The Wandering Inn_Volume 1, page 125
Erin stumbled backwards and an arrow streaked past her and tore through the middle of Pisces’s robes, just short of his crotch. He looked down, face white and the spell at his fingertips fizzled out.
Gazi was on him in a flash. She punched out again, and Pisces fell down, unconscious before he hit the ground. Then she turned to Erin and smiled again, ignoring the guardsmen as they fanned out behind her.
They weren’t willing to fire with her so close to Erin, or else Kblkch’s threats of what would happen if they did accidentally hit her were keeping them from attacking.
Erin stared at Gazi. She stared at the half-Gazer’s sword. It was covered in blood. Red blood. Drakes and Gnolls both bled the same color. It dripped off the sword and onto the grass.
She looked at Gazi. There was that same smile on her face. Her expression hadn’t changed since the day Erin had saw it. This was of no more event than strolling around for her.
“What are you doing, Gazi?”
Gazi shrugged. Her central eye wasn’t focused on Erin. It was swinging around, showing Erin the whites as Gazi focused on the guardsmen behind her. But all four of her smaller eyes were looking straight at Erin.
“It’s time for me to leave. And I will be bringing both you and Ryoka Griffin with me when I go.”
“Why?”
“You may ask me that when we are gone.”
Gazi’s hand moved. She broke the seal of the scroll she was holding in her other hand with her thumb and unfurled it.
Erin didn’t know what was going to happen. The piece of parchment was glowing with yellow light. She heard Ryoka calling out from far away.
“Stay away from her, Erin. And from me. If she gets us together, we’re gone.”
The other girl pointed at Gazi. She was behind Relc and Klbkch and the line of guardsmen.
“That thing’s a teleportation scroll.”
Gazi flicked her large eye over to Ryoka. She blinked once.
“That is…surprising. Now, how would you know that?”
Ryoka shrugged. Her eyes were fixed on Gazi.
“What else could it be?”
“And you believe staying a few feet away from me will change anything?”
“Unless you plan on teleporting everyone here, I’d say so.”
Ryoka was balanced on the balls of her feet, tense. But Gazi just shook her head.
“Tell me, Ryoka Griffin. Do you think I would have come here if I weren’t confident I could kill all of you? The scroll is simply here for transportation. You two will leave with me. The only question is how long it will take.”
The other girl hesitated. Erin stared at Gazi. She didn’t doubt the half-Gazer would do it. She was a smiling demon. Someone Erin had thought was nice. But now…
Relc had obtained another spear from one of the guardsmen. He twirled it as he spread out, walking towards Gazi’s left while Kblckh took the right side. Other guardsmen moved with them, forming a more complete circle while more Drakes and Gnolls aimed arrows at her head.
“Stay behind us, human.”
Gazi shook her head at them, ignoring the fact that she was now surrounded.
“I will give you one chance, guardsmen of Liscor. Give up on the two humans. None of the wounds I have dealt you so far are fatal. But continue to obstruct me and you will suffer and die.”
Relc flexed his right arm, wincing. The healing potion hadn’t fully worked, Erin noticed. The bleeding had stopped and part of the flesh had regrown, but his movements with it were stiffer.
“Go to hell you five-eyed freak.”
Gazi shrugged and smiled wider.
“Very well.”
She raised her sword and the guardsmen readied their weapons. Klbkch was on one side, Relc on the other. Ksmvr moved up and pushed Erin back, all four of his weapons raised. Olesm and Ceria were crouched near the entrance of the ruins, silent observers.
Rags didn’t move. Pisces was unconscious. Ryoka stood warily behind the row of archers. Erin stared around. Over twenty people all stared at one person, a smiling adventuerer wearing dark armor, holding a sword red with blood.
Gazi raised her sword and spoke into the silence.
“I am Gazi of Reim, Gazi the Omniscient. Advancing.”
For a second all was stillness. Then Erin saw Gazi’s eyes begin to move.
Normally, the half-Gazer had a lidded gaze, like normal humans. But now her eyes opened wide, and seemed to bulge outwards. And move.
Up, down, right, down, left—her eyes – all five of them, were rolling around in their sockets, pupils wildly dilated. Gazi’s central eye flicked in so many directions at once Erin felt sick just watching it.
