The gremlin’s axe strikes my pauldron but before it can even scrape against the rust coloured metal, I’ve flooded the spot with a dense mana vortex which slowly takes on my new defensive magic spell. A moment after impact, when the axe has been slowed by the sheer density of the mana shield, my magic bursts out from the spot.

Offended by how this pitiful creature dares step into my personal space, my annihilation magic only strengthens, bursting out from the mana shield and shredding through the axe head striking me.

Threads of annihilation spread throughout the axe head, shattering it while consuming the energy from the swing. I honestly couldn’t even feel the slightest nudge from the impact of it.

The gremlin takes a moment to stare down at the broken stick in his hand before he’s jostled out of place by the others that would have their turn dancing with me. This particular rabble has no sense of manners and can’t line up quietly.

A long knife slashes at my leg, and I barely have to put a thought into the act before it too shatters. Spears strike downwards over the heads of those closer, while some have taken to using, and subsequently losing, their fists and short claws.

The gremlins crowd me so thick that most can’t even swing their weapons. With stabbing knives and clawing hands, they try to pry at my armour, but my newer version of my defensive magic shreds them before they can do any damage.

In bursts of annihilation, their flesh and armour shatters, split into countless puzzle pieces not likely to be pieced together again. The gremlins in the back shove those at the front on top of me, and my magic makes corpses of the warriors.

It doesn’t take long to realize that I can’t last like this for long. Even using annihilation to cut down on costs, my mana is sinking quicker than the tide of gremlin flesh.

The waves of disposable minions flood over me, the corpses thrown aside so the fresh flesh can be thrown into the magical mincer that I’ve become. It’s a shame I only have one setting, no gremlin sausages available today, just coarsely minced and mixed with all sorts of metal and bone.

Practically inedible.

The mana is still tasty enough, I guess.

Pulling the mana from the mince meat at my feet, I shove aside a few more gremlins, meeting Eshya’s eyes for a brief moment as she struggles to reach me. The blood painting her is clearly not her own. No, she spawns a new fountain with every swing of her blade, but even that’s not enough.

Vii flutters overhead, her magic splashing out wildly, trying to cut down the dozens of gremlins, but there’s just too many of them. I hear screams, and see corpses flying from where other allies are battling, but it’s still not enough.

We might be more powerful, but we’re clearly outnumbered, and if only for a minute these gremlins can keep us busy like this.

Which is exactly their plan.

Paskel is convinced that he’ll be freed in that time, and I can’t let that happen.

I pull the mana from my batteries and start consuming it, while letting my defence Skill run wild. At this point, I think it’s time to rename it, since Chip seems loath to do it for me.

Giving up on the careful management of my defences, my mana flows out much faster, but that’s still fine for now. Eshya and the others will reach me soon. I’ll trust in them, and do my part.

I give up on the careful management of my defences and let my mana flow faster to make up for my lacking attention. Sparing what I can for my mana senses, I try to peer beneath the ground again, but I simply can’t make out where that damn cockroach is hiding.

The gremlins die from the bursts of annihilation that lash at their every strike, while I stare into the earth looking for a hint of our target. Bursting lights of magic, shifting bodies, and an ever growing pile of wet meat blocks my sight of the faint mana signature that was Paskel.

I can’t see him.

If I can’t see him, I can’t shoot him.

Swearing my stress away, I focus on killing the gremlins instead. If we can kill them quick enough, then maybe he’ll still be trapped in time for me to kill him.

I wipe away the chunks of flesh scattered over my veil and kill the gremlins quick as I can with my annihilation bolts, targeting their heads and spines. The chaotic melee makes it near impossible to aim clean, and I end up spending more mana than should be necessary.

“How many more are there?” I shout, sending the message a moment later when I realize no one can here me through the clambering, screaming violence.

“Not many.” Eshya replies.

“They’re close to freeing the target.” A scout messages me. “Permission to use black fire?”

I grit my teeth as I receive the message.

“Permission granted. Don’t get caught in the blast.” I send back.

“Black fire in effect, retreat from the target location.” I send the message out wide to all my forces, backing away from the fallen tower while wading through the wet flesh of the gremlin swarm.

I get as far away as I can while stumbling along, expecting a powerful blast at any moment.

It doesn’t come.

“Kyra!” Eshya shouts as she reaches me, cutting down a pair of gremlins and standing by my side. The thinning tide gives me a view of the fallen tower, and the insect that’s crawling out of it.

A familiar bloodsucking lizard stands nearby, holding a dark crystal in her hand as she sees the insect. She tries to run, but she’s too slow.

The half-crushed cockroach launches itself at her, thrusting into her chest with two bladed arms.

I remember now.

She was the one I met over breakfast in the fort. The one telling me about her little rebellion. The one who hoped to see more of the world.

“Hira!” Lakesh shouts to the girl as Paskel drops her body, turning his attention to the rest of us.

