The Neonate: 5

Tali’s grip on my hand released, and as it did, I rolled. Pain shooting through me like flame, I grasped my sword, and managed to pull myself into a crouch. I tasted blood in my mouth, and I desperately wanted to collapse and sleep for an eternity. But I had to keep moving, press on. I needed to know, for that matter, what the hell was going on?

I gathered my strength, mostly due to hearing the sound of fighting approach, and pulled myself to a standing position, death grip on my blade in a fashion that would have brutally strangled a person in the blade’s place as I surveyed the scene.

Tali had been sent sprawling. The individual who had struck the blow was following up for another. Or…did they? I looked around for the attacker, and saw none, but he’d still gone down. I looked over to my right, where the large diabolos and the orc were, along with the other allies of Tali. The horned woman with the maul was seemingly attempting to fight a large quadrupedal shape, which seemed at the very least slightly difficult, as the shape seemed unable to be taken out by a single swing. The orc was charging up to assist, and their backline, consisting of the magi, who seemed to be charging up a spell and the gnome, who was fiddling with a small likely clockwork device in his grasp. They however, didn’t seem to be ready for long, before some sort of spear shaped projectile struck the magi around the shoulder, sending him to the ground, and the gnome fleeing for cover, dropping the device to the floor.

I soon realized I was in the middle of an active battlefield now, and began scanning the area. Ok. Where did those projectiles come from, firstly. I looked up to the roof, seeing the vague shape of an individual waving their hand. A spellcaster. Did he cast a spell on Tali? Regardless, I had to be safe. He could have avoided me completely accidently. I moved for some cover in the nearby alleyway, looking over to Tali, where he laid prone on the ground. I should finish him off. I leveled my blade at him carefully, charging my flames sigil as I prepared to fire off a gout to hopefully kill the enemy sigilist, when suddenly, the faint orange glow of the sigil simply…faded. I tried tapping other sigils, but most of those also leveled out empty. Damn. Damn damn damn!

I got a bright idea, then. Looking out, and still seeing the combat far, far from me, I made my move. Running into the street, I instead picked up Tali’s own sword where it laid on the street, feeling the slight reserves it still held, and moved to strike the Noctis traitor dea-

Just before I would move into the motions of the strike, I felt most of my energy leave me, and I heard a voice, as if it was everywhere and nowhere, the air itself

“Don’t do this kid. It’s not worth it.”

I spun around, dumbly looking for a source, finding none, and found fatigue rapidly catching up to me. It felt nearly impossible to even lift my blades-two of them now. Shit. Where was the surge I’d felt earlier?

I staggered for a nearby source of cover and finding little recourse, sparing a glance over to the battle, which had progressed somewhat since the last time I checked on it.

The diabolos had swung again with her maul towards the quadrupedal creature, which upon a closer glance in the light now available in the darkness, seemed to be a fully grown adult brown bear, a massive creature of fur, fangs and claws. Rendered bloody by repeated strikes from two very large weapons, but still in the fight, it raked into the diabolos with its fangs, and by contrast, she looked rather worse for wear, though the orc assisting in the battle seemed rather unhurt thus far.

The light I was now able to see in was due to a fire that had started off to the right. The gnome had thrown something explosive, but it didn’t appear to have hit the mark in the slightest. Smoke trailed into the sky, as I saw the figure on the rooftops jump to a new, not flaming one, in what had to be a supernatural distance. I saw the faint shape of the gnome scurry away. Making a run for it?

About a second later, the gnome screamed, and was sent flying from the alley in a heap, the fire seemingly growing bigger in response, as a seemingly invisible force began to slowly drag the gnome for the fire. I winced out of a sense of habit and instinct. An unfortunate way to go, immolation.

It was then that the hit magi sprung to his feet, letting out an incomprehensible shout as he held out a hand, the gnome’s advance stopping. This was all the rooftop shooter needed to take the magi’s head off in blast of whatever they were shooting. The neck stump likely spraying up blood as I saw him collapse to the floor in a bloody mess. His counter hold on the gnome soon equally released, and as if the force of whatever was forcing him towards the flames before had been holding itself in reserve while the Noctis Magi was holding him in place, because the gnome went flying, screaming into the fire with an audible slam. He looked up through the flames, his face an unrecognizable pulp of vague bloody and broken features, arm bent in three places after he’d tried to use it to break his fall. He let out his best gurgling scream as he proceeded to burn alive, unable to move outside of a crawl. He barely made it halfway from the center of the blaze he’d been pushed into.

The only remaining two combatants were now free to be focused on, just as the bear appeared to be losing steam, strikes having less power and force, ability to take hits and recovery time from said hits getting longer as the two combatants whaled on them. Two projectiles slammed into the back of the orc, then another two, then another two.

Meanwhile, the diabolos moved to take what likely would be a final, lethal swing against the bear, when suddenly she was knocked off her feet, sent stumbling to the ground, maul used to brace it as she let out a yell of frustration. The bear capitalized on this, and with newfound vigor that it couldn’t possibly have had in it, tackled the diabolos to the ground and began clawing, biting, ripping and tearing into red flesh.

As this happened, the orc was prepared to move forwards when more projectiles soared through the light of the flame towards him. In said light, I could make out more about them. Dark crimson, solid, but seemingly detonating on impact with a given target, and spraying…?

A sinking feeling in my stomach as I thought about what it could be. Or-well, I knew what it was. Blood. But how? Where?

I flicked my gaze over. The Magi’s corpse. The body was visibly growing less colorful in the light as more projectiles peppered the orc, some seeming to now do visible damage. He was visibly and clearly torn, emotions clear on his face. Help the diabolos, or deal with the person shooting him. He chose the latter, letting out a war cry as he charged for the building, pulling a titanic spear from his belt and throwing it at the distant figure. They jumped from view, and the orc charged through the flames after them, leading me to barely be able to make anything out about the fight.

