[Melas] Chapter 103: Over (Patreon)

“Party’s over.”

I grinned as my snare caught Didar, the energy bindings wrapping around his plump body and keeping him in place. I cast my gaze around the room, at the other Dwarves indulging in… less than decent activities. These were supposedly politicians; ministers from the Miners Party, apparently.

A few other guards stood around them, circling the tables and chairs strewn across the room defensively. They reached for their weapons and I wagged a finger. “Don’t even try it,” I warned as a spell circle shone.

The threat coming from a little girl like me would probably have elicited a laugh had I not just blasted a group of guards apart with my Magic Missiles. Frost Javelins— the sharp projectiles made entirely out of misty ice— came to existence just above my head. Their pointed edges snapped in the direction of each guard as I took a step forward.

“I’m just here for Didar,” I said in a cool voice. I was lying, of course. Gennady was here for his own reasons, but the Dwarf was still hiding back at the corridor. Jack had joined me the moment I rushed into the room, while Elda simply poked her head around the corner for moral support or something. “The rest of you can go.”

“You!” Didar snapped, looking at Jack. “How in Hell are you fucking alive? I thought I had you killed!”

The man drew both of his shortswords and returned the greeting with a glob of saliva sailing across the room. “You’ve tried and failed plenty. But I won’t.”

The Dwarf sneered. “Oh, will you?”

I blinked as suddenly there was a flash of light. My control over my spells faltered— did someone just cast Dispel Magic on me?

I spun around, seeing the source of the spell. My eyes grew wide as a man— a Human man— held up what appeared to be a remote. There was a finely crafted jewel resting at its tip; its mana crystal. And whatever runes inscribed onto it had the same effect as Dispel Magic.

Drawing my dagger, I was about to throw it at him when the lights went out. The mana lamps around the room were hit by the same attack. My magical bindings holding Didar vanished and the Dwarf hobbled to his feet grabbing the rifle next to him.

“Die, Goblin scum.” He pulled the trigger and I began to move. I threw myself to the side—

And a metallic object struck my face. A bullet— a metal bullet— struck my tempered iron mask, its impact knocking me back. More shots were fired, loud bangs going off as Jack exploded into a whirlwind of blades.

I heard metal impacting metal as I struggled to get up, my head aching terribly from the attack. That was… a gun? A REAL gun?!

The lights flickered overhead— whatever that remote was allowed it to disrupt all mana flow in the area. It didn’t completely grind it to a halt like Dispel Magic did. In fact, the only reason it had even ended my control over my spell was because I kind of stretched myself too thin by casting multiple Frost Javelins at once.

I wasn’t able to concentrate on keeping them from dissipating.

But it was almost like some kind of mana EMP. An… Eliminate Mana Presence thing-y. I slowly groused to my feet as another Dwarf walked into the room. Gennady was smacking the back of his rifle, muttering curses to himself. “Stupid damned gun, why won’t you work?!” His eyes snapped in the direction of the man holding the remote and he scowled. “You bloody moron!”

Gennady hurled his rifle at the man. I thought it would have just flopped on the ground before him. But it actually struck the man hard, loud enough to be heard over the gunshots in the background. The remote flew in the air for a moment before a dagger smashed through it, destroying the item.

“Nope,” Elda said, flipping a throwing knife on one hand. “Not going to deal with that.” She spun around to the charging bodyguards of the Dwarf ministers. A maniac grin spread across her face as she turned them into pincushions— although she made sure not to target any of their vital organs. I didn’t see the point— they would have bled out if they weren’t tended to soon.

Having my magic restored back into me, I glanced up at the angry Jack approaching Didar. His dual short swords flashed through the air, cutting apart the oncoming bullets easily. There was no stopping him or his wrath from reaching the Dwarf.

I raised my staff, about to help him when I saw a flash from the side. The same man from before whipped out another mana tool. One that I was, again, unfamiliar with. He threw it on the ground and I blinked.

Light enveloped my vision. An actual FLASHBANG went off. Just like the one the Plague Doctor used— except it wasn’t alchemical in nature at all! It was purely done through tinkering.

No sound accompanied the flash, however, and I managed to stumble back, forming a barrier around me in case anyone decided to strike while I was blinded. The white vanished soon after— and I saw Jack stumbling back, bleeding from the shoulders.

One of Didar’s shots grazed him. Enough to force the Human man to pour a healing potion on himself.

I glanced around for our Dwarf target, only to see him scampering out of the room with the man who had been using those weird tools. Scowling, I readied a spell just in time for one of the guards in the room to jump me.

Snapping to him instead, I blasted him back with a wave of pure mana. It sent him flying to a wall as I readied a flurry of Frost Javelins above head. Most of my spells were specifically for killing, not incapacitating. However, I could at least direct these projectiles to maybe not kill them.

There was no point to it. But I did it anyways.

The crystalline, misty spears danced through the room. They each found a partner, following them across the wooden floorboards. As the Dwarven guards were distracted, Gennady approached the cowering, corrupt ministers at the back of the room.

Prostitutes and escorts accompanied them, but my Dwarf companion gestured at them to shoo. Then they left and it was just the politicians. “You— you’re that mad scientist who supports Erzhan!” one of them called out in an accusing voice. “Let us go!”

“Yes I am,” he said, his brows snapping together. “And none of you here are leaving this place until the guards arrive.”

