Chapter 343

343 243 – Red Eye of Lightning

Plotline: Main

Type: Social

“I thought General Hyun and Lord Zaodong were meeting at the central bath house.” I said.

“I thought that bringing you close to Lord Zaodong was a bad idea?” Kismet asked.

“We’re not going straight to the general.” Madonna explained. “We’d have trouble gaining access, and they wouldn’t take us outsiders seriously.”

“So where are we going?” Kismet asked.

“Where else? There are two teams of three mages walking the perimeter of the camp. I’m going to register formal complaints.”

“You! Nobody is allowed within fifty yards of the ward.” one of the Liberation soldiers shouted. He was part of a group of four, and they approached us.

Madonna took point for our group. “I am Blacksoul Madonna, one of thirteen mages of the guard force assigned to maintain the ward. You will allow us access to both groups currently working on the perimeter.”

.....

“Only at agreed and pre-arranged shift changes.” he said, grasping her by her shoulder.

With a boom of a thunderbolt, red lightings appeared on the wavering haze that was the ward’s physical presence. In the area where they originated from, a pattern very like an eyeball was forming. It didn’t blink, or focus, or anything else, but...

It was creepy, more so because I didn’t feel any sense of awareness or intention from it.

“Honored sir,” I said, “I recommend releasing the fire mage and permitting us passage.”

Instead, he tightened his grip. “You will obey...”

A flick of fire approached us.

“Kismet, cover!” I shouted. We dived over a pair of barrels; two of their side fled into a tent.

The flame was a mix of orange and blue and green...

Wait, blue? In fact, it was the same pale blue. The Blue Flames of Kuma. What were THOSE doing here?

I almost missed the XP messages due to shock that the Blue Flame could actually exist in the real world. I was distracted as those flames bathed Black Madonna and her assailant in the briefest puff of heat.

As her clothing turned black and powdered away, and his armor ran molten over his charred corpse. The other guard was smoking, and I...

[You have taken 32 points of Fire damage. After ability activation, 29 points have been received. 51/80 health remain.]

My skin blistered, turned to charcoal in places; I had no eyebrows, and there wasn’t much left of my hair. My ears were malformed, and my eyelids ripped from each other as I opened them again.

I was screaming, of course, and I couldn’t form the Miko light if it had meant my life.

“Quit being a baby, husband. You’re alive; you’ll be fine.” Madonna said.

A highly singed Kismet, eyes locked open, was hyperventilating nearby, curled into a ball.

“Gyaaah!” I said, amazed that my singed lips hadn’t locked together.

I risked a glance at the ward, red and orange and angry and intricate from where it had struck.

Madonna shrugged. “Guess we’re all off with a warning.” Looking closer, she also had dark patches of skin, areas where hair had burned away. But through it, she ... she SMILED, as though having been told she had an extra spa day.

I rolled over onto my belly, pushed myself to a knee, and then raised myself, careful not to put my hands on the red areas of the barrels. From the smell, they’d contained flour.

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Such a waste.

Madonna turned her attention toward Kismet. “Kismet. We can’t pick you up and force you with us.”

“Please.” I said, extending an oddly hairless arm toward her. “Come with us.”

“TOWARD that?” she asked.

“Yes.” I said. “Toward that.”

Her eyes pinched closed. “You know, Rhishi. Sometimes this oath of yours really sucks.”

But she locked her hand around my wrist, and rose. “Gonna need a minute.” she said, slowly gaining control of her breath.

And we set off again toward the edge of camp, away from the area that was now on fire. “Okay, now that we’re approaching the edge,” Madonna said, “we just turn to the right and we should meet one of the groups.”

It was ours, and they were jogging. “Lady Black.” one of them said. “Did you see the ward discharge?”

“I was there.” she said, spinning around. “A warning discharge, not a full release. And the ward gave both visual and vocal warning, as planned. A resounding success, if I may say so myself.”

“And the ward? It holds strong? No residual leaks?” An older man asked.

Madonna shrugged. “Didn’t have time to check. We have a potential oversight. Does anyone know if the awakened animals took the oath?”

“Uh.” said the man.

“They didn’t.” said one of the women. “Go let Elder Shuma know.”