Back over with the bear and the devil, the diabolos was being ripped into with newfound ferocity, but finally, the horned woman managed to get a firm grip on her weapon, repeatedly slamming the bear with the pommel, knocking it onto the ground and dazing it. She then let out her own primal roar, and began scanning the area.

“COME OUT SIGILIST! I KNOW YOU’RE HERE! FIGHT ME!”

It took me a moment, as the shout rang out across the street, and likely the neighboring streets as well, to realize that she was talking about me. My blood froze. My heart pounded in my chest. I even, for the first time really in this battle, felt scared. But I sighed. I knew what I had to do. For the Kingdom. I took a deep breath, gripped both of my swords, and stepped out from behind cover, waving in her direction with a stone cold stare that she likely couldn’t make out from her distance.

“Here I am, devil. Fight me, if you so wish. I’ll cut you down, then finish off Tali, executions for the traitors that you are!”

I yelled the words with as much enthusiasm as my tired body would allow, which was a shocking amount all considered. The diabolos yelled something incomprehensible right back, and charged for me, maul in hand. I prepared to dive under her swing, and jab at her in the stomach. I wouldn’t kill her, but at the very least I wouldn’t die…assuming she didn’t just trample me, or do any maneuver besides a particularly wide swing with her maul.

It was just then that I felt it. A massive brush of wind, and a shaking of the ground beneath me, as a shape passed in front of me, just as the diabolos in front of me moved to pulverize me, going for a kick I wouldn’t have anticipated in all likelihood. The shape planted a blow dead center of the diabolos’s chest, then twisting upwards, the force of which sending the diabolos sprawling over my head in a brush of too close air, and collapsing to the street in a road shattering roll across the ground near Tali. When I blinked again, the shape was gone, but I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth, so to speak. I turned on my heel, and feeling a surge of energy like before I ran for the diabolos, who was weaponless, swinging both blades at her neck. She managed to recover just in time, deflecting with her left arm as a parrying method. I barely broke the skin of her arm with my swing, deep purple blood like on her other wounds being all that emerged and staining the blades of my swords.

She growled, and managed to force me back with a swipe of her other arm, forcing me in turn to pull back my blades. With her now free left arm, she grabbed Tali’s prone form, throwing him over her shoulder.

“This isn’t over, Sigilist.” Was all she spat out before she took off at a full run away. I was far too slow to keep up with someone of her size, especially with unreliably energy which could dissipate at any moment, so I let her run. Letting a look of pure contempt bore into her back her whole way fleeing the battlefield like an injured animal. I was almost hoping for another blast or figure to pick her off as she ran, but no such luck it seemed. I sighed, as the surge of energy slowly began to fade from me, and I turned my gaze back towards the flaming section of street. The first thing I noticed, was that the bear was gone. I blinked. The corpse was there a moment ago…

It was then that I saw someone, literally materializing nearby the flames, hurrying over to somewhere near where the bear was, kneeling over. I squinted…a person? A shapeshifter?

My eyes widened. But not nearly as much as when the newly materialized person, seemingly a man in well made white armor, turned in my direction, and started walking towards me. My heart pounded, as he got about thirty feet away from me before speaking.

“Come over here. We’ve got to talk.”

The Neonate: 4

As the protection Sigil shattered, I saw several other sigils on his person go down as well. That must have been how he hadn’t been killed yet despite being on the front line with other magi. His protection was meant to take heavy hits, but to compensate, it had drawn from all his other sigils, and likely his inner wells of magic. Ha! I internally was gloating, the most I could while being in the pain I was in, and pride swelled within me for having outsmarted one of the better sigilists I knew of.

I lunged forwards the moment the sigil went down, swinging with my right arm, which caused an aching pain I’d most certainly be feeling later if I made it out of this alive, but for now it served its purpose. Jabbing forwards and through his breastplate, I managed to heat up my sword enough to pierce through a more shallow area of metal, meeting some flesh, but not enough for a critical injury. Before I could inflict such a wound, Tali swung right with empowered speed and I was forced to withdraw and parry in response. I had, however, still stabbed him with superheated metal, which caused him to let out a small and short shout of pain, and for him to actively fall back for one of the first times in the engagement. Using his still empowered boots to do so, which unfortunately hadn’t seemed to have lost any sigils to fall back about twenty feet with relative ease before I could really do anything to stop him from doing so. I held out my better arm, sword in hand, towards him.

“If you give up now, I’m sure the Kingdom might give you a quicker death then I will”. I said, trying to sound as tough as I could given the circumstances. Everything hurt, but the adrenaline moving through me kept me up and moving at the very least.

Tali just stood there, as if stunned. I was hopefully I’d really made an impression on him, even if I knew that was unlikely at best, considering Tali’s background.

“I’m afraid not, though you do make a compelling enough argument-unfortunately, for you, I’m still in a position to kill you” He sounded like he meant his words, but I most certainly didn’t buy them. He was a murderer, one who needed to be put down. He had been known to violate oaths before, so I sure wasn’t letting my guard down, holding my sword ready.

“You can try. But I’ve surpassed your expectations of me once already tonight. Are you really going to take that chance again?” I said it with more confidence then I really had

He moved faster then I could track, flames coursing off of his boots and towards me. Thankfully, my protection was back at full force, and with a flare, the sigil repelled the flames, parting them away from me as I swung downwards towards him with more force then I meant, and with my general hurt self, that was a bad idea. I used too much energy, overextended, for a strike which didn’t connect as he slid, then with unnatural grace, sprang upwards in an unforeseen maneuver and landed a flaming kick straight to my chest, cushioned only slightly by my armor. The heat was searing, and I knew by that feeling that my shields had gone down again. I went flying back a few feet, sliding along the ground, coughing. Tali seemed content to play things methodically now, not giving me the chance to outmaneuver him.

“What I said earlier was true you know. We’re one in a million. We can’t waste our time with people like the rat of a lord you and your comrades seem to worship. He’s not what he seems to be, trust me. We could use another sigilist in Noctis. You’d be a great fit, you’ve already proven yourself to me, and my word goes a hell of a long way with us.”. Even thought I couldn’t see his eyes, I knew he was analyzing my every expression, and was probably scowling. This couldn’t be genuine. Even if it was…he was a criminal! A terrorist. Absolutely not.

