1.4 In Which the Dark Lord Lets His Little Light Shine

1.4 In Which the Dark Lord Lets His Little Light Shine

I made it almost the whole way across the courtyard before my pursuers latched onto my trail again.

There he is! Kassers furious voice bellowed from behind me. I didnt waste time looking back, being almost to the tower door, but it sounded like hed made it to the big stable entrance. Crossing the last few meters in two bounds, I seized the door handle and flung myself inside even as his footsteps pounded across the courtyard after me.

Inside it was darker than I remembered, with only a faint illumination from an arrow loop high above, but I could see the dim shape of a chair about where Id left it after kicking it at Kasser. Prepared for the weight this time, I grabbed and hauled it to the door, tipping it up and jamming the back under the latch, seconds before the door rattled with an impact. I could hear him grunting and swearing on the other side, the door shaking as he apparently rammed his shoulder into it repeatedly, but he didnt have the leverage to overcome the char braced against it at that angle.

Eat physics, asshole.

I turned and went for the table, only to discover that it was broken and its pieces dumped in a corner with the feeble light from the arrow loop beaming onto it. Also, there was no corpse, none of the sconces even had torches in them, and the stairs were on the wrong side of the room. All this led me to one inescapable conclusion.

Uh, boss? Biribo said oh so helpfully. This isnt the same tower.

Thank you, I snarled. Okay, then we just have to get back to it. The towers will be connected by the battlements, right?

Well, yeah, but the section between here and that one is collapsed, theres no walking surface.

Fuck.

Its okay! He did another zoom around my head, as if he thought that was encouraging or something. I can bring you more scrolls!

One at a time, while I run for my fucking life through this broken-down maze of a dump?

Hey, I didnt say it was a perfect solution. You dont usually get those in life.

Ugh. Fine, whats my best route out of here?

Up the stairs, back along the only stretch of wall you can walk on, itll take you back into the main keep. Then you can try to lose em in the corridors, theres lots of little rooms up there. Dont worry, as your familiar I can find you anywhere. Okay, be right back!

Wait! I managed to grab him by the tail as he started to zoom away again. Werent there any combat spells in that pile?

Well, sort of. I mean, not a lot in the way of direct damage, but

Seriously? No fire, no lightning?

Well, there was a fire spell

Good! Bring me that!

His forked tongue flicked out. Uh, okay boss, but thats more for, like, starting campfires than throwing fireballs at people.

Ill take it! Maybe if I at least set something on fire I could trap them in it, perhaps make burning barricades.

Youre the boss, Biribo said doubtfully, and shot upward to vanish through the arrow loop the second I released him.

I wasted no more time making my way up the stairs; Kasser had already stopped hammering on the door, which meant the two of them were backtracking to cut off my only other exit from this tower. Actually, thinking on that, I slowed as I topped the last steps. There was another door up there on the landing, this one in worse repair than the others Id seen so far, which coupled with the darkness and dust suggested this tower didnt see much use anymore. It wasnt made from planks, I saw, but roughly triangular segments of some pale brown material which had a faint pattern resembling wood grain; the iron braces holding it all together were long and spiraling like fanciful tree branches and covered a lot of the doors surface, which aside from the decorative value was clearly necessary to hold all those oddly-shaped chunks in place. A few of the smaller wedges were missing and a big one was broken. I pressed my face to this and peered out.

No sign of anyone on the walls. Opening the door, I poked my head out and looked down below. Yep, they were already gone from the floor entrance of the tower, and I couldnt hear anyone moving. Which meant they were halfway through the fortress, heading for the battlements to cut off my escape.

Putting on a burst of speed, I slammed the door shut and raced back down. The door at the top opened the wrong way for me to wedge it with the chair, which spared me the effort of hauling that heavy thing up there. Pushing it aside, I yanked the tower door open and retraced my steps, darting back across the empty courtyard into the stable.

It was as dark, smelly, and full of skittering horrors as I remembered, but luckily my pursuers had been less conscientious than I about closing doors behind themselves, and even in the darkness I could see the open aperture back to the mess hall. I made it through in seconds and paused there, considering.

There was a heavy front door leading to I didnt know what, a second balcony with a second door into more upstairs corridors, or the way Id initially come through. I went for that, both because it was (very slightly) more familiar and because it stood to reason that if Kasser and Harold were going for the other tower they wouldnt be in that particular stretch of halls. So, zipping up the stairs much faster than Id come down them minutes ago due to the effects of Heal, I found myself bitterly reflecting that in addition to an immediate threat to my life this whole situation had turned into some kind of slapstick sketch. Just to add insult to injury.

