lay on the beds, but Patience supposed you could hardly treat smoke.
But Doc Remedy was nowhere to be seen either.
“Doc?” called Mercy, “it’s me. Said I’d come back for you, and I brought friends. We’re here to help.”
There was movement behind one of the beds, and Patience caught sight of the neat hair of Doc Remedy peering out over one of the sheets. For a moment she hesitated, before slowly rising up into full view. Her face was completely void of colour, and her hands were shaking uncontrollably.
“There you are,” said Mercy, “I’m sorry for leaving you, but we needed backup.”
“It’s alright,” she said, holding her arms to steady them as her whole body shook, “I knew you would be back, you never could keep away from danger.”
“That’s true. We just wanted to check you’re alright, and see if you heard anything while you’ve been hiding out here.”
Remedy pulled herself up onto one of the beds and stared over at them. She seemed to relax a little as her posture straightened up and the inklings of a smile threatened to creep onto her face, though it was more from relief than happiness. “I managed to analyse the weapon a little. I did some research. The name comes from the mythological being of the Lamia, a beautiful queen who turned into a child-eating demon.”
“I know the story,” said Grim.
Remedy shuffled uncomfortably. “Well, I believe that these are not thin links. When the weapon is activated a red glow is given into the blade. I think this is sucking the person’s ‘blood’, or life force before it turns them to smoke. If this fits with my knowledge of Lamia, each time it kills, it gets stronger.”
Patience widened her eyes. “You mean it is evolving.”
“Precisely, and I think Magnum is aware of this. He is using the people like cattle, slowly increasing the strength of the Lamina with every person that he drains.”
“But why would he do this? It’s already powerful enough.”
“For human’s maybe, but Magnum believes that the Old Ones will eventually return to enslave mortals and sorcerers alike. He could be trying to increase the strength so that when the Old Ones return, he has the power to defeat them.”
“That seems plausible,” said Grim, “but no matter what his reasons are, it doesn’t change the fact that the weapon is not getting any weaker. So, I think we should act quickly before the threat seriously gets out of hand.”
“Oh, because it isn’t out of hand already,” said Mortus.
“Sarcasm doesn’t suit you, my friend,” said Grim, “by the way, I really love your hair today.” Grim was equally as bad at sarcasm.
Oh he could be annoying sometimes, and it wasn’t even directed at her this time.
“Do you two even realise how much time you’re wasting by trying to outwit each other?” said Mercy,
“just accept I am the wittiest, and then we can go and stop this guy from destroying the world as we know it.” They all agreed, with the second bit, obviously the first wasn’t exactly true. Patience firmly held that position for herself.
They left Doc Remedy in the medical wing once again, as they made their way down the corridor.
Patience was completely ignorant as to which direction they should go, but Grim seemed to know well enough. Just as he started saying “we’re nearly there”, he stopped in his tracks and looked ahead.
The air was displaced, and a man with an overhanging visor and great sword stood ahead. Patience was unsettled by how much it looked like he had been expecting them. Surely Magnum couldn’t have known they were coming.
“There’s only one of them,” said Mercy, drawing her swords, “let’s just get this over with quickly.”
Grim ran in first, propelling himself forwards with a gust of wind before laying a fist downwards onto the side of his cheek. The blatta stumbled backwards, recovering in a second. It swung its sword with a terrifying force, more than enough to cut someone cleanly in half. Mercy joined him, swinging her swords to intercept the sharp side of his incoming attack.
The blatta kicked backwards, sending Grim into the wall. Then flicked the swords out of Mercy’s hand and punched her backwards.
Strings of shadow tore passed Patience, wrapping around the limbs of the blatta and dragging him onto the floor. She watched as Mortus struggled, throwing more black ‘stuff’ in its direction. It took all his effort, but he managed to pin it down. Patience swept up one of Mercy’s swords and threw it into her outstretched hands. Mercy caught it, and in one fluid motion, buried the tip into the back of its neck. She twisted and pulled it out, revealing dark blood as the blatta died. The shadows returned to Mortus, escaping up the sleeve of his long, black cloak.
