A few weeks ago, I purchased 50 barrels from Steven the cooper. Over a period of weeks, I carefully filled every single barrel with water; inside each was an arcane circle.
When experimenting with my stone, so long ago at my little cottage, I discovered a little problem when heating water. When a massive amount of heat is pumped into a finite volume of water near instantly. The result is a steam explosion that could be quite violent. Before, I was experimenting with small bowls of water.
Now, spread around my territory were 25 of the 50 barrels primed with a heating circuit. Inside the iron cylinder were arcane sources to fuel the circuits with primal energy.
Most people would ignore a random barrel sitting in an alley, against a house, or behind a store. That was what I bet on, that was the cleverness and cruelty of the plan. 25 Barrels and my bath all simultaneously detonated.
The simultaneous explosions rang in my ears as I fell to the floor. The left side of the room caved in, sending steam and debris flying everywhere, as a barrel sitting in the alley destroyed half of Unber’s store.
As fast as I could, I shot to my feet and sprinted for the door.
Immediately, I was met with a thick fog of steam that choked the air and blocked my vision. I made the mistake of staring down at the bodies of my crew. They were bisected at the waist, and both auburn-haired siblings stared up at the sky with empty eyes. Behind me were bright flashes of yellow light. Whatever that magic was, I wanted no part of it. Clearly, that blast barely slowed Heywood down.
The air was thick with steam, and people screamed as homes and stores were destroyed by the blast. People I recognised ran out of their homes, their bodies badly burned from the heat of the steam.
The very people that I had protected, brought prosperity to, and aided during the winter, were now suffering the effects of the explosions. I steeled my heart and continued to run, refusing to look back and check if Lord Heywood had given chase. The cries grated against my ears, but still I ran, ignoring the pain I selfishly wrought.
The closer I got to my home, the thicker the fog. The warehouse was little more than kindling, and months of work were reduced to nothing by easily the most powerful explosion of the group. My bath had nearly a thousand gallons of water after all. It even destroyed the surrounding buildings. Considering I heard no screams from them, everyone was likely dead from the blast.
‘How many did I kill in those explosions? In the end, it doesn't matter; all that matters is escape.’
Though I did make sure not to place any barrels near Diane’s brothel or Neil’s store. That vestigial kindness in me wasn't dead, and I was alright with that in the end, as the rest of my territory was largely a ruin.
This trap was intended for a large force of people attacking my home. To create mass confusion and a smoke screen through which I could escape.
The air, choked with thick steam, made it difficult to breathe. I turned to the left, found the alley, and sprinted forward. My lungs burned from the effort, and I mentally berated myself for my lack of exercise.
‘100?150? How many of them will die in the coming months?’
Taking the opportunity, I put the stone back around my neck. Relieved that it didn't turn to dust. Hearing a loud crash from the entrance of the alley, I turned around to see Heywood in his dark armor entering through the thick haze of steam at a full sprint. I made a left heading through a back alley, careful not to trip on any stray pieces of wood and, occasionally, frozen bodies. The steam was long behind me now, so no hope of cover.
'Finally!'
I found another barrel sitting at the entrance of an alley to the left. Taking the corner, I ran, my legs pumping for all they were worth. I quickly muttered a binding between the two arcane circles inside the barrel and my left hand. Near the exit of said side alley, I waited. Not a second later, Heywood came barreling around the corner. As soon as he spotted me, he stretched out his right arm.
Fortunately, he didn't notice the barrel to his left. Another thing I learned was that water was a combination of two gases. When decomposed, the two gases could be ignited for an explosive effect.
What looked like a cylinder made of pure light emitted from his right hand with that same combination of roar and screech. Fortunately, the blast caused his aim to be off, and instead of bisecting me, his arm and entire body flew to the right, colliding with the building from the force of the explosion. This caused the beam to loudly shear the buildings to my right in half diagonally. Cutting through everything, wood, iron, even people, based on the screams, like they weren't even there.
The shock of how deadly that beam had been caused me to falter in my steps for a moment. Then some movement from Heywood's prone form jolted me out of my stunned stupor.
I sprinted out of the alley, not willing to check if the explosion had even damaged the man. The buildings started to collapse around me, blocking off the alley.
‘That's some good fortune at least. It'll be hard for him to work his way around that.’’
