Chapter 1: Part 8 - The Carver

The Nageling Marauders weren’t the ambushing type. Vasha discovered that as Gull led them along the trail on the southern fringes of Wynchona Woods – and Roan grumbled all the way.

“We ambushed the Valparis, didn’t we?” Vasha asked. She knew she might be pushing her luck when Roan was already annoyed with her, but both Gull and Haki had backed her up before. With their support, she felt a lot more secure – enough even to question Roan.

“That wasn’t an ambush,” he replied. “We tracked down another team and we took them off guard. That’s just good tactics.”

“So is an ambush,” Vasha argued. “How many of you can climb trees?”

It turned out that all the Marauders could. Vasha had been half joking when she suggested it, and had expected both the norn and the charr to complain. The Woods were flat and open, though, providing few possibilities for an ambush anywhere else. Up was the only way to go.

Vasha threw a flash grenade into the upper branches, scaring out a few spiders that Frostpaw and Cirrus quickly dispatched. After that, she led the way up herself, choosing a strong pine that overlooked the main trail. Anyone travelling either north or west would pass this way, including the other teams in Yinn’s game – she hoped. If she’d misread any part of the keys and their engraved map, if she’d assumed wrongly that the clues led this way… Well, she wasn’t sure how many of her limbs would still be attached when Roan was finished with her.

The rest of the Marauders settled themselves nearby; only the pets were left sheltering in tall grass a short distance away. Vasha stretched her legs out along a branch and pulled out one of her pistols, preparing to clean the barrel – only to find Gull, watching her from the branch above.

“You’re far too good at this for a norn,” Vasha whispered to her.

Gull’s grin was a flash of white in the shadows of the tree. “I could say the same about you, human. Size has no bearing on skill – you’ve proved that more than once.”

“Why did you and Haki back me up earlier? I thought you didn’t even like me.”

Gull didn’t blink. “‘Liking’ has nothing to do with it. I said it before: we’re a team. Besides, Roan hasn’t always been in charge. Sometimes it’s worth reminding him of that.”

“What do you mean, Roan–”

Gull’s hiss interrupted her. Vasha looked down, seeing movement on the path below. Three individuals – no, four, all of them in robes. Not the Valpari family; Vasha had no recollection of seeing these four when the game began. She caught the flash of sunlight glinting off metal, though; even from such a height, she could see it was another piece of the key.

The Marauders needed no signal to coordinate their attack. One moment, all was silent; the next, Roan and Gull and Haki dropped from the trees, Vasha scrambling to follow them. There were shouts of surprise, followed by weapons being drawn on all sides. Vasha landed heavily in the grass, grabbing for her pistols. She opened her mouth, prepared to shout an ultimatum, but it was too late. Roan had already attacked.

Vasha had known he was angry, but she hadn’t realised quite how angry, or how easily that could translate into violence. All Roan’s usual reserve was gone, and for once he didn’t let the norn siblings attack first. He launched himself at the closest human, mace swinging hard enough to crack the woman’s skull. She deflected the blow off an axe, but Vasha could hear the grunts from both sides. Roan wasn’t playing around.

Vasha was about to go after him when something tugged at the back of her leg, then abruptly sank sharp teeth into the flesh of her calf. She yelped and jumped backwards, kicking instinctively and cracking into something with the toe of her boot. The bone minion wasn’t deterred, scurrying back for another attack. Belatedly, Vasha realised there were nearly a dozen of the putrid little things scattered across the battlefield, and they weren’t the only undead in the fight. The enemy team were all human, and every one of them was a necromancer.

She shot one minion, then another, backing away from those closest to her. Even as she retreated, she looked for the figure she’d seen with the piece of the key, but it was impossible to pick them out. It could have been any of the three necromancers now engaged in battling Roan and the norn–

Three necromancers. With a sinking feeling, Vasha took another step back – and felt something much bigger than a bone minion behind her. In fact, her leathers weren’t doing a very good job of disguising the fact that someone had a dagger jammed against her spine.

Hot breath whispered against the side of her neck. “Don’t you appreciate my little pets?”

Vasha shuddered, then froze as the dagger pressed harder against her back. The voice behind her was male, hoarse and low. Another hand, holding another dagger, snaked around her chest, the blade’s tip angled towards her throat.

“There are two complete keys,” Vasha said, before she could stop herself, panic making her babble. “That means there are duplicates of all the pieces, there have to be. You’ve got some and we’ve got some, so maybe we can compare the pieces we’ve both got and trade for–”

“No trades,” the voice hissed, “and no bargains – unless you’re offering to trade your life for the creation of one of my pets? No? I didn’t think so.”

