Emil

  He was in the presence of a legendary creature.

  It possessed the body of a lion, the wings of dragons, the tail of scorpions, and the disfigured visage of the Gharian man named Nasir.

  A manticore.

  Nasir’s transformation was a being of mythology. The manticore was a feared monster that originated from the oral traditions of the Saar. They were said to be intelligent and ferocious man-eaters, capable of mimicking human voices, and fabled to hold connections to demons and devils. In the desert folklores, it was often portrayed as a creature of calamity.

  And now such a beast was standing right before his eyes.

  It’s as hideous as it is calamitous.

  It became apparent why Nasir was so powerful without shapeshifting. The manticore’s mythos was enshrouded by its disturbing form and unparalleled strength. Nasir had both in spades.

  The transformation appeared to have restored some of the damage dealt in their earlier bouts. But the new flesh on his body retained its boiling texture. Portions of his skin stayed black, having been scorched thoroughly from extended exposure to Blaze. The incision that Emil drew across his face had stopped bleeding, but a nasty red welt remained. Not that it changed much—the horrific disfigurement of his mouth had already made him difficult to look at. Another cut changed little.

  “You possess two Gifts,” Nasir declared, uttering his first words since the beginning of this conflict.

  His voice came out in low drawl. It echoed with a strange disembodied dissonance as though the sound was a mimicry and terrible replication of what he really sounded like. Was it an effect of his new manticore form, or was it due to the damage to his mouth?

  “And what if I did?” Emil responded arrogantly.

  The Gharian shapeshifter was buying time. The serrated flesh across his body was slowly being mended back. Wounds closed, the bleeding staunched, color to burnt skin regained. Emil seized the chance to analyze his opponent’s new form. His eyes scanned Nasir’s body, trying to understand the physiology of this mythical being while probing for weaknesses in its armor. The manticore’s skin was coated in a layer of mana. It would act like a shield with a dampening effect on his flames.

  He needed to understand the characteristic of this mana layer. Flaws. How to exploit it. How to bypass the defenses. The most efficient way to find out was to attack.

  “Incinerate!”

  Blaze surged forth like a tidal wave, producing a scorching inferno that threatened to swallow Nasir whole. The Zal’Khari pulled back his manticore shoulders as he sucked in air. A sickly caustic stream of energy erupted out of his jaws. The two phenomena collided. A nauseating sizzle cackled from the interaction of the two attacks. Heat rose. Acidic fumes expunged into the vicinity. The fallen bodies of Zal’Khari and Dhazara warriors caught in the fumes immediately began to disintegrate.

  I don’t know if I can defend against that.

  Blaze managed to keep the acid at bay for now. Emil shrouded his body in a thin layer of stone. Not enough to inhibit his mobility, but just enough to give him a second or two of buffer incase the acid made contact with his skin.

  Nasir suddenly twisted his body. The motion was violent, and it took Emil a second to realize what was happening. The large stinger at the manticore’s rear flew at him like a flail. The tail tracked low to the floor, leaving a trail of toxins in its wake. Already a step behind, Emil was forced to jump.

  Nasir instantly pounced.

  Emil was still in the air, having barely arrived at the apex of his careless attempt to evade the tail swing. The manticore’s claws loomed. They gleamed, sharp as steel, quivering with anticipation. It only took a glance for Emil to discard the option of taking the hit. Even if he managed to protect his vitals, the claws would be lethal. The combined strength of the manticore and the sharpness of the claws would bisect him in half.

  He raised his palms in front of him instead.

  “Combust!”

  The air popped. A spontaneous ignition of Blaze detonated before his chest. The force blast briefly slowed Nasir’s advance. But it was the opposing force that shot Emil backwards. The claws shredded the air as he crashed into the ground.

  “Ack!”

  He landed. Hard. The uneven earth stabbed into his back, drawing blood. The rough landing dazed him and the air was knocked out of his lungs as he struggled to regain control. But Nasir wouldn’t give him a chance to breathe.

  Still heaving, Emil punched the ground. The earth shook, inundated with a burst of mana as he poured his will into the phenomenon. A massive stone projection in the shape of a knuckle sprung up. The projection smashed into the manticore’s left flank. Nasir’s body was yanked to the side, knocked off balance by abrupt assault.

  Another!

  A second projection erupted on the manticore’s right this time. But Nasir was ready this time. He carried his momentum from the earlier and lashed out with his tail. The massive stingers cleaved the bottom of the stone projection, severing the knuckle at the wrist. Suddenly deprived of its base, the stone projection went wide as it soared above the manticore.

  “Damocles!”

  Emil seized the flying fragment mid-air and pulled it down. Reinforced by gravity, the fragment plunged with vengeance.

  Unexpectedly, Nasir lunged. Claws bared. Jaws opened. Spittle drooled. The Zal’Khari made no efforts to dodge as though content with the inevitability of being hit. Instead, he opted for mutual destruction, betting on the durability of his transformation to let him deliver his desperate attack.

