Freelance Heroics (23 page)

Mazik scrambled out of the way. Too rushed to think of another plan, he raised his hand, fingers splayed. “
Wildfire!
”

Blue fire sprayed from Mazik’s fingers like water from a pinched hose. While not fire in the natural sense, his spell mimicked fire’s effects. It would only burn until the mana Mazik had imbued it with was exhausted, but until then it would hurt like real fire, could burn in the absence of fuel, and could even spark a natural blaze, as it had with the tent Mazik had just emerged from. Blue flames sprayed in an arc in front of Mazik, covering everything—the orck, the tent, and the ground on either side.

The orck didn’t even slow down. Fire streamed off its skin as it slapped it away like bothersome gnats. The orck closed the distance and swung its stone sword, aiming to bisect Mazik at mid-chest.

“
Mazik Shield!
” The orck’s blade lurched to a stop on Mazik’s barrier, while Mazik himself was hurled backward. He crashed into a tent, pulling it off its tree and bringing it down on top of him.

Mazik groaned, but he knew how battles between magick-users were fought, and they didn’t usually include much time to rest and feel sorry for yourself.
Move, dammit! Now!

He fought back a wave of nausea as he kicked the tent material away from himself and found the orck standing over him, as expected. Mazik’s hands were already rising, power flowing through them as he shaped the mana into a silver-blue dome overhead. “
Mazshield!
”

Mazik’s elbows bent inward as the orck’s blow nearly pounded him into the ground like a tent stake. He grimaced, biting back a scream.

“Why did I think I could do this?!” he wailed as he kicked the orck in the shin. It ignored him, raising its sword for another attack. Mazik hooked his feet behind the orck’s ankles and yanked himself forward, like he was doing horizontal pull-ups with the orck’s legs.

Mazik’s knees protested, but he didn’t care—the orck’s next attack missed high. Mazik scrabbled into a crouch—and found himself face-to-face with the orck’s crotch.

Inwardly, Mazik shrugged. “
Mazik Uppercut!
”

He felt something give way. Fortunately for Mazik—and unfortunately for his adversary—the crotch was a tender area for orcks as well. Though the orck didn’t crumple to the ground and clutch its—
his
, Mazik amended—delicates, as Mazik would have preferred, it did withdraw from melee range.

Mazik picked up his knife and rose. Shaking off the effects of his punch, the orck raised his prismatic blade and stepped forward, trapping Mazik between itself and the tree at his back.

It’s only one. That’s not too bad.
Mana tingled on Mazik’s fingertips, ready for release.
Not great, but it could be worse. I just have to keep it here until Gavi and Rae arrive.

The orck rushed forward. “
Mazik Shield!
” Sparks flew as the orck’s blow connected. Mazik angled himself to the right, using the force of the orck’s own attack to push himself away. Mazik stumbled a step, then whipped around the tree, keeping it between himself and his adversary.

“Yikes!” Mazik jumped as the orck lunged at him. The point of its stone blade passed behind him, cutting a notch into the back of his robes.

The pair spun around the tree several times, the orck continually lunging with his blade, and Mazik always lurching out of the way at the last second. The close calls weren’t by design—
this guy is too damn fast! He’s faster than any of the orcks I’ve fought so far!

Mazik muttered the name of a spell between breaths. The orck lunged around the tree again, one arm clutching the trunk while his sword sought Mazik’s flesh. Mazik held up a hand, a silver-blue oval in front. The orck’s weapon struck—and bounced back toward the tree.

Mazik dashed forward, dropping his knife. “Got you!” He grabbed the orck’s outstretched arm, spun until his back was pressed against the orck’s chest, and then pulled the orck forward. Mana strummed through Mazik’s muscles as he hauled the orck off its feet, flipped him
over
Mazik’s back, and slammed him into the ground. The orck grunted as the air in its chest was forcibly expelled.

A glowing ball of mana was thrust at the orck sprawled at Mazik’s feet. “
Mazik Explosion!
”

Kra-koom!
Mazik skipped backward as the explosions tore into the orck. Mana crackled as its barriers fought back, but Mazik doubted it would be enough. He stooped to reclaim his knife.

The ground lurched out from under Mazik as something wrapped around his ankle, and suddenly he found himself airborne—and then the ground was rushing toward him.

