Chasing Monsters

  In the morning, Theo regretted everything. Staying up grossly late, asking questions he realized he didn’t want the answers to only when it was too late, and thinking about the future when he still hadn’t moved on from the past yet.

  Forget tired—he felt sick to his stomach, more nauseous than he could remember being since the end of winter. And now he was going to be responsible for the lives of his six remaining classmates, one bloodthirsty professor, one terrifyingly important historian-physician, two MATS representatives, and four Ancients.

  “Ready, boss?”

  On top of a mountain ledge, the lowest-grade tactician’s Cloak spell cast on himself so that enemies couldn’t see him unless he moved out of his spot, the tactician took a deep breath, eyes pouring over the large expanse below him with Chel’s words ringing in his head. Two teams had been formed: Callie, Elias, Faris, and Chelsi would take the southern route; Korinna, Moriya, Darius, and Selene would take the northern route. Each team had a designated individual responsible for their half of the escort—namely, Selene for the upper path, and Chelsi for the lower path on account of their ability to use Warp should it be necessary to take their escorts to a safe place. Both Faris and Darius were at the center of their groups, serving as backline support.

  “Chelsi, Selene, escorts Cloaked?”

  “Yes,” they replied in unison over the binding spell.

  “Darius, you too?”

  “Yes, I am ready.”

  “Let’s begin. Remember—the number one priority is to go undetected. If confronted, avoid conflict unless I give the go-ahead.”

  Slowly but surely, the two groups advanced. Both sides had their weaknesses, and he was uneasy leaving the professor with someone so inexperienced at being on the front lines by herself, but Moriya had insisted they keep it that way.

  His eyes scoured the forest area around the village, which showed little signs of activity until the paths dipped down, at its center a guard unit overseeing a smaller path leading straight into town; it was likely that they were going to be questioned if not outright accosted by the guards, who rarely took kindly to sorcerers making use of their thoroughfares, royal or not—it had been a long-contested issue with specific markers originally placed by the queen, and there had once been times of peace between its residents and MATS, but the fact remained that it was the main path from the east main office to Thaon. And with the current high tensions between sorcerers and commoners, it made the likelihood of a fight breaking out astronomically high.

  Then again, Theo thought to himself as his eyes darted from his groups now slowly closing in on the small village about double the size of the Circle of Graces, a full-scale onslaught, should it come to that, would not be too unfeasible with Moriya around…

  “Looks clear so far,” muttered Elias under his breath from one end.

  “Guards appear to number five, down at the center,” reported Moriya from the other.

  “Keep going,” mused Theo, anxiously counting his charges before shifting his gaze over to the center of the village. It was a growing community from what he could recall from class, and the several plumes of smoke already rising from the village suggested they were fairly active.

  “There’s some more people I can kinda see closer to the center path you mentioned,” added Callie a few minutes later. “I think I see…maybe four. They’re behind the trees.”

  “Oh look, they’re walking out,” mentioned Kor casually.

  Sure enough, he could see a few shadows gradually make their way over to block the path on the chemist’s side. Their weapons were not yet raised, and some didn’t even seem to have any weapons with them.

  It’s not impossible for them to know magic.

  “Keep going,” he ordered.

  Meanwhile, on the other side, the same was happening—tiny black figures walked out from under the canopy of the forest to greet them.

  “Seven, by my count,” uttered Elias dully as they approached. “Don’t know how many more are hidden.”

  “Faris, maintain your distance. Once they stop, you stop too. Prepare to cast.” The northern side was nearing the enemy, with a wide breadth between the front two and Selene at the very back since Darius was invisible.

  “Yeah, I know,” mumbled the caster softly.

  “I have…a sinking feeling about this,” muttered Elias under his breath as he approached.

  “Hi there,” started Callie first, voice high-pitched and amicable.

  “We’re on our way to Thaon for research,” began Moriya calmly from his end.

  “We’re students, and we wanted to conduct some research near Thaon,” the support continued to explain.

  “I’m unarmed, as you can see. Our companions too,” declared the unenthusiastic professor.

  “We just have these to gather food, and to protect ourselves against any wildlife. We don’t mean anyone harm.”

  “Oh, that bow back there? For food.”

  “Um, he’s our friend. He recently got into an accident, so he’s slower than us.”

  “What, feel threatened?”

  At the sound of the professor’s aloof voice issuing the challenge, Theo immediately began casting a wide tactician’s barrier over his entire party, finishing exactly on time—when chaos began.

  “Hey, don’t fucking touch her.”