Madonna curled her lips, in what those ignorant of her mistook for a smile. “The duty roster has her here, in our group.”

“So sorry.” the man said. “She got some manner of food that disagreed with her. She is... not fit for duty tonight.”

“All this walking, and my good dress burned away for nothing?” Madonna asked.

“We’ve not the time.” the other woman of their group said. “We need to check on the ward, make certain it isn’t leaking.”

“And we shall be about our business, as well.” Madonna said.

“Laughing. Gods.” Kismet said. “The thing just killed people, and their concern is the ward?”

“Of course it is.” Madonna said. “It’s large and the work of multiple mages. And, as we discussed earlier tonight, is one of the few things keeping this parley civil.”

“Civil?” Kismet asked. “That guard was just doing his job...”

“No. Ping, you saw, didn’t you?”

“I saw.” I said. “He was inflicting needless pain. Still, the reaction seems extreme.”

“Yes!” Kismet said rapidly. “Extreme! That’s a good word for it.”

Madonna’s cheer was unbroken. “It reacted with the least possible force, as it was designed to. It recognized the sinner was acting on his own, which it was supposed to. And then it stopped attacking, all of which it was supposed to.”

“You’re talking like it’s sentient. Smart.” Kismet said.

“I don’t know that I’d call it smart.” Madonna said. “But it does have an Insight score. It can learn.”

“And learn to betray us?” Kismet asked.

“Absolutely not. Its Resolve score is much higher than its Insight.”

I blinked. “Does it have a Charisma rating, also?”

“Of course.” Madonna said. “How could it rend the soul if it didn’t?”

Then. “Ah-ah. Husband. Are you worried that we made it an artificial soul?”

“Well, only in a manner. If I became self-aware, and knew I’d been made to last only three days, I know I’d be angry at those who made me.”

“Hah! It will last beyond then.” Madonna said.

I blinked. “It draws power from the Moon.” I said.

“And the Sun.” she said. “And from the Night itself. From the Earth on which it rests, from Rain if it comes, from the Sea below, and hell, it even gets a small trickle of energy from when people have sex inside it. Even then, it’s not enough. After a week or so, we’ll need to take it apart to prevent misfires.”

“Misfires?” Kismet beat me to the word. “As in the ward frying people at random?”

“Yes, that is one possibility.” Madonna said. “We really don’t know how rapidly various parts of the ward are going to break down. But for now... for now it works the way it’s supposed to.”

“Uhm.” Kismet said. “People are staring. Perhaps we should bathe and change into uncharred clothing?”

“Let them look and envy.” Madonna replied. “I look good in black. Besides, if we want to stop our enemy from using the ward on us, we need to act swiftly.”

With a thunderbolt clap, the intersecting red lightnings around the eye appeared again, this time dispersing slowly.

“What caused that one?” Kismet asked, crushing my right hand in her left.

Madonna shrugged. “Now that the ward’s acting, it will be more sensitive for a few hours. Could be just an argument.”

“By the unspoken whore goddess!” Kismet shrieked. “MORE sensitive?”

Madonna’s smile faded. “Watch your tone. What did I just say?” she whispered. “Hold it together, at least long enough for us to make our report.”

And she did. Matron Su-Ya took our report, as the acting lead.

“I’ll get with the Bear Witch tomorrow.” she said. “I’m certain it’s just an oversight.”

“But it could be more.” Madonna said.

Su-Ya waved her hand. “If it is, it’s something to be learned tomorrow, from the Bear Witch herself. Now, please. Go bathe. Have your hair, such as it remains, tended to. Get into serviceable clothes.”

She raised a single finger when Madonna started to speak. “People are already talking. Get cleaned up, and get some sleep. And you, Madonna, are still on the work roster.”

Madonna pressed her lips together, but performed the required bow. “I shall not be late, matron.”

.....

So far as I know, that was all that came of it. There would be a meeting, and the animals were sworn in over the next two days. But I get ahead of myself.

It took us two baths; one to get off the worst of our char, and another to wash away the coat of grit left behind by what that water became. There was a shearing and medical treatment.

And then, blessedly, there was sleep.