《Embers in the Ash》Chapter 16 - Fire and Battle.
Advertisement
“On guard!”
Steed immediately snapped into Firstguard as Sam eyed Camille warily. Though he had the reach advantage, he knew by now not to underestimate her lunges. Firstguard was the longest of the common guards, sword stretched out towards the enemy with elbows slightly bent. It would be his best bet to react to her movements in time.
Her own sword, a long and sleek metal needle, came into a similar stance, though he didn’t know what names she used. Her face was a cool and serene mask as she began turning to the left. Sam followed the movement and stepped to the right in time. Camille always liked to start by trying to find flaws in footwork, but he wasn’t so easy to trip up anymore.
After a half circle Camille sprang forward, sword tip pointed at Sam’s chest, but he easily used Firstguard to slap it away. She responded with another forward step, rapier recovering into a whirling arc as it flashed towards his leg instead. Sam backed off a step and tilted Steed down to catch her strike. Before she could attempt another strike, he sprang back forward from the backstep and angled his blade upwards, but Camille backed off and deflected with her own low rapier.
They paused, initial exchange over, and circled around each other again. Swords flashed out and struck at the other, trying to find flaws in a sloppy defense, but could find none. Flaws would have to be created.
Sam took a long step forward, Steed whirling in a wide upwards arc, and Camille had to scramble back two steps to compensate for his bigger strides and longer sword. He grit his teeth, and pressed the advantage. The arc circled back to the middle and fluidly transitioned into a thrust that Camille only barely deflected, then he quickly changed direction slashed at her opposite midsection. He had her, her sword was out of position, she couldn’t parry, she had to back —
Camille didn’t back away. Instead, she stepped into his slash and decked him in the nose.
Sam stumbled backward, strike aborted as he held his nose, and he realized his error too late. In the window of disorientation from the punch, Camille had recovered her footing and was lunging at him. He tried to adjust in time, but…
“Stop! Bout’s over.”
Sam blinked as Camille arrested her lunge and looked at Mikhail. “What do you mean ‘over’? I could have parried that!”
“Dead men don’t parry, boy,” Mikhail said as he motioned behind Sam.
Sam nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Tasha standing right behind him, dagger drawn and pointing up and into his side, towards the liver. A stab there would be almost immediately fatal.
“God dammit, you were part of the spar too?”
“Yes,” Tasha answered simply, putting her dagger back into its sheath. “Sorry for killing you, Sam.”
“Mikhail, what the hell’s the point of a spar when you aren’t told about it?”
“Simple,” Mikhail answered, taking a puff from his pipe as he relaxed on the bench. “You should always be vigilant, not just of your opponent, but also of your surroundings! Tashha’s weapons are surprise and stealth. Telling you she’s going to try to kill you would be a bit of an unfair advantage, wouldn’t it?”
Advertisement
Sam threw his arms up in frustration, and put Steed away. “As if I needed another drawback! I already lose most of these without having to watch my back for sudden assassination too!”
“If it makes you feel better,” Camille said, “I didn’t see her either, and I was looking right at her, and that means I would also have just died there.” she sheathed her rapier and looked at him. “But, Sam, you really could win these if you stopped holding yourself back. How’s the nose?”
“Oh, fine,” Sam said as he gingerly felt at it. “It stings, but it’s not broken or anything. The nose is flexible cartilage, it’s actually not that easy to break. I was honestly more surprised that you’d do something that ruthless to be honest.”
Camille snorted. “Oh please. You’ve got nearly fifteen centimeters and forty kilos on me, if I’m going to fight you, I’m not going to be demure about it.”
“Well, whatever, I’m already dead, so I don’t think a broken nose would actually worry me anymore at this point. Who’s next, Kaisei?”
Kaisei looked up from the paper and parchments he’d taken out from the Chapel and was poring over with a quill in hand. “Yes, sorry?”
“I asked if you wanted the next spar.”
“Oh, well, I don’t think that’d be wise. After all,” he smiled smugly, “I am now a proper wizard, so I don’t think Mikhail could heal you up after one of my mighty spells!”
