Chapter 23

"NO!" I screamed, as Peña's blade finished cutting its way through the old wizard's neck.

The earth mage looked up as we arrived, his glowing green eyes fixing on Moretti as the biggest threat. Peña started forward, so intent on fighting the steel-armed mage that he failed to notice how Argondian's body fell to the old stone road with a bloody splash. He didn't even notice that Argondian had done a full-on Obi-Wan Kenobi, his body disappearing upon his death.

He noticed when the remnants of the old wizard splattered against his legs.

And he definitely noticed when the splatter then began to work its way up his body.

"What the…" I began, even as Peña started ripping at what I belatedly realized was paint with his free hand. The liquid clung to him, quickly sliding up toward his face. Peña dropped his sword as a swirl of colors ran up his neck, before spilling over into his mouth.

"Gross," Anya said as Peña struggled to free himself from the paint. When his fingers clawed at it, the paint clung to him, stretching out like putty. In moments his fingers were glued together, even as the rest of the paint spread over his body. His mouth worked silently, thin strands of color stretching over his gaping maw before snapping it shut.

It was a similar spell to what I'd seen Argondian use against Rai; a paint spell that had hardened over his face, blinding him and suffocating him and preventing him from verbally casting spells all at once. Only this time there was enough paint to cover Peña head to toe.

"It's certainly not elegant," Argondian said as he appeared beside us. I stared at him in surprise, and then returned my gaze to the liquid remnants of his 'body' that worked at binding Peña's arms and legs together. "But Andrés is much too strong to duel one-on-one, even in his weakened state."

"How?" Anya asked, clearly as confused as I was.

"Water double," Moretti said softly, as if he too hadn't fallen for the trick.

"Just so," Argondian said with a sharp incline of his bushy head. "Paint given my form and coloring; a thin membrane that, when attacked, breaks down to then cling to my opponent."

"Uh," I said worriedly as Peña worked one hand free. It was a struggle, the paint clinging to him and drawing his limbs to his sides. But the earth mage got his left hand free enough to touch the gnarled wood at his waist. "Shouldn't we…"

I gestured toward him, just as Peña's hand seized on the staff. The ground all around us began to rumble as the dirt shifted, gliding across the surface of the road to climb up the earth mage's legs. We watched as the sand and dust swirled tightly against the wizard's body, grinding against the paint.

"Uh-oh," Argondian said almost apologetically.

Peña had disappeared into a human formed figure of clay, the earthen material shifting and spinning all across his body. As it did, the dirt bled red and green and blue, becoming stained with the paint it absorbed.

And then the dirt began to fall away, slowly revealing the furious visage of the earth mage.

"Time to go?" Argondian asked us, even as Peña's earth covered arm rose, bearing the gnarled staff.

The four of us started to move, but we were too late. With a wave of his arm, the ground beneath us dissolved, devouring us like quicksand. I scrambled for an edge to cling to, but Peña had made sure to spread the effect to a wide area. The circumference of the spell continued to spread, until the ground shifted beneath the earthen wall beside us. The entire thing teetered for a precarious moment before Peña snapped his wrist. The earth shuttered, and the wall began its free-fall across us, easily a couple thousand pounds of stone that would crush us like bugs.

So it was really fortunate that Nelson decided to arrive just then, spinning his staff around in an upswing. The motion mirrored the bright kinetic half-sphere that appeared beneath the falling wall, striking at it like a powerful uppercut.

The wall exploded, sending fragments everywhere. Stone shrapnel landed all around us, but we were spared the fate of being crushed. We were still drowning in quicksand, mind you, but beggars can't be choosers.

"Hang on," Moretti grumbled as he reached for a large segment of the wall that had fallen beside him. His steel fingers grasped at it, finding purchase enough to anchor himself. When he had his shoulders above the sand, he reached his other arm out to Anya.

"Eep!" the girl yelped as a magnetic tug pulled her to him, his magic seizing on her swords. She managed to not impale herself with them, and instead used her higher position to dig toward the edge of the pit. When the longer sword tip bit into solid ground, she pulled herself along, a few inches at a time.

