Chương 27: Draegorian Marshal

There was a standard technique taught at the Draegorian Royal Academy of Knights, where you dumped your mana at the last moment in the hope of surviving a fall. Every cadet got plenty of practice because when all your battles were fought in the air, falling to the ground was something you had to deal with a lot. There was a finesse to it. You couldn't just dump all your mana at once because that was as bad as hitting a wall.

It didn't matter if the deceleration was from the ground or from your own mana, your insides got squished all the same. So you had to do it gradually to smooth out your deceleration. You also couldn't start doing it too soon. If you dumped your mana while you were still high up, gravity would just bring you back up to terminal velocity again. So the timing was important.

And she'd gotten the timing wrong thanks to being on fire, disoriented, and having just taken [Force Bolts] to the torso from four different directions. But that was no excuse. She was meant to be the elite among the elite. She should have been able to perform an emergency landing while blind, confused, and with both hands tied behind her back. Luckily there'd been a tree to break her fall.

With the smaller branches at the top to absorb her momentum before she struck the sturdier branches toward the bottom, she managed to get away with only crippling injuries. She cast [Light Heal] so that she could pick herself up and limp around. Her wings had unmanifested, and it would be quite some time before they regenerated enough for her to fly again. The assassins would be coming down after her.

She could only hope that she'd bought Princess May-Lynn enough time to disappear into this vast wilderness, and now it was her turn to do the same. She hobbled along, trying to put as much distance from the landing site as possible. It would have been easier if her healing spell had repaired both her legs so that she could walk properly. But it prioritized her internal injuries, which she could only imagine how bad those must have been.

She would have to wait to cast another [Light Heal], as doing it again too soon risked it backfiring and restoring her previous injuries. Behind her, a barrage of [Fireballs] struck the root of the tree where she'd made land. The assassins had arrived. After the initial barrage, the next phase would be a flying search, relying on their [Infravision] to spot her through the scattered canopy. She had to hope that her cold blood would be enough to blend into her surroundings.

It didn't have to be perfect—just enough to fool their innate ability. To the best of her estimation, only one of them was Tier 5, giving him access to the [Infravision] spell that would enhance his night vision beyond its natural capability. The rest were only Tier 4 and wouldn't have access to that magic. From time to time she heard the blast of another [Fireball] as the assassins shot at any possible sighting of her. The canopy above rustled as something glided past overhead.

At first she thought she was safe, but a moment later the branches ahead shook under the weight of something large coming down to perch. Glancing up, her eyes met with the assassin's. [Force Bolt] [Fireball] Both of them launched their spells at the same time. Her [Force Bolt] pierced through the assassin's [Fireball], dispersing the flames into the rain, and then continued on through his [Shield] to strike him in the chest. The impact was enough to knock him back, and he spun away out of her sight.

It was too much to hope that this was enough to take him out of commission, but she could use this chance to get away. Except that plan was foiled before it could begin when a barrage of [Fireballs] set alight the forest around her. The other assassins knew she was here, and it looked like there would be no escape after all. Marina propped herself against a tree, reinforced it with [Force Wall], and waited for the barrage to end.

It wasn't long before the last of the explosions faded away, leaving behind a dense, acrid smoke from all the burnt vegetation and spots of burning embers where the rain couldn't quite reach. Under the cover of the smoke, the assassins descended into the forest. She could make out four of them, and she noticed with satisfaction that one was clutching at his chest.

They were smart enough not to be clustered together, foiling her desire to catch them all at once in a [Firestorm], though she wasn't sure she had enough mana left in her to complete the spell.

"You've put up a valiant fight, marshal," one of the assassins said.

"If you have any last words, say them now and we will pass them on. The world shall know that you died carrying out your duty."

"You really think the four of you will be enough to defeat me?" she spat.

"Where's your fifth member?" Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

"Defiant to the end. That shall be your epitaph." All four raised their hands to call upon their [Force Bolts]. She didn't bother to defend herself with [Force Wall], knowing that she only had enough mana left to defend against the first set of attacks. Instead she poured all she had left into [Firestorm], intending at least to take one of them with her—the one who'd spoken. She only realized her error when her target moved away, faster than he had any right to.

He was the Tier 5, and she hadn't been able to tell through the smoke because he'd been suppressing his mana to blend in with the others. Since she hadn't felt any flux, he must have pre-emptively cast [Haste] on himself before the barrage. Their coming down here, exposing themselves to her counterattack, and his goading her with his words—it had all been a ruse, and she'd fallen for it like a green cadet.

They must have been low on mana themselves and, without knowing how many [Force Walls] she had left in her, had found a way to trick her out of defending herself. She cried out into the sky, a full-throated roar that captured her frustrations and her ultimate failure to fulfill her oath. The White-Gold dynasty had fallen under her watch. The assassins unleashed their [Force Bolts], and she stared them down, prepared to meet her end without looking away.

