Chapter 90 — In Defiance Of Fate

“You have your apology gift?” Keira asked as old man Taleo pulled the carriage around to the manor’s turnabout where Ria and Miela were waiting to embark.

Ria nodded and tapped her vault key. “Yep, it’s in my vault.”

“My lady, make sure to continue practicing your talent for the talent competition,” Miela advised while climbing into the carriage.

Keira nodded. “I’m already feeling nervous just thinking about tonight. You’ll have to practice yours when you get back, Ria.”

Ana’s brother helped Ria onto the carriage, and she took the seat next to Miela before giving Keira an agreeing smile. “If I have time, doing one of each of us should help.”

Ria was glad to have settled on a talent to show at her debut. Hulle, with surprising information about Luventi’s own often displayed party talent, was the one who had given her the confidence to try. She had put her own twist on the idea to make it more uniquely hers and was both nervous and excited about how her effort would be received.

“Good luck with the Ravelle girl.”

“Thanks!”

Once the carriage was in motion, Ria leaned forward and addressed Miela. “Thanks for coming with me. Everyone is so busy preparing for Lady Asara’s event tonight, and who knows what would’ve happened if I went alo-”

“Wuff…” her familiar interrupted.

Ria looked in Ranger’s direction and patted his flank. “Right, buddy. Thanks for coming, too. I know you find tea parties boring and don’t want to mess up the impressive grooming Tyrilenil did.”

Ranger grumbled some non-committal noises.

“This much is fine,” Miela assured regarding her presence. “It’s not good for Keira’s growth to rely on me all the time. Besides, there isn’t much more to do until the dresses arrive from Atelier Vienne later.”

“The dresses!” Ria’s cheeks hurt as she grinned excessively with excitement about their dresses and barely restrained herself from cheering with her arms, even if hers wasn’t really a dress.

Miela gave her a smiling laugh and warmly patted Ria. “It’s a big day for you and Young Lady Keira, but first you’ll need to focus on this event with the young Ravelle. Did you want to go over the expected etiquette one more time?”

Ria politely shook her head. “No, it’s fine. You’ve already been a great help, Miela.”

Though nervous about having tea at one of the Ravelle manors, Ria was eager about the possibility of making a new friend and gaining more connections with another Greater House—connections she might need if things with the Vesali and Novidus went in a less than desirable direction.

Their carriage soon joined the city’s usual mid-day Divinesday bustle, and Ria glanced down at the gold-embroidered yellow fabric of her dress. The dress gifted by Lady Etrina was getting a lot of use and had come at a fortunate time. Thankfully, Ana had been able to carefully launder it overnight, and a bit of magic helped it dry in time.

Buying dresses was an unwelcome expense with her current financial situation and ongoing projects, but she would have to buy more soon. Once she joined the circuit of regular, almost weekly, social events after her debut, she wouldn’t be able to wear the same dresses all the time without it becoming a cause for rumors.

Well… with her debut dress being arena armor, she might be able to get away with wearing the armor to events on occasion, similar to how military officers tended to wear their uniforms to events, particularly if the host family was known for their military connections.

Even so, the next event she was planning on attending was Keira’s birthday party, and she definitely would need something new and impressive to honor her best friend. Hopefully there was still enough time to have a dress commissioned. After seeing her debut attire’s design, Ria was confident a ‘queen of darkness’ dress would be fun and sure to be an excellent complement to whatever white and gold angelic monstrosity Keira was sure to wear. She couldn’t help a mental chuckle at the thought.

Ria let her gaze lazily wander to the shoppers and likely other event-goers sharing the street with her. She even returned the excited wave of a cute little girl on an outing with her mom and maid as the carriage passed them by. Without a doubt, calling Lestina about yesterday’s odd feeling had been the right move.

The A Mountain That Stands Unperturbed, An Anchor Within The Storm technique wasn’t terribly complicated, but it did require a strong visualization and a centering that would’ve been hard for her to achieve on her own—particularly in her stressed and frazzled state. Thankfully, Lestina was an excellent teacher.

The third-year girl had been skeptical of the need at first, but the more Ria described how she was feeling the more her mentor seemed to agree with Ria’s suggested course of action, to the point of insisting on visiting to assist.

