Advent of Eternity - Chapter 95 (Patreon)

“We really need a crew name,” Cyll said as they arrived at the edge of the forest. “I mean, how are people supposed to talk about our exploits if we don’t even have a name?”

Knell’s eyes swept over the forest. He couldn’t pick up on any traces of a Scion in the area, but that didn’t mean much. His senses didn’t extend very far, and that was for the best. It would mean he’d still have the advantage of surprise.

“I think we’ve got better things to do right now,” Stix said.

“What could be more important than a good name? Unless you like that mine that much,” Cyll said. “Because we could always go with it.”

“Absolutely not,” Maya said. “Don’t you all have some sort of common goal or purpose? Maybe a defining feature?”

“Cripples doesn’t have a great ring to it,” Cyll drawled. “And I don’t think our purpose would work quite right. It might be a little on the nose.”

“What about something to do with Knell?” Maya suggested. “He’s the captain. A lot of crews name themselves after their captain.”

“Ugly?” Cyll asked. Maya and Stix both rolled their eyes. “What about Two-face?”

“Nope, definitely not. That feels like something we can’t use.” Stix shook her head. “What about our ship? The Rose pirates.”

“That sounds a little dainty,” Cyll said, rubbing his chin. “But I can’t deny the idea of crushing people while calling ourselves a bunch of flimsy plants does seem funny.”

“Roses aren’t flimsy,” Maya said. “It could work. Their flower hides thorns, and Knell doesn’t exactly look as dangerous as he is. Nor do any of you.”

“I like it,” Knell said. “If only to stop you from distracting me any further. It fits with our flag anyway.”

“Perfect. Now, we need a crew pet.” Cyll rubbed his hands together. “Every good crew has one.”

“Enough,” Knell said. “We can discuss this later. We’re entering the forest. Our goal is to kill a few of the Vorgen warriors, then escape without getting into a serious fight. I’d like to make some money from this before we destroy both parties.”

“You really mean to kill both Scions?” Maya asked doubtfully. “You don’t even know how strong they are.”

“I have a good estimate,” Knell replied. He nodded back to the walls of Golden River. “The Vorgen Scion isn’t strong enough to break the walls of that city, or even to siege it properly. And the Holen Scion can’t come out here and crush the Vorgen troops. That means I have a good estimate on the max strength of each of them.”

Maya blinked. “Huh. That makes sense.”

“As such, we should be more than able to quickly strike and take out a few of them,” Knell finished. “It’s vital we don’t kill to many. We don’t know their exact number, so we’ll aim for three or four. One for each of us. No more. Understood?”

The others all nodded.

“Stix, you’ve still got your skills as a tracker. Care to lead us to our targets?”

“I can do that,” Stix said. “I can’t guarantee I’ll find the Vorgen troops, but I guess nobody else is going to be sitting around in the forest, so it’ll end up being them.”

She took the lead and they crept into the forest, keeping as quiet as possible. Faint sunlight filtered through the trees above as Stix slipped across the leafy ground, not making a single sound as she walked.

The others weren’t quite as silent as she was, but the gentle rustle of the trees around them did a lot to hide the sounds of their movement. Stix led them for several minutes, stopping to examine the ground and changing direction multiple times.

She held a hand up as they crested a small mound and the newly named Rose Pirates gathered behind her.

“Just beyond the next few trees,” Stix whispered. “There are several people. I don’t know how many, but not a full troop. They’d be way louder if it were.”

“Good. Cyll, you’ll open. Maya, stand by me. We don’t know how good the fighters are. I can’t detect a Scion in the area, but I don’t want to take risks. Stix – pick them off while Cyll distracts them and listen for my instructions.”

Everyone nodded. They moved forward once more, slipping down the other side of the mound and creeping through the trees. Through the foliage in front of him, Knell could make out a small clearing.

Several people sat in it, wearing green and brown leather armor. He couldn’t make all of them out from their position, but they fit the description of what a Vorgen follower would look like.

He waited for a few moments, listening to see if he could hear them talking, but it was to no avail. Pursing his lips, Knell gestured to Cyll and waved him forward. The immortal man grinned, drawing his large sword and striding out into the clearing.

“Good day, lads,” Cyll called, dragging the heavy weapon through the dirt behind him as the people in the clearing spun toward him. Knell pushed some of the leaves out of the way to get a better look now that the attention was on his crewmate.

There were five people. Four were men, all grizzled and hardened by battle. The last was a woman in what Knell guessed to be her forties. She had faint lines of age on her face, and her strawberry red hair had lost a little bit of its luster. A fanged mace rested at her side.

Knell’s gaze instantly locked on her, and his eyes narrowed. He tapped Stix on the shoulder, then pointed at the woman. She nodded her understanding, knocking an arrow in her bow.

“Who’re you?” a man asked as they all leapt to their feet, pulling their weapons free. “Another Holen dog?”

Cyll burst into motion, bringing his sword crashing down on the nearest man. The man managed to get his sword up, but the force behind his blow smashed the paltry defense aside and Cyll’s sword crunched into his collarbone.