But her end didn't come, as three [Force Walls] sprang up just in time. All eyes turned toward the source of the flux. The hooded new arrival calmly made their approach. Enough of the smoke had cleared that Marina could see the assassins were on edge—even the one at Tier 5. [Force Wall] was a Tier 6 spell, and casting three simultaneously at this distance required a level of mastery that even she had never attained.

With her innate [Infravision], Marina could make out a vague shape from under the hood, and in particular noticed the ears—and so, it seemed, had one of the assassins, who said, "This is none of your business, elf." The elf ignored him and looked over Marina's uniform.

"The emblem of the Draegorian Guard. I presume that [Force Wall] behind you is your own. You must be quite a high official in the empire." He sounded decidedly male. The assassin wasn't having any of it.

"So you know what our emblems look like. This still does not concern you." The elf turned to the assassin.

"You're in human territory now, dragon. I've been asked to clear trouble out of these roads, and you lot look like a load of trouble to me."

"You—!" All four assassins pointed at the elf.

"Oh, please," he said coolly.

"You think I can't tell how little mana you all have left? I'm going to give you one chance to leave. Don't let me see you in these hills again." The assassins all looked to their leader, the one who'd been doing all the talking. Marina thought he might allow himself to be controlled by his indignation, but instead he turned away.

"Let's go." As one, the assassins took to the air and disappeared into the sky. Marina was sure they wouldn't stay away for long. But a head-start on finding the princess was more than she could have hoped for. She peeled herself away from the tree and, dragging her left leg, turned to the elf and bowed with her hands together.

"I thank you for your assistance."

"You're hurt," he said, reaching out to her.

"May I?" She shook her head.

"I haven't healed myself that long ago, so a new spell could backfire."

"I can elevate and restrict the spell, keep it within the threshold of your healing resistance. It should be enough to allow you to walk normally again." It was hard to believe that such fine control was possible, but she'd just witnessed something along the same lines with those [Force Walls], hadn't she? She needed every advantage she could get to find the princess before the assassins returned, so she nodded.

"You'll really waste all that mana on me?" Elevating a spell was costly, and restricting its effect didn't reduce the cost at all. It was like baking an entire cake only to eat a slice and throw the rest away. She didn't know why she just thought of a cake analogy because she didn't even like cake. The flux flowed into her body as the elf cast the spell. While she wasn't sensitive enough to tell exactly how high he was elevating it, she could tell that it was beyond anything she could muster up on her best day.

Was he perhaps at Tier 7? When the spell was done, [Light Heal] entered her body, and her nerves tingled as her healing resistance rose to its limit. She was about to expel the attempt when the effect plateaued right at the threshold. Another ounce of mana would have tipped her over the edge, but it was like the elf knew exactly when to stop. When it was all over and the feelings settled down, the pain in her leg was gone and she could walk without a limp—maybe even run. She bowed once more to the elf.

"I can't thank you enough for your help. Please tell me your name, and I swear on my honor as a marshal of the Draegorian Guard that I shall repay you."

"There's no need for that," the elf said.

"I'm with a caravan that's headed to Ardark. Why don't you join us? It'll be safer for everyone to travel together."

"I appreciate the offer, but I'm afraid there are other matters I must attend to," she replied. The look he gave her was more of curiosity than suspicion.

"It seems odd to me that a group of dragonkin would be so bold as to attack a marshal of the Draegorian Guard. And all the way out in human territory, of all places." She shifted uncomfortably in place.

"Please don't take it as ingratitude after what you have done for me, but I'm afraid it's a vital internal matter that I cannot speak of. I will show my appreciation in any other way, but not in this. I would also be eternally grateful if you never spoke to others of what you saw here today." The Draegorian Empire had always held itself apart from the earthbound races, so her request shouldn't offend someone familiar enough with their culture to recognize the emblem of the Draegorian Guard.

"Is it perhaps something I could assist with?" he offered. For a moment she wasn't sure what to do. On the one hand, a second set of eyes would double her chances of finding the princess before the assassins returned. On the other hand, how far could she trust this man? It hadn't escaped her notice that the elf wore a bronze adventurers badge on his robes. There was no way a person of his caliber was only bronze-rank. He was hiding from something, while at the same time being too clever and observant.

What if he was able to piece together what was really happening—would he stay on her side then? Or would he see greater gains in siding with the rebels? She couldn't decipher the nature of this person, and that made him too much of a risk. She shook her head.

"I have the matter well in hand now. Thank you again for your assistance, but I can continue on from here." He didn't look like he believed her, but after a long moment he turned aside.

"I must return to the caravan, I've already been away from my post too long. I wish you luck in whatever it is you're trying to accomplish." The elf sprinted away under [Haste] and Marina set off in her own direction in search of the princess.