Chapter 12: Hurrying Down
Courtney looked to Harold and asked, "Do you think that we've seen the worst of it?"
"I would say so, but experience has taught me that if I say that I'll be proven wrong in a second," Harold said, "So I won't say so."
"Smart move," Chris's voice said. Courtney, along with everyone else in the resistance, looked around.
"Where are you, Chris?" Courtney asked, "Show yourself!"
"I would," Chris said, "If I was anywhere near you guys. Now prepare for the mudslide of a life-time!"
"Oh, no!" Courtney shouted. "We have to hurry!" The mountain started shaking beneath her feet. She, Duncan, and Harold led the other twelve down the mountain. When they reached the half-way point, they ran into a group of soldiers.
"You're too late," the leader said. "You're all going to die."
"What about you guys?" Courtney asked, "If you guys say that the mudslide is going to kill us, it's also going to kill you."
"Oh," the leader said, "You still believe the mudslide ruse? That was a trap to get you guys down here with us." He took out a large bow. "You realize that you guys are going to die here."
"Well, okay," Duncan said, "This is getting ridiculous."
"Trust me. I fought in the wars before any of you trust fund kids were born," he said.
"LEAVE CODY ALONE!" Sierra shouted, grabbing the veteran by the scruff of his neck.
"It's okay… it's okay… I'm sure it wasn't supposed to be personal," Cody said, trying to calm Sierra down.
"Did you just call me a…" Duncan began, threatening the veteran with his blade.
"Duncan, settle," Courtney said, "I assure you that we 'trust fund kids'—and those of us who aren't—will be able to take you."
"We'll see," the veteran said. "I have nearly limitless reinforcements. See how well you do against them."
"Okay, we just need to make sure not to die," Courtney said. "Show these guys what Courtney's Resistance is really made of."
Courtney stood at the center of the action, with DJ, Bridgette, Noah, and Gwen, who had also recently obtained the ability to heal, standing by just in case. Harold was learning, but he had not gotten there yet. He also stood in the middle of the action. Cody, Geoff, Trent, Alejandro, Katie, Sadie, Duncan, Sierra, and Tyler surrounded them, and the difference in combat was becoming clear.
Cody, who had no more than three battles ago been in dire need of protection, was now taking out enemies with absolute ease. Geoff was falling further behind, although he was still very fast, and it was not as if Geoff was a bad performer. Trent's aim improved every day, although every time a swordfighter attacked him, it was not as advantageous as it could have been because they always got two blows in when he only got one.
Sierra was still a formidable foe, although she was starting to get hurt a bit more easily. When it came to the damage she dealt, however, it had never been better. Alejandro had been thoroughly outclassed by Katie and Sadie, who worked as well alone as they did together.
As for Duncan, his fighting power was increasing like mad. He was able to pierce the armor of the armored lancers with far more ease than any of the other rogues he had met could, albeit he still was not nearly as formidable to them as Noah, who had the unfair advantage of using a non-physical weapon, or Sierra. However he had outclassed both Cody and Geoff in this regard, and even seemed almost as good as Courtney using light magic, Gwen and Harold. He was also arguably better than Tyler, who, while stronger, was far less accurate.
After a while, the veteran shouted, "Okay, you guys really think that you can make it out alive? Here are my backup fighters!" About a dozen new soldiers arrived at the scene. They may not have outclassed everyone in the resistance, but they were formidable to Courtney, who seemed to be in a comfortable stasis as far as experience was concerned. It wasn't that she didn't have the will to learn; it was just that she didn't know what else to do.
"Uh-oh," Courtney said, "Everyone, we need to work harder than ever." To make matters worse, the one foe on the battlefield who was dangerous to the magic-users, the veteran himself, ran over and attacked her, from a distance. "Sir, we really think we're onto something," she said.
"That's no excuse," he responded, "I'm going to turn you into a piece of CIT Swiss cheese!"
"Very well," Courtney said, "In that case, I'll have to do the same to you."
The fight did not leave either of them dead, although both of them were wounded badly. Duncan attempted to retaliate. He said, "Aren't you a little old to be an intern?"
"Aren't you a little young to be a soldier?" the veteran asked.
"I'm not a soldier," Duncan corrected, "I'm just a rebel. A rebel with a cause." Unfortunately, he missed when he tried to strike the veteran. The veteran was also too fast for Duncan to attempt to strike again. During this time, the veteran had been healed by a couple of bishops who were standing by.