I ran, took the right, and headed down a main street as the screams increased from the collapsed buildings. To my great terror, I heard the roar of that strange beam of light again coming from behind me. Warning bells sounded in my mind as I dove to the ground. An instant later, the beam passed over my head, cutting clean through every building around me in a wide arc.
‘Based on the angle of the beam, he’s still in the alley, what a weapon.’
The screams were palpable; no doubt, dozens of people were just killed in that single pass.
'That explosion would have killed anyone. Even in full plate, his insides should have been reduced to paste. Enchantment is something else. This is power, Myr, you're nowhere close.’'
I picked up the pace again as buildings collapsed all around me, punctuated by the screams of their occupants. My heart felt like it was about to burst from the running, but I kept going.
~
After a few minutes, thinking I was safe, I slowed down to a fast walk to catch my breath.
"Sewers, wall, or gate?" I asked no one. The cold air hurt my lungs; somehow, I felt worse after slowing down. There was an intersection coming up, and from there, I would have to choose. I made several turns, cutting through back alleys, fortunately. For all Heywood's power, I knew the city better than him.
I stared up at the sky. "Damn, not much sunlight left."
I heard a loud cracking to my right, then two more. I turned around to see Heywood on top of a three-story building.
'How in the hells did he get up there?'
We seemed to spot each other at the same moment. I darted to my left down an alley. I looked behind me to see if Heywood was giving chase. Instead, in his left hand, he held what I thought was a mini sun. He aimed and released.
I just managed to leave the back alley and started running to the left when the small sun illuminated the area brightly, then detonated in a massive expansion of fire.
I was tossed from my feet as the shockwave hit me from behind. I tumbled and rolled in the blanket of snow that covered the ground, pain blossoming all over my body.
‘By Anier, what was that?’
I looked toward the explosion to see that every building within a hundred-foot radius was either destroyed or burning.
Slumped against the snowy ground, I painfully went to my feet.
‘I didn't think he would use such large-scale magic in a city. The death toll from this would be significant.’
At least 50 buildings all around the explosion were damaged or completely obliterated.
I heard the loud cracks again.
'Roofing tiles! That's what that was. Is the bastard hopping across the rooftops? How?'
"I knew imperial Magi would be superior to me, but the gap was far greater than I had predicted." I stood looking to the left.
'Sewers it is; no more main streets. I don't care how powerful you are, Heywood. I've been living here for months, I know these streets better than you.'
I slowed down as I entered narrow alleys and back streets. Using my ears, I could track him as he hopped across the buildings, searching for me. Eventually, I found something perfect, a small ramshackle home with a busted-down door. I went inside and looked around. The building was small; a main room with a hearth and a side room in the rear. No fire was lit, so it had to be abandoned. I entered the rear room only to find a horrific sight.
A mother and two boys, not a year over ten, clearly dead, lay on the bed. Everyone had a slit throat. In the mother’s hand was a knife, the brown stains likely being blood.
‘Did she kill her sons then herself?’
The extreme chill had preserved their bodies. Though I could still smell the rot of death. I sat off to one side, ignoring the dead bodies. Slowly, my heart rate decreased. Reaching into my pack, I pulled out a strip of dried beef and practically inhaled it.
'Alright, let's settle down for a moment. Wait for sunset, it shouldn't take more than an hour.'
My heart was beating so loudly I felt my pulse in my ears. As I sat there, I relaxed my mind as I tried to calm down. Minutes passed, my pulse slowed, and I steadied myself, preparing to take the streets again.
There was a loud crash, three, perhaps four houses down. A bit of screaming and an argument. Then it repeated a little closer.
'Dammit, he's checking the houses.'
"Who are you? Get out of my..." The yelling man was cut off as he was no doubt killed, but I couldn't tell how.
'Wait for him to enter the next house, then we run.'
Then there was another crash even closer.
'One house over.'
I slowly crept through the door, exited the small home, and ran down the alley. I tripped on something, some stray piece of wood hidden beneath the blanket of snow. As soon as I got up, I saw the figure of Heywood coming out of the house. Even after the explosion, his armor was still perfect.
He spotted me, I pressed a left hand to my chest and extended the right. Instantly, the entire alleyway was a wash with a thirty-foot-long pillar of flame. Even in the winter, the intense fire set everything ablaze. Buildings, the homes of people, and businesses along the narrow street, burned.
