My Beleros Aura had a surprising and unexpected additional effect; not only did it have an area effect damage, but it also disrupted and canceled enemy illusions and instilled true sight to allies. The form of the eight people surrounding us shimmered and their appearance changed drastically.

These people were not Sidhe. Seven of them were human in appearance, except for the horns protruding from their heads and the weird animal-like legs. The final person’s change was even more dramatic. It revealed hair of spitting and hissing snakes. Eyes devoid of the sclera, completely black and imposing. A forked tongue flicked from a deformed jaw, tasting the air currents and providing the woman with additional sensory information.

Satyrs and a Gorgon. What were monsters out from the Olympian Pantheon doing in the Summerlands? All we needed to make this mess complete were Jotunn and Wargs from Asgardian legend.

[Quest Generated Rank A]

[Survive- You have learned of a plot by opposing factions and their motivations. Survive this battle and return to Talahm. Search for clues into how far this conspiracy has progressed, and find a way to thwart the enemy's plans.]

[Rewards - ???]

[Time Limit – None]

[Optional Quest - Expose or Kill agents from Olympus and Asgard found in Talahm.]

[Optional Quest - Recruit Olympus or Asgard's agents to your banner]

The quest didn’t appear to be optional, and since I couldn’t refuse, I minimized the system notice and ignored it for now. I was too busy trying not to die, to be concerned about experience points or quest rewards.

[Hostile Spell Detected: Petrification]

[Beleros Aura blocks Petrification.]

[No damage is taken. Debuff resisted]

“Caraid, can you turn System damage messages off during combat?” I asked. The information may come in handy later, but it was distracting now. A battle was serious and confusing enough, and I didn’t need to be distracted by messages. Or have my field of vision compromised, I needed to stay focused.

“In fact, can you turn off all System messaged during combat?”

[Done,] Caraid informed me. [Notifications will be saved and can be accessed via the minimized chat window after combat.]

“Should we let any of them live, your highness?” Cedric asked gaining my attention, as he continued to parry and distract the few Satyrs that were focused on him.

“Why bother?” I sneered playing along with Cedric's bravado and hoping our bluff would instill uncertainty and caution in our opponents.

Let them live? Who were we kidding? It was more likely we would die here this day.

“We know who sent them,” I said continuing the bluff, “I really doubt we’ll get much more information out of them, and I’m positive Zeus isn’t the kind of God that will ransom people who have failed him.”

“The only thing we don’t know is how the Olympians managed to get into the Summerlands. But the list of people that can and would aid them shouldn't be many, and we have a pretty good idea what faction might have a vendetta against me,” I continued as I slashed my sword almost casually, the speed and power increasing second by second.

My ability to anticipate where they would strike and to counteract the swords before they could connect intensified. Sounds of metal ringing out, sparks of heat and friction, the whistle of wind being sliced filled the clearing. They fought cautiously at first, gauging and feinting to discover my abilities and limits. But those small excursions, those first testing movements, become from frantic as they fought to pressure me from multiple locations and angles.

A few of the Satyrs replaced their swords as they stepped back from battle and withdrew instruments. Melodies, notes melding together as the few who began playing their strange instruments, they were a cross between a flute and pipes, and the eerie sound and rhythm brought a surreal musicality to our battle.

The fight became a kind of dance, as Cedric and I became more in sync with each other’s movements, our movements a kind of counterpoint to the melody the Satyr’s were playing. I’m not sure what they expected to happen if the music was a debuff or attack of some kind. I had turned notifications off, so I didn’t see what my battle log reported, but I had a hunch that Beleros Aura was allowing Cedric and I to ignore whatever effect they were hoping for.

I seemed to develop a kind of foresight as the battle continued. Somehow, I was able to read the muscle cues of my opponents to know when they were going to attack, and where they would aim their strikes. I finally realized what the strange music was doing when I noticed those still attacking began striking harder and although there were fewer with weapons, their attacks were coming faster.

Just as I was able to anticipate their movements, they gained the ability to respond and alter trajectories and targets mid-strike.

Still, my newfound battle knowledge allowed me to react almost before they engaged. My weapon moved into position exactly where it needed to be to diffuse their strategies and tactics. Even when they attempted to confuse.

And although I couldn’t see what Cedric was doing behind me, my perceptions allowed me to feel and understand his actions. His movements, attacks, and blocks were not as fluid as mine. He used stances, lunges, and dodging to supplement his attacks. But my perception allowed me to support him in the few instances when he wasn’t quick enough to block or fast enough to parry a strike.