He had stepped close enough, and I wasn’t feeling up to resisting much more. I’d definitely broken a thing or two in the fight. Feeling particularly angry at the situation I’d found myself in, I spat at his feet. It didn’t land on him, even if I had wanted it to.

Tali’s next words reeked of condescending disappointment. “Is this how you want to die? A dog of the Kingdom? Beaten down and squandered like some kind of child?”

He probably saw my fists shaking and reaching for my sword, because he kicked me again. This time, I felt the burns, a searing feeling like he’d just poured hot coals onto my side, then the shock, causing me to convulse slightly, inadvertently knocking my sword further from myself on the ground, tip touching the wall of the alleyway and glowing slightly in response. It was so close, and yet so far. Maybe a few feet, but it didn’t matter.

“They. Don’t. Care. Get that through your thick gods damned skull! They’ll happily see you die if it would give them even a seconds advantage!” He was practically screaming now, full of emotion, mostly rage.

“You’r-” I sputtered out, not having as much air in me as I first thought

“You’re wrong. The Kingdom is full of good people. We aren’t perfect, but we’re better then you.”

I took advantage of his distraction with my words to reach slightly for the hilt of my sword. Moment by moment, I creeped closer and closer. Just had to keep him talking…

“It dosen’t matter whose in it, if the head is rotten. Because the head is all that matters. No one cares about what the arm wants, or in your case, what the tiny, defiantly sharp fingernail wants. Even that is a bit inflating to you, but I’ll be nice.” His tone was still scathing, and still condescending. I was going to shut him up. Almost there. Almost had it.

“And so you blow up buildings, vaporize good men, or leave then painfully burned the rest of your lives? You seemed pretty rotten yourself.” I retorted with enough strength in my voice as I could muster, though it was hard. My fingers had the bottom of the hilt, I just had to grasp the rest.

“They made their choices. I made mine. I’m fighting for the people yet to be consumed by this…abomination of a government.” Tali’s gaze, or what I could see of it, was cold.

“Then you’ll have to understand that this is my choice!” I said, as I fully gripped the hilt of my sword, launching myself upwards with everything I had. A surge of energy I didn’t know I had running through me, I stabbed forwards while he wasn’t anticipating, he barely parrying but staggering back as I switched tactics: keep him off guard as long as possible.

I launched strike after strike with my speed sigil glowing brightly, channeling almost everything into that one symbol as I struck again and again. After four strikes rapid fire, I got a glancing blow to his arm, cutting into a chink and hitting flesh. I withdrew and kept pressing. His own speed rune was fading faster then mine was, mostly because he was trying to likely preserve his boots as long as possible, for a getaway, or a counterattack if I ran out of energy and was rendered nothing but an above average swordsman who had broken most of his relevant bones. Still, it would be his undoing in this particular engagement.

I kicked towards his legs, and he moved to sidestep. I, however, had already lunged forward, forcing him to parry, and then, for a final blow in this instance, I used my sigil to break the parry and strike him in the chest with the flat of my blade, the force of which made him lose his balance in the precarious position he’d found himself in, and knock him down to the ground. Before I could recover, I plunged my blade downwards, fully intending it to be a killing blow as I returned my sigils to the split out state they’d had while draining my shielding, to pierce his armor with strength and flames, and make it unavoidable with speed, even at its normal level of power.

He seemed to finally realize his boots weren’t helping him, and switched the power levels between it and his armor at the last moment, which frustratingly made it so he survived the blow. I took the chance, however to kick his sword away from him as he sprung to his feet. His boots, his pride and joy and what he was known for, were only faintly glowing in the dim of the night. His armor was barely still up. I’d depleted his reserves, but only because of his overconfidence. If he’d been more measured…

I didn’t have much time to consider that point before he launched another kick. The fight became easier now, as an unarmed opponent was easier to deal with the extra reach a sword provided. I kept him at bay, dodging the small gouts of flame and lightning which spouted with each kick, slowly driving him back to where we’d started at the entrance of the alley. I could hear the sound of fighting still near the wall, but it was quieter now, implying less combatants, which could in turn, be taken as good or bad. But I could consider that later.

With a thrust of my sword I fired a gout of flame which finally connected with Tali, forcing him off balance for the strike itself to jab him in the chest, though he ducked down, forcing me to withdraw my blade or go down with him. It was then that he actually got another counterattack in, sweeping my legs beneath me and succeeding in sending me sprawling across the street. I could see the fight going on in the background, with a large orc shadow and a massive maul wielding diabolos facing off with a concerning few guards. Turning my gaze back to Tali, I reached for my fallen sword but found my lower arm stepped on by a burning crackling metal boot. I yelled out in pain, as he pressed it down.

“You want to die a rat? FINE!”
Tali plucked up my sword, and leveled it at me, slowly inching it towards my throat. I turned my head over, to try and avoid it and to see if, desperately if Daruk or one of his comrades could come help me. I saw the dwarf, and the one he called Elias still standing, locked in combat with the Diabolos. The orc seemed to be feasting on what looked to be three corpses. I recognized one as Thinder. Morbid, but he was distracted, maybe those two could take the devilkin on-

My hopes were dashed when Elias was crushed into a paste by an overhand overcommitted maul swing. Daruk tried to capitalize with a stab to the womans exposed unarmored abdomen, but she seemed to shake it off, literally, throwing Daruk to the ground and robbing him of his weapon.

One swing of the massive hammer later, and a spray of blood and other…unmentionables went flying out from the crushed set of dwarven mail.

“You never stood a chance. I’m sorry.”

I felt the sword pressing against my slightly powered up protection, then felt the sigil shatter. I felt like my arm was going to ignite at any second, and the pain from everything was just now catching up to me, that sudden surge of energy from earlier fading from my body. Shit. Well. I tried. Maybe my body would be recognizable enough for a decent memorial.

