Things come to a head

Julian landed on his toes. He straightened himself and brushed himself off.

“That was surprisingly graceful of you. Practicing for the local circus in your spare time?” Clevis said. The elf was giving him a considering stare. He had his bow drawn. Julian eyed it warily. It was the same bow he’d used to shoot Julian the night before, causing an injury that might have killed him. A flicker of suspicion danced in Clevis’ eyes.

Julian let a trickle of red psionic energy radiate from his palms. Despite his relatively low WP pool, he felt stronger, yet he knew he was but a shadow of what he could be. What he would inevitably become once he gained enough levels. He tried to content himself with the fact that he was powerful compared to what he’d been just two days ago. That he was more than a step above most of the classless, but he immediately hated himself for doing that. The classless had been the closest thing to kin he’d had since his family had deemed him as something less than human.

He wondered if he’d one day look back on how he was now and scoff at how weak he had been.

Strangely familiar whispers slid into his mind, unbidden, but not unwelcome.

Being a Psion is about growing past the limitations the material and magical worlds place on mortal flesh. At every level, a Psion is growing, its every advancement a defiance of reality. A Psion is in a constant state of metamorphosis, like an insect larva maturing into an adult. It’s not a question of what you might feel about your progress years down the line, but of whether or not you will recognize yourself at all.

He felt as if the words had passed through his lips before.

When… When did I say that? I have this feeling that I have. I know I have! But I can’t remember. Why can’t I remember?

In the darkest corner of his mind, the presence watched. Julian imagined two baleful red eyes regarding him impatiently, as if he should already know the answer.

Clevis took a step back. “Uh, Julian. You may want to save your mana for the **** Mage.”

Julian blinked. Suddenly he was back in the basement of the Blue Dragon. He’d come down here to rescue Izel. Why had he forgotten?

That’s not the first time I’ve been distracted by that strange presence inside my mind. Or visions. I don’t know if any of it is real or not, but I have a feeling that it is and I can’t explain why.

Again, he found himself wishing there were more records of the Psions who had lived in the past. Who they were and what they experienced. Did they too feel the presence in the back of their minds that he did or had they all gone mad?

He bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.

None of that matters, now. I have to rescue Izel. Once that is done, I can waste as much time as I wish getting to the bottom of this.

Julian stepped past Clevis wordlessly, scanning the room. It was small and cubical. A sparse living space with a small desk and bundle of cloth arranged in a vaguely bedlike shape. Unlike the building’s first and second floors, which were made almost entirely of wood, the basement’s walls and floor were made of dark gray stone. A dimly-lit orange mana torch stuck out from the wall above a metallic door. Brynn and Velri were standing in front of the door, whispering to each other. Was it locked? Beyond the bars stood another room, much larger than the little alcove they’d dropped down into. More dim mana torches lined the walls, barely lighting up the room. He could glimpse outlines of tables, other furniture, and something that could possibly be a weapon rack along the far side of the wall.

He looked over at the softly-glowing mana stone that Rila thought was the source of the ward surrounding the building. Rila had her hands above it. Her eyes were closed and her lips were moving silently.

“Rila?”

“Hm?” the blonde blinked her eyes open. “Oh. Julian. Sorry, I was just… curious about the ward surrounding this place.”

He walked over to her, his brows furrowing.

“Did you manage to find anything out about what it does?”

She nodded slowly.

“I think so. It seems like whoever designed this ward wanted to stop any sound from leaving the property. It’s pretty impressive work, actually,” she stared at the mana stone pensively.

“How so?”

“You know how when a mage stops maintaining a ward, there’s a drop in the ward’s effectiveness as the spell tries to make more efficient use of the remaining energy in the mana stone?”

He nodded. Basic ward theory had been taught to him at a very young age, before he had even been expected to discover his class. His parents had hired the best tutors available, mostly high level classed individuals who had retired from adventuring. It was how he’d come to know Braknar. The short Nyrosian warrior had taken a liking to him for some reason, even offering to train him in the way of the sword long after his parents had given up on him ever discovering his class.

“Yes. Are you saying there hasn’t been any deterioration in the ward’s effects?”

Rila nodded. “Pretty much. You could probably create a small explosion here and no one in the streets would hear it even though the mana stone’s only got a trickle of juice left.”

Julian raised his eyebrows.

