Chapter 9 (Part 3)

“Alright, come with me, girl. I’m going to teach you how to break a locking enchantment.” Dulani stood up and followed Abha into another room. Sook continued to try and befriend Chico who had now hopped up on top of the fireplace and was trying to ignore Sook. The top of the fireplace was normally a safe place to get away from Abha, she was only 4’11” after all, but Sook was unlike anyone poor little Chico had tried to avoid before. This tall woman was relentless, offering to provide headscritches and able to follow him anywhere.

Zenebe and Pirouz remained in the main room, discussing what Abha had just told them. “I refuse to believe this, Atchar chooses us based on our spirit. He gives us a power like no other that only the righteous can harness.”

“Pirouz, was Borzou not capable of harnessing Atchar’s power as well? Do you truly mean to tell me that Atchar deemed Borzou to possess a righteous spirit?”

“My former commander is a lot of things, and I will not defend him, however, he does ultimately keep the security of Ydalia and its people at the forefront of his mind.”

“Some of its people, that is.”

Pirouz was quiet and contemplative, the idea that his deity could be some faceless, formless, abstract idea was too much for him to wrap his head around.

Abha and Dulani placed the chest box on her table which was cluttered with all kinds of trinkets, fetishes, and tools. “Not exactly the tidiest person, are you?”

“Your sarcasm is pointless; I know that you have more than the military after you. You’ve been running most of your life, just like me. So, I’m going to give you some advice that I refused to listen to when I was your age. Listen quietly and let me help you.” Dulani was quiet but indignant, this tiny, isolated woman didn’t know anything about her. “Now then, we are going to draw on the power of a smaller set of deities. Somes refer to him as Harmos, some call her Laworna, and others call her Santi Morte, but all these names refer to the patron God of theft.

“I’m not much of a believer,” Dulani interjected.

“Haven’t you been paying attention? Neither am I. Yet I can call on these powers at will. It’s not about belief, it’s about wisdom. Now open your ears so you can receive some for free.” Dulani was still flustered but she was opening up little by little. “Those boys in there both draw their power from their patron Gods; as you raise your affinity with a specific deity or entity, you gain access to more and more power. Living the life of a thief, as you have, you most likely have decent affinity with Santi Morte already. So, what we need to do is draw on that affinity and actualize it into your reality. Now then, let’s begin. Focus on this keyhole, stare into the darkness. If you’ve seen the inside of a lock before, the tumblers and whatnot, picture that in your mind. Concentrate on your desire to open this box, think about why you want it open.”

Dulani stared into the keyhole, and felt her mind being sucked into it. She felt conscious of her state yet didn’t seem capable of looking away from the lock. She thought about the money it would sell for. She thought about how happy Sook and Zenebe were when she bought them weapons and apparel. She thought about how materials actively improve lives; how much she suffered when her family lost it all. Suddenly, the keyhole turned, and the chest box clicked. Dulani tenderly opened the lid. Framed into both the box’s base as well as the underside of the opening panel were two beautiful paintings. The portraits of Utossa and Balius, former rulers of Ydalia and the founders of the Kabiri family industry, stared down their noses at her from their height of history.

“Well, you certainly are a bold girl; stealing from the Kabiris.”

“That was amazing! So this is how those two feel when they utilize magic?”

“Yes, and you can do so much more. Anytime you’re doing something involving theft and you think of an ability that could be helpful to pull it off. Try to recreate that sensation. You may have enough affinity to actualize it right then and there.”

Dulani looked at the box and then closed it, gently. “Thank you very much, Abha, I do sincerely apologize for our imposing on you like this.”

“Well well, looks like you do know manners after all. Don’t mention it. It’s getting late, let’s retire for the night.” Dulani and Abha exited the parlor and found Pirouz and Zenebe passed out on the couch, their shoulders resting against each other. Sook was asleep on the floor, Chico loafing on her chest.

“Guess we were in there longer than I thought. Thank you again for teaching me this.”

Abha placed her hand over her mouth as she yawned, “Yes well, don’t forget that you four are only here for the night. Sleep well, I’ll see you off in the morning.” With that, Abha walked across the main room and closed the door to her bedroom, leaving Dulani to sit by the fireplace. Once again, Dulani felt her mind drifting back to her family. She hoped her sister was out there, sleeping peacefully by a fireplace just like this one.

Quinect 2^nd, 1258

“You imbeciles!” The four of them were rocked awake as Abha burst into the room. Chico scratched Sook after being startled and ran off.

“Owww, what’s wrong Abha?!”

“You idiots didn’t tell me that chest box had a signal enchantment on it! Now the forces that are after you are flying right over my illusory traps! Get out!! Get out of my home!”

The group quickly started floundering for the door. They stumbled out into the early morning light. The sun hadn’t even peeked out over the mountains; the surroundings barely lit. Angels suddenly landed in the clearing, surrounding the cabin, swords already drawn.

Zenebe sighed deeply, “Man, we really screwed up.”