Knell’s gaze was still locked on the woman, who hadn’t budged from her seat. The man crumpled with a cry and the others charged Cyll. Stix let her arrow fly as the battle started in earnest.

Almost idly, the woman leaned forward and the projectile shot over her head, burying itself in a tree. She straightened back up, rising to her feet as Cyll smashed a fist into another man’s stomach and executed him with a powerful swing of his sword.

Roots erupted from the ground, wrapping around Cyll’s leg as another man thrust his hands words the immortal. Cyll growled as the third warrior leapt at him, thrusting a blade toward his chest.

He managed to twist his body enough so that the sword only cut a line across him instead of piercing into his stomach. Cyll whipped his fist up into the man’s chin, knocking it back with a crack, then dropped his sword and snapped the man’s neck with a swift jerk.

Stix fired another arrow at the red-haired woman. Her hand flicked and she snatched the arrow from the air, dropping it on the ground and turning to stare straight at them. Knell pressed his lips together. She wasn’t a Scion – he was certain of that – but something about her set his hair on end.

Cyll grabbed his sword from the ground as roots whipped at him, tearing his clothes to pieces and spraying blood everywhere. The woman turned away from them, her eyes sparkling as she watched Cyll.

“Gods, you’re annoying,” Cyll growled, lobbing his sword. The last man’s eyes widened and he turned, but not fast enough to avoid the hurtling weapon. The blade punched into his back and he stumbled, crumpling to the ground like a ragdoll.

With a snarl, the immortal man ripped his feet free of the roots. He stormed over to his sword and pulled it free of his victim, turning to the woman. “Stix, you’re damn useless. How do you miss twice in a row?”

“Because that isn’t just a normal Path user,” Knell said. “Nor does she serve Vorgen.”

“How apt,” the woman said. “You don’t seem like you’re one of Holen’s pieces either. Mercenaries?”

“At the moment.” Knell prepared his magic so he could cast at a moment’s notice.

“How thrilling,” the woman said, drawing the mace from her hip. “Well then, let’s get this on. I was just getting bored, so you’ve got brilliant timing.”

“We’ve got no quarrel with you,” Knell said. “I have no interest in fighting any further.”

The woman smirked. She leapt at Knell, who immediately cast Slow on her. Her movements lagged for an instant, and Cyll slammed his shoulder into her chest, knocking her to the ground.

Knell’s spell expired and she rolled to the side as Cyll’s sword punched into the ground where she’d been. He ripped it free, turning the blade sideways as the woman swung her mace at him. Metal rang on metal.

“Not bad,” the woman said. She whipped a dagger out of a pocket and flicked it at Cyll. The blade struck him in the shoulder and Cyll growled. He swung his sword, but she ducked the blow and threw another blade, this one catching him in the stomach. “But you’re rusty. You fight with no elegance. Boring.”

Stix nocked another arrow in her bow and raised the weapon. The woman’s head snapped around to look at them, and molten red light flared behind her eyes. Stix’s string snapped and her bow shattered in her hands.

“We’re fighting, dear. Don’t interrupt us. Your time will come.”

Cyll drove a fist into the side of her head and the woman staggered. As he reared back to bring the sword down on her back, she somehow managed to thrust her mace backward. The spines punched into his stomach and he flew back, rolling across the ground and slamming into a tree.

“It’s not nice to take a woman by surprise,” she drawled, twirling her mace. Knell’s hand lowered to his pistol.

“Don’t do that, honey,” the woman said, not glancing back. “You young kids are far too energetic. Wait your turn.”

“Knell?” Stix asked nervously, staring at the wreckage of the weapon in her hands. “What do we do?”

Thoughts flicked through Knell’s head as he sought the best method to fight the woman. Something told him that retreat wouldn’t go well, but he didn’t know the extent of her powers.

“Nothing,” Cyll snarled, rising up and raising his blade once more. “You heard the woman. Wait your turn.”

“It’s so nice to meet a like-minded person.” The woman whipped her mace at Cyll’s head. He ducked the blow and struck her arm, then thrust his sword down into her foot. She let out a startled gasp as Cyll ripped the dagger out of his shoulder and thrust it into her stomach.

“Thought you might want that back,” Cyll said, twisting it and shoving her back to make room to swing his sword. Knell raised his hand to slow her again, but paused. She was clearly holding back from using her full powers. There was a fair chance she was just testing them, and interrupting the fight might lead them into a full fight. His eyes narrowed and he lowered his hand.

“Knell?” Stix asked.

“We wait,” Knell said. “For now, at least.”

Cyll and the woman traded another blow, and their weapons rang through the forest once more. She twisted her hand, forcing Cyll’s hand to the side, and then swung her mace into his head.

Bone snapped and Cyll’s body tumbled across the ground, the sword falling to the ground. Maya let out a strangled gasp and Knell sighed.

“Pleasure to meet you,” the woman said, flicking the blood from her mace and turning toward Knell. “My name is Maven. Your fellow was almost interesting. Now, who’s next?”

Cyll’s body twitched behind her. His head reformed and he rose, as silent as a wraith, and pulled the blade from his stomach. He blurred forward, wrapping his arm around Maven’s throat and ripping the dagger across it.