It was then that the shadow passed overhead, behind Tali, and I felt the pain release.

And the tides began to turn.

The Neonate: 3

Fuck. This was bad.

My mind gave me that helpful thought in terms of an effective defensive tactic, as Tali ran towards me, closing a hundred feet in about a second. He swung a sigil inscribed sword which crackled with lightning straight for me the moment he closed. Thankfully, my senses weren’t dulled enough that I couldn’t remember my years of training, and that, combined with the speed sigil allowed me to very quickly pull up my blade in a parry. I then skid back on the backfoot as he lunged again, I barely parried it aside, and used the force and speed at my disposal, along with a small gout of flame to force Tali to take a step back, thankfully putting him slightly on the backfoot, thus making things in total, an impasse. He looked surprised, or as surprised as someone wearing a helmet could. I might have been reading too much into too little body language that he was giving off.

“I was expecting a few guards. That, and only one new magi on the field of battle tonight. But then again, our luck has already been shitty tonight.” he mused to himself as if I wasn’t there, before affixing his gaze firmly forward at me.

I could see individuals moving behind him now, through the area he’d punched through. A larger figure, who based on his horns, tusks, and body size, had to be one of the orcs who I heard so much about from people on the front. A much smaller individual, who was likely a gnome, strapped with dozens and dozens of small clockwork devices, he didn’t seem to be paying much attention to the world around him as he shuffled forwards. Another individual who seemed to be a diabolos, with her red skin, horns and what appeared to be a forked tongue, walking forwards with a maul which had to be twice my height held on her shoulders like it was nothing. The final member among his, what only presumed to be backup, was another human, dressed in more traditional magi robes. He looked tired, more then anything. I wasn’t able to devote much more time to studying them or trying to figure out a plan for dealing with them before Tali’s voice called my attention back forwards.

“Another Sigilist? Very interesting. You don’t see people like us in the Kingdom very often.” another statement, like I wasn’t there, even though he was addressing me.

My mind was racing. Calling back to what he’d said first, curiosity taking over my mind for a brief moment. “You said one new magi on the field of battle tonight. Was that the display near the central line?” it had to be, right? Power like that didn’t come without magic, and I hadn’t heard anything about it. Lord Salazar must have kept it in the wings. He was a tactician at heart, that much I knew. So, the idea that he’d wait to deploy a strong ally until later in the conflict when they didn’t expect it didn’t seem all that unlikely.

“You aren’t stupid at least. Yes, it appears the Kingdom called in skilled backup for once.” Tali had begun pacing around me now, while I moved my sword to always be facing him. If he struck me in the back, I wasn’t sure my protection sigil would be enough to save me from him burning me like that. “An archmagi. They call him Caliban, he has a lot of name recognition the further east you go. He’s problematic, but currently, you’re worse. So, how about this. You scamper off, out of my way, I deal with everyone who saw you here. You lose nothing, and I don’t waste time. Seem fair?”

I grit my teeth the longer he talked about the proposal, when it was done, I shook my head, with anger building in my face. I kept my sword evenly leveled, before I gave the calmest reply I could bring myself to.

“Sorry. Not going to happen. I’ve been tasked with protecting this area, and I’m not going to run away like some coward in the dead of night.”

Tali sighed, which could only really be made out through a faint huff of air through his helmet. He moved into more of a combat stance.

“Have it your way.”

He made a hand motion, likely gesturing for his allies to join the fray. It was then that I had my first lucky break tonight. Moving out of where they’d been laying in wait, the guards moved from the towers, weapons drawn and shields ready as they moved to engage. Daruk and his men moved for the orc, who had already started transforming when Tali had made the gesture. This rendered him immobile and almost defenseless to preliminary strikes from the guards. The men in the other tower meanwhile, moved to try and strike down the mage before he could do anything. An arrow meant for a lethal blow instead struck him in the arm and as one of the other guardsmen moved to charge him in melee, he teleported instead, appearing about forty feet away, chanting already. The diabolos was already in motion, and the gnome was nowhere to be seen. Outside of the potential problem of the gnome, that just left me and Tali, who was already on the move, running past me. I dully wondered why he did that for a moment, just before a blast of flame and a small bolt of lightning along his path struck me head on. The protection sigil flared to life on my armor, forming a faint yellow sheen, leaving me smelling smoke, but not much else for now. The sigil wouldn’t take a lot of damage, but Tali’s tactic with his boots seemed to be more focused on mass damage rather then anything concentrated. I wheeled around, seeing where he went only being a few feet away, and that he was already mid lunge with with both of his swords. I barely had time to swing my enhanced sword to parry one, but the other struck my barrier, which crackled in response, knocking me back. He used this chance to kick more elemental energy into my barrier, further destabilizing it as he moved to attack again.

I needed an upper hand, or at the very least, some breathing room to recharge my barrier. I had maybe one more attack before the sigil was down, potentially for good.

Taking a deep breath, trying to ignore my heart pounding in my chest, I spun my sword around in my hand and swung HARD at Tali, using everything my minor strength sigil could give me along with my speed, flaring up my flame sigil to force him to move back. Not a hard move for him to make, however, I changed tactics last moment, striking the ground full force (thankfully not harming my weapon due to the sigils inherently apart of it and generally good make) and releasing the pent up flames in his direction, forcing him further back to avoid being burned. While he sidestepped, I was pulling up my sword and running forward at the same time, exerting myself and overstepping slightly in the process, but it didn’t matter. I lunged, bringing down the sword near his breastplate. His protection sigil flared in turn, but I kept pushing, seeing the sparks building up. The goal I had with this change of tactics was to apply pressure, but in a dull sense of hindsight, I realized that was a bad idea for a multitude of reasons. Tali had more fighting experience then I did, and that meant, among many, many advantages he had, he was adaptable, and had a far wider arsenal then I did. A rune I didn’t recognize flared on his helmet, as he moved to headbutt me while I was in close quarters. I was in no place to dodge, after having put most of my immediate energy into the lunge which had done little to him. The blow connected.

