PreCursive

  “As I see things, Captain,” Grey said deliberately, crossing his arms over his thi. “There are two ways this enter go. One, you retreat, live to see another day, and vely fet you ever met us.”

  Captain Dallens took a deep breath and straightened his armor before speaking. “I don’t believe I do that, Headmaster.”

  Grey shook his head slowly. “Ah, but you haven’t heard your other optio. You see, the alternative is that I and my patriots sughter every st one of you like dogs,” He said dispassionately. The tension in the air ratcheted up dramatically at the btant threat. Several of the soldiers ht drew their swords, sending a ringing noise eg through the fields around us.

  Not the Captain, though. He took Grey’s threat in stride, not even blinking.

  “I ot allow word of my return to spread among the Loyalists just yet, you see,” Grey said, tapping his fingers on his arm. “And thus, your knowledge of my presence is…inve.”

  Captain Dallens shook his head slowly. “I swore an oath to the , Headmaster. I’m afraid I ot break it by letting you pass. Surely, you uand that. You were once a loyal subject yourself.”

  Grey snorted derisively. “Loyal to the ? Child, I am older than both the of Herztal and the Kingdom itself. Herztal has ever been naught but the nd my Academy has rested on. I have tolerated its many faults over the years, as it has done mood for the popuce than ill. But not,” He leaned forward menagly. I couldn’t tell if it was just a cloud passing over the sun or not, but the surroundings noticeably dimmed. Meanwhile, Grey’s ecliptic eyes glowed brighter. “Not in this case. Not in this flict. Captain, you seem like a fairly upright officer. Despite us ending up in this situation, I’m impressed that you resisted the bribe my apprentice offered you. It speaks well of your character. Surely, you uand that the Loyalist desire to inflict de-facto svery upon the Sculpted is the height of immorality.”

  “It is not my pce to question orders, my lord,” Captain Dallens said stolidly, eyes flickering over in my dire at the word apprentice. During their versation, I’d drawn my test pleted project from its resting py hip. At a g looked like nothing more than a leaf-bded dagger with an unusually long hilt, maybe half a hand lohan a normal o was a bit more than that, though.

  Grey shook his head, seemingly genuinely regretful. “So be it then,” He said with a sigh. At his unspoken signal, Venix drew all four of his curved bdes, getting into a stance. Azarus banged his hammer against his shield, while Sylvia drew a short sword I’d never seen before. The bde itself was made from some kind of blue material, while the cross guard was stylized in the shape of a skull.

  Myself, I activated The Stilnt Bde and Thorn Cloak at the same time. As the weight of my skill-born cloak settled over my shoulders, I took a deep breath.

  With a ringing noise, Captain Dallens drew his longsword from its sheathe and poi at roup. “MEN!” He bellowed. “SUBDUE THEM!” At his and, his group drew their ons, some more enthusiastically than others. With a cry, the group of soldiers started to charge us.

  Grey sighed. “Pointless,” He said, raising a palm to point to the sky. From it erupted a ball of swirling darkness, rger around than a man, that shot into the sky. Some of the soldiers faltered at the obvious spell, while others tinued charging. In particur, Captain Dallens made a bee-line for Venix, judging him to be the biggest threat among us.

  Well. Other than Grey.

  Venix ptuously parried the Captain’s first thrust with his lower left bde, before driving his upper two bdes down at the shorter man. The mustachioed officer dodged the two swords, but missed the lht bde as it came from beh. Captain Dallens only mao avoid being pletely disemboweled by the smallest margin, but still mao e away from the exge injured. He staggered away from the Antium man with a grunt, before snapping his bde up into reflexive guard to block a follow-up blow that never came. The Captain lowered his bde, only to find Venix ba his stance awaiting him. “e,” The Antium said dispassionately. With a snarl, the Captain obliged him.

  I didn’t have a ce to watymore, though. I was too busy dodging out of the way as two of the soldiers bore down on my position. With a cry, one of the younger soldiers, skin still pimply from youth, sshed his sword down at me, I easily parried his blow off to my left side, sending the soldier staggering that way.

