Heart of Dorkness

Terror Eleven - Ambush

I hold onto Felix’s hand as we run down one alley, then shift over and run down another.

There are screams behind us, calls telling others where we’re running.

I’m beginning to have a few small regrets. Notably, I should probably not have flashed so much gold around. I’m still not sure of the actual value of gold, but it seems like the dozen coins I have left are enough to encourage people to rob Felix and me.

Or maybe worse.

Some of the things the men are shouting at us are downright disgusting.

I glance up at the sky as we continue down another passage between two warehouses. The sky above is dark and speckled with tiny white pinpricks from the sea of stars. I can’t see any signs that there's anyone watching us, but I can almost feel the attention of something oozing with loathing. It isn’t even directed at me.

The thugs following us wouldn't be so excited if they had any ability to sense the magic in the air.

But I don’t want that kind of help. I don’t need it.

I’m perfectly able to take care of myself.

Some jerk jumps out from behind a stack of crates, and it’s all I can do to gasp as he grabs my wrist and pulls. I hiss as my shoulder strains, and I separate from Felix for a moment, letting her go on ahead for a few steps. “Got you!” the man hisses.

His breath is rancid, like rotting meat, and even with the poor light I can tell that his teeth are crooked and closer to green than white.

I don’t even need to think to flood my core with disgust.

Dark magic isn’t great offensively, but being disgusted is just about the best way to defend yourself. I punch the man in the chest.

He barely even shifts.

So I punch him again and again and again. There’s no pain, and with each blow, my hand darkens, little licks of flame-like magic coating my hand more and more. My fist hardens, and I start to see a reaction as my blows grow heavier.

The man slaps me.

I feel it, of course. I even see it coming, though the best I can do to avoid it is tilt my head to the side so that the slap hits my cheek.

I don’t want him breaking my glasses.

The man seems confused, which is just great because he doesn’t react when I jump up and punch him in the chin.

Something finally snaps, and he stumbles back, bumping into the wall a moment before falling back.

I pant a bit, some focus going to shifting the magic around in my body.

Being able to endure doesn’t translate to being able to hit hard.

I should have used some other magic, but the emotions were all wrong.

“Miss Valeria!”

I look up, then in the direction Felix is pointing.

The little scuffle has taken a few seconds, and now those chasing us are closing in.

Worse, there are more of them at the other end of the alley, right where the alley ends on the main road that Felix and I had taken to get to Fancy’s place.

Felix screams as she runs past me, arms cartwheeling. She stops, shoes scraping on the ground and both hands shooting out ahead of her.

A gust of wind blasts out ahead of her.

It’s not a particularly strong blast. I don’t think even a toddler would fall from it. But the alley is dusty, and that dust is dragged up and thrown into the faces of the thugs behind us.

“Nice work,” I say as I grab Felix’s hand. She’s grinning, of course. That was a lot of magic used all at once. Her control is great, but I don’t think her reserves are nearly as impressive.

But she did give me an idea.

Well, to be honest, it’s more that I forgot she was able to help. “Felix, lead us,” I say.

I concentrate for a moment, pushing more loathing and disgust towards my core. It’s not hard, not with a quick glance at the people running at us.

I cast a spell.

It’s not a well-cast spell, and it’s not something very impressive. Mom would probably do something with Void magic here that would make all the thugs disappear, but I’m not Mom.

Darkness flows out of my body, thick and cloying and plenty, as if my hands were connected to hoses. I gesture, and the wave of darkness rises and fills the alley.

In an open space, it would be a waste. They’d surround us and wait. Worse, it’s not like I can see any better than they can.

I wiggle my arms around, looking for Felix. She grabs onto my hand, the same one I used for punching earlier. It’s still mostly closed, the magic that made it tough taking a long time to wear off.

“Go,” I whisper.

Felix leads us first left, then forward, then right. I guess she’s running around the people stumbling into the fog. And then we’re out of the darkness and I can see again.

We’re on the main road, and at the end is the gate leading into Midtown. There’s a carriage there, a fancy noble-looking one that the guards are inspecting. That means the gate is still open!

“What was that?” Felix asks.

“I cast a dark spell,” I say. “It made everyone blind.”

“But I’m already blind.”

“Yes, exactly.”

Felix laughs, a bright, happy sound that makes me want to smile too.

We keep running even as my spell wears off and the thugs behind us start sprinting to catch up. Without the twists and turns of the alleyways, there’s not too much Felix and I can do. My core is a little bit sore, a good sign that I’ve been using up a lot of magic, and my emotions are... a little wonky.

Disgust is a strange one to use, at least as far as after-effects go.

The guards at the gate pause to look our way. I guess we’re making a bit of noise.

I glance over my shoulder, then take in a gulp of air and try to run faster.

The thugs are adults; they have long legs, and some of them at least look like they’re more used to manual labour than I am. Spending so much time in the library hasn’t made me a fast runner, and Felix is flagging a little too.

I’m starting to get a bit worried. The guards aren’t even stepping closer.

“H-help!” I call out.

Instead of having the guards rush over, the door to the carriage bursts open and a man jumps out, landing with a heavy thump on the road before he turns our way.

He’s huge, a big slab of muscle barely contained within a perfectly nice suit. Not a very colourful or lacy one, but a nice suit all the same.

He tugs at his moustache, then he starts walking towards us.

“No fear, little ladies,” he says with a voice like a foghorn. “A few bandits won’t take me more than a moment!”

I watch him raise one leg up, then shift his foot around so that his heel is pointing straight down. Then I feel it.

“Earth mage!” I warn Felix a moment before his leg rockets down and rams into the street.

We both stumble and trip as the road bounces underfoot.

The thugs behind us aren’t so lucky.

I land in a roll, the remains of my endurance spell bleeding off, but doing its work in keeping me from being hurt. All that means is that I’m able to get on my feet in a hurry and watch as the thugs run into a wall of blunt-ended spikes.

There’s screaming and cursing as some of them ram into the poles. Others are nimble enough to dodge, but that just means that they’re at the front when the guards finally decide to act and start charging over, long halberds lowered and pointing at them.

I decide that the better part of valour is being elsewhere, so I stumble over to Felix and help her up before jogging back towards the gate.

“Are you well, ladies?” the big man asks.

I inspect him right away.

[Romulus - The Earthen Pillar - Vigilant]

Adept Rock Crushing Behemoth

Novice Earthy Hero

Initiate Gourmand

“Thank you,” I say.

Three classes. He has to be a noble of some sort. More importantly, he’s associated with the Church of the Hero. It’s not the clothes or the nobility that give it away; it’s the second title.

The Earth magic helps too, but using a kind of magic associated with a particular god doesn’t mean that someone worships them or anything.

“Are you well?” he asks.

“Fine,” I say. “Just fine. Thank you again, Sir Romulus.”

“It is nothing. Now, what can two young ladies be doing out here with so many fools after them?”

I glance back for a good excuse, but all I see are thugs beating a hasty retreat while the guard pick up some of those that fell or that they caught. It’s only a fraction of them, of course.

“Well, that’s a bit complicated,” I say.

***