It didnt help that I immediately got lost. Turns out one guided passage through a mess of doors and corridors isnt enough to figure out where everything is.

Fortunately Biribo found me before Id had a chance to get myself too turned around, zooming around the corridor with another scroll dangling from his little claws. Hey, good thinking, boss! Looks like you got the drop on em for the moment!

Any idea where they are? I snatched the scroll from him. Its ribbonthis one orangebroke apart the second it was in my hands, reinforcing my curiosity about exactly how that worked. At the moment I had much more pressing matters, though, yanking the scroll open and staring down at the words as they began lifting off the page and dissolving into light.

The sensation was the same, the pressure in my head and momentary feeling of being somewhere else, while all around me inscrutable likes of text shimmered and then faded, though this time the whole thing was faster and looked less complicated than my previous one. I guess Biribo was right; Heal mustve been a more powerful spell. Regardless, I now found Id absorbed the knowledge and power of Spark, which my newfound innate sense of it told me would ignite a small flame in any combustible material.

Okay, not the fireballs I was hoping for, but something I could use.

Biribo had waited for me to no longer be distracted by learning the spell to answer my question. Still goin across the battlements toward the other tower as of a minute ago, boss. Theyre probably realized youre not in it by now. Both of em are sticking together instead of splitting up to flank you, so were not dealin with tactical minds, here.

All right, perfect. Is there an intersection or something where I can block off access from their side of the fortress?

Not that they cant go around, but theres a spot up here where you can slow em down! Follow me!

He led me on a short dash down a corridor and around a corner to a landing where another doorway (with the remains of a broken door hanging by its hinges) led onto the battlements and a flight of stairs descended into gloom below. I skidded to a stop, looking around quickly, and backtracked to the nearest side door behind me. Luck was still with me, for now; I found a small table, big enough to block a doorway but not too unwieldy for me to drag. Okay, a little more unwieldy than Id been expecting, as I immediately discovered, as it was as heavy as everything else here, but I managed, hauling it back onto the landing and propping it up against the doorway with a groan of effort.

Healed or not, the last few years spent playing music, browsing the internet and working my sedentary store job had not exactly left me in peak physical condition.

Dusting off my hands, I stepped back, focused on the table, and pointed. Spark!

Absolutely nothing happened. Not even the sense of indefinable something Id felt in my head when casting Heal. Frowning, I tried again, more insistently. Spark!

Hey, what was that? Was that him? a voice sounded from the near distance beyond my improvised barricade, immediately followed by approaching footsteps. Shit.

SPARK, dammit!

Uh, boss?

I rounded on him. You brought me a broken spell!

Are you. Fucking. Kidding me, I very calmly inquired of my familiar.

He tasted the air. Were runnin low on options, boss, and I think I mentioned the available scrolls dont offer much in the way of offensive firepower. I figured, at least

Hey!

Oh, great; Kasser was returning down the hall. Apparently activating a spell scroll made enough noise to be detectable, at least to someone who was looking for it.

You motherf Are you using up those scrolls?!

He raised his sword, charging at me, and I found myself in agreement with Biribo about desperate times and measures.

Sorry about this, man, I muttered, pointing at him and cringing. Sure, he was trying to kill me, but theres some shit you just dont do to a person. Unless its that or death.Enamor!

Kasser stumbled to a stop, raising his sword defensively and frowning in concern. What was that? What did you just do?

Absolutely nothing, which I could tell even without his failure to be suddenly panting after my body. Magic caused a distinctive sensation in the mind when activated, and I had not felt it. This was just like trying to use Spark on that non-combustible table made of whatever it was; something about the target prevented the spell from activating.

Why, its quite simple, my good man, I said, putting on my most evil grin. I have just cast an insidious spell to cause you oh my god what is that?!

I pointed past his shoulder, and he turned to look, because as much of a clich as that is, most people will unless theyre expecting the trick. I was off up the stairs, painfully aware that I was now cornering myself just as theyd said a minute ago, but I could hear Harold coming up from below, no doubt drawn by our voices.

Explain, I snarled at Biribo while climbing.

Huh, he mused. I guess youre not gay after all.

Fucking what?!