Sam chuckled. “Oh? Shall we test out your aim against that tree stump over there?”
Kaisei’s smile grew uncomfortable. “Ah… You know, I should really finish on this piece of research Myrrin gave me and all.”
“No, he’s right,” Mikhail said. “Magic is your best weapon, so you need to train it. What’s your current endurance?”
“About… Four bolts, before I need to rest,” Kaisei said. “Or one fireball!”
Mikhail blinked. “Myrrin taught you fireballs when you only have enough endurance for four bolts?”
“Well… He didn’t exactly teach it to me, I more just kind of figured it out. It’s not like it’s that tricky! You just take the base fire bolt, compress and supercharge it, add more spin, then unravel it before it can reach the target, and then with a minor explosion…”
“Boy,” Mikhail said; holding a hand up, “none of what you’re saying makes any sense to me. The way wizards and old Priests like me approach magic is very different. I just pray to the Lady and she grants me what She wills. Modifying and homebrewing spells like you’re talking about isn’t something I do.”
“Oh, sorry.” Kaisei said, looking dejected. “Myrrin told me about that and everything, but I just wanted to share my creation.”
“Well, feel free to do so,” Mikhail said. “The stump is right where Sam pointed it. Twenty paces should be a good enough test of your aim.”
“Wait, really?” Kaisei asked, perking up. “But Myrrin said I shouldn’t ever cast a spell without having him look it over first!”
Advertisement
“You’ve got an expert healer nearby, boy. No Etherburn is going to kill you while I’m around. Now go on, show us that fireball.”
“Okay! Okay!” Kaisei practically jumped out of his chair. “Let me just… read my notes again, I need to be sure about this!”
As Kaisei leafed through his parchments and muttered to himself, Sam and the girls moved out of the line of fire and stood next to Mikhail.
“Can he actually do this?” Tasha asked Mikhail in a low voice as they watched Kaisei struggle with the haphazard bundle of pages.
“Very unlikely,” Mikhail snorted. “But it’s a rite of passage for every apprentice wizard to try to cast their own brilliant creation before they’re ready and fuck it up. Maybe it’ll teach him some humility, eh?”
“Okay! I’m ready! I’ve got this!” Kaisei said triumphantly as he held up a single parchment covered in dense mathematical notation and japanese text. “Here I go!”
Kaisei stood in the center of the courtyard and adjusted his glasses as he stared down the tree stump. Then, with careful, deliberate motions, he waved his hands through a series of hand motions, and began muttering under his breath. The air shimmered between his hands, and finally, a small bright red bead materialized.
Kaisei leaned forward and, hands together, cupping the small bead, shouted “Katon!”
The bead streaked forward like an arrow loosed from a bow and, picking up speed as it flew, headed straight for the stump.
Halfway to the stump, the bead detonated in mid-air with a small pop, which was immediately followed by a deep whooshing sound as a wave of bright orange fire expanded from the place where it had detonated. The fiery explosion spread ten feet in every direction before the flames faded and dissipated.
“Well bugger me,” Mikhail said, “he actually managed it.”
As the flames cleared, though, Kaisei groaned in frustration. “Dammit, I blew it up way too soon! And it didn’t look cool at all!”
“I… What?” Sam blinked. “Kaisei, dude, that was awesome! You just made a fireball!”
“Yeah,” Camille agreed, sounding legitimately impressed. “Honestly I thought you were going to blow yourself up, but that was actually fairly impressive.”
“No! No! That wasn’t a proper fireball at all, I messed it up!” Kaisei insisted. “A real fireball should be more like a bomb! That was like the fire spouts they use at concerts, except round. It wasn’t right! It would have barely singed the stump!”
“Indeed,” Mikhail said. “It’s impressive you managed to create and cast a spell on your first try, but the flaw was in the goal you set yourself. A real fireball should look like this.”
With one hand, Mikhail pointed at the stump, and without any further gestures or words, a red streak, much faster than Kaisei’s bead, flew out from his fingertip, and collided directly with the stump.
