Across the Worlds
By Ulquiorra9000
Chapter 1: Stranger in a Familiar Land
Morrel already saw the dark column of smoke rising from behind a hill ahead by the time a royal messenger sprinted to his squad.
"Altha town! It's under -" the messenger panted, resting his hands on his knees to keep himself upright.
18-year-old Morrel frowned grimly and balled his hands into fists. White, blue, and green mana curled from the skin and radiated around him in an aura. "Ready?" he asked the squad leader.
Yerkel, a rhox monk, nodded and blinked his small, dark eyes. "Squad, moved out!" he barked in his deep voice.
"I guess this patrol got a lot more interesting, huh?" Morrel commented to his friend as the squad hurried over the grassy hill, trampling the red and blue flowers as they went. The smell of burning wood filled Morrel's nostrils.
Yerkel grunted. "I seem to recall someone wishing that we'd get some action around here..."
Morrel winced. "How was I supposed to know?" His white cloak billowed behind him, Bant's sunlight glinting off his glasses.
"Relax," Yerkel said with a gravely chuckle. "To be honest, I've been looking forward to a little exercise, too." The rhino-man's small ears flattened. "As long as it's not at someone else's expense," he added to himself.
When Morrel mounted the hill with the others, he saw Yerkel's point.
Altha town, a major supply point to Akrasa kingdom's army, was nearly hidden in a sheet of flames and smoke. Townsfolk and horses fled the scene, while other figures charged right in, shouting in glee. Morrel knew at once who they were.
Raiders from Jund. Again.
"What's the call, squad leader?" another battlemage asked.
Yerkel studied the scene for a second. "Attack pattern bravo-three," he said. "Go!"
At once, three mages raced town the town's east edge, moving in a half-circle toward the town's center. Meanwhile, Morrel and two other mages did the same at the west edge. Yerkel thundered right to the town's center as the attack's anvil.
Rhoxes...
Morrel coughed and covered his mouth with his cloak's sleeve, his eyes stinging from the heat and smoke. He ducked as a shop next to him lost integrity and collapsed in a shower of timbers and sparks.
"They've never gotten this close to the castle before!" another battlemage commented.
"I thought the guys from Esper would have slowed them down, or diverted them," Morrel said.
"Can't count on those metal freaks to do anything right," the third battlemage said bitterly. "Come on!"
Morrel rounded the corner and beheld four brawny Jund warriors, all carrying stone-tipped clubs decorated with red and green symbols. Bones and skulls, maybe trophies, hung from the warriors' necklaces and neck braces, their leather armor scratched and pitted from earlier battles. Behind them, a fifth warrior pulled up on his mount, an elephant-sized beetle with bloody spines on its legs and head.
The warriors paused for a second, surprised by the newcomers. Then they raised their weapons and charged.
Morrel dropped into a combat stance and held his hands out, palms facing the incoming Jund raiders. His blond hair was ruffled as blue and white mana gathered before him into a wide, round shield -
Blue and white sparks blasted into the air as a Jund warrior brought his club down on Morrel's shield. The barrier sputtered and wavered under the pressure, and that was when Morrel saw the red, green, and black mana coursing along the club's length. It's enchanted!
Morrel rolled to the side just as the warrior's club shattered the barrier and slammed into the dirt road. Nearby, the other battlemages clashed with the other warrior's enchanted clubs.
"Okay, so you're tougher than the last Jund bastard I fought," Morrel taunted, standing to his full height. He tried not to show his apprehension. "Now I'll get serious."
The Jund raider laughed and wrenched his ax free. "So will I!"
Again, the warrior charged. This time, Morrel sent blue-green mana coursing through his every nerve. Time slowed down around him, every movement around him as though underwater. His own breathing sounded loud, his heart like some massive Naya war drum.
Morrel was already moving when the Jund raider swung his ax down, its enchantments letting out a dull roar. As he slid into position, Morrel drew a knife from his belt and sank it deep into the raider's liver.
Time snapped back to normal as the blow struck, and every movement and sound seemed fast and intense to Morrel's senses. He felt a sudden weariness drag him down, his mind fuzzy.
Maybe I held onto the time dilation too long. Morrel wrenched his knife free and stepped back, watching as the Jund warrior gasped in shock, blood seeping onto his chest. With a final grimace, the warrior sprawled face-down onto the dirt.
Another Jund raider went down, and the last two backed up a few steps, their clubs held up defensively. Morrel regrouped with the other battlemages, already panting and sweating all over. The heat from the flaming buildings didn't help. "Ready?" Morrel asked.
Apparently, the last raider took that question to heart. The massive beetle screeched and lumbered over to Morrel's group, kicking aside flame-weakened buildings as it went. The insect's rider shouted a command and tugged on his reins.
The beetle parted its pincers and issued a long jet of flame right at Morrel's group.