  “You’re pretty ballsy, I’ll give you that.”

  Theo’s mind raced as he shifted from group to group. “Faris, put a stun on them, and then begin rotation. Moriya—” He paused to watch the guard in front of Moriya unceremoniously fall to the ground for no visible reason while the surrounding ones readied their weapons.

  “Whoops,” replied the deadpan professor, not the slightest hint of remorse to be found in his voice.

  An alarm immediately sounded.

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  “What did you do,” exhaled Callie as she roughly grabbed Elias before backpedaling, unsheathing her spear in the process.

  “That guy was about to—” protested Elias, bloody sword in hand as he was unwillingly dragged away.

  “Callie, let go of Elias and erect a Silencing barrier before attacking; it’s possible they know magic. Neither of you step farther than the central path—there should be a second wave. Kor, put some space between Moriya and the enemy so he can properly do his casting while you tank the hits.”

  He looked down at the book in his hands. He knew now why Ty did not like using tactician’s spells during exams—most of them were ineffective in practical situations since the distance between him and his peers was so great, and some of them outright didn’t work against non-magic enemies. Heals didn’t even work from this far, for Graces’ sakes.

  “Selene and Chelsi, deploy a healing field over the duelists. Kor, if you could shift over so you have the main path secured—after Moriya gets the last three—we can get him to block any reinforcements from that end.”

  “Yup,” breathed the chemist, doing an excellent job of stopping whichever enemies hadn’t yet suffered from the professor’s brutally quick spells.

  Meanwhile, Elias and Callie were doing an adequate job, and Faris was far enough into his rotation that the enemies were falling at a moderate pace, but it was clear with the movement of the trees that additional help was heading over.

  “Reinforcements arriving soon for the south—Callie, you’ll need to apply a new Silencing spell,” called Theo. “We can’t risk them exposing the escorts if they have any magic-casters around.”

  “Got it,” confirmed the support-duelist immediately.

  “Good here,” reported Moriya almost a minute later.

  “Okay, you and Kor can block off the path—it looks like there should be others arriving shortly. Selene, proceed with the escort now. I’ll send another barrier over everyone; you focus on Swiftness.”

  “’Kay,” acknowledged the botanist.

  True to his word, Theo began reciting a barrier spell as he watched the second wave appear while Callie’s group struggled to finish the first.

  “Someone tell me why the reps from MATS aren’t fighting again?” asked Elias between breaths.

  Theo replied quickly, “Their Cloaking spell is different, so they need to stay tied to them—if they stop casting, they get detected.”

  “Someone tell me why MATS hasn’t made a fully invisible Cloaking spell yet?” Elias continued to complain loudly, parrying a hit with his sword before watching the enemy get blown back by Callie’s spear.

  “Elias, respectfully, shut up,” groaned Theo, trying to focus on how to impede the second wave.

  “Ancients have, but not long-lasting,” chuckled Darius lightly, using the exact thing that Elias was asking for.

  “You want me to move?” asked Chelsi after Callie began casting her second Silencing spell.

  Theo bit his bottom lip. “Yes, but slowly. Faris, advance and cast Landsplitter with a barrier augment over the main path. Might get some resistance, but—wait, something’s happening.”

  “Indeed,” muttered Moriya. “They turned back.”

  Watching the movement in the camp with a hand covering his mouth in deep contemplation, Theo briefly wondered why there was no issue at all with the north until he realized that in itself was the issue.

  “Kor, take over the escort from Selene, head to Thaon, and report back when you’re done. Selene, you need to warp Moriya over to the south immediately.”

  “Or I could go through the town?” the professor tried to ask innocently.

  “No, you will not raze the village.”

  “Are you sure? It would speed things up considerably.”

  “No. You’re staying put, and that’s an order.”

  Just as Moriya let out an infuriatingly indifferent reply, unable to do anything but wait, a large rock formation erupted from the trees to the north, blocking the path into and out of the village. In the south, Elias and Callie were already working on defending the newest batch of enemies, which appeared more and more like normal villagers.

  “Faris, condition rotation to chip them down slowly. Chel, warp escorts over to Sel so she and Darius can take them over to Thaon. Doesn’t matter if they lose veil temporarily, Blackire is funneling their people over to the south.”

  “Yup,” chorused both before Theo returned to scouring the battlefield.

  “Okay, so…so north is clear,” he thought aloud, “Escorts will be easily done, so all we really need to do is to either…” There was now an outpouring of people trickling out of the Landsplitter barrier than Faris had created. “Either we fend them off until the escorts are safe and then retreat, or we put an end to the reinforcements.”