  God, I was gd that those sparring sessions with Azarus had opped. I don’t know how long this kid had been training, but I was just better.

  Seeing my ce, I aimed my left index and middle fi the staggering soldier from under my bde arm.

  Poisonthorn Shot.

  My thorn shot from the tip of my fingers, aimed directly at the soldier's face. He didn’t have time to react, only barely registering the oning skill with eyes widened in horror. His head didn’t quite explode, but there was a rge explosion of blood as his face essentially caved in. I didn’t get the ce to firm if he was down though.

  I was too busy frantically diving out of the way of the sed, more experienced soldier’s thrust. He’d e upon me from a blind spot while I was busy with the other soldier, and I only barely mao see the stab in time to avoid it.

  I was on the ground from the dive now, though. I looked up just in time to see that the older soldier wasn’t going to wait for me to get up, and was charging at my downed position for aab. Frantically getting my still burning dagger up and poi the soldier seds before he reached me, I pressed down oivation rune on its hilt with my thumb.

  The dagger extended instantly into a short spear, aimed directly at the charging soldier. His eyes widened in arm, but he wasn’t able to rea time to avoid running straight into it. The burning bde of my spear pierced straight through his mail armor and exploded out of his ba a spray of blood. The soldier clutched uselessly at the segmeeel spear haft, blood running from his mouth.

  Scrambling to my feet, I yanked my extendable spear out of the soldier. Gripping the spear with both hands, I spun in a circle and swung the bde at the soldier's neck with a shout of effort.

  His head went flying, while his body slumped to its knees.

  The entire exge with both soldiers had only taken maybe a minute. Maybe.

  I breathed heavily from the rapid exertion, searg wildly for anyone else who was trying to attack me. My quice found that Azarus was fending off four of the soldiers himself with wide swings of his hammer, while Venix was casually defleg the bdes of four other soldiers in addition to the captain. A quice at the wagon saw that Aurum was taking potshots at whatever soldier he could, sending balls of blue Mana flying from the end of his staff. My attention was stolen, though, when another soldier noticed me and started charging in my dire. I raised my bde, but I have bothered.

  A blue short sword erupted from the front of the soldier, sending him staggering. His blood sprayed far enough that I felt some hit my face. Looking down in disbelief and clutg uselessly at the sword embedded in him, the soldier let out a weak cry.

  Sylvia materialized behind him in a shimmer of light, emerging from a cloaking skill of some type. Yanking her sword out of the soldier, she finished him by slitting his throat with a dagger clutched in her left hand.

  I blihe blood out of my eyes at her. My Sculpted friend spared me a quick smile before a booming noise from above stole not only our attention, but everyone else’s otlefield. Nearly everyone’s neck ed up to watch as the bck ball that Grey had unched only seds ago exploded into an artificial night sky that hung lowly over us. Within it, I watched as dozens of ‘stars’ began to form in the bess, burning ever brighter. Seds ter, at a gesture from Grey, the stars began to fall from the sky, unerringly seeking out the soldiers.

  When one of the ‘stars’ reached a soldier, they were blown off their feet in an explosion of light and fire. I hadn’t noticed, but not all the soldiers had engaged roup yet. Many of them were waiting off to the side of us, waiting for a ce to dart in and attack.

  That only made them easier targets frey’s stars. In seds, over half of the attag force had been wiped out by my mentor’s celestial spell. I think the only reason the rest of them hadn’t been killed was because they were too close to Venix or Azarus. Still, they were being hemmed in by the stars that were being directed by Grey with haures, cirg the individual melee’s like sharks seeking a meal.

  Exging a gh Sylvia, I poi Azarus’s group and it. Sylvia nodded back at me and shimmered out of view, but not before I saw her start moving towards Venix’s group.

  Meanwhile, I had broken out into a sprint in the dire of the soldiers assaulting my dwarven friend, activating Sylvan Vigor at full power while I did so. I vaulted into the air when I was close enough using my spear as a crutch, flying maybe te into the air. The height I’d reached made my eyes widen, as I’d ried this before, but I put it out of my mind. Below me, I was rapidly closing in on the exposed back of one of the soldiers harassing Azarus. I maneuvered my spear downwards, point first.