Adrenaline spiked in Morrel's body and he leaped aside with the others just in time; the beetle's fire breath scorched a three-yard-wide crater into the town's main road, and Morrel doubted that his shield would have lasted long in that inferno.
So that's how these guys set the town on fire so fast! Morrel got to his feet and wiped his forehead with his sleeve, watching as the warriors and beetle advanced through the smoke -
Suddenly, one of the beetle's spiny front legs lashed out and caught a battlemage right in the stomach. Blood sprayed as the man was thrown through the air and crashed into another building. He was dead for sure, Morrel realized.
Shouting, the two non-mounted warriors charged again. Morrel threw up his shield again like the other battlemage, but he winced as the warriors' enchanted clubs wore away at the barrier. Morrel felt his mana draining as he fought to keep the shield up.
Morrel's barrier broke again and he hastily backed away as a warrior stalked toward him, a fierce grin on his painted face. "Your little tricks won't save you, boy," the warrior said with a leer.
Morrel raised his arms in preparation for last-ditch time dilation, but everyone paused when blue-white spells flashed through the air from the town's east side. The two warriors stumbled as stunning spells slammed into them, their clubs' enchantments sputtering and fading.
Through the smoke and eerie red light emerged Yerkel with the rest of the squad. "You're late, Morrel!" Yerkel called out. "The plan -"
"Yeah, I know," Morrel said apologetically. Normally, the two squads would do a pincer maneuver to pin the Jund warriors together, and Yerkel would deal the final blow.
Oh, well.
Taking his chance, Morrel raised his knife and slashed it across his opponent's chest. The warrior grimaced, then hastily swung his mundane club. The weapon caught Morrel in the stomach and he tumbled back, gasping for breath, his lower ribs aching horribly. Damn it!
Just as the warrior advanced for the kill, Morrel surged his white-green mana through his muscles and dodged the warrior's next club attack. Then, his right fist sank into the warrior's chest wound. The warrior jerked, then went slack at last.
Yerkel, meanwhile, helped corner the last warrior and demolished him with an open-palm strike. But there was more.
Screeching in fury, the massive beetle stomped forward and issued another jet of flame, vaporizing a battlemage on the spot. Only a charred crater was left of him.
Yerkel dodged one of the beetle's stomping legs and delivered a mighty kick. Chitin crunched under the pressure and the beetle recoiled, but Yerkel's blow only seemed to make it angrier. The huge creature swatted him aside, and the rhox tumbled across the town street.
"No!" Morrel hurried over to help, but one of the beetle's legs stomped right before him, and the sheer power knocked him flat onto his back. Terror seized his mind as the beetle towered over him, lifting a foot to finish him off-
A new figure leaped into the air, one with an intense aura of black mana. Morrel squinted through the haze of smoke and reddish light. Who -
The mounted beetle shrieked as the new figure swept its left arm through the air, severing its leg at the joint.
Morrel rolled over and got to his feet, numb with shock. He watched as the figure nimbly sprang away from the beetle's counter-attack, then it vaulted high into the air. Black mana gathered around the person's left pointing finger in an intense ball.
The very air shuddered as the person released a powerful cone of black mana that vaporized the beetle's head. The headless body collapsed to the ground in a thud, and a second later, the new figure tore apart the beetle's rider with a slash.
Morrel stood there, numb with shock, until he shook himself clear and hurried past the newcomer. For now. "Yerkel!"
"I'm fine!" The rhox heaved himself onto his feet, brushing off his monk robes. "Who was that?"
"Good question." Morrel turned around, and he, Yerkel, and the other survivors approached the newcomer.
It was a girl Morrel's age, and she looked nothing like a Bant native.
"Hey, now!" The girl raised her left arm to defend herself. Her entire arm was scaly and black, the fingernails like long, white claws. "Don't try anything funny."
"We're not!" Morrel assured her. He gestured with his open palms, and the others relaxed. "We're grateful, actually. Didn't even know you were going to help."
The girl shrugged. "I saw my chance and took it. At least you mages cleared up the foot warriors first."
A hundred questions swirled in Morrel's mind, but he knew that they'd have to wait. "Look, you're not from around here, are you?" Is she a fugitive from another shard-world? Maybe Grixis, by the looks of her arm...
"Well... no," the girl admitted. "What's it to you?"
Yerkel cleared his throat. "You're on Akrasa kingdom land," he told the girl. "Subject to detainment and questioning until we're certain that you're not a -"
"I killed that damned beetle for you, okay?" the girl snapped. "What else d'you want?" Angry black mana hummed on her black left arm.
"Look, we're just being safe," Morrel told her. Somehow, the Jund warriors didn't seem so scary now. "Around here, we're careful with people we don't know, especially during this chaotic war with the other shard-worlds. Are you from one of them?"
"If you're gonna question me, can we do it somewhere else?" the girl demanded. looking around. "This town's toast."
Morrel sighed. "Okay. Come with us to the castle."
