Shadow Weave.

  "Kill him," Cleveland yelled from the depths of his lungs.

  His command echoed throughout the woods, but the darkness was already moving against them. Phoenix Squad, which consisted of thirteen mercenaries advancing up the narrow path, didn't understand why I wasn't reaching for either of the swords, but instead, stretching my arms out at my sides, rolling my fingertips through the air.

  Shadows lurked above them, coiling out of the treetops like a bed of levitating snakes that slithered into sharpened needlepoint tips. Moments later, the writhing darkness obstructed the last slivers of hopeful moonlight along the corridor.

  Phoenix Squad took immediate notice of the sudden absence of light.

  "Above us," someone shouted.

  Cleveland stumbled backwards as the rest of his unit noticed the ungodly storm brewing overhead. "Abby, counter magic!"

  The level five mage whipped her staff into the air and screamed, "Gold Barrier!"

  A flat, honey colored barrier emerged eight feet in the air. It stretched outward in a thin strip as Abby clenched her staff tight. Sweat beaded on her brow, and her face turned pale as she realized her barrier couldn't blanket the entire formation.

  I took my time, watching the mercenaries fold inward, pushing and shoving each other in a futile effort to get underneath Abby's insignificant umbrella. A buzzing energy jolted out of my body as I concentrated on amassing needles.

  With a swift kick, Cleveland booted a young man out of the circle and stole his spot. Panicked screams escaped the mouths of those that weren't huddled around the mage.

  I dropped my hands and slender black rods rained down, impaling half of the mercenaries. The shadow rods extended into the ground, rupturing armor and bone, pinning the men in place. One mercenary choked on his blood, squirming against the angled rods running through his chest and legs. The lucky ones died instantly, but were forbidden from falling, held up like skewered pieces of chicken as I continued channeling the ability.

  A nightmarish screeching sound pierced the night as my pitch black needles ground against the top of Abby's barrier. Cleveland and the six remaining mercenaries stared up in horror, holding their shields over their heads.

  "Hold steadfast!" Cleveland shouted.

  One of the mercenaries threw down his weapons aside and screamed, "I quit!"

  He dashed out from the barrier and I flicked my pinky, diverting a needle into his back. It pierced his heart and bolted into the ground, suspending him in the air, adding him as another addition to the graveyard of impaled mercenaries.

  Hopeless terror gripped the clustered group. Blood trickled from Abby's nose. Her eyes were bloodshot and her posture wavered as she witnessed cracks form across her barrier.

  I clenched my fists and the barrier shattered. With a meticulous precision, the needle-like beams shot downward. One pierced through the top of Abby's skull, shot out through the bottom of her jaw, and hammered into Cleveland's left foot.

  Cleveland shrieked in anguish and turned as far as his speared foot would allow. The rest of Phoenix Squad limply hung in place, dead, but not yet allowed to rest. Words failed to form in the squad leader's throat. He choked out a garbled plea and grabbed onto the shadow pole stabbed into his foot, inadvertently losing four fingers in the process.

  Finally, I ended the ability and the dead collapsed to the ground along with Cleveland, who tumbled onto his ass, tears streaming down his cheeks as he clutched his ruined right hand.

  "That was fun. I really needed to blow off some steam." I rolled my shoulders back and clapped my hands together, noticing a residual tingling sensation in my fingertips. "And thanks to you I learned something quite interesting. If I keep those shadows slim, they don't consume as much stamina."

  Cleveland lowered his head. "Spare me, please."

  "Knock off the 'poor me' act. I can't hear it, not right now. Do you see that?" I said, pointing at the timer in the bottom right hand corner of the ground.

  Time Remaining: 23:55:48

  The hapless Phoenix Squad leader shook his head.

  "Of course not. Well, it's a timer and you have forty seconds to tell me where Black Diamond Mercenary Company keeps their captives before I cut the rest of your fingers off."

  +305 XP

  +95 Karma

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  ***

  As it turned out, the threat of torture was completely unnecessary after Cleveland had witnessed his comrades, who he'd spent months training, eating, and socializing with, die in such a horrifying fashion.

  "Your organization took my associate," I said.

  Without wasting time, Cleveland nodded, eager to prove his usefulness. "We passed Vanguard Squad on our way up here. They were already extracting the prisoner to The Cellar when we arrived."

  "Where?"

  "It's an hour's ride southeast of here. Before you reach The Silverlight Plains there's a bridge that runs across the crystal lakes. It leads to a fortified keep, which is the only way into The Cellar. But I'm afraid it's too late for your friend," Cleveland said. "I saw horses atop of the hill, we can still go back for them."

  I thought about slashing the man's throat, but Cleveland sensed my train of thought as if he was clairvoyant.

  "Wait, if you keep me alive I can be of great use. Trade my life for your friend's. A squad leader of my caliber isn't easily replaced. They will be forced to negotiate. Black Diamond Mercenary Company isn't an enormous faction with unlimited resources. Most of the squads used to operate as small bandit groups. Burtrip brought them all together under one banner and once the gold came flowing in, nobody had any complaints," Cleveland said, his voice quivering. "They believe in loyalty."

