Chapter 3: Into The Black

Carl let out a breath, he had come to a decision. It was a gamble, literally

rolling the dice and hoping for a favourable outcome, hells knew he hated that but sometimes there

was just no other way. Too little information, too little time.

"Dreil, who else made it back with you?"

"Turtle and Ratcham, the others, they... they were all killed"

Kael, watched wordlessly as Carl wrote something down on a slip of paper and

handed it to Elvyah. None this made much sense, of all the three groups the

Staves were the weakest, a gathering of crooks that had come to Tenlight years

ago to escape their enemies. If the stories he had heard were true they only

still existed as a force because of an ambitious mistake on his father's part.

They had to know that if they attacked the Demolishers, the Tenlight family

would take advantage of both sides. Yet they did it, all without revealing themselves

to his father’s spies. It baffled the mind, they had a plan, and something had

changed but what? Kael's train of thought was broken when a young girl suddenly

appeared beside Elvyah as if she had been there all along. He stared at her

with some amount of wonder, he had always known that his father preferred for

his deviants to be quiet about their gifts but he had never thought that he had

one, no one was aware of. She had a ponytail of lush brown hair but he couldn't

make out her face seeing as she was slightly shorter than him and had bent her

head to read the note Elvyah had handed her hand her. When she was done she

looked up at him and he was struck by the beauty of her pupils, they were

silver disks that shone, her face would have been plain but for her eyes, they

were striking. No he did not know her, he would have remembered eyes like

those, a heartbeat passed and then without warning she was gone, the only the

missing slip of paper gave away that she had ever been there at all. He looked

around the only person who seemed to be as surprised as he was, was Dreil. She

was obviously a well-guarded secret, that she had been revealed to a waste of

space like him was not a good sign.

"Sitting here will do us little good now, let’s teach those idiots the difference

between us" with that his father rose from his seat and began to head for

the door. The people in the room -all but a dazed Kael- fell into positions

around him. The wordless understanding with which they moved was something Carl

drilled tirelessly into every member of the Demolishers, be they deviant or

paper boy, he required utter efficiency from them. What had Kael been thinking,

so what if the Blood Staves had managed to take down a fraction of the

Demolisher's forces with their full might, even with superior numbers they

would be hard pressed take on the trained and armed Demolishers on their home

ground. Just then Carl lashed out, moving faster than Kael could follow, and

the blow flung Dreil across the room and into the wall with a crash. His ribcage

had caved in and fresh blood wet Carl's fist. What in The Void cursed cosmos

just happened? Eleven deviants that was how many served Carl, if you counted

the largely unknown maiden and presumed the second team leader from the garden

to be dead. Each one of them was a symbol of might, the strength of the three

factions was not measured by common men but with deviants and the power of the

deviations they wielded. To strike one as Carl had just done right before a

battle was lunacy. Sunken chest heaving, Dreil tried to get up, his arms

flailed liturgically and he struggled desperately to lift his head but he could

only seem to raise it a couple inches of the ground before dropping it in

defeat. He did this repeatedly as if he was trying to escape some manner of

phantom bonds but despite his efforts he remained bound. As calm as he'd ever

been Carl walked over to Driel's writhing body. His eyes burned red and his

right foot flashed with inhuman speed, there was an audible crack. Dreil was

dead. His father was downright frightening, one minute he seemed a rage fueled

idiot the next he appeared unflappable.

"We" Carl said, completely at ease in his madness "have been

betrayed."

By whom, how did the old man even figure it out. After making a show of

examining his pants for blood stains Carl took a seat on his desk. An action

Kael had never once seen him do. Behind the unruffled exterior, Carl had to be

disturbed by the mess they were in and it showed in this seemingly innocuous

action. Kael was at a loss whether to be glad or scared. On one hand that Carl

was not lost in is his head and was well aware that things were bad was good

news, wonderful even on the other hand that he was visibly shaken by it meant

things were worse than Kael had first thought.

