Chapter Eight: The Archer

As I made my way through the maze of rubble that covered the eastern entrance to the market, I couldn't help but still wonder on who Marwen would send to apprehend the 'thief' who she believed was incapacitated in front of my memorial.

While I could effectively remove any future event that saw either one of the Knight's or Valant making a surprise return to Ellai. She won't be so careless as to send someone incapable of taking on a mage in combat. So from this, I could assume two things.

One, that the person, or persons, who were en-route to the city can use magic and not only that, but are skilled at using said magic in confrontations against other mages.

The second, and perhaps most important, is that it would take a normal person nearly a week to travel from the Elven city of Callai to Ellai, barring trouble appearing on the road. However, if magic was used to cover ground quickly then I had three days, possibly four, depending on the skill of the mage.

I'm sure whoever she sends would be no pushover, but I was confident that I could defeat whatever was thrown my way with relative ease.

Three days. Three days until I got the information I craved.

While some might think me foolhardy for waiting in a place where a potential enemy, no doubt determined and skilled, could cause me grievous harm if I wasn't careful was a ridiculous idea, I needed to take the risk.

The power of information could not be underestimated, nor diminished in light of certain circumstances. While magic and a new body are great boons, I still needed a plan of action and, to do that, I needed knowledge of this brave new world.

As I finally passed the rubble and walked onwards into the merchants district, I could see the cresting light of a new day peak over the top of the Cold Shears directly in front of me. With the sunlight came new perspective and, seconds after the light hit the city, it reflected off of it's largest structure, my tower. Glimmering finely in the far distance.

While the tower itself was constructed of pure silver, it had been enchanted to the point that it was almost indestructible. Drogna had ensured it as he realised very early on that I was not one to sit in a large palace by myself and instead constructed the tower as a means of compromise. While it was luxurious and foreboding from the outside, on the inside it was rather cosy, with seven tightly packed floors that filled it. At the entrance to the tower was a large hall that operated as my 'throne room'. While throne room might have been a bit of an exaggeration as all I sat on was a normal wooden chair, the hall itself kind of made the name.

Carvings of fierce battles The Rebel Court had taken part in from days past lined the walls and four huge pillars, constructed of the same silver as the tower itself, struck upwards towards the ceiling.

It had been designed thus to intimidate any visiting dignitaries and show without a doubt that The Rebel Court was a force to be reckoned with.

That combined with the fact that I wore my mask while I was on my throne, my shadowy eyes following their every move, made them quickly rethink how to handle us as a whole.

All while this happened my six Knight's would stand, fully armed, behind me, ready to strike if someone so much as twitched in my general direction.

“Good days, gone past.” I whispered to myself as I continued onwards through the district.

This part of the city was perhaps the most opulent as this is where the merchants guild were based. I had always referred to them as a necessary evil.

Through the merchant guild more traders and crafters came to Ellai than ever before and turned it into a real bustling commerce centre, perhaps even more so than Callai, the closest city to my own.

However, there were more than a few problems with them in the long term. The guild representative constantly asked for more property, more money and even, at one point, asking for a solemn vow that we trade with them and only them.

That conversation quickly ended when I told Abhor to take the man's leg.

He backtracked really fast after that.

As I made my way through and examined the shops I noticed that most of them were relatively untouched, which was a surprising, and welcome, change of pace. I had assumed the whole city had been destroyed but it seemed that the rubble at the market was enough to stop any curious church soldiers from breaking ranks and ransacking the place.

Although some, mostly nearer the market entrance, were looted, as I made my way deeper I came across store fronts untouched by the war.

After a moment of hesitation, I decided to check out a few of them. You never know if there was something contained within that would help me on my quest.

* * *

I searched nearly every shop I came across and, despite being hopeful, my efforts had not retrieved me anything especially useful.

After searching inside an armourer's I found a mostly intact suit of leather armour that included bracer's, grieves and a chest piece. The armour had thankfully been enchanted by the creator to stand the test of time and while it didn't look impressive, I know that it would be able to stop at least a knife from penetrating my vitals, which was something at least.

