Author's Preface
The Draemiran circle closed in, their shields forming an unbroken wall of iron around the small Valorian squad.
"I didn't think you would leave the front lines just to greet me," the Wanderer said, as his eyes scanned for a gap. "I'm flattered."
Skida let out a laugh. "Don't be. I didn't think you would join this cattle, either. But it is definitely a welcome surprise." She gestured to her guards. "Kill the rest. But leave this one alive. I don't mind if he loses a limb or two."
Zeek leaned closer, his eyes locked on the approaching soldiers. "We need to stall," he whispered. "Can you use your magic?"
"We are still within range of the city's Nullstones," the Wanderer muttered back. "I can barely pull off basic tricks. Let me try a different kind of distraction."
As Skida began to turn her mount back toward the tree line, the Wanderer raised his voice, shouting after her. "Hey, Skida! I didn't notice this earlier, but your red hair is really quite unique."
Skida raised a hand, gesturing for her men to halt. She slowly turned her gaze back to him, raising an eyebrow. "Trying to flirt with me now, Draemiran?"
The Wanderer shrugged. "No. I'm not really into cold bitches. But it recently came to my knowledge that only those of the Red Crown lineage carry that distinct color. Am I right, Dragonborn?"
For a second, the smugness vanished from Skida's face. Then, she slowly began to clap. "Bravo, Wanderer. Bravo." She smiled. "But do you honestly think Draemir cares about where you come from? If they did, a stray like you would have never been allowed in our ranks. Draemir acknowledges only strength. And I am above them all."
"True," the Wanderer replied, stepping forward. "Which also explains your pathetic obsession with Valoria. Was the little Red Crown princess mistreated by her family for having a bit of magic?" He tilted his head. "Oh, the misery. Did your noble family disown you?"
Skida’s eyes burned red, her composure cracking. "You know nothing! You don't know how much I suffered at the hands of my own parents! The bastards tried to kill me! Their own-"
"Boohoo," the Wanderer said, rolling his eyes. "Stop, please. I'm going to cry."
Skida forced a sickening grin. "I was planning to make you watch your beloved city crumble to ash first... but you seem too eager to die."
She dismounted her giant war beast and drew her glowing blade.
"Let me fulfill your last wish."
The clash erupted in roar of steel and war cries. In the dense clearing, it was less of a tactical skirmish and more of a slaughter.
The Valorian squad quickly drew into a tight circle, fighting back-to-back to narrow the angles of the Draemiran onslaught. Zeek’s voice cut through the noise, commanding: "Don't break the formation! If someone falls, close the gap immediately! Keep your shields up!"
But the Wanderer was isolated, pushed to the far side of the clearing by the momentum of Skida's charge. Around him, the chaotic noise of battle became indistinguishable cries of pain from both Valorian and Draemiran throats.
Skida rushed him with terrifying speed, her sword cutting a diagonal path through the air. The Wanderer met her flame-engulfed blade with his own sword.
She pressed her weight into the clash, sliding her blade down until their crossguards locked, leaning her face close to his, smiling. "I heard you met someone special in Valoria... Serenya, was it?"
A surge of fury flared in the Wanderer's chest. He channeled a spark of mana, reinforcing his blade upward and throwing her back.
Seizing the brief opening, he gripped his sword with both hands, leaped into the air, and brought his blade down in an overhead strike.
Skida rolled aside and spun on around, slashing a burning cut across his back.
The Wanderer gasped, losing his balance and crashing hard into the dirt.
Skida stood over him. "Once the gates open, I'm sure my men will enjoy her delicate noble body."
Gritting his teeth, the Wanderer pushed himself up and ripped his sword out of the ground. "Touch her, and I will tear you apart."
She chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm not into noble whores." She slowly licked the Wanderer's fresh blood from the steel. "I take my pleasure in different ways."
Knowing he was outmatched, the Wanderer closed his eyes for a fraction of a second. He reached out for the Spiral, pulling mana from the distant walls into his circles.
He channeled the chaotic energy, engulfing his entire body in a swirling shroud of wind.
With a burst of blinding speed, he rushed Skida in a flurry of swift strikes.
Skida barely blocked the first thrust, her eyes widening as he immediately dissolved into a blur of motion. She spun a kick, but the Wanderer dodged it in a blur, reappearing at her flank and sending a sweeping second strike toward her neck.
