Chapter 33: Well Trained Trio

  "Is the Oni with them!?"

  The wind blew past us at deafening while the landscape became a blur as we rose to freighting heights.

  The highway to Nala split from the river that slowly twisted towards mountain ranges slow incline. Smaller hills, jagged rocks, forest clears amongst large patches of forest slowly dwarfed by enormous trees further towards snow covered peaks in the far distance.

  "Yeah!"

  "Good, grab the bell and one a scroll from the pack behind my right leg!"

  "Got it!"

  "Whack the bell on Silas, that scroll is for landing!"

  I passed the small rune covered brass bell to Aoife who used one arm to hit it against his scales while holding onto my waist with the other.

  A soundless blue shockwave permeated through the air. A few seconds later, a streak of lightning and crack of thunder created a small storm cloud in the distance.

  Without hesitation, the dragon dived towards our friends.

  "Get ready! I'll drop you off on top, hold it back and get your friends out of there! I'll be back with dragon fire to kill it!"

  "Can't this dragon do it?!"

  "Silas will only end up freezing everyone, we need fire and a clear target, got it?! Remember the scroll!"

  . ... .

  "The skeletons I get, but people?!"

  A young man covered in personalized armor of metal and hide struck down an unarmed skeleton with his glowing longsword before deflecting a blow from a man who recently died, only to be reanimated as a servant to a powerful Lich.

  "Keep moving Lars, you too Oats!"

  Next to him, a burly man in his forties wielding an axe and short-sword stabbed the monster, dissolving it with the power of his sword covered in runes of lightning. This man covered himself in the hides and bones of monsters he hunted paired with a cloak made of feathers.

  "It's Ota! How many times you old bastard!"

  A smirk plastered an athletic Oni covered in full plate Armor, her visor up for visibility as she ran downhill, caving in the skull of a nearby undead with her metal mace.

  "*chuckle* Prove it! Shield wall facing uphill, hold together!"

  Two humans and an Oni fought their way downhill in a thick forest, each engaged in battle with an undead force of rotten corpses, skeletons and the reanimated remains of warriors who recently passed away.

  As the chiselled yet slightly overweight man, wielding an axe and sword in each hand barked out orders, all three came together.

  The muscular Oni shifted her position and held her left arm upwards at a forty-five degree angle. Her full trimmed white plate shifted to form a large wall of metal shields; the two men braced either side as she dug her feet into the ground.

  Although her frame was thin and her height average, the strength that swelled in her well defined muscles could not be underestimated.

  A second later, a massive uprooted tree trunk, decayed by death rolling sideways crushing the trees in its path slammed into the group, staggering them.

  Together, their combined strength was enough to deflect the unorthodox attack as it bounced off their defense and crushed the nearby undead. 

  "Lars, only focus on the skeletons if you can, Ota, protect him against anything more! Huh..."

  Knowing the danger had passed, the Oni lowered her wall of tower shields. Then transferring her power back into a full suit of armor, she watched as their previous threat ricocheted away, destroying foliage and leaving a new escape path.

  Hearing a screech ring out from uphill as another hoard of corpses charged from their left, they changed their stance preparing for another brawl.

  Lars looked towards a fast approaching hoard of undead wielding rusty armaments as dirt fell from their rotten corpses. The young man of average build and middling armor of metal and hide gripped his longsword in both hands, stabbing the ground and focusing deeply.

  Cracks of golden light pulsated through his blade into the damp underbrush, causing a cascade of light to erupt under their weak foes and turning them to ash.

  "Looks like we might just have a chance to bag a Lich"

  The middle-aged warrior swapped his sword and axe hand, then struck them together as if sharpening a knife then pointing it upwards as a bolt of lightning cracked through the sky to create a signal cloud.

  "Wait, we're going back in? You're insane!"

  Pressing his arm against the newly forming pain growing in his head, the streaks of golden blonde began to darken at the root of his scalp after performing such a powerful spell.

  "I feel... something flying... a dragon?"

  . ... .

  Soarhart wasted no time in dropping us off with a barrel roll.

  "Grab my hand so I can use the scroll!"

  "Use it! I can do more than heal!"