I immediately felt the effects, that being a splitting headache which pounded in my skull. The sigil on his helmet faded after I stopped making contact. What the hell sort of sigil was that, and why would he have it on himself?

I didn’t have very much time to contemplate that, as he sprung towards me, more energy flying towards me. My protection sigil took the blow, but faded, and allowed some through. My hair got singed along with my cloths, at the very least however, neither of those things ignited. I dove backwards the moment I realized that my only means of protecting myself from a stray blow was gone, however the flaw in my plan was realized when another small burst of flames and lightning struck me in the side, scorching my armor and dulling my senses for a moment as he appeared beside my now prone body, swords raised. My headache was slowly petering off now, the pounding in my skull now only a slight drone of pain, giving me the faculty to pull up my sword to intersect his pair at the last moment, only made possible by the speed sigil. The moment we crossed blades, I saw his and mine glow, as I had, in my haste, forgotten about our energy runes. I quickly, using as much force as I could draw from the strength sigil, pushed his blades away, but the energy still hit me in partial force on my left side. Not enough to inflict an injury I couldn’t heal, but it was going to hinder me if I needed to use my left arm for anything in the immediate future. My flames sigil managed to strike him with a gout of orange and red heat which was absorbed by his own protection sigil, causing the barrier to crackle slightly but having very little other effect otherwise. The more pressure I put on that, the better chance I had of getting out of this alive. My only saving grace thus far is that he seemed to have better defensive or more utility based sigils, with his offensive ones being enough to disorient and speed up his striking power, but very little besides that. I just needed to injure him to the point where he’d want to flee. A lot easier in my head then it was in practice, being singed, hurt on my left, and having the faint pain in my head, facing down an enemy who didn’t even look slightly exerted.

I scrambled to my feet right after my successful strike, spinning my blade around just in time to block and knock away another twin pronged swing, parrying both short swords in quick succession, forcing the energy blasts to the left and right sides of me, narrowly avoiding them myself, lightning and flames arcing around us in a dangerous light show. I, in turn, directed my small flame blast directly towards his breastplate, absorbed by the sigil once more, but I was doing damage to it, slowly but surely. I was also, more importantly, getting into a groove of the fight now. Sidestep. Parry. Knock aside. Swing. Hit breastplate. Repeat.

He, however, seemed to be getting into a similar state, his attacks getting closer and closer to me. He was also getting faster, more unpredictable, and generally harder to block. He landed one strike to my already injured left side, sending me slightly recoiling from the lightning which conducted through the blow, only for a follow up strike to follow HARD to my right, the flames acting more as a concussive force which send me planting into the nearby wall, then sprawling to the left as a slight conscious effort on my part to try and avoid a follow up strike within the next two seconds or so. I put about ten feet between us with that move, and I struggled to move. I’d broken something. By the time he got close, I was about up to my knees, wobbling slightly as I moved to stand, back to the wall.

“I warned you. This is such a waste, I hope you know that. One in a million, they say, and you waste it for a Kingdom which doesn’t care less.”

He sighed again, as my thoughts were racing. Solutions. I looked, seeing his protection sigil still faintly glowing. That meant it was actively being used, not passively. He was having it up all the time, so he didn’t run the risk of my blows getting through at all. It also meant he was exerting energy…drawing from his well, and likely his other sigils with each blow, and with how protection worked…they’d all be equal. I had one plan, and it had to work. I pretended to be in more pain then I was, doubling over to the ground, as Tali stepped forward to jab his blades towards my chest. I’d, in reality, grabbed my real target in this maneuver, a handful of a multitude of small rocks, maybe ten to twelve. Just before he strikes me, I pivoted upwards, and chucked them all at him.

His protection sigil shattered, and I lunged.

The Neonate: 2

Runes ready to go, I approached the area the guard had directed me to. With a bit of luck I’d be there soon, ready to face whatever awaited me in that regard.

The plumes of smoke in the distance did a little to ease my nerves. They were getting bigger, and it looked like it was getting closer as well, meaning Noctis was pushing further inwards. The smoke specifically came from one of the front line fighters I’d heard about, or rather two. A master sorcerer of fire named Frah, one capable of bending and weaving existing fire to his whims, and a Sigilist, one who created fire when he ran with magic imbued in his boots by the name of Tali. The two made a deadly combination, with the latter making flames the former could make exponentially bigger. The rest of the front line of Noctis was no joke either. I’d heard about the orcs which would bulk up to the size of buildings, throw a blow capable of crushing someone in plate mail, then shrink back down for more agile movement, gnomes which turned invisible and stabbed vital points through chinks in armor, or even contingents of dwarfs in magical armor, unable to be hurt as they slowly approached a position and took it down. All terrifying options I wasn’t keen on encountering. Hopefully, however, it would just be some small time magi or better yet, foot soldiers. Not that anyone working for Noctis wasn’t skilled-it seemed to be a universal trait that everyone in the group would be one of the best assets to a conventional army’s ranks, but magi were far harder to predict then just someone who was good with a weapon or good at sneaking around. Though that latter potential made me want to check every dark alleyway to be sure no one had snuck into this part of the city, even if I knew that if I did that, I’d be far too late to make a difference in the task I was assigned if the eastern areas were attacked like the elf had said. I’d just have to hope Noctis wasn’t sneaking around the rules, otherwise I’d be in for a rather lethal surprise from my back flank.

Once I got close to the street in question, I did one final role call for my glyphs. All three on my sword, speed, flames and strength. All of minor strength. Then protection on my armor, moderate strength. Enough to take a hit from almost anything, but it had a limit before it would need to recharge, or risk losing it altogether. For now, however, they all seemed to be in working order, which is what I would need if it came to blows. I took a deep breath, and rounded the corner, hoping I looked presentable.

