Shadowborn

Chapter Five: Ambush

Chapter Five: Ambush

By the time I made it out of the sagging house that we’d been in, the sun had risen in full. She stood in front of the golem, looking at it with a somber expression. “I wish we could take him with us.”

I frowned. “Why can’t we?”

She lifted her wrist where a bracer covered in runes sat. “It takes mana to give it commands. It would slow us down if we had to keep waiting for me to recharge, and a celestial with a combat construct will only cause us trouble down the road.”

I looked at the golem and started doing some calculations in my head. It was only a little taller than me, which meant it was just shy of six-and-a-half feet. I stepped in front of it and willed shadows to spill from my foot. They extended under the golem and, after a brief mental command from me, it fell into my storage. I felt the sensation of something taking up a good chunk of my pocket space and smiled.

Rhallani gasped. “How did you do that?!”

“Storage skill, remember? Look.” I conjured a ball of shadow and tossed it. The ball flattened in the air until it was wide enough for the golem to fall from it and impact the ground. “Can you still command it?”

Her bracer glowed bright. “Kneel,” she said, and I could feel the magic laced into the word. The golem did as she said, sinking to a knee. She beamed at me, and I returned the now-kneeling golem to my storage. “That’s amazing! How much can you store?”

“Seven foot cube, as of right now,” I told her. Between the golem, the sword, and the other gear I had, it wasn’t even a quarter full. Then something occurred to me. “Rhallani, what happened to my sword after I passed out? The cursed one, I mean.” The one I’d gotten from poor Dern was already at my hip.

She cocked her head at me. “As soon as I latched the blade into its sheathe, it vanished. I figured whatever spell you’d used to summon it faded when you passed out.”

Shit. That wasn’t how my skill worked. I had to consciously move things in and out of my storage. I wasn’t exactly sure what would happen to everything in it if I died, and I really didn’t want to find out. If what she said was accurate, that meant the blade had somehow found its way back to my pocket space without me putting it there. It was another instance of the blade acting differently than it had before. Had something changed when Allura reset me? Or, considering I hadn’t drawn it since I used the sword to kill Grimsbane, had something happened during that battle? It wasn’t a happy thought.

I needed to think on it, and we needed to get moving if we wanted to make it to town. “Come on, we should get moving.”

She nodded happily. I started walking in the direction Pierce had told me Listone was in. She fell into step behind me, which made me pause. I arched a brow in her direction and stared at her until she flushed and moved to walk beside me. I couldn’t help but notice a slight bounce in her step as she did.

In no time we’d left the foreboding tower behind and entered the trees. With the sun poking through the canopy, I was relatively certain of the direction we were heading. Even if I wasn’t, the pack I’d bought had a rudimentary compass. I thought as we walked, and she seemed content to let me.

Allura had said she wanted me to prepare the world for whatever conflict was sure to rise. It wasn’t uncommon for contests between Chosen to occur, which meant she thought that whatever was coming might be worse than the usual wars that broke out. Since gods and goddesses rarely did anything without reason, I had to assume she’d put me here on purpose. If she wanted me to find strong warriors, then it was no surprise she’d led me to a manual that could help me force classes.

The thought made my skin crawl. My life had been a living hell for the sole purpose of gaining the class I now had, and no matter how bad things got I refused to become my master. He’d spent years raising children under specific and often brutal conditions to try and draw out rarer classes, I was just one of his successes. I wouldn’t become him, but I couldn’t dismiss the book in my storage either. What he’d done had been horrible, but destroying it felt like I was throwing away the pain and suffering of every subject that had died in his experiments. If I could use what they’d given the world for good, shouldn’t I?

That led my thoughts to Rhallani. Was the book the only reason I’d been put here, or was she another? Could she be useful in achieving whatever it was Allura wanted of me? If she was, would I be a horrible person for trying to use her? I could always ask for her help, but it would be tricky considering my circumstances. One way or another, I needed to know more about her.

“Rhallani, feel free to tell me if I’m prying or asking something I shouldn’t, but would you mind telling me more about your class?”