Harold attacked him next. "You're the… you're the… Squealing Monk!" the veteran shouted.
"Guilty," Harold responded, "Whatcha gonna do about it?"
"Hmm," the veteran said, "Kill you?"
"Hadn't thought of that," Harold answered.
Harold got in one strike, which was not enough to kill the veteran, but it did some damage. The veteran retorted by attacking DJ, who, unlike Bridgette, had not learned how to use light magic yet. "All you youngins shouldn't be fighting the overlord!" he yelled. DJ luckily managed to dodge the first blow, because the second one was shot with such precision he nearly died.
Luckily, before he got another blow in, the mountain began to shake. "I thought you said the mudslide was a ruse!" Courtney shouted.
"I thought it was!" the veteran said.
"Run!" one of the backing soldiers shouted.
Courtney's Resistance and the soldiers all ran down the hill except for the veteran and Courtney. "What are you doing?" Courtney asked, "Come on!"
"My life ends here," he said.
"No," Courtney said, "I can't allow you to die to your own leader. Anyone who kills his own army is a monster." She grabbed his arm and took him out of the line of fire. The mud slid down and buried a couple of random soldiers, but the veteran and Courtney both lived, as did everyone in Courtney's Resistance.
"You… you saved my life," the veteran said. "Thank you."
"Oh, it's no problem," Courtney said, "It was clear you were misinformed of the situation. And that sounded like it was intentional on Chris's part."
"Well, I feel like I have to repay you," the veteran said. "Trust fund girl. You might have a use for this magic tome. It's a Purge tome. You can attack enemies from a long distance with this."
"Thank you," Courtney said.
"Oh, and, piercings!" he shouted.
"Who, me?"Duncan asked.
"Yes," the veteran said, "Here, take this silver sword."
"A silver sword?" Duncan asked, "Awesome."
"Oh, and before you go?" the veteran asked, "There's something I think I need to do for you."
"For me?" Courtney asked.
"Yes," the veteran answered. "Now be patient, and I will imbue you with the experience of the ages." The veteran took Courtney's hand and she waited with her eyes closed. "Open your eyes."
"What did you just do?" Courtney asked.
"You are now more powerful than ever. Powerful enough even to wield the CI Tome," he responded.
"The what?" Courtney asked.
"Only the most powerful light magic in the world," he said. "Anyway, good luck with your endeavors."
"My word…" Courtney said, "I'm more powerful than ever…"
"Don't let it get to your head, princess," Duncan said. "Or should I start calling you Your Royal Majesty?"
"Courtney is fine," Courtney said, "Now… the Ladies of War await our arrival! Come on, let's go!"
The veteran had limped over to where Chris was. "You lied to me," he said, "You said it would only be a ruse."
"Yeah," Chris said, "I knew you'd turn traitor so I tried to have you killed off. Unfortunately, my plan didn't work."
"Why don't you let Blaineley have a go at it?" Chef Hatchet asked.
"Blaineley is slippery," Chris said, "She seems more likely to turn traitor than anyone else in our army."
"Oh, come on, Chris, you can trust me. I promise that I will make everything a living hell for Courtney's little resistance, and you guys won't have to lift a finger," she responded.
"Well, whatever, Blaineley," Chris said, "If it gets to that point, we will count on you."
"Good to know," Blaineley said, "And if I'm a loyal asset to you, will you give me a high ranking position?"
"No," Chris said, "But I won't punish you if you don't betray me."
"Understood, Chris," Blaineley said, "I won't let you down." Blaineley headed off.
"Oh, Chef…" Chris said, "I feel like everything's falling apart."
"It should be fine, Chris," Chef Hatchet responded, "I'll make sure of it."
Author's Note: Goodies for this chapter include alternate versions of the beginning and ending dialogue (Harold died; Duncan died; Sierra or Cody died; all sword users died), alternate battle dialogue (Veteran Intern dies), Courtney and Alejandro Supports (Level B), Courtney and Duncan Supports (Level C), Katie and Trent Supports (Level C), DJ and Geoff Supports (Level B), DJ and Duncan Supports (Level B), Geoff and Gwen Supports (Level C), Gwen and Trent Supports (Level C), and Noah and Cody Supports (Level B).