Stepping Up, Draft 1, CH 51 (Patreon)

“How is the defense going?” Tibs asked as he, Jackal, and Carina edged along the building. “Really.” He’d hurried to leave Kroseph’s room after the server had exploded on him. It was being hurt that had made him say what he’d said.

“It’s going well,” Jackal answered as he looked around the corner, “in that we haven’t lost any of the runners. But badly in that my father’s taken over more than half the town. It’s mostly housing, so that’s good, but that means we need to house those people. And feed them.” He looked at Tibs. “We’re going to be out of food soon. Even if you can get the dungeon to open so we can get food that way, my father’s going to make that nearly impossible.”

They hurried to the next intersection.

“How does he have so many people?” Carina asked. “Shouldn’t you have been able to wipe them all out by now? They can’t be any tougher than anything in the dungeon.”

Jackal looked at her. “Nearly everyone who is Rho or above isn’t here. The conscripts are skilled, and deadly if they can get the advantage, but they’re Upsilon at best. My father’s people have been holding our town under control for him for years. I won’t say they’re better than a king’s army, but we aren’t anything like that.”

Tibs nodded. “We need to take him out.”

“Good luck with that.” Jackal pointed to the alley on the other side of the street. “We’re leaving the part of town we control. Be ready for anything beyond here.”

They ran, staying low to the ground, and Tibs was surprised not to be shot at. Once they were in the alley paid more attention to what he sensed around them. There was the usual live under the ground, but nothing above it other than them. They had a good deal to traverse before they’d reach the rooming house.

“Why do you sound like we can’t win?” Carina asked.

“Because I don’t know if we can without the guild getting involved and those bastards are comfortable in their building.”

“Stop,” Tibs said, sensing people ahead. At this distance, it was only a mass, but too much life essence to be animals. He lowered his voice. “People, six or seven buildings ahead, two to the right. I need to be closer to tell how many.”

Jackal nodded, and they moved in that direction.

“Five of them,” Tibs said once he could make the essence apart. “No element.”

“Then we rush them and we don’t let any runoff.”

Three buildings away, Tibs pointed to each side of the alley. Two on one, three on the other. Knowing where to look, he could make out the shifting shadows on the ground. He held the knife Kroseph’s brother had given him for this. He wanted a sword, but he’d gotten used to making his own and hadn’t practiced lifting a metal one.

Once the town was theirs again. He was getting Carina to write him up a schedule so everything he needed would be trained.

Jackal indicated himself and pointed to the side with three. Tibs to the other and Carina at range.

Tibs went around the other side of the building and peeked around the corner. The two were looking at the road. A few blocks away was Merchant’s Row, so they were hoping to catch anyone heading there?

Jackal yelled, and their attention was in that direction. Before they could go help their allies, Tibs was behind one and had his knife planted in his spine. Out and in the other’s chest as he turned to see what was happening. Tibs missed the heart and got stabbed in his side before wind blades cut the man’s other arm to ribbon. He planted the knife in the man’s throat, cutting off the scream, before wrapping his essence around his injury.

“Thanks,” he told Carina. On the other side of the alley, Jackal was taking coin pouches off the men. Tibs did the same once his side no longer hurt as badly.

“Anyone coming to their help?” Jackal asked.

Tibs shook his head. “If anyone heard, they’re staying away.”

“Is there a reason they’re watching away from the inn?” Carina asked.

“Merchant Row’s that way.” Tibs pointed.

Jackal nodded. “Quigly is planning on sending people there today. This was the route he was going to take.” He motioned to the road. “Go away to Merrygold, come across Tallan, and follow this road because our information was my father had his people watching a different route.”

“Someone told him?” Tibs asked. He didn’t want to believe anyone would betray the town, but some merchants had preferred paying Sebastian over standing up to him, and many conscripts had had no problem stating they didn’t care for Kragle Rock.

“Or he’d found out who in his camp is passing information to us.” Jackal watched the street.

“Who is it?” Carina asked.

“Is the other side safe?” the fighter asked, and Tibs nodded. “My sister’s one,” he answered flatly.

“You trust her?” Catina asked.

Jackal snorted. “She wishes. But all the information she’s been providing has been accurate, and we’ve saved a lot of people because of the warning she gave us.” He ran to the other side.

“Do you think Sebastian realized she’s helping you?” Tibs stopped next to Jackal and pushed his sense as far as he could.

“Maybe. I’m going to have to check where the information came from. She isn’t the only one helping us.”

“Some of the guards?” Carina asked.

Jackal nodded. “As well as a few of my father’s servants who haven’t experienced the horror he causes before this.” He grinned. “Working for my father isn’t easy for those who have a shred of morality left.”

They made it to the other side of the alley when Tibs motioned for them to stop. He pointed in the group’s direction he felt and—A scream came from there, pained and sounding young.

Ignoring Jackal telling him to stop, Tibs ran toward them. The cursing fighter caught up to him. “It’s a trap!”

Tibs didn’t care. He wouldn’t let one of his people be hurt. He was going to make Sebastian pay for this.

He ran through the alleys, noting he was among the lower quality houses where the folks who worked for the merchants or the guild lived.

