Claire tried to draw her sword, but I managed to grab her arm before she pulled it out. Ray stepped into the house and kicked the door closed behind him. Fortunately, this place had been evacuated, so no innocent civilians would be involved in our little showdown.

That also meant no one would know what was about to happen.

“Just tell me why.” Claire spit out the words as though they were missiles. Ray tapped a finger to his chin before he responded in a matter of fact tone.

“My God gave me a prophecy to follow. This man fits it perfectly, so my hand has been forced.” He gave me an odd look as he continued. “You probably know less than she does, but believe me when I say this is for your own good.”

“You want to kill me for my own good?” I pulled Claire away from the captain. There was another doorway at the back of the room, but it was obvious we wouldn’t make it out through that. The real reason I moved was to tempt Ray forward by a few steps.

“I know it sounds insane, but it's true. You are going against god’s plan for this world.” He took a step forward and raised his sword. “If you come quietly, I can let her go. It’s up to you.”

“Shut your mouth. I’ll never let you take him!” Claire struggled in my grasp. Ray glanced at her as she tried to block his path. Despite the situation, he looked genuinely depressed as he took another step towards us.

“If that is how you want it, so be it. I guess your feelings are more sincere than I first thought.” His sword shone brightly as a spiral of blue energy span around its length. “Rook, you have one more chance. Step forward and let me finish this quickly.”

“What the hell is that?” Claire stared at his sword. “Ray, what have you done-”

“OK.” I nodded and pushed Claire to the side before she could finish her question. Her legs failed her as she dropped on top of a pile of rocks, but I caught her and made sure she didn’t hit them too hard. She tried to grab my hand but I had already dodged away. Her frustration was evident as she tried to force herself up. Unfortunately her heavy armour, which had previously protected her, now acted as her cage.

“Good choice. No need to involve the others.” Ray nodded as I moved towards him. “I promise you that they won’t be hurt. You have my word.”

“How can I trust you?” I asked, my eyes narrow. The former captain shrugged in response.

“You don’t have a choice.” He took another step towards me. “Wait right there-”

“Thunder Orb!”

Susan’s voice echoed down from the roof. Ray tried to stab out with his sword, but a bright shield burst into view to block the blow. Susan’s attack smashed down on top of his head. The thunder orb erupted out the instant it hit him before it sent out a wave of force. The shield that hovered before my eyes cracked and broke apart under the force before I was swept from my feet.

It had blocked some of the damage, but not all of it.

Claire rolled off the pile of rubble. She hadn’t been aware of the plan, and it wasn’t like I had time to explain or give her a hint. She rolled into the far wall with a thud. My fate wasn’t much better than hers as my body crashed into the wall beside her.

The only hope was that Ray’s injuries would be worse than ours.

He was still alive, that much was clear. His body had crashed into the wall beside the door so heavily that cracks spread along its surface. Whilst his head was hidden from view, it was clear that the magical attack would have done him serious damage.

Either way, it wasn’t a good idea for us to wait to find out.

It was difficult to lift Claire, but after I used my Strengthen buff it was barely manageable. I used it on the entire group just in case as it wasn’t as though I was low on mana at that point. I did hold back on using it on Claire by removing her from my mental targets, just in case she tried something stupid with the newfound strength.

A quick kick destroyed the doorway and let us out onto the street. John waited outside to take Claire from my grasp whilst Susan stayed on the rooftop to cover our escape.

Ray’s target was me, and she was injured. It was a good plan, but it wasn’t one I was happy with.

“Go get the guards, I’ll hold him off.” I turned back to the open doorway and raised my staff. Ray’s figure was visible at the far end of the room as he pulled himself to his feet. John wanted to argue with me, but Claire’s condition gave him pause for thought.

Unfortunately, his hesitation was our downfall.

Ray chuckled from the room before he tossed a small object to our feet. It looked like a round stone, carved with various odd runes. John kicked it back into the house and jumped to the side, but his reaction wasn’t quick enough. I didn’t have time to dodge before it exploded.

A wave of blue light erupted from the orb and swept over the alley. As it hit, my body went limp. All my strength faded as we dropped to the floor. I could see Susan far above and confirmed she had been affected as well. The object had been some sort of magical grenade, but what was peculiar was the fact the book hadn’t mentioned such a thing at all.

I had looked for this sort of thing specifically, and the closest thing was the siege equipment that could launch an enhanced magical projectile. I had seen the effects of such a device not too long ago, but that needed the combined efforts of many practitioners and the sacrifice of an artefact of significant power.

“I got the idea from a friend in another country.” Ray giggled as he walked out of the door. He had put his mask on once more to cover his injured face. “It was lucky the bandits listened to me. If they hadn’t used the weakening poison on your little practitioner, that would have been the end for me.”

“You’re the one who poisoned her!” John tried to get up, but his struggles were for nought. “I’ll kill you! Fight me, you coward!”