She brightened. “Of course not! I know classes are personal, but after this morning...” she trailed off with a dreamy smile, then shook herself. “I mean, yes. I’ll tell you.”

She took a moment to collect her thoughts. “Like I told you, my class is just your standard Scholar class. It’s an uncommon one, I suppose, but my only friends growing up were books, so it made sense.” She blushed a little, which gave me no choice but to reach an arm around her shoulders and press her into me. That earned me a brief smile of thanks, but walking like this was awkward so I let her go. “I’ve got the core scholar skill that relates to reading and information retention, but I managed to get two skills that are at least rare. One acts like a sixth sense when I’m researching. If I’m trying to learn about a specific topic, I feel a tug when I read something related to it. I’ve also got a skill that lets me use mana to read other languages, so I’ve put a number of points into my Will and Focus.” She sounded particularly proud of those.

“I’ve also got an identify skill and a skill that lets me perfectly copy any writing I have in front of me as long as I have my own pen and paper. Thanks to my obsession with runes I got a runebreaker skill that allows me to learn the basic purposes of magic arrays. Other than that I just took some attribute boosting abilities. Oh, after that fight I got a skill that protects me from the negative effects of magical writing.”

It wasn’t lost on me that the last ability would be very useful for when I needed to learn more about my sword. The last person who tried to identify it ended up going insane. In fact, many of her skills sounded incredibly useful. “That’s pretty amazing for a simple Scholar,” I teased. “Can I ask your level?”

“I’m only level sixteen,” she replied sheepishly, “and that’s after getting two levels in the tower.”

I laughed. “I wouldn’t say only. That fight got me to nine.”

She stopped in her tracks with her mouth hanging open. “Nine? You’re only level nine? How in the world is someone amazing as you only—” she cut off abruptly. Her jaw clamped shut and her gaze fell to the ground in front of her. “You have a mythic class, don’t you?”

Well, if I wanted to keep her around then she was bound to learn eventually. “That’s right, though if I’m being honest the curse in my sword did most of the work back there.”

Once again, she began chewing on her lip. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. You shouldn’t tell me anything.”

This girl. I walked up to her and grabbed her chin between two fingers, lifting her face and forcing her to look at me. Her mesmerizing eyes found mine uncertainly, and I felt a twinge of fear come from her. “I thought I told you to stop apologizing for things you don’t need to apologize for. If you keep it up, then I just might have to punish you.” She swallowed, and I leaned down so that our faces were nearly touching.

Her breath quickened, and I smiled at her. “And you absolutely should have asked. Turnabout is fair play, and I give you my word here and now that I will never be angry at you for asking a question. I love your curiosity, and it kills me every time you hold it back because you’re afraid of how I’ll react to it.”

I stayed there, just out of her reach, until I felt her fear slowly start to fade away. I raised my brows, and she swallowed. “Then, um, would you please tell me about your class, too?”

I grinned, then leaned down to give her a quick peck. “I would be happy to.”

We continued walking while I gave her a quick rundown on what my skills were. She knew about the storage and the stitching, of course, and [Predator’s Pursuit] made her pale a bit, but she was the most interested in my new shadow abilities and my [Horde Slayer] passive.

I could see the question burning at her, so I nodded. “Can I see your [Conjure Shadows] in action?” The words rushed out like she was afraid I’d stop her.

My response was to lift my hand and activate the skill. I was curious myself, after all. I felt it use double the mana as its previous iteration, but with my increased pool that wasn’t overly worrying. I felt an icy cold sensation travel down my arm and a thin layer of shadow wrapped around it from elbow to wrist. I willed it to extend, and it unfurled and twisted lazily through the air.

Rhallani’s eyes sparkled. “That’s so cool!”

It definitely looked more substantial than the light attacks I’d used before. I was curious about the other evolved skill, so I took control of the tendril. The sensation was strange, like I’d suddenly grown an extra limb. I could feel it moving and, after a few seconds of feeling it out, started to understand how to control it more directly. Her eyes never left it, especially not when I willed it to reach out and lightly caress her cheek. She shivered, and I realized I could feel her warmth even through the tendril. That was an interesting development.