“
Maz—
”

Mazik’s eyes crossed as he collided face-first with the ground, mana sparking as his MPB tried to protect him from the impact. He groaned, his vision scrambled as he tried to make sense of what had just happened.

He spit soil and rolled onto his back. He found the orck climbing to his feet, none the worse for wear. It picked up its prismatic blade and raised it to strike. Numbly, Mazik raised his hands. “
M-Mazeld!
”

The orck swung.

Mazik could hear a buzzing in his ears, though whether it was from a telephonathy call or the recent blow to his head, he wasn’t sure. He ignored it anyway; he couldn’t take his attention away from the orck pummeling him. He wasn’t letting up. Mazik watched as the muscles in the orck’s arms flexed like bridge cables. He kept pouring more and more mana into the flickering barriers that were all that stood between him and the orck’s weapon caving in his skull. His arms were beginning to shake.

Inside, Mazik was berating himself.
Shoulda just run. Coulda distracted him that way. I knew I’d get at best even odds against an average orck, and this guy ain’t average. Why am I so stupid? Why are we even here? We were just going to scout it out, but nooooo, I had to get greedy. Had to go for the whole shebang. Dammit. I don’t want to die like this.

“Don’t worry! I’m coming!”

Mazik’s heart soared! He let his head flop to the side, expecting to watch as Gavi and Raedren crossed the last few meters to him, their weapons raised to save his life. Instead, he watched as the Blue Boar ran toward him, his broken arm clutched to his chest and the other orck warrior hot on his tail. They were a few tents away, and closing fast.

Mazik stared. He wasn’t incredulous. He wasn’t even surprised.

He was
annoyed
.

“Ffffuuuuu—gods
dammit!
” he cursed as his barriers flickered dangerously. “Three minutes! I can’t even get three minutes without shit getting worse!”

Mana poured away from Mazik, his reserves rapidly dwindling as he lashed out. He poured his frustration and anger into his magick, and his mana tore at the orck standing over him, in more places than his enemy’s reactive MPB could protect against. As the orck’s skin began to peel and burn, Mazik watched as his mana drained away. He was at the one-third mark and shrinking quickly, but he no longer cared.

“I will
not
die here!” Mazik shouted through gritted teeth. He pushed himself up, getting his feet underneath him despite all the strength that the orck was focusing on him. He grunted and—

The orck kicked him in the shin. Mazik gasped and fell onto his back. His barriers sputtered and disappeared.

“Here we come, to save the
daaaay!
” came a husky female voice, and suddenly Gavi was behind the orck, her sword raking across its hamstrings. The orck howled as her attacks cut through his barriers, costing him the use of one leg. As the orck collapsed to his knees, familiar bands of green mana wrapped around its limbs, restraining him.

As the orck turned on her, Gavi snatched the dagger from the sheath on her leg and buried it in the orck’s side. Then she bounced out of range—Raedren’s bindings were strong, but not strong enough to completely contain an angry orck. She swatted at the orck’s arms as he reached for her.

Behind the orck, Mazik rose to his feet. He was shaky, barely able to stand, but rage smoldered openly on his face, an anger which the struggling orck could never match. Heedless of the danger, Mazik pressed his palm against the side of the orck’s face. “
Mazik Mega Cannon!
”

Mana ate into the orck’s flesh, its barriers sparking dangerously before the explosion subsumed it. Mazik stepped back and watched, his anger as powerful as the spell that was burning the orck’s life away.

The mana cleared, and the orck panted, injured but still alive. It roared, and resumed struggling against its constraints.

“Wow. This one is strong.” Gavi examined it from a safe distance. “Is it casting? Has it been using barriers or something?”

Stray mana arced over Mazik’s arm as his body quivered. He stooped to pick up his knife, without interruption this time. “No idea. Just hold on. Let me get my mana back, and then I’ll melt this sonofabitch.”

“If that didn’t work before, I doubt it will work any better now that he’s paying attention,” said Raedren.

Mazik looked around for him. He found him a few tents away, his outstretched hand glowing green.

“I don’t care. He almost got me, I want to make sure—” Mazik stopped. “Wait. Where’s BB?”

“He ran off. He still has that other orck chasing him.” Gavi was standing a safe distance away from the orck, on the opposite side from Mazik.