The scene as he entered the courtyard stopped him. Half-dressed men held two naked women and a boy on the ground, next to two decapitated bodies. Adult men in ordinary clothing. The man forcing himself on the boy didn’t even stop at the intrusion.

With a scream of rage, Tibs ran for him, knife high. When another man stepped between them, Tibs coated his blade in fire. He didn’t have much, but it was—

The knife exploded with heat as he slashed, and a tongue of fire followed the motion, slamming into the other standing man, then the houses further back.

Tibs didn’t care. He took hold of the fire the man before him tried to put out and fed it more essence. He didn’t care what else burned. He was going to burn these people slowly for hurting his people, his town.

The man screamed as fire move up his arms to his head. His hair erupted in a flash of fire. His features were melting from the heat Tibs applied. He was—

On the ground. Someone holding him down, screaming something, but Tibs didn’t hear over the fire raging inside him. The man raised a fist, issuing a warning Tibs didn’t make out.

Fire wouldn’t help him stop that.

He caught the fist in his hand, earth making it immovable. “Why?” he asked Jackal. “I. Was. Helping.” But why had he been so rushed? Was so angry? Rushing into anything only made things worse. He had to take his time, consider the implication of what he was going to do.

“Tibs?” Jackal sounded unsure.

“Who. Else. Would. I be?”

The fighter tried to pull his fist out of Tibs’s grip. And he smiled. It wasn’t going anywhere until Jackal explained himself. They were supposed to be friends.

“Tibs, let go. Now that you’re not burning everything down, I have to go help Carina put out the fires.”

Tibs looked around. Houses were burning. That was what haste caused. He sighed. That was why he couldn’t just act. He needed to think before he acted. He let go of the fighter and sat. Air and earth weren’t what was needed.

Water was best against fire.

He raised a hand and water essence slammed into the buildings. The fire fought. He had put a lot of that essence into them, but he wasn’t feeding it anymore, so water won. He stood. The buildings were smoking. He doused one of the still burning men and wished he hadn’t had to hurt him.

One of the women held the boy in her arms, wailing.

Tibs went to her, crouched. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I wish I’d been here sooner. That I had done a better job protecting you, all of you.” He pressed a hand to her brow and let water cool her. “I will do better.”

She looked at him, confused and lost. Maybe she couldn’t see him in her grief, hear him. It didn’t matter. He’d said it. He would hold himself to it. He would find a way to bring comfort to the town and its people. For them to be safe and never have to worry again. It was the least he could do after failing them so miserably.

“Tibs?” Carina called to him tentatively.

“I’m sorry,” he told her.

“For what?” she still sounded on sure.

“For letting this happen. For letting this pain happen. I should have worked harder at stopping Sebastian.”

“Jackal,” she called, “Have you seen his eyes?”

“Yes.” The fighter walked toward a burned man crawling away.

“What are we going to do?”

“I’m going to finish this guy, then we can—”

Tibs raised a wall of water between them. “No. I won’t let you hurt him.”

“Tibs, he hurt these people,” she said. “You burned him.”

“I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry for that. He made a mistake. That doesn’t mean we should make one too.”

“Tibs. I need you to let go of the essence.”

“No.”

“Tibs. It’s affecting you. How you think.”

Did it? Thinking back, he had been rash while wielding fire and then intolerably slow was using earth to keep Jackal from hurting him. But he was fine now. Carina had to see that. Still, if it would make her feel better, he could oblige her.

“Once Jackal promises not to hurt that man.”

“Tibs,” Jackal complained.

“Jackal, come over here,” Carina instructed.

“But he’s trying to get away.”

She looked in his direction. “He’s trying to get away from you. He’s too hurt to go far. Come here so Tibs will be sure you aren’t going to hurt him.” She thought something over. “We can talk about how to handle him.” She smiled at Tibs. “Will that be okay?”

Tibs smiled back and nodded. He knew Carina would see the good in making sure no more pain was inflicted.

Jackal grumbled as he joined them. “I’m not happy about this.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll do what I can to fix it,” Tibs replied. “But causing pain isn’t the answer.”

Jackal opened his mouth, but Carina spoke first. “He’s here. The man isn’t going to be hurt. Now I need you to let go of the essence.”

Tibs let go of it as he breathed out.

He sucked in air and looked around. What had just happened?

“His eyes are back to normal,” Carina said, smiling.

“What?” Tibs asked, trying to make sense of his actions. There had been so much anger, then nothing, then this need to make everyone feel better, even the monsters who’d hurt these people. He glared past Jackal and moved to stand.

Carina caught him. “Don’t.”

“He isn’t getting away with this,” Tibs snarled.

“Can I go finish him now?” Jackal asked hopefully.

Tibs wanted to be the one to do it. But he wasn’t sure why he wanted it, not after the way his thinking had shifted. He nodded and Jackal merrily returned to the burned man.

“Make it quick,” Carina instructed. “We have something more important to deal with.”

“We need to make Sebastian pay,” Tibs snarled. That he was sure of.

“He will, but we need to figure out what happened here first.”

