The Magi's Society

As Mevi realized who the assailant was, the leader of the raiders who had accosted them when their mission had only just begun, the man walked forward. As he revealed himself, Mevi was able to fully see just how ironically evil he seemed. The thuggish man didn’t bother to wear cloaks or heavy cloth, admitting his bare chest to the metallic dust in the air, yet seemed unaffected. His scaled skin and an angular face reminded her of old pictures of ancient serpents. The man’s right arm was badly burnt, welts of burnt and charred flesh bubbled out of the tough scales. The wound was likely from Kalesi’s battle with his group of thugs, and as he approached his eyes screamed with ferocity and deranged anger.

Before the bandit leader noticed Mevi, she ducked slightly behind some of the taller adults in the group of survivors. The members of her little band of refugees were on edge, and seemed to understand what might be going on. Some of the people in the front of the group began sinking into the back, as everyone now fought to skirt away from the bandit but refusing to return into the dark that promised a Rusted’s embrace. The bandit seemed to enjoy the cowering, and began swinging his crimson blade back and forth as he slowly progressed forward. The survivors backed away, fearful of the electric weapon, and were being corralled backwards like animals to the slaughter. Some fought against the shuffling, refusing to return from where they came, and the group fought against each other as none could decide a direction that was deemed safer.

The man stopped in his tracks, laughing to himself, as more of his damaged retinue began to approach the scared villagers. Exiting from the dark that hung like a wall before them, the thugs approached cautiously, but were unwilling to enter so far as their leader into the shrouded fog. Still swinging his sword back and forth, spraying sparks as he slashed against the metal ground before him, the man called out with an amused tone, “Well well, look at the bounty delivered unto us! Oh praise be the bastard Magi. Looks like we have a herd of walking paydays, boys!” At his remark, the others in his crew chuckled and a few called out to intimidate the terrified survivors. The leader continued, lightly laughing to himself, “You know? I was following this bitch and her brat. Went straight into here. Thought to myself, well she’s dead and we’ve got nothing but losses. But what do I hear? A loud bunch of idiots who managed to run away from all that rust! My lucky day!”

As the man talks to himself, the tension in the crowd rises. Some of the more fit adults put themselves in the front, holding themselves defensively in between the deranged man and the cowering crowd behind them. Yet even as they attempt to bolster themselves against the intimidating presence of the thugs, what moral might’ve been is actively draining. Several large frames are easily visible in the dark fog, and many more are shadowed behind them. The red blade illuminating the dark figure at their center. The group thugs’ leader seems amused by the growing anxiety, and takes in the tension like a breath of fresh air.

As the crowd continues to push back, against the will of those in the front, Mevi trips and stumbles to the forefront of the crowd. Admitting herself to the gaze of the deranged bandit leader. He stops his fearless flaunting, but only for a few moments, as he stares hard at Mevi. Mevi is thoroughly wrapped, but she and Kalesi wore almost identical outfits save for the difference size. A wicked grin crosses the man’s face as he realizes who Mevi is, and he calls out to her, “Hahaha! You are the brat that tried to run away! Where’s the bitch that burnt me? Don’t tell me, did she get lost? Oh that’s a shame, seems a waste.” A sick grin passes onto his face as he looks Mevi up and down. He changes himself to feign concern for her, lauding after her, “Oh don’t worry. You’ll be wonderfully taken care of. You seem better fed than any of these half-starved pieces of meat. I am sure you’ll make plenty of people very happy!” Mevi is disgusted at his insinuations, but is beginning to grow worried as Kalesi is still nowhere to be found.

Mevi had been frantically darting her eyes back and forth, hoping for some sign of her mentor, Kalesi. But the powerful woman was nowhere to be found, despite how long it had been since their initial flight away from the village Mevi had no doubt Kalesi was safe. But Kalesi’s delay was draining what hope of rescue the group still had, and Mevi was not confident in her ability to help evacuate and protect them. Frantically searching her mind for any ideas, she realized there was no way Mevi could fight the bandits. There were too many, and even just a few blasts of her newfound ability drained her substantially. She instead needed to protect, or somehow get rid of any threat of attack. But how could she possibly do this?

