Freelance Heroics (21 page)

“Fuck,” said Mazik, more loudly than he should have. He drew his knife as a spell coalesced in his other hand.
We should go help the others, but their leaders are right here. We could end this right now. They’ve only got two orcks there, and we’ve got the element of surprise. But . . .

Mazik made up his mind. “Gavi and Rae got found. Let’s hit their leaders, take them out before they can do anything. Worst case, we provide a distraction for the others while the hostages get away. Best case, we end this now. You in?”

The Blue Boar didn’t hesitate. “For Saffir!” he hissed. Mazik rolled his eyes.

Mazik’s spell grew to twice the size of his fist. “We hit him on my call. Ready?” The Blue Boar nodded. Mazik didn’t wait. He let his body fall away from the Blue Boar, then lunged. “
Now!
” Mazik tumbled from behind cover, his robes flapping. “
Mazik Blast!
”

“What—
gah!
” Jewels cried out as blue light engulfed him.

Mazik grinned—though it only lasted a second. That’s when he realized the Blue Boar wasn’t rushing forward like he had expected.

“
Blue Bomber!
” cried the superhero, and there was an explosion across the tent. Mazik watched as the Blue Boar crashed into Red Feathers.

Mazik’s eyelid twitched. “No, I meant
this
guy!” he said, pointing at Jewels, who was shrugging off the effects of Mazik’s own spell, though not without difficulty. “I said him,
him!
Didn’t you hear me?”

“I’m otherwise detained,” said the superhero. “You take care of him.”

“Godsdamned heroes!” Mazik turned back to Jewels, keening him. The man had some skill—even totally surprised, he had mitigated most of the spell’s effect. It would take Mazik a little while to burn him down.

Mazik glanced in the direction of his friends. If he didn’t do something, Gavi and Raedren could get overwhelmed by any other orcks in the camp. He shrugged. “I’ve never been good at keeping quiet anyway.”

The side of the tent exploded, blue mana belching into the open air as Jewels went tumbling through. His heavy necklaces struck him in the face as he hit the ground. Mazik walked through after him, spheres of mana hovering over his empty palm and the tip of his knife. “Saving the day
and
providing the distraction. Damn, it’s tough being me!”

Jewels growled, mana crackling over his skin as he pulled himself up with his elbows. “It will be,” he said. His pupils disappeared as spell words tumbled from his lips.

“I’ll defend, you attack,” said Raedren. His voice was still calm, all things considered. Before Gavi could say anything, he stepped in front of her and spread his arms. “
Horvér!
”

A barrier as deep and bright as any Gavi had seen snapped into existence, just in time to stop the orcks’ charge. Raedren sagged back as the two orcks hacked at his defenses. Gavi could see faint green winds pushing against Raedren’s back, as he fought to stay upright.

Gavi lurched out from behind Raedren’s defenses. The ambusher she had dubbed Leafy was closest, so it was him that she chose to attack. Never slowing as she whipped around the glowing barrier, Gavi aimed for the orck’s left eye and thrust.

Leafy bellowed, and mana darkened over his face. Gavi’s blade struck his cheek and slid off. She staggered another step—taking her well past Raedren’s barrier.

Gavi grit her teeth. “
Ichn ir ukk—Swiftness!
”

Her entire body
blurred
, and she struck the orck several more times. Sparks flew as Gavi drew blood six, seven times, but no matter where she struck, Leafy’s barriers always hardened in time to blunt her attack. Gavi swung again—and then slowed as her spell faded. She moved back behind Raedren, her chest heaving.

She watched as Leafy shook his head, like he was shrugging off sleep—and then Gavi gasped as Raedren lurched into her, almost knocking her to the ground. “
Horvér!
”

Gavi took a step, her free hand against Raedren as the taller man sagged against her. She did a double take—the other orck, the guard, had tried to come at them from their flank. She had forgotten about that one entirely. Now Raedren had a dark barrier in front of both hands, like a teacher interposing himself between quarreling students.

The two of them turned until they were standing back-to-back. Gavi swung at Leafy again, but now that her Swiftness spell was unavailable—a requirement imposed by Idaraun, the god who provided her with the spell, which said that it could only be used once every five minutes—she was having even less luck penetrating its barriers. Without others around to distract the orck, Gavi didn’t have the power to seriously threaten it—and with how much mana Raedren was expending, she knew they didn’t have much time.

