An Assassin's Anthem

Riley raced down the road. Snow blew behind her, and worry gnawed through her gut. He’s okay, right? He has to be okay. She grimaced. Dad, I’ll kill you if you aren’t.

“Calm down, Riley,” Lucas said, bumping into her arm.

“I’ll slow down when I ensure he’s alive and well.” Riley scowled and shot down the street. Of course it fell.

“I’m sure that he’s fine.” Lucas vaulted over a pothole.

Riley shook her head and embraced the storm inside. How do I break them? The spell I made up? She frowned. How did it go so bad so fast? The reinforcements?

“Slow down, Riley. We’re getting too far ahead.” Lucas grabbed her arm.

Riley groaned. “I need to check, and we need the fort back before they break the kingdom. Tell them to speed up.” She frowned and slowed. I can try it. It might work. She frowned. Maybe I should have kept Psychic Strike to hit more people. Wait… Can I do that with my storm? Psychic lightning?

Focusing on the runes in chain lightning, she worked through permutations that might work. Theoretically, it would be similar to the spell she’d already made. It just had to be focused.

She mused on the runes and flew into the air. Looking out at the ground, she blushed and prepared for her horrible landing. Whoops. Zoned out too far.

Lucas snatched her out of the air and slowed, setting her down. “Get distracted?”

“Yes.” Riley blushed. “How are we going to stop this?”

“The reinforcements that you are outrunning.”

Riley sighed. “They’re slow.”

“Because they aren’t runners.”

“Fine. Fine.” Riley jogged and sighed. “I’ll slow down.” The moon above lit the road in its soft light. It slowly arced through the sky, and she jogged, periodically turning to wait for the panting troops.

As the moon reached for the horizon, Riley jogged forward, peering into the night. She looked at the distant village, which now had large stone walls. I guess that’s the new fort.

She jogged toward it. Maybe they won’t have their enchantments set up.

As the village got closer, she smelled blood and frowned, speeding up once more.

Sprinting down the road with reckless abandon, the sound of fighting filled her ears. Metal clashed. Soldiers shouted, and Riley shoved Inspiration into her Empowering Presence, increasing the boost to nearly sixty.

Lucas plucked her off the ground. “Spellbook, Riley.” He carried her while racing forward.

Grabbing her spell book, Riley flipped pages and waited for something to steal.

“Cover me,” Lucas said, racing up to the gates. He set her down and nodded.

Riley burned mana, sending a wave of healing rolling through the group. Lucas slowed and set her near the wall.

Leaning against it, Riley frowned and peered around the corner. Lucas walked around the corner, and Riley peered out. What’s he doing?

“Mages to me!” Lucas shouted, striding into the open.

Enemies everywhere turned. Arrows zipped through the air, and he dove behind a building.

The enemy mages turned their focus to the column of reinforcements. Fire ripped through the air, and Riley grabbed all of it.

Her eyes glowed. Purple and blue crackled through the sky, and the entire line of mages exploded.

Kill notifications streamed by in the corner of her her vision.

“Void!” someone shouted.

Riley obliged. Willing her spell into her mind and blanketing the ranged fortifications. Ignoring the makeshift stone cover, the purple and blue lightning crackled through the group, lighting the night in an eerie glow. Soldiers screamed. Mages shouted, and people fled the horrific storm.

“Mages!” Lucas bellowed.

Riley summoned her knives and triggered Ambush. With shadows everywhere, she flickered through the group like a wraith, throwing blades into the scattered groups.

“Kill the condemning Void Mage!” someone bellowed and charged for Riley.

She tossed her blades and flickered, appearing next to Lucas. He held up his fingers.

Riley flooded her book and counted down. 3…2…1… She triggered Void Blast, sending it rolling through the group.

The mages sent balls of fire right behind it. Peering out, Riley watched everyone with magic do the same. Oh, gods. Her eyes went wide.

The void magic passed over the enemies, and the entire area exploded. Arrows rained down. Fire rippled outward. Boulders crashed into foes, and lightning crackled, burning through everything.

“Charge!” a knight bellowed.

Riley felt the aura hit. She gasped and watched the army turn. Surging like a flooding river, the group charged through the smoldering wreckage and hit the ranged squad like a hammer.