Dulani drew her katar, “The angels flew over the traps but I’m sure the Kabiri’s goons are currently caught in them. Let’s not rely on them being stuck in them forever.” Zenebe drew his staff, Sook drew her dagger and Pirouz; his sword. Dulani and Sook charged forward, metal clanging and throwing sparks as their katar and dagger clashed with the swords of the angels. Pirouz flew into the air, intercepting angels who were taking position and drawing their bows. Zenebe channeled his magic, drawing the water from Abha’s cauldron and forming it around him in a ring. Sook clashed with her combatant on a more level field than previous bouts with her dagger. Dulani swung her leg over the angel’s wing on his hip, yanking him down to one knee, breaking his stance and allowing Dulani the opportunity to cut his hand and disarm his weapon.

“You can transform, if these guys are military then they already know about you!” Dulani directed at Sook.

She then spun around and kicked the angel in the side of the head, bouncing his helmet off the ground and knocking him out.

The weapon of Sook’s opponent collided with her dagger, opening up her vitals and going in for the attack. His stab was stopped suddenly when a massive, clawed grip clutched both of his wrists together. The angel looked up to watch the scales creep up Sook’s arm. One horn slowly grew out of one side of her head before the other one began to grow as well. She was hurt by his horrified look, but her other arm swung, mid-transformation, right into the side of his helmet. Sook really leaned into the punch, denting the metal as she sent the angel barreling into the ground, his sword clattering.

Pirouz and the other three angels flew around each other in the air like a dance. Pirouz ducked under the sword of one angel and spun to fly straight to the side to avoid the stab of another. Pirouz was barely managing to avoid their blades. He concentrated on the feeling he had when he fought Borzou. He felt the fire ignite within himself yet again. His eyes glowed with bright orange light as he suddenly sped in the air. He began easily avoiding the swords of his opponents and quickly caught one of them from behind, slashing right through the armor on his back. The soldier’s wings froze as he fell out of the sky like a rock. The other two kept their eyes on Pirouz, watching the fire on his sword brighten. Pirouz smirked as he pointed his sword at one when suddenly, fire projected from the blade, engulfing the angel and causing him to plummet as he screamed out of the sky. The last soldier in the air looked down to watch his ally fall and by the time he looked back, a sword was coming straight for him. He barely put his arm up to block; the sword melted through his vambrace, impaled his arm completely, and pierced his shoulder. His eyes widened as he processed everything before the searing fire set in and he screamed as he, too, tumbled to the ground.

The ring of water around Zenebe suddenly had fish inside of it in the space of a blink. The angels blinked again and the ring of water broke into four streams all snaking toward the soldier’s necks. Two of the closest soldiers were too slow to react to the water blasting them in the face. The small, armored fish swam up the stream and bashed into their jaws. The force was enough to slam their brains against the inside of their own skulls and render them unconscious instantaneously. The other two avoided the flow of water and drew their bows, firing arrows at Zenebe. Zenebe bent the remains of the liquid ring up, blocking and extinguishing the arrows. Beneath the notice of the soldiers, water trickled from Zenebe’s water pouch, forming a large puddle around his feet. The streams coiled behind the soldiers who both flew forward to avoid the water slithering up from behind and taking their eyes off of the hydrosophist. Suddenly, the puddle at Zenebe’s feet burst forward in narrow but fast-moving jets, hitting both angels square on their backs. It stalled them in the air for a second. This extra time allowed the serpentine streams and the water shield to completely envelop both angels, trapping them in a swirling sphere. The fish disappeared. The angels struggled desperately to breathe under the deluge before they passed out.

Four other soldiers stacked up at the door of the cabin, bows drawn, ready to clear the building of any threats within. They signaled to each other. The first soldier kicked in the door, the others pouring in behind him, bows aimed forward. Suddenly a loud shockwave rang out and three soldiers were ejected from the cabin, knocking the first soldier face-first into the soil.

Abha walked out of the front door, her oversized robe dragging through the dirt as she stood over the soldiers. “How rude to barge into a woman’s chambers without knocking.”

One soldier aimed his bow at her and fired. Abha simply put her hand up and another shockwave expanded from her hand, deflecting the arrow and sending the soldiers further along the ground, pressing them against each other. The soldiers slowly stood up and drew their swords, igniting them.

“You are the witch who was reported in the capital months ago, aren’t you? Are you the puppet master of the thralls?!”

Abha scoffed to herself, “You can’t be serious. No, I am not.”

“Liar! Witches are wicked heretics; you know more than you let on!” The angels took to the sky, circling around her, preparing to strike her in a coordinated assault. Abha simply held her hand out and pointed down. Another shockwave blasted the soldiers, sending them barreling straight down impacting the ground with tremendous force.

“Simple-minded fools.” Abha looked around at the soldiers trying to climb to their feet. She pointed down at the ground again and another shockwave squashed them into the dirt, metal dented, bones cracked. They had lost their will to fight now. Abha looked up to find the adventurers who brought all of this about, standing over the soldiers they had felled. “Well, you four certainly are capable. Capable of making my life harder! Now I have to move just when I was starting to get settled! Now give me that chest box so I can disenchant it and you can avoid hurting any altruists in the future.”

Dulani handed Abha the box and she produced a jar of powder from her oversized robe. Abha sprinkled the powder onto the box and a quick flash of light radiated before disappearing just as suddenly. “There, they won’t be able to track this box anymore. Now, get the hell off my property and don’t come back.”