  What a nasty bastard.

  Emil sneered, unable to hide his begrudging respect.

  Time seemed to slow as his mind raced to calculate the next course of action. He knew for certain that he would not survive a direct hit from the manticore even with Bulwark’s protection. There was also no time to debate if Damocles would be sufficient to incapacitate Nasir and stop his assault. Emil didn’t have a proper understanding of the manticore’s defenses yet.

  Dodge? Or meet his attack head-on?

  He was drawn to the latter. He had worked so hard to seize the initiative and he refused to relinquish it just because he was scared.

  Emil was about to conjure another stone projection when a sudden spike of mana stole his attention. The change was immediate as the ambient mana abruptly grew violent. And the direction didn’t come from Nasir.

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  A third party?

  He snuck a glance in his periphery in the direction of the interloper. It was a figure slumped by the walls of the subterranean chamber. A person who had been knocked out of the battle since the beginning of his violence encounter with the Zal’Khari.

  Inaya.

  The Dhazara woman’s hands were extended, mana spiraling chaotically in her palms. She was a mess. Her visage was bathed in blood, the streaks crawling down from the incision dug across her forehead. She didn’t look long for this world. With a vengeful glare, she mouthed something familiar.

  Emil retreated.

  Nasir must have also noticed it too as he tried to pull back his assault. But Damocles was about to land. In the last second, he undid his transformation. His monstrous form shrank back to a human. The stone fragment landed inches in front of him, exploding into a rain of shrapnel.

  Inaya’s Mana Blast fired.

  The air appeared to freeze for a split second before azure light flooded the area. Emil closed his eyes at the blinding radiance. Bulwark materialized barricades to protect himself from the scalding radiation. His ears rang at the high-pitch hum as the massive burst of mana was expelled. Was the attack meant for Nasir? Or was her target the both of them? He couldn’t decipher Inaya’s intentions in her final moments. All he knew was that her last attack had missed the mark.

  Smoke fumed. A trail of ruined earth was left in the aftermath. For a moment, the insanity of the subterranean chamber ceased—forcefully drawn to a lull by the devastating blast. As expected, Nasir had evaded the attack.

  Emil readied himself to resume their fight until he noticed Nasir’s expression. The Zal’Khari’s attention was drawn to the other side of the subterranean chamber. Something was off. What could have made the strongest enemy Exalted in this cavern look away?

  Inaya’s attack had left a fissure in the far wall.

  The ground stirred with violence. The fissures rapidly expanded, cracking like fragments breaking away from shattered glass. A commotion erupted. Slaves and Zal’Khari warriors alike were suddenly in a panic. Then, a thunderous shriek pierced the air.

  Emil winced, covering his ears, watching with morbid curiosity as the wall continued to fall apart. Finally, he saw it.

  He couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity before his eyes.

  I guess that’s why there’s no sandworms near this Azurite mine.

  Liesel

  “Basar, I need you on one of those towers!” Nabil ordered.

  Basar, the Dhazara Exalted whose Gift bestowed him with enhanced sight, begrudgingly climbed up one of the hastily repaired watchtowers. The wooden stairs creaked with each of the man’s steps while the tower itself swayed precariously from the man’s weight. By Liesel’s estimations, a single strong gust from the Saar would be enough to topple the structure.

  At least he’ll likely survive with his Exalted constitution if he falls.

  She turned her attention to the rest of the encampment. Dhazara warriors were scattered around the perimeter, busy restoring the barricades and fortifications that had been destroyed during the initial raid. Meanwhile, Nabil had materialized a few stone golems to watch over the Zal’Khari slaves. The stone constructs trudged around with vigilance, encircling the terrified slaves. Occasionally, they would stomp violently as though to remind the slaves how easily they could be crushed. The arbitrary aggression kept the group obedient.

  “Why not put them to work instead of terrorizing them?” Liesel had asked earlier.

  “Too much chaos. I don’t want our order to be disrupted and there’s always the risk that one of them could escape. As long as they don’t revolt, that’s one less thing for me to worry about.”

  Liesel was starting to understand Nabil’s disposition. The leader of Dhazara was a cunning and intelligent man. He enjoyed control. He detested chaos and randomness. He reminded her of her father.

  She clicked her tongue at the irritating resemblance as she turned towards the entrance of the Azurite mine. About thirty minutes had passed since Emil and Kai were sent in with Inaya to investigate the inside of the cavern. Should they have been out by now? Liesel had no clue.

  Nabil separated us on purpose. He might have had an inkling that we were planning to escape during the chaos of the raid.

  They never found an opportunity to do so since the Zal’Khari resistance was much weaker than expected. Now, Liesel was left to debate their next course of action while praying that her two classmates were going to be okay.