Playing defense. Dancing and twirling in a miasma of steel and fire would not end this battle. Although I had ordered Cedric to spare none of them, I hoped they would become discouraged or fearful and would surrender. I would much rather arrest and leave them for someone else to deal with.

But the longer the battle progressed, the more frantic and desperate they became, the more I realized this battle was not going to end with their surrender. If we were to survive this, I was going to have to ignore my conscience.

Civility.

Law.

These were values ingrained from my life on Earth.

But here.

Now.

I had to accept that civility and law were what I made of them. Even on Earth, the strong ruled. If I wanted to survive, I had to shed my inhibitions.

Riposte.

Lunge.

That simply and another Satyr was dead. The blood spewing forth in a torrential flood as his heartbeat sprayed his life force in a cascading waterfall of life and essence.

Pirouette.

Dodge.

My body contorted in wondrous and amazing movements that seemed to defy gravity. Spinning kicks. Backbends that allowed swords to pass over me as I dodged. And my sword always moving. Flickering movements that left cuts and gashes as I whittled down my opponents.

Slowly, we continued to prevail.

Six left.

Five.

Three.

Until finally only the Gorgon stood.

“Enough!” she screamed, panting and gasping for breath. “I’ll admit you are far more deadly than we expected. You’ve just come into your power. I don’t know how you can be this powerful already, but this ends now.

“Daughters of Artemis. Kill them!”

As she finished her command, a group of archers, women who had remained concealed and camouflaged in the canopy of trees, moved to reveal themselves. As one, they raised the bows each held, nocked an arrow, and drew back on bowstrings aiming each of them at me. It seemed like Cedric was going to live a second or two longer than I, a small mercy.

“Did you forget about us?” A voice asked disparagingly. Movement too fast to track and sounds of weapons rubbing against leather, as hidden weapons of unknown origin were drawn. A glimpse of sun reflection the only warning as those hidden weapons were thrown, flashing quickly across the clearing, embedding in the hearts of two of the women that had their bows trained on me.

Commoners Gil and Ril who had vanished almost as soon as the ambush occurred finally appeared. And it seemed they were on my side. Maybe their actions were orchestrated, and they had waited until they were certain all pieces of this chess match were in play. Maybe they were waiting to see if and how I would survive the ground battle. Or maybe they were opportunistic and waited for now because by engaging at this point in the battle, their actions would be the most impactful.

I didn’t really care at this moment. I would accept their help.

But I would remember that they waited until this moment to offer that help.

A barrier of some type formed before the remaining enemies, and it didn’t matter what or how Gil and Ril threw weapons after that barrier was raised; the effects were the same. They deflected everything.

The sneak attack had allowed two of the archers to be killed, but the remaining Archers and the Gorgon were safe behind that construct.

Since physical weapons seemed useless, I wondered about metaphysical weapons. Flicking my wrist in a magician’s sleight-of-hand movement, I stored my sword back into my ring. Concentrating on the ambient magic, I flexed that mental muscle that allowed me to reach out and control the magic energies, spinning and twisting more and more of that energy as I molded my magic into the form and shape I was most used to when performing spellcraft.

I hadn’t cast Focus Fire yet, so I wasn’t sure exactly what it would do, but I hoped that by combining it with my Force spell, I could create a new spell. I was hoping to create a fireball spell.

Granted fireball spells were level one noob spells in any MMORPG I’d ever played. But they all had two things in common. They were destructive, with some splash damage in most cases that gave an area effect damage debuff, and they increased in damage and strength based on the level of the player.

Unfortunately, the remaining three archers weren’t patient enough to wait until I was finished channeling my magic and conjuring my fireball. Taking aim carefully, altering their choice of target slightly, they fired their arrows.

My shield easily stopped the arrows aimed at me, but Cedric wasn’t as lucky. I heard him grunt in pain as one of the arrows lodged in his chest. Dropping to his knee as he fell under the onslaught of the attack, his countenance morphed from wariness to determination.

Slowly, painfully, he stood back up.

Gil and Ril vanished again, almost as fast as the arrows sped towards us. I had no idea how they were doing it. If it was a rogue based skill or a spell they had, but it was effective. One of the arrows that had targeted them embedded itself harmlessly in a tree behind where they had just been standing.

My fire spell had coalesced into an ethereal mass of blue-white energy. Atoms and molecules vibrating in harmony as a reaction began to manifest. The very air acted as fuel to power my creation, mirroring the nuclear reaction of the sun. Fire, when burning, was normally reds, yellows, and oranges. It was only when a fire burnt at extremely high temperatures that the blues and whites appeared.