The guard post there was seemingly deserted at first, until I realized they were likely within the makeshift battlement. Composed of parallel wooden spikes bound together by durable metal threads, it was meant to hold once affixed, but not difficult to move or salvage if the line was broken, playing smart and resource effective. Off to the sides were two small watchtowers, just tall enough to be able to see over the smaller buildings of the eastern side, but not tall enough to be at risk of collapsing if a magi struck them at the foundation. At the top of those watchtowers I could see the vague shapes of soldiers in Kingdom gear, but they seemed to not be paying attention to my approach in the slightest, looking west. I was annoyed at first, almost feeling dismissed, until I decided to see what they were looking out, climbing up to a nearby roof without damaging wall or window.

Off in the distance, in an area I recognized based on my vague estimations in the poor light as the central front, flashes of light dotted the sky, nothing like Noctis’s simple flares. It was like fireworks going off, waves of various colors lighting up the sky. Something I recognized as large plumes of flames followed, with several shapes interweaving through the light, alongside the shadows of large, seemingly object shapes flying through the air. I couldn’t make anything else out in the light.

Was it a new Magi? The flames indicated Frah was likely in that engagement, the flying ones could be some of the Noctis fliers…but I didn’t know about anyone who could throw objects that large or fire off that kind of light. I observed as the light faded as I was only left with vague outlines under the smallest bit of moonlight. I saw large shapes, these ones more animate, which seemed to resemble dragons propel forwards, scattering the fliers and thrashing about to try and strike them, a plume of green flame firing into the air from one of said shapes giving a bit of illumination. This revealing that they did indeed seem to be rainbow colored spiraling dragons flying about. The green flame contorted and recoiled to fire back at the dragons, to little effect. They turned their attention to the ground, seemingly poised to strike, when what appeared to be one of the orcish titans jumped from a nearby roof and grabbed one out the air, the other turning over to look, before both simply vanished into thin air. Instead, the orcish titan was caught by those flying objects on its way down, having no time to transform, as what appeared to be several small buildings, large carts, and another titan body slammed into it after being what was hovering in the air, sending it careening to the ground with a faint booming sound.

Before the body likely was even cold, another attack was launched, this time in the form of columns of stone which sprung up from the ground, impaling another titan and launching the faint shapes of what could only be some formerly ground level magi far into the air. Some of them were lucky to have magic which could catch themselves. Others weren’t. The pillars then crumbled into smaller chunks, which seemed to transform into some sort of writhing swarm of…something, which poured down onto the street. A surge of flame from where the epicenter was had to indicate the target of that attack being Yar. It seemingly hadn’t taken him out of the fight however, because there was another shift, spikes of ice this time jutting into the sky, around that area.

A few moments after however, a cloud blocked the moons light, forcing my view of the battle to be minimal at best. The guards at the watchtower seemed to realize this too and returned their gaze forward. Their goal was likely to keep watch of the central gate portion of the barricade, mostly to be sure no one snuck by. The central gate was made of the same material, spiked at the top, but with hinges at the edges to allow them to be opened in case troops needed to move through. It would also be the first objective of anyone pushing through this area to either get rid of it or open it for their forces to get through, depending on how much alerting other areas of the defense in the city would matter to whichever approach they would take. I assumed they wouldn’t bother going quietly here, with the other fronts currently engaged, though with that display in the distance I couldn’t be sure. Worth watching to make sure some gnome didn’t slip through at least. I noticed the guards here had affixed small bells to the opposite side of the gate, to alert them if the gate even opened a little. Not standard procedure, but still a smart move. Gnomes were the worst.

I decided now would be a good time to approach. Gingerly and slowly climbing down from my perch to avoid exhausting or provoking any small injuries which could hinder me in a fight, I made it back down to the ground of the alley between two houses I’d sought to climb up, and made my way about it, raising an arm towards the watchtower guards, only to be met with no recognition due to them not watching behind them. Idiots. If someone was already here, they’d be dead. I put the criticism out of my mind for now. They had likely been awake awhile now, and it was best to be polite. An open mind, I thought, as I called out.

“Hello! I’m from the northern section of the city. A guard there told me to come over here and reinforce this area!”

One of them looked over from the left watchtower. I couldn’t make out his expression, but he sounded somewhat grateful. “That’s good. Come up here, I don’t want to get all hoarse”

I nodded, though rather uselessly considering the light and walked up to the ladder, climbing it slowly but surely so I wouldn’t miss a rung and fall to the ground. That would be rather embarrassing to these people I just met. Once I reached the top, I realized they had a small lantern burning, just enough to make each other out. The one who had shouted back to me was a dwarf, by the looks of things. About two thirds my height, wearing heavy, seemingly well made armor, and a badge indicating his rank as Sergeant. Unlike his compatriots with standard issue blades, he had a large axe over his shoulder. His face was hard to make out through his helmet, but he was grizzled and on the older side, and had a long black beard which was tied in various areas. Something that would be the envy of lesser men I’d imagine.

“Hello sir.” I said politely to the dwarf first, since he seemed to be the commander here.

“Good evening to you. I’m Sergeant Daruk, leader of this unit. These three with me are Elias, Lathan and Thinder. I’d introduce you to the ones in the other tower, but they’re in their own world currently.” He chuckled, as he held out his hand to meet mine.

The one he’d called Elias was a taller dark elf, with the signature red eyes which came with being one of the more purple colored elves. He had silvery hair, and definitely seemed younger then Daruk, but you could never be sure with elves. He gave a simple nod to me when Daruk introduced him.

Lathan was a human, one who definitely seemed on the young side. My age or a little older. He was brown haired with blue eyes, a more slender build, without the muscle that might normally come with the position of being a guard, leading me to think he might be a bit green. Though green in the Kingdom didn’t mean bad necessarily, all soldiers in their armies or guard forces were well trained, albeit the latter being a little less so. Upon being introduced, he gave a salute and a quick “Good evening” before lowering his arm and going silent once more.

Thinder was a lionfolk by the looks of things. Very tall, bulky, and with a very perpetual angry face. She didn’t have a mane like man counterparts of her species did, but that didn’t make her much less terrifying, yellow eyes looking me up and down as she was introduced. She had her claws retracted, but I had no doubt she could tear my throat out at a moments notice. She gave a grunt at the sound of being introduced.