The Amyss wanted to kill Izel and ideally maintain their cover. Perhaps that’s why they felt comfortable operating near an Enforcer stronghold. Whenever they came across prey who wouldn’t go down without a fight, they would nullify the sound of any struggle to incapacitate their prey with the Enforcers being none the wiser.

“Sounds like someone wanted to make sure our fight didn’t draw any outside attention.”

“Yeah,” she agreed. “And there's more. It seems like they’ve done this a lot.”

“What do you mean?” he frowned.

Rila swallowed.

“You don’t get this good at wardcrafting just by studying. You have to practice a lot. At least, that’s what Father said,'' she chewed her lip nervously. “When I touched the mana stone, there were echoes. Shadows of mana cast and drained over the course of… years maybe, I don’t know. What I’m saying is, I don’t think you and Izel are the first people they’ve gone after. I think they’ve been doing this for a long time,” she whispered.

Clevis chose that moment to butt into their conversation. His usual smug grin was gone. “You’re saying that the people who own this building have been abducting and killing people for gods know how long, right in view of where I go to work every day?”

Rila set her jaw and stared at him.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“Dammit,” Clevis hissed. He started pacing back and forth. “How could we have missed this? We have mages trained to sense this sort of thing. Any consistent unusual or unauthorized ward usage within city limits gets recorded and investigated. They might get away with doing it once or twice, but repeatedly over the course of years? It’s not fucking possible.”

“Apparently, it is,” Julian said, raising his eyebrows. “When they attacked me, they didn’t look like they were worried at all about being discovered. And I trust Rila’s judgment. If she says the mana stone’s been used to create wards regularly, that’s what happened.”

Rila averted her gaze.

Clevis glared at him, but there was little heat in it.

“This changes things,” he muttered. “I have to go back and warn them. Get an entire punitive squad put together and bring these monsters to justice.”

Julian shrugged indifferently.

“That’s fine. My sisters and I will still be going after Izel. We aren’t going to wait however long it takes for the Enforcers to get their act together since by then Izel may be dead. We’ll likely be fine without you thanks to Velri, so your absence will make no difference to me. But it will to Brynn. How do you think she’ll react if you leave after you promised to help her? Don’t bother answering. I’ll tell you. She’ll see you for the weak, cowardly braggart you are. And I’ll do my right best to ensure that’s the point of view she adopts. It’ll be almost too easy.”

Stay, Clevis. With any luck, the Amyss will kill you and save me the effort and risk of doing it myself.

The heat returned to Clevis’ glare at full ****. He clenched his fists.

“You bastard. You wouldn’t dare!”

Julian merely smiled. He hated Clevis and wanted nothing more than to see the elf dead or gone from his presence, but he was smart enough to understand the folly of reducing their five-person party to four.

I’ll tolerate him for as long as it takes to save Izel. After that, though…

He fully planned to exact **** on the elf if he survived. That wouldn’t change no matter how much aid he offered or how nobly he acquitted himself in battle.

“Oh, but I think you know that I would. Happily.”

Clevis grit his teeth. His fingers tightened on his bow.

Rila eyed the two of them nervously. She placed a hand on Julian’s arm.

“Hey. I know you two don’t like each other, but now is not the time for you to fight. We’re here to rescue a woman in distress, remember?”

They ignored her. Julian returned Clevis’ glare with an impassive stare.

He wants to draw a mana arrow and strike me like he did at the classless protest. He wants to put me in my place and assert his superiority. But he can’t. For the first time in our lives, I hold all the cards and can play them whenever I wish.

“Clevis, can you come up here? We need your help.” Brynn’s voice broke through their argument. She hadn’t heard or she’d have likely intervened more directly.

Clevis shot Julian a parting glare before joining Brynn and Velri at the metal door.

Rila’s hand grasped his.

“Are you alright, Julian?”

He looked down at her and met her deep blue eyes with his grays.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“You almost...” she paused, as if looking for the right words to say. “You two really hate each other that much.”

She voiced it as more of a statement than a question.

“I think I’ve always known that. I’m not the biggest fan of Clevis, either, you know.”

Julian stared at her in surprise.

“Really?”

Most of his family treated Clevis like he was royalty. And they were not far off from the truth since the Revenars were one of the few noble houses that could hope to rival the imperial household in sheer political power.

She squeezed his hand.

