178 - Trouble

To their credit, the group of Paladins reacted well when the sound of the horn shattered the darkness in their mind. They were trained professionals. The six of them immediately noticed the three beautiful men sitting in luxurious cushions and concluded that something wasn’t right.

They kept their faces stoic and, like Alexandra, acted as if nothing had happened.

“Feel any different?” Kyle asked.

“My mind is cleared, rejuvenated,” Erik said. “Still can’t see the exit.”

“Same,” the others parroted.

“I might have a hunch,” Alexandra said, “that the exit is somewhere in that direction.”

She pointed at the exit, which wasn’t hard to find now that the darkness was gone.

Kyle shrugged. “That’s as good a guess as it gets. Let’s try it.”

Alexandra led the way. She took a step toward the exit. She didn’t think the men would let them leave so easily. The one in the lead was Platinum, after all. She didn’t know who they were, but since the basin was closed to people of this rank, she had to assume they came to the pass to ambush people going in and out of the region.

Yet, despite her assumptions, the men didn’t react as she and the six Paladins made their steady way to the mouth of the cave.

Maybe they will let us leave.

The Platinum smiled. His white teeth shone against the sunlight filtering through the entrance. A deep glimmer surfaced in his blue eyes.

“Alright, let’s drop the act.”

“Run!” Kyle shouted, prompting the survivors from her squad to rush ahead. Alexandra reacted a second later, pushing on her legs to bring her outside.

The man clicked his tongue. “I don’t recall giving you leave.”

Alexandra and the Paladins stopped dead in their tracks. No chains were holding them back, but a strong compulsion to listen to the man.

“Speck,” Alexandra whispered. The elemental slid back inside her body.

They turned around and faced the three men who hadn’t moved from their chairs. The Gold on the left popped a grape inside his mouth.

“Valon, behave. We have guests,” the leader said.

“Sorry,” Valon said, his smile betraying his lack of sincerity.

The leader raised his hand and beckoned them to come closer.

Alexandra felt her legs moving before she could decide what to do.

“Truly, the Paladins of Yshar have their ways,” he said, smiling. “If only you weren’t so set on fighting between yourselves, the orders would be a real issue for us.”

“Demon worshiper,” Kyle spat.

He ignored her, instead focusing his gaze on Alexandra. “What surprises me is you. How did you break my charm before everyone else?”

Alexandra bit the inside of her lips, fighting against the compulsion to answer him.

How is he doing that?

“It’s quite impolite not to answer. I take a lot of pride in that skill of mine. It’s a rare one, you know.”

She kept quiet, her mind racing to find a way out of this. If it was a Gold, she’d be a lot more confident with the Paladins at her sides. But Platinum was a huge step to climb. If she took Sera as a reference… Yeah, she didn’t fancy her chances.

The sound of the horn broke the silence. Kyle had blown it again and drawn her sword.

“What are you doing here?” she barked. “This region is off limits to Platinums.”

“Not quite.” The man smiled. “We have yet to enter the basin.”

“Ambushing people at the entrance of protected regions is just as bad.”

“I agree. But that isn’t why we came here,” the man said. “When we saw you engage the Architects… It was just too tempting.”

“Still, you—”

“Kyle,” Alexandra said, interrupting her. “Why are you trying to reason with him?”

The captain met Alexandra’s eyes and nodded.

Alexandra had pieced things together. The compulsion, the charms—those men were probably from the same cult of San that was after Kam and Nara. There were no signs of Zeynep here, which meant she was somewhere else. She likely never went to the pass to begin with.

She looked at the cultists. Perhaps it was better knowing they were here. As much as the low-level regions were supposed to be off limits to people above Gold, she’d seen Sera enter Baleria and come out unscathed. In theory, it came with massive personal risks, but as long as they weren’t caught, nothing would happen.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

Same with Maret, that damned alchemist in Esmera.

“Now that’s just rude,” the man lamented. “I’m a perfectly reasonable person. The fact I haven’t killed you yet should speak for itself.”

“It’s about time, Arlen,” the Gold named Valon said.

“It is.” Arlen nodded. “We don’t have all day.”

“Move!” Kyle’s voice ripped through the cavern, shattering the remaining vestiges of Arlen's compulsion.

The six Paladins moved with practiced synchronization. They spread out in a crescent, their swords and axes raised. Two, including Alicia, charged head-on, while Kyle and the remaining three flanked Arlen from his blind spots. It was a flawless execution of martial discipline, designed to overwhelm and pin down a superior opponent.

Arlen simply sighed, initially not even bothering to rise from his luxurious cushion.

Knowing the Platinum would demand the Paladins' full attention, Alexandra turned her attention to the two Golds.

“Valon, was it?” Alexandra muttered, raising her sword in one hand and mana threads in the other.

Golden light coalesced near her fingertips.

Rays Of The Sun.

A concentrated beam of solar light blasted forward. The cavern lit up. Valon sneered, attempting to summon a jagged shield of dark, swirling energy, but the blinding rays pierced straight through his hasty construct. The light seared across his shoulder, drawing a sharp hiss of pain and the smell of burning flesh.

