Touch of Fate 131 An Aerial Exhibition

[They need some kind of direction, or else they will be more of a liability than an asset.] He thought to himself as he dodged around a trio of male finance students who were desperately trying to take cover under a table.

It was at that point, that the rough, male voice of the Headmaster overwhelmed the noise of the crowd.

"Students and faculty! We are under attack by an unknown enemy. Until help is able to arrive, you will need to defend yourselves. Members of the Martial Arts department, you are our vanguard. Protect the other students. Mages, do what you can to support them. Everyone else, grab whatever weapon is available to you and ready yourself."

[Well that works, I suppose.]

Mike broke free from the remnants of the mist, and was immediately faced with an entire squad of hostile soldiers, approximately twenty in number. Dressed in suits of banded mail and carrying a variety of weapons, they were moving in a disciplined, although loose, formation. Red tabards covered their torsos, with the emblem of a white stag's head emblazoned upon it.

The soldiers stared at him for a second, obviously confused by his disguise. This gave him all time he needed to close in on them and cut his way into their ranks.

Falling into the Roaring Flame stance, he stabbed forward into the leading soldier, catching him between two plates on his armor. While the man was falling backwards, Mike ran up his torso, wrenching his sword free in time to deliver a powerful overhead blow on the next enemy which nearly cut him in half.

The soldiers had finally started to react by the time he had landed. One of them, who looked to be in charge of the group, started yelling.

"What in the hells?! Surround him, don't let him get away."

Mike deflected a blow from some kind of poleaxe, and was about to counterattack when he was forced to dodge a sword blow aimed at his chest.

'Watch it! He's a slippery one." One of the soldiers yelled as he attempted to impale him with his spear. They had formed a circle around Mike, making it necessary to continuously avoid and parry their attacks.

[Alright, I think I've had enough of playing fair.]

Closing his eyes, and summoning a small burst of mana, he released a blast of intense Light Magic, momentarily blinding his enemies. While they were still crying out and reeling, he dispatched another four with quick, efficient strikes.

Just like that, the encirclement was broken, allowing him to begin devastating the visually impaired soldiers from behind. In a matter of seconds the squad had been reduced to a pile of corpses.

He took a deep breath to quell a sudden trembling in his hands. Despite the cultists he had killed in the cavern beneath Wyrport and the assassins he'd dispatched on a few minutes ago, annihilating the soldiers disturbed him slightly.

In the novels he'd read in his past life, the main characters often had to kill another human. While there reactions varied, typically it proved to be a traumatic experience for them. Although there was a portion them, the sociopathic antiheroes that had come to dominate a large section of modern fiction, which were able to kill with impunity from the very beginning.

That he was only feeling some minor discomfort was slightly concerning.

[Maybe one of my skills is preventing me from suffering the emotional consequences of killing humans.]

Five simultaneous roars split the sky and awakened him from his ruminations. Looking up, he saw large, winged shapes were descending from above.

For a second Mike could only stare blankly, since he felt like he was looking at a quintet of flying cats. A quick Appraise filled him in.

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Ateshan Chimera

Age: 12

Race: Lesser Chimera

Class: Bound Chimera

Title: Tamed Beast

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[So I can safely assume it's a chimera. A little plain though.]

The creatures looked pretty much like winged lions, although they were a reddish color, reminiscent of dried blood. Indeed, the only really remarkable thing about them was their size. With roughly 15m wingspans and bodies the size of small cars, the chimeras would have been quite terrifying to most normal people. Although, Mike was not impressed.

[A little scary I guess, but the others should be able to take care of them.] He thought to himself as continued towards the airship.

As the chimera approached the struggling mass of students, however, he noticed a detail that had originally escaped him. They had riders, who promptly started dropping spherical objects into the milling group. Fearing that they might be some kind of weapon, he focused a portion of his dwindling mana reserves into summoning a powerful blast of wind.

The spheres were pushed away from the students and landed on the far side of the earthen barricade. Mike expected an explosion, but instead saw a burst of green smoke over the top of the wall. Judging from the screams of the disguised servers, which started soon afterwards, the spheres contained a slightly more insidious threat.

