Chapter 14 is out! This one took a while to edit because I'm dealing with loads of exams and investigation projects, so you could say I'm pretty busy right now. Now, there are some thoughts I want to shar first:
1. This was the first chapter I had on mind before I even begin writting the story, so it was definetely especial for me to finally post it.
2. This chapter contains the first real battle scenes of the story so far. In my mind, they looked very cool and incredible, but I don't know if I was able to express those images with words very well; so I'm open to all the critics and opinions.
3. Second year will start in the next chapter!
Scala ad Caelum
Chapter 14: The City of the Dead
Master Shana POV
Sunday 26th May, 1992 (Abandoned town, Croatia) - Before dawn
The morning's cold air hit Shana right in the face; her braided, red hair dancing to the tune of it. Seems like we are the first to arrive, she thought as she eyed the abandoned town. I hope the others were as lucky as us.
After observing the town for some minutes and not seeing any evident trace of recent activity from their hiding spot, Shana had expanded her aura as far as she was able, managing to cover almost the entire town; that simple action had weakened her greatly due to the enormous distance she tried to cover, but it was something necessary; after all, she was the leader, and the one with the most amount of raw magic in the whole group.
The little advance party made their way to the town's entrance. Just as her two identities liked, the group was small, but effective; with Shana at the head, who was being followed closely by Snake, her High Inquisitor, and Leader Kouji, the second in command in the Wings of Liberty.
"I still don't get why we couldn't bring Fox with us," Snake started. "From everything you've told me, this mission is of an unprecedented danger; and here we are, lacking one of your two Inquisitors."
"I didn't want to bring him along because I wanted to keep a facade of nothing too important happening," Shana answered. "Shall I remember we are going against Isaac the First here? I don't know if he is here in person, but in the case he is still back at the Tower, I don't want him to suspect me of knowing about this whole operation. Bringing the two of you with me would be like shouting aloud that I was going to do something of utmost importance."
That, and the fact that I have problems trusting you two; I'm already on the edge thanks to bringing you alone, she thought after hearing Snake's grunt as a response. Still looking ahead, the red-haired witch introduced her hand in one of her havah's pockets, bringing a coin out of it. Said item had been enchanted with the Protean Charmby Elend himself, and it was their way of communicating in case of emergency; so far, the coin had not been activated, and that was good news.
As soon as the little group got closer to the town's entrance, Shana's allomantic core, thanks to the constant burning of steel to create her defensive bubble, allowed her to see all the ethereal, blue lines from all the metals in her range of action gathering in her chest.
"You are about to do it, right?" Snake groaned.
Mentally smiling, Shana also started to burn the iron she had previously ingested, making it to combust way faster than the steel; that action allowed her to change the flow of her allomanic impulses into pulls, rather than the weak pushes she always maintained activated through the day to keep her defensive bubble up.
After a strong jump, the witch pulled from one rooftop's weathercock which seemed to be made of copper, that instantly propulsed her towards it; unlucky for her, said item must not have been very well attached to the rooftop, because soon enough, her body weight turned out to be more than what the object could resist. As soon as she saw the weathercock coming at her, she stopped pulling from it; just to get some coins out of the emergency pocket on her dress' sleeve.
She threw the metal coins towards the ground, pushing against them to make them go faster; the moment they made contact with the ground, Shana was propulsed forward; after a few seconds, she graciously landed on the house's rooftop. Just as I thought, if there is someone here, they are trying very hard to hide their presence; not what anyone should expect from the men at Jin's service.
After her quick scanning of the town from atop of the wooden, ruined house, she raised her hand to the sky, signalling the rest of the group to carry out the initial plan. Then, the enchanted coin burned against the bare skin of her hand, where she had been carrying it since the very beginning. It was glowing with a deep blue shade, and that meant Elend's group had reached their destination; and they weren't the first to arrive.
"There is no time to worry about them, Shana," Valkyrie said, in her mind. "We have our own place to investigate, and even though our information suggests to us that their main force wouldn't be coming here, that doesn't mean we can't be wrong."
The theory was easy enough; after all, they just had to find some very ancient item; the fact said object was supposed to be a Horcrux of one of the most infamous dark lord to ever exist meant that Shana should have already been able to feel it; but there was no trace of any perverse magic, at least, not of one powerful enough for her aura to detect it.
"Guess we'll have to do it the thorough way," Shana muttered to the air.
Burning pewter to increase her physical capacities, she jumped from the rooftop, not taking any damage from the landing thanks to her allomantic skills. Once she was back at ground level, she greatly reduced the range of her aura, concentrating it around her body and a few metres from it; that way, it would be much stronger and more useful to feel any magical fluctuations of interest.
It was a great idea, but the results were still the same. Come on, you gotta be kidding me. An entire hour has passed since we came here, and none of us ten has found anything. Suddenly, the familiar, burning sensation of the enchanted coin averted Shana from her thoughts; this time, it was emitting a deep, red shade, which meant an enemy group had disengaged from battle with one of the three squads, and they were moving to another location.
"This is bad news, Master Shana," Kouji said, meeting her at the centre of the town. "We need to prepare a safe perimetre around the town, just as we dictated for our emergency plan."
"You are right," Shana answered. "You and two members of your elite squad take the main entrance and its surroundings; but first, contact Snake and tell him to keep watch on the other end of the town along with the other two members of the elite squad. The not that skilled soldiers we've placed on the way here should alarm us as soon as they spot Jin's men coming here."
"It is a good plan," the Japanese wizard nodded. "Let us handle the situation, Master Shana. You need to focus on finding that important item so we can meet and aid the other squads as soon as possible."
That being said, the elite soldier made his way towards where her Inquisitor should be, tying his hair in an improvised man-bun as he walked. With a loud, tired sigh, Shana cracked her knuckles; now, all the other's hopes were on her shoulders, and she couldn't let them down.
She needed to find that Horcrux fast enough; and that was what she was going to do.
Levitt POV
"Of all the things I was prepared for, this sure wasn't one of them," Levitt commented, as he eyed the bones of what in the long past should have been a very menacing creature.
"Those bones belonged to a Minotaur," Jordan explained. "Back in our first work with Master Shana, at Mount Vesuvius' caves, we found one of its kind, but that was one alive; in fact, it was strong enough to kill five of our men before we could react."
"Well, it seems like we weren't the first to arrive," Levitt pointed out, kneeling to observe closely the beast's intimidating armour. "Someone else did it first, around many centuries ago."
The big chamber in which they were resting right now had been the first open space after almost an hour of going through innumerable, narrow passages. But now, right in front of them, there was an enormous hole in one of the chamber's walls; one that led to an astonishing view.
Below them, there was a freefall of around twenty metres to a deep, big lake; there were ten little islands on it, none of them being bigger than a standard house. But, thanks to his enhanced senses due to the tin's combustion, Levitt observed that there was a narrow passage at the furthest end of the lake. Meanwhile, on the ceiling, there were hundreds of very pointy estalactites.
"That is quite a sight," Jordan commented, standing right at the cliff's edge.
Then, the tall man got some book out of one of his belt's bags; it was some leathered, old tome which had seen better days, but it was a very useful instrument. "Kouji says they've already started to search for the Horcrux," Jordan read aloud, after opening the book. "It appears there is no one on their location."
"If that is the case, we should start preparing the battlefield," Levitt said. "Knowing that Shawn's group has already engaged in combat with the enemy, the next location for them to assault should be this. Unlike Shana's group, we did find some of Jin's men on our way here; I am sure they were able to alert Jin before I could kill them all."
"Michael!" Jordan exclaimed to one of the soldiers who were behind them. "You and your squad are in charge of the battlefield preparations. Start right away!"
Levitt heard the sound of their footsteps until they were too far even for his enhanced senses. "I bet you want me to accompany you to see what's at the end of that passage at the lake's end," Levitt guessed.
"Yeah," Jordan nodded. "I also want your squad to follow us, we might need Ashley's knowledge about runes and wards."