"How? How did you figure it out?" Kael asked still not sure if Carl

was entirely sane.

"All the signs are there really. The Staves were certain they could take

us but did not have the Family's support. Our plants reported nothing because

they were either in on it or revealed by someone in a position to find out who

they were. Dreil and his 'friends' got here in time to give us practically no

warning, even though it should have been easier for a smaller group to slip

through the forest than the entirety of the Stave's forces, who would have had

to detain captives if any. He really should have taken the time to at least

injure himself properly. Once you figure it out the tells are rather

obvious." Carl answered with all the sense of urgency of a person listing

groceries.

The contrast between the stoic, unflappable man before Kael now and the irate

little man from before was glaring. Right he might be but perhaps Carl was not

so sane after all.

"Elvyah, I trust that your protégé can handle the task at hand?" Carl

asked, passing a hand through his oily mess of hair. Another break in

character, another slip.

"She can"

"Good then unless anyone has questions I would like you to follow

me..." a pause to give others the chance to speak "Kozen you know

what to do. Set to it"

The man nodded, flashing his signature grin and promptly exiting the room. At

this point Carl finally rose again, eliciting a series of groans and protests

from his desk and made for the door.

"Father, how will you know when you have caught all the spies"

A moment of silence passed.

"I most likely won't" Carl answered and then he left.

Elvyah turned to face Kael, she looked into his eyes clearly amused by him.

"Well... unless you plan on hiding in a cellar, there's a fight to be

fought."

Almost thirty minutes had passed since their look outs had first spotted the

Staves. Approaching the aptly named 'Demolition Site' in the day unnoticed was

impossible for mere men. It was divorced from the other buildings in Tenlight

by large stretches of flat land in all directions. Any hostiles that approached

would bleed for every meter well at least that was the idea. Reality on the

other hand was a bitch, a volley of arrows peppered the encroaching men only to

be deflected by an invisible pane of force. Kael watched with abject

fascination as a single deviant made mockery of the guild's defenses, he knew

fully well that the purpose of the opening volleys was to task the offending

deviant's reserves and yet he couldn't help but find the sight beautiful in a terrifying

way.

"I really am an odd one"

*Crank* *swoosh* the trebuchets sent their twin pay loads flying in unison.

The two large boulders were further accompanied by a volley of arrows. The

first boulder was knocked off course by a lance of light, the second though

managed to break through a force pane but was stopped by a second invisible

barrier. The arrows clattered harmlessly against the invisible wall moments

later. Damn, Kael wasn't sure what he had been expecting but that was just disappointing,

the trebuchets were the best the Demolisher's had to offer in terms of long

range offense.

On the other side of the battlefield another mind mirrored Kael's sentiments

though for entirely antagonistic reasons. How could the damned wench be so subpar?

Was it so hard to form the shields at an incline so that they deflected

projectiles rather than trying to stop them outright? The obscured malcontent

was certain that if set at the right angle the shield could have parried both

boulders without breaking, saving precious despair in the process. He clicked

his tongue in distaste, her ineptitude was threatening to sour his earlier good

spirits. Still the opposition had yet to capitalize on her mistakes so he

supposed it was forgivable. Furthermore he supposed he had been warned of her

lack of skill when she herself had said her ability had no direct offensive

uses, he had nearly choked. Her ability truly was a defensive one, designed by

the gods with no intent of causing harm but all it took was some creative

thinking a bit of persistence and presto it was a lethal weapon. One could say

that he had known then, that she wasn't an expert at her deviation's use or a

particularly bright person but that such basic maneuvers eluded her was a bit

of a suprise. Sigh, she was a friend now and that meant he wouldn't give up on

her... even if she was an airhead. No even then he would treat her like the

good friend he was. The female energy deviant's inadequacies aside he was

deeply satisfied with his winnings. Soon the building before him as well as

everyone in it would be his as well.

