The sound of ragged breath and snapping twigs filled the night air as he stumbled through the underbrush. Blood dripped steadily from his mangled arm, leaving a trail that shone under the cold silver moon. His suit, torn at the shoulder and chest, flapped uselessly with each desperate step. The thing behind him gave no sign of slowing, no sign of mercy.
Her footsteps were light, measured. Emerald eyes gleamed under the moonlight, fixed on the trail he left behind. Her two-piece suit remained immaculate, untouched by the branches and magecraft he desperately shot at her in his attempt to flee. White shifted slightly as she walked, long bangs veiling the left side of her face. The green tie at her neck shimmered faintly, the same hue as her piercing gaze. She flexed gloved fingers, anticipation thrumming beneath her skin.
His legs burned, but the faint golden glow ahead urged him forward. The workshop. He prayed the bounded field would hold her back, while no means an expert in this magecraft the man knew how to restrict another Mage's ability to use Mana. Knowing the monster had no way to counteract this without having to find the sigils around the barrier, and that's even if they found them. It was his only chance.
Her stride never faltered. She watched as he reached the door, stumbling inside. The soft thud of wood closing behind him drew the faintest curve to her lips. It was almost too easy.
She circled the workshop, hands brushing against the bark of nearby trees. Her emerald eyes glimmered in the dark as she listened to the hum of runes faint beyond the walls. A bounded field, but a fragile one. She could wait. Or just break in guns blazing.
His hand slammed against the wooden door as he stumbled inside, the weight of his body forcing it shut behind him. He winced, gripping his broken arm to his chest. He could hear the monster's loud sigh from the treeline beyond, they were circling, testing.
The man staggered forward, leaving smears of blood on the polished floor. In the dim lantern light, the room seemed alien, warped by the haze of pain and panic. He pressed his good hand against the hidden sigil carved into the wall, whispering an aria that trembled on his lips.
Runes flared to life around the workshop, faint blue light illuminating the shadows. The defenses surrounding the house were weak, but the effects of this one were even greater than the one outside. Perhaps they would buy him enough time to stitch himself together, perhaps not. His pulse thundered as he sank to his knees beside the worn desk. His tools lay in wait, but so did the being behind the door.
He had faced worse. At least, that's what he told himself. The blood on the floor suggested otherwise.
She stops in her tracks, turning to an old decrepit tree in a sea of lush green. "You can't be serious, right…? There's no way he'd make it that easy to find." Walking over to the tree she put a hand up to the decaying bark, instantly feeling the intense mana flowing through it to the barrier around the wooden lodge branching out like a spider web around the property. "Holy shit… He really is that dumb."
It was definitely unconventional to make a Bounded Field this way, but maybe the guy thought he had some master plan behind it. Well, she didn't really care, all she had to do was find each rune and destroy them. One by one she followed the web, finding four runes in ten minutes. Honestly, who created a barrier like this?! She'd spent too much time humoring the sealing designate's retreat and by now he was likely ready for a fight. Releasing a low growl she stomped her way to the next rune, tearing it out of its hiding place and pumping it with as much mana as she could before throwing it at the front door of the lodge causing an explosion that shattered the barrier surrounding the building.
"Ugh, that's it! Get out here right now Evangello, before I blow your sorry excuse for a bounded field and workshop into a million pieces!" No one paid heed to her tantrum, not that anyone was around to hear her in the first place. Taking a calming breath the emerald-eyed girl refocused her attention to the lodge. Planting her feet she unleashed a surge of mana, circuits rising up her skin like a cascading wave in the ocean. The runes shook as her mana grinded against the runes until they cracked and splintered. One by one they fell, the bounded field collapsing soon after due to the creation of her own. As traces of the field flickered in a dying light she smirked, stepping forward to the door that separated her and her target.
"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" The man hurriedly grabbed every jewel and mystic code he owned. He had to escape, or even kill her! Surprisingly, the bounded field surrounding his property was able to keep her at bay for a much longer time than he anticipated. He was able to crudely wrap a bandage around his wound and even heal a few small wounds with a month's worth of magic energy that he stored in larger gems.
Evangello cursed his own luck, of all the enforcers the Clocktower sent after him, it had to be the Emerald Eyed Beast! That woman was just about as unhinged as The Blue! He had to act fast. The loud explosion outside did not bode well for him, she was pissed. Evangello had to grab one last item before he tried fleeing, a violin case that was a relic of the past. It's an elegant and unique piece with a striking black and gold bird like design, but he had no time to admire it. He had to leave, right now. Just as he was about to head out the hidden door a loud boom resonated through the building, causing him to stumble and fall to the floor just before the exit.