"You've heard the boss," Levitt stated, not turning back to look at his men. "Deploy the broomsticks, you four are coming with us."
Levitt waited until his five comrades took flight; then, not even looking downwards, he let himself down from the border of the cliff. He didn't move a finger until he was about to crash with the water, when he tossed a coin backwards just to push against it; in less than a second, Levitt was launched forward, the tip of his boots touching the water.
The closer to the passage he was, the weaker his allomantic pulse became; that way, when he was about to enter in it, the shear friction of his boots against the solid rock stopped him. The first thing that caught his attention was the lack of solid ground, to say something; the passage itself was nothing but a narrow, endless tunnel, the water's level completely covering Levitt's boots, which reached a bit past his ankles.
"Seems like it is a bit flooded," Ashley pointed out, as cheerful as always. "I should have bought a cheaper pair of boots."
"Mikko, light the way," Jordan commented, as he led the group into the passage.
Mikko Kovanen, Levitt's second in command, was a very proficient wizard in the field of charms; in fact, he had developed his fire-making spell up to a point in which his flames could resist almost anything; let it be water, strong streaks of air, or even most of the spells. That was why the Finnish, with a wand in each of his hands as he liked, was the one to light all the ancient torches they found on their way; a bright, white light softly illuminating the narrow corridor.
After ten minutes of walking, they finally came to the end of the gallery, just to find themselves in another big, empty chamber. "Wait, don't take another step forward!" Ashley exclaimed, just when Jordan was venturing into the open space. "This place reeks of magical wards and runes!"
"How do you know it?" Wanda asked. "I feel nothing."
Levitt tried to feel as much as he could, but he also felt nothing at all. "Because unlike you all, I am very well versed in the art of runes," Ashely said. "You are trying to feel the magic in this place as if it was normal magic, but that isn't how wards work. When a place is warded using runes as the main power to keep them active, it is like hearing a soft, but elegant melody. Here, I can distinguish three different symphonies; the ones from the runes of protection, detection, and hiding."
"If you say so, you weirdo," Mikko commented, in a low voice.
"Keep elaborating," Jordan told her, very interested now.
"Well, it has a really, really long story about it," Ashlet started. "But that is of no importance right now. The fact is this pace is being protected by several wards, powered by the three different glyphs I just talked about. Firstly, the chamber is being protected from any intruder; now, what would happen to us if we cross the wards is something I don't know; it could be just some silly trap, or it could lead to us being slowly killed by some nasty curse."
"Then, we have the detection ward," she went on. "It's able to recognise us intruders so the protection wards can be activated by our presence. And lastly, the hiding wards, which are the main responsibles to cover whatever the hell is in this chamber; that is why we can't see a bloody thing."
"What the fuck has music to do with all that?" Mikko asked.
"Told you, it is a long story," Ashley answered, taking some steps forward. "It has something to do with a gift the Ancient Elves gave us, the wizards, as a sign of friendship. Their talents to do music were something incredible, and that was the way they performed their magic. But, in order to lend us their musical language, they managed to capture their ten basic sounds into glyphs; that was how we learned about runes and their power."
"I've never seen an elf doing music," Mikko commented. "Well, actually, I've never seen them doing anything but what they are ordered to do."
"She isn't talking about domestic elves, you moron," Wanda said, just as she smacked the blonde in the back of his head. "She is talking about the Ancient Elves, or at least, that is what the legends and myths say about them."
The two of them kept bickering, while Levitt just stared at Ashley, who was observing whatever she was supposed to find in front of her. "Levitt, we have problems," Jordan suddenly called, with the book opened in his hands. "Our first and second support squads, which were the ones keeping watch at the surface, have been wiped out. The enemy is advancing through the galleries right now."
"I see," Levitt plainly said. "It was just a matter of time. Mikko, Wanda, you two are coming with me. Pierre, stay here and protect Jordan and Ashley."
"Yes, sir!" The French veteran exclaimed, his wand ready at hand.
"Tell the other squad leaders to stick with the point defence plan," Levitt told the captain, just before stepping back into the gallery.
"Our job will be to offer support from above, right?" Wanda asked.
"Yes, you will be covering me if you can, but your main objective is to protect the passage's entrance," Levitt ordered. "As soon as you get out of here, mount the broomsticks. I will be waiting for them back at the first chamber."
That being said, Levitt started to run at an inhuman speed, the one only the pewter's allomancers could achieve; soon enough, he came out of the long gallery. With a quick combustion of iron, he was able to identificate all the new sources of metal the Wings of Liberty had embedded in the solid rock of the lake's chamber. I see they made it on time, Levitt thought, as he pulled from one source after another; getting back to the top of the cliff in almost no time.
This was their main plan to fight on an already controlled battlefield; even before the enemies were able to engage them in battle, they modified the terrain by placing hundreds of metal fragments into solid things; that way, Levitt was able to fly through the battlefield as much as he wanted, allowing him to fight with the efficacy of a demon.
Levitt stood there, in the middle of the Minotaur's chamber, waiting for the enemy to come. He unsheathed his goblin-steel sword with his left hand, and with the other, got a few vials out of his belt. He had enough reserves of metal in his body to withstand a normal fight, but it was always better to be prepared for the worse; one by one, Levitt drank four different solutions, each one for each metal he was able to control.
After some minutes, he heard it. They are finally coming. From the footsteps, it is only one person; either that, or they know how to walk very silently. In the end, his enhanced senses didn't fail.
An Asian woman stepped into the chamber; she had short, black hair, with a single lock of hair falling to her forehead; her stride was very confident, a grey cape waving behind her after each step; at first look, she didn't seem to be a menacing opponent, but Levitt knew the strongest wizards were always the best at concealing their power.
She stopped in the middle of the chamber, and the two of them held their gazes for some seconds. "You are different from the ones I met on the way down," she stated.
"And you must be very good to be here without any scratch," Levitt commented.
"Those men were brave," she complimented. "But they are nothing compared to me. My name is Hikari Sakai, one of the two High Inquisitors at the service of the great Aura the Fourth, a master from the Order of Merlin."
For the first time, Levitt eyed her black robes; there it was, white and green over black, the winged snake of the Great House of Sakai; a house's shield that almost every wizard in Asia knew about. "Why do you tell me your name?" Levitt asked, not impressed at all. "From what I know, most of the other Inquisitors like to maintain their identities in secret to protect themselves and their families. Apart from that, I have no interest in knowing the names of the people I have to kill."
"My family honors the old ways, which are based in the utmost respect to the opponent," the Inquisitor told him. "In regards to your other point, I have nothing to hide. I'm honored and grateful for being a High Inquisitor for the great Aura Lessard; just as my mother was before me, just as my grandma was before her."
"In this case, my name is Levitt, from the Great House of nothing," he said, just as he took a stance for battle. His right leg moved in front of his body, both of his knees bent; at the same time, his sword hand covered his body, with his wand right behind it.
The woman did the same, but in her case, she only unsheathed two wooden, duelling canes, perfectly suited for close combat situations. I have a bad hunch about those canes. Even though she knows they are a bad fit for this fight, she took them out with confidence, can it be… "You fight with two wands, right?" Levitt guessed. "I bet they are the core of those canes of yours."
In response, from the end of the right cane, some kind of light sphere started to form; then, with an incredible speed, she batted it with the left one, sending the ball of energy right to Levitt. Just an instant after it got hit, the sphere suddenly divided into various dozens of smaller balls, all of them making their way to the soldier absurdly fast.
Not losing the calm for an instant, he just dodged them all with calculated movements; which were only possible thanks to the combination of the pewter's enhanced physical abilities, and to the tin's enhanced senses; that included very inhuman reflexes and an absurd speed of reaction.
But, even with those skills, Levitt wasn't prepared to meet the Inquisitor in close combat just after dodging all the spheres of energy. He couldn't avoid the first attack, resulting in her right cane hitting him right on the abdomen, leaving him completely breathless; thankfully, his battle instincts were enough to block her left cane with his sword just before it could hit him right on the neck; a deep sound being the result of the weapons' clash.