“Julian, please don’t tell me you think I actually like him. He’s a perverted, stuck-up scoundrel. When he isn’t trying to woo Brynn he’s staring at my breasts. Ugh, he’s so disgusting. I don’t know what she sees in him.”

Julian’s eyes must have widened with surprise, because Rila chuckled.

“Oh come on. You actually thought I’d give that guy the time of day? Even if he were somehow the most honorable person I’d ever met, I’d still hate him. And do you know why?”

He shook his head. “No idea.”

Rila raised a blonde eyebrow and leaned toward him, exposing the tops of her breasts. “You really are clueless, aren’t you?”

“Maybe,” he smiled wryly, feeling a pleasant warmth in his chest somehow despite their situation. “Now stop keeping me in suspense. We’re about to fight something incredibly dangerous and I’d rather not spend that time with any annoying doubts.”

Rila’s eyes softened.

“It’s because he doesn’t get along with my brother,” she gave his arm a squeeze.

A smile tugged at his lips.

He was about to reply, but a loud, metallic screech interrupted him.

Julian and Rila looked towards the source of the noise and saw the metal door to the room they were in had been opened. Clevis removed his glowing hand from the door and stepped back, Brynn smiling at him gratefully. She leaned toward him and kissed him on the cheek.

“Ew. Come on Brynn, you’re better than that,” Rila whispered.

A moment later, Clevis glanced back at Julian and winked.

Cold anger welled up in his chest.

I hope the Amyss grinds him into a fine paste.

Velri was the first to step through the open door. She tensed immediately and drew her sword.

“Do you see some…thing…?” Brynn’s eyes widened when she entered the room.

“Oh gods,” Clevis covered his mouth and retched.

Julian hurriedly followed after them, Rila bringing up the rear immediately behind him.

At first, he wasn’t sure what his sisters and Clevis had seen. Then he looked at the tables that occupied the room.

Their wooden surfaces were stained red. Chains and shackles were nailed into the tables. They too had blotches of dark red along their surfaces. The wood was further marred by large, sudden chops and cuts. The concentration of red stains was most intense around them.

Ax or cleaver impacts, maybe.

Clevis immediately started towards the table closest to them. Everyone watched with bated breath as he summoned his examination glyph. They knew what he would find, but they waited. They needed to be sure. The blue magical glow of the glyph made the stains more apparent.

His violet eyes were wide.

“This is elvenoid blood, and not just from one person. Several people bled here.”

They all looked at each other, quickly understanding the implications.

“Monstrous,” Velri clenched her fists. The handle of her sword groaned softly under the strength of her grip.

“But where is Izel?” Brynn asked, her face unusually white. “Where is the **** Mage who captured her? The one responsible for… all of this.”

Julian frowned in thought.

Where would I go if my only avenue of retreat was to my own basement in the middle of Rona?

“Sewers.” It occurred to him almost immediately.

“What did you say?” Velri whirled around to face him.

Julian met her gaze.

“The sewers. He must have some sort of access tunnel to the sewers from here. That’s how he managed to escape. It’s why he felt safe enough to do his business so close to the Enforcers. The wards were to make sure everything was running smoothly, but if things took a turn for the worst and he was discovered, he had an exit plan which could take him just about anywhere in the city.”

Everyone was looking at him now, understanding dawning in their eyes. It felt weird to be the center of attention, to have everyone listening to him for once instead of dismissing him. It was everything he’d ever wanted, yet for some reason he found that he didn’t enjoy it.

“Rona’s sewage system runs all the way out to the river,” Clevis said.

“He could make it outside the city if he wanted,” Julian agreed. “But where would the sewer access be?”

He looked around, but found no sign of any such entrance. The dark stone walls appeared to be uniform throughout the basement, with nothing suggesting the presence of a trap door or secret passageway.

We still don’t even know how the Amyss usually made their way to the basement. I wonder if we’ll have to create another entrance of our own.

“Well, the sewers usually run along the roads. Any accessway he has down here will have to be facing the streets in front or behind the building, so we can start with the walls facing in those directions,” Clevis said.

“Sound reasoning,” Velri nodded. She moved towards the wall to their right. “Look for a crack or discoloration in the walls. Anything uneven. That could be where our passageway is.”

“I think I may have already found it,” Brynn said. Everyone looked at her questioningly. She held her staff just above the stone floor. The sapphire gem at the tip was illuminated with magical energy. “Look at the floor. It’s the same black blood we saw earlier on the second floor.”

