Chapter 116: Summon

FieryKathy

After Hilda hides the walker we start walking through the forest, parallel to the road we’d been traveling on before. The further we went on the more uncomfortable I started feeling. I didn’t even need to concentrate to be able to tell that the unholy miasma was getting thicker and thicker. 

“Just what in the bloody hells did they do?” Nikki shivers. My sister quickly puts her arm around her but I can tell from her face that it’s affecting her a bit as well. 

“It’s not that much further.” Ruva says, she’s walking next to Hilda at the head of the party. 

“There was no terrain we could use to get a higher vantage point around the capital, right?” Hilda asks. 

“No, the capital is built on a slight hill but that’s about it.” Ruva shakes her head. 

Suddenly Hilda stops and gets down, she quickly signals us to get down too. “Patrol ahead.” She whispers. 

Not soon after we see a couple of torches dancing fifty meters in front of us they are heading from left to right. 

“There’s ten of them.” 

Next to me Sam takes her longbow off her back and knocks and arrows. “Are we going to take them out?” 

“Hmm, let’s let them pass.” 

“You sure?” 

Hilda nods. “I don’t know when the next group will come by, let’s wait here for a bit.” 

Me, my sister and Nikki give her a nod in return although my sister does speak up. 

“If we wait any longer to attack I won’t be able to see jack shit though.” 

“I can help with that.” Nikki puts three of her fingers in a triangle shape on my sister’s temple. A bit of dark purple light surrounds them which then somehow shines from my sister’s eyes for a fraction of a second. 

“Wow.” Lise rubs her eyes for a second. “New spell?” 

Nikki nods. “It’s more of a racial ability I learned. I thought it could come in handy.” 

“Thanks bae.” My sister gives Nikki a quick kiss.

“If you want to eat another quick snack and get some water in your body, now’s the time.” Hilda states as she keeps looking into the forest ahead of us. 

We all decide to follow her advice and nibble on some of our rations so we don’t go into battle while hungry. 

Almost an hour later Hilda signals us again. “Another patrol.” 

Just as the last one, this one passes us rather quickly. 

“Again, ten people.” Hilda follows them until none of us can see their torches anymore. “That’s good, we have plenty of time. Let’s go closer.” 

We follow our leader closer and soon we get to the edge of the forest, well, the new edge of the forest as all the trees in front of us had all been cut down. Apart from that, what we saw was the most impressive yet frightening scene I’ve ever seen. An enormous siege camp was set up a hundred meters or so in front of the tree line. Hundreds of purple tents were spread out. Wooden siege engines had been set up and thousands of soldiers were walking about. In the far distance we can see the walls of the capital, they are still standing but clearly had been severely damaged by bombardments already. A bit to our right, but relatively close to the edge of the forest, there it was, the teleportation obelisk. And from the moment I see it, I realize, that’s the source of the vile aura we’d been feeling up to now. It’s just oozing out like fog from a swamp. 

“What the fuck.” My sister comments. “Are you all seeing this?” 

Hilda nods. “Even I can tell there’s something gloriously wrong with that obelisk.” 

We quickly retreat a bit further back into the forest so we don’t get spotted by a random guard. 

“Our number one priority is to take that thing out.” Hilda says while we are huddled together. “The people who will have to make that happen are Ami, Nikki and Sam. While the rest of us keep them busy.” 

“Ruva, do you know how to fight?” My sister asks our Dwarger companion. 

“I can pick off a couple with my hand crossbow but I’m not the best shot.” 

“Just try to stay out of sight then.” Hilda replies. 

“I can quickly set up a couple of traps though.” 

“Alright.” Hilda then turns her attention back to me. “Ami… are you ready to try to do the thing we discussed?” 

I nod. “Mhmm, but shouldn’t I take my bracelet off first? Veanya advised against taking it with me when I change forms.”  

“Right.” Sam nods. “She did say that. Want me to hold on to it for you?” 

“Yeah.” I offer my wrist to Sam but the moment she touches my bracelet she winces and pulls back her hands. I can see burns on her hands. “Sam, are you okay!?” I quickly begin casting a healing spell on her hands. 