Anchoring herself against fate was an eye-opening experience—figuratively. Rather than the expected winds or storms, the flow of fate around her felt like an unstoppable river washing her out to sea. The flow wasn’t uniform, either. Individual currents crashed over her head to drown her into the depths or spin her around helplessly disoriented and adrift while others buoyed her up and supported her. She had to create an unmovable foundation of self and self-determination in order to stand in defiance against all of it: to rise above the flow as an unperturbed island of calm growing into a mountain that towered tall and parted the flows around it. From the eroding flows at the base to the relentless winds at the heights, she stood against it all.

Her affinity was the boon that made the difference. The sense of ancient weight, the indestructible and unyielding resilience of orichalcum, and her ability to reach into the spaces between, each gave strength to her visualization. The energy demanded was intense even when meditating in the earth-attuned section of the Vorshan Estate’s elemental garden—so intense that she considered absorbing the flows of fate to power her anchor.

She didn’t though. If absorbing fate meant stealing it from others, then she worried the technique would stray into the worst sort of necromancy—the kind that stole others’ futures to empower her own. When asked afterward, Lestina didn’t know the answer but reiterated that spirit magic was fraught with peril that made other circles of magic pale in comparison and to not deviate from the spells and techniques as taught.

When success finally came, the change was unmistakable: as if heavy chains that bound her all her life had suddenly fallen away.

She felt free.

Judging by the weight that was removed from her mind, the technique had worked. The sense of foreboding dread and binding doom was completely gone. Somewhat worryingly, that also gave credence to her paranoia that someone was using fate magic on her. Lestina thought the same and promised to have Soulkeeper Renard look into the matter for her.

It had been an impossibly hectic week, but all that could be done had been done—more than she could have hoped for, really. With Phaelys solving her roadblocks getting started with crystal magic, even her ambitious apology projects were looking to be on track toward a promising completion.

Now with her fate back firmly in her own hands, an alchemically-assisted good night’s rest, and a productive morning, Ria was in great spirits. Her energy pathways were almost entirely healed, the morning breeze was full of spring’s promise, the sky was clear and sunny, and she had her lace parasol out. What more could she want? Even Ranger seemed to be feeding off her positive mood. She should have stood against fate sooner!

An abrupt stopping of the carriage drew Ria out of her thoughts. A glance confirmed hers wasn’t the only carriage stopped; a few others were also stopped ahead of them.

Craning her neck to see around an open carriage similar to hers and Miela’s but with a well-dressed lady and gentleman, she spotted the cause of the delay. Speaking of roadblocks… the wheels of a large ore carrier had broken along one side and ore had been strewn across the street deep enough to block passage in both directions.

Workers did seem to be rushing to retrieve the ore, but there was so much spilled ore that shoveling it would take time. Some local boys rushed out of a nearby shop to gawk and jeer and were promptly yelled at by the frustrated workers and their foreman.

Ugh. She should’ve known things were suddenly going a bit too well. They had left early, but at this rate, did she need to worry about arriving on time? Was there room to turn the carriage around? Were they close enough to walk?

The area around them was mostly tall row houses with store-fronts and apartments for workers and families above. They hadn’t made it to where the large estates were, yet.

“Come with me, mistress.” Miela suddenly grabbed Ria’s wrist and insistently guided her down from the carriage.

Ria followed along willingly. Even with the risk of dirtying her silk slippers, if Miela thought walking was the best option to arrive on-time, then it likely was. Keira’s driver called after them with alarm, but the maid ignored the man and pulled Ria into a nearby alley.

Or at least, expedience was what she thought Miela’s motivation was at first. The confident older girl was often bold for a maid, but something in the girl’s manner caused Ria’s heart to quicken with anxiety. She’d never seen Keira’s maid make such a serious expression.

“Miela?”

The older girl didn’t stop to answer, her attention moving quickly from doorway to recessed doorway to each shadowed nook or dilapidated refuse crate.

Ranger chuffed a query as he trotted along just behind, but Ria didn’t have an answer for him either just yet.

They moved quickly, skirts rustling in the alleyway’s relative quiet as they left the din of the main street behind. The side alley shortly ended at a cross alley that ran parallel to the main road. Miela continued onto the wider cross alley at a brisk walk, still firmly grasping Ria’s wrist.

A drunk man in stained finery stumbled out from a particularly shadowed doorway just ahead, mumbling something that sounded like a tavern song. There was plenty of room to pass the man by, and he seemed a noble’s son by the faint sense of magic Ranger smelled from the man. Ria didn’t think much of it, and Miela didn’t particularly react either; there were often parties on Goldday and Divinesday in addition to the arena events, after all.