I turned to check on Argondian, struggling to keep my head above the sand. As I twisted my head around, I saw the older wizard's upper body popping free from the pit. He'd managed to get his larger tube of red paint free, and the liquid whip I'd seen before had been wrapped around a distant portion of the building that hadn't collapsed. The paint was drawing him out slowly, and he gave me a pleased smile.

"Here, Mister Hayes," he said, reaching his free hand toward me. I managed to get my arm free to flail in his direction, but he was too far away.

Fortunately, Moretti decided to show off, and turned his magnetic power on me. The metal weapons all across me pushed through the sand, dragging me along with it, and after a few moments I was able to reach Argondian.

Seconds later, the four of us were free of the trap. Moretti was already moving in the direction Peña and Nelson had disappeared, the younger wizard managing to hold his own against the Revenant.

"You okay?" I asked Anya, who was shaking sand from Simon's jacket.

"Yeah," she said with a dark scowl. "But if we survive this, let's never speak to any wizards ever again."

"Oh, my love," Argondian said with a heartbroken tone, his hand clutched to his chest. "You wound me."

Rather than replying, Anya took off after the others, and Argondian and I gave chase.

We spotted Peña and Nelson working their way down the road toward the square I'd seen earlier. The earth mage was retreating from the monk's fierce attack, his magics fueling him to speeds matching Anya's. Moretti was hot on their heals, but my friend quickly passed him.

As I looked around, a cold dread filled me. "Wait, come back!"

"Why? He has him on the run," Argondian said as we ran.

"Because I was here earlier!" I shouted. "But these vinesweren't!"

Thick leafy tendrils had worked their way over almost every building in the square. Such growth might have been expected to be found an abandoned and overgrown place, but I knew better. Anavatos had been a dead and barren place, both before and after Salvago had set up shop there.

There was only one reason for the sudden surge in flora, and that was Penny.

Which meant we'd just run into another of Salvago's traps.

"STOP!" Argondian shouted as he realized what I meant. But our warning came to late. Even before the word left his lips, the creepers all around us started to writhe. Joining them was the lattice of vines unseen beneath the square that erupted upward, just as they had back in Chios Town when Penny had tried to take out one of the ward lamps.

The vines whipped around the legs of the others, catching them just as surely as the quicksand had. Nelson stumbled, even as Peña was spared, and the old warden's sword whistled as it came back at the off-balance monk.

A thrum accompanied Moretti's outstretched hand, and Peña's swing was momentarily checked by his magnetic spell. The steel-armed wizard strained to hold the warden's sword still, the enchantments on it making it all but impossible to control.

It bought Nelson the time he needed to use his enhanced strength to rip free of the vines, and Peña's sword swung free over his bald head as he dove aside. More vines were ready to catch him up, but his staff started lashing out, white blades of kinetic energy making the blunt ends sharp enough to cut through the foliage.

It was a good thing he could take care of himself, because the rest of us were busy trying to stay alive.

Penny had been busy. The small square was surrounded by about half a buildings of varying size, each one to two stories in height. Vines and creepers had spread across most of the surfaces facing the square, and as the trap was sprung, the vines crept out to cut off any avenue of escape. Within moments, we were within a four-walled cage, where the only openings were the doorways to the buildings, out of which a hundred zombies and thralls poured.

Moretti had started toward Nelson, but the sudden appearance of the Hound had him reeling backwards. The beast was all but non-corporeal when it came to mundane weapons, but it seemed that the enchantments on the irritable wizard's steel arm and sword weren't so easily dismissed. But despite having weapons that might harm the thing, Moretti was struggling to keep up. It flickered in and out, striking from whichever side was least defended.

I watched a swing of Moretti's sword pas through empty space as the dog disappeared, only to return from his blindside. A savage swipe of its massive paw left a ragged tear in the warden's cloak, and I saw red spill out as he fell to a knee. Before the beast could finish him, Moretti swung his sword again, narrowly missing the Hound as it retreated.