He gave a soft laugh, and abruptly pushed Vasha away. She staggered, and only belatedly realised that she’d been so distracted, the necromancer had managed to disarm her.

She found herself facing him, a scrawny, pale-faced human with stringy black hair. There was a smear of something that looked suspiciously like dried blood on one of his cheeks.

The necromancer gestured to the fight, which had moved some distance away, almost lost between the trees. “I’ve seen the Nageling Marauders fight before, you know. My team won’t win against them, but no matter. They’re expendable.”

“You can’t win this game alone,” Vasha said, and was pleased to find her voice didn’t shake. Her panic had subsided as quickly as it had come, and now she merely wondered if the rest of his team knew what he thought of them.

“Can’t I?” The necromancer tipped his head to one side. “You doubt Yelazar the Carver? I wouldn’t.”

Yelazar the Carver? Vasha supposed that was his name, though it didn’t mean anything to her. Either she’d led a very sheltered life, or he wasn’t as famous as he seemed to think.

“If you’re so good,” she said, “then let’s make this a fair fight. Give me back my pistols.”

The weapons lay on the ground between them, but they were closer to Yelazar’s feet than her own. The necromancer stared at them for a moment, then said, “No.”

He raised a dagger, and Vasha saw magic coalesce around the blade, buzzing like a swarm of insects. Before he could unleash it on her, she moved.

Her rocket boots were out of fuel, but Vasha launched herself sideways, rolled back to her feet, and ran.

Trees whipped past as she sped through the woods, searching desperately for any sign of the others. They were nowhere to be seen. Had she got turned around? The Marauders wouldn’t have retreated without her, no matter how angry Roan was–

Something slammed into Vasha’s back and she went flying, skidding face-first into the grass. Before she could push herself upright, the weight of another minion landed on her shoulders, pressing her down. She struggled, bucking wildly, but that only filled her mouth with soil. She turned her face away from the ground, spitting out a leaf – and almost gagged as a writhing mass of worms rose from the quivering ground around her.

There were thousands of them, as though she was an island and the worms a pool of water. Where the worms ended, Vasha could see Yelazar’s boots, some kind of beetles crawling over his toes. From above, he tutted.

“I hadn’t taken you for a runner,” he said. He crouched beside her, waving a dagger between them. “What was all that about a fair fight? I want you to face me. If I’m going to cut the heart from your body, you’re going to see me do it.”

Hot fear flooded Vasha a second time. She’d lost her pistols, and when she tried to think of the other tools and gadgets she carried, her mind went blank. All she could see was Yelazar’s pale, smirking face. He was going to take that knife and sink it into her chest–

Finally, as though the thought came to her from a great distance away, Vasha realised the fear wasn’t her own. The necromancer had afflicted her with it, making her skin clammy and her legs tremble. That didn’t make it any easier to shake off, though, and as Yelazar reached across the worms to take her by the arm, all she could do was watch.

Yelazar was still grinning. “Let’s see how loud you can scream–”

The ground shook. Yelazar’s eyes narrowed, and he rose out of Vasha’s field of view. Still, she could hear the question forming on his lips – silenced by a roar.

Roan struck the necromancer with the force of a hurricane, slamming Yelazar backwards. There was a flash of blue-white light, a flurry of exchanged blows, and by the time Vasha got to her feet, the necromancer was gone.

So were the worms. Vasha stared uneasily at the ground, wondering whether they’d ever really been there, or whether Yelazar’s spells had made her mind play tricks on her. Roan, at least, was real, and he was panting with exertion.

He swung to her. “Are you hurt?”

Vasha resisted the urge to run her hands across her body. Yelazar hadn’t actually touched her; she was fine. “No. The others?”

“Still fighting. Come on.”

Surprise made Vasha blink at Roan. “Why did you leave them?”

Roan’s breath snorted from his nostrils in hot plumes. “You disappeared, and so did one of the necromancers. What did you think I was going to do?”

She’d gone missing – and Roan had come looking for her. Vasha felt almost light-headed with gratitude, and confusion. She truly hadn’t thought the charr cared.

“I’ll take that as an apology,” she said, “for what you said before.”

Roan huffed, and it took Vasha a moment to realise he was almost laughing. “You do that,” he said. “Come on. Let’s get back to the norn.”

He headed off into the trees and Vasha followed. She glanced back once, but there was no sign Yelazar had ever been there. Still, she shuddered. She’d seen the fervour in his eyes, and believed him when he said his team were expendable. Roan might have driven him off, but she had the uncomfortable feeling that none of them had seen the last of Yelazar the Carver.

Next time, though? Next time, she’d be ready.