Enamors an influence spell, boss; it derives its effect from the casters mental state. That one in particular will only work on somebody youre sexually attracted to.

You know, I could almost learn to live with my life being insanely dangerous and surrounded by medieval squalor, but did it really need to be a black comedy on top of it all? That just seemed excessive.

Yeah? Well maybe I am gay and that guy just isnt my type, you ever think of that?

Boss, if you were gay youd have noticed that dude is everyones type. Did you see those smoky eyes? Mmm.

I hate you so much.

Hey, gimme a break! If it had worked it at least woulda taken him out of the fight. It was a fifty-fifty chance.

Statistically, more like one in ten.

Thats not how statistics work, boss, for a single instance with a binary outcome

Just go get me more spells!

He did a quick loop around my head as I reached the next landing up. Remember the goddess gave you a special ability! Try using spell combination!

How?

Focus on more than one spell at a time, see if you can mash any of em together. Should be pretty intuitive once you get the trick. Be right back!

He zoomed away, prompting cursing from my pursuers as he buzzed them on the way down the stairs. Fortunately I was in a furnished landing; there was a table and two chairs set nearby, which I immediately put to good use by grabbing one of the handy seats and hurling it down the staircase.

The heavy stuffwhat had he called it? Akorshil?bounced pretty well in addition to being weightier than wood. Harold and Kasser yelled and tried to avoid it, and I got the pleasure of seeing only one of them succeed; Harold pressed himself against the wall but my improvised missile nailed Kasser right in the midsection and they both went tumbling down. Even better, as previously, Harold turned back to rescue his friend rather than push the pursuit.

That was the extent of the good news, as I had now, indeed, cornered myself. There was only one door up here, which I immediately went through, and that was the end of the chase. I now stood on a round platform looming above the fortress, with behind me the door into the stairwell. This spot had a glorious view of the surrounding alien forest which I had to appreciate even despite the situation and how weird it all looked.

I kicked the door shut, hoping to buy a precious half-second.

Spell combination. Okay, what did I have to work with? Heal, Spark, and Enamor.

Im fine, just go! Get the son of a bitch! Feet pounded up the stairs; I tried to brace myself against the door.

Enamor was apparently as useless against these guys as it was horrifying, for which I was almost grateful. That was a disgusting spell and I felt slimy for even knowing it. But Heal and Spark? What could I even do with that?

The door shook and I was almost dislodged as Harold impacted it from the other side; I rallied and pushed back against it.

Heal. Responding to the pressure in my mind, pink light exploded and little else happened; Id taken no injury since the last time, but the soreness in my calves from running up stairs disappeared. Sparkdid nothing at all, as there was nothing flammable up here except my clothes, which I wasnt about to burn.

Tiring of our little push-of-war, Harold backed up, got a running start, and slammed his body into the door again, nearly flinging me back. I barely rallied, and he was already gaining ground. The guy was a medieval bandit; obviously he was physically stronger than a sedentary musician from comfortable modern Japan.

In a way, the uselessness of Spark helped; by focusing on the heavy sense of Spark in my mind without actually triggering it, I could experience the sensation more closely. As I focused on it, I felt my awareness expand. It was like the moment in which I learned a spell from a scroll. Flickering around me, I could see lines of unreadable text imprinted on reality. Like some kind of computer code instructing the universe how to make the spell work.

And nowHeal. The two existing simultaneously was almost too much pressure; I winced and was pushed back another inch. But then the text, the code started to move. The process wasnt automatic or perfect. Reaching out with my mind, I tried to force them together and they resisted. But approached more gently, lines slipped, adjusting, interlacing

Harolds sword crashed through the gap hed made in the door and I leaped backward instinctively to avoid being stabbed. The door banged fully open and the man himself lunged out, glaring furiously at me in an expression completely unlike his previously hesitant attitude. Seemed he was not pleased about me dropping a chair on his buddy.

I retreated, my back quickly coming up against the ramparts, still desperately trying to jam the two spells together in my mind, not that I was even sure what good that would be if I succeeded. I just had no other ideas.

Harold raised his sword, baring his teeth, and at that moment it clicked. I felt them combine, the magical code all around me flashed, invisible to my attacker, and a new spell was suddenly a fresh weight in my consciousness.

I pointed at him and shouted the brand new incantation the instant it was clear enough in my head.

Immolate!

Harold went up like a bonfire.