“Unacceptable...” I whisper, summoning a swarm of annihilation bolts at the damnedable insect. He throws Hira aside while diving the opposite direction to avoid my spells, but a few still nick him, mincing large chunks of chitin and flesh surrounding where they land.

“Surround him!” I shout, watching as my gathering forces finish the last gremlins and block off any escape.

Those near to Hira rush to her side.

“Warren, go get your revenge! Eshya, Vii, with me!” I shout, running to my fallen subject. My best attacks come from my magic, so I cast just as well while trying to help her. Not to mention, that with my mana so low, that damn bug could probably take me down with only a little effort.

From among my forces a few smaller lizards stand up, lifting shields and spears in a well-practiced formation. Paskel tries to flee, jumping high to try and fly over them, but a few well placed spears bring him back to earth. In moments he recovers, smashing his sharp bladed arms against the shields, finding no gaps to pry open.

The warriors on loan from the local lord are frighteningly capable, when they have their formation ready. Paskel tries a dozen things in as many seconds, throwing bottles of acidic liquid, that washes off of the shields, summoning a hazy poison from the bags, which doesn’t cause a single soldier to flinch.

All the while, Warren approaches, a dark atmosphere filling the air around him as he glares at the bug that has the audacity to keep on fighting. Our little dragon takes a moment to coat the bug in fire when he again tries to jump away.

Others leap in to strike at the insect, but even though one of his legs is missing, he’s bouncing all over the place using what limbs remain functioning.

Warren slams his foot onto the stone ruins, his magic flowing into the ground and rising as a stone spire under Paskel, who can’t fully dodge the attack. One of his arms is pierced at the joint, and the insect tears it off rather than wasting even a moment to try and save it.

“Hira, can you hear me?” Lakesh asks, anxiously standing by the fallen soldier’s side. His eyes keep focused on the battlefield, but this is obviously important to him. I do recall the two being close.

I push the little mana I have left into my mana senses, trusting my defence to Eshya and Vii as I look into Hira’s wounds.

As expected, it’s poisoned.

Not just any poison either, at a glance it seems to be the same as, or similar to, the one used on the healer back in the lord’s colony. It hasn’t yet had much of a chance to poison her mana form, but the antidote Lakesh is using on her doesn’t seem to be enough.

Worse, her lungs look like they’ve passed through a paper shredder and her blood magic is all that’s keeping them moving. She’s not going to last long like this.

“The poison treatment isn’t working.” Lakesh says, washing another bottle of antidote over the wound. “If we can deal with the poison, she… She’ll have a chance.”

“It’s too late to draw the poison out normally.” I say, looking over the injuries and biting my lip. I glance over towards Paskel but the bug is still being slowly killed.

The longer I wait, the further the poison will spread through her. For now it’s only in her lungs, but soon…

“Get a healing potion ready and hope for the best.” I say, pointing down at her and summon an annihilation spell. I considered using this on the healer back when I first saw his poisoned mana form, but the chances of success were not great, and even now it’s rather… bleak.

I add no fire, pushing annihilation threads down into her body. My control is still… limited, but so long as I’m accepting of considerable collateral damage, I can get it done. Letting loose, I let threads of annihilation carve their way through her chest, cutting out the poisoned parts of her mana form.

She thrashes on the ground, her chest no longer held together by blood magic as she loses consciousness.

“Stop the bleeding, try to save her.” I say to Lakesh, though I really didn’t need to. He’s already gone before I finish speaking.

Feeling a burst of reinvigoration as the mana I was consuming finally becomes mine, I get to converting enough to fill me up again as I look towards Paskel.

Victory is all but assured, between Green-feet’s men and Warren the bug is left with few limbs and nowhere to go, struggling just for a hope that an opportunity might come to allow its escape.

Even so, there’s much more to this battle than just seeing the one enemy dead.

The red flocks of birds that have harassed our neighbors until now, are gone. I see hints from afar of gremlins coming our way, and it’s likely that they have a few dangerous threats hidden among them. I really do not want any more surprises.

I grab the dark crystal from the ground where Hira dropped it, the near crystalline mana inside is heavy in my hands, the spell contained inside dangerous, but familiar. She could’ve used it, killing Paskel along with herself, but she didn’t.

I’m glad.

She fought trying to survive, and she might just make it.

Some of us might die today, but we’re not here today to make suicidal charges.

Paskel has lost another arm when I wasn’t paying attention. The circle around him has tightened, and no matter how much he throws himself against their shields he can’t get away.

Walking closer, I add my magic to the mix landing a few shots in his body and sending him sprawling as the others fall upon him. His thrashing limbs send back the weaker warriors, but Rare’s fires and Warren’s charge aren’t so easily affected.

Paskel screams as his limbs are pulled aside and crushed. These wounds alone are probably enough to kill him for the damage it’s doing to his mana form, but I’m not leaving him at that.