Instead of a whooshing sound like Kaisei’s, a deep boom sounded through the courtyard as the fireball exploded into brilliant white flames, and spread a concussive blast around it. And in a flash it was gone. When the smoke and dust dissipated, the tree stump was entirely gone, save for a ruined, smoldering husk where it had once stood.
“Woah,” Kaisei breathed. “That was… awesome!”
“Fire magic is something of a specialty of mine,” Mikhail huffed smugly, “And I have spent many years honing this particular spell. Time well spent.”
“I agree.”
They all startled and turned to look at the newcomer to the courtyard. In the gate in the low stone half-wall that encircled it stood Inquisitor Maedras, still wearing his heavy white plate, arms folded and regarding them.
“No need for formalities,” he said, waving his hand dismissively as Sam and the others immediately went for well-rehearsed formal greetings. “But I must say, father, you have impressive skill. I had heard about you before coming here, but I confess I’d doubted the tales that a battle priest of your quality languished in such a place.”
“The leg, I’m afraid,” Mikhail responded politely. “Too much of an impairment on the battlefield. Now I enjoy retirement, and teach the younger generations.”
“The service never ends,” Maedras quoted as he stepped into the courtyard and approached the scorched remains of the stump. “But what a shame. Were it not for the leg, I would recruit you on the spot.”
“Recruit me?” Mikhail asked, head cocked. “What for?”
Maedras turned to look at him, eyes hard. “I have received word of heresy in this valley, and I intend to eradicate it.”
Sam’s breath caught in his throat. “He-Heresy? Here?” He managed.
“Yes, I am afraid so. I have tracked the disturbance I told you of to a hill not far from here. I do not yet know if they are responsible for it, or simply harnessing it, but a group is present there, in force.” His eyes turned cold. “Necromancers.”
Wait… what?
“Necromancers?” Mikhail repeated, face darkening. “On the old hill? But what could they want there? There are no cairns or graveyards or any of their usual targets there!”
“It is odd,” Maedras agreed, “which leads me to believe there might be something there we are unaware of… Or they have tracked down the same disturbance I have, ad have arrived before me. Either way, even if they are not my true target, I intend to destroy them, and see what information I can extract from them.”
“But they’re necromancers!” Mikhail protested, “they will have dozens of undead thralls at least, perhaps hundreds! You can’t possibly expect to launch an assault on their positions alone!”
“Indeed, you are right,” the Inquisitor nodded. “That is why I came here.”
He turned to look at the travelers from Earth, and his eyes stopped on Sam. “I am recruiting your students.”
Advertisement
- In Serial75 Chapters
OP without wanting to be
Res van Coventry has a dream - a dream of a relaxing life thinking about the world and philosophy. That dream is crushed when a ghost from another world called earth possesses him. Now, he needs to share a body with a moron while trying not to get killed by kingdoms, crime syndicates, and other organizations. Without wanting to, he builds a revolution of street children from the ground up and dabbles in alchemy. All the while, Res tries to cling to his dream of a carefree life despite more and more responsibility. Come along on this light-hearted journey and just enjoy the ride. ***************** Warning: This book isn't your average OP Male MC novel, but isn't meant to have a completely flushed out world etc. When reading this novel, just let yourself be pulled in by the unique premise and have fun. ***************** The link to the discord is here. If you want to see all the 74 Chapters of this book and want to support me, you can head over to my Patreon. Thanks to everyone for reading my book. ☜(゚ヮ゚☜)
8 210 - In Serial28 Chapters
The Lie for Dystopia
After the earth-shaking events of the third world war, Ethan Rider's mundane day at work is driven off course. He is dropped into a deadly secret war between The Alliance and its defectors. As Ethan's world is turned up-side-down, The Alliance race against a doomsday clock. Follow Ethan Rider in a fast paced military sci-fi, action-adventure novel set in the distant future.