Mevi’s thoughts raced leagues in just a few moments, and thought back to her Maige creating effects for her based on her projected desires. She had influenced them, but the form and function seemed decided by the Maige and then maintained by Mevi after she realized what to focus on. She needed something to protect herself, and the villagers, now more than ever. Mevi began focusing on her Maige, instinctively closing her hands together near her chest. The bandit’s leader seemed amused and watched her with a growing grin. Mevi ignored him and closed her eyes to focus.

Mevi began forming some beginning of an idea in her mind. Forcing onto her mind the need to protect herself and others, to keep the bandits away until Kalesi arrives or they can otherwise escape. Mevi focused, and begged her Maige to think of something, some way that the bandits couldn't reach them or hurt them. As the desire was given, Mevi could almost feel her soul and spirit being forced out of her body. As if her breath was being pulled out of her lungs faster than she could take in air. It felt as if all her blood was racing towards her chest, and being forcibly removed. Opening her eyes, Mevi could feel her very vitality being drained away. It was like what her Maige did, but instead of instant pain it was prolonged or the process slowed. But as she looked out, a great and tall wall of orange energy had erected itself across the span of the metal pipeway.

The, seemingly magical, energy barrier erected itself tall and across the width of the large pipe road. Spanning at least ten meters wide, and fading out of sight several meters high. The bandits reeled after the effect, several scattering to the ground in surprise. Even their, previously fearless, leader beheld the sight with a momentary terror. Mevi didn’t see what the eruption of energy looked like, but could feel her vitality draining away from her the longer she held up the barrier. It was like a beacon of power and light, and it drained her substantially to maintain it.

Reordering himself, and shouting an angry cry of challenge at Mevi, the bandit leader lifted his weapon and struck at the wall of orange energy. Sparks flew, as the barrier sizzled at the touch of another source of strong energy. But the blade was reflected, and its holder was sent backwards and onto their back from the impact. The barrier pulsed with energy, waves emanating from where the blade struck, but maintained its form. Mevi could feel a minor surge in her soul as more of her vital being was leaked away in reinforcement of the barrier.

The crowd of frightened survivors stood in amazement and fear as they looked on at the mystical projection. While they watched, Mevi wheezed and fell to her knees. The feeling of being drained was almost worse than the sudden experience of pain and agony, it was a more drawn out pain like she couldn’t find breath or was drowning in a sea of her own making. It took all of her willpower just to keep the barrier up, and to prevent herself from succumbing to the desire to shut off her focus maintaining the protective wall. Mevi assured herself of the Maige’s intuition, if this was its answer to her needs then she needed to maintain it until a new answer presented itself. Yet just as Mevi reassured herself, a call from behind them terrified her anew. The bright display must’ve been more obvious than she could have known, the wailing cries of monstrous voices called out in response to the barrier. Far below, and a distance away, but the Rusted could see it. Mevi, with her senses heightened by the use of her Maige, could hear them even at their most distant. Only some in the group of survivors seemed to also have heard something, but weren’t as quick to understand the source as Mevi was. As their location was now widely known, Mevi could only hope that this beacon would bring Kalesi to them with haste.

As Mevi continued to intake all the stimuli around her, the sounds, smells, and her suffocation, the bandits were not idle. Several braved themselves against the barrier, throwing objects or even attacking it with weapons. Each attempt bounced harmlessly off the wall of energy, but every deflection drained Mevi just a little more. Pulling at her sleeves, Mevi could see the beginning of the dark veins. Not nearly as progressed as when she had made a brilliant flare, but dark infection’s sudden presence was evidence of how quickly the protective ability was debilitating her.

When Mevi realized how fast her power was waning, the bandit leader seemed to also pick up on her plight. Watching her carefully after he had been sent flying to the ground. His wicked grin returned, as if he realized her weakness. The leader called out, “Boys! Hit this wall with everything we’ve got! It can’t stay up forever! Then we can claim who we want, and eat the rest!” Mevi was thus struck, time and time again, with more and more intense draining. She didn’t even have a moment to fully understand the man’s words, or the discomfort that plagued her dormant memory of the statement. Her entire being was focused on maintaining the barrier, until when she couldn’t risk its sustenance any longer. To her benefit, the bandits seemed dumb to how tall the barrier really was and only attacked the base of the energy wall. Mevi could not stand the extreme stress of maintaining such a large wall, and focused on lowering the height while hoping none of her assailants would notice.