He sent another mental message, this time with more urgency. They desperately needed air supremacy.

[Looks like I need to take care of these things now, or they are going to decimate the students.]

Summoning the remaining dregs of his mana, Mike prepared to launch himself in the direction of the flying monsters, but stopped when he saw one of the chimeras cut from the air by a trio of nearly invisible wind blades. The other four backed off, and started circling the crowd warily.

[Nevermind, looks like Tal has this under control.]

"Matthew! You bastards!" A harsh female voice yelled.

Looking over, he saw a group of soldiers dragging a familiar, platinum blonde student towards the airship. She was bound with a rope lined with glowing arcane runes, and slung over the shoulder of a particularly muscular man. Tears were streaming down her face as she struggled futilely to get free. Following her gaze, Mike saw a trio of crumpled human forms lying on the ground nearby.

He had started running towards the group of soldiers, when Andrea looked over at him. After a brief moment of shock, she nodded at the bodies with an imploring look. "Please, help him!"

"Shut up!" One of her captors yelled while cuffing her. Her head bounced against the steel plated armor of the soldier who was carrying her, and she sagged noticeably.

Gritting his teeth, Mike changed direction to the group of still forms. He would honor her wishes, even if it might lead to her capture. When he got close, he recognized the royal twins' bodyguards as two of the still forms lying on the ground. Judging from their wounds and the open, staring eyes, they were beyond his help.

The third turned out to be the princess's twin, Matthew Almir. He had been gutted by a massive blow that had nearly cut him in half. Torn entrails and blood coated the ground around the young prince, but the shallow rise and fall of his chest betrayed a small spark of life yet remaining.

It was a critical injury, one that would have meant death under normal circumstances. Luckily for the prince, he happened to run into one of the few people on the continent qualified to save him.

Mike kneeled down next to the stricken youth, pulled another mana potion out, and downed it. He reached out with a hand, already channeling mana, and laid his palm on the prince's chest. In his concentration he felt a feeble grip on his arm, and glanced up to see Matthew looking at him with clear, imploring eyes.

He was trying to say something, but couldn't issue more than a whisper. Since it was going to take a few moments for him to finish the healing anyway, Mike leaned over and listened.

"Save…..Andrea…..please….." Came the hoarse, breathless words.

Mike sighed, "Yes, yes. I get it. You're good, loving siblings who each want the other to be saved first. I was planning on heading there next, so just relax."

The prince gave a strained smile, before his eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed back onto the ground.

Once Matthew's injuries had closed, and his life was no longer in any danger, Mike stopped his spell. He didn't have the mana to spend on bringing the man back to full strength. Standing back up, he nearly stumbled when a wave of vertigo swept over him.

This was starting to be a little too much for Mike to handle on his own. Almost as if on cue, a mental message reached him.

Grin forming under his mask, Mike thought to himself. [Its about time. Let's see if the bad guys planned for this.]

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Andrea opened her eyes, and immediately regretted it when a debilitating dagger of agony stabbed into her brain. Squinting in agony, she waited for the pain and sudden burst of nausea to abate. Once her head had cleared enough to look around, she determined she was on the deck of ship of some kind. Only there were no sails.....

The airship!

Memories flooded her mind, and she recalled the events of the last few minutes. Her breath caught in her throat, and she felt hot tears begin welling in her eyes.

Her brother had been disemboweled in front of her, and she was powerless to do anything about it. She couldn't even struggle as the Tennundian soldiers carried her away, leaving him bleeding on the ground.

[Some magical genius. I couldn't even protect Matthew from a bunch of armored brutes.] Andrea thought bitterly.

Wait.....There was something else, right before she blacked out. A vague image of a man in a crimson cloak formed in her mind. She tried to concentrate on it, but was interrupted by an arrogant male voice.

"Ah, it seems our sleeping princess is finally awake. I apologize for the rough treatment, but I'm sure you know how hard it is to get good help these days."

She wrenched her neck in the direction of the voice, already recognizing its owner. "Wendel, you bastard! You'll pay for this. I won't rest until I see each and every one of you traitorous monsters hang."