“Holy fucking shit.” She curses behind her teeth. Luckily the painful expression on her face faints as I cast my spell. 

“Is it really that hot?” My sister asks, while she crawls closer to us. 

“It’s like touching molten metal.” Sam nods. 

“Fuck.” She looks at the bracelet on my arm and hovers her hand over it. “You wouldn’t say that, it’s not radiating any heat.” 

“I only felt it when I actually touched the metal.” 

“I’m not going to risk taking it off you, sis.” My sister shakes her head.

“If no one can carry it then you’ll have to take it with you, even if that means going against what Veanya said…” Hilda states. “We’ll have to take the risk… if you are willing to, Ami.” 

“Looks like it’ll have to be that way.” I look at Sam, it looks like all the pain has subsided. “I’m sorry, Sam.” I feel incredibly guilty about what just happened.

“It’s not your fault, Ami.” She quickly gives me a kiss. “I should’ve been more careful.” 

I give her a hug, making sure to keep my bracelet covered with my other hand. After I’m done I look at Hilda and give her a nod. “Let’s get to work so we can defend Ruva’s city.” 

Hilda nods back. “Yeah, let’s get started.” 

Hilda takes me aside and sits me down against a tree a bit further in the forest. Sam follows along to provide emotional support.  

“Okay, Ami, I want you to close your eyes and empty your mind.

I look over to Sam, she gives me a nod to proceed. 

“Do you remember what you felt the last times you transformed?” 

I dig into my memories. “I felt angry and scared. I wanted to protect my family and the people around me, but I also wanted to take vengeance on those who harmed…” The blackness I saw begins to become slightly red at the edges when I recall those events. 

“Okay, instead of focussing on that anger, the urge to take revenge, I want you to focus purely on the people you love and how you want to protect them and people around us.”  

I take a deep breath. “I’ll try.” But this is easier said than done because those memories are extremely reluctant to stay in the background of my mind. 

“Think about the time we are together, as a family.” Sam’s voice ads. 

“Try thinking about how you want to protect those moments and share those with others.” 

I don’t reply, I just steady my breathing. After a while it becomes easier and easier to push those dark events back and pull my loving memories forward. The red haze at the edge of my vision slowly makes place for a white light. 

“Focus on those you saved. Focus on their smiles, their laughs, their lives.” I can’t even place who is saying those words to me as they start to sound incorporeal. The bright white light starts enveloping more and more of the darkness. 

“Protect… let no evil come to them.” 

The darkness gets pushed out completely leaving nothing but white light in front of me.

“Wow.” I can hear Sam’s voice again, it was loud and clear. 

“Ami, you in control?” Hilda asks so I open my eyes. 

I look at my body and see that my outfit has turned into pure white plate armor, furthermore I can feel the wings on my back stretching out. “I-I think so…” 

Hilda offers her hand so I can pull myself up on her, my girlfriend grabs my arm so she can help as well. 

“This looks exactly like the time when you resurrected that village.” Sam says. “How does it feel?” 

I close my eyes for a second and breathe in the air around me. While it still feels vile, I find myself in an oasis of calmness. I open my eyes again. “I feel pretty good actually.” 

“And it looks like your bracelet got incorporated into your armor as well.” Hilda comments and points at my arm. When I look down I see the golden bracelet woven into my pure white vambrace as if it always were a part of it. 

Suddenly my sister comes from behind us. “Wow…” 

“The plan worked.” Hilda states the obvious. 

“Yeah, I see that…” Lise got her shield and swords at the ready. “Uhm, but we have a situation. I think they are going to launch an assault on the city. They are loading their siege weapons and are manning their siege towers.” 

“Are you ready to go, Ami?” Sam asks. 

I immediately summon my longsword and shield who are shining as white as my armor. “Let’s go save a city.” Some kind of holy confidence is streaming through my chest. I just know that we won’t fail now. 

-I can’t say I don’t like the feeling…-

FieryKathy