But Gazi didn’t seem disturbed by the display. She turned, and walked towards Relc, sword raised. She spoke out loud, as if making an observation.
“Fifteen Drakes, five Gnolls. [Guardsman] classes. One [Spearmaster] Drake, and one [Swordslayer] Antinium. A Human [Assassin] in the back.”
Relc’s arms tensed, and his posture lowered for another charge. But Gazi moved first. She flicked her sword at him, a quick movement that had so much power behind it that the blood on her blade flew off in a red shower.
It caught Relc in the face and he jerked back reflexively, cursing and wiping at his eyes. That was enough to leave his side open as Klbkch, Ksmvr, and a Drake rushed at Gazi from the other three cardinal directions.
Gazi smiled and stepped back, into Relc. He cursed and shoved at her, but she took no notice.
One of Klbkch’s swords spun out of his hands and he retreated, a long shallow cut running down his carapace. All four of Ksmvr’s swords clashed harmlessly against Gazi’s armor, as did the Drake’s spear.
Gazi spun and cut Relc in the side just as he managed to wipe the blood out of his eyes. He howled and fell back as the others did.
“Her armor is impenetrable.”
Ksmvr announced this fact as the guardsmen with bows unleashed a shower on Gazi. Erin saw the truth of what he’d said soon enough. Gazi calmly raised her sword and used the broad side to block her face, moving it slightly to catch arrows. Besides that she remained still, and the shafts that struck the rest of her body broke noisily on her rust-colored armor.
Erin covered her face and moved away from Gazi as splinters flew into the air around her. The guardsmen continued the barrage for nearly a full minute before stopping. At the end of it Gazi lowered her sword, completely unhurt.
She was still smiling.
“My Lord gave me this armor that I might walk through the bloody battlefield for him. Your weapons will not pierce it. Nor will you stop me from achieving my goals.”
From her spot behind the archers, Ryoka saw Klbkch and Relc rush at Gazi from behind, Ksmvr only a second slower. This time they timed their movements perfectly, a spear and sword slicing at her head from both directions. But Gazi just dodged Klbkch’s sword and parried Relc’s thrust again, and then cut Ksmvr as he rushed at her. She was still holding the scroll in her other hand.
And then she looked up and smiled at Ryoka.
Gazi appeared in front of Ryoka in a blur of movement. Ryoka threw a punch, but Gazi’s fist streaked past Ryoka’s arm and caught her in a perfect counter.
Ryoka blinked. Suddenly she was lying on the ground, and Gazi was gone. What just—
She pushed herself upright and saw the fallen guardsmen. The row of archers that had been firing at the adventurer to cover the others was gone. Screaming and groaning guardsmen were lying on the ground, arms and legs slashed deeply.
Blood spurted from wounds as they desperately reached for healing potions. Gazi had severed arteries, and the guardsmen had to heal their wounds or die in minutes.
And Gazi was back towards Erin, fighting with the guardsmen again. She was dancing in a whirlwind of blades, smiling and laughing.
Yes, that was it. Dancing. That’s what it looked like. Not a rapid dance or some kind of ridiculous jumping up and down, but a slow dance. Each step she took was deliberate, and every time she swung her sword she either deflected a strike at her face or cut someone around her.
It was a beautiful sight. Beautiful and full of despair for Ryoka. Gazi saw everything as it came at her, from every direction. She ignored feints and knew when something would miss. And she only had to defend her head.
Relc kicked at Gazi’s side and she dodged left before cutting him shallowly down one leg. He was already covered in shallow cuts, as was Klbkch. Gazi wasn’t going for the kill. She was bleeding everyone around her, fighting purely defensively.
And still smiling.
That was purity. That was the height of perfection. If Gazi had been a martial artist she would have been 27th Dan or something. Ryoka knew she had no chance of even hitting her.
She turned to run. Run like a coward to prevent Gazi from teleporting them. But Gazi just turned and raised her sword as if to throw it. Ryoka froze, and Gazi smiled and leaned back to avoid another sword.
