entered the snake’s mouth and hit the roof of it.

Mya put her rifle away and drew out a larger one, she took out a pre-made charge and shot, casting Searing Fireball.

It shook its head as Petor fired again, missing.

Winds howled as blades formed of white wind lashed at the snake, slowing it and leaving marks on its stone scales.

It spat acid at Valter who shot out of the way. Five meters of stone melted and fell into caverns below.

Mya fired at its mouth, but its movement took the impact and resulting ghostly fireball on its hide, wraith-fire burning across its snout and over its head.

“Well that just pissed it off some!” She ran, jumping over rocks and between trees, drawing out a new pre-made, she cracked the gun again, ejecting the shell, she caught it and inserted a fresh round, casting Ghostly Shot.

Goes through objects and hits the target, should get through its armor, right?

The beast was within twenty meters of Petor now. He charged forward.

“Desari, spread the seeds over the beast and the ground!”

“Give me a second!”

“Don’t have many!” Petor fired a mana blast at the beast. It went right down its mouth and carved through its throat. It reared back and shook its head, letting out choking wet noises.

It spat blood and stone to the side, glaring at Petor.

Wind pulled at him as he threw out his shield hand.

He ran. Mya aimed.

“Roll!” Valter yelled.

Petor threw himself forward, storing his spear, he rolled into a crevasse, disappearing from view.

Valter’s arbalest bolt cut a red line that shivered a heat trail behind it.

It hit the beast in the side, diverting its aim, heat was suddenly transferred causing the stone scales to explode.

Mya fired, her round passing through the beast’s scales and doing untold damage underneath.

The snake crashed through where he’d been, throwing up stone and cracking through it.

“Well that shot didn’t seem to do much,” Mya grumbled and ran, reloading.

“Grow!” Petor yelled.

It looked like someone had kicked the coals in a fireplace.

“Are those brambles?”

Burned brambles exploded out of the ground and where they’d landed on the snake. It screamed out in pain.

They scratched at its hide.

“Sharper thorns, the sharpest!” Petor called out. “Grow more!”

Spells layered on one another.

The snake spat acid at him. Petor appeared on the other side of the beast at the edge of his brambles.

Mya aimed at the beast, brambles covered its first third, wrapping around it, tightening an cutting.

Brambles cut out of its mouth and the beast slumped.

Essence flowed through Mya into her core.

She drew out a gem and cast Soul Capture. The beast’s soul fought her for several seconds before she plucked it storing it in the gem.

The wind died, Valter lowered his Arbalest and Mya walked forward.

Petor kneeled and touched the brambles. “Valter you got room to charge?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright I’ve got some mana for you. Desari, would this bramble be worth anything?”

Desari shook her head. “Yes. They’d be worth quite a bit in coin especially in the mortal plane.

The brambles which were audibly growing, the thorns cutting against one another.

“Alright.” Petor took off his shield and drew a knife.

He appeared within the brambles a second later, his knife flashed and a large section of brambles disappeared into his storage. He jumped between the brambles, then next to Valter and put his hand on his shoulder.

Mya sat on a rock and took out her unfinished beer.

Valter’s runes all glowed as Petor jumped around separating the brambles from their roots and pouring the extra mana into Valter. It took him several minutes, leaving just the bramble that was growing out of the snake.

A bit of bramble reached out and waved at him.

“Did that just wave at you?” Valter asked.

Mya rubbed her eyes and looked in her beer, taking another sip. Yeah, regular beer.

“I think it did?” Petor said. “Guess I’m going to have to learn that spell.” He grumbled nearly under his breath. “Give me a second.”

Well I have  a whale-horse-ship. Mya shrugged and began refilling her mug.