“They were—”

“That’s not what I mean.”

The burned man’s protest turned into a scream that came to an abrupt end.

“You don’t have your bracers, Tibs, and yet you pulled enough essence to nearly take down all the buildings here and then put that out with even more water. You told me your reserves hadn’t changed.”

Tibs felt them. They were the same, each a minuscule amount compared to—but that was lower than it should be. All he’d done was wrap his side. Considering how vast that reserve was, he shouldn’t even be able to tell he’d used some. Instead, he’d used enough he could feel the gap.

“I think I used my essence to do this.”

“Well, yeah,” Jackal replied, next to them again. “You did all this, not us.”

“That’s not what he means,” Carina said. “Only that shouldn’t be possible, right?”

Tibs stared at her. “How should I know? You’re the one who reads a lot.”

She chuckled. “I think this is one time where your comments about what you do not being in any books are valid. We need to try something. You need to use an essence without being distracted by a fight. Feel what happens.”

“Can we make it something safe?” Jackal asked. “Like earth or water?”

“No element is safe,” Carina replied.

“Yeah, well, Tibs seemed less inclined in burning the whole town down when his eyes were earth brown or blue.”

“My eyes changed color?” Tibs asked jubilantly. Then his mood crashed. “Each time I used an element?”

Carina nodded.

He could do so much now, but if he wasn’t careful, anyone watching would be able to tell it was him. “That sucks.”

“Let’s focus on one thing at a time,” she said. “Jackal is right, for once.”

“Hey! I have been right before… right?”

She smirked. “And since water is the element you’re known to have. Let’s use that one. Just a little of it.”

Tibs nodded and turned his hand up. He formed a puddle in it and looked at Jackal. “Why?

The fighter took a step back. “Carina?”

“Tibs, look at me.”

He did. “Why did I let Jackal do that? What is it going to solve?”

“What is your reserve like Tibs?”

It was why they were doing this, but it was so discouraging to realize that even he was willing to let pain continue. He knew better. He should soothe, take away pain—

“Tibs, I need you to focus. What is your reserve like?”

He turned his attention inward, away from the misery he had taken part in. As expected, his reserve hadn’t changed. It was minuscule, except. The reserve for his essence wasn’t that anymore. It was water. He had so much that he could make a wall around the town, maybe the entire mountain, but he didn’t know how large that was. The one in MountainSea had been enormous, so maybe he couldn’t do that.

“Tibs?”

He looked at her and smiled. “It’s all water.”

She nodded. “Now I need you to let go of it.”

“No.”

“Tibs, we need to know what will happen.”

He would go back to being willing to cause pain if he did. He knew it. That wasn’t his role. Others could cause pain, but he needed to soothe it away.

“Tibs. You aren’t your element,” she said. “Do you remember when you explained that to Jackal and me?”

“I didn’t.”

She smiled. “Not in those words, but it was what it meant. When I understood that, I gained a lot. Now you need to remember that, so that you’ll regain yourself.”

“I am myself.”

She shook her head. “Right now, you’re different.”

“Water,” Jackal said, crouching next to them.

“I am water,” Tibs agreed.

“No, you’re not. You’re Tibs. Water is an element. When you told me about her, you said she was caring, she understood you, your pain, accepted it even as she encourages you to let her soothe it away.”

“Isn’t that better than wanting to inflict pain?” he asked.

“You don’t want to inflict pain, Tibs. If every Runner here, of anyone related to the guild, you’re probably the only one I know who would rather we all have a nice peaceful life doing our runs and coming back.”

Tibs looked around. “But I have inflicted pain.”

“You did, but being willing doesn’t mean you want to. You’ve had to make decisions you haven’t liked. You’ll have to again. This isn’t the world of the elements. It’s our world. And you have to be yourself to survive in it.” He hesitated. “You have to do it for Mama.”

Tibs closed his eyes as he remembered her. He could let go if he wanted, of the pain, the loss. He could wash it out of himself.

He could even forget about her if he wanted to.

He gasped, and Carina caught him. How? How could even contemplate forgetting Mama? What those men had done to her?

“You okay?” Jackal asked.

Ibs nodded. “Thanks for pulling me out.”

“After how you got Kro angry at me, you deserved me poking at your sensitive spots.”

“Your reserve?” Carina asked.

“Back to normal.”

“Can you use any essence without triggering your eyes to change color?”

Tibs looked at the two women who’d were holding each other. In their focus to understand what had happened, they’d forgotten about them. And that made him angry. They had been through too much right now to be ignored.

He stood. “I don’t know, and it can wait. We need to take them to the inn.” Went to them and they recoiled. “You’re safe now. We’re going to take you to a safe place. No one is going to hurt you again.”

With Carina helping, they got them standing and walking. They were attacked twice on the way to the inn, and each time Tibs stayed back with the women. Once they were at the inn, they handed them over to the clerics and Jackal arranged for a group to go retrieve the boy and two men.

Then he joined Tibs at their table.

“I’m going to burn Sebastian’s house with him in it,” Tibs said.

Jackal raised his tankard. “I’ll help. But first, how about we make sure you don’t take the whole town along in the process?”