As much as the rest of us wanted to help, we were tied up with the vines and the defenders. Anya and I were both shooting as many zombies as we could safely identify, make sure to preserve ammo with accurate head-shots rather than spraying the on-rushing crowd. Argondian's liquid whip was thrashing all about, cutting through the vines that tried to confine him. Each tendril that he cut then turned into a weapon for him to use, as he manipulated the water in the creepers. I saw him throw a particularly thick vine at a pair of thralls, which quickly wrapped around their legs.

As my second magazine emptied, I looked about frantically as I reloaded, hoping to find a way out. The sky was open, so the Keres might be able to retrieve us, if they were willing to risk coming so close to Salvago.

Only the two largest buildings in the square had a third floor; the one they'd kept me in during my first visit, and the one that the Keres had attacked in search of Katya. There was no sign of the winged women or the sniper, but I could make out the faint glimmer of amethyst light atop the other building. It was enough to silhouette the dark form of Yannis Salvago, who stood over the proceedings like a judge awaiting a verdict.

Or, perhaps, a self-declared god expecting an imminent victory.

"Fall back!" I shouted, but my words were useless. With the vines writhing around our ankles and the defenders charging from every direction, there was nowhere to fall back to. Nor was anyone listening. Anya was busy hacking away at a vine that had wrapped around her gun arm. With one end sliced off, she wrenched her arm back up, tearing the foliage with her brute strength to take aim at an oncoming zombie.

"Hayes!" Argondian shouted, drawing my attention. I turned to see his whip lashing toward me. The red paint wrapped around one wrist, and my heart leapt into my chest as I recalled a similar trick ending with Rai losing his hands. But rather than cutting, his paint whip pulled at me, dragging me off balance.

The whip's recoil was greater than the old wizard could have managed by brute force alone. Magically enhanced, it pulled me with enough strength to leave me tumbling through the air. Before I could question his motives, a brilliant flash of yellow light erupted where I'd been standing as the Revenant Martin rejoined the fray.

"C'mon!" I shouted as the wizard stalked toward me, his staff swinging to one side as he prepared another blast with his other hand. The gap in the vines that had allowed him entry to the square quickly closed behind him.

"I will deal with Mister Fors," Argondian said as he charged past, vines trailing from his legs as he went. "Keep the thralls and zombies at bay."

"Sure. No problem," I shouted from my back as vines encircled my waist. When I tried to rise, the tendrils tightened, even as more began to wrap around my arms. "I'll get right on it."

Thankfully Anya was still up, although she'd discarded the first of her Desert Eagles, and was quickly burning through the hundred-round drum of the second. Most of the zombies had been dropped, but the thralls were encircling each of us. Soon we wouldn't have a choice in the matter.

We either killed the thralls, or died ourselves.

I hacked at the vines with Q's sword, but for every one I cut, two more wrapped around my arm. I tried to pull it free, but it was pinned fast. A wrenching motion from the vines at my feet put me flat on my back as they dragged me across the ground, and the last thing I saw before creepers slithered across my face was Penny in the distance, standing atop a low roof.

I struggled to pull free, but there were too many leafy ropes holding me fast. Panic set in as I realized that I couldn't move. The gun was wrenched from my hand, and then so was the sword. I clawed at the plants with my bare hands, until they tightened around my fingers.

When I was well and truly helpless, the plants ceased their stirrings, content on holding me hostage. I tried sitting up, and they resisted only enough to keep me restrained. They didn't try killing me, either by crushing me or cutting off the air to my lungs. They simply held me fast as the others fought for their lives.

I heard an explosion off to one side, but I couldn't see anything. Anya let off a string of curses, and it sounded like the thralls had finally reached her. She was growing desperate, standing on the line between doing the right thing and preserving her own life. I heard Argondian grunt in pain, and Nelson screamed as a grinding sound rumbled through the ground beneath me.

My friends and allies were dying, and I was helpless to do anything.

It's a humbling experience to be well and truly helpless. I'd spent years training with a goblin, learning how to fight. I'd had weapons crafted for me that would give me a chance of surviving against all of the dark and evil things that went bump in the night. I'd faced vampires and hags and demons and dragons.

But I couldn't last two days with wizards.