  He only stopped talking to catch his breath, then rambled on again, afraid the silence would indicate the end of his usefulness. "They all said you were a lucky novice. Burtrip assigned the officers to handle Grimspark. Galdir knows, I never would've brought my men here if we had known the truth, I swear it."

  "I feel better knowing you only tried to kill me because you thought I was weak," I said. "Tell me about the keep."

  Cleveland winced, as he pressed the bloody handkerchief against his stubbed fingers, limping along trying to keep pace as I strode down the path. "Aside from the normal security, Vanguard Squad will be staying the night before reporting back to headquarters in the morning. Your friend is likely being processed by now, which means your only chance is to negotiate their release with my life."

  I scratched my chin, mind churning as we neared the bottom of the hill.

  "If you wait until Vanguard Squad leaves in the morning you'll have better luck negotiating with Barret. He oversees The Cellar, and he's a reasonable man that owes me a favor. Otherwise, I'm afraid you have no chance. Veigan, Vanguard Squad's leader is more than formidable. And Barret specializes in counter-magic himself. A mage like yourself won't stand a chance, no matter how powerful your spellforce is."

  "How much gold is Pearl Banner paying you?" I asked as the path turned out toward the main road where the canopy broke and the moonlight once again washed over the terrain.

  "Well, there's the retainer fee, and the bonus for each contract. But our company practices profit sharing. So the rate varies."

  I stopped dead in my tracks and Cleveland's eyes went wide.

  "And where is this gold kept?"

  "At headquarters, in a secure vault," Cleveland whispered.

  I sighed. "And where would that be?"

  "Oh, you haven't seen our fliers? Or the advertisements in Hired Arm's Digest? I helped develop the slogan. Fierce and true, we see it through—Black Diamond Mercenary Company," Cleveland said with a sad rhyming cadence.

  If looks could kill, my glare would've ripped Cleveland's tongue from his mouth. Did he think he was off the hook?

  He cleared his throat, quickly dialing his demeanor back to that of a terrified doe. "Headquarters is north of the mountains and west of Vaulter along with our recruitment and contract offices."

  As we turned out onto the road, Karma's Gaze picked up the status of two horsemen riding in from the north and I nearly blew a gasket until I recognized the level threes as militiamen from Waystone.

  "Cyprus!" Orus yelled out from atop his horse. "Waystone is being ransacked by bandits! You must come with us at once. They're demanding your presence."

  I stood at an impasse, endlessly frustrated by the fact I was knee-deep in shit by Chaos's design.

  "I can't. I'm busy," I said and turned south.

  Gobsmacked by my response, Orus trailed behind me, unwilling to let it go. "They'll kill everyone if we come back empty handed. We don't have enough forces to drive them out."

  "Contact the royal guard. I have more pressing matters to deal with."

  "Excuse me, Cyprus." Orus pulled his horse in front of the path. "I can't accept your refusal. There are too many lives at stake."

  My face darkened as he blocked my path.

  The fucking audacity of these people.

  Hadn't I shed enough blood for Waystone Village? Was he forgetting I had nearly died last night when I diverted the sludge crawlers? When did it stop? After I was six feet under and they erect a cheesy memorial to make themselves feel better?

  If you give a mouse a cookie, next he'll want both of your kidneys.

  "Tell whoever is looking for me that I'm headed south to The Silverlight Plains. They can raze Waystone to the ground, but it will be a waste of time. If they want my bounty or the chaos shard, they can face me on this road," I said. "Now move."

  The militiamen retreated, probably hauling their asses back to Waystone completely disappointed in their so-called savior's response. Maybe it was wrong of me to deny their request with such callousness. Despite being deemed Waystone's Savior, I never never vowed to protect their village. But I remembered the promise I had made to the elf, and I planned on keeping it.

  Cleveland limped after me, struggling to keep pace with his bloodied left foot. Our walk down the hill had passively restored my stamina to 60%, but I was anxious to increase the pace.

  Cool air howled as I stopped and waited in place for Cleveland to catch-up. He grunted, taking heavy pained breaths, forcing his body onward. Our eyes met and he shot his palm out, begging me to reconsider.

  "Without me, they won't negotiate! You won't even be able to cross the bridge, let alone reach The Cellar. I can still be of assistance in many ways..."

  He droned on, but his pleas came out warbled as if he was speaking underwater. My grasp on reality drifted away as a numbing cold consumed me. Moving on auto-pilot, I unsheathed a sword and before I knew it, Cleveland's head had rolled off his shoulders.

  +225 XP

  +55 Karma

  Agility Burst.

  The soles of my boots slapped against the road as I flew southbound, far surpassing the top speed of any horse. Viessa's voice whispered in the wind as it whistled by and I couldn't shake the image of her stiff corpse standing in the moonlit grass.

  Cleveland could've proved useful, but at some point during our trek down the hill I had happily conceded all control to a reckless instinct with a penchant for self-destruction. Logic and temperament be damned. I'd carve out the hearts of anyone who stood in my way, amassing XP until I gathered enough power to erase Chaos and his influence from this world.