Miela did finally let go of Ria’s wrist though, and gave the man a friendly enough nod as they moved to walk past.

That was when something strange happened, and Ria couldn’t help blinking in surprise.

While gesturing amiably with one hand, Miela’s other hand reached into a hidden skirt pocket before casually pressing what looked like an ice-pick up under the man’s chest with a quiet sound of fabric sliding against metal.

The drunk mage’s eyes widened in surprise. Ria felt a familiar void as the man’s energy disappeared, sucked into the ice pick as the man wordlessly crumpled to the ground.

Voidstone? Did Miela just kill the man? What was going on?

Ria could only alternate between staring at the maid cleaning then sheathing her ice pick made of voidstone into whatever kept it from being detected and the no longer breathing body they walked past as if nothing had happened.

Questions spun dizzyingly in her mind, and she barely remembered to breathe. Was Miela always this dangerous? Was that why Keira seemed afraid of the maid at times? Was that why Keira’s grandfather let Keira go out on adventures? Because Miela came along?

Ria’s thoughts went to that odd conversation at dinner the other evening. Did Jarrel know? Is that why he so readily accepted Miela seeing to her safety? Why did Jarrel know?

Miela quickened their pace as another side alley was just ahead and the maid seemed keen on it before movement in the shadows brought the older girl to a halt with a huffing annoyed sound and a clicking of her tongue.

Rough-looking men in dark clothes were stepping out from the side alley and a nearby doorway to block the way forward. Some had short blades, blackened to be less reflective. Ria’s heart pounded. A use of Magesight revealed that the men had at least some enchanted gear.

These were not ordinary thugs!

“Well, then. Guess we’ll be doing this the hard way, little missy.”

The lead thug’s words were met with dark chuckles by two of his companions as they loomed. The other two stayed eerily silent and had determined gazes… and auras! Mages!

Ranger growled a warning, and Ria briefly glanced where Ranger was indicating. Some distance beyond the direction she and Miela came from, a hooded and cloaked figure was walking closer, something in hand.

A chill certainty settled on Ria at the situation. This was not chance. It reminded her of her first encounter with Gebs and his gang, except a hundred times more dangerous. How did Miela notice so quickly?

While they were distracted by Ranger, Ria almost didn’t notice Miela’s free hand dart into her apron, and with two quick motions, two of the five men let out exclamations of pained surprise before stumbling and collapsing.

“The fu-?!”

“Air shield! Quick!”

Chiding herself for not having already done the same, Ria barely finished an air shield of her own around her and Miela as a sharp rock struck from behind—a rock that would have hit her head!

“Target located and surrounded. Alley behind main, north side. Proficient guard obstructing; 3 down. Send reinforcement,” one of the mages reported to someone.

“Ria, we need to break through now,” Miela hissed.

Ria agreed and was already in motion, sending Ranger forward as well. The man behind them was bad news. If his aura, energy scent, and relaxed attitude were any indication, he alone was already more dangerous than she and Miela could handle.

Three more stones struck from behind in rapid succession, each more empowered than the last, reinforced the need to expedite their flight. This wasn’t a battle arena. There was no protective magic to prevent death or injury.

The enemy air shield was a problem she had to solve to get past whoever these men were, and she had a plan born of necessity. Her Air Shield wand was already at its limit and wouldn’t hold against a further empowered rockshot.

Magic dagger summoned to the hand not holding the Air Shield wand, she released her protective magic, twisted out of the path of the already incoming fifth rockshot spell, and empowered Ranger as they practiced in class. Miela’s voidstone ice-pick, Ranger’s earth-magic-empowered claws, her dagger-delivered shadow magic, and the hooded mage’s rockshot, all struck the enemy mage’s air shield at the same time, giving little chance for it to hold.

Ranger was quickly on the shadow mage, who was preparing some kind of energy-draining shadow abjuration, bowling the man into the nearby building with a sickening crunch.

“Shiiit! Reid!” the air mage called out in dismay after barely dodging the hooded mage’s rockshot and seeing his companion mage sent flying, but his eyes widened further when he realized how quickly Ria was also closing the distance. “Shit-”

Her dagger found the mage’s neck and a glance back as she passed the dying man showed that Miela’s ice-pick had again effortlessly claimed another life.