Kael checked the straps of his leather armour. Despite the unfortunate procession of things he was

excited more than anything else. What fears he had were that he would commit

some rookie mistake, or that his helmet would slide of in the heat of battle,

silly thoughts he couldn't really shake off but that failed to dent his desire

to split skulls. He was studiously attempting to school his expression into a

sterner one, befitting the situation at hand but he suspected that he wasn't

being entirely successful, if only he had a mirror then he could be sure he was

not smiling. His father was currently staring off into the distance, at... at

well nothing, more flat land covered with overgrown grass as far Kael could

tell. After a few moments of looking at nothing Carl nodded, appearing

satisfied with his observations.

"Probably thinking the grass needs cutting."

Carl beckoned to a man Kael knew to be one of his deviants. The two exchanged a

flurry of hand signals -to confuse anyone watching through eldritch means- then

the man walked off and Carl directed his stare at the enemy lines. Kael thought

he could see the faint outlines of a smile on his father's face but he couldn't

be sure. Smiling, he turned to watch the deviant, his father had spoken to,

curious about the man’s ability, and he knew it had something to do with

lightning but little else. His father did not publicize such things, preferring

the element of suprise to the attention it brought. With a thunderous bang the

man erupted into thick

brilliant forks of lightning, and bolted towards the enemy, literally. He split

through the sky, closing in on the enemy in seconds, ripping through the

multiple hastily erected force panes with contemptuous ease and striking the

center of the enemy forces. With a single blow near two hundred men were flung

apart, and charcoal black crater marked the enemy’s former position. In a

ridiculously loud peal of thunder, the deviant flashed through the air a second

time and made a rough landing in the training field, burning the grass where he

landed but little else. He crouched there, stock still for a few moments, his

clothes were gone and steam rose of him, exhausted? Not surprising, he just

decimated a two hundred man strong team with a single attack! Eventually the

man rose with unsteady feet, and started to make his way back to Carl. What

Kael had failed to notice was that moments before the eye-catching lightning

strike hit another less noticeable deviant struck by sending violent tremors

through the earth, the attack had in fact originated from the point in the

distance his father had staring at. It had obviously been unaffected by the

panes of force and had rattled bones, shattering a few but largely serving to

knock opponents of balance for the subsequent attack.

"We've won!” He thought, elation and disappointment flooding him

all at once.

Surprisingly, majority of the Staves started to rise to their feet with jerky movements. Kael turned

to look at his father to ask if is this was to be expected but the man's face,

devoid of all colour told him all he needed to know. The enemy had countered the lightning strike

somehow. Growling, Carl let out a large bark that drew the attention of his

followers to him and in turn his outstretched fire at will hand sign.

The unknown assailant grit his teeth, the blast had almost done him in and how

embarrassing that would have been, to die in the middle of nowhere, tsk tsk. He

honestly hadn't expected a blow of that power, heavy artillery types were rare

and the Despair costs for their attacks were... well heavy. He wouldn't be surprised

if that single strike had emptied the deviant's reserves, still had it not been

for Cleaves who absorbed majority of the energy, he along with two thirds of

his troops would have died. There was a palpable din as the inept deviant

protected against a barrage of projectiles. Her personal failings aside her

deviation was really top notch. Cleaves turned to him, asking for permission

with a glance. He gave the greying middle aged man a nod. Enough playing

around, it was time to show these bumpkins that he was the real deal. After

that he would give them all a shot to befriend him. With the go ahead given,

Cleaves fired a burst of yellow energy into the sky, the burst itself would go

largely unnoticed in the bright day sky but the peal that sounded after would

be heard clearly even at defending side. More importantly it would be heard by

the second subordinate he had brought along, Genneris, who had long infiltrated

the opposition with a couple of newly acquired deviants, if Cleaves was his

hammer then she was a scalpel, he reduced the opposition to rubble and she

devastated foes with perfect surgical strikes. Both of them were fairer hands

at killing than capturing. His new followers were directed by their faux

commander and sent a volley of arrows of their own at the general location of

whoever sent the vibration attack. Cleaves the taken the brunt of that attack

too and pointed out the source, what would he ever do without his shiny Warhammer.