She snapped her blade up just in time, parrying the blow and shoving his sword aside. The Wanderer let go of his sword entirely. He pivoted on his heel and brought his mechanical arm around in a rising uppercut straight to her chin.
Skida was lifted off her feet, rolling across the dirt before colliding into a nearby tree.
The Wanderer stood up gasping, as the wind magic began to fade. "I remember you being tougher, General," he spat, wiping sweat from his brow. "Is the Moon Dew in your system not letting you draw your precious magic?"
Skida slowly pushed herself up to one knee, spitting blood into the grass.
"Looks like you've learned a few new tricks," She stood up. "The Moon Dew indeed has its limits... but it is still more than enough to crush a maggot."
Skida slammed her palms together, and the earth groaned as stone spears erupted from the dirt, launching themselves at the Wanderer.
Using the last reserves of his flickering mana, the Wanderer surged backward, barely dodging the incoming projectiles. But Skida was already anticipating the move. With a flick of her wrist, the ground beneath his landing point erupted into a bed of stone spikes.
He tried to channel a burst of wind to lift himself higher, but the crushing suppression of the city's Nullstones flared. His control flickered out.
A spike tore through his leg mid-air.
He crashed to the dirt, grunting in pain as Skida slowly retrieved her sword and walked toward him. "You are such a tease," she purred. "Bleed for me."
She launched into a relentless assault, her sword a blur of savage cuts. The Wanderer, pinned to the ground by his ruined leg, was forced to parry desperately, rolling and scraping through the dirt as her blade chipped away at his defenses.
Skida raised her off-hand, channeling an arc of lightning into his chest.
The electrical current surged through his nervous system, throwing his body into seizing. His sword clattered out of his grip, rolling uselessly into the brush.
Skida spun in the air, bringing her blade down in, aimed directly at his right arm.
Refusing to let her take it, the Wanderer gathered every single ounce of mana left within his core, forcing an explosion between them both.
The magical explosion sent a shockwave that blasted both of them backward.
The Wanderer slammed into the dirt, coughing violently. He tried to force himself back up to his feet, but the horrific tear in his thigh buckled under his weight, forcing him back down into the soil.
"You ungrateful bastard!" Skida’s voice shrieked through the settling dust.
He looked up to see her standing a few yards away. The explosion had scorched the left side of her face, her flesh raw and bleeding.
Her blade whistled through the air as she rushed toward him.
The Wanderer raised his left mechanical arm to shield his face. Skida's sword came down with terrifying force, crushing straight through metal plating and slashed violently across the left side of his face.
A horrific scream of agony was ripped from the Wanderer's throat. He collapsed sideways into the dirt, clutching his left eye as blood poured through his fingers.
Skida screamed in madness, as she raised both hands to the sky. She conjured a massive boulder above her head.
The Wanderer was curled on the ground in agonizing pain as he desperately clutched the bleeding ruin of his left eye, his vision spinning in a crimson blur.
"Die!" Skida shrieked, bringing her hands down.
The massive rock plummeted toward the helpless Wanderer.
"Watch out!" Zeek’s voice cut through rumbling sounds.
Out of nowhere, the Valorian captain lunged across the dirt, slamming into the Wanderer’s torso. He threw the Wanderer out of the impact zone, but there was no time for Zeek to save himself.
The colossal boulder crashed down.
The Wanderer blinking through the blood streaming down his face, looked back in horror. Zeek was pinned. The massive rock rested over his lower half, crushing his legs beneath its weight.
"What have you done?!" the Wanderer screamed, dragging himself across the dirt toward the captain. "Why would you do that?!"
Zeek coughed blood, pointing a trembling finger above.
Skida conjured an even larger boulder. "Why won't you just die?" she screamed.
She snapped her wrist down. The monolith fell, not caring for a friend or foe.
For a second, it seemed as if time itself had stopped.
Deep within the Wanderer, the locked gates of the Spiral finally shattered. The volatile, ancient energy surged through his circles like wildfire.
The massive monolith collided with the energy barrier and detonated into a cloud of dust that covered the clearing.
Skida shielded her scorched face, squinting through the haze.
As the dust began to settle, the Wanderer was floating a few feet off the ground, enveloped in a crackling aura of blue. His left eye was closed, but his right eye burned with a terrifying light.
Clutched under his right arm was the unconscious Captain Zeek.
The Wanderer glanced down at the battered captain, a smile breaking through the grit.
"You did your job, captain.
Looks like the cannons are finally charged."