In which case, let’s try this.
Hazel mana coalesced around Gavi’s hands, and crawled up the length of her sword. She gritted her teeth, focusing—and swung. “
Crescent Slash!
”

There was a crackle of mana, longer than normal, and then nothing. “Dammit!”

Gavi kept attacking anyway. She attacked and attacked and attacked, but nothing got through. She looked around in a panic, looking for something,
anything
else they could do. She could feel Raedren’s mana draining away behind her.

Her eyes fell on the jail, and the loose bottom log. “That bottom log is loose!” she said, pointing. “Yank it out and the hostages will be able to escape!”

Raedren didn’t argue. With a surge of mana he pushed the orcks back, and then green winds gripped the log as Raedren yanked it free. The log yawned open, one end still stuck underneath the wall. The jail trembled, but remained standing.

The guard orck backed away, putting herself—Gavi thought the guard was female, though once again, she wasn’t sure—between the hostages and the two adventurers. She turned so she could see both groups at once.

“Well, that’s an improvement. What’s your status?” Gavi glanced at the jail, where the two children were trying to wiggle through the gap. Her heart nearly seized up. “Stay where you are!”

The old woman scooped the children up, holding them tight to her chest. Gavi let out a relieved sigh.

“I’m at about a third mana.” Raedren shifted in tandem with Leafy, keeping himself between the orck and Gavi.

We need another plan.
Gavi glanced at the guard, wondering briefly if she would be easier to land a hit on. But all her attacks had been on Leafy so far, so his defenses ought to be lower.

“Gah!” Raedren cried out, and Gavi’s attention snapped back to her friend. She found him on the ground, his staff lying several meters away. Leafy loomed over him—and by extension, Gavi, since the two adventurers had been standing only a step away from each other. The orck turned his attention to her.

Gavi gasped as the orck struck, her hands stinging as she barely kept hold of her sword. She was forced backward from the weight of the blow. Leafy kicked Raedren out of the way, then swung at Gavi again. She barely got her sword up in time, only for it to be torn from her hands.

The orck raised its blade. Gavi was wide open.

She cried out as pain erupted in her side, and her legs buckled. Leafy’s sword had scored a long slice down her side and hip. The soft barriers Raedren had cast earlier, as well as Gavi’s own MPB, blunted much of the blow, but it still cut through her armor and touched flesh.

Blood boiled up through the wound as her severed belt sagged. Gavi grabbed it, making sure her holdout crossbow didn’t slip free of the holster on her back. As she landed on her butt, Gavi was certain that if Raedren’s barriers hadn’t been there, she would already be dying.

Not that death was off the table. Leafy lifted his blade overhead to crush her skull like a watermelon.

“
Biné!
” Green bands of mana wrapped around Leafy’s limbs, restraining him. Gavi looked toward Raedren, and found him staggering toward her. He picked up his staff for support and smiled weakly. “Sorry about that. Got disoriented.”

“No problem. Thanks.” Gavi planted her hands on the ground and lifted herself up, pivoting until her feet were under her. Now that the immediate shock had worn off, she realized that her legs could still support her weight. The injury wasn’t actually that bad. It just could have been a lot worse.

Raedren grunted—and then he dashed over to Gavi and raised his staff. A barrier appeared just in time to catch the guard’s attempted ambush. Gavi stifled a gasp.
How can they move so quietly when they’re so large?

Now Raedren was holding both orcks again, with barriers and binds. It was an impressive feat, especially against enemies as powerful as orcks, but Gavi knew it couldn’t last.

She picked up her sword as she rose, her mind spinning with sudden vertigo. She gripped the side of her head. Calling Mazik and the Blue Boar was still an option, but she could hear explosions from inside the camp and could clearly pick out the distinctive glow of Mazik’s spells. If they could come, they would have done so already. Gavi and Raedren would have to deal with this themselves.

Mana the color of an orck’s skin flew at Mazik, crashing into his barriers with an ear-splitting crack. Spells pounded his defenses, but he remained standing, completely unharmed.

“Who the hell
are
you?” snarled Jewels as he charged, mana curling off his right fist. Mazik ducked and stepped back into the tent. His opponent followed.

“That’s what I’d like to ask you.” Mazik drew a second dagger and slashed at Jewels’s chest with both blades. His opponent’s barriers turned them aside, but Jewels backed away, more hesitant now. “How are you working with orcks? I thought they hated all humans.”