The man in question rose into the air, his body shimmering with borrowed

energy.

Kael shook his head as the varying projectiles bounced harmlessly against

invisible barriers. Only a handful of people seemed to have been affected by

the lightning strike. A loud boom resounded and everyone with half a wit knew

the enemy was about to show their hand. When arrows finally took to the sky

from enemy archers, Kael was shocked to see that they flew off into the

distance and not at the Demolition site. Wait wasn't that roughly where his

father had been looking! Suddenly the arrows jerked, flying in opposite

directions as if they were knocked off course by an impossibly strong errant

gust. A few of them even shattered like fine china. It was then that Kael realized

how little he understood of the game being played, rather than the messy tangle

he had been sure battle was, this was an exchange. A give and take resembling

more a heated debate between two parties than a messy brawl. That was when

chaos ensued. The men began shouting and pointing at a weird cloud that was

spreading from a corner of the building with the obvious intent of blanketing

the ground floor and the training field with it. Another man was yelling

something about a dead Fire deviant. Even Kael who knew comparatively little

about the state of both sides understood what was happening. The leader of the

Staves had a son who could emit and manipulate a whitish fog that sent people

to lala land. He was normally combated by the combustive nature of his fog and

the fixed speed at which he could release it. However the Fire deviant that

countered him was found dead and the rate at which the fog was spreading was

too fast, suggesting he had had time to amass it unnoticed before finally

attacking. The earlier assault was just a distraction or perhaps this was the

distraction, it would split the Staves attention allowing the Staves to close

in on them.

A savage howl drowned out all other sounds. When it ended everyone was looking

at Carl. For a moment he just stood there, calm, stern eyes berating every one

of them for their stupidity. The men felt their confidence return along with

slivers of shame. Heavens be damned they were the Demolishers, they fucking

wrecked; they were not wrecked. Carl gave the fire at will sign, and so they

turned their backs on the noxious sentience guided gas that threatened to

reduce them to a senseless stupour and they resumed fire on the enemy.

"Kozen, deal with it."

The large bald man nodded, and ran off followed by a couple of men.

He grabbed an unlit torch as he ran to the lower floor. When he got down he passed the torch to his men and

took stock of the spread. It was salvageable. With a smile he took the now lit

torch from his men and tossed it into the centre of the gas, watching intently

as it bloomed scarlet. He only relaxed when he was sure the building had not

caught fire. Perhaps they were lucky and the little rat that did this had been

caught in the explosion. Not likely, rats had a way of scampering free. As if

to lend credence to his thoughts three more clouds of fog rolled out,

blanketing the ground even faster than the first. The fuckers were toying with

them.

"Wait here" he growled and with a burst of inhuman power he launched

himself to the upper floors. Still moving freakishly fast with the power of his

strength based War deviation he ripped torches from a scones and leapt back

down. His subordinate hurriedly lit one of the torches but he was too late the

fogs had fused, a blast this large might collapse the building and yet if he

didn't the fog would collapse them all. Kozen gripped the torch and flung it

but it was not to be, a blade slit his arm and caused him to drop the torch.

Arms gripped him from behind, he tried to break free but his body had suddenly

gone weak and the violent power of his deviation was suddenly out of reach.

"Aah" he screamed but it came out weak and wrong, around him he could

hear the scuffles of his comrades. No doubt locked in futile struggles like

himself. He lost all feeling in his limbs and dropped to the ground, limp. A

woman he had never seen before stood above him.

"Sshh" she mocked "It will be over soon"

No no no no.

This could not happen, he would not let it. Drawing strength from his anger he

tried to draw in the strength of his deviation but it was scattered as quickly

as he could gather it. Whatever he had been drugged with was too strong, soon

his vision lost its focus too and the world went black.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***