Hell, I hadn't even lasted one. Peña had all but killed me not twenty-four hours ago. Had it not been for everyone working together, I'd be dead. Had Anya and Moretti and Argondian not each saved me during our assault on Anavatos, I'd be dead several times over that night alone.

I was the strongest and most prepared mortal I knew, and I was as helpless as a babe against a flora mage not old enough to vote.

Maybe if I could call lightning down from the skies, I could make a difference. Maybe if I could control the raw elements of the earth, sky, and water, I could make a difference. Maybe if I could manipulate magnetic fields or cast spells with practiced ease, I could make a difference. Maybe if I could fuel magic into my body, making me stronger, faster—

Wait.

What had Nelson said? That against Peña outside the cottage, I had kept up with him? Even though he was running faster than a human might normally move, I'd kept pace?

Impossible. I'd heard him before, and dismissed it as unbelievable.

But what if he was right? What if I could meditate, and channel that power into my body in a way different than what I was used to? What if I could use the symbol he'd drawn on me to try and mimic what he did, using his magic to enhance his physical abilities?

I closed my eyes, forcing myself to calm down. A looming sense of panic had been washing over me as I lay there, hearing those I'd come with fighting to stay alive. But panic would do me no good. What I needed was calm concentration, focus, and a whole lot of luck.

As I meditated, I began to recite the mantra my friend Olivia had taught me for healing, repeating it over and over in my mind. As I did, I felt the power begin to churn within in my gut, spreading out to heal the wounds and fatigue. It coursed through my body, and I kept at it, trying to draw more and more into me, more than what was necessary to heal. Something more, that just might help me survive.

My vision was dark, but as the warmth spread through me, I focused my intent into a burning flame. I could see it in my mind's eye, starting as nothing more than a spark, but quickly growing as I pulled at that power within me. It became a bonfire, washing away the shadows, until I could almost hear the crackling of the flames.

My body was hot with it, the heat burning through me. I screamed, even as I mentally continued the mantra, letting the power that had bonded with me years earlier fill my being.

And then, with a roar, I pulled at the vines holding me, letting the power fuel my efforts.

For all that, I managed to tear one hand free.

It doesn't sound like much. But it was more than I'd been able to do before, and enough to give me hope. I kept at the mantra as I thrashed about, trying to wriggle loose. My shoulders moved, and then my other hand. A tearing sound carried to my muffled ears as I ripped one leg loose from the vines. I jerked back and forth, until I was sitting up slightly, pulling enough of the thick foliage free to see what was going on around me.

The others were still standing, although the battle was taking its toll. Argondian was indeed wounded, but had somehow managed to subdue Martin again. With the Revenant wizard down, the more experienced wizard had then turned his attention toward helping Nelson, who was in a desperate fight with Peña. I could just make out Moretti as he was bowled over by the Hound, and managed to get his steel arm up into the gaping maw of the beast that had tried to dip its head into his chest. The smoking paws of the Hound tore at Moretti's chest, flaying open his skin.

And I saw Anya, a whirlwind of black shadow and white leather as she tore through the thralls with a fierce argent light shining from her eyes.

I craned my neck, tearing more vines as I strained to focus on her. My heart skipped a beat as I saw her swing a sword at a thrall, but she had reversed the blade, and was striking with the blunt edge.

The blade might not be cutting the hypnotized Chians, but the blows were crippling. Anya was fighting with inhuman strength and speed, which meant the poor mortals didn't stand a chance. I saw one glancing blow send a woman flying back through the air, and a backhand may or may not have broken a man's neck as he crumpled to the ground.

My friend was on the edge of letting the monster take control.

"Anya!" I shouted, even as I felt the vines working their way over me again. What progress I made was quickly fading as Penny redoubled her concentration on me. The only good thing was that keeping me down had taken all of her concentration, which meant the others were being actively harassed by the vines.

I felt myself tugged back toward the ground, and I fought to keep that power flowing through me, giving me the strength resist the magical flora that was stronger and more durable than it had any right to be.

If Anya heard me, she didn't let it show. I saw her rampage continue unabated. But someone else heard me, and I blinked in surprise as a small fiery form scrambled toward me. "Sal!"