Mevi’s Maige seemed to respond to her need to decrease its consumption of her, and the wall was lowered. With the almost invisible energy that faded away into air at the top of the wall, none of the assailants seemed to notice or care that she had subtracted several meters of protection. Kalesi would’ve been able to easily leap over the wall, but none of the thugs seemed smart enough to look up or attempt to scale the barrier. Instead they all gained some sick pleasure in attacking the wall, and watching as Mevi’s body unconsciously reacted to every attack. The villagers around her had no idea how to help her, and cautiously tried to tend to her, but they could do little more than watch as the young girl was progressively more drained and wracked with a stacking agony that began to burn her very blood.

Mevi could feel her power begin to wane, and knew it would be moments before her consciousness, or very life, was in real danger. The black veins had spread well past her elbows and up her robe’s sleeves, and while she couldn't see her face the grimacing looks the worried villagers gave her made her assume it had spread to her face. Hoping for one last hurrah, and to create a final beacon for Kalesi, Mevi focused all her spare vitality into creating a great beacon. One that might stun the assailants, if only for a moment after the barrier fell.

Focusing her energy and redefining her desire, Mevi turned the wide wall into a sudden bright beacon. The villagers shielded their eyes as the light suddenly cast over all on both sides of the once-barrier. Shouts and cries of surprise called out from both the survivors and attacking thugs. As her power exploded the light into being, she forced herself to subdue the rest of it. Writhing in a redoubled pain, and her hands began shaking uncontrollably, Mevi could only watch as her own vision blurred. The forms of the surprised bandits recoiled as the sudden flash blinded some of them. While others had been able to shield themselves, and were quick to recover.

With the barrier gone, and Mevi’s body drained, the bandit leader quickly recovered. Laughing to himself, the thugs’ leader walked slowly towards the fully collapsed and weary girl who had tried to stop him. Deactivating his weapon, he effortlessly kicked away the few villagers or tried to shield Mevi. Grabbing Mevi by her leg and tossing her aside, Mevi felt as she impacted against the hard ground. Sprawled out on the metal surface, the thug leader walked over to kneel down next to the weakened girl, “You know, I didn’t expect that. I’ll be honest. You are more and more desirable the more I get to know ya. Nice try, but you’re still just a brat.” The man stood up to his full height, and stepped on Mevi’s ribs as he announced his claim, “Any other idiots want to try and fight? Or can we get on with this already?”

At that very moment, a whirring discharge flew through the air. It was targeted directly at the bandit leader’s head, but he managed to duck out of danger’s way before it would’ve impacted. The weak blast of energy careened into the metal floor, melting the surface slightly where it landed and splattered into hot plasma. Mevi couldn’t see what had fired the blast, but as she turned to face its direction the bandit thug yelled out with excitement, “There’s the bitch! Ha! I’ll burn you to char!”

Mevi turned just in time to see Kalesi falling rapidly from some unknown height. Still holding the formerly unconscious boy, who was now drearily awake. Kalesi landed only a few meters away from where Mevi laid, and as she landed the craterous impact shook the vicinity. The bandit leader was shaken slightly off balance, but it was enough for Kalesi to take advantage and charge in to kick him square in the chest. The man was sent flying backwards, and almost slid off the pipeway ledge if not for one of his subordinates just barely catching his outstretched arm. Kalesi cursed to herself for failing her attempt to be rid of the man. Setting the boy on the ground, Kalesi told him firmly, “Watch her.” Then Kalesi turned to face the deranged man and his gathering of still wounded followers.

Kalesi’s robes looked torn and battered, as if she had only just escaped some kind of fight. Yet she stood tall, and radiated hate. Cocking her head to one side to crack her neck, and then raising her hands ready to brawl, Kalesi stared death into the bandit leader. The deranged man pulled himself to a standing position, as if to match Kalesi in fury and power, but held only insanity in his eyes.