I got to my feet and cut off the flame. While the entire alley was a blaze, in a small circle around him, no flame came close. Not even the snow had melted. However, Heywood was covering his eyes. I doubted I actually damaged him; more likely, the flames were simply too bright to look at directly. It was just enough for me to scramble right to an even narrower alley, stinking of human waste, leaving behind the burning buildings.
'Almost there, I'm getting close.'
The roar came back this time. He tried to cut me off at the end of the alley. The lance of golden light erupted from the side of a building in front of me. Based on the angle and distance he was from the narrow alley, I guessed that he was standing in the same spot.
‘What kind of power is that circuit that could cut through dozens of buildings with ease? This is the difference, isn't it? For too long, I was the deadliest person in the room. I forgot what true power was. I can do nothing to this man; all I can do is run.’
Then it headed towards me, and I leapt forward, diving over the beam as it cut through everything with ease.
Without hesitation, I sprang to my feet and kept running, heading to the right. I ran behind houses, leapt over fences, as I closed in on my destination. I used my knowledge of the city to my advantage, leaving him far behind.
'How many stones does he have powering all his circuits?'
I ducked into another abandoned house, catching my breath. After it felt like my heart wasn't about to burst, I exited and kept going along another narrow street,
'Final stretch, Myr.'
Left by the old granaries, right by the half-burnt whore house. My hope bloomed as I got closer and closer to my destination. I ran down a side street heading to the main road. But not before veering to the left to an abandoned blacksmith building. In one of the rear rooms, I opened a chest, revealing three 15lb orbs of condensed wood.
With a smile, I turned and headed back towards the main street. Somehow, that was enough time for Heywood to catch up. Though he was still hundreds of feet behind. He launched himself off a building, landing in the middle of the snow-covered street, a feat that should have resulted in him, at the very least, breaking his legs. If he wasn't throwing explosions or deadly beams of light, then I must have been outside his range.
'Veer off and try to lose him or take the risk?'
A small smile stretched across my face.
'When have I ever been averse to risk?'
Just as I was about to exit onto the main road, I heard the cracking from a tall stone bell tower near my exit to the main street. I looked over to the building to see it slowly leaning to the right. I turned around to see Heywood, his hand stretched out towards the building.
'Is he planning to collapse the building to cut off my exit?'
I looked to the left and right. There were no side alleys.
I activated my animus as the building was slowly collapsing.
'I am as light as air, faster than lightning, I run like a galloping horse, I am speed itself.'
For the first time in a long time, I used the animus for something other than magic.
The weight holding me down disappeared, and the fear that the building would collapse faded. There was no question that I had the speed to reach the exit before it cut me off. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novelꞁire.net
I ran like a woman possessed, completely and utterly believing that I had the speed. My hair whipped in the wind as my body was pushed beyond its limits. Just as I reached the main road, the building collapsed behind me.
Without even looking back, I turned to the right. The normally busy street was desolate. I grinned as an entrance to the sewers came into view. Immediately, I thought of where I hid the five barrels of water. After binding, I pressed my left hand to my chest.
There was a sharp pain, as if someone had slapped my sternum.
'The stone! Damn it all.'
But still, as I reached the grate, the massive amount of water provided a perfect cover of steam as I began to work. However, the heavy winds were quickly blowing away my cover.
The entrance to the sewers was covered with a heavy steel grate, with thick metal bars that allowed water to seep through. But carved into each bar was a circuit to heat metal. I bound the circuit to the potential energy ring in my pack, then pulled a condensed wood orb out of my pack. After putting the wood into the sphere of influence. The edges of the heavy iron bars heated until they melted. With a firm kick, the bars fell through.
'Dont break your legs, Dont break your legs.'
I hopped down, bracing myself for an eight-foot drop into complete darkness. I fell with a grunt of pain onto the stone floor, but nothing broke. I just managed to make out a burning beam of light pass over the top of the grate.
'That was close.'
Immediately, I reached into my pack and pulled out a small silver disc. It was a bit of a pain to find it in the darkness. But I did. After binding it to my ring, I had a small candlelight, readied myself, studiously ignored the smell, and headed east.
He could have entered as well, but in this blackness, I doubted he could track me. For all his power, you can't kill what you can’t catch. From behind me, I felt a rush of wind. Then light emanated from where I had just come.
'Fire!'
There was a massive amount of flame headed in my direction. Immediately, I reached into my pack, pulled out my second ring. Bound it to my right hand, then one last part of my brain reminded me of something.