“Then he’s been doing a better job than I was.” Mazik took a deep breath, settling his emotions. He closed his eyes. He needed to focus to channel mana. Intense emotions could be helpful when casting spells, allowing the caster to more vividly imagine the effects they intended, but ambient mana was wild enough without adding other factors into the equation. “Thanks for saving my ass, by the way.”

“No problem,” said Gavi. There was a pause. “No, wait. Actually, we might have a problem.”

Mazik opened his eyes. Gavi was standing beside a tent, facing toward the center of camp. “That human you told us about earlier?” she said. “I think he’s about to get away.”

Frustration spiked through Mazik. He rushed over, accidentally stumbling into Gavi in his haste.

Sure enough, in the distance he could clearly see Jewels, though he was no longer wearing the jewelry for which Mazik had given him that name, save for one small ring. Now he wore only the plain beige trousers and white tunic, along with leather gloves that stretched up to his forearms and an iron helm. The jewelry hadn’t gone far, though—in his arms, Mazik recognized a box like the one Jewels had pulled the ruby necklace out of earlier. The distant man piled the box onto an orck-sized handcart that had been dragged into the clearing. There were other boxes already in the handcart; in fact, it was almost full. Mazik couldn’t see Red Feathers, though he assumed the orck leader was nearby.

“Well that’s fun!” said Mazik, a touch of hysteria in his voice. “Rae, how’s your mana?”

“Channeled a minute ago. Eighty-five-ish? Should be okay for a while. This isn’t easy, though.”

Mazik glanced at the struggling orck. He did some quick calculations. “That’s fine. Just hold this—hold him for a few.” He rolled his shoulders, then took another deep breath. “Let me channel, then we can burn this one down and go take out the leaders before they get far. BB should be fine.”

Mazik gripped his hands loosely in front of him, his black-bladed dagger hanging limply between them. He cleared his mind, stilling his thoughts—and then turned inward.

He probed the mana within, sensing it actively, making himself conscious of it in a way he didn’t need to most of the time. He had maybe a fourth of his maximum mana right now. It made him feel, if not naked, a long way toward it. Mazik closed his eyes, took another breath—and this time, he turned his attention outward.

There was mana
everywhere
. It was like being submerged in an ocean of life—unlimited energy, all around him. He could keen the natural mana currents which supported the living world, as well as the overflow from their recent battles—spent mana which persisted in higher concentrations, though only for a time. Mazik felt it all, and then opened himself to it, reaching out through the focus crystal on his right hand and pulling the mana toward him. Raw mana poured in, filling him, making him powerful again.

There was a snap, and mana arced painfully across Mazik’s body as the precarious balance of channeling mana broke apart. “Fuck!” he exclaimed as the backlash struck, tearing into his MPB and threatening to shake loose the mana he had gathered. He gritted his teeth and focused as the backlash left whip-like burns on his skin and clothes. He got it back under control, salvaging what he could—and then the gates within him slammed shut.

“Are you okay?” asked Gavi. Mazik opened his eyes, and was surprised by how close she was. He had forgotten how he had run over to her not even a minute ago.

“I’m fine.” He forced a smile. Then he turned inward, and his smile soured. “Dammit. I wasn’t even channeling in battle, and I fucked it up. Wonderful.”

“How much do you have?” asked Raedren.

Mazik probed. As a caster, telling how much mana he had wasn’t an exact science. Mazik was familiar enough with his limits to estimate his mana level on the fly, but when he wanted to be exact, he had a trick. Mazik forced all his mana downward, into the lowest parts of his body, causing it to pool in his feet and legs like water being poured into glass. Then he keened how far it came up. It was like measuring water with a measuring cup, only he had to remember where the measurement marks were. He did this now.

The mana came up to his guts. He let out a breath, letting it distribute evenly. “About half. A little less than that, actually. Call it forty-five percent.”

“The cart is pretty full,” said Gavi, who was still spying on the distant clearing. “He’s going back for another, but this could easily be the last one.”

“In that case, go.” Raedren nodded at the orck, still straining at his spells. “I can hold here for a while. I’ll call the Blue Boar and see if we can do something about the extras. Go get their leaders.”

Mazik frowned. “You sure? You’ll be all alone. And Gavs, you won’t have any extra defenses, other’n whatever I can provide.”