Ray looked back at John. We had fallen in opposite directions and John was partially blocked by the unconscious Claire. I couldn’t feel any flow of mana at all. The orb had weakened us and blocked our abilities, so how badly must it have affected her?

“I promised you I would leave them alone, and I’ll stick by it. You betrayed my trust, Rook, but I have my limits.” Ray moved to stand above me. “It's funny. That little stone wouldn’t have affected them if you hadn’t used your abilities to help. You should appreciate it, that rock was one of a kind.”

Why did he have something to counter a Supporter? I’m no danger to him…

“You seem confused. Don’t worry though, it wasn’t specifically for you.” Ray placed his sword against my chest. “I have friends in high places, and they are planning a change that will help this country to be great once more. Unfortunately, you won’t live to see that.”

He pressed his sword down. My armour held out for a few seconds before the blade pierced through and reached my chest. He paused for a moment as he stared down at me. His sword had stabbed directly into the area marred by the gods fist. It wasn’t clear if that was a purposeful choice, but he didn’t give me time to question it.

“I want to say I’m sorry, but I’m really not. Goodbye.”

His arm tensed up as he gathered his strength to strike. Before he could make the move, a figure leapt through a window beside us and kicked him aside. Ray tried to force his sword down, but it only cut my chest a little before he was knocked into the wall.

“Ray! I knew you were a self-serving prick. Thanks for proving it.” Bryan blocked the man’s path to me. “How long is left on the debuff?”

“Three minutes.” John answered. Bryan nodded and moved into a defensive stance.

“I’ll hold him off then. Once it fades, we can beat him together.”

“Clever.” Ray nodded as he pushed himself off the wall. Despite the various hits he had taken, the man was as lively as ever. “You think you can fight me by yourself? Maybe you would have been right before, but with the new power my god gave me, you have no chance at all!”

“He isn’t by himself.”

Claire had pushed herself up and made her way to stand beside Bryan. She was unsteady, but a pale light twined its way around her limbs which held her upright. Bryan opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off.

“Save it, Bryan. Focus on the enemy.”

“I wish we could reminisce, but time is limited.” Ray’s sword was surrounded once more by the spiral of blue light. “This is your choice.”

Claire drew her weapons and moved to block Ray. The captain turned traitor, true to his word, didn’t give her more than a moment before he launched his assault.

His blade stabbed at her chest. Claire managed to block the blow, but the force sent her back by several steps. Ray was ready to follow up, but Bryan launched a vicious assault from the side.

Two swords versus one. It was a close match up despite the numerical advantage as Ray dodged and weaved between Bryan’s flurry of blows. After a few seconds of heated combat, Ray seized on an opening and kicked Bryan away.

As he did so, Claire rushed to meet him. Her shield smashed into his side and swept him from his feet. It looked like she was about to crush him against the wall, but he kicked out against it before he reached it and pushed her back. Claire tipped back, but managed to hold her ground.

Unfortunately, Ray wasn’t ready to let that slide.

He dropped to the floor and swept her legs aside with a kick. As she tumbled through the air, he followed up with a brutal punch which sent her through the air. She crashed down beside me as though that had been his goal all along.

Bryan blocked his advance once more but, after their last exchange, it was obvious how this would end up. Claire turned to face me with a smile. The buffs on the rest of the group had less than two minutes to go, but Bryan wouldn’t be able to last more than one. After he went down, Ray would have more than enough time to finish us off and escape.

“Sorry about this, Rook. I tried my best.” She mumbled. For a few seconds, it was unclear what she meant, but then she spoke a single word.

“Intervention.”

My body, which had felt as though it was pressed down beneath several tonnes of sand, lightened at her word. John leapt to his feet at the same point and joined Bryan in his assault. Ray, now under the combined assault of an archer and a swordsman, was forced to back away slowly.

“Thunder orb!”

Susan had been freed from the curse as well. Ray tried to dodge the attack, but Bryan kicked him back into it. The orb didn’t explode this time, but it still made him crash face first into the floor. Bryan and John rained blows down on him as I turned back to Claire.

She smiled at me, but the light didn’t reach her eyes. She stared straight forward as I pushed myself up. As I stared at her, a voice echoed in my mind.

It was Claire.

'What are you, Rook? How did you do this? What are you…'

And then she was gone. A new weight settled on my mind, as though my brain had increased by three sizes. Claire had dropped to the floor in front of me, so how the hell did she just speak to me?

“Damn it, Claire.” Bryan rushed over to her side and lifted her head. “Come on, you can’t do this.”

“Bryan, that’s enough.” John dropped to the floor beside the pair. “She did what she thought was right.”

“We need to take her for treatment.” I pushed myself up and tried to pull Bryan to his feet. “Come on, we need to go-”

“Rook, stop….” John looked up at me. Tears streamed from his eyes as he spoke. “She took all of the effects from us and it was too much for her. Shes… gone.”