“Warren, the honours are yours.” I say, still recovering as I watch his back and ready for betrayal.

“Kyra, I’m thankful that you have offered me this opportunity.” Warren says, standing over the dying bug.

“You.” Paskel makes a serious of slow clicking noises.

“Paskel. You took from me all that I ever wanted.” Warren says, standing over his rival, looking much like some ancient warrior of ages past. He has the chiselled body, and in the right rags he’d look like a proper barbarian.

“That’s what this is about?! That insipid creature was using you.” Paskel clicks violently. “A manipulative ape, who’s only talent was her ability to make you blind.”

“She was my wife. My lover. The world is that much more dull now that she’s gone.” Warren says, no longer talking to the insect. So, by the sounds of it, he wasn’t actually lying about the wife thing.

That, and without having any emotional investment in Warren’s story, I have to say this just feels like watching the end of a soap opera where a villain gets his comeuppance, and the only reason you’re cheering it on is because you hate the actor from another of his roles.

“You’ve always been a fool.” Paskel says, reaching out for Warren’s ankle with a half-crushed limb, the long claw nearly reaching him.

Warren is faster. He slams his foot into the ground, his magic lifting a large stone from the ground and dropping it on the bug. Paskel’s body is flattened with barely any effort, and for extra measure the block twists about on the spot, squishing the bugs remains, like a cockroach under a boot.

The rest of my forces know what’s up. Before the bug is even dead, they’ve arranged themselves in a loose circle around our wounded while heading east towards a tall building nearby. It’s not quite as tall as the fallen tower, but it’ll do just fine.

“So, what now for you?” I ask Warren as I feel my own mana reinvigorate me. “Are you going to let us out the way we came in?”

“I… Thank you. You helped me with my revenge. If this had been quieter, then maybe…” Warren says, shaking his head. “Loekan will forgive you. If you bow when he arrives, he’ll forgive you and let you join him. We could fight beside each other.”

“How soon until he gets here?” I ask.

“Who knows.” Warren chuckles, turning to face me.

“Are we going to fight?” I ask, feeling Eshya, Vii, and the rest of my forces stand ready at my side.

“I’d rather we not.” He replies, looking around at the chaos we’ve wrought. “Do you intend to fight Loekan?”

“If he comes, I’ll fight him.”

“Then you’d best be ready.” He says, “You’ve stirred enough of a fuss that I’d be surprised if he isn’t coming here to check on things.”

“So, you aren’t trying to trap us?” I ask him.

“I certainly have an army at the ready.” He says, “But I’m not stupid enough to send my men to their deaths for this.”

“If I see your face again, I’m going to assume you’re there to kill or capture me.” I say, hesitating on whether I should kill him now or not. While it’s certainly possible, Paskel has proven that when someone can see my attacks coming, they can dodge them.

That, and I want to be gone five minutes ago. If Loekan is on his way… I’d planned on taking a shot at killing him before, but the more Warren talks him up, the more worried I am.

“Let’s go.” Eshya nods, pulling me forwards. Warren makes no move to follow.

We race along the cobblestone streets towards the tall building, the poisonous haze mostly gone at this point. The few figures we pass hide from us, and it’s looking more and more like we’re going to be free of this place.

We only need to hold out for five more minutes, and we’ll be out of here.

Victory is in our grasp.

A flash of mana burns bright as day even with my limited investment into mana sense. A burning halo glows brightly around Vii’s form as the remnants of a powerful magic scatter about.

“Run! Run to the building!” She screams, swooping down and literally pulling me by the arm. “Under us! Magic under us! Big fucking magic roots everywhere!”

I summon my annihilation magic aiming for the ground, looking for the spell that Vii is panicking about, seeing nothing.

“Ten seconds!” Vii cries out, in more of a panic than I’ve ever seen from her. “It’s powerful! It’s after you Kyra!”

“Got it!” I shout back, running ahead and counting the seconds down.

At five I see the glow beneath us, spreading out wide. Not as dense as other attacks I’ve seen but far broader, a sea of magic glows beneath us in every direction I look.

I throw my annihilation bolts at every spell close to me, but it’s not enough to stop it.

The ground trembles as a forest tears it’s way into the city streets.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Skills & Stats

~Mana Form:

Current mana density: 1152 units

~Mana distribution:

Category Current Max. Defence 80% 97% Offense 20% 70% Mana Sense 0% 97% Recovery 0% 44% Gluttony 0% 34% Misc. 0% 44% Efficiency 100% 100%

~Favourited Skills:

-Chip Shredder

-Multi-mind

-Tag

-Mana surge movement

-Reactive defence

-Fire burst punch

-Annihilation magic

-Charged casting (Annihilation)

-Mana form flow fixer

-Branching magic

-Swimming

-Annihilation fire burst