Deciding to take out the ringleader, and hopefully destroy any morale the remaining fighters had, I ‘pushed’ the fire mass using Air: Force at the Gorgon.

“Fireball,” I chanted, releasing my intent and imagining the force directing my fireball.

The results were spectacular.

The barrier that had been created was completely ignored as my fireball sailed directly through and towards the Gorgon. The energy barrier had been created to stop physical attacks, my fireball was an entirely magical creation.

The sight and form of my fireball as I examined it, wasn’t that impressive, it was the effect once it made contact that was truly frightening. There was a kind of tearing sound as air was displaced when the Spell: Force catapulted the fireball forward. The impact was accompanied by a loud boom, as the sound barrier was broken, and the fireball exploded.

Just that quickly, the Gorgon ceased to exist. One minute she was there. The next every molecule, every atom, everything that made up the Gorgon was incinerated, in a conflagration of fire and fury that left no time for her to react, to defend herself, or to surrender.

I was a descendant of Beleros, the God of Sun and Healing, and my ability and affinity with fire had an intensity and fierceness that gave testament to that relationship.

Seelie or Unseelie, it made no difference.

We all were creatures of nature.

We embraced the world around us and lived in harmony with those aspects of nature that allowed us to nurture those ties that bound us. And as the children of the Sidhe, the Summerlands had always been ours.

Here.

In this place.

We the children of Gods were at our most powerful. There was no iron to corrupt us. No silver to bind us. And no dichotomy that could sever those ties that limited us.

I wondered if this feeling of power and omnipotence I felt as I crafted and released my new spell isn’t why so many people turn from the light. It would be so easy to embrace this power and these feelings and begin a reign of horror and blood that would paint the crops.

Blood and sex. Both symbols of vitality and growth.

Life and death. Both opposite sides of the same coin.

It would be so easy to surrender and accept the path of blood and death.

My musings were interrupted by three flashes of light that effortlessly pierced the heads of the remaining archers killing them instantly.

Turning my attention to Cedric, I dismissed my fire shield and began to probe his wounds. I ignored the arrow entrenched within his chest for the moment, so I could examine the rest of his wounds and get an idea of how badly he was hurt.

He had a few slashes on his arm, and it appeared two of his fingers were broken, but these were superficial and were not life-threatening. The arrow really was the wound I needed to be concerned with.

“We need to get you back to Kel’s fief and get you seen by a healer,” I said to Cedric gently.

[Mac. You have a healing spell. It might be better to use that and see how effective it is. Moving him with an arrow lodged in his chest might not be the smartest idea,] Caraid said, reminding me of my own abilities and spell list.

“Gil and Ril, we’ll discuss your vanishing act and what you were thinking soon. I’m going to assume for now that you guys had a plan and your actions weren’t just taken to protect your own asses. For now, Gil, come over here and hold Cedric down. I’m going to remove this arrow and see if I can stabilize him and begin healing him before we return.”

“Ril, loot the bodies. Gather everything of value and see if you can find a clue into what Sidhe opened a portal for them.”

Withdrawing a dagger from my storage ring, I quickly summoned a flame to sterilize the blade. Gil helped Cedric to lie on the ground before moving to his head and grabbing his shoulders to brace and restrain him. I spent a few seconds probing the area, trying to determine exactly how the arrowhead was lodged.

It seemed as if the arrow had spun as it entered his body, a kind of corkscrew effect, and instead of shattering rib bones, it had actually bored a path between them.

Ripping Cedric’s tunic to give myself more room to maneuver and a better line of sight, I made two slices in his chest, one on each side of where my probing detected the head of the arrow entered.

Using my fingers to palpate, I began to dig into his body following the path of the shaft until I was able to understand the position of the arrowhead.

Cedric bucked widely, screaming horribly at this point, but Gil was able to maintain control and keep his torso from moving. Grasping the arrow shaft with one hand, using my other hand and my index finger as a guide, I began turning and pulling the arrow so that it mimicked the path it had taken when entering. I grimaced in sympathy at each flinch and bellow Cedric made as I purposely tormented him to minimize any further damage to his internal organs or rib cage.

I’d like to say that I was proficient in my surgical skills, and the removal of the arrow was a matter of seconds, but that wasn’t the case. It took me over five minutes of steady, painful manipulation before I was finally able to remove the arrow and begin the next step.

Pressing down firmly, with fresh blood welling between my fingers, I began casting my heal spell. I had no idea how this was going to work. I was hoping it would be like those games I played, and the healing would just happen. But my powers were tuned with Beleros and the sun. My nature was aligned with fire so I should have realized that fire would be involved.