I shook Daruk’s hand with as firm of a shake I could manage, but he was stronger then me, especially for his size. “I’m Acuzio, a volunteer. A pleasure to meet you all.”

“Pleasure to meet you Azuzio. We need all the help we can get at this point. We’ve gotten major backup in the central front as I’m sure you saw, but that just makes me worried that we’re due for an attack here. The more hands the better” he says with worry lines across his face.

“Understood sir. I’m more then willing to help out.” I said, nodding with enough enthusiasm to portray confidence, just not too much confidence.

“Good.” he replied “Head down and watch our flank. I don’t want to dismiss the idea they could have skipped streets or taken out another post without our knowledge and be trying to flank us. If you need help, just holler, and don’t be a hero. If you’re overwhelmed, fall back to a larger group. ” he said this with experience which I wouldn’t question, so I simply nodded, and moved to climb down the ladder once more, with the same caution as always, taking up a position about fifty feet from the gate, drawing my sword for light, glowing. I couldn’t hear if anyone in the towers commented on it, and I really didn’t care if they did or not. They wouldn’t complain about having a magi on their side, that much was certain.

A few minutes past with nothing going wrong just yet. I had established a bit of a loop. Check near the gate, head back to the nearby alleys which led to side streets, check the entrance to the next street, repeat. It gave me rhythm, and the motion shook off any notion of tiredness I’d had coming here. I’d slept during the day a bit for a reason, I couldn’t be fighting off exhaustion before an engagement had even begun after all.

Eventually, on one of my loops back towards the gate, I heard one of the men in the tower opposite of Daruk, shout out something, and I saw light rising from behind the gate. It was nowhere close to sunrise, and I felt stupid for even considering that as an option in a split second. It was faint, but closing by the second, approaching the center gate. It dawned on me that I should move back, and so I did, for the first time breaking into a run to clear some distance.

The sound of a rush of flame, the crackling of lightning, and an explosion of force resounded behind me, as I swiveled around.

The center of the gate had a massive crater in it, already caught alight. The metal threads were crackling with lingering electricity, and parts had been sprayed across the area. I heard pained screaming from one of the towers, the one Daruk had been in. It sounded like pain. Fuck.

Standing a good ways past the ruined gate was a figure in bronze armor, a pair of blades at his side. A regal helmet adorned and covered his face, but most important, and more recognizably, was his boots. Bronze sabatons engraved with three noticable sigils on each. I only recognized two, flames and speed. The other one was unknown, but considering the lingering lightning, I could hazard a guess as to its purpose. His armor also seemed to house a singular protection rune, his swords…I suppose I’d find out.

I recognized this man based on the flame trail he was leaving behind, and the general description. Tali. The primary Sigilist in Noctis. And he wasn’t alone.

Moving through the now destroyed gates were several other figures with weapons drawn, one even taller then some surrounding buildings. I wasn’t intent on making out just yet, as I pointed my glowing blade towards Tali, even though I was feeling less confident by the second.

He looked towards me now, and I could feel the smile coming from below the helmet, even if it was imperceptible.

“How interesting.” He said, in a voice which indicated he only felt a small amount of the emotion he had emphasized.

And then the strongest Sigilist in Noctis charged me at breakneck speed.

The Neonate: 1

The sun couldn’t have set any quicker?

I grabbed my stuff, sword, makeshift armor, and supply pack. Affixing the armor took awhile like always, but I’d gotten used to that. Anything which could take an arrow without instantly killing me would work, and I’d managed to get this at decent quality for only a few Trians. I’d had to do a bit of work to get it to fit me perfectly, but it was well worth it. Tanned brown leather, held together by various straps to make it up, with a crest I didn’t recognize that I’d had to cover up. I didn’t want anyone I was interacting with to think I was associated with whichever age old kingdom the crest belonged, so I’d covered it with another layer of leather stitched over. I could get someone to remove it in a more permanent fashion later, but for now, the patch job wouldn’t be the most visible in the dark anyhow. At worst, I’d be called cheap, and I’d been called worse.

I made sure my sword was strapped firmly to my side and was in an optimal position in my scabbard. A longsword, made from steel of good quality. It was probably the most valuable thing I owned, with it not being bought by me, but instead being a coming of age gift from a friend of mine, before he’d lost his life out west. It had symbols carved on it, but those hadn’t come with it naturally. The scabbard was red and gold, incredibly regal for what amounted to a very simple weapon. I’d practiced extensively with it, and had gotten a pretty good feel for how to use it with my training.

My supply bag, as my third item of choice to bring on this newly embraced night excursion, was an essential part. Light out of necessity, it contained basic first aid supplies, a whetstone in case I got stranded, with some preservable food and a waterskin serving a similar purpose. A small torch was strapped to the side, and a small bottle of oil tucked in front pouch served as a way to light it in a dire circumstance. That was the best I had in terms of supplies, money was pretty tight at the moment all things considered. I was too close to not meeting ends meet to consider splurging on supplies I could need, but might not. So I stuck with what I had. I grabbed my key from the small table near the front entrance of the place I was staying, checked to be sure I hadn’t left anything too out of place, and exited the front door into the street. I locked the door behind me, and made my way out.

Immediately, I saw the faint plumes of smoke which indicated where I would be going. The warzone. A part of me was taken aback at how quickly the fighting had begun again. Every nightfall, war took to the streets, and it was slowly spreading. This was just the first time I’d be apart of it. I’d had to prepare, after all, the enemies had magi, and I wasn’t keen on rushing into a situation where I might be running into a spell slinger without proper measures. I didn’t want to become another one of those corpses they’d find in the aftermath, trying to figure out what sort of magic did the deed, treating the corpse in question with less dignity then a common drunk trying to get even the slightest insight into what sort of force the enemy had brought to bear. I shuddered at the thought, because sometimes, the victims would still be alive.

