Obbst raced along the wide boulevard hooves thudding and scraping on the textured stone, Veldt inside shouted as they slid and scrabbled around a turn, “Wheeeee!! You are sooo much faster than I was when I was running the body! This is amazing! Faster! Faster!”

The crowds on the early afternoon streets squawked and bolted out of the way, they knew that a Minotaur at full sprint had right of way over anyone. Even Centaurs moved aside for them though they might raise a protest with their Herdkeeper and depending on relative status that may lead to some harsh penalties.

It felt good to run. It felt good to have the crowds squawking and scattering before him. It felt right. But he couln’t ignore the fact that the culture that made this right was sick. So badly damaged that it would never recover, as he ran he looked at thriving bustling city and his stomach sank. He suddenly realised that even backed by the Iaernide he couldn't take the Confederacy down, they probably couldn’t even take down just Folscach.

He heard an annoyed voice from inside, “Hey! What is that? Our goal is Folscach’s death and destruction, I don’t care about the city or the country just him!”

As he ran he outlined why he’d come to that conclusion for Veldt, “Folscach is too deeply entrenched and he is a symptom of the rot at the heart of this country. Everything this country is supports him and his aims, he is the greatest example of everything wrong with our culture. But destroying him will just leave a vacuum and someone just as bad if not worse will fill it before his corpse has even cooled and then your story happens again and again. People destroyed to make some fat Centaur’s life easier and make their grasp on power even more certain, it is as inevitable as it is disheartening.”

“Why would I care? I can tell you right now I don’t, people will get destroyed oh boohoo. They aren’t me and I don’t care. I just want Folscach destroyed for what he did to me!”

“Really? You care that little about others?”

“Of course?! We Fae Chanar are worth more than anyone else and always will be, our needs are the only needs that matter or ever will.”

“Shame you’re in my head then. I will not destroy Folscach without destroying everything he stands for and is including the country that supported him so ably, I will still destroy him and it will be much worse for him. Because he will watch an entire way of life for his race be destroyed and know it was his fault but I will need an army. If I cannot create my own I’ll borrow a neighbours, I’m sure the Fae or the Raelians or the Oruc or the beast tribes will happily provide one after the Confederacy’s predation among them.”

“Oh, you still intend to destroy him as well as the culture… fair enough it’s not like I care about time too much. If he is destroyed now or later I really don’t care, as long as he is destroyed and sees his life in ruins before he dies.”

“Oh he will, he definitely will.”

*******

Trftdrwx backpedalled frantically as a limb of jelly like blood swished through where he’d been standing, this was not going well.

He fired off a dozen small darts of purple energy, faint wisps of burnt off blood hissed into the air. The darts were small and not that powerful, there was no need to have the power too high, all he was doing was burning blood out of it’s mass.

It was all he could do.

Over on the other side of the room Gx was hammering punch after punch into the crimson shell around Peesha, which was fading under the assault but agonisingly slowly.

Still they were winning, albeit so slowly he doubted they’d finish them off before they were interrupted by someone else and he hadn’t heard anything from outside in quite a while. Either they’d be interrupted soon by Herdkeeper Peesha’s guards or they’d get some help from Hn and Je.

If they had several hours they’d be sure to win. But they didn’t have several hours, someone would interrupt long before then.

He dodged sideways and rolled past the blob’s flailing limbs and gnashing teeth, coming to his feet he fired off another brace of energy darts.

Vile wisps of burnt blood lifted from the blob, not even slowing it as it’s deceptively fast lumbering gait carried it toward him yet again.

He deliberately stumbled, twisting awkwardly and looking like he was about to fall. The blob raced toward him piercing itself in a hundred places as it slammed into the wall of thorns he’d swiftly thrown up in it’s path.

It recoiled leaving chunks and strips of jelly like blood-flesh hooked to the barbs of the thorns and screaming with a squeaky sound like a released balloon.

Releasing the wall as it turned to ooze Trftdrwx repeated the whole process again running, dodging, spikes, run, dodge, spike… wall! But this time the blob immediately became liquid on the first touch and his wall did no good at all.

The blob splashed through the wall of thorns and faster than he’d thought it could it reformed before he’d had a chance to move. Ducking under a sweep of thick limbs he dropped to the floor and rolled, once, twice, three times until he was away from the blob. Too close.

Jumping to his feet he regarded the blob with new found respect, it had been sandbagging! Lulling him into a false sense of it’s capabilities. He hadn’t thought it had the brains.

It lunged, he dodged, it lunged, he dodged again, edge of the room time to roll and dodge around it again, fire a brace of shards in the momentary respite. Repeat ad infinitum.

He fell into a rhythm as the fight dragged on.

Lunge, dodge, lunge, dodge, roll dodge, fire.

Again and again.

When the rhythm finally broke it wasn’t because he’d made a mistake but it also very much wasn’t in his favour.

A rifle shot hit him in the shoulder breaking his rhythm and he missed his dodge.

Four guards now had their rifles trained on him and Gx, while behind them a battered looking Minotaur stood clutching a freely bleeding wound in his gut.

The distraction cost him though as the blob got hold of his arm and with a squeal of metal tore it off.

Likely that would cost him dearly, later. The Royals were unforgiving of Nobles who lost bodies. Even parts of bodies.

A couple more rifleshots cracked through the room. One left a smear of lead across the plating of his lower chest, the other he had no idea where it went.

