“You son of a-“ Black Bent filled her wrists as she pointed a clawed hand at him, waiting to be unleashed.

She stopped herself, taking a deep, steadying breath, her free hand stemming the bleeding of the small puncture wound on her chest.

“Listen young man, if you keep fighting tooth and nail like this, I’m going to be left with no recourse but to kill you. You don’t want that, right?”

Calvin couldn’t help letting out a chuckle. Captured again? This was beginning to become the story of his life. Well, not if he could help it this time.

It was around this point when the rear guard finally showed up, tilting things even further in her favor. The last couple lines of men had split away from assaulting the wall and gathered around them, some five hundred men.

He barely felt rough hands bring him to a stand, bringing him eye level with the sorceress.

“Take that belt off him,” She said, pointing to the sheathed components that lined his waist. Immediately, more hands came down and unbuckled the belt, allowing his belt to fall to the ground. Someone with a death wish kicked his component belt across the carefully manicured grass.

Calvin felt naked without the spells.

“Let him go!” came a voice to their left, drawing their attention to a furious looking Nadia, holding Calvin’s extra knife to the man’s neck.

“What are you that looks like the princess?” Charlotte asked, raising a golden brow.

“I am the princess, obviously, Now, get away from him or lose your nephew, Charlotte Moore.”

That gave the sorceress pause.

“You know who I am?”

“Professor of the Den, failed actress with extreme narcissistic tendencies. I know you.” She said, glowering at her.

“Well, there’s really only one way I can respond to that.” Charlotte said with a hint of a smile before her face went cold. “Release my nephew, or lose your summoner, Incha Huala.”

She turned back to Calvin, her brows furrowing as she studied his face closely. “That would kill you both, wouldn’t it?” She looked Calvin up and down as he dangled between two soldier’s grips.

“You don’t look Genosian, but you’ve got one of their spells. The green smoke when you summon the princess skeleton-first is hard to miss.” She cocked her head. “Does that have something to do with your wasps?”

She grinned. “It must.”

“Release him, or I’ll tell everyone your real age, crone.” Nadia said.

Charlotte froze, the smile on her face still plastered there. Bit by bit it broke away, revealing a stony ire.

“Whatever are you talking about my dear?” she asked sweetly, turning to face Nadia.

“Your real form, your age…I’ll even give them your Leash.”

“I got rid of my Leash years ago, silly girl,” Charlotte said.

“Are you sure about that?” Nadia asked. “Are you sure the Crown doesn’t have one squirreled away somewhere in the back of your mind. A vapid, hedonistic narcissist couldn’t possibly have a few dark corners in her mind she’d be unwilling to face, could she?”

“Use it, then.” Charlotte said, raising her chin. “Prove you are who you say you are.”

“As I am now, I can’t, but I can spread it’s name on the wind, and one dark night one of your rivals at the Den will use it against you.”

“Crazy bitch,” Brendan muttered. Calvin wasn’t quite sure who he was talking to. “We’re about to tear down that flimsy wall, Spare yourself an ignoble death and release me.”

“A little late for that,” Nadia snarled, jabbing the blade harder into Brendan’s throat, treating the living armor like it wasn’t even there.

Speaking of the wall, Calvin thought, directing his attention to where the remains of his first swarm were replenishing themselves with the battlefield’s Warp.

1536….3076…. The swarm had doubled once every minute or so, which was a pretty damn good speed. Still not enough to do anything with.

He needed half a million or more of the little bastards. Doubling every minute… about eight minutes. And that was only if he didn’t suffer any attrition at all between now and then.

Calvin looked over his shoulder at the wall. The Ilethans were forcing their way up the side, using debris and the crush of bodies to force their way up the side of the wall. The defenders were engaging in pitched combat, trying to drive them off the wall with their spears.

The situation was desperate. As he looked back, Calvin saw one of the spear wielders get yanked off the wall, falling down into the trench with the invaders.

I don’t know if they’ve got eight minutes left.

Calvin refocused his attention on Nadia, and was struck by a sudden realization.

She’s the bait.

Master Baiter.

“H-How a-about we l-look at this f-from another angle,” Calvin shivered as he spoke, firmly planting the image of Nadia as Charlotte’s Bait. “She’s o-obviously g-got I-information you want. State secrets, Other Leashes, whatever the hell those are. Trade my freedom for that.”

Talking to girls has reached Level 10!

+1 Intuition

“That is an interesting idea.” Charlotte said, glancing at Nadia.

Distract her. Calvin gave Nadia a strong nudge, which did nothing to the girl’s monolithic mental barriers, but he saw something change in her demeanor.

Maybe it’s just me.

Read Expressions Has reached level 9!

Nope.

Please choose –

Later.

Wow, hostage situations are great for social Skills. I’m writing this down. It stands to reason with the stress response reaction with Skill advancement.

“But why should I settle for one bit of juicy gossip when I could have the whole thing?” she asked, turning back to Calvin.

“Why do you think I’m here, in this body?” Nadia asked, her gaze flicking to Calvin with a hint of reproach. “I’ll give you Professor Charles’ Leash. Take the deal now, or find yourself working with a sadistic monster.”

Hey, don’t look at me, I didn’t kill you. I just wounded you badly enough that something else was able to kill you. And I’m not a sadistic monster, you’re just a willful Brat!

“Give me the Leash first, and I’ll have them release him….”

“That’s a ridiculous deal. Why would I give you anything when you could so easily betray me. I’ll need a little assurance that your word is good.

“My word depends on yours,” Charlotte said, stepping closer to Nadia. “You could easily be bluffing.”

“Two pieces then, one before, one after.” Nadia said, glaring at Charlotte past Brendan’s helmet. “You’ll put him somewhere he can recover and escape.”