The flaming amphibian tumbled through the vines and creepers, his sharp claws cutting through them like hot blades. His tail flicked back and forth, and I saw leaves curl and burn as it struck them. But the little guy was holding back on his power, having retained his smaller form as he leapt atop the vines restraining me.

He hopped excitedly on my chest even as the vines started pulling me back down. I blinked at his gaping mouth, which seemed to be smiling around the two objects he'd recovered.

One bone-white ring, and one silver steel ring.

"Hell yeah!" I shouted, before nodding toward my right hand. The vines made the movement restricted, but he seemed to get the idea. "Fingers! Fingers!"

Sal scrambled that way as the leafy ropes encircled my wrist again. I tried turning my hand toward him, and I saw him fumble to slide the silver ring onto my right ring finger. It slipped on, and then he started working on the bone-white ring, aiming for my middle finger.

A creeper slithered out with alarming speed, grabbing the little guy. I heard him trill in surprise, and the ring slipped from his grasp. My eyes widened as it twirled atop my finger, and I curled the digit to try and get it to slide on.

The thing seemed to take its sweet ass time, but it finally looped onto the first joint of the finger.

And as soon as it was on, Sal burst into flames as he cut loose.

The little amphibian grew a thousand times larger in just over a second, quickly assuming his doberman size as fire rippled around him. The creepers and vines burned as he started thrashing about, destroying the vines that held me. They didn't burst into flames; they were too green for that. But they were damaged enough to help me work myself free.

With the bone-white ring on my finger, I was once again safe from fire and flame. I didn't spare Sal's attack a second thought, and instead focused on the silver ring. The ring that was bonded to my primary weapon, having been forged along with it.

"Pel-forma!" I hissed, using what strength I had left from my meditations to wrench my right arm up. My words activated the spell, and I held my palm open expectantly. I could almost feel the power of the spell thrum through me as the ring called out to my spear, calling it from where it lay.

I heard a THUMP as something tore through one of the vine-covered windows of the three-story building. I managed to turn my head enough to see two feet of steel spin through the night. The air reverberated as it came, and then it slapped into my palm with a solid THUNK.

As soon as my fingers closed on the that familiar steel, a spell hissed from between my lips. "Anda-ehtë!"

With the command, the two foot rod extended into a four foot spear. Twelve inches of blade shot from one end even as the pommeled end expanded outward. For the first time ever, I thought I could feel the magic as it funneled through me, the spell drawing the power to the spear.

I let the spear slide a little bit down my grasp, until something leathery banged against my hand. Not paying it any mind for the moment, I swung the pommel end out and away, striking the ground as I hissed out another spell. "Rigil-mendë!"

The pommel nearly burst into flames as the spell ignited, and a swirling circle of flame shot out across the ground. It wrapped around me, the angle of the spear dictating its diameter. A two foot wall of fire shot up as the ring completed, enclosing me in a willed circle that burned through the vines and turf.

And as soon as the circle closed, the vines around me grew limp, cut off from Penny by my will.

I rose in a flash, the foliage now nothing more than a mild hindrance. I tore it from my body as I looked out toward the building, where the flora mage stared mutely back. Sal tore through the remnants around us, causing more to catch fire as the heat he generated quickly dried out the vines. As he growled beside me with his shoulders hunched, my fingers worked sightlessly at the thick band that he'd secured to the rod with two beaded bracelets. One string of black iron marbles went over each wrist, and then came the spell-laden leather bracelet over my right.

When they were in place, I held the spear out to my side.

"Fire beats flora," I growled as I activated one last spell with nothing more than a thought. I stared across the way at the Revenant girl, and even through the slack gaze, I thought I saw her take a step back as the spearhead burst into flame. It was red-hot in an instant, and a swirl of scarlet light arced through the air as I spun the spear around, bracing it for battle, even as I resumed my mantra, feeling the power flow through me.

"Flame on!" I shouted as I lurched forward, for the first time in a day feeling like myself. Feeling like maybe I could be more than a burden to those with me. Feeling like maybe I could survive this, and do what I'd set out to do.

I ran forward, my doubt and worry burned away by the power at my disposal, and the battle began.