Julian and the others looked where Brynn had her staff pointed. The sapphire gem at the tip glowed brighter, illuminating the floor beneath it. The floor itself was dark enough even with Brynn’s staff focused on it, but after a few moments he saw it. A path of inky black liquid led straight to the wall, seeming to end where the wall began.

Valda was wounded and in a hurry. He would have been pressed for time to carry his sons’ bodies and Izel while also covering up his tracks.

Clevis crouched over the liquid and activated his glyph. A severe look came over his face. “It’s the same blood I examined on the second floor.”

Velri nodded and set her jaw. She stalked up to the section of the wall where the path of black blood ended.

She pressed her hands against the wall and leaned against it.

Julian heard something crack and grind, like a monster gnashing its teeth. The floor vibrated beneath his feet as a circular indent at least ten feet across appeared in the wall. The cufflinks and chains atop the basement kill tables danced to the tune of rock grinding against rock. Julian thought it sounded more like bones being ground into a paste. The indent crunched backward and slid to the side like a wheel, revealing almost total blackness beyond.

Velri snatched one of the mana torches from a nearby wall and turned to face the party.

“I’ll go in first. Clevis, you-” Suddenly she was hurtling across the basement. Her body flew past Julian, passing within a foot of him. She continued through the air, smashing into the stone wall with a thunderous crack that shook the floor with such **** he almost staggered. Velri slumped to the ground with a thud. Her eyes were shut. Blood poured down the side of her face.

“Velri!” Rila cried out and hurried to her, her hands glowing white. Brynn was right next to her, eager to check on their sister. Clevis didn’t look like he knew whether to look at the dark, gaping maw that had once been the basement wall or comfort Brynn.

Julian stood firm, staring into the dark. The presence in the back of his mind stared as well, red eyes like beams of light in the blackness of his thoughts.

“Valda," he called.

Footsteps.

Moments later, the Amyss stepped into the basement. He looked a lot worse for wear than he’d last seen him. His clothes were torn and disheveled, revealing deathly pale skin. A tourniquet which looked like it had been made from torn clothing had been hastily wrapped around his chest. Black blood had soaked through and dripped slowly down his corpulent chest. Clutched in his right hand was his massive, aged greatsword, the thing he had puppeted like it weighed nothing.

We must have caught up to him before he could make any significant progress through the sewers. Or maybe he thought it'd be easier to fight us here where he knows the terrain.

Something floated behind Valda. A body. A woman. Dark-skinned and dark-haired, and naked as the day she was born. Her body was caked in blood and more than one limb looked like it was bent at an unnatural angle. Her eyes were shut.

“Izel!”

He started forward, but Valda outstretched his hand. An invisible **** seized him and lifted him off the floor. It squeezed him like a giant unseen hand. One of his ribs broke with an audible snap. Then another. And another. His vision went red with pain and he let out a cry of agony that was snuffed out when something closed around his windpipe.

Focus.

Complete numbness subsumed him. It was as if his soul had been submerged in frigid water.

He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t fight back. He should have felt afraid. The growing blackness in the corners of his vision heralded unconsciousness and **** would soon follow. But the cold had suffused every inch of his body, and all he felt was the satisfaction of his emotions falling away like layers of thick, cumbersome grime until only his Will remained. It burned as a single cold star at the center of an empty, lifeless universe. He met the Amyss’ fiendish black eyes. For a moment, Julian’s irises flashed red.

Let me go.

A dark tendril of pure thought extended outward from his mind. It paused at the outer shell of the Amyss’ mind. It was roiling. Turbulent with incoherent thoughts and emotions. Like a mental river rapid. The tendril waited for a pause in Valda’s mental eddies and then dove through.

The Suggestion connected with Valda’s mind, but something was wrong. It hadn’t worked like it was supposed to despite making it past the Amyss’ mental defenses.

The invisible grip around him loosened. Suddenly he could breathe again. But he was still suspended in midair, unable to move.

“Julian! Let him go, you monster!” Rila’s voice. He couldn’t turn his head to look at her. He couldn’t move at all. Whatever forcefield Valda had him suspended in prevented it. He felt himself move through the air. He imagined he was being interposed between Valda and the others.

He should have used this power before instead of messing around. Maybe his sons would still be alive.