“We need to find a way to get you levels.” She reached out and hesitantly brushed her fingers against the tendril. I could feel her touch as if she’d done the same thing to my arm. “If you’re this fascinating at level nine, I can’t wait to see what else you’re capable of. Can I know the name of your class?”

“Shadowborn,” I replied before I could stop myself.

That made her frown. “How do you even end up with a class like that?”

He thrust at me, but I used both my blade and the tendril to knock the blow aside and step in close. I sunk my elbow into his chin and swiped the blade down at his hands, but he caught the blow with the haft and swung the spear around. I kept in close, and he failed to get the tip of his weapon between us. I grabbed the haft with one hand and yanked, sinking the dagger into his shoulder.

He jerked back with a cry, taking the dagger with him, so I started raining blow after blow on the man’s face. He took the first few like a champ while he tried to wrestle the spear away from me, but I’d wrapped the tendril on my arm around it. I conjured a second one and willed it to attack his legs, and before long he was a groaning pile below me. The cuts on his thighs were deep, and I knew he wouldn’t be a problem again.

I heard the drumming footsteps and spun just in time to avoid the overhead swing that would have come down on my head. Greatsword was back in action already, but I had a different weapon now. The spear was still wrapped by my tendril, so I yanked it to my hand. Polearms weren’t my favorite, but I knew how to use them well enough. I spun it while I retreated from the greatsword’s wide swings. I had more reach, but the hefty blade would cut right through the wood of my spear.

With a roar, Greatsword launched at me. I sidestepped the blow and stabbed, but I knew the second the spearhead hit skin that the man was some kind of berserker. It felt less like cutting flesh and more like hardened leather. He swung again, but his wounds weren’t fully healed yet. They were wide and clumsy, and I still had the dexterity and agility from my skill.

I danced with him, sneaking strikes in with spear and shadow, until he finally fell to the ground covered in a dozen different injuries. The last of which had been a cut to his throat, which meant he wasn’t going to be around much longer.

Not bothering to watch him bleed out, I rushed Shield. The golem was keeping him at bay with a half dozen crossbow bolts sticking out of his chest. Rhallani didn’t look any worse for wear outside of the cut on her cheek. She was doing a good job keeping the golem between her and Crossbow.

Speaking of, the crossbowman called out a warning just in time for his friend to turn towards me. He raised his shield and caught my strike, but my tendrils shot out and wrapped his shield up. I yanked it to the side and buried my spear in the shoulder holding the mace.

“Rhallani!”

“Attack!” she yelled.

Shield tried to twist away, but I had enough of a hold on him that he was completely unprepared for the golem to run its blade through his chest. He stood for several seconds, his system keeping him alive for longer than possible, but the blood loss finished him off. I felt my boosted stats fade, and he collapsed. He hadn’t even hit the floor before I lunged for Rhallani.

I could tell that her tendril had run out of mana, and if I were a cowardly archer I would have been holding my shot for the perfect moment. I wrapped my arms around her and, almost at the same time, I felt the bolt bury itself in my shoulder. If it hadn’t hit me, it would have taken her in the center of her chest.

She cried out when we hit the ground, but I just turned to look for Crossbow. He gave us one last sneer before disappearing into the trees. The battlefield was silent except for the groans of the spearman. Then the golem stood up straight and planted the tip of its blade into the ground. I reached up and ripped the bolt out and used [Shadow Stitching] to close the injury. I checked my condition and winced.

[Health: 94/200]

[Mana: 41/120]

Not nearly enough for me to consider going after the crossbowman. I looked at Rhallani, but her eyes were locked on the bastard that the golem had run through. I didn’t even have a chance to say anything before she turned away and vomited. She heaved while tears streamed down her face. I gently wrapped my arms around her and pulled her to my chest, ignoring any mess she might be making.

“Shh, it’s alright. You’re alright,” I told her softly.

She grabbed two fistfuls of my shirt and buried her face in my chest, trembling. I held her tightly with one arm while the other gently stroked her hair. “You did what you had to. It’s okay.”