They were through and ran down the side alley without stopping. Ria was beginning to think they might escape before the reinforcements arrived when-

“Barrier!” Ria yelled in warning as she threw disrupting shadow magic at the wall of earth energy spanning the alley and into the sky, blocking their escape.

Hers, Ranger’s, and Miela’s combined attacks barely caused a ripple in the barrier’s strong energy flow.

Just how strong was the casting mage? Ria railed in despair as she glanced back the way they came and saw the hooded man leisurely enter the end of the alley, stepping over his fallen comrades.

Ria launched her own rockshot spell at the hooded man, only for it to shatter harmlessly off his chest, not even slowing the earth mage’s relaxed steps.

As if mocking her feeble effort, the man waved his arm and an array of conjured stone spears began rapidly forming in the air in front of him.

“Can Ranger dig under the barrier?” Miela desperately suggested. “Can you defeat this mage, Ria?”

Ria growled out an “I don’t know” as she weighed the risk of the man taking them more seriously if she tried using the molten chains on him.

She needed to come up with a plan soon. Whether impaled from below or swallowed up by the ground itself, letting an earth mage of that strength get close would likely mean their end. Should she risk charging forward to keep the others safe? Try shooting him with a voidstone arrow? Risk activating the devastator?

“Dark metallic hair, golden eyes. How unfortunate,” the man lamented with a mocking tone, the stone spears growing in empowerment as they moved with him, ready to intiate a barrage of death. “You there, maid. If you stab the girl for me, there’s no need for you to die as well.”

Miela scoffed. “No assassin would let a witness who’s seen his face live.”

“True,” the mage admitted with a mirthless chuckle. “It would be a waste to not at least try to recruit someone of your talent first, though.”

Ria cursed. The man’s taunting had kept her distracted long enough that he now was too close for her to ready her bow. Ranger was digging, but the barrier seemed to follow into the hole.

Just as Ria reached for her orichalcum magic to summon the molten chains, a crows’ shadow passed over the alley and stuck in place behind the mage, seaming to grow as a young white-haired woman stepped from it and launched arcs of lightning into the hooded mage from close range.

An enraged gibbering sound escaped the man as he jerkily spun around to face the sudden new threat, his large wand raised, but a sinister grasping motion from the woman caused the mage to stiffen before falling like a puppet with his strings cut. The spell matrix had formed so quickly there was no chance to catch the glyphs used, but with what Ria saw with Magesight, it was almost as if the woman had ripped the life right out of him!

Such skilled and powerful magic!

Ria could only stare open-mouthed as the floating spears fell to the filth-strewn cobblestone with a clatter alongside the hooded earth mage that had just moments before been a likely insurmountable threat to her life and that of her companions.

Another gesture by the white-haired woman caused a glowing, glyph-inscribed cube to fly from the earth mage’s robe into the woman’s hand, and Ria felt the energy barrier blocking their way begin to dissipate.

Had this woman been using her crow familiar to watch over them? The same crow familiar that Ranger was always noticing? Who was she to be so powerful and skilled when she looked the same age as Wendra or Endriesse? A Ravelle? Were the heirs of the Greater Houses so far above the other students? And why would one bother to watch over her? Was it because of her duel with Verdin? Had House Ravelle had an interest in her from the start?

A ball of unstable fire forming above drew Ria’s attention to the sky, to a black-masked and black-robed woman floating above the alley.

Fire exploded against Ria’s hastily raised air shield, protecting herself, Miela, and Ranger from the sudden conflagration. The flames soon receded to reveal fire burning the adjacent row houses and the white-haired woman completing another spell, larger this time.

Blinding lightning arced upward to crash through the fire mage on its way into the clear sky, followed by a different sort of crashing sound as the flying mage was flung away like a steaming and charred rag-doll onto a nearby roof.

The lightning magic reminded Ria of the lightning shamans that attacked Vorshan’s Hills, and she was glad this powerful lightning mage was on her side.

Another bolt of lightning from the woman met a pair of crossbow-carrying figures as they skidded to a halt at the alley’s entrance.

The woman turned enough to look over her shoulder at Ria with glowing, white lightning-ringed irises. “Girl, more are surely coming. Shouldn’t you be running?”

“Ah, r-right. Thanks,” Ria’s tongue stammered out as she was pulled away by Miela, and they fled, leaving the mysterious lightning mage to cover their retreat.