With an almost imperceivable speed, the two opponents flew at each other. An exchange of blows that was too quick for Mevi to follow, yet caused small gusts of wind to billow between the brawling figures. Each exchanged blows, blocking the other attacker’s strike only to attempt to counter with their own. The two seemed evenly matched, but the man quickly began to lose ground and attempted to reposition farther away so as to ignite his energy weapon. Kalesi, however, was wise to his goal and chased quickly after him to prevent his use of any weapons beyond his fists. In an outright brawl Kalesi seemed to have the advantage, fists and close quarters seemed to be her preference, and her superior skill shone through the fight. The thug continued to take blow after blow, each landing on him at a critical joint or close to a vital point. It seemed, for every blow deflected or parried, the thug received a different one some place else on his body. Kalesi leaned heavily into attacking his right side, which was evidently still badly injured from their last encounter. Mevi could hardly understand the exchange of attacks between them.

As the two whirlwinds fought, several of the outlying bandits attempted to join into the fray but with their non-super speed they were simply flung away from the fight as Kalesi spent only an eye blink’s time dispatching the incursions. After realizing attacking Kalesi would only wind them up dead or wounded, the remaining few bandits turned on the survivors. Bolstered by Kalesi’s return, and in some part by Mevi’s self-sacrifice, the surviving refugees turned from cowering crowd to angered mob. The adults descended on the bandits, who were greatly outnumbered due to so many being already dispatched by Kalesi. Even some of the children came to Mevi’s defense, wielding rocks and scraps around the ground to throw at nearby thugs while they stood over Mevi’s weakened body.

The fight seemed to be over in less than a minute. Kalesi beat back the bandit captain, blocking any of his attempts to escape or wound, Kalesi returned all her hatred for the serpentine man back with strike after strike. As Kalesi tore through their leader, and several of the more ambitious bandits, the rest of the thugs were dealt with by the angered villagers. In only a few moments they had gone from cowering close to defeat, to a resounding victory. As the last of the bandits were beaten to death or to unconsciousness, Kalesi finished her superhuman battle with the bandit’s leader. The man was thrown and landed past the mob of villagers, not far away from Mevi herself. He was beaten, bruised, even with chunks of scale and skin torn free from his body. As he frantically searched his surroundings, he began to crawl towards Mevi as if to use her as leverage, only for Kalesi to descend upon him crushing both of his arms at the elbows with hard stomps. Despite his grievous injuries, the man was possessed by some deranged spirit and only began to laugh through broken teeth, “You’ll regret this! I already called my buddies, they’ll make sure none of you get out of the Pipes alive! We’ll throw you back to the Rust where scum like you-” before his speech could reach its climax Kalesi crushed his windpipe with a solid stomp. His body flailed for a few moments before succumbing to the incredible wounds and falling dead or unconscious.

As Kalesi’s anger, and combat enhancements, wore off she turned to face the wounded and beaten Mevi. Rushing to her wounded pupil’s side, she knelt down with regret and fear in her eyes. Scouping Mevi into her arms, Kalesi held the girl tight to her chest. Mevi managed to stifle out a groan, and Kalesi relented slightly before speaking in a pained tone, “I'm sorry. I should’ve come faster… I didn’t think… There were Rusted… I'm sorry.”

Mevi managed to reach up and pat Kalesi on the face, having aimed for the top of her head but missing, “He didn’t hurt me much, not as bad as you look to be. You’re here now… But can we go home?”

Kalesi stifled some welling emotion, and simply responded, “Of course.”

With Mevi in her arms, and the frenzy subsided from the surviving villagers, the group hurried to continue down the pathway. Mevi now safely returned to Kalesi, she felt herself relax. She could endure her Maige’s side effects, and really looked worse than she was. It was a strange idea to Mevi, that she was so unfazed by her own pain. Maybe her use of so much of herself when she first used the Maige’s power had desensitized her. She didn’t really mind her own pain, but hated seeing Kalesi so battered. Mevi was glad to be heading back to their home, where soon they could both rest after rescuing so many.