She couldn’t even run. Ryoka screamed in her head as she tried to figure out what to do. What could she do? Erin was still staring at the melee, but the other guardsmen were staggering away, too wounded to fight. Only Relc and Klbkch and Ksmvr were left. And then only Relc and Klbkch.
Howling. Ryoka heard it in her mind. She was helpless. She shouldn’t be. She’d practiced self-defense all her life. She’d trained her body. She couldn’t be—
Helpless.
Howling. Ryoka heard it in her mind, growing louder. Then she realized it wasn’t just in her head. She looked around.
A lone voice cut through the clashing of metal on metal and the shouts of those fighting. It was deep, resonant. Ryoka had heard wolves howling, but this was deeper, and somehow far more disturbing.
Wolves howled as a way to communicate; as a way to be social. But this howl was darker. It had emotion in it; black fury and rage that expressed itself in a wild sound that sent chills down Ryoka’s back.
It raised all the little hairs on Ryoka’s neck and sent a chill down her spine. It wasn’t even a conscious thing; the animal noise poked at a primal part of her brain and put fear into it.
No animal howled like that. And as soon as the first howl ended, another voice rose to join it. And another. And another.
Erin covered her ears to stop the terrible noise beating down on her. She looked around wildly. The din had made everyone stop, even Gazi. She paused, and Relc staggered away from her, bleeding from a dozen wounds.
The Gazer tsked in annoyance and frowned in the direction of the city. She shook her head.
“Gnolls. And winter is about to arrive. In about sixteen minutes. Inconvenient. I must move faster.”
She unfurled the scroll wider and pressed her thumb into it. Erin saw an intricate web of tightly-written lines of symbols before Gazi spoke a word and the parchment flashed with light.
“Exus.”
The symbols began to move. They spun and whirled around in a dizzying configuration before forming into a circle. And then the circle fell off the scroll and onto the ground. It formed a ring in the air, a small circle that slowly grew larger.
Gazi turned towards Erin.
“It is time to go.”
Erin couldn’t speak. She didn’t know whether to run or fight or—
An arrow streaked past Erin’s shoulder and Gazi’s sword came up. She caught the black shaft before it struck her eye, but two more flew straight at her face. Gazi cut both down and frowned.
Erin looked behind her. Over a hundred yards away, a group of furry, tall people were loping towards her and Gazi. They were carrying bows, and one of them she recognized.
Krshia led the Gnolls as they howled and ran towards Gazi, a group of fifteen shopkeepers, artisans, and even a tavern owner. But these weren’t the friendly people Erin knew from the city. These Gnolls held massive bows and their eyes glowed with fury. They didn’t speak. They didn’t wait. As soon as they reached bowshot range, the Gnolls began to loose arrows at the Gazer.
Unlike the guardsmen who’d managed a semi-accurate spread when firing on the lone adventurer, the arrows from these Gnolls were all on target. Gazi frowned and her arm blurred as she cut down arrows and dodged backwards swiftly.
“Krshia Silverfang. Your interference in my business was most unwise.”
Krshia snarled at Gazi. She aimed an arrow straight at Gazi’s eyes as she coldly replied.
“Blood for blood. You slaughtered our kin. We will slaughter you.”
“You are welcome to try.”
Krshia’s arrow broke on Gazi’s sword. The Gazer disappeared into the Gnolls and they began falling, bleeding. Dying?
Erin wasn’t sure. All she knew was that Gazi was cutting into people with her sword, letting their blood coat her armor. All as she smiled.
But Gazi’s smile flickered and faded slightly as the Gnolls kept spreading out. She’d cut down the first four Gnolls easily, but now they were firing at her from every angle, she had to dodge and use her sword to deflect the crossfire more actively.
But she was still moving, still unharmed. Gazi slowly crossed the distance to another Gnoll as he fired at her desperately. She stabbed through his bow into his stomach and he fell down, clutching at his insides. Gazi retreated, weaving, and began pursuing her next target.
She was going to kill them all.
Erin didn’t know when she started moving. She only realized it when she’d approached Gazi. Arrows flew by her face, missing her by centimeters, brushing her hair. It was terrifying, and Erin knew any second she could be struck. But she kept walking.
Two steps. And then three. A flash of fire burned her right arm and she realized she’s been cut by a projectile. It didn’t matter.