  "Fine!"

  Pouring mana into the scroll in one hand, I cast vortex in the other in an attempt to pull Aoife in as we plummeted towards the ground at alarming speed.

  The scroll activated quickly, burning through its complex diagram written in infused ink and causing my body to float from side to side like a free falling feather. Narrowly avoiding a tree in the process, I landed by sliding on my back to the feet of the last man I expected to see.

  "Skaalbran?"

  "I expected the half-drake..."

  "She'd die before she tries flying"

  "She's afraid of heights? *chuckle*"

  He extended his arm and I took it, yanking me to my feet. 

  Looking behind, Aoife glided down to Adelard as if she rode a board mid-air, they looked over him with a frown.

  "Did she give you orders?"

  "Oh yeah, uh, run away and hold out because she'll be back?"

  "*sigh* You need to build some confidence kid. Oats, where's it at"

  "It's Ota you old fart, you want a metal boot up your ass?"

  Despite her words, she seemed in high spirits.

  Closing her eyes and placing a hand on her chest, Ota took a deep breath and concentrated. Over the past few weeks she had learnt how to control her new senses, spending most of this time distinguishing each feeling.

  It reminded me of how I learnt my blessing. Trial and error experimentation.

  "It's... running away? I thought you said it'll keep following us"

  "It should. I doubt it knows we'll have dragon-fire soon enough... Maybe it's going after something?"

  "No. It's heading... to the mountains... Away from us and V"

  "Dammit! You four, make a choice. Either come with me or head back"

  "Why's it running away?"

  Skaalbran's eyes shifted between both Aoife and me while scratching his beard. Sheathing his weapons, he kneeled before Aoife and removed his feather cloak.

  "This once belonged to your grandfather, he asked me to hold onto for a time like this, I think you can figure out what it can do. I'll take this thing on with Rider. Lars!"

  "Yeah?"

  "Magic is taught with a wand to teach precision, control and efficiency. You focus too much on what you can do, rather than how you do it. Ota!"

  I got my answer pretty fast to how the others trained over the past week, with Skaalbran Wallin.

  "Now you remember..."

  "Your defense is solid, because of that, you lack offense"

  Standing up, he tossed Ota his axe, who caught it with her left hand. 

  Sliding her mace into its sling, she looked over the weapon. A simple design for one-handed attacks, covered in flame runes. Thinner than an axe used for woodcutting by a large margin. A true weapon of war, from its leather wrapped grip and reinforced axe-head hold.

  "Because of it?"

  "Wearing armor is to be covered in shields, and not the type you can throw away. Who says you have to hold a shield? Create them when you need it, swing when you don't"

  "So this.."

  "You have two hands, right?"

  "What about you?"

  "*chuckle* These are my backup weapons. Now, Fae, I believe you know Fleet-foot. After that, each of you must make a choice and stick with it"

  The man offered advice and wisdom, knowing it could be the last conversation he held with each of them, and yet, he didn't address me. He knew what my choice was. Even if I didn't understand it either.

  Aoife casted a spell on each of us and I felt as if I had the wind at my back, the world pushing me forward, ready to take a step.

  "Be your friend's true friend. Return gift for gift. Repay laughter with laughter again. Betrayal with treachery. And death, with destruction"

  Skaalbran took off at an alarming rate leaving a trail of dust and leaves as he rushed uphill. I looked at Ota, she smiled and nodded before chasing after him. I soon joined her, casting Windless on both of us to increase our speed to match the seasoned warrior.

  Glancing behind for a split second saw Adelard starting to run, with a strange black bird next to him. The black roots in his hair beamed bright with gold again.

  Wait, is he blushing?

  No, no time for this, I need to focus.

  As soon as I realized I would be facing an undead, I knew pure physical attacks wouldn't be enough and I lacked effective offensive elemental magic like fire or lightning. The techniques I learnt over the past week would be almost useless against a Lich as well.

  Yet, in the back of my mind, I felt the spark I followed pressing against kindling.

  I can make any weapon I want, but is it really only weapons? If I could recreate the elemental stone in a replica wand and create a sword covered in oil...

  Only one way to find out.