The enemy turned and fled, blurring as they burned resources to retreat.

Riley followed Lucas, joining the charge back toward the fort. Guess we’re doing this. Five fireballs roared out of the distant fort, shooting across the sky.

Flooding her spell book, Riley grabbed and tossed the fire right back, bouncing it straight down into the fort. A pillar of flame lit the night air. Smoke wafted from the distant fort, and the charging army added more magic to the chaos.

Jogging behind the group, Riley watched in quiet awe. The knights barked orders. Spells barraged the fort, slamming down on it like a growing hailstorm of destruction. Arrows flew, splintered, and rained down.

Will we get it back? Riley clung to that hope as the melee hit the gate that had been smashed open by a flying stone.

“Bastion!” some woman shouted.

Riley smiled, and then dread grabbed her throat. Death came pouring back. For just a moment, time seemed to freeze.

Arrows rained from above. Fire streamed everywhere, and Riley breathed. This was a trap. For a moment, she stood in the center of a magical maelstrom. It thrummed around her, and she studied it. Why is it singing?

The void rune hung in her mind, and she sang with it, letting the single note leave her lips. Her mana drained away. The maelstrom burst in a ripple of glowing lights, and the melee crashed into each other.

Ducking down, Riley panicked. We’re dead. Stone ripped from the ground. She dove behind it. We need to go. Where’s Dad?

Thunder boomed, and Riley looked up. A woman with a bow pulled back an arrow and fired. The arrow splintered, becoming a wave. The arrows washed over the fort, and Riley stared at Althea.

Althea stood there with her eyes glowing. She looked down. “Good to see you. Wait outside the wall.” She pulled Riley up and darted toward the fort.

Riley followed, sprinting behind her and hiding behind the wall. The sounds of fighting filled the air. Knights inside bellowed orders, and Althea darted through the door.

Creeping toward the broken gate, Riley looked inside. The battle continued. Swords slammed onto shields. Soldiers shouted, and healers pumped magic into their allies.

Conjuring her blades, Riley started throwing, sinking them into any nearby enemies. Catching one in the throat, she watched him tumble.

Soldiers dropped rapidly, arrows stuck in their chests and throats. A mage walked onto the ramparts and took an arrow in his throat. The Shorove soldiers turned and ran.

As they routed, arrows flew, sinking into the retreating group. Poking her head in further, Riley saw the mages gather and begin repairs. The stone walls started to reform. A smith walked up to repair the gates.

Walking inside, Riley looked at the corpses and the wounded. A healer bustled by her, walking across the ground.

“Lady Riley, to me,” a knight called, gesturing to her.

Riley walked across the ground toward the old barracks. “Did you plan that, Ivan?” she asked.

“Yes. We were monitoring your approach and saved what we could.” Ivan grinned. “Did you get some progress? We really need you here.”

“Yes, but I’m out of mana.” Riley looked at him apologetically.

“Not a problem. Let’s get you a bed so you can get some rest.”

“My dad?” Riley asked, looking around the group. Where is he? Where’s Lucas?

“Killing the retreating soldiers,” Ivan said, leading her inside while checking for any threats.

Riley followed him back to her room. It was full of random crap, and mud covered the floor. “It’s a mess.”

“Yes, but we’ll get it cleaned,” Ivan replied. “How’d the runs go? I didn’t hear.”

“Okay. I have enough for C-tier.” Riley stretched and took a seat.

“Good. We need it. Candidly, it all went to shit when the reinforcements showed up, and you weren’t around to help stop it.”

“How do I change it, though? Really?”

“Void Mages shift tides, and your auras may not seem like much, but they add up.” Ivan sighed. “Though I will be honest. We need more. We’re hoping the reinforcements and overreach will let us break their position. By then, we need you to hit three hundred.” He stood next to the door.

Riley glanced at her list of notifications.

[Your base level has advanced: 264 → 266!]

Riley paused and looked over. “Are you standing watch?”

Ivan nodded. “Yes. Practice what you will, or get some sleep.”

Riley nodded and pulled a blanket around her shoulders. Pulling out a liberated book, she started reading.

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