The two fighters jumped away at the same time; the soldier trying to regain his breath, and the Inquisitor analyzing him. "You are an enhancer," the woman stated.
"Look who's the one to talk," Levitt grunted, just as he spat some blood. "It seems we are even."
This was the first time Levitt had ever fought against another allomancer; but, thankfully or not, they both share the same pair of metals. She doesn't know that I also am an iron-runner; just as I don't know if she also has the skill to control other metals.
"How the fuck did your canes withstand my sword's counterattack?" Levitt asked, still trying to regain his breath.
"These canes are made from the sacred wood of the Great Cherry Tree, which is the pride of House Sakai, and of magical Japan," she explained. "Apart from that, I've been enchanting them for years, both with magic and runes, trying to make them as durable as I could."
I've had enough of this stupid chat. Ah, it has been a while since I last turned my battle switch on. With a backwards jump, Levitt hoisted himself over the lake, and with a twist of his wand, the water erupted like a volcano. The explosion sent a big torrent of water upwards to meet him midair, reducing its force considerably the moment before reaching the soldier.
The instant his feet made contact with it, six new currents of water were born, as if they were tendrils of some mighty, and furious beast; a twenty three metre tall beast with Levitt on its watery head, looking back at the Inquisitor with renewed battlelust on his eyes.
The woman just walked forward, his face completely emotionless, until she was at the border of the cliff. There, she raised both of her canes over her head, just to slash them downwards a second after it. Almost all the ceiling's estalactites exploded in a cloud of dust; a ton of debris gathering around the witch. She walked forward, using the debris to walk through the air, imitating Levitt's move with rocks instead of water.
The first watery tendril attacked at Levitt's command, but it was easily countered by some replica made of rocks; the two elements clashed in a frenzied fight, the soldier's watery tendrils against the Inquisitor's rocky arms. That didn't stop the humans from carrying out their fight, though. The woman sprinted towards the man, the debris forming a solid floor with each step she took. At the other side of the fight, Levitt was quick to answer her by surfing over a new wave of water.
The canes clashed with the sword, just as water clashed against earth above the fighters' heads. It had been ages since Levitt had to fight as hard as he was doing right now, but the moves came as naturally as ever. Just after parrying another hit from the witch, the soldier slashed his wand down, severing the rocky floor under the Inquisitor's feet with a sharp current of water; then, not giving her any time to react at all, summoned some very strong streaks of wind to sent hre flying towards the wall.
It was pointless, the woman just spun midair, managing to land with both of her feet making contact with the chamber's wall at the same time; almost instantly, she started to run over the wall, as if she was on solid ground. Levitt, still mounting the wave, sent all the watery tendrils against her, but they all crashed against some invisible shield around her.
She knows I can't hold this water thing for much longer, and she's trying to win as much time as possible. Suddenly, a rain of explosions showered the woman, who tried her best to jump away, but it was to no avail, because she ended up falling down to the lake due to the destruction of the wall.
"You take that, bitch!" Mikko shouted, sweeping the area on his broom. "Our captain isn't the only one who knows how to fight here!"
Levitt, using the precious time his second in command had granted him, stopped the flow of magic he was using to maintain the many currents of water. As the element cascaded down, he pulled from one of the metal fragments which were embedded in the cavern's ceiling; it was a soft pull, one with enough force to allow him to levitate in the middle of the great space; one with enough force to resist the effect of gravity, which was the only thing pulling him down right now.
Levitt scanned the lake, but the Inquisitor was nowhere to be seen. "Mikko!" The allomancer shouted. "Keep a close watch on the passage! We don't know what her next move is going to be!"
The Finnish was quick to follow his order, but, when he was on his way to the passage, a big ball of energy came out from the water. The wizard, with very swift movements on the broom, dodged it with ease; but, there was something wrong with the sphere.
"Watch out!" Levitt exclaimed at him. "The ball is following y-" He wasn't able to finish his sentence, because another identical ball came directly at him. Shit, this woman is starting to piss me off. Pushing and pulling from the many sources of metal in the cave, Levitt flew through the cavern, the sphere following him closely. That thing has an incredible amount of raw magic, it would be a bad idea to fight it directly after all the shit I just pulled out with the water.
If they are able to track and pursue us, that means the bitch is directly directing them with her magic; in that case… Levitt, with a sudden, violent burst of magic, expanded his aura until it covered the whole cavern. There it was, not far from the centre of the lake, the soldier was able to identificate some very powerful, concentrated source of magic. She felt my aura, so she knows I've located her; let's speed up, then. With a very aggressive push, he launched himself to the water, diving into it as if he was some kind of professional swimmer.
Evidently, the sphere followed him into the lake; unfortunately for it, his comrades had also placed sources of metal under the water. He was rocketed towards the woman, the ball following him very closely. Levitt allowed himself a moment to observe the Inquisitor's face, whose features were showing surprise for the first time. Let's see how you react to this!
With the strongest push so far in the whole fight, Levitt, sword in hand, augmented his speed; and before the woman could adapt her strategy, he manipulated the earth to create two rock-made chains which coiled themselves around her arms, immobilizing them against the ground. I wonder what arm are you going to free, the one which controls the sphere after me, or the one after Mikko? The soldier, following what his instincts told him, went for the right arm.
Despite the first glimpses of fear on her face, the Inquisitor managed to pull out a sudden burst of magic over her right arm, completely freeing it from the manipulated chains; that move allowed her to parry Levitt's thrust in the last instant, which would have completely severed her arm. Jackpot, he thought as he launched himself to the surface an instant before the sphere reached them.
The explosion made the whole lake erupt, propulsing Levitt out of the water with more force than the one he would have liked. He managed to land at one of the little islands which weren't far from the centre; some seconds after that, both Mikko and Wanda descended to meet him. "Is she dead?" Wanda asked.
In response, Levitt could do nothing but laugh loudly. "Sir… are you okay?" Mikko said, sending the allomancer a weird look.
"She is really good," Levitt answered. "The way that woman is able to control the flow of her magic around her own body is incredible. I enhanced my thrust with some magic, so she had to answer me with the same technique if she wanted to conserve her arm. Only doing that in just a second would require an incredible amount of battle experience and magical mastery; but, she was even able to cover her entire body an instant after it to survive the sphere's impact."
"So… she is still alive, right?"
"Expand your aura for once, you moron," Levitt told him. "Try to feel her magic that way, near those islands. She is clearly weakened, but she still is very much alive."
To confirm his words, the Inquisitor emerged from the lake, crawling to the centre of the crag; there, she stood up, her once spotless robes now torn up at many places, allowing him to see her pale, bloodied skin. "Keep watching over the passage and don't interfere," Levitt told his soldiers. "This is the first time I've felt the thrill of a good battle in a long time."
With a strong jump and some pull, Levitt landed on the woman's island, where she was waiting for him. "I didn't expect you to be an iron-runner," she started, taking her shattered cape off. "Your underwater move was great, it has been long since the last time someone hurt me like this. But, I have orders to carry out, and you've pissed me off enough."
"Let's see if you can back all that talk."
At the same time, both of them jumped back, landing at two of the different adjoining islands. With mirrored moves, the two fighters drank their vials of metals, replenishing their almost extinct allomantic reserves. Warm up is over, seems like I'll have to show off a little. Levitt took off a metal bracelet which had been pinned on his forearm for the whole morning, just to coil it around his sword's handle.
It was time for the final spectacle to begin. Jumping upwards, Levitt pulled from the only six sources of metals which were still to use; the difference with the others was those six weren't embedded to the terrain, so they all flew at him because of their weight being inferior. With calculated push and pulls, they orbited around him as he flew through the cavern. Allow me to show you what a real master of his craft looks like.