While she cried into my chest, I got to work locking the beast inside me back in its cage. It went reluctantly, eager to move and hunt and kill the crossbowman. It went though, and I felt myself grow lighter. Rhallani felt warmer as I pressed her into me. The crossbowman all but faded from my mind. The only thing that mattered in this moment was the girl wrapped in my arms.

I knew the look of someone who’d never taken a life before. Not everyone had the luxury of being forced to kill when they were fourteen, and I had an idea of what was going through her head. The men would have done terrible things to her, but a life was a life.

She cried silently for a time, and by the time she’d collected herself I no longer heard the groaning of the spearman. “Tell your golem to follow us,” I said gently. She did, and I put one hand under her knees and lifted her up. She yelped a little, then wrapped her arms around my neck. “Don’t look at them if you can.”

“You killed them,” she whispered.

I winced. “I tried not to, but they made their decision before we even saw them.”

She shuddered in my arms. “I know, but...” She sucked in air a few times trying to get her breathing under control. “I’ve never seen anyone die. Even Dern I didn’t see until I was hauling you out, and even that was...”

“I know. I wish you didn’t have to see that, but the world can be a cruel place.”

She didn’t respond. Once I’d gotten her a decent distance from the ambush spot I set her down against a tree and kneeled next to her. “Stay here and have the golem guard you. I’ll be right back, alright?”

Her hand shot out and grabbed my shirt in a vice grip. “What? Where are you going?”

“I need to make sure they’re dead,” I gently removed her hands and placed them in her lap, “and you need a moment. I’ll just be a few feet away, so just take a breath.”

I waited until she’d given the command before I went back to the battlefield. By the time I’d returned, all four men were well and truly dead. I quickly got to the other reason I’d carried her away and started going through their things. I sent their weapons to my storage, then started going through their pockets. For the most part I found nothing of interest. A few coins, some poor quality equipment, some ties I really didn’t want to think about the use of, some jerky and other foods that I left alone, and half-empty waterskins. It was on the leader’s body I found something that made my blood run cold.

It was a sheet of paper that had been folded and unfolded so many times it was nearly worn through. On it were no words, just a hand drawn picture. One that perfectly captured the hilt of the cursed sword I carried in my storage. I took a long look over the bodies. No camping gear. Waterskins half full. They had a camp nearby, and I doubted anyone who knew about my blade would send men with levels as low as these.

No. Every instinct told me that there was a larger group somewhere out in this forest. A group that was after the blade I carried. Were they serving some enemy god? Were they serving that god’s Chosen? Would this new outsider god even be able to select a Chosen? I had too many questions and no way to ask them. I needed to get to Amesseria and find one of Allura’s priests. Until then I was just stumbling around in the dark.

I stood and contemplated burying the men, but that would be foolish. The crossbowman had survived, and I had no doubt he’d scurried off towards their main force to warn them of the dangerous shadow wielding man they’d encountered. This group may not have known enough to guess that I was the one they were looking for, but it was entirely possible that their leader had more information.

I walked back to Rhallani as fast as I dared without tipping her off that I was worried. I found her right where I left her, sitting against the tree with her knees tucked to her chest. She jumped to her feet as soon as she saw me, and I saw her shoulders sag in relief.

“Better?” I asked.

“Not really,” she admitted. She waved her hand and whispered a few words and the blood and vomit that covered me disappeared. “You must think I’m pathetic.”

I touched the golem and sent him back to storage before answering. It would be too difficult to hide his traces. “I think you did a good job back there,” I said earnestly. I reached out and gently wiped the blood from her cheek. The cut wasn’t deep. It would be gone in a few days. “You kept your head, and you were there when I needed you. For your first real fight, I couldn’t have expected better.”

She stepped close enough that she could rest her head on my chest. “Am I foolish for thinking that was scarier than the wraith fight?”

“Not at all.” I gently stroked her hair. “Monsters are easy. They’re usually born to hunt and kill us. People are much scarier. There’s nothing quite like looking into the eyes of a person who plans to hurt you, and there’s no real way to prepare for it.”

“I want to get as far from here as possible.”

The slight quiver in her voice got to me and I placed a kiss on the top of her head. “Then lets get moving. If we make up enough ground, hopefully we only have to spend a single night in the wilderness."