As Gennady dealt with that problem, Jack, Elda, and I pursued Didar and the Human man with him. The hallway he sunk through led to a back area, which was cramped and tough to fit through. How the plump Dwarf managed to squeeze through it eluded me completely as even I struggled to make it through.

The rows of boxes on either side pressed against my skin, pulling me back as I took each step. Reaching out for the figures in the distance, I sent another volley of Frost Javelins after them. One of the figures grabbed the other and pushed them back. My spells struck the shadow, and they fell dead while the other disappeared.

When we finally reached the figure, we saw it was the Human from earlier. Didar had used him as a meatshield just so he could escape.

“Damned him,” Jack cursed with a fierce growl. He spun around the corner, gaze sweeping around. But what lay before us was a labyrinth. Four corridors— four paths for us to take. And only three of us.

“What do we do?” I asked, facing the other two. “Should we split up?”

“We’re deep in his territory, splitting up is a terrible idea.” Elda shook her head. “It’d be like trying to find the captain of a ship by putting each of us in entirely different sections. We’d die.”

“We can’t just give up.”

“We won’t,” Jack sharply said, spinning on his heels and walking back. “We’ll find him again. Or he’ll find us. But as for today…” The former smuggler grimaced as sheathed his blade. “He’ll live.”

When we returned to Gennady, he was holding off a group of armed guards at the door trying to break in; an ice wall had been put up. One of his mana tools had done that. But they slowly picking their way through it.

“Oi, ye sure took yer sweet time!”

“We couldn’t find him,” I said simply as I pointed at the doorway. The ground shot up and shattered the ice and replaced it with a much harder barrier. “We should get out of here, now.”

“What about them? We’ve gotta bust them lot.” Gennady gestured at the group wrapped up in energy bindings.

I glanced over at Elda and Jack. The latter shrugged while the former raised her hands. “Don’t look at us, we don’t come up with the ideas.”

Sighing, I looked around the room and paused at the floor. A shudder ran through me as I tried to ignore the mild groans of agony from those lying on the floor. But I realized that the entire building was made of brick and concrete. Geomancy.

“I’m not going to fight our way out.” I pointed my staff and the floor caved in. “So, let’s just get straight out of here with them and get this over with.”

Gennady stared at the hole then at a group of tied up politicians. He flexed an arm. “Well then, let’s get to carrying ye non idea thinkers!”

It was much simpler than trying to make a bunker; all I was doing now was trying to dig a hole. It really didn’t take too much effort but a little bit of time. And once we were through and back in an alley, I collapsed the tunnel.

“Alright,” I said, crossing my arms. “I think we’re in the clear.”

“Then you three wait here, I’ll go to the nearest guardhouse and return in a bit.”

I nodded and he was gone. Once he left, some of the tied up Dwarves began to speak.

“You can’t get away with this!” one of them sputtered. “You broke the law! Magic is forbidden! Do you really think you won’t get in trouble too?”

I shook my head. “Maybe I will. But I can’t stop Gennady from doing what he thinks is right.” Then I leaned against the alley wall, trying to listen if anyone was coming after us. It didn’t sound like there was. “Plus, I am probably immune from that law… probably.”

I wasn’t sure how far Adileth was going to go to help me if I got in trouble for my magic; he promised me sanctuary, but he didn’t think I would get into a mess like this. I didn’t either, but I should have expected it.

Gennady returned soon after and the Dwarves were taken into custody. I slipped away before I could get into trouble, and returned to the warehouse. I waited for a few hours for the others to return. But only Jack, Elda, and the others came back.

“Where’s Gennady?” I asked, frowning as I glanced up from my plate. I was eating my dinner. It was an exhausting day, and nothing but a good meal would help me recover my energy.

“Busy with government stuff,” Jack grunted, stalking past me.

I raised a hand and stopped him. “So,” I said and looked between him and the others, “what do we do now?”

“We wait.”

I set down the fork and crossed my arms. “We can’t just wait. Didar is out there, and now he knows we’re after him. He won’t just stay idle.”

“And we can’t do anything about it,” Jack said simply. “He’ll be more careful now. Cautious. Especially since the House of Or’taq is probably going to be after him. Maybe he won’t come after us— but if I know anything about him, it’s that he’s a vindictive bastard.” With a final scowl, Jack decided it was time for him to retire. He left as I frowned, before Lisa approached me.

“Sorry about him… again. He’s a bit of a grump.”

“I’ve come to notice that, yes.” Sighing, my chair creaked as I leaned back against it. “Doesn’t he know we’re doing this to help him? Can’t he just accept it and not be such a jerk?”

“Well, he could,” Lisa said and sat across from me. “Or he could feel bad about bothering others with his own problems and try to push them away so they won’t have to deal with it.”

I raised an eyebrow dubiously. “You sure assume the best in people.”

“I know Jack. He’s not a bad person.”

“I didn’t say he was. I’m just saying he’s being a jerk right now. Everyone can be jerks. Me and you included.”

“You’re not wrong about that. Well, let’s just hope we can get rid of that main jerk bothering all of us right now before he strikes back.”

“Agreed,” I said as I picked up my cutleries and resumed eating.

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading. You guys get a special preview here <3

Salvos isn't exactly quite as I imagine her, while Melas is... better. Still working with the artist to get everything right!

Crossover non-canon comic soon! It's expensive xd