“Good teamwork,” said Grim.
“Teamwork?” said Patience, “you spent most of the time helplessly leaning against a wall.”
He flicked his hair back. “Just because I knew you would cramp my style.”
“Have you ever actually listened to the words that come out of your mouth?”
They continued down the corridor, so far not sustaining any injuries. Patience was left buzzing from the previous fight, it was nice to win something early on. It set the tone for the rest of the fights to come, or at least she hoped it would. As long as they all stuck together, all four of them, everything would be fine.
She recognised the door ahead, and rushed through it, finding herself in the emptiness of the atrium. All the stalls and side decoration lay broken and scattered. It was a sad sight to see what was once a flourishing area, being reduced to.... this. It was made even worse by the fact that she realised they were not in fact alone.
“We meet again,” said Viper, adding an extra hiss into her words. They formed a line, ready to attack.
But Mercy stepped ahead of all of them. She looked determined, and didn’t remove her gaze from Viper.
“I’ve got this,” she said. Patience opened her mouth to complain, but Mercy silenced her. “You have to stop Magnum, we don’t have long. Just go, I’ll deal with this.... thing.”
Patience felt her insides twist uncomfortably, remembering the last encounter Mercy had with Viper. It hadn’t ended well, and she feared that this would be no different. She wanted to complain, but knew Mercy was right.
“Let’s go,” said Mortus, nodding towards Mercy as they rushed past. Viper didn’t make a move towards them. Primarily she was working for Magnum, and should have tried to stop them. But her desire for deadly combat got the better of her. Despite winning before, Mercy was her ultimate combatant, and she was hardly about to let this opportunity pass her by.
Patience allowed herself one last look at Mercy before putting her head down and moving on. They passed through the waiting room and Grim rested his hands on the handle of the Luminary’s chamber. Why had he stopped?
“Just in case any of you die,” he said, “you are both pretty awesome friends. Flawed at times, lots of times, but good nonetheless.”
“And you may be an arrogant arse,” said Patience, “but that’s why we like you.” He settled on a look that was halfway between a touched smile and a confused look of disgust. Then he just settled on a stern look. It was time.
He placed his head forwards, took a deep breath, and pushed the door open. There was no time to react.
Purple shadows raked out towards them, hitting Mortus square in the chest as he cried out in pain.
It had begun.
26
NO MERCY
Mercy
“I’ve got this,” said Mercy. Patience opened her mouth to complain, but she held up a single finger to silence her. “You have to stop Magnum, we don’t have long. Just go, I’ll deal with this.... thing.” Mercy looked for any signs of surprise on Viper’s face, but it was neutral.
She could see a concerned look spread over Patience’s face, it was obvious she doubted her skills could match Viper. To be fair, she was unsure herself. All her life, not to sound confident, she had won
fights. No matter what the odds, she always ended up on top. And then she found Viper and was beaten almost to death. It was certainly a shock to the system, if nothing else.
Ahead of her, the gang were heading towards the Luminary’s chambers. Patience glanced backwards, none of the others did. Although, Grim and Mortus would never understand Patience the way she did.
They had both been born into magical families, there was no tragedy involved in their entrance. Patience hid it well, but Mercy could tell that she was taking her uncle’s death worse than she let on. Soon she would explode with emotion, or let it consume her. It’s funny. History repeating itself. Mercy remembered when she had been in an almost identical situation, and she knew from experience it was best not to let it consume you. She still carried around the hatred and anger which accompanied the tragedies of her life.
Probably for the rest of her days.
Viper hadn’t moved an inch, not even thinking to stop the gang from passing. Her eyes were fixed on Mercy. She wondered if she was reading her thoughts, maybe just from her facial expressions. She hoped not, that was a clear invasion of privacy. Oh seriously. Who was she to talk?
“I’m glad it came back to this,” said Viper, “you and me. The two sword smiths given the opportunity to battle it out.” Her forked tongue flickered outwardly as it rolled across her lip before retracting back into her mouth.
“Can’t say I was hoping for it,” said Mercy, “but I am not one of those people who can forgive easily. I