“Imerdan. You survived. You should have run away when you had the chance,” Valda’s black, beady eyes looked past him for a moment. He showed no sign that he was aware of being affected by a mental suggestion. He smiled sadistically. His teeth were black, diseased, and terrifyingly sharp. “I see you’ve brought me more fleshlings to consume. I cannot wait to devour them in front of you. I think I will let you live just long enough for you to see me make a meal of your whore lover.”

“Izel’s still alive, then.”

Suddenly the layers of humanity were back, surrounding his Will like armor. He gasped with relief. Izel was alive. He wanted to cheer. To celebrate. It felt like he’d already won.

Valda’s black eyes stared at him, radiating utter contempt.

“For now. I have a slow, painful **** planned for her. You will be joining her.”

I doubt I could get him to release me fully. The Suggestion I gave him earlier didn’t even work properly, and I need to conserve my Will Points for when I can get the most use out of them.

“It’s you who should have run away, Valda, though I suppose carrying the bodies of your sons with you slowed you down quite a bit.” Hopefully he could keep Valda focused on him long enough for the others to find an opening and exploit it. “Where are they, anyway?”

The Amyss’ smile vanished instantly. He looked over at the sword clutched in Julian’s hand.

“That doesn’t belong to you.”

The sword was torn roughly from his grasp. His fingers snapped, bending backwards at unnatural angles. His body registered the pain, but it was more like witnessing an explosion from afar and bathing in its light than being in the middle of it. The bone-sword hovered in mid-air near his neck.

Valda’s eyes narrowed. His teeth were clenched.

He has to be running low on mana by now. Either that or there’s an upper limit to the number of things he can lift at once.

A blue-white beam of lightning appeared in the air to his left, spearing into the Amyss's body with a thunderous crack. Valda let out a bellow of pain as the electricity seared his flesh. Patches of Valda’s clothing ignited, melting into the skin beneath it. Julian fell to the floor.

It was then that he noticed a black-red spot on the outside of his left arm. It had been burned, yet it had been so fast and burned so hot his nerves, dulled as they were, hadn’t noticed that some of his flesh had been cooked away. Thankfully the wound appeared superficial; his arm was still intact. Brynn had done her best to protect him from the most damaging effects of her magic. He flexed his fingers and grinned in satisfaction when they worked as they should.

Another blue-white lightning beam flashed in the air above him, nearly blinding him. The air smelled of ozone and the hair on his arms stood on end. He heard something tumble and fall. He looked away.

“Julian!” a feminine voice spoke. Moments later, Rila was crouched over him, worry dominating her features. “Gods, I told Brynn to be careful when she aimed that lightning bolt. Hold on! You’re gonna be alright!”

Her hands lit up with white light. She placed one on his arm and the other to his chest. Cold pain lanced through his body as Rila did her work, chanting syllables in a language long-forgotten by mortal ears. He could feel the burn dissipating, his bones reknitting themselves.

He heard something that sounded like a war cry. A steel-clad woman blurred past him, sword flashing in the dim orange light. He smiled. Velri was back in the fight. Her sword clashed against Valda’s. The Amyss hadn’t even had the opportunity to engage the Knight at range, and was quickly **** on the defensive.

Velri’s face was contorted with rage. It probably stung her pride that Valda was able to catch her off-guard, but the Amyss had made a mistake by not making his surprise attack a fatal one. Velri was making him pay for it now. Her blows were swift and strong, their impacts shaking the room itself. Valda’s black eyes were wide with bewilderment as he was **** back under Velri’s unrelenting melee onslaught. Every time he managed to gain a bit of distance from Velri, Clevis would fire off a mana arrow and Brynn would hit him with a bolt of lightning, staggering him long enough for Velri to close the distance again.

Valda’s clothing had been essentially burned away by now, and his pale, sickly flesh was pockmarked by black-red burns, angry black welts, and strips of clothing that had been fused into his skin.

We’re actually winning.

Julian drew a deep breath when Rila took her hands off him. “Whoa.”

“Are you okay?” she asked, her ocean-blue eyes still glowing with concern. There was a subtle edge to them now. A cold fury that flashed whenever she looked up from him at the battle taking place. She looked so much like their mother.

Julian panted and said, “Yeah.”

He got back to his feet and surveyed the room. Apparently, when Brynn had hit him with a lightning bolt, he’d also dropped Izel’s body. She lay slumped against the floor. “Go help Izel, she needs healing more than I do!”