It will do for the moment. While I was more used to full plate in my previous body I didn't want to appear as a mage or even a skilled warrior, maybe some kind of mercenary. Wearing simple leather armour would only add to this illusion.

While I was tempted to try to find a weapon to use, I firmly believed that every weapon I did attempt to wield would, upon impact, shatter from the pressure exerted by my tremendous strength, despite any enchantments placed upon it. This new body, combined with the enhanced strength that every mage could utilize, would only be a detriment if I tried to wield an inappropriate weapon.

I needed a weapon of sentience. Something that I would be able to strengthen with mana and use as freely as I wished. In short, I needed Xolumbrandir.

My eyes unconsciously found the tower as I neared the end of the merchant district. That was another problem I had to deal with.

While I had been searching the sun had long reached it's apex and was already beginning to move downwards towards the west. At my current rate of speed I would reach the tower in about six hours, but by then darkness will have arrived and it would make it all the more difficult to bring the malevolent sword under control.

Xolumbrandir's strength lay in the dark and it's power only grew because of it. While I was sure that I could still bond the sword to my new body without too much trouble, I would still be greatly weakened and vulnerable after the inevitable fight. A state that I didn't want to find myself in, especially in a place I knew so little about.

While I knew that Bartu and his merry band had been stealing from the pilgrims that made their way towards the market and my statue, I didn't know if there was anyone else within the city and I would be foolish to assume that there was no danger.

Always assume nothing is as it seems and little will surprise you.

This wasn't another of my Knight's sayings, but one of mine. I had learned many things in my six centuries of life and I knew that the worst situations often appear out of things often thought to be harmless.

That's why, as I walked, I made sure to extend my hearing as far as it went and listen to even the slightest sound carefully before continuing forward. I couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary, but that didn't mean that no one was out there. It was also for this reason that I didn't use magic to increase my pace, it would only serve to alarm any threats around me.

I came to the conclusion that it would be wise to bunk down for the night in one of the abandoned shops before I headed out of the district . Assuming that Marwen had immediately sent whoever she was sending as soon as she found out about the statue, then I'm still relatively safe for the next three days.

I came to the gate that led out of the merchants district and looked to the shop to my right, an old alchemy store-front.

I immediately made my way to the door and entered before making sure that it was closed down behind me. Once filled with herbs and powders of all kinds, it appears that most of the alchemists wares have rotted to nothing in the past four centuries.

To be extra cautious I used some air magic combined with gravity manipulation to move what appeared to be the counter in front of the door.

After ensuring it was shut I moved to the back of the shop, although I made sure that I could clearly see though the open window to small crossroads that lay on the other side, and sat down, leaning against the wall.

I hate to admit it, but I was exhausted. While I had fully recovered from summoning the storm from earlier, a lot of things had happened today and I was beginning to think that I didn't have the grip on the situation that I would have liked too.

The greatest of these problems, by far, was Vitriss' lies.

The Goddess had neglected to tell me when exactly I would be returning, she had manipulated Marwen and was now using me to correct her past mistake, all while helping the whole thing along under the pretence that she wanted to protect Vita.

I don't believe that for a second.

When she had first told me that she needed me to protect Vita I began to have my doubts. When I heard that she hadn't outright killed Samedus the first opportunity she had open to her, only solidified those doubts.

It wasn't because she was unable to attack Samedus Exovan, it was because she couldn't. Though why, I still don't know.

She had talked me through some bullshit about him attempting Fracture if she had just attacked him out of nowhere, for fear that he couldn't defeat her. But I'm going to assume that a spell of that magnitude would take some time to cast, enough time for an all-powerful Goddess to be able to strike swiftly enough to end it all in one blow.

I had also considered that it was all a lie but I don't believe that to be the case. If it was, then why send me back? Why give me the new body and this vague as fuck mission statement of finding the other half of my soul?

From the beginning it all screamed wrong to me.

I currently have no choice but to continue on with the original plan and locate this one person that would allow me to activate Arcana. But I would not be doing this the Goddess' way.