The Inquisitor, not one to be left behind, manipulated the lake to create five different currents of water, which started to spin around their own axis as if they were some kind of tornado. Suddenly, all of them came at Levitt, who in response, flew to meet them. At the same time, with extreme precision, he pulled from the six different metal plates that were orbiting around him; with a loud, metallic sound, they fit together to create a shield, with him inside of the hexagonal prism.
The water currents impacted against the shield, completely nullified. As soon as Levitt felt the Inquisitor pulling them down, he got out of the shield, just in time to meet the Inquisitor in close combat. The woman, who was able to battle him midair thanks to some incredible control of the winds, furiously attacked him with both of her canes; she needed to finish him quickly, and they both knew it.
Thanks to being an iron-runner, the soldier didn't need to exhaust his magical core by manipulating the winds, just as the woman was doing to fight him. Push and pull; pull and push; those were the only thoughts in Levitt's head right now. His sword seemed to move by itself, just as his wand; the only thing he was focused on was attacking the woman with the metal plates.
Not even a minute after the combat began, the Inquisitor must have realised her grave mistake, because with a strong streak of air, she descended towards the lake, quickly diving into it. Are you really going to pull the same trick out? Levitt launched himself after her, but, by the moment he understood how much he had screwed everything up, it was too late.
The entire lake roared, gathering around the Inquisitor; the great amount of magic needed to do that set all the alarms on Levitt's head. With a furious scream, the woman threw at him the whole mass of water. The soldier, as fast as he could, pulled from metal plates, just in time to protect himself from the violent impact. The sheer force of the water dragged him around, and the only thing he could do was to keep the metal plates in place as best as he could.
By the force of the water, I should already have been pressed against the cavern's wall, instead, I'm still moving, that means… With a sudden realization, Levitt drew up a new plan, just as he finally sheathed his sword. I hope that four eyed freak is already finished with those wards, because I don't wanna get cursed by some ancient shit.
After what should have been a minute or so, Levitt felt the rear part of his shield clashing against a wall. Here we go: ah shit, this is gonna hurt. Concentrating almost all the magic that was left in his magical core around his body, he bursted it against the current of water in the form of a magical explosion; blowing his metal shield along with it. Finally, after some minutes in complete darkness, he was able to see what was around him; there, at one of the cavern's corners, both Ashley and Jordan were looking at him with shock in their eyes, a faint, white light around them.
Levitt fell down to the ground just as the current of water rained around him, completely soaking the entire cavern. "Glacians Aquae!" He roared, as both of his hands touched the cavern's floor.
Every soaked part of the cavern was turned into ice, his body lamenting the violent effort. Just a bit more! As the ice progressed, it started to cover the large passage, from where the Inquisitor came out before it was sealed; a crazed look on her eyes. Unfortunately for the woman, the wave of water she was riding was also congelated; enveloping her body in a chrysalis of ice.
His head started to spin, just as all his muscles ached; and to finish him off, all his reserves of pewter were empty. "Levitt, are you okay?" Jordan asked, just as he helped the allomancer to get back on his feet.
"Just tired," he answered. "Get behind me, Jordan, this isn't finished."
As he unsheathed his sword, the ice around the Inquisitor started to melt. "Not that fast!" Ashley exclaimed; then, wand on her hand, she drew some strange glyph in the air, a faint symphony being emitted as she moved her hand. "Reinforce the ice prison!"
Out of a sudden, the ice chrysalis was enveloped by a dozen light rings, which closed themselves around the cristal, stopping the melting instantly. "Phew, that was close," she sighed. "You sure like to show off, leader. We still had some ancient manuscripts and items to inspect, but I guess you had other ideas."
For the first time, Levitt realized his ice had indeed covered all the chamber, with all its contents, now visible after the suppression of the wards. "Who is she?" Jordan asked, looking at the Inquisitor.
"The eldest daughter of Lord Satoru Sakai," Levitt answered. "She's taken after her mother as the High Inquisitor of some master from the Order."
"That is quite a thing," Ashley whistled. "She drove you to your limit, didn't she?"
"She did," the allomancer muttered, acknowledging how exhausted he was. "If you are finished here, we should go as soon as we can. I'm completely out of the game after that fight, if someone else is to come after us, I won't be able to do a shit."
"What do we do with her?" Ashley asked, looking at the crystalized woman.
"Will your wards around the ice prison resist?" Jordan questioned her.
"Honestly, do you really have that little confidence in me, Captain?"
"We are taking her with us," Jordan stated, as he slashed his wand, separating the reinforced cristal from the rest of the ice. "She could be a very valuable hostage for us, especially, since she must be the Fourth Master's Inquisitor from the little we know; she perfectly matches the description Shana gave us about her."
Both him and Ashley walked forward, but Levitt's enhanced senses caught something behind the ice wall. "Stop!" He warned. "There is something coming!" The three of them took a battle stance, ready for anything; but, deep inside him, Levitt knew that if another Inquisitor as capable as the Sakai woman was to come, they were already dead.
Thankfully for them, that wasn't the case. Blowing up the wall covering the entrance to the passage, a confused Mikko appeared. "What the hell has happened here?" He asked. "Leader, is all this crap one of those things that happen when you give yourself a bit too much to the battle?"
"Kovanen, do you know what happened on the surface?" Jordan practically ordered.
"Yes, Captain! I was able to contact Michael while Levitt was fighting that demon; he told me they had the situation under control, that the wizards who were accompanying that woman weren't such a great thing, both in power and numbers. It seems that our 'point defence' tactic worked very fine!"
"Good," Jordan said. "Then, let's met the rest and get the fuck out of here!"
Master Shana POV
Shana knew something was off the moment she stepped into the old house. One entire hour had passed since they received the information, and the item they were looking for was yet to be found. But, that might change right now, the witch thought as she climbed the ladder which led to the house's attic.
At first glance, the only things she found were some old furniture, a bed, and loads of dust. The air feels heavy here. She walked forward, towards the nightstand, dragging her hand along the dusty wall. There is some kind of weird magic in this room, it is quite similar to the one I felt back at Herpo's cave; but, at the same time, they are completely different.
Then, she saw it.
Right on the nightstand there was some old dagger, made of what seemed like obsidian. Shana grabbed it with both hands, trying to feel if there was some kind of magic infused on it; but, there was nothing; it felt completely empty, like any regular dagger would.
Could it be? Following her instincts, Shana decided to imbue the object with her magic; that was the moment when everything went to hell. Not even a second after it, a sudden flash came from the dagger, making her cover her eyes with her hands. When the witch opened them, she wasn't in the room anymore.
Very confused, Shana found herself at some kind of beach; one completely devoid of any colour. The water was gray, and the same went for the sand; the sun wasn't shining either, but despite that, the place was well illuminated; but, what freaked her out the most was the nonexistent wind, which was able to move her hair.
Where am I? Shana thought as she prepared herself for battle; but, some seconds after expanding her aura, the red-haired witch realised she was completely alone. I must have activated some ancient, inactive curse from many freaking years ago. Which means the item was indeed something, but I wasn't expecting any of this shit…
"I welcome you to this place," a voice suddenly said.
Fast as lighting, Shana turned around, her wand pointed at whoever the threat was; but, she wasn't prepared for what she saw. There, just behind her, was some tall, ghostly woman, who shined with a magnificent ethereal, golden gleam. Her features were incredibly beautiful, but at the same time, too delicate; too inhuman.
"W-Who are you?" Shana spluttered, not lowering her wand for a second. "Where am I? How did I end up here?"
"Scala ad Caelum," the ghost answered. "Or that is what I like to think."
"Stairway… to heaven? What does that even mean?"
"The Ascension was somehow completed," the ghost almost whispered. "In the end, he made it. But, this isn't how it was supposed to be…"
"You ain't making any fucking sense," Shana cursed. "Listen here you freaking ghost, I don't know where I am, or why I am here, but, there is something very important I must do; if your spirit was somehow trapped here, I don't care, you must let me go… Of course… that it is… a trapped soul into an item…"
"You already know."