The unnamed Gold came at her from the side, a pair of curved daggers drawn to capitalize on the distraction. Alexandra closed her fist, channeling a dense, suffocating mass of heat directly into his path.

Solar Compression.

The air around the lunging cultist warped. An orb of concentrated solar fire ignited and pressed all around his torso. The Gold screamed as the oppressive force imploded and then violently detonated, crushing his ribs and sending him tumbling backward into the cavern wall with a crunch. Smoke poured from his scorched robes as he slumped to the ground, heavily injured.

“Impressive,” Arlen’s voice echoed over the din of battle, completely devoid of concern.

Alexandra snapped her gaze back to the center of the cave. The Paladins' flawless formation was already in tatters. Arlen had finally stood. Alicia was kneeling before him, her breath ragged and her leather armor in tatters.

Kyle roared, stepping off a rock to bring her sword down toward Arlen’s neck.

The Platinum didn't even draw a weapon. He simply reached up and caught the flat of her descending blade with two bare fingers.

“A valiant effort,” Arlen whispered, his blue eyes flashing with cold amusement. “You even got Marlon. What a moron. It was obvious the Bronze wasn’t as simple as she seemed.”

He struck Kyle in the chest with a palm. The captain flew backward, crashing hard against the cave floor and sliding to a halt at Alexandra's feet, coughing up blood.

Arlen brushed a speck of dust from his pristine satin robes as he stepped over a groaning Paladin. He was entirely unscathed.

“Valon, you also got hit. I’m disappointed.”

“I’m sorry, Sir.” Valon bowed, his relaxed tone from earlier entirely gone.

“I will decide on your punishment later.”

Erik knelt next to Kyle. “Captain, can you stand?”

Kyle grunted.

Alexandra’s eyes darted between the members of her group. Two dead. Alicia and Kyle injured. Only Erik and the last man were fine.

Shit.

The only silver lining was that some sunlight streamed inside the cavern from outside. Her bloodline was working to replenish her mana. Not as much as it would outside, but it would have to be enough.

Alexandra prepared another beam and fired it at Arlen. The man tilted his head to avoid it. She adjusted her aim.

Arlen stepped to the side, his hands clasped behind his back as the beam grazed his robes without ever touching them. The walls of the cave shuddered under the barrage of solar energy, sending stone flying everywhere.

“Quite the spell you have there,” the Platinum commented as if she wasn’t trying to blast his head off. “There’s even the hint of a conceptual truth in there. Very good.”

“Someone grab Alicia,” Alexandra said. “We need to bail.”

“How?” Erik asked.

“We’ll figure. Just go get her.”

For once, Erik didn’t argue. Neither Valon nor Arlen made any move to stop him as he pulled his companion toward them.

Alright. Time to go all out.

Alexandra wasn’t in a position to be conservative. Keeping her beam active to distract Arlen, she cast two quick Inflict Weakness. It didn’t do much to the Platinum, but Valon’s clenched teeth showed she got him.

“A curse?” Arlen asked. “How quaint. That’s quite the unusual build you have there.”

“Fuck you,” Alexandra spat.

“Oh my.” He put a hand on his heart, faking outrage. “Someone ought to teach you good manners.”

He brushed off Drain Life as if swatting a fly, his eyes lighting up as he did.

“You ought to teach me that one.”

Shit. I shouldn’t have done that.

Alexandra gathered mana in her sword-bearing hand.

Life Curse.

Dark Bolt.

From the tip of her finger, a familiar black needle shot out toward Arlen. He tried to dodge it, but Alexandra aimed her beam in a way that forced him to choose between getting hit by one or the other.

He chose the needle. His robes offered no resistance, and the bolt sunk into his skin.

Meanwhile, Alexandra felt a sickness take hold inside her core. She hadn’t held back this time. Prickling heat erupted on every inch of her skin. Hair began sprouting from her arms, her neck, the backs of her hands, her legs. Everywhere all at once and growing at a terrifying, visible rate.

It was the same static-charged white of her hair. Strands of solar gold surged through the dense overgrowth, only to fade into deep indigo at the tips before cycling back to gold.

“What happened?” Kyle asked.

“Backlash from my skill.”

She was about to move when a petrifying pressure washed over the room.

“I will make you regret this,” Arlen said, his smile nowhere to be seen. She wasn’t sure if he was mad about the corrupted lifeforce or his robes.

Probably both.

Valon took a step back as his boss gathered mana into his palm.

Alexandra felt an insidious, honeyed warmth creeping into her mind. Her pulse fluttered uncontrollably. The furious twist of his lips and the deadly, glacial flare of his blue eyes were utterly captivating.

Gods, he’s beautiful when he’s angry.

She bit her tongue hard.

Fucking cultists.

“Defensive formation,” Kyle ordered.

Alexandra didn’t know what to do. If Arlen got serious…

“I’m. Ready,” Speck whispered, finally speaking up.

“Ready for what?” she asked, keeping her voice low.

Dark mana rippled under her skin, spreading out toward the Platinum.

“Run.”