Avalon Rebirth (16 page)

“Keep an eye out for anyone following you,” he said. “I'm hoping one of them tries to jump me here, so-”

Darin saw a flash and activated Wraith, whirling around to try to confuse his attacker. One of the specters disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

He saw the ripples in the water, though. Darin lashed out with his halberd, but his swing was too slow. He shifted his grip, adjusting for the return attack that was sure to come. Darin guessed his opponent would try another attack to at least thin out the number of Wraiths. If only the rogue would pass close enough so that he could reach out and try to score a hit…

The blur came around again, just within range, it looked like. Darin didn't want to waste flash step, not when a hit wasn't even close to being a sure thing. He swung as quickly as he could, but the shadow was too fast. It cut down another wraith and then ran up the riverbank and out of sight.

He scanned the bank, trying to decide how to proceed. He could attack, though Darin thought the enemy might be trying to lead him into a trap. On the other hand, if he stayed here he might end up a sitting duck. Either the enemy archer or the rogue could pop up and try to catch him unaware…

Darin heard a splash and turned a second too late, just in time to see the rogue charging at him again with both daggers out. He didn't have enough time to dodge, nor to get his weapon back around to counterstrike or block. He didn't even have enough time to activate Flash Step.

The only option left was to rely on his armor. Darin braced himself for the inevitable impact, hoping that the rogue didn't score a critical hit. If it did then Darin was in trouble. He'd be seriously wounded with no help in sight, and then all bets were off.

The rogue started to make one final lunge…

And suddenly jumped back as a new figure joined the fray. Darin saw a thin blade darting about, barely visible under the extended speed of Flash Step. The rogue reeled once, then twice, dust leaking out of his wounds as he tried to cope with Erika's flurry of attacks.

Darin tried to join in, making a lunging thrust with his weapon's spearhead, but the enemy rogue thought better of it. A second later he was gone.

“Not how I wanted that to end,” Erika said. “Got a few hits on him, but nothing critical.”

“That's fine. Now they're wary,” Darin told her. “And thanks for bailing me out. That was about to get really bad if he scored a critical.”

“Don't mention it.”

Darin turned his attention back to the surrounding terrain. The sound of running water seemed to drown out a lot of the background noise.

“Are you still in the riverbed?” Leah's voice cut in over the telepathy link. “Aren't you going to get shot up there?”

“Stabbed seems more likely at this point. Where are you at?”

“Coming over the southern bank, so don't flip out and attack us. Taji's with me, by the way.”

Darin nodded. “Good to hear.”

“So we have everyone,” Erika commented as the other two walked into sight. “That's pretty quick.”

“Yeah, and that's good. Would have liked to take out that rogue, but we survived and we're in fighting shape.”

And this was the first time their team would be fighting together in one place during the tournament. Now was the time to unleash their true potential as a unit. The sum of their whole was greater than their individual parts, and they'd prove it now.

“What do you want us to do?” Taji asked.

Darin looked over at Leah. “You seem to be in command today. I'll let you handle it.”

“Right. Form up into an advance formation and let's cross over to the other bank. Make sure that you keep your eyes open. I don't want anyone getting picked off by a stray arrow.”

Darin complied with her instructions, careful to keep some distance between himself and everyone else. The last thing he wanted was to clump together and have the enemy archer hit them with a destruction spell.

“So, do you think that the rogue is going to come around for another attack, or he's going to try to join up with the others?” Erika asked.

“I'm guessing that he'll keep his distance,” Darin told her. “There's no sense in trying to attack four of us when he couldn't get two. And he's probably thinking that backup will help a lot.”

“Do we really want to fight them four on four?” Taji asked.

Leah nodded. “I'd prefer it that way, actually. That way we know where everyone is. The last thing I want is for the rogue or the archer to be somewhere we can't see them.”

Darin agreed as well. The element of surprise could be a powerful tool, and it wasn't like a four-on-three disadvantage was impossible to overcome. Most tanks were created to take on multiple opponents at once and keep them busy while the rest of their teammates got into position for their attacks.

“Should I scout ahead?” Erika asked. Darin could tell she was starting to get antsy.

“No. Stay together so we don't get picked off,” Leah instructed.

They cleared the northern riverbank and started across the field toward a line of trees, staying spread out. Taji moved in the center of the formation, where a destruction arrow was most likely to hit. He could take the most damage, so it made sense for him to be in the epicenter of the blast.

Darin was almost certain the enemy was on the other side of the field in the trees. The question was whether they would wait for Raven's Call to get close, or if they'd try to pick them off at a distance. It all depended on what their archer felt…

“There they are,” Leah said. She nocked an arrow. “Darin, Erika, go around the right flank and use Flash Step to close in. Don't get hit. Taji and I are going up the center.”

“Got it,” Darin said. He activated his ability and sprinted in a wide arc, trying to get a bit of distance from the rest of his comrades. The enemy archer would have to chose between shooting the incoming pair, or dealing with the archer and tank coming down the center. The former was more dangerous but far harder to hit, while the later moved much slower but could cause problems if they closed the distance.

It all depended on how Lightning Strike wanted to play this. If they trusted the rest of the team enough to deal with the pair of incoming rogues…

He saw three figures step forward, weapons in hand. One was a tank with the standard heavy armor, sword and shield, one was the rogue, and the final one had a spear.

“Take the rogue,” he told Erika. “I'll keep the other two busy.”

“Got it.”