"End that thing right now," Valkyrie commanded in her mind, and for once, Shana completely agreed with her. Gathering a big amount of raw magic on her hand, the witch pointed it to the ghost, who looked back at her totally impassable. I don't know why your soul manifests in front of me as a woman, Herpo; but, if this was some kind of trick to confuse me, I expected better from you. With a last look to the ghostly woman, Shana sent her a beam of energy; but, much to her astonishment, nothing came out of her hand.
"Don't waste your time like that," the woman advised. "This place incarnates the Ascension, your power means nothing here; after all, you have yet to reach Scala ad Caelum."
Starting to panic, Shana tried to combust all the four metals she controlled, but just like it had happened with her magic, it was as if there was nothing inside her. "Don't panic, girl," she went on. "I mean no harm to you, the only thing I want to do is talk with you."
"If you say so, go on," Shana sighed in defeat, as she sat on the cold sand."It isn't like I have any other option, right? Besides, if you wanted to harm me, you could have done it before announcing yourself."
"My name is Kayle," the woman said, standing right at Shana's side. "I was once a witch like you, but death and time long changed that. Now, what I am is something I have yet to know; for the time, we called ourselves as Essentias, beings made of magic on its purest form; and yet, beings relegated to a subhuman state."
"The only thing you are doing is confusing me even more."
"Walk with me as I tell you a story," Kayle said, as she started to walk. "There was once a very ambitious man, who had everything anyone could ask for; money, power, fame, and a family. But, he wanted more. He was already the best wizard on the planet, but that wasn't enough, he wanted everlasting greatness. Soon enough, he started a new secret project, one that not even his closest colleagues were aware of; maybe, because he was afraid of what they would do in the case they discovered it, or maybe, because he didn't even care that much about them."
"But, there was a very talented, young witch," she went on. "She had unique powers, which allowed her to discover what the man was planning to do. Whatever was the thing she found out, it was so terrifying, that she decided to act on her own the moment she learnt everything. Unfortunately, that woman failed because of her mind being clouded by fear and confusion. The rest of the wizarding world went to hell right after that, with us as the main responsibles for its tragic destiny."
"You are talking about Herpo the Foul," Shana whispered. "You must have been one of the Seven Founders, along with Gerdnyaram and Konstantinos."
"You are right."
"But… What is this place? I still don't understand a thing."
"This place is the result of broken oaths, of empty promises," the Essentia explained. "After the rest of my comrades fell to Herpo's hands, I knew things couldn't go his way. The only thing he ever wanted, no matter what he had to do to achieve that, was to reach the Ascension; a state in which a person becomes one with Magic itself. The problem was that I understood everything too late. By the time I killed him, the world was already starting to crumble."
"What do you mean?"
"I found a letter written by Gerdnyaram before her death. There, she told me all she knew about Herpo's secret project; how he thought immortality was the path to Ascension; how he had, somehow, discovered a way to achieve it; and the sacrifices needed to make it."
"You are talking about the Horcrux, right?"
"By the time I destroyed that cursed item, it didn't have a name; but, I suppose we are talking about the same thing."
"Wait, what?" Shana exclaimed. "You destroyed the Horcrux? Then, what the hell is this?"
"Yes, I destroyed it," Kayle confirmed. "But the dagger was so cursed, that I ended my life in the process. It was a slow, painful death, but it gave me enough time to do some things I need to take care of."
"This is what this place is? Some creation of yours?"
"No, this also was a very surprising and confusing thing for me. I had already accepted death, but when everything ended, I woke up here, with the same form as you are seeing right now. But, I wasn't alone in this 'afterlife', some of my comrades were already here. None of us knew that the hell was happening, or why it was happening. After all, we should have been dead."
"But, you weren't; just as you still aren't."
"It took me many years," she confessed. "But, I came to a hypothesis. I believed that since Herpo wasn't fully dead, we couldn't leave this world for good. Something was attaching us to him; something very powerful."
"Magic takes very seriously oaths and bonds," Shana recited, in a barely audible whisper.
"That's precisely what I thought. Herpo betrayed us, doing something abominable, and breaking many oaths and bonds towards us in the process."
"But, if you managed to destroy his Horcrux, why is all of this still happening?"
The Essentia didn't answer her question, instead, she kept walking forward, towards some kind of tilted tower. Then, the answer came to Shana's mind. "It is because his soul is still wandering around," the witch muttered. "You destroyed the Horcrux, but that would be of no use if there was another one…"
"That was the second conclusion I reached," Kayle confirmed. "Even being dead, Herpo managed to trick me one more time. I gave my life to end his whole legacy, but in the end, it was me the one dancing to his tune. I wanted to end all the pain he brought to us, instead, I was the one to bring pain to humanity. You just saw the remnants of his magic."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I destroyed the Horcrux in the very exact place you found it; its magic not only killed me, but cursed the whole place. Throughout history, muggles have tried to settle in this terrain many times, but they failed in every single one of them. Now, in the present, they consider it to be a cursed place."
"Then, everything we've done for the last year was totally worthless?" Shana asked. "All the effort we put into finding the Horcrux just to find it had been destroyed by someone else; and on top of that, there is a second one which we know nothing about."
"I don't know the things you had to endure to get here, but if they allowed us to meet, I wouldn't say that," Kayle answered. "The only thing I want is to free my comrades, to allow them to rest. For that, I need to end Herpo for good, just like you want; and unlike me, you are not bound to this place like I am."
"Are you… proposing some kind of collaboration?"
"Call it whatever you want, witch," Kayle said. "But you are still alive, you can still do something for me. I don't know why are you going that hard after Herpo's legacy, but I don't really care; the truth is we share the same objective."
"I have my reasons," Shana sighed. "Agh, I wasn't expecting all this shit, nothing makes any freaking sense right now. Whatever, what do you know about that second Horcrux?"
"Nothing."
"For real?" Shana snorted. "Wait, you are joking, right?"
"I've already told you, I gave my everything destroying the dagger because I didn't know Herpo had another one of those abominations; by the time I understood it, I was already dead."
"Fantastic, that's what I wanted to hear," Shana laughed, mirthlessly, as the two women got into the tilted tower.
"Don't act like it is the end of the world," the Essentia lectured. "You found the first Horcrux from the scratches, just because you had faith in yourself and your comrades. This is just another big step on the big plan."
Shana sighed tiredly, trying not to give up. She looked around, eyeing the insides of the tower. "Why did you bring me here, to this tower, I mean," she asked.
"I just wanted to talk with you for a little longer," Kayle answered. "And I want to ask you for some favour."
"What is it?"
The Essentia just raised her hand, and suddenly, the tower's stony walls started to show different images, as if they were some kind of film projected by one of those projectos the muggles liked to use. First, there was a little red-haired boy sitting at the same spot Shana was standing right now, talking with another ethereal woman; just like Kayle was, but much smaller. Then, came a pale, shady looking man, who was standing at the edge of some cliff, talking with some dementor-like ghost. Lastly, a young woman, with some kind of war pintures on her face, seemed to be meditating atop of a tree, some ghostly man standing behind her, this one shining with some faint, orange light.
"These are the three of my comrades who met the same fate as me," Kayle started. "Just like me, they can't die, but they all left this place; some long ago, and others more recently. Unlike them, I can't move from here freely, so I can't tell them my theory about Herpo still being alive; I can't tell them there is still a chance for us to finally rest."
"You want me to find them?"
"I know it may sound impossible, and it may be, but if you somehow met them at some point of your mission, please, tell them what you know."
"I'll try," Shana sighed. "But, can't you tell me some clues about where they are? They might know something about the second Horcrux."
"Sorry, I was able to locate and observe them once, but the three of them managed to block my skill. It seems they all have their own agendas."
"But, would you say there is some possibility for them to know something about the Horcrux?"