She had told me not too, but I needed my Knight's to stop what was coming and seeking them out became of paramount importance. I just have to make sure that no one else knows that I have returned. If they do then Samedus could discover it and make the connection and I would be left with little to no option but to hand myself over to him if he threatened to hurt Marwen or the others.

I gave a brief nod as I pulled my mask to my chest, my arms hugging the metal surface.

Tomorrow the plan would begin in earnest. I would find Xolumbrandir, gain information from the team that was sent to retrieve the 'thief', then immediately strike out towards Callai to seek Marwenna's help.

Of course, I didn't intend on just walking up and handing myself over to her either. If Vitriss had yet to tell Marwen the truth then I would be in serious trouble if I had to engage both her and Valant in combat.

If it had been four hundred years ago then I would be positive that I could restrain Marwen, while viscously beheading Valant, with no problem. But now, truth be told, I have no idea what their capable of.

Caution would be the best bet for me at this point.

I smiled at the thought of seeing Marwenna again, even as my eyes began to close, and I-

I moved out of the way of the arrow a second before it pierced my cheek.

Awake again, I could only read the faint sigils on the wooden shaft of the projectile before I began to hastily crawl backwards while simultaneously placing my hands to my ears and dragging in every scrap of mana I could manage.

The arrow shattered with an explosion of sound that rocked the entire building. I could do nothing but scream in frustration as the explosion deafened me to the world. I immediately began to heal the damage to my ear drums, but a faint ringing still remained.

It appears that I have been caught out... again.

“Fuck!” I cry as I keep pulling myself backwards until I'm at the wall furthest from the window.

First Bartu and now a mystery archer mage with enchanted sound arrows. Will my luck just never end.

I was fortunate to avoid that first arrow, if it weren't for the keen senses of this body then I would already be dead.

I began to drag in more and more mana before extending my senses to see if I could pinpoint the archer before they retreated.... There!

It was obvious that the archer was a sound mage, so I looked for the absence of sound, a usual trick when dealing with this particular type of magic user. They thought that by completely removing the sounds of their movements they could remain undetected. It was this that usually made them quite the infiltration specialist when it came to ordinary people. But I was no ordinary fucking person and I was having a really bad day.

With a roar I jumped to my feet and slammed one foot into the ground.

Suddenly, the floor of the shop gave way, pulling all the remaini shelves and tables into the gaping hole that had now appeared. I immediately dived into this sudden crevasse and, with one command, the earth above closed up again as if nothing had happened.

Right now, the best way to describe what I was doing was 'swimming' through the earth. A technique that I had created about fifty years ago , during my time mastering the earth element, it let one move underground at exceptional speeds, even faster than the Aspect of Air spell allowed. It's limitation however, like all Earth orientated spells, was the amount of mana it consumed.

I wouldn't need long.

As I moved I kept an eye on the archer mages aura as they moved from building to building with ease. Most likely floating on the air itself, given their specialisation. Their speed was increasing by the second and I knew for a fact that they could 'see' my aura as well.

While I couldn't see a gods damned thing underground, I didn't need to. I could sense this mages aura as they used magic and that was all I needed to guide me to my destination. If they only stopped drawing in mana then it would be almost impossible for me to find them but, without mana, they wouldn't be able to escape.

Not that I intended on letting that happen.

Eventually as I drew closer to the archer I willed my body upwards and straight through the earth even as I extended my hands forward. It took less than a second before I burst from the earth and continued flying straight upwards as I seamlessly moved from earth manipulation into it's more advanced form, gravity manipulation.

It was hard to see at first because of the debris but I could feel hard stone breaking against my knuckles and I knew I had flown straight up, and through the roof of, a building.

I held myself suspended high above street level as I sought out the archers aura and located it easily less than ten feet from me, standing on a nearby building.

Now that I got a good look at them I could see that they were dressed all in black, even their face was covered by some kind of similarly black mask. Held loosely in their hand was a type of bow I had never seen before but I could tell that it was enchanted from the slightly glowing sigils that covered its body. A quiver of arrows was present over their right shoulder. There was about thirty eight left.