Rila nodded quickly and made way over to the fallen Tenlani woman. For a second he thought he saw Izel’s eyes snap open, but he quickly returned his attention towards the fight.

Valda had just managed to separate himself from Velri and hit her with a cone of **** from his free hand. Her feet stayed on the ground, but the **** energy had propelled her backward. The Amyss seemed focused on her almost to the exclusion of all else.

Time to hit him hard.

Julian let a vicious smile spread across his face and outstretched his hand. Turbulent red light pooled into his palm.

Mind Jab.

The bright bolt of psionic energy slammed into the unprepared Amyss’ skull. He let out an inhuman shriek of agony unlike any he’d heard from Valda before. He staggered backwards, cradling his head.

Psi-Bolt.

The follow-up attack left his hand less than a second later, colliding with Valda’s neck. He heard something fleshy tear. Sickly black blood burst from the Amyss’ mouth, nose, and ears. He staggered backward again, dropping his sword. It clattered to the ground with such **** Julian felt the vibration in his feet.

He hit him again with the combination of psionic blasts for good measure, causing the Amyss’ body to spasm violently.

Clevis and Brynn took full advantage of the opening, peppering the Amyss with mana arrows and lightning magic. Brynn looked particularly impressive. A nimbus of blue electrical energy surrounded her. Bolts of lightning danced across her skin and her staff. Her eyes glowed blue. Another beam of lightning leapt from her staff, seeming to cross the entire room in an instant. It barely clipped Valda’s shoulder, but it was enough to send the heavy-set figure staggering.

Still, the Amyss wouldn’t die. He stretched out his hand, summoning his sword back into his palm just in time to block a killing blow from Velri. He fought her like a man possessed, wild animalistic fury burning in his eyes. Yellow-orange sparks rained down from where their swords met.

Brynn, panting heavily, uncorked the mana potion Julian had given her and took a swig of it.

“Velri!” she shouted.

Their older sister dodged a heavy swing from Valda’s sword and hopped a few feet back.

Brynn thrust out her staff, conjuring a beam bigger than the ones he’d seen before. Valda reacted with almost inhuman speed, gripping one of the nearby tables with his magic and forcing it into the way of Brynn’s attack. It exploded on contact with the lightning, and still the beam continued through, appearing in the air where Valda had been less than a second before.

Velri became a gray-black blur as she leapt toward him to deliver a killing blow, but Valda was even faster. Abruptly, Velri’s body stopped in midair. Valda gestured violently to the side, and Velri was slammed into the wall with a deafening crack that shook the foundations of the building. The stone shattered around her and she was sent flying into the sewers. Several more impact sounds followed as Velri kept tumbling. Then silence.

Valda immediately followed up by throwing his sword towards Brynn, wanting to neutralize her lightning magic.

Brynn’s eyes widened as she tried to duck out of the way, but the sword corrected its course almost immediately.

“No!” Julian screamed.

Mind Jab!

The Amyss grinned, dodging Julian’s attack with a speed that belied his sheer size. The bolt of energy dissipated harmlessly against the wall behind Valda.

Just as the sword was about to spear through Brynn, another sword slashed into it, sending it clattering against the floor.

Julian blinked.

Izel stood in front of Brynn. She held Vern’s bone-sword shakily in her hands. Her face was contorted with pain, but her body looked significantly less injured than it had been before. Her amber eyes met his and she smiled. Julian didn’t think he’d ever seen anything so beautiful in his life. Rila stood behind her, panting with her hands on her knees. Her eyes were half-shut and all color seemed drained from her face.

Mana exhaustion, he thought grimly.

Izel ran up to him, big breasts bouncing freely. She seemed to care nothing of her nakedness or the fact that everyone was staring at her. “Miss me?”

Gods, yes.

“More than you know. Don’t ever scare me like that again, please,” he said.

She snorted, then ducked when Valda’s sword began moving again, nearly slashing her chest. She glared angrily at the Amyss, but didn’t move to engage him in combat. Instead, she looked at Julian, an unspoken question brimming in her bloodshot amber eyes. He was surprised at her deference until he remembered that he had asserted his control over her.

He shook his head “no.”

She nodded and took a deep breath. She didn’t look satisfied at being relegated to a bystander in the fight, especially when it would have been a rematch against someone who had defeated her, but he didn’t expect her to.