"Maybe Gerdnyaram saw something with her powers," Kayle answered, after some seconds of silence. "But, Kadir and Niklos were the first ones to die after everything went to hell. After Gerd's failure, they faced Herpo because they were enraged by her death, and for someone else who met the same fate; but they were defeated. When we met here, I told them everything I knew about Herpo's legacy and how I had destroyed it, but before I was able to come with my theory about the existence of a second one, they had already left this place.``
"Unfortunately, your time here is coming to an end," she went on. "I was able to enchant the dagger to bring a possible, worthy ally here. But, in this state, I'm not powerful enough to keep you here, in a place you don't belong. I trust you with the weight of our fate, witch. Please, don't fail where we did; don't make the same mistakes us, the wizards of the Ancient Times, were so foolish to do."
Even before Shana could answer, a sudden light enveloped her; after some seconds, she found herself back in the old house's attic; kneeling on the floor with the dagger in her hands. I can't feel any magic coming from it anymore, the red-haired witch though as she observed it. What a freaking mess…
"Damn girl, were you on some kind of astral trip or something like that?" A voice said from behind.
Regaining her senses as fast as she could, Shana turned around to face the sudden intruder; right there, casually standing in the middle of the room was him.
Jin the Stranger had found her.
The masked man was as intimidating as the last time Shana saw him; even being a bit less than two metres tall, with a broad back and shoulders, his most menacing feature were the stories people told about him; about the mercenary who never lost a battle. That man had built a legacy;everyone knew about his blood-red cape which embellished his grey, austere robes; about his legendary mask, a half smile, a half, sad grimace.
"I've been here for at least ten minutes," he added. "You seemed to be on some shit, so I let you be; after all, Isaac's orders were to bring you to him alive. But, first things first, we both know we are looking for the same shit, I don't know nor care why Isaac wants it so badly, but one of my customs is not to question my benefactor, especially if he pays me as well as he does."
"You can have it," Shana grunted, as she tossed him the dagger with a bit too much force.
The dagger just rebounded after clashing with something invisible, not even able to touch its body. "Mhm, doesn't look that important to be honest," he commented, eyeing the long knife. "Well, he warned me against that possibility. Then, I should stick to the secondary objective of this mission; taking you back to the Tower."
"Quit it already, Jin," Shana told him. "I have no intentions to come back to the Tower yet; don't worry, I will go back with a raised, white flag if needed. But first, there are some important things I have to take care of."
"I don't think you understand the situation, Master Shana," Jin said. "You are coming back with me, voluntarily or not; but, between you and me, I'd love for you to choose the latter. It's been a long morning, and I have yet to do anything. All I've done is move around and watch my subordinates and other allies fight against yours. Here, I brought you some incentive."
The mercenary tossed something at her feet, but Shana didn't realise what it was until two lifeless eyes looked back at her; it was Leader Kouji's head. "That man wasn't so bad," Jin pointed out. "He had some nasty moves; unfortunately, it wasn't enough to pass the test."
That was the moment Shana realised there wasn't a way to avoid fighting. "You are gonna pay for that," she threatened. With a sudden burst of magic, she blew the entire attic away, allowing her to feel the touch of real wind for the first time in hours. "Let's settle this, right now, right here."
"I didn't think you would take the mercenary's death so hard; damn, he must have been a nice dude."
Not answering him, Shana jumped down, the mercenary coming right after her. "His name might carry a great legacy and fear around him, but that is quite easy when selecting your opponents well enough," Valkyrie commented on her mind. "You've done enough for today, Shana; the talk with that spirit tired you out more than what you give on. Fighting is my speciality; now is your time to rest."
Shana gladly let her counterpart take control of their body; her hair, which had always been fiery red, was now as black as coal; just as her features hardened, sending a confident glare to the mercenary.
"Oh, it is true that you are some kind of freak," Jin laughed. "That's good, I hope you can give me a nice battle, girl."
"Why don't you look around you?" Valkyrie announced.
The mercenary eyed his surroundings, still standing in the same spot with his hands behind his back. "Wow," he whistled. "That's some nasty trick."
At every house's rooftop, there were multiple Valkyrie's copies, all of them glaring at the mercenary very menacingly; Shana's goodbye present. At the witch's command, most of them swarmed the tall man, jumping down from the rooftops with their swords in hand.
"Come on, you can't be serious, there is no way some stupid magical espectres are working on me," Jin complained, very loudly. When the espectres were about to surround him, he raised his leg, just to slam his left foot with force on the ground, creating a huge shockwave which disintegrated all the espectres. "Are you still on that astral shit from before? I thought we were having a battle here."
Suddenly, four more espectres came at him from some of the houses; in response, the mercenary just repeated his last move; but this time, it didn't work. Coming out from the cloud of dust, Valkyrie's four copies were able to touch Jin, the instant they made contact, the mercenary was enveloped in a great explosion. "Our copies ain't just regular espectres," Valkyrie smirked. "They are Shana's main talent, and you shouldn't underestimate them."
A loud clapping came from the dust as response, the man's silhouette getting more visible as the dust dissipated. "Bravo!" He exclaimed, still clapping. "That is what I am talking about, girl! Those copies, as you called them, are a very interesting technique; any regular espectre of magic should have been blown out like the first wave did; but not only they came unscattered, they even tried to blow me away! It is the first time I've seen something like that."
Shit, those explosions were as good as if I were the one to cast them, and yet, he came out without a single scratch, Valkyrie thought, as she drew her wand and some metal coins. It's like they weren't even able to reach him, just as the dagger rebounded earlier, as if there was some invisible wall around him.
"Let's put on a good show, shall we?" Jin said, as he aimed his hands at one house at each one of his sides. Much to Valkyrie's surprise, the estructures started shaking uncontrollably, and then, after some seconds, they started to morph. With a very loud creak, the two houses were raised from the ground; at first, Valkyrie thought they were being levitated by Jin's magic, but then, her surprise turned into horror.
They weren't floating, they were raising themselves from the ground, some parts of the first floors acting as if they were giant, wooden legs.
Then, from the upper floor, four wooden appendages appeared on each house; the ends of two of them getting rounder, as if they were some kind of closed fist; and the two others getting as sharp as some blades. The two monsters attacked at the same time, but Valkyrie dodged them by launching herself to the sky. What the hell is that shit…
Before she could get out of the houses' reach, the four arm-blades came at her at incredible speed. Valkyrie pulled from the metal bars of some windows at the last moment, making the arms hit each other. I need to destroy them as fast as possible. The witch, now hanging from the window's bars, used her enhanced strength to tear them off, allowing her to get inside of the monster-house.
You want to create some wooden tools? Fine, I'll show you not to play with fire! From the tip of her wand came some jets of fire, which started to dance around her after some complex flourish; unfortunately, Jin didn't grant her much time to act. It was only thanks to her enhanced senses that Valkyrie was able to detect one of the arm-fists breaking into the house before it was able to destroy the wall.
Violently expanding the jets of fire, the arm-fist was carbonised before it could touch her, just as the flames started to spread around the house. Pushing against some coin she had just tossed against the wall behind her, Valkyrie rocketed out of the collapsing monster, the jets of fire still dancing around her. Waiting for her was the other house-monster, his four arms ready to attack as soon as she entered their range; but, the witch had already anticipated that.
Forming a little tornado around her, the flames charred the wood as Valkyrie went through the monster's body. What she wasn't expecting was for Jin to appear above her. "Given my fame, people don't usually expect transfiguration to be one of my greatest weapons," the mercenary said, just before kicking her with the force of a beast.
The witch was sent flying downwards, a great pain numbering her left shoulder. She crashed against some house's rooftop, but that didn't stop the motion; instead, the force of the kick sent her through the whole structure, not stopping until she hit the ground. Despite the pewter… that kick completely… broke my arm, the young woman thought, as she struggled to get back on her feet. The way he jumped upwards… he has to be another enhancer…
As best as she could, the witch got out of the building, the mercenary already waiting for her. "You are tough," he stated. "We are lucky to be enhancers, otherwise, battles wouldn't be as exciting as our talents allow us."