Darin didn't think he could beat the other two, not while they had a tank, but he could keep them busy for Leah and Taji to close the distance. The archer could fire destruction spells, but Taji could absorb the damage and Leah could heal him as they advanced. Meanwhile she would be firing off support spells to help neutralize Lightning Strike.

Their fight would be over quickly compared to the other matches, probably within twenty minutes from the start time. Fast and brutal suited him just fine. The only question was who would walk out of here with the victory.

Darin charged into the fray, sweeping the fighter's spearpoint away with a flick of his halberd and following up with a lunging thrust. He felt a slight reverberation as the tank moved his shield and blocked the blow, but he was already moving, taking the momentum from his opponent and directing it into a sweeping strike.

He whirled his weapon around in a wide arc, aiming for the neck gap in the tank's armor. Darin knew he couldn't kill him in one blow, but a critical hit could give him something to think about and make him back off. The less he had to fight the pair simultaneously the better.

The tank saw the blow coming and tried to deflect the attack, but Darin's swing was far, far too quick. He felt a satisfying impact and yanked the axe blade back out, watching his foe stumbled backward. His health bar dropped rapidly, by a quarter of its length when it finished.

He didn't have any time to celebrate. To his credit the spearman reacted quickly, charging in with another thrust to ward Darin away from his comrade. He countered the blow, then made a thrust at his opponent's feet.

To his disappointment the spearman jumped backward, just far enough out of reach that Darin couldn't trip him with the back spike. Apparently Lightning Strike had watched some of the previous matches and were aware of their tricks.

But there were plenty more where that came from.

“Use Wraith,” he ordered.

Darin heard the sound of an explosion come from the direction of the field, followed by a faint wave of heat. Had the other two survived? He didn't have time to check. Darin activated his ability made another attack, trying to keep the spearman's attention. As far as he could tell his opponent had support magic, and he didn't want to let him restore the tank.

But the spearman blocked again and again. Darin had to jump aside as the enemy tank waded back into the fray, attempting to land blow after blow. Darin dodged one and scored a good hit, but this time he didn't do much damage. Stone Skin, probably.

“We're almost across,” Leah said. “Hit with a Force arrow and fire blast, missed with crush.”

“Got it,” Darin said, deflecting a strike from the spearman and dodging another from the tank as he talked.

“I hit the archer with weeping wounds. Can you take her out?”

Darin chanced a glance at the archer, still standing and firing arrows. She wasn't too far, just twenty yards or so away from him, but both the spearman and tank stood in his path. He saw Erika dueling with the enemy rogue as well, and he couldn't use flash step at the moment. That left only one option…

“On it,” he said. He leaped backward to avoid another attack and activated Sky Walk.

Darin didn't hesitate. He created three platforms in the blink of an eye and jumped on the first one. The spearman, to his credit, reacted quickly and tried to stab him from underneath, but Darin was already jumping to the next platform. He leaped to the third one, crouched down for a moment to coil his energy, then sprang at the archer with an overhead swing.

She saw him coming and tried to dodge, but at that moment flash step's timer disappeared. Darin activated the ability mid-jump and came down in a blur, landing a vicious, bisecting blow. The archer disappeared in a cloud of dust.

He still had time with Flash Step. Darin dodged a Bind spell and brought his halberd around in a thrust, straight into the enemy spearman's neck. That blow didn't finish him, but a sweep from his axe blade did the job. Two-on-four in the blink of an eye. Darin couldn't have planned it any better.

“Nice work,” Leah told him as she and Taji jogged up.

“Thanks.”

“Wasn't talking to you,” Leah said. She pointed over to Erika. “Out-dueled another rogue one-on-one.”

Darin glanced over at her. “Really?”

“Yeah. Really.”

The last surviving member of Lightning Strike looked at them like they were monsters. “This is so unfair,” he said. “Of all teams, we had to get you.”

Darin nodded. “Yeah. It really is.”

That didn't mean he wasn't going to take the opportunity to finish him off, though.

* * *

T
hey were in the finals
, but any elation from their victory soon faded as they watched the next match. He could feel it in the atmosphere around him too. Ice Guardian, the top seed in the D-rank tournament, was being completely manhandled by a qualifying seed.

Darin watched with grim interest as Crimson Flame finished off an archer using a similar trick to his own. Had they taken that from watching the previous match, or come up with it on their own? Either worked, and while some people might decry copycats, the tournaments were very much a follow the leader affair. If one team found a new technique or trick, other were sure to use it.

But it wasn't just about technique. Crimson Flame seemed to communicate well without even speaking, using hand signals and other visual cues to coordinate their attacks. Their team configuration was standard, but their abilities seemed to be far above the D-rank levels.

And when the last enemy fell Darin felt his unease grow by the second. He could feel the shock in the crowd. Upsets weren't unheard of by any stretch of the imagination, but one like this…

A lower seed had completely toyed with the top-ranked team in the division. More importantly, they'd be facing that team in the final along with Iron Titan. And the fourth seed was nothing to sneeze at either…

“So much for easy,” Taji said.

“That just means it looks a lot better when we come out on top, right?” Erika said.

“They pay the same whether you beat the three best teams in the world or three scrubs. I'd like the one that's more certain.”

“We just have to make sure we're on top of our game tomorrow,” Leah said. “We may have to face them...”

“Do we have to face them, or do they have to face us?” Erika asked.

Taji shrugged. “I don't see the difference.”

Darin caught what she was saying. It was all just a matter of outlook. If Raven's Call expected to win then that increased their chances of victory, so long as they took their opponents seriously. They didn't need to fear them. They needed to impose their will on the others.