7 - Complications (Patreon)

Phoenix was only able to keep track of time by the cooldowns between portals. At Crystal 6, her portal could now allow around 120 Mundane people through it and she was bolstered by the knowledge of 120 more lives saved each time it flickered out of energy. Her glowing skin, from Tala being merged and absorbing the faint starlight shining high above them, acted as an additional beacon for the civilians to notice her and draw them to the safety of the portal twinkling next to her.

Despite her frustration at being useless in the fight against the attacking forces, she knew Dazien had made the right call in sending her to portal civilians. Logically she knew that but it still irked her.

She was getting nervous that the battle between Paul and the monster was taking too long; the monster was apparently called a Glacier Giant her book had informed her when her aura brushed against its own at one point. After twenty minutes of exchanging blows and destroying more of the northern walls, they both seemed the worse for wear but it appeared like Paul would be victorious, especially as more people were arriving and taking the attention of the sirens still in the water off of the Blade of Pure Wrath.

The Wayfarer didn’t know very much about Paul’s powerset she realized but it seemed rather bursty from what she had caught glimpses of. She could only assume that the high vitality, resistances and regeneration of the giant were likely burning through his mana and the Berg Sirens had focused on interfering with his attempts to take down the city’s largest threat.

Phoenix didn’t have much time to pay attention to that though, as she refocused on helping the Adventurers near her. Now that nobody else was going through her portal she needed to put her efforts elsewhere. The civilians had been cleared in record time and now only the battle remained.

She was about to go support one of the other Crystal Caste parties closest to her, when she felt the sharp pain of two thick blades puncturing her back where her kidneys would have been if she still had them. The momentum was what surprised her more than the pain however, as whoever had just ambushed her pushed them both forward towards an enemy siren that had gotten separated from the others.

A feminine voice rasped into her ear as she tried to catch a breath and register what was happening, “House Ruwena sends their regards to one Phoenix Fraser. At least you can rest knowing the AOA will mark your death as an honorable fall in battle.”

The pressure of the blade vanished just as another jagged weapon that looked created from melded shark teeth plunged into her abdomen. The hauntingly beautiful siren, now pressed against her, bared sharp teeth in a cruel smile before sinking those teeth into her throat and the memories of getting devoured by the miserlings made her fly into a panic.

She pushed against the creature, pouring mana into her [Ruler of Relativity] power to separate the two of them, and she felt the blood gushing from the places where her flesh had been torn from her body. The outward damage was nothing compared to the fear coursing through her veins though and she internally raged at herself for being afraid and letting her panic cloud her judgment mid-fight.

The redhead chanced a glance behind her to see a cinderen grimacing at her with a determined look.  Her aura could sense the woman was Sapphire Caste, like the siren on the opposite side of her, and the assassin said with slight pity, “It’s nothing personal from me. You just have to die,” then sprinted into her again, reminding the Wayfarer of a juggernaut with the way the stranger crashed into her like an unstoppable force.

Blades sunk into her again but she knew that her own dagger struck as well when the woman gave a pained grunt and a grin as they stared face to face in the moment before the siren made their own annoyance heard with a shriek.

“At least you’re going down fighting,” the woman shouted, barely heard above the cry and din of battle.

Phoenix groaned slightly and muttered, “Who said I’m going down?” then placed her hand against her torso and began to recite the incantation for the high cost variant of her healing spell, “As surely as the sun will rise again-”

The punch to her jaw, shattering it with a single powerful blow, shouldn’t have been a surprise but the Supporter wasn’t used to fighting enemies with the intellect to counter her in such a way. She reflexively pushed the cinderen away again but that caused the siren’s weapon to go deeper and finish its path, skewering through her chest, as tears and cries of pain escaped her.

The Wayfarer felt her consciousness start to slip and she realized that she had already lost too much blood. She couldn’t heal herself and none of her party knew where she was. Nobody was coming to save her. As she slumped against the siren’s makeshift blade, she felt coldness creeping throughout her.

The Supporter glanced up at the sky where a flash of gold lit up the night sky once more followed by a cacophonous crash like thunder and she managed to groan past her broken jaw, “Paul… help…”

She barely noticed when the juggernaut crashed into both her and the siren, punching a hole straight through both of them with the large blades attached to the knuckles of her thick gauntlets. The last thing Phoenix felt before she died was ice cool water surrounding her.

Quest: When Sirens Blare

Objective complete: Helped defend the docks from the Sirens.

[Karmic Spirit Gem] has been added to your collection.

Quest completed.

10 [Sapphire Mana Bits] have been added to your collection.

You have died.

All equipment has been returned to your collection.

[Waypoint] has guided your soul back to your designated location.

You have been reconstituted to a state of full integrity.