"Is that everything for you?" Valkyrie asked, still trying to regain her breath. "Just some game?"
"Maybe it is," Jin answered, showing her both of his hands. "You were fantastic with that fire tornado. If there is something I've always struggled with, it was in conjuring things, especially the four basic elements. But manipulating them? Oh, girl, that is a whole different story!" As he laughed, from the tip of his fingers came ten little fireballs, which were all thrown to the surrounding houses that were still intact; soon enough, the fire started to spread from one building to another.
I don't like this… that is too much fire… Valkyrie prepared herself for the second round, kneeling so she could place a hand on the ground. What is this feeling? I can't feel fear… I'm not supposed to feel this kind of emotion… I'm a warrior.
"You know why I like fire so much?" He asked, as a giant firestorm gathered above him. "Out of the four basic elements, it is the easiest to control when you want to destroy things!"
At his command, the firestorm was directed towards Valkyrie. This shouldn't be happening… this man's powers can't be that superior to mine's. "By the earth's strength, and by the water's protectiveness, be my shield," Valkyrie muttered, as she directed her magic to her hand. The witch felt the exhaustion as soon as the earth rose around her, being transformed into water as the firestorm impacted against it.
For a moment, the woman thought her magic wouldn't be enough, but the water turned out to be stronger than the fire, as the incredible cloud of vapor gave away.
"I'm impressed!" Jin confessed, stepping into the cloud after some seconds of silence. "That was some rather incredible level of transformation! Water and fire are opposites; the former likes to protect, as he is the source of all life; and the latter loves destroying things. Had you used earth to stop my firestorm, you might not be alive to listen to me right now. Clever move, Master! Every day is good to learn new things, as they say."
"Don't treat me… like I'm some sort of... entertainment…" Valkyrie muttered, but deep inside her, she knew the fight was lost unless she changed her strategy. I can't fight him directly, his magical powers are far superior to mine; besides, my magical core it's already at its limit… I need to do something or I'll die here. Pulling from some source of metal behind her, Valkyrie put some distance between her and the mercenary. At the same time, she completely shut down her magic, totally conceiving her presence.
I'm an iron-runner, so I still have that in my favour; from now on, I'll have to rely completely on my allomantic skills, at least, until my magical core gets some rest. The witch hid inside some of the farthest houses from the centre of the town, where Jin was. She stood against the wooden wall, trying to regain a normal breath. What she wasn't expecting was for Jin to burst into the room from the wall behind her.
"Keep fighting like this! I love feisty girls!" The mercenary laughed, as he grabbed the back of her head.
Not stopping for an instant, the man kept sprinting forward, using her face to break the house's wall; as he ran, Jin kept using her face to break any obstacle which happened to be on their way. Only the pewter, by strengthening her body and pain threshold, prevented her from dying; still, that didn't mean she was numb to all the aggression the man put on her.
At some second in their run, Valkyrie retreated to the back of their mind, giving the body's control back to Shana. "You can't do this… you need to fight… I'm not powerful enough… please, Valkyrie," the red-haired witch begged, as Jin slammed her against another house.
The only answer she got was some terrified cry.
Finally, Jin decided to stop, dropping her body on the ground. "Damn girl, you are a ginger once again," he pointed out. "Ups, I might have been a bit too hard; but you can't blame me, you didn't look like a delicate girl."
"H-How?" Shana managed to ask, as blood came out of her mouth. "How… did you… track me?"
"Use your brains, kiddo. You are an enhancer and an iron-runner, it would be a bit unfair if only you could control two different pairs of metals, right?"
"Y-You are… an emitter. You can burn… copper and bronze… to track and hide… the allomantic pulses..."
"Bingo!" Jin exclaimed, as he kicked her in the ribs, making Shana lay on her back. "Damn, I hope you don't have some boyfriend waiting for you to come back; your face is a fucking mess!"
"Screw you," Shana cursed him, as she struggled to get on her knees.
"Wow, didn't your parents teach you not to curse?" He smirked, just as he pulled from her hair so their eyes were at the same level.
Her reserves of pewter came to an end, but she barely felt the burning sensation on her scalp; after all, the pain was starting to numb all her senses. "Hey, don't close your eyes," Jin told her. "Although I don't care about the item Isaac is looking for, he wants information about it. Since you found it first, just to toss it at me as if it was some dog's shit, I want to know all the information you have."
In response, Shana just spat some blood on the man's mask. "That was a bad decision, bitch," he muttered. "That mask was handmade by my granddaughter. You've crossed a line." That being said, the man slammed her against the ground, the air leaving her lungs as she hit the dirt.
Jin whistled loudly as he stepped over her. "Well, since you don't seem to care about your own life, let's see what you think about this," he went on. "It is said that the fairness of man could be seen in how he treated his subordinates, not his equals."
Descending from the sky atop of broomsticks, two men landed at their side; both of them carrying someone over their shoulders. No… what are they doing here? I left them at the Tower because they aren't good fighters. The two hostages were no other but Jasmine, one of Shana's closest subordinates, and her teenage daughter.
"M-Master Shana!" Jasmine cried. "What is happening? Why did these men kidnap us!"
"Now that we are all together, let's play a game!" Jin started, as one of his soldiers handed him a muggle revolver. "The first time I saw a muggle killing another one with this little thing I couldn't help but get curious about it. The thing is, I got to put my hands on one of them, and after some experiments, I came to the conclusion that they were completely useless against us wizards; but man, they were stylish as hell!"
"Then, some old friend of mine showed me this funny game," he went on, as he introduced a bullet on the gun's clip. "It is called Russian roulette, and it is pretty easy to understand, so don't worry. I'm gonna shoot at those two beautiful women right here; at first, there will be only a probability of one in six of them being shot, after that, each reload will increase it. What would it be, Master Shana? The information, or their lives? Don't think about it too much, because time is running."
I'm so sorry, Shana though, just as Jin pointed the gun at Jasmine's forehead. The witch would never forget the plea on her subordinates' eyes as their gazes crossed, but this was way bigger than their lives. "Silence it is, then," Jin said, with a dark voice.
The bullet pierced Jasmine's skull as it was made of paper, and Shana didn't even bother trying to deviate it with an allomantic push. "What a lucky woman, first chance it is," Jin commented, then, he aimed the gun at the crying girl, just to shoot her like he had just done with her mother. "I lied. There were six bullets, not one." To assert his point, he emptied the clip on Jasmine, the sound of the four bullets resounding in the dead city.
Shana barely had any strength to stay straight, but the rage she was feeling overcame her physical weakness. I can still feel four of the copies I made for Valkyrie… it's time to dissolve them. As her copies, with the magic she had used to create them, came back to her, the witch's magical core roared back to life; very weak, but incredibly furious.
With her last reserves of steel, Shana violently pushed against a source of metal which happened to be behind her; as the witch rocketed towards a surprised Jin, she unsheathed Valkyrie's sword with her right arm, enhancing it with the little magic she had left. Unfortunately, the mercenary was able to react just in time, dodging her thrust in the last instant; the sword barely scraping his mask.
Shana fell to the floor on her back, completely out of energy and magic. "That was a bad move, little ant," the man stated, as he stared at his hand, where a fragment of his mask had fallen; the one with the happy smile.
Was that… the only thing I could do? Shana observed as Jin got closer to her, catching the glimpses of some white, scruffy beard. "Did she really get that mad because we killed those two women?" One of the soldiers asked. "Come on, the girl was just a squib, we did her a favour-"
The man wasn't able to finish what he was saying because something slit his throat out of nowhere; as he fell to the ground, Shana saw Jin's mask fragment completely sinked on his neck. "You need to be more careful with what you say," Jin said to the dying man. "My granddaughter is a squib, and she deserves a good life more than anyone I've ever met."
"Sir!" The other soldier piped in. "Our main support team isn't answering! Something must have happened!"