  She wasn’t the only one who was restless. Anna had been pacing back and forth in front of the entrance nonstop. The rabid expression on her face was becoming distressing to gaze at and she was biting on her nails to cope with the anxiety. Liesel asked her to stop once, but one terrifying glare was enough for her to hold her tongue.

  Footsteps suddenly echoed from the mine entrance.

  Liesel and Anna both held their breaths in anticipation. They instinctively dropped a combat stance in case the interlopers were Zal’Khari. To their relief, it was two Dhazara warriors who emerged.

  “Where’s Nabil?! I need to make a report!”

  Emil and Kai, however, never appeared.

  “Where’s our friends?!” Liesel asked, panicked and confused. Myriad questions surged in her head as she considered the worst-case scenarios.

  “We found the rest of the Zal’Khari deep inside. The others are using the opportunity to ambush and cull their numbers. I need Nabil to provide reinforcements!” the Dhazara warrior said as he pushed past her.

  They’re fighting inside?!

  Anna was already moving towards the mine entrance. Liesel quickly grabbed her wrist before she could activate Volt.

  “Let go!”

  “Wait! We should—”

  “What? Wait for Nabil’s permission?!” Anna snapped at her, incredulous, “That bastard would rejoice if we all ran in and fought his war for him. I’m going in to help. You can stay here and—”

  Anna never got to finish her thought.

  Thud!

  The entire encampment went silent at the noise. Liesel turned around.

  Basar was lying on the ground. His limbs were twisted in unnatural angles, having apparently fallen off of the top of the watchtower. A steel bolt protruded out of his neck.

  The sudden death forced her to look up.

  A battalion of Zal’Khari stood above the sand dune encircling the perimeter of the encampment. A tall man covered in tattoos towered at the vanguard. A dreadful aura radiated from his presence. In his hands were the heads of several Dhazara warriors who had been positioned to scout for enemies.

  “Zal’Khari assault! Rakan is here!” someone finally had the presence of mind to yell.

  As if a taut string had been cut loose, the entire encampment suddenly sprang into action. Nabil’s stone golem rushed into the position as a rain of bolts and arrows came down from the Zal’Khari reinforcements. The stone constructs used their rock bodies as a shield against the projectiles to buy time for the Dhazara to regroup.

  Liesel and Anna hunkered down by the entrance of the cavern, observing the situation.

  “This is it. This is our opportunity,” Anna said, eyes frantically darting around, “We can escape right now.”

  “Are you out of your mind? What about Emil and Kai?”

  “We join them inside the cavern.”

  Liesel had to fight the urge to smack her on the head. “And then what? Nabil has no chance. The Zal’Khari will have seized control of the mine. We’ll be trapped inside the caves even if we manage to regroup with them.”

  “There could be another exit. If not, Emil could probably dig us out with Bulwark.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. He might be Steiger, but he’s not a god,” Liesel spat, growing increasingly annoyed with her friend’s stupidity, “We know nothing about the inside of the caverns. You’re betting on something foolish that you know nothing about. On the other hand, I do know with certainty that we’re damned if the Zal’Khari retake the encampment.”

  “Then what do we do?!”

  Liesel watched the battlefield. The Dhazara were vastly outnumbered, but the difference was being made up by Nabil’s stone golems. The constructs held firm at the vanguard, minimizing the damage of the initial bombardment. The Zal’Khari forces seemed to relent to approach the stone golems. Nabil’s Gift must have been well-known in the Saar. It was effectively a stalemate for now, but the Zal’Khari were in full control while the Dhazara were pinned down.

  “We help the Dhazara obviously,” Liesel stated plainly.

  “I rather puke to be perfectly honest.”

  Liesel shot Anna a glare. “Don’t be difficult. You and I both know we don’t have a choice. We’re Ardairans. The Zal’Khari will slaughter us if given the chance.”

  The mana in the air turned violent. Liesel faced the source of the turbulence. Rakan. The leader of the Zal’Khari lifted his hands towards the sky. A storm of mana surged at his beckoning. Out of the blue light, a towering figure emerged.

  Ten feet tall. Gigantic. At a glance, the colossal creature resembled a bipedal humanoid. But it possessed the head of a jackal adorned with a vibrant headdress that radiated a divine hue. Its humanoid body was bare chested with the sunbaked skin of Gharians while its lower half was shrouded in some sort of chain mail.

  Liesel’s mind trembled. The density of mana in the vicinity alone was intoxicating, much less the pressure exuded by the insanity in front of her.

  Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.

  She let out an exasperated giggle. She felt her sanity slipping, her mind seeking refuge within the verges of hysteria. In the midst of her shock, she overheard the cries of the Dhazara warriors regrouped in the encampment.

  “New detached force of Zal’Khari attacking the left flank! Heavily armed and advancing fast!”

  And it only gets worse.

  A sudden ambush on the left flank.

  And the apparent descent of a god at the front.