Firebrand

Spells in the Dark

Already, the other spellcaster raised a stone from the street and hurled it through the air. Diving to the ground, Martel evaded it. Face to face with the unconscious Tibert, he moved to take cover behind his body. Martel assumed the mage would not risk killing her employer.

The earth shook underneath him. A mound rose into the air, with Martel rolling down one side and Tibert the other, separating them. So much for that plan.

His enemy changed tactics. Rather than the slow moving rocks, she raised her hand. A ray of blue frost shot from her fingertip to strike the mound behind which Martel lay. She slowly approached, finger poised for another attack, aimed at his position.

Retreat. Hide in the dark. Already, the light from the street barely reached him. Jumping to his feet, Martel ran deeper down the alley, hoping to vanish from sight. Another ray of frost shot past him just as he turned the corner. He continued, moving down the back alley that ran parallel to the street. He only stopped once he was certain that he could not be seen in the dark, and he turned around. Closing his eyes, he let his magic sense what lay ahead until he felt the heat of a person moving around the same corner as he had just moments before.

He had the advantage of surprise. The only question was how to attack. She expected ranged magic, more bolts of fire or blasts of wind. Best to do the unexpected. Martel drew his dagger and took a step forward.

A thin, blue line shot out to strike him in the stomach. Despite his clothes, he felt as if the very warmth of life had been sucked out of him. Panicking, his eyes still closed, he summoned the bright light as he had before, using one of his two remaining spells before he went into exhaustion.

The distraction worked. As he stumbled to the side, her next frost attack missed him. He extinguished the light, lacking the spellpower to keep it burning.

How had she known where to strike at him in the dark? He could not believe she had the ability to sense his body heat as he did against her. She was an earthmage, after all.

The answer came to Martel. When he had moved, his foot had touched the ground. She could sense movements through the earth.

Martel threw his dagger down several paces away. Another blue ray came immediately where his weapon had landed.

Before she could recover, Martel lunged at her, igniting his hands with fire to use as a weapon. He grabbed her wrist with one hand, missing the other. He tried to head-butt her, but failed as well. Fear and fury took hold of him in equal measure as the fire surrounding his skin increased in intensity.

In response, ice formed upon her skin to meet his flames as they struggled in a purely physical fight, all tactics and clever spells forgotten in the moment where desperate survival hung in the balance.

A pair of metal knuckles upon a fist came flying to strike the earthmage in the back of her head. She sank to her knees, and Sigrid gave her another blow. Groaning, the female wizard did not resist as Sigrid wrapped a golden chain around her neck.

The brawler looked at Martel as the fire surrounding his hands slowly subsided. "Thanks for being a lighthouse," she grinned. "Led me right to you. Hey, you mind creating some more light?" she asked as his disappearing flames threatened to leave them in the dark. "Would be a shame if we got lost on the thirty paces back to the others."

~

Appearing back on the street, Martel saw the fight had ended. Tibert sat on the ground, conscious again and under guard by Wolfram, who looked injured but standing. Kerra was present as well; she must have found a way around the earthen wall that separated them in the first place.

"Still in one piece," she expressed as she saw Martel appear. "That gladdens my heart." She looked past him to watch Sigrid arrive with the earthmage. "You took her alive. Good."

"It wasn't hard," the brawler claimed. "Our boy here almost had her by himself, but I figured I'd step in and speed things up."

"What will happen to me?" asked the mage.

"You will return to the Night Knives as a witness of what has happened tonight. I expect besides being paid compensation for letting you live, your company will refrain from further attacks upon any in my employ," Kerra demanded. "In return, I will not seek retribution for my dead, given that you suffered more."

Martel looked down the street where the darkness hid the bodies of the slain.

"My captain will find that acceptable, I am sure," the mage declared.

"Can I be included in that surrender?"

Everyone whipped around towards the speaker as he emerged from between buildings, a Night Knife warrior without boots or socks. Blinking, Martel realised it was the man he had fought in the beginning, setting his footwear on fire.

Kerra raised an eyebrow at seeing his bare feet. "Sure. Double the compensation."

The warrior nodded, looking relieved as he joined the earthmage.

Martel was glad that the fighting had ended, but he also felt strange. Moments ago, he had tried to kill this wizard, as she had tried to kill him. Same with the warrior. Now they stood without hostility, as if they had never been enemies. Lastly, he also felt angry at Kerra for letting them walk into this ambush.

"As for you…" The Copper Lady turned her attention on Tibert, who raised his head. "Not a bad plan. Isolate me to ensure the Pact was kept and kill my people for your revenge, including my Copper Mage."

Martel disliked how she phrased that last statement, but he kept quiet. With the emotions of the fight gone, he felt the sting of his wound on his stomach; besides that, he was tired and parched.

"Just get on with it. Slit my throat and be done," the grizzled veteran growled.

Kerra smiled. "I suppose I could get away with killing you down here, where none would know. As long as I killed the other witnesses as well." She glanced at the Night Knife wizard, who shuddered. "The only problem is that none would know. And I want everybody, including the Nine Lords, to be aware of how I bested you."

"Always talk, never action from you," Tibert sneered.

"Here I am, being merciful and even escorting you back to the surface, and this is the gratitude I'm shown." She gave a dramatic sigh. "Very well. I'll do it regardless. Come along. Let's get back to the city."

Tibert got on his feet, and the small band set into motion, continuing down the path back towards The Copper Drum. Incredulous at the thought that after everything, Kerra would simply let Tibert leave, Martel followed along.