'Enclosed space with flame equals no breathable air.'
I held my breath.
'Let's see if all that breath holding in my bath paid off.'
I held the ring close to my chest and expanded the sphere of influence to encompass my entire body, pointed my hand towards the incoming wall of flames, and strengthened the binding to my maximum power. However, instead of creating flame, I limited the binding to the spiraling air current's arcane circle to absorb the heat from the fire.
With no heat, there is no combustion. The wind came and hit me stronger than any gale winds. Immediately, my right hand pushed out a spiraling column of air towards the incoming wall of flame, not stopping it in the least. The flame curved around me, and for a few moments, I was covered on all sides by fire; the sphere around me, rapidly absorbing heat, was my only protection. It was both terrifying and one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen.
While holding my breath, I counted.
'Five, ten, twenty. By Anier, how much power can that man wield?'
After a full thirty seconds, the flames stopped, but I dared not take a breath. The air was thick with smoke, and the walls glowed orange. Terrified that he would repeat this feat, I kept running, pushing myself until 20 seconds later, I was forced to take a breath.
Perhaps I ran far enough, since I didn't immediately pass out.
I kept going, never stopping, even though my muscles, arms, and joints screamed at me. Every ten seconds, I threw a paranoid glance behind me, fearing that the man in black steel armor would be coming for me.
But none came, I walked, navigating the twisting labyrinth of the sewers, hoping that the map in my mind was correct. And then finally, after half an hour of walking, I reached the exit.
Four-inch-thick steel rods blocked the exit that existed beyond the walls. The sewer emptied itself into a small river that ran east to west. I drew the symbols for heating metal on the iron rods using some coals. I didn't have to fear diving into a flowing river, since everything was frozen over.
Taking a second, I activated the potential energy ring again and heated two of the beams. The top and bottom of the beams, which were embedded into the stone, glowed white hot. With a firm kick, they fell forward, giving me enough space to slip through.
I breathed a sigh of relief. But that relief was short-lived. I had exited the city to a world of endless white nothing.
As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but snow and gale winds. Almost no sunlight filtered through the heavy clouds. A part of me wanted to turn back. But I refused. No doubt I spent every bit of luck I had running from that man, and I didn't want to tempt fate.
The winds kicked up a constant spray of ice. I swallowed and looked back towards the city one last time. I secured the hood of my cloak over my head, wrapped a thick cloth around my face, leaving only my eyes visible, and walked into what I was sure was the Stygian Abyss.
~
The day turned to night as I walked through the nearly knee-deep snow. Each step was a pain; each movement was suffering. I had perhaps one and a half orbs of wood to fuel the heating circuits in my armor. I couldn't waste any energy on something as simple as light.
I closed my eyes, since I could see nothing anyways.
'In winter, gale winds went from east to west, so, Myr, do you head south, perhaps flee to Helios, or north into even more danger. Where in every town, village, and city, you will be a wanted criminal.'
There was only one answer.
'Keep going forward, Myr, never turn back. Safety and comfort are but an illusion, a cage. You saw Heywood’s power; who else deserves it but you? And there is the orichalcum to think about. By all rights, it belongs to you.'
Turning, I oriented myself to the wind and brought up a map of the area in my mind. I guessed where I was in proximity to a forest and, with pained steps, headed northeast.
~
Wind and ice; wind and frost, were constant companions in the dead of night.
The deep winter brought nothing but cold death. With the animus activated, I placed one foot in front of the other. Over and over. My wooden orb was slowly dying, and soon I would be on the last.
Step after step, I walked into the icy wind.
'Left, right, Left, right.'
‘Grenwood was but a step, a small footnote on my path to power. The circumstances of my birth. My social standing, my lack of wealth. By any measure, I should have failed. But no, I pushed forward, and I forged my own destiny. I carved a path through every obstacle, myself.’
I forced more energy into my steps as I fought through the icy wind.
‘These winds will not kill me nor stop me. Not even the icy chill of the deepest winter can put out the flame that burns within.’
I took a bite of ice-cold dried beef and kept walking. Forcing more energy into my limbs.
‘Let them come, the empire, the Magisterium. I will burn the entire world if it means I can stand above the ashes.’
A smile crept across my face.
‘Go on then, Lord Heywood, spread the tale. Let them come and try to stop me. Let the entire world know of my existence. They will learn to fear my name.’
‘Myr, The Maiden of Fire.’