  With a shout, I fell on the soldier, skewering right through him, pinning him to the dirt road beh us with a crash. That distracted the other two remaining soldiers, leaving them vulnerable.

  Azarus and Grey took advantage of that.

  Two of Grey’s stars closed in on one of the soldiers at a sharp gesture from him, engulfing him in light and fire. The soldier was only able to let out a brief, tortured scream before falling silent forever. At the same time, Azarus sprang forward with a roar, forsaking the attached to his warhammer to instead use it as it was intended.

  He brought it down on top of the helmet-cd head of the soldier, g it in with an explosion of gore.

  Staggering to my feet off of the soldier, I yanked my spear out of the dead soldier aracted it to dagger-size. Breathing heavily again, I felt it as Sylvan Vigor ran out of strength. I nearly bcked out at the sudden loss of strength, but I was knocked back awake by a heavy gaued hand falling on my shoulder. Blinking my eyes back open, I saw that it was Azarus.

  “Ya okay?” He asked me gruffly.

  I tried to take a deep breath, but it was interrupted by a coughing fit that caused me to double over. When it passed, I looked back up at my friend. “Yeah,” I said raspily. “I-I’m good.” Looking around, I saw that the battle was over. All of the soldiers that had targeted Azarus and Venix were dead barring the Captain. It looked like he had just beeed instead of killed, and was being guarded by Venix. Everyone else had been taken out by either Grey’s stars, Aurum’s balls of Mana, or Sylvia and I.

  A shuddering breath escaped my chest. It had just now hit me that I had killed three men in as many minutes. I shook it off though. I didn’t have time to brood about killing more people, even ihick of battle. It looked like everyone was gatherihe captive Captain. Azarus and I wandered over, being careful not to step on the bodies of the dead.

  I watched as Grey hopped off the top of the wagon where he had stood the etle. On the ground, the artificial night sky above us winked out at a sharp gesture from him, dissipating the rest of his stars. The three of us reached Venix and the Captain at the same time that Sylvia shimmered bato view and Aurum jogged over.

  Captain Dallens wasn’t in good shape. It looked like other than the ssh across his stomach, Venix had decided to carefully dismahe man. Somehow, it seemed to me that the Antium had carefully sshed the Captains tendons, leaving him uo stand under his ow, much less trol his arms. He was breathing heavily, while losing copious amounts of blood.

  Aurum broke the silence. “I… heal him,” He said to Grey hesitantly. “If you’d like, Headmaster.”

  The Captain broke in befrey could answer. “I wouldn’t accept…healing from a…Sculpted,” He spat, iween bored breaths. “Just…kill me.”

  Grey gazed down at him in pity. “Was it worth it, Captain?” He gestured to the blood-stained fields around us, strewn with the bodies of the dead. “If you had taken my deal, both you and your men would have survived. What did you aplish with this farone of us are even injured.”

  Looking around, I saw that he was correct. We may have been spttered with blood, but none of it looked like it beloo any of us.

  Captain Dallens s Grey. “You wouldn’t…uand…schoolteacher. Honor…oaths…loyalty. It’s fn to…rebellious scum like you. My men…died upholding…the honor of the . I have…s.”

  “You’re right,” Grey nodded slowly. “I don’t uand. All that you and your men were, all that you could have been. It’s gone now, like dust in the wind. And for what? To fight for an unjust cause?” He shook his head. “What a waste. Venix, if you would?”

  Venix looked up from where he had been wiping his swords of blood and nodded sharply. Sheathing three of them, the Antium man gripped the fourth with his lower set of hands. He stepped up to stand at the side of Captain Dallens and raised his sword over his neck. Even though he was about to die, William Dallens didn’t break eye tact with Grey. Grey at least did him the honor of holding the Captain's gaze.

  I looked away, as Venix sshed downwards with his sword.

  I still heard the thump, though.