I rounded the bend, down a silent and dark street. My sword’s faint glow along with distant lights giving me all I needed to guide myself. I’d also walked the street during the day, getting dangerously close to the border zone to map out the route I’d be taking tonight, and that was paying off. If it weren’t for the poor state of the streets I’d likely be able to walk the entire way with my eyes closed, I was…particularly meticulous with that sort of thing, in all honesty. But I couldn’t waste time, with the smoke and signal flares now rising into the distance, I broke into a jog.

The battles had been raging on for about a month and a half now. A crime group, formerly known for some simple shakedowns, highway robbery and extortion outside the city and in some of the worse off areas, now had amassed into an army. Nothing compared to the legions stationed here, but where this group, calling themselves Noctis, had differed from an army of thugs and bruisers, was their seeming abundance of magi. Of all five types, too. Their demands, after making an initial push in the dead of night, was for the Kingdom’s forces to evacuate the city and for the current leadership to be replaced by them in the court. The leadership, led by Lord Salazar, promptly refused, and responded with equal force, getting pushed back, and repeating the cycle. After about a week of it, the two sides had made an unofficial agreement. Battle would take place at night only, and the rest of the city wouldn’t be struck by anything unless the battle pushed there. No one had broken this silent accord, mostly because no one wanted to see what the other side would try and pull if they did. Greater forces could be requisitioned from the Kingdom, and the magi of Noctis could surely pull some sort of dirty trick that the Kingdom didn’t want to see occur. The battle had slowed, however Noctis was making progress. This was the only reason I’d elected to do this late night excursion, to join the fight. We were losing. And a loss here, could have terrible consequences for a whole lot of people living here, including people who definitely didn’t deserve it. Noctis had very few qualms about testing magic on people, robbing them, or being tyrants. The rumors about what had happened to some people caught in the areas they’d taken was chilling, and at the same time, provoked anger in me.

“Hey, kid!”

The loud, but not quite commanding voice from behind me made me stop in my tracks and cut off my internal thoughts. I turned, taking a deep breath as the recognizable shape of a Kingdom guard approached me, emblem and colors on full display even in the faint light. He was an elf, a taller frame, pointed ears. I couldn’t tell what type, maybe a forest elf, but I couldn’t be sure off of the sparing looks I got of him in the dark. He got to a better speaking distance before addressing me again.

“What are you doing out so late? You’re heading towards a warzone you know!” He had annoyance in his tone, and it sounded like this wasn’t the first time he’d been forced or felt compelled to say that tonight.

I nodded with confidence. “I know that sir. I’d like to help.”

The man sighed, like it hadn’t been the first time he’d heard that response tonight “Don’t you all. I’m not allowed to say anything to dissuade you, but its dangerous. If you still want to go, we need some people watching the eastern roads, we think they’ll try to punch through our line there, and we could use some heads up if they do, if not someone to hold that line until backup arrives.”

I thought about it, before giving him a second, and more curt nod. “I can do that. I’ll give those bastards hell if they come for that area.” I said with conviction in my tone, hard and firm.

He definitely had heard that one tonight. “Right. Thank you for your service-and before you go-” he fished a small pad of paper from his belt, and a field quill. “Can I have your name? Supposed to collect what I can if you end up…beyond recognition to your friends and family. Dark, but its the reality” he sounded somber as he said that. How many nights had he been doing this?

Not dwelling on it for too long, I replied “Acuzio Velari. I live down on Allician street, the house with the blue roof.” more information then he’d asked for, but if it was to identify people…

“Got it. Godspeed Mr. Velari, and try not to die out there. I’m really sick of seeing brave boys like you not come back.”

His assertion of my age gave me a twang of annoyance that I hadn’t felt in awhile, but I simply gave him a final nod, not wanting to disrupt what seemed to be a somewhat good impression with the elf “I’ll do my best” I said, giving a salute which he returned in kind, before heading off into the night, back to his station nearby which I only now was able to make out unlike at my head in the clouds state I was in before. I didn’t bother to watch the elf vanish fully into the meager light before I was off again, back at a steady jog, not running in case I’d need to save my energy for a later engagement or running back here to warn the nearest local garrison about a breach. The fact that he’d mentioned them punching through being a possibility was concerning, though with magi, anything was possible I supposed.

My thoughts dwelled on the guard calling me a boy. I knew I wasn’t particularly tall, nor was I built like some of the stronger royal forces I’d seen moving to the battleground but a few days ago, but I most certainly was not a boy. I was a skilled combatant, trained in swordsmanship and an incredibly potent fighter. He thought I was just going to die namelessly to a blast of flame from a stray magi or something of the like. That potential assertion made me even more annoyed, and even a bit angry, as irrational as it was. That man was a public servant doing his duty to the kingdom, but I couldn’t help but feel unnecessarily understated in capability. He didn’t know a damn thing about me, and he’d written me off!

I rounded a corner, with maybe five more minutes at my current pace I’d reach the eastern streets I would be tasked with watching for my due diligence. I was almost hoping for an engagement, for some trumped up magi to show their face, ready to walk all over him.

I was ready. That guard didn’t know one crucial fact about me when he’d made his quick assessment of my assured death in battle.

I willed my sword to glow in three areas, where it had previously been glowing in one. The three symbols which marked it obeyed my will, and did so. I kept the one under the patch at my armors chest, where the crest had been dim for now, but it was nonetheless active and ready for use.

I’d only used ones I was confident I could get to work, which were four in total, three on my blade and one on my armor, the final one hidden to steal the upper hand if need be. Each had been refined, though not on the level of the greats by any means. I hadn’t met anyone else with this skill, but I’d heard the stories. A javelin so powerful it cleaved through mountains to level castles. Armor which could reliably survive a strike from the strongest of demons. Boots which carried people across cities in seconds. The kind of thing where you wouldn’t confirm it was true, but you knew, on some level, it was possible. One of the five classifications of magic. Runic Magic, Sigilism Glyphs, it had a lot of names, but it all boiled down to one conclusion for me at this moment.

I was a magi, and I was going to prove that damn elf wrong.