Before Shana could even react, Jin grabbed the witch to carry her over his shoulder, and the next second, the mercenary jumped upwards with incredible force. Hadn't been for his quick reaction time, they would have been eaten by the earth, which had just been split open underneath them. "Seems like I can't have a moment of rest!" The mercenary cursed.
But then, Shana felt as if something was trying to suck her out; the next second, when she opened her eyes, she found a blue pair looking back at hers. "E-Elend?" She managed to splutter.
"Close enough," the man answered, as he dropped her body atop of some winged horse.
"Look who do we have here," Jin whistled. "Nalar Shawn himself. What a surprise! I didn't know the Ancient Council allowed its precious Knights to interfere in some unworthy business."
"You tricked us, Jin, I'll give you that," another, but familiar, voice piped in; Elend was also here. "That general of yours we captured was part of your plan. The information we got from him was false, because you sacrificed him in order to deceive us."
"Elend!" Jin exclaimed. "Man, it's been a long time since we last met!"
"Nalar, take Shana out of here," Elend said, as he tossed something to his brother. "The portkey's coordinates will take you directly to my manor. Jordan's squad will meet us there when they finish."
"Ha!" Jin laughed. "You sure a one-on-one combat is what you want? Come on, Nalar, are you really going to follow your older brother's orders like that and run with your tail between your legs? Where is that fire for the battle you used to have?"
"Elend, just bring me his head, please," Nalar grunted, as he took a seat behind Shana, securing her body between the horse and his. "Come on boy, it's time to fly!"
With a loud neighing, the winged horse took flight, its wings flapping at a surprising speed. Seconds after that, there was a huge explosion below them; when Shana looked downwards, the last thing she saw before losing her consciousness was Jin getting blown away from the town, some kind of faint light enveloping him in the form of a bubble; with a gigantic fire arm going right after him.
Ronald Weasley POV
Wednesday 29th May, 1992 (Great Hall, Hogwarts) - Lunch
After the recent events, it seemed so off to be back to the normal routine, as if nothing had happened at all; but that wasn't true, and Ron knew it very well.
"Are you okay, Daphne?" Tracey asked. "You've been acting weird these days."
"Yes, don't worry," Daphne smiled back. "It is just that… I'm a bit nervous to be back at home. I know my academic results were pretty good this year, but I don't know what my father is going to think about them."
Damn, she is a master in the art of lying… The Headmaster himself asked them to keep the whole mess with the Stone a secret, and so far, nobody in the school seemed to know anything. There were a few clues about it, of course; after all, it was public knowledge that Harry had spent some days in the medical wing; but, nobody could really guess what had happened; and now that Harry was back at the Gryffindor table, smiling as if nothing had happened, the students were starting to forget about it.
"Another year gone!" Dumbledore exclaimed, very cheerfully. "What a year it has been! But, before you sink your teeth into the delicious feast, there is some matter I want to atone. As you must know, Slytherin stands atop of the race for the House Cup, but thanks to some events in the recent days, some points should be awarded to certain students, who were able to push their limits and make their Houses proud of them."
The whole Hall started to mutter, but the Headmaster ignored them. "First of all, to Miss Hermione Granger," he announced. "I award her fifty points for the use of logic in the face of the fire!" Hermione buried her head in her arms, trying to avert all the different sets of eyes which were looking at her; some with shock, others with curiosity, and a few of them with rage.
"Second, to Mr Neville Longbottom," he went on. "For keeping the composure when it was most needed and for being someone in whom his friend could rely in the moments of need; for that, I award him with fifty points!" The shy boy turned completely white, and for a moment, Ron thought he was going to faint.
"The Headmaster can't possibly rob us of the Cup like that, right?" Blaise muttered, in a low voice; not as if mattered, because the whole Hall was doing the same. "I mean, I know Potter is his golden boy and all that, but this nonsense!"
"Now, for the proud and noble House of Slytherin, I award to both Miss Daphne Greengrass and Mr Ronald Weasley thirty points each," the Headmaster kept going. "For the best game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years!"
"That is my bloody ginger!" Ron heard Daniel exclaiming aloud. "Let's go!"
"What?" Tracey let out. "What is he talking about? What are those points for?"
"I think you may have forgotten to tell us something, don't you?" Blaise raised a brow at them.
"It is a long story," the redhead sighed.
"Well, it is such a luck we have that much free time these days, isn't it?"
"Finally, to Mr Harry Potter," Dumbledore announced. "I award Gryffindor a hundred points for pure nerve and outstanding courage!"
That did it.
The whole Hall erupted. The lions were hitting the tables with their cups; on the other hand, the snakes were pretty confused, adding up all the points to see who the winner was; and in the middle of it, both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tried to cover their ears against the deafening noise.
"We won…" Daphne muttered, from Ron's left. "We won by twelve points; he didn't rig the competition in the end."
"We freaking won for another year!" One of the seventh year prefects exclaimed, from the other end of the table.
Now it was their time to shout, clap, and go crazy; even Blaise seemed to be excited, and that was something very rare. Ron allowed himself to smile; even though the recent weeks have been tough, it felt really good to just be happy about winning the cup; not for the trophy itself, which was just some metal cup, but for what it meant as the reward for an entire year of work.
The feast went on, and for once, Slytherin was the loudest table. Look at them, who knew they could be so normal and lously? The redhead caught a glimpse of Gerd flying through the Hall, going from one table to another, observing all the students she could. She is back to her usual self… I've been ignoring it for the past few days, but this summer we are going to have a long talk about what happened to her at that chamber.
"Come on, aren't you happy about the Cup?" Tracey asked, as she playfully hit him in the back of the neck to wake him up. "If it wasn't for you and Daphne the lions would have won! Look at this feast!"
"You are right, sorry," Ron smiled. "I still don't believe it." The redhead ate like he was possessed, after all, this was going to be his last lunch at the castle for some months. They all laughed and joked; for once, it seemed as if there weren't any bad feelings among the students; even Malfoy didn't sneer at him when their eyes met.
But, the euphoria went away with the fesast's ending. Damn, I'm gonna miss this room, Ron thought as he observed his bed. Since both Blaise and Nott were already done packing, the redhead was all alone in the room, sitting on his vault and looking around; until someone knocked at the door, that's it.
Without even waiting for a response, Daphne came into the room. "What are you doing here?" The blonde asked.
"Nothing really," Ron shrugged his shoulders. "Just reviving some memories."
"Wow, don't be that dramatic; it has only been nine months."
"Well, yeah, but they've been nine pretty wild months."
"Touche," she said, as she took a seat on the redhead's bed. "So… what happens now?"
"I don't know about you, but I'm going back home," Ron answered.
"That is not what I meant, you airhead. I'm talking about what happened with the Stone and all that mess. The Headmaster asked us to not tell everyone about… that shadow…"
"We do as he says," Ron sighed. "We don't even know what that thing was, only that Professor Snape repelled it off."
"Blaise and Tracey are starting to ask questions," she pointed out. "Especially after the Headmaster awarded us and the Gryffindors all those points."
"I'll think about what to tell them on our way home," Ron stated. "But, if the Headmaster asked us to keep everything a secret must be for something… I… don't know what the hell happened, or if something is going to happen in the future, but I don't want to live another experience like that again. If remaining silent about it is going to protect us somehow… well, that is what I'm going to do."
You better do the same, Daphne; because you don't have any idea of how big the whole thing is. For some seconds, the girl seemed to ponder about his words, but in the end, she nodded at him. "Yeah, I think you are right," she sighed, getting up from the bed. "Don't take too long to be ready, we need to get an empty cabin in the train for us four."
Daphne got out of the room, and as the door was closed behind him. the redhead got up from his vault. "Well, this has been some wild first year," he muttered to the air. "I hope for the next one to be a bit more relaxed, I think I've had enough adventures for my entire life."
Sending one last look to the room, Ron finally went to meet his friends.