  “I said it would speed things up considerably,” griped the professor.

  “We would destroy the entire camp and its people.”

  The second the words left Theo’s mouth, a conversation came back to him.

  Do you think that what MATS is doing is better than what Ty did?

  “Growing a conscience now, kid?” continued Moriya, idly checking his pockets and inspecting his timepiece while Sel worked on casting her Warp.

  Killing innocent people in the process, calling them accidents and collateral damage.

  “No, we’re…we will not massacre the village. They’re just protecting their own people.”

  “Why—why are you trying to…to reason with people who tried to stop us first?” cried Callie, taking a blow to the arm with a yelp before a rogue, non-rotational spell from Faris blasted away the enemy.

  No, I don’t think that what MATS is doing is better than what Ty did.

  Swallowing the bitter memory, Theo started leaving his position to enact a new plan. “Faris, do another Landsplitter. Can you trap at least some of them coming through?”

  “I’ve only got two more casts of that; you want me to use them all?”

  “While Faris is doing that, we’re trying to fight off, what, over three people each?” yelled Elias.

  Not surprising, seeing as you’re still in love with her.

  “Yes, Faris. I’ll come down there, and Moriya is on his way. Elias, give me a moment.” He could feel the sickly feeling again as the escorts were teleported over to where Selene was waiting by the north, and the professor was warped over to the south. “Professor, can you help Faris?”

  “Easy,” was the professor’s only reply before he headed over to the group with Chelsi tagging along.

  “Okay—Chel, can you do a healing rotation over Callie and Elias? I’m on my way.”

  Casting another barrier again, this one a higher grade than the last even though he needed to save the last of his anima, Theo continued stepping down the makeshift steps he had made in the mountain, watching them disappear one after the other as he descended the cliff as quickly as he could.

  Yes, I’m still in love with her. She wouldn’t knowingly let these people die just like that. She’s not a monster. I refuse to believe it. I trust her.

  Over the noise of fighting and coordination from his classmates on the other end, he waded through the trees, running as fast as his legs and weak heart allowed.

  I want to see her again. I don’t want to take this title and make her regret giving it to me. I refuse to be a monster.

  “Here yet? Landsplitter isn’t working that well.”

  “Moriya, take over. Faris, Entangle any escaping.”

  “Alright, then.”

  “Elias and Callie are in good shape, boss.”

  His head swam, his heart pounded, and the wind was blowing his tears across his face, but he was halfway there.

  I want to see her again. I want to see her again. I want to see her again.

  “First escort done. On my way back.”

  “S-Sel and Darius should be on the way with the second batch. Help them, and—and then you three head back using t-the northern route.”

  “Got it.”

  Another conversation came back to him, one that had taken place farther back.

  I’m going to fulfill her wish for her. I’m not afraid of dying anymore.

  “Faris, careful. On your left.”

  “Oh—” A grunt, followed by the sound of something unsheathing. Gurgling, groaning. Heavy breathing. “Ugh—I’m—give me—” Another labored moan, and then a quick Break spell. “A s-second. Damn.”

  I’m not afraid of killing anymore.

  “Barriers are up, Theo. You know, I take it back. This is pretty entertaining. They’re like rats trying to escape an enclosure.” The professor paused. “You know what? I could kill them with a single spell if they’re neatly contained like that. Flatten them.”

  “N-no,” panted Theo, finally making it onto the path, his friends up ahead. Close enough. He was close enough. “Don’t kill them. We—we’re almost there. I-if they can’t, if they’re not threats—”

  He fell to his knees and unlatched his tome from his side—Emrys’s book. He opened it up to a spell at the very back that he hadn’t ever used before and took a deep breath.

  What I’m afraid of is leaving a ruined world for her to come back to.

  The world around him became dull and muted as he recited the script. He could only see the Chel turn back, hear her whisper the name of the spell right as he completed it.

  “Ex-Kardia.”

  Finally, silence. Pure, Graceful silence.

  He palmed his face with his hand, panting as he pushed back his hair and fell back on the cold, hard ground. His eyes gazed up at the people of Blackire Village, their bug-eyed faces frozen mid-fight against his classmates. Stuck in time. Unable to live, unable to die. Perfectly preserved.

  A loveless, selfish world.

  “Well, whaddaya know. Sixteen Circles, and you still learn new things. You’ve got the time-looping spell on you, boss. You’re an Anchor.”