"That is it! I've had it with your stupid bounded field in the stupid Yugoslavian countryside! It's too damn chilly! Why did you all have to take part in this goddamn war!? Do you know how many nights I've spent just taking each and every one of you down?! You're a fucking mage for crying out loud, you made an oath to never reveal magecraft! I do not care if it is a war for freedom or separation! If you fight in it you shouldn't have revealed your craft!"
Every step caused the ground to shake, an excruciating agony in his nerves as they slowly cooked and burned alive. Evangello's magic circuits desperately tried to purge the toxic mana of his pursuer's to no avail. Choked gasps escape him as he weakly crawls towards the hidden door, all but forgetting about the mystic codes and jewels he pocketed to defend himself. Turning around the choking man was met with the towering figure of the Beast, shadows cast over her face, the only thing visible being those piercing green eyes that strikes fear into his core. A gloved hand raises, green lines washing over the black material as it slowly approaches him.
"Phew… Thank the lord that I'm done for the–"
A loud explosion goes off in the distance, causing her to recoil slightly from the shockwave.
"I hate Yugoslavia…"
With a frustrated grunt, the enforcer turned around and headed in the opposite direction of the bombings only to hear the sound of a car? "What the hell?" It was hard to see in the middle of the night, but the distinct sound of a muscle car could barely be heard through the intense explosions.
"Why is there a car driving around this late?" Her question was quickly answered as a black Camaro sped past her, far faster than a stock Camaro should go. "Is that American muscle…? Did he just drift that corner?"
Tonight was just getting weirder… Oh well, at least she got a few trinkets from Evangello before she left. She didn't know why he had an old violin case but hey, how could she let such a valuable relic of the past disappear? Everyone should treat instruments like it was an extension of them. She yawns, stretching her body and covering her mouth with a hand. Now was a good time to get some sleep. With a small pep in her step, the emerald eyed woman returned to her campsite in the middle of an undisturbed field. Her bounded field was much better than that idiot of a sealing designate, she totally wasn't mad at how stupidly hard it was to destroy that bounded field. Totally.
"Hello~ This is Mysterious Emerald Enforcer here! I'm here to thank you all for giving this piece of work a chance and reading it, and thank you all for joining me on the Arcane Ocean after show. For those of you who are confused about this author's section, we will be answering questions like a Q&A after every chapter or so." A camera aims upwards at the white haired woman. She's smiling, a hand on her hip and the other under her chin.
"So, to get you all accustomed to this. We gathered a few questions from my creators' friends!" Her hand reaches into her suit, returning with a single paper and bringing it close to her face. "Ahem… First question!"
Who knows of your existence, and how did you get your enforcer name?
Placing a hand under her chin she hums in thought, "Hmm… Well, I'd say a few people know me. Like Bazzy, old man jewels knows everybody, and uhhh I guess Mario, but he's up in Iceland right now." The suited lady smirks, putting both hands on her hip and leaning forward a bit. "As for my nickname, maybe you'll find out, maybe you won't. You'll just have to keep reading to figure it out. Or, you know, some people on the internet are actually crazy smart and happen to guess based on very little information. Anyway, onto the next question!"
How did you join the Clocktower? How long have you been in?
"This one is very~ simple, my parents! I'm the daughter of a decently ranked magus family, though who knows if you'll ever meet them. I've been in since I was… old enough to become a mage. But enough about that. Let's move onto the next question!"
Why did you take my jolly time to reach Evangello? Why not catch him before he got to his workshop? I'm sure that you could have caught up to him before he could even make it to his front door.
"That's because I was bored~ My whole day was nothing but helping civilians stay away from the war, and I thought he'd make my day more exciting, but noooooo. He just had to make that stupid spider web bounded field, and make life so much more complicated! That's why I blew him to smithereens!" The camera shakes, static filling the corners before shutting off. "Whoops, my bad. Next question."
Are you going to sell that violin case?
"Nuh uh! No way jose! I am not selling this piece of work. Music is precious and all instruments should be taken care of like a child!" She hisses, throwing the paper to the floor and holding the extravagant case close to her chest. The audio is muted from this point on as multiple people arrive on screen to calm down the raging woman.
Thank you for tuning in and please feel free to submit your own questions.