24 hours remain until this effect can be triggered again.

Phoenix lay in her bed in stunned silence. She didn’t cry this time. Instead she felt hollow; powerless once more. The amount of sheer hatred that Murinah must have for her to hire an assassin to take her out, chilled her to the core. The Wayfarer had known that people could be petty, greedy and cruel at times, but that was beyond what she had thought someone capable of doing to another person they had barely conversed with.

She sat up slowly and conjured her clothes back on but she didn’t rise from the bed. She felt conflicted, wanting to return to the battle and make sure her friends and mentor were safe but also not wanting to be discovered by that assassin again and potentially die permanently this time. When she registered her hesitation, she became angry with her indecision and fear.

Was she really so weak that she would abandon her companions to hide in her room? She forced herself to stand but when she raised her hands to conjure her portal she found that they were shaking. The soft glow from them dissipated a moment later as Tala appeared from one of her hands and she moved the other to catch the poofy bird. It looked like whatever [Starlight Qi] she had stored up that evening was expended upon her death as well.

“I- I don’t know what to do, Tala, I-” her voice caught and she pulled the Familiar to her chest in a comforting hug as she sat back on the edge of the bed. She buried her face into the soft feathers and whispered, “I don’t know how to stop being so useless… how-” she took a trembling breath, “How do I get stronger when I’m too weak to fight something like that assassin or siren?”

The Wayfarer wasn't sure how long she sat there, clutching her companion in the dark room. A knock sounded on her door and she jumped violently, Tala merging into her body reactively and causing her skin to glow once more. With cautious steps and a tremor in her voice, she went out to the main room and called out, “Wh-who is it?”

“Who else would be knocking on your door?” Rayna called back from the hallway.

Phoenix hesitated for a moment. What if it was another of Murinah’s tricks? What if she had some kind of magic device that could replicate voices? Another moment later, she shook off her paranoia, rationalizing that the murderous woman probably thought she was dead for the moment thanks to the hired Sapphire Caster, and opened the door for her party to enter.

Saiya hugged her tightly as soon as she entered, bundling her within furry tails, and murmured softly, “There there, sweet flower. Everything’s going to be okay. We’re all here now. You don’t need to be so afraid.”

The other three pairs of eyes that locked onto her made Phoenix feel uncomfortable and Saiya seemed to pick up on it immediately as she reprimanded them, “It was a scary night! We all felt fear as the sirens swarmed, we were separated, and her mentor was the one fighting the giant, remember?”

The others softened their stances and nodded, properly chastised, and moved to sit down in the seats by the small hearth. Phoenix moved to the loveseat, realizing the Healer wasn’t going to release her any time soon, and asked them, “What happened to Paul? Did he win?”

Dazien nodded and said in a subdued manner, “Yes, Lord Wayland was victorious and was soon free to help go after the sirens who began retreating once the giant started becoming blue ash from someone’s looting power.”

Then amethyst eyes locked onto her as the gemite asked sharply, “What I want to know is what happened to you? Your aura suddenly vanished shortly before the giant fell. We thought-” he paused looking away for a moment as though to collect himself as he said, “We thought you might have fallen to one of the sirens.”

Phoenix paused for a moment, thinking about telling them that Murinah had sent a killer after her. The same arguments applied as before though and Paul’s warnings of keeping her revivals as hidden as possible swam through her mind.

She tried to tell herself that they were friends and she should be able to trust them with her secrets. She had worked with Dazien and Uriel for almost three months now… but she had only known the twins for about two weeks. She looked at her teammates’ worn and tired faces and rationalized that even if she did decide to trust them with the knowledge of her apparent immortality, and ignore her mentor’s warning, now was not the time to pile on more burdens.

She decided to talk with Paul first, perhaps see if he felt that they could be trusted as well. If anyone could advise her on how to best move forward, it would be him. He would also have the power and political pull to do something about the insane noble sending mercenaries after her. Perhaps her status as his Protégé could act more as a shield than a target if it seemed like she already had one painted on her back.

The Wayfarer shook her head, clearing her thoughts, and dodged the question, “Some unexpected complications came up and you said to meet back here.”

“Complications?”

She raised a hand in a halting gesture, “We can talk later. After some sleep. And with Paul too.”

Saiya looked up at her with a slight frown but remained silent as Dazien nodded and said with a sigh, “That's probably for the best. I know we've all had a long day and night.”

The party leader paused, then added regretfully, “I'm sorry, by the way. It was my own oversight to not use my communication power to keep in contact. I was concerned about the battle and failed to think about supporting the party splitting up. I’m just glad to find you safe and unharmed.”

The redhead nodded, curls bouncing freely, and muttered, “Me too.”

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