Gazi was moving away from her, walking towards Krshia among the storm of arrows. Erin stopped in front of her, shivering as she saw Gazi cutting down blurred shapes as they sped towards her head.
But now Gazi seemed to be blocking the ones flying at Erin too. She smiled at Erin, as if on the verge of laughter.
“And what will you do now that you are here, Erin?”
Erin punched at Gazi’s face. The half-Gazer’s arm came up as she swung to deflect another arrow and seemed to just coincidentally knock Erin’s arm away.
Klbkch charged out of the grass, ignoring an arrow as it struck him in the back. He raised a sword in both hands. Gaiz pivoted to block and bodily checked Erin, hard enough to knock her into the ground. She stepped on Erin’s arm as the girl tried to rise and ignored the cry of pain.
“Distance and numbers mean nothing to my eyes, Erin.”
Ryoka saw Erin rolling away after Gazi stepped away from her. The innkeeper was cradling her arm. It didn’t look broken, but she didn’t get up and attack Gazi again. Of course not. What would be the point?
Klbkch fell down at last when Gazi clubbed him with the pommel of her sword. The Gnolls were still firing, but the portal she’d opened was now nearly head-height. Ryoka could see into it. It was some sort of tunnel, ringed by spinning symbols and flashes of colors she couldn’t name. And on the other side was grass. Not the grass from around here, but different grass. Shorter. Thicker leaves. Drier soil; a harsher landscape.
It was definitely a portal. And Gazi was going to drag Erin and Ryoka into it.
She advanced towards Ryoka, still deflecting arrows as if her sword was an umbrella. She called out to Ryoka as she approached.
“You are worth far less than she, but perhaps you will be worth the wait.”
Again. It was the same damn feeling. Gazi laughed as she dodged and parried attacks from every direction and angle.
It was so unfair.
“Two for the price of one, as my lord would say it.”
Ryoka backed up, but Gazi flicked an arrow and pain exploded across Ryoka side.
“Don’t move. I need you, but healing potions can mend much.”
She had to have a weakness. Ryoka clutched at the arrow that had buried itself in her stomach and tried not to scream. Gazi was arrogant. She—she wasn’t even fighting seriously. Relc was the…the only one who could really challenge her, and she’d taken him out in the first seconds.
She had to have a weak spot. Her eyes. Without her eyes she’d be—
Gazi stepped in front of Ryoka. She caught the leg as it flashed towards her face.
“A good kick.”
Then she kicked back and Ryoka woke up on the ground next to the portal. She felt sick. She tried to stand and realized her arms and legs weren’t working properly. She shook as she pushed herself onto her knees and looked around.
Gazi stood over Ceria, sword drawn. Olesm was a collapsed heap next to her, unmoving. Over half of the Gnolls were lying still on the ground and the other ones had stopped firing. Because Gazi’s sword was at Ceria’s throat.
“Why wait? Why, if you knew I was alive?”
The half-Elf was asking Gazi a question. Ryoka tried to reach out to her, but her body was failing. Broken. She felt dizzy and the world kept going black in places. She barely heard what Gazi said.
“So it would hurt most of all, of course.”
Ryoka blinked and suddenly she was staring into the dirt. She’d fallen? Fallen down. She pushed herself up. She couldn’t fight. But Ceria. She couldn’t let her die either.
“Know that I keep my promises.”
Gazi raised the sword high over Ceria’s head. She raised her other hand and caught Erin as the other girl lunged at her.
“Do it—”
Gazi looked at Ryoka. The Runner croaked and tried to form proper words. Her mind was spinning.
“Do it and I’ll kill myself. Bite my tongue off. You won’t have me and Erin.”
The adventurer shrugged.
“One is still better than two. And I doubt you have the courage for that, Ryoka Griffin.”
She grabbed Erin by the throat, lifting her up. The portal was large now, spinning in the air, eight feet by eight feet wide. It was humming, a deep sound that Ryoka could feel in her bones. And it was—collapsing? Flares of color were emerging from around the spinning symbols. It was about to end.
Krshia lifted her bow as Gazi lifted Erin up. The girl’s feet kicked feebly.
“We will see her die before letting you take her.”