Izel’s smart. She knows we have this fight handled. She doesn’t need to risk outing herself as classed if she doesn’t have to. Not when any classed Tenlani within Aemar is likely to be investigated for necromancy on sheer principle.

“Just kill that disgusting aberration for me, will you?” Izel said.

Julian grinned. “One dead Amyss coming right up.”

Elsewhere in the room, Clevis had not been idle. He strode past Izel, only shooting a passing glance at her naked body. His violet eyes practically burned with anger. He drew a mana arrow larger and more luminous than the others he’d fired before and let it loose.

Valda’s eyes widened as he tried to dodge it, but the arrow seemed to follow his moments, smashing into his chest, sending him sprawling across the floor. He collided with a wooden table behind him, shattering it into so many splinters. He continued onward still, smashing into the wall with a boom. He groaned and slowly began to rise to his feet.

“H-hit him now! Now, while he’s down. We might not get another chance!” Clevis ordered. He collapsed to his knees. Sweat poured down his face.

Brynn's staff burned bright blue, supercharged with magical energy. She gripped it with both hands and pushed it towards Valda. The gem at the tip of the staff brightened and spat out a bolt of lightning so bright that for a few seconds everything looked white. The bolt slammed into Valda, burning the last of his unblemished skin and frying his organs from the inside. Strangely enough, there were no bones beneath his skin. Just black flesh that squirmed as if it had a mind of its own.

Brynn let out a deep breath and sagged, using her staff to prop herself up.

Astoundingly, Valda found it within himself to try to rise yet again, so Julian hit him with another Mind Jab and Psi-Bolt. Valda feebly attempted to roll out of the way, the extent of his injuries proved to be his undoing. The bolts of psionic energy collided with Amyss’ knee. It exploded like a tree trunk hit by cannon fire. Skin, bone, and black viscera tore off his right limb, sending his ankle and foot flying into the air.

Valda let out an agonized bellow. He stared at his half-limb for a second or two, clear shock and disbelief on his face. He tried to rally himself and pushed his hands outward.

Julian felt an invisible wave of **** smack into him and shove him backward. Wood groaned against stone as the tables were pushed back. Julian remained standing. A look around the room showed that the others were barely affected by Valda’s latest **** blast.

It was then that Velri stomped back into the room, looking a lot worse for wear. Blood trickled down her face from a large gash in her forehead. She hobbled towards Valda, a severe limp in her right leg where armor and flesh had been torn away. Her upper armor looked like it had been sheared off along with some of the fabric beneath. Julian caught a flash of her right nipple.

“Stand back,” her voice was quiet, yet Julian had never heard her sound more angry before. “He’s mine.”

She stalked up to Valda. He shoved his hand forward desperately. A continuous cone of rippling telekinetic energy shook the air between them, but it didn’t even seem to faze Velri. When she reached him, she lifted her sword and plunged it down into the Amyss’ chest.

Valda could only let out a pathetic whimper.

Velri twisted the blade and ripped it from his flesh. Black blood and twitching cylindrical organs spilled across the floor.

Valda slumped against the ground. His eyes were still open. They found Julian. His lips began to move.

Julian frowned and walked up to the Amyss. He kept up his guard, his hands blazing with red psionic energy.

“If you're trying to beg for your life, don't bother,” he spat.

The Amyss held his stare.

“She’ll betray you,” he whispered so softly he almost didn’t hear. A smile spread across the Amyss’ face.

“Who will betray me?” Julian asked confusedly.

Is he trying to turn me against Izel? That’s not likely to happen. He’s no idea the extent of the control I have over her. She couldn’t betray me even if she wanted to.

“They’re coming,” Valda’s whispers grew even quieter. “Your Empire will fall.”

The Amyss’ body went still. The organs that had spilled out of him ceased their movements at the same time.

“Is… Is it dead?” Rila asked.

Velri frowned. She raised her sword and hacked off Valda’s head just to be sure.

“Yes,” she said, flicking her blade off to the side to get some of the black viscera off of it. “It’s dead.”

Julian was barely paying attention.

If I had an imperial coin every time someone foretold the Empire’s collapse, I’d be the richest man in the country.

Yet there had been something disturbing about Valda’s words and Julian couldn’t help but feel like he was missing something important.

Whatever he was alluding to, I’m not going to find out more about it by standing here. It's probably nonsense. A last parting trick of the Amyss to cause chaos after his ****.