"My, my, my. That's hardly refined behavior, princess. I expected better of you." He clicked his tongue mockingly, "Well, no matter, we have what we came for."

He turned towards a short haired woman, dressed in plate armor. "Have the handler's release the beasts, and then tell the captain its time to depart."

"What about the rest of the soldiers?" The woman asked uneasily.

"If they haven't made it back by the time we're ready to depart, leave them. They understood the risks when they volunteered for this mission, and we can't delay. The royal guard should be here any time now, and we can't afford to tangle with them."

"Ha, that's right! The royal guard will hunt you to the ends of the Ea for this. You will never again know peace, Wendel." Andrea broke in viciously.

He looked over her and frowned, before motioning to a nearby soldier. "Drag her over here. I want to make sure she sees this next bit."

Andrea was roughly manhandled into a standing position near the railing.

With a smug smile, Wendel began monologuing, "You may be wondering why I chose to take you alive. Well, the answer is quite simple. As we speak, agents positioned near your older siblings are putting an end to this undeclared civil war, in the most permanent way possible. And since your twin is probably cooling in a pile of his own viscera and excrement, this means you will be the heir to the throne of Almir by default."

A red haze descended over her eyes, as she was filled with rage. "Monster...when I get out of these bonds, I'm going to tear you apart!"

Wendel gave her a backhand slap which would have sent her spinning to the floor, if not for the soldier holding her up.

"This is what I get for trying to be polite, I suppose. You are lucky the Tennundians want you unharmed. Of course, that will probably only extend until the wedding."

She felt her heart freeze. "Wedding?"

"I thought that might get your attention. Yes, the Duke of Tennundi seems to think that by marrying you, he will be able to use your claim to legitimize his rule of Almir. Once they've conquered it, of course." He said offhandedly, while frowning at something going on in the chaos below.

With a start, Andrea realized the airship had already taken off, and they were slowing raising into the air.

"On second thought, he might not have you killed until after you've given birth. A child of both bloodlines would certainly improve his claim." He continued thoughtfully.

Tears filled her eyes again, as she fought back against the crushing despair that was threatening to consume her.

"It looks like the fight's still going. I have to admit, that I'm surprised by the level of resistance those spoiled brats are putting up. Not that it matters. I paid good money for a squad of Ateshan Death Wings. Even if the students manage to defend themselves from their Ruination Globes, the Deathspeaker will put an end to this fight. In fact, he should nearly be done with the ritual....."

There was a wave screams from the students, as something took place on the ground below.

"Ah, there we go."

[Isn't there anything I can do to stop this madman. Isn't there anyone...]

Suddenly the image of a masked figure entered her mind. The figure she'd seen emerging from the mist just a few minutes ago. She'd nearly forgotten.

Chuckling to herself, Andrea spoke quietly to the would-be victor. "You've planned this quite well. It looks like you've thought of everything."

"Done with the anger already? Or has this broken you? I thought the royal family would have been made of sterner stuff." Wendel replied with a scoff.

"But you didn't plan for the return of a legend." She continued with a smirk.

"I fail to see where you are going with-"

A roar shattered the battlefield. A roar that filled the milling combatants of both sides with a primal fear they didn't understand, but simply felt in the animalistic parts of their minds that governed the most base of emotions. A roar that told them they were in the presence of a superior lifeform.

As one they turned their gazes to the sky.

A red streak, moving faster than the eye could see, swept past two of the chimera, sending them spiraling to the ground, bodies shattered by the force of barely perceived attacks. Although, no one paid attention to the fallen monsters.

Silence descended on the battlefield, as all attention was drawn to the majestic creature that was hovering in the air with seemingly effortless strokes of its massive wings.

The two remaining chimera were the first to respond, turning tail and fleeing despite the commands of their riders, overwhelmed by an instinctual fear. However, they didn't get far, as the dragon took a deep breath and enveloped them in a cloud of scorching fire.

"Impossible!" Wendel yelled, hands gripping the railing, knuckles whitening. "How is there a true dragon here?!"

Andrea started laughing. She'd caught the sight of a familiar figure landing on the deck of the ship. One wearing a deep crimson cloak, and a mask of the purest darkness.

Chapter end