Jewels’s lip twisted in a sinister smile. “They do. Don’t worry about that. You’ll be dead soon.”

“Oh man. Seriously?” The other man attacked, forcing Mazik toward the other side of the tent, where the Blue Boar and Red Feathers were fighting. Mazik took the opportunity to lob a spell at the orck. It exploded against her shoulder, giving the Blue Boar an opening to deliver a staggering right cross. “You’re going with clichéd villain dialogue? This is like a bad play. I’ll be dead soon?” Mazik lunged at Jewels, drawing a long cut on his right arm. “Ya wanna bet?”

Jewels opened his mouth, but Mazik didn’t give him a chance to reply. The other man gasped as Mazik buried the heel of his boot in his stomach and shoved him to the ground. Mazik could tell that Jewels was powerful, but not as powerful as he was. Mazik’s robes flapped as he hopped from foot to foot, his grin taunting. “You’re out of shape, old man.”

“I’m not old.” Jewels lunged again, his fist outstretched—and the spell that exploded when he struck Mazik’s barriers temporarily wiped the smile off Mazik’s face, at least.

Mazik flipped one of his daggers into a reverse grip. “So, what’s your plan? If you’re trying to hit all the clichés, you need to monologue.” Mazik heard the material of the tent move behind him, and turned to see Red Feathers running out of the tent. The Blue Boar followed her.
An orck, running? No—don’t underestimate her. She’s one of the smart ones.

“That’s none of your business.”

“Oh, really?” Mazik pointed at the wall of boxes he and the Blue Boar had hidden behind earlier. “Then you won’t mind if I incinerate all those pricey baubles, will you?”

Jewels tensed. Mazik leapt to the first conclusion that came to mind. “Seriously?” he blurted out. “You’re using orcks to
steal?
I’m impressed, as well as astounded, by your stupidity. Couldn’t you live like a king with a bunch of orcks at your beck and call?”

“I will, soon enough.” Mana swirled around Jewels, and he redoubled his assault. It looked like he was trying to force Mazik outside, away from the loot—so Mazik decided to do the opposite. He sidestepped his opponent’s blows, delivering repeated slashes and explosive spells as the other man struggled to keep up.

There was a loud battle cry outside—and then another. Mazik froze, and his blood ran cold.

Jewels sneered. “That was—”

“Shut the fuck up.” Mazik pointed his dagger at Jewels’s face. “
Mazik Blast.
”

While Jewels howled as mana ate away at his barriers, Mazik hurled his extra dagger at the man’s stomach and sprinted for the front of the tent.

The situation was as he had imagined. Red Feathers hadn’t been running from the Blue Boar. She had been running
toward
something.

That something was reinforcements.

On the other side of the clearing, a few paces away from the bonfire, were two orck warriors. They were facing their leader and the Blue Boar, and their weapons were drawn.

Mazik cursed. He had blown out the side of the tent earlier specifically to attract attention. He began kicking himself. “How long can you hold them?” he yelled. “A little more time and I can take this guy down!”

The Blue Boar grunted. “Do what you must.”

Mazik stared at the superhero, then swore again. He should have finished off Jewels instead of talking to him—though to be fair, even with all the hits he had landed, he hadn’t scored a good one past the other man’s defenses.

That wasn’t going to stop him from trying.

“
Mazik Missile Barrage!
” Several bolts of mana slammed into Jewels, one after another curving through the tent’s entrance and striking the man. Jewels shouted a spell, and barriers appeared around him, which lasted until the second-to-last bolt collapsed them.

“G-get them out of here!” sputtered Jewels, scrabbling to hide behind the front flap of the tent.

“Stay inside,” snapped Red Feathers. She turned to her warriors and shouted at them in an unfamiliar language.

That’s odd
, thought Mazik, staring at Jewels. But most of his attention was on the more immediate problem of the orcks bearing down on his ally. Mazik didn’t exactly like the Blue Boar, but the self-proclaimed superhero was facing three orcks by himself, and those weren’t odds Mazik would have wished on his worst enemy.
Well, not most of them.

Mazik hadn’t been wasting time. Another spell was forming in his free hand as he stared at Jewels—and then he spun and aimed at the charging orcks. “Here, let me help you.
Mazik Missile Massacre!
”