8 179 - In Serial20 Chapters
JONAH now JASPER
"JONAH now JASPER"" a story about a teenager named Jonah,well now Jasper and his journey in a new world full of fire breathing Dragons to blood sucking vampires and giant smelly ogres.Full of kindness but also sorrow and hatred.The world of Ores---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This is my first fan fiction i will be writing as much as I canalso please tell me what you think about the story and how i should better it.so yeah hope you enjoy+this is going to be a seriously OP MC.....in time that is
8 185 - In Serial14 Chapters
The Kodoku Game
In Japanese folklore, there once existed an ancient technique among alchemists for harvesting the strongest poison known to man. A poison so vicious, so horrendous, that a single drop could incapacitate an entire nation of humans, several times over. A poison so intense that a single drop could turn the tides of a war on its head. As potent as it appeared however, this poison could be harvested from the blood of a single insect alone- an insect the alchemist’s called the ‘Kodoku’. As lucrative as was attaining this poison however, the problem lied in identifying this insect- its appearance, shape and size changed from region to region and from continent to continent. Sometimes it took the appearance of a ladybug and other times a horned-beetle. In order to determine the identity of this special insect the alchemists came up with an ingenious method. They created an impregnable jar of clay out of the best sandstone they could find and placed hundreds of different insects into the same jar. The jar was made with such great mastery that it allowed no insects to escape and allowed no objects to enter. The laws of nature dictated that the insects would remain together in the jar forever. However, it turned out that as time went on, the insects’ hunger for food and power caused them to turn against each other- one insect ate another until only one remained. This sole insect contained a poison that far surpassed that of all the others and became stronger as it ate more and more insects. The alchemists at this point had succeeded in identifying the Kodoku and could extract it’s poison as long as they continued to feed it regularly. Although this folklore ends here, the actual story does not. One day, as the alchemists cheered in joy of having identified the Kodoku they so eagerly wanted, they forgot to close the lid on the very jar that was considered to be completely impregnable. This small gap was just large enough for the Kodoku inside to crawl out. Famished from not having been fed for weeks, the Kodoku ended up eating the very alchemists that nourished its growth until not even the bones remained. Yet, the Kodoku’s hunger didn’t seem to subside in the slightest. So it traveled to the next village and began eating whatever it could find there. Its poison made it unparalleled in strength and slowly but surely it began to dwindle down the population of the entire city. Yet its hunger only continued to grow. So it traveled to the next city over and ate all it could there. Very soon, the Kodoku couldn’t find any more food to eat. There was no one left to eat and no one left to spectate. So it stood there, by itself pondering what possibly was left to eat that could satiate its hunger. But there was one thing left that Kodoku realized it had never eaten. Itself.
8 104 - In Serial12 Chapters
Cursed Child of the Eternal Realm
Why? Why am I always the subject of misfortune? Is it me, or is it something else?As the Eternal Realm is plunged to an era of war as a result of the absence of the Overgod, Arterion Licht Christie starts his journey after the deaths of his parents. Enslaved and while lamenting his own misfortune that continues to haunt him, he is faced with an unexpected encounter that can possibly change his fate."What is it that you seek, cursed one? Power? Knowledge? Hope...? An answer, perhaps..."".. Eat this, and change your fate for eternity.."
8 120 - In Serial11 Chapters
I'm Sure It'll be Fine! ...right?
We live to die, and die to live again. This Cycle continues, neither to Begin nor End. Ever Beginning, never to End, we come to the story of our Unusual Friend. The Gods are as varied and unique as the mortals that worship them. Some are kind, others are fluffy, and (given the nature of the multiverse) a few are Eldrich Abominations of Unspeakable Horror. But that's fine, those few tend to mind their own business... At least until an Eldrich Abomination (an interdimensional cosmic slime-mold specifically) gets itself devoured by a Lich during a ritual to obtain Godhood... Especially because anyone, even a Lich, who's willing to eat an ENTIRE COSMIC SLIME-MOLD for any reason, even godhood, is undoubtedly a madman...who's now set his unsightly gaze upon replacing (likely by devouring) the Godess of Magic herself! She could probably use some help...if only to avoid touching the slimy Lichgod directly. Also, the Eldrich Gods are protesting these events in their usual manner...by trying to destroy all of Creation.
8 182