The only part which I could make out clearly enough was their eyes. These eyes shone with fear, anticipation and awe.

We held our ground for merely a second, each examining the other as we sized up our opponent.

Then, suddenly, it had begun.

The archer made the first move and drew arrow after arrow that fired at me with amazing speed and accuracy, it was as if they knew where I was going to be as I swerved in mid-air to dodge each one with desperation. The archer continued to fire and became bolder, their shots getting closer and closer with each attempt as I moved constantly, unable to attack, but forced into a situation of perpetual defence.

Or so they thought.

With a sudden motion, instead of dodging the next arrow I accelerated straight towards it. I used air magic to stabilize myself as the winds wrapped around me even as my personal gravity shifted to aim towards the black garbed archer.

For a moment I saw panic in their eyes as they took a step back and reached for another arrow... only to find none remaining.

A wide grin appeared on my face as, with a lazy hand, I smacked the last arrow out of my way and increased my speed towards the archer.

They immediately turned and tried to run but I got there first.

I landed hard behind them, hard enough to break the tiled roof beneath my feet as I wrapped an arm around their waist and threw myself backwards, off the side of the building, and we began to tumble towards the ground below.

I could hear a muffled shout from within the mask as we fell but my laughter hid most of it as I tightened my hold on the archer and lifted them slightly above my head.

Before we hit the ground I threw as much of my strength as I could manage into throwing them ahead of myself and crushing them against the cold, cobbled stones.

We hit with a terrific explosion of debris and cobbles, smoke from crushed rocks seethed in the air before disappearing and revealing the crater that I had created using the archers body.

I breathed heavily as I pushed myself off the archer and lay there beside them, staring up at the sky which was painted an enchanting red because of the approaching sunset. I was victorious.

I didn't need to put that much effort into stopping them but I did so anyway. Needed to let off a little steam I guess... and I was fifty percent sure the archer was still alive after that impact, but I've gotten a lot stronger, so who can tell.

I had a bad habit of killing those that try to kill me. And a lot had tried.

Eventually I pulled myself onto my side and leaned over the figure of the archer who tried to kill me. Their bow was nowhere to be seen so they must have dropped it on the roof, but now I could identify that the black outfit they wore was actually some kind of armour, beautifully crafted out of black leather.

With a sigh I healed my injuries from the fall and leaned over to take off the would be murderer's mask.

Strangely enough, it seemed to have clasps that have to undone at both sides before sliding it off, and I do so easily, trying very hard not harm the beautiful helmet. Call it admiration for a fellow creator of arms and armour, but I was more than impressed by this interlocking leather armour and mask. I would love to meet the guy who made this one day.

Unfortunately, in my haste to examine my new toy I totally forgot about the archer.

As I turned and looked upon their face for the first time I was struck dumb.

It was a kid.

She looked about my age, well my new body age so eighteen, nineteen but still pretty young. She had auburn hair that now fanned around her head like some makeshift halo and a trickle of blood spilled out from the side of her turned mouth. She was beautiful, I couldn't deny that, and some small part of me wanted to instantly heal her, to save her.

What was someone like this doing out in a ruined city shooting arrows at people? Was she sent after me specifically? Unlikely, no one knew who I was and the bandits had only left the city a few hours ago, no time to hire a specialist mage.

And the fact that she could already use sound magic and enchantment was pretty incredible as well, especially when you realised she was human. Although it was only that one arrow that used sound magic and it could have been crafted by the same person that made the armour.

I was broken from my thoughts as a cough emerged from between her lips and more blood spurted out onto the broken side of the road.

Her eyes opened for a mere second, revealing pretty dark brown eyes, looking around as her face adopted a pained expression, and focusing on me for brief time, before closing again as she passed out from the pain.

I sat undecided for a moment, staring at her face, before I let loose a snarl into the air

I gently placed one hand under her back and another under her legs as I easily lifted her from the ground.

I would heal her then I would be on my way.