“On my honor,” Charlotte said.

Nadia scoffed.

“Come closer if you don’t want to have to wipe the knowledge from the mind of every grunt in the Ilthan Army.” Nadia said,

“Not close enough to get stabbed, surely.” Charlotte said with a wry grin.

“That depends on how brave you’re feeling.”

“Nephew.”

“What?” Brendan asked, his tone exasperated.

“Secure her blade.”

Brendan’s arms rose up and his hands locked themselves around Nadia’s wrists, making it difficult for her to lash out. Brendan moaned in discomfort.

“I think we can do business now,” She said, squatting close by and giving Nadia a cheerful smile.

Looks like you’re a Master Baiter already. You handled that situation magnificently, firm under pressure, navigating your way to the climax with ease.

Yeah, I get it, it’s a play on jerking off. Calvin thought, irate. Shut up, I’ve gotta focus.

Appreciate me!

Nadia sent Calvin lightning-quick frown, unnoticed by the Sorceress leaning closer.

Charlotte bent her ear down toward the raven-haired princess, and Calvin made his move.

His body was chilled to the bone and incapable of moving, but that didn’t mean his summons were. Time to hit the escape button.

Calvinian Summoning.

Heart of the Swarm.

9/15 Bent remaining.

***Nadia***

Nadia watched as Calvin burst into green fire, instantly becoming a swarm of wasps that exploded in every direction, quickly gaining as much distance from each other as possible.

“You little –“ Charlotte said, glancing over at the knot of men in the center of the newly created swarm.

I would rather be enslaved by this impressionable boy than suffer a thousand torments at the hands of the Ilethan Nobility. Nadia had begun to come to terms with no longer being a living being, and from an objective standpoint, she knew that Calvin’s fate was intrinsically tied to hers. If he was captured by Charlotte, he would become one of her toys, and by extension, she would, too.

Unacceptable. The idea that the person who beat her could be beat by anyone else rankled her deeply. It picked away at her self-worth, in a twisted way.

Nadia’s hands were clamped down, but her teeth were free.

Nadia lunged forward while Charlotte was distracted, her flesh pushing through the woman’s shield just enough to bite down on the sorceress’s ear.

“Ah!” Charlotte gave a yelp and tumbled sideways in a heap atop Nadia and Brendan, giving Calvin the time he needed to get distance between himself and the sorceress.

Charlotte let out a feminine scream of anger and pain and tore her face away from Nadia’s jaws, slapping a hand over her partially torn away ear.

“You bitch!”

Nadia spat out the chunk of flesh and stuck out her bloody tongue, sharp and taunting before executing Brendan.

She was stronger than Brendan, and her wrists slowly moved against his will, burying the knife deeper into the clinging armor, until Charlotte threw a hand out, Bent wrapping around Nadia’s wrists like several inches of solid steel, stopping her just before the dagger reached the man’s jugular.

Brendan was hyperventilating, panting in fear and pain as Charlotte forced Nadia’s hands to pull away from his neck.

Excellent, stay distracted as long as possible.

Nadia’s fun was cut short when the blade of a nearby soldier penetrated her spine, glancing off Brendan’s helmet.

Her arms and legs went numb, and Brendan thrashed out of her grip, heaving himself to his feet, gasping pitifully as he clamped his Living Armor over his neck to stem the bleeding.

“To be continued, I suppose,” Nadia said, throwing the two of them her best smile.

As her vision faded, she heard a series of explosions in the distance.

“Damn it!” Charlotte shrieked.

Nadia found herself watching everything through the window of Calvin’s eyes again. He sat on the wall, carried by a giant Knick-Knack. His attention was on the belt of components resting on his stomach that he’d managed to sneak away with, the Fireball specifically.

“Probably should have done this first,” she heard him mutter to himself, before shifting his gaze up to the battlefield.

Everywhere he looked bloomed with Mage’s Fire, drawing a flaming streak across the front of the Ilethan line, immolating thousands of soldiers in instants before Charlotte was able to disrupt his casting with a Dispersal.

Nadia hadn’t seen wholesale destruction like that before, and she felt herself smiling at the possibilities.

Hey.

A voice spoke in the back of her mind, and Nadia found she could direct her attention away from what Calvin was doing. She had never thought of doing so before.

She was in a tiny black room, barren of all furnishing with the small exception of a metal box with a strange metal grate on the front of it, set into the wall.

Testing Port 20299378. You hear me? testing, testing… The voice emanated from the box, and it sounded familiar.

“Who are you?” Nadia said, turning to face the box completely, her consciousness separating from spectating the battle, making the window into the real world go dim and muffled.

Port 20299378 is live and Connected with Chained Spirit. Let’s write that down. Since you’re not buzzing at me, or speaking Knick-Knack, I’ll assume you’re Nadia. Nadia, my name Is Elliot.

“You were the voice I heard right before he escaped. Appreciate me, right?”

You heard that, huh? Man, after all these years, the System still surprises me. Anyway, I just wanted to say hi to a fellow passenger of the S.S. Gadsint, and offer my help with whatever you need to help you get used to your new life.

The air around Nadia shimmered and a plush couch appeared in front of the window into the real world, along with a shelf full of beautiful glass bottles.

I didn’t know what you might like, so I arranged for you to have a bit of everything.

There’s something living in the boy’s head, and it’s trying to butter me up with presents. She had to find out what it wanted, then find out whether or not she wanted that too.

Nadia had nothing to gain by refusing the gifts, not in her current situation.

Lets see what this Elliot’s angle is, Nadia thought, taking a pink glass bottle off the shelf and spinning the recliner to face the metal box before sitting down.

“So Elliot, what’s your story?” she asked as the explosions of battle gently shook her cell.