Detonate

I bolted in the opposite direction running towards the foliage.

I had a choice between 'fast thinking' and 'controlled mana vision' going with the former I slow down the scene in front of me and my perception of the world.

Luckily for me I did so and was able to sense the fast moving projectiles come from below the lakes surface where the Blonde was spreading her energy.

I didn't know what that was and didn't want to stick around to find out.

I sensed confusion from Ava, she wanted to know why I was afraid of her.

I wasn't afraid of the naked blonde but the unknown coming along with her.

Before turning my head completely I saw the woman biting her wrist and slapping her hands together.

Instead of dripping like blood usually does it hung in the air.

That's as much as I see before turning my head and taking long strides each one longer then the last.

Once I reach the third stride I build a strong enough flow out of my mana core and am launched into the air.

A shrill cry sounded out behind me nearly making me stop not because it's loud but because I felt it in my mind, along with a feeling of panic and fear.

Three sparkling white flames looked like they where lit one by one across the oasis and rose into the sky coming in my direction.

I dived down, changing altitude sporadically while bobbing and weaving.

Whatever happens next I had to take it away from the water, she had something in that oasis and I wasn't going to find out what.

Luckily for me I reacted fast enough, the three are a distance away but one is ahead of me and will be intercepting.

By the time it takes me to mold four grenades I am at the oasis edge.

I turn and look back, I tell Ava to get one big explosion ready and slow down enough to get distance away from the oasis but still let them catch up.

I'm not going to let them tire me out and become easy pickings.

I make contact with the first one and I recognized the ripples in the mana flow, it's Sylph.

'What are fish-men doing out here'?

I think of Mislin but I don't see her mana signature within the glowing group.

One orb was sent in a tendril at the idiot flying in headfirst, he dodged like a pro only to have my white tendril explode next to him.

The trick was to disperse all the unneeded mana while applying pressure so when the orb explodes it's letting out more kinetic energy than dispersed mana.

He condensed his energy in time to defend in that direction but another met him along his trajectory as he moved back exploding at point blank range.

I flew above and let gravity do it's thing, smashing against the fading energy and grabbing hold of the body.

It was a young Olim man with darker skin then mine, I moved my arm around his head and grabbed his throat, stopping just before crushing it.

He fought back but it was useless.

The difference between us was vast, one of the reasons I stopped was because he had Islas level of mana purity.

My other arm goes around and I grip his wrist bringing his arm back as we fall and dislocate his shoulder.

I begin to send energy tendrils to his diaphragm locking his mana core in place, while stabilizing us in the air.

He was young and foolish rushing in front of his companions because he was the closest to me.

Still in free fall the young Olim is having a seizure due to all the mana exposure and I didn't give a damn stabilizing us in the air I bought the other arm back and held it in place.

'Got to love a good hostage' I began to gain altitude while praying to all things sugary and carbonated that they gave a damn about their comrade.

They did, or at list the first two did.

The last figure charged straight towards me I could feel the bloodlust with every wave of energy coming off of her, I recognized the energy signature as the Terra woman.

They slowed down one by one, but the woman kept her pace intending to run into me but was held back by the two figures.

I was holding the young Olim by his unbroken arm twisting it behind his back and slowly turning the energy around me into a mana platform so they could see and feel this kids condition.

They said nothing floating below me and as they created platforms there eyes fell on mine.

They where two mixed blood's and the Terra women.

This was the most diverse group I have ever seen.

One glance at the Olim boys neck filled in the gaps for me.

One slit was exposed on both sides of his neck reminding me of the fish men.

'Half-breeds? is that even possible' I asked myself as I stared down his comrades with one hand on his neck and another holding his arm behind his back, the whites of his eyes could be seen.

"Release him" the mixed blooded man who was closest to me said in Olim.

His voice was deep but his frame thin reminding me of the vultures I ate.

"No, from the looks of it you have some intentions towards me." I replied in Terra as my Olim was broken, I knew the words but I didn't speak it often enough.

"let's say I let him go, what happens then"? I asked while scanning them.

It seemed I lucked out and got the baby of the group, all three of them looked to be in the late twenties.

It was an odd situation, no one expected to meet another in this wide desert.

Them especially, not only did they run into a mage but the youngest one they have ever seen.

"You are one of us why are you doing this"?

The other man lashed his arm out sending his voice out with mana so I heard it in his mind along with his frustration.

"You lost me" I said as I lessened the mana output on the boy in my hands until his mana core was able to reject the energy I was sending, he's useless dead.

I had no idea who these people are nor do I care, I was flying, holding someone hostage, keeping my eye on three enemies and trying to deal with all the thoughts and emotions coming at me from the young man having a mild heart attack in my arms.

"Your of mixed blood, why else would you be here"?

"I'm here because I'm hungry and thirsty, now give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill off all of you starting with this one"?

"We mean you no harm" thin and baritone said this time in Terra.

I scoffed and stared right back at the blonde, "Are you stupid" a phrase I have heard often coming from Terra mouths.

He pinched his ear which is a common trend among Olim when they are frustrated.

"What do you want"?

"Passage".

"Then you shall have it, Unhand him" his voice was becoming more irate as the boy regained his consciousness.

"I want a guarantee" I said, the woman moved forward slightly.

I dislocated the other shoulder making the boy cry out and wake up from his stupor.

I considered this to be a failed negotiation, at this point I was just buying time.

Unsheathing my short Kodachi with one hand I place it on the boys waist angling upwards, this way I could hit all major organs as needed.

My pupils shined a white light as I turned up the energy of mana vision.

I was able to see mana cores nestled in their diaphragms, they had purer energy than me and the boy in my hands, but I had more.

"One more move and I swear I will gut him" my voice rang in there heads and I could see them gritting there teeth.

The woman staring daggers no longer dripping wet but still as naked as the moment I met her.

I began to float backwards, angled downwards to keep an eye on them.

Once I was fifty yards away and at the edge of their patience they began to move forward.

That's when I stabbed the boy running my blade through his kidney before retracting it and letting him fall to the ground.

I left him alive and salvageable, if they wanted to come after me they would have to separate to save his life, increasing my odds of survival.

An explosion went off, I brought the remaining grenades down from atop hitting the group as they moved forward.

Buying myself just a little more time, only it was smaller than I thought.

Ava had decided to hold back and not detonate.