A reverberating roar came from the hallway and the injured Minotaur was thrown into the room, flopping bonelessly as he flew through the air. The sound of breaking bones and screams came from where he’d seen the riflemen squatting in the hallway.

The blob reacted to his moment of inattention, watching the flying Bull, and in a frenzy it lashed out. Limbs flailing and whistling past him as he ducked and wove around them.

Trftdrwx, hard pressed, couldn’t even risk a glance to see what was happening behind him in the hallway.

He felt something push past him. Something large, hairy, and covered in flames and he felt hope.

The blob screamed again but this in panic because Obbst’s hammering blows left patches of flames behind as he struck. Flames that ate away at the blob’s body, burning it’s blood into plumes of vile fumes.

He raised his hand, then frowned at where the other should be. His remaining hand lit with purple energy and a humming spear slammed into Peesha’s shell, followed by another and another. Each one hammering into it in time with Gx’s punches.

Under the dual assault the shell flexed and Trftdrwx saw Peesha’s face, flanks, and legs showing here and there through it.

He heard a triumphant roar, glancing over he saw the blob falling as splashes, golden tipped flames guttering low on the loosely wobbling jelly like blood.

Then grunting he and Gx were hurled away as the shell exploded.

He hit the wall, body creaking and contorting as his outer plating was shoved harshly into the core structures.

An ear-shattering roar of challenge echoed off the walls, Obbst shifted to Bull form and charged the Herdkeeper.

A curtain of hissing blood lit by an ominous flickering glow rose between Obbst and his target.

He stopped and reversed direction too fast for it to be anything but magic.

A golden shield covered him as raw patches of bared flesh slowly covered themselves in golden light, it wasn’t healing just protecting them.

The Bloodmage was cackling as Obbst recoiled.

Laughter subsiding slightly Peesha said, “You think to oppose me? Are you truly that eager to die? You stand no chance against me, not now, not ever. Minotaur, the source of my power runs in your veins and you Noble, withdraw and I won’t send you and your protected back to the warrens without your shells.”

Gx had pulled itself from wall it had landed in and was crouching ready to dash, Hn and Je were kneeling by the doorway guns trained on the Herdkeeper.

Trftdrwx pushed himself to his feet, his body kinked to one side and twisted. Metal squealed as he moved, the damaged parts of his body groaning as they worked against each other.

Gx charged, Hn and Je opened fire aiming to distract and harry so Gx could succeed. For a moment Trftdrwx felt pride, his protected were working together like a well oiled machine.

Lances of nearly solid blood shot out. Metal shrieked, there were three brilliant flashes of light and the faint sound of thunder as Gx, Hn, and Je all fell.

A hole punched clear through all three heads.

Ouch! That… was not ideal but also not entirely unexpected. Bloodmages were so annoying, if that had been purely magic they would have probably resisted it. At least their cores were safe back at the warrens and they would lose no knowledge, only some time as their new bodies were fitted but nothing actually important.

It would only count against him if he ended up back there as well.

Peesha said, “If you are quite done struggling pointlessly, give up! I will kill the Minotaur swiftly and you can leave Noble. The outcome will be the same.”

That was not happening.

Purple energy glowed around his twisted arm and a crackling lattice of thorny purple branches wrapped themselves around Peesha pressing close, held barely away from his skin by a slick coating of blood.

He pumped more power into the lattice and the blood started sizzling.

A lance of blood flew toward him and he almost got out of the way, the damage his body had suffered slowed him enough that instead of his head it ripped through the shoulder on the side his arm was already missing. Unlike protected, his core wouldn’t automatically teleport back to the warren unless most of his body was destroyed or unless he chose to.

Peesha screamed in anger as fresh streams of crimson marked his hide among the brownish colour of the old blood he was using as a shield.

Rising from the floor and the walls thousands of blades and spikes formed of blood swirled through the air around Trftdrwx. A shield of purple light covered him and it was his turn to watch his shield get slowly get whittled down.

The Herdkeeper screamed in rage his face twisted and even more bestial. A wave of blood flung itself out and away from the incensed Centaur, tearing Trftdrwx’s lattice of thorns to pieces.

Now his attention was not split the shield around him thickened and he could easily keep ahead of the blood that was trying to tear him apart.

He caught glimpses of Obbst shifting back to his two legged form and flames rising around him.

When a softly hissing ball of almost white flame flew across the room and smashed into the Herdkeeper vaporising his blood shields Trftdrwx was just as surprised as Peesha.

The Centaur’s surprise lasted the rest of his life, short as that was when a second ball of flame vaporised his head.

Obbst groaned and fell to his knees, blood slicking his hide.

Trftdrwx hunched his way over and purple energy grew around his remaining hand before it lit Obbst’s wounds visibly closing them.

Trftdrwx said, “Thanks for the practice, I rarely find reason to heal.”

Obbst said, “Hrrmph, you’re not bad at it. I’ve been healed many times and this is one of the least unpleasant.”

“One question?”

Obbst said, “Of course.”

“A fireball?”

Obbst grinned and said, “Well why not?… My guest has undertaken some instruction and I have proven an able student. I can only cast that simple ball of fire but for one of my kind… well it is surprising is it not?”

“Oh I was surprised, but I think the Herdkeeper was even more surprised than I was.”

“Good, that was exactly what I was aiming for. Well that and his face.”