He trailed his eyes over his companions. Their impromptu party looked like it could drop to the floor and sleep right then and there, with the notable exception of Velri and Izel.

The two women were staring at each other. Clear disapproval radiated from Velri’s ocean-blue eyes, and Izel didn't look like she could care less.

Izel smirked and walked up to Julian, sidling her naked body up against him.

“Well, I asked for a dead Amyss and you’ve certainly delivered. I’d say this calls for a celebration. After we clean ourselves up, that is,” her brow wrinkled in distaste. Then her voice grew quieter. “Thank you for saving me. I don’t make a habit of being in anyone’s debt. I’d usually rather die first, but…”

Something glittered in her eyes. Respect? Admiration? Lust?

She closed the distance between them and kissed him.

He responded to Izel’s kiss almost immediately, the constant angst he’d felt over not knowing her fate fueling his passion. He grasped her back and pulled her against him and soon their tongues were in each other’s mouths dueling for supremacy.

Velri cleared her throat.

Shit!

Izel let out a disappointed groan when he broke the kiss.

The others were staring at them.

Brynn’s eyebrows were almost up to her hairline, yet clear amusement danced in her gray eyes.

Clevis looked like he didn’t know whether to be jealous or congratulate him.

He’s probably just jealous. Damn shame the Amyss didn't wipe the floor with him. Oh well. Guess I'll have to do it myself after all.

The elf’s greedy eyes roved over Izel’s naked body. Julian subconsciously placed himself in front of her to block her body from view, much to Izel’s open amusement. She smirked, but made no attempt to step out from behind him.

Rila looked a little angry. Her blue eyes were narrowed into tiny slits, yet she seemed to be staring past Julian rather than at him.

Oh.

In all the chaos, he’d almost forgotten that his sister was beginning to nurture a little crush on him. Now it seemed she viewed Izel as competition.

Velri’s disapproval had grown even more severe.

“I can’t believe you, Julian,” she said. “Mother and Father are going to throw a fit when they find out you’ve mated with some classless Tenlani harlot.”

Izel didn’t even blink at the insult. She didn’t yell or scream. No, she did something far, far worse.

“Oh, I’m not a harlot. I’m Julian’s consort, though I suppose the nuances of human relationships must be a foreign concept to a plank of wood.”

As Julian predicted, Izel’s admission only made things worse. Everyone began chattering animatedly in spite of their injuries and exhaustion, demanding answers from him.

He could only put his head in his palm and sigh.

Izel chuckled cutely. She pressed her naked body into his back and buried her face into the side of his neck, planting a kiss there and muttering a quiet “sorry” that was uncharacteristically genuine of her.

That made everything feel almost all right.

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Julian Imerdan (lv. 7 Psion)

HP: 51/142

ST: 32/119

WP: 49/470

Skills...

<Four Skill Points Available>

Attributes…

Effects…

Julian's Skills

[Manipulation] Suggestion (cost: 20 WP) - The user can telepathically implant a suggestion in the mind of a target to influence an action, thought, or behavior of theirs. The target must be sapient. There is a chance that it might fail depending on the state of the target mind. The more simple and less unusual the suggestion, the easier it is to implant.

[Manipulation] Hypnosis (cost: 30 WP) - The user lulls the target into a light hypnotic trance. While hypnotized, the target will be more open to Suggestion and suggestions, and more likely to divulge information they would not otherwise. Requires the use of a pendant or other foci to draw the target’s gaze. Can be interrupted by any sudden or intense stimuli. Duration: ten minutes.

[Affliction] Mind Jab (cost: 15 WP) - The user projects a weak bolt of psionic energy that attacks the mind of an opponent, causing crippling mental pain that lasts for a few seconds. Affects any living creature with a brain.

[Affliction] Psi-Bolt (cost: 5 WP) – The user emits an unguided bolt of psionic energy that inflicts low Psi damage to a target upon impact. Deals moderate Psi damage against targets affected by Mind Jab, but clears them of the status.

[Connection] Detect Mind (cost: 2 WP/s) - The user can detect the minds of sentient organic beings within ten feet.

[Knowledge] Safe Fall (cost: free) - The user has learned a method of shifting one's body mid-air to significantly mitigate falling damage. Only usable from survivable heights.

[Innate] Focus (cost: free) - The user enters a state of emotional detachment, allowing the user to ignore pain and resist negative mental effects. Increases WP regeneration by 20% while active. Only usable during combat.

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