Broker

Chapter 154

A sea of dire elves ran up the steps towards her and Luke. She glanced his way and he set his shoulders as her golden aura washed over him. He nodded his thanks to her and she returned the gesture. There was no running from this fight, even if they wanted to. With three people behind them that needed protection and no other routes, it was either down and through the enemy or die trying. She took a few steps to the left and put herself between Luke and the approaching enemy, the dragon stomping and roaring as it marched its way towards the base of the steps.

Luke took a few steps back and positioned himself over her with a clear view of everything below. She wrapped her fingers around the grip of her sword and took a stance, weapon outstretched in front of her as the first group drew nearer. They raced up at the stairs, their wild eyes blazing with bloodlust. Lillian’s nose flared and she bent her knees, letting the internal energy and mana in her body blend together again. She started the cycle up, feeling the swirl as it looped through her body like blood, cycling down until it reached her navel before spreading back out again, refined and filled with power.

She set her jaw and took a step forward, sweeping her weapon in a wide arc. Golden flames danced off of its surface in a short wave that crashed into the incoming enemy just as a series of black projectiles flew over her head. A series of cascading explosions ripped through the ranks of the incoming dire elves, the burning wrath of her sword turning the ones that had gotten too close into ash. There will still more on their way, though, and that dragon right at the edge of the stairs. For some reason it wasn’t using those massive wings to gain air superiority. She squinted at its form, trying to figure out the reason as the dire elves regrouped from their first failed assault.

The dragon lumbered forward, whipping its paw at any of the dire elves that got in its way. They were sent flying, crashing into the others and sending them sprawling. It whipped its wings out now and then, flapping them angrily before throwing its head back in a roar and trotting forward with purpose. She focused on the wings, What- there! Tears in the leathery portions of the wings, damage from some previous attack or another. The dragon roared again when a dire elf got directly in its path and it slapped it down with its massive paw. In one quick movement it snapped its head forward and ate the dire elf whole. 

I don’t think it’s their friend, She glanced up at the cuts in its wings, No, those are purposeful. They need it to obey. She set her jaw as the next group got closer, more dark shapes flying past her to crash into the oncoming ranks of the enemy. More explosions sending them flying off the steps and down to the ground far below. The sheer number of bodies being thrown at them were the only reason any of them were getting past Luke’s ceaseless volley. She swung again and again, shifting stance to simulate steps as she built up her momentum. The little pauses between each group cooled it down a bit, but that was okay, she was making up for it in spades.

It was just as she felt like she had momentum to pull off march again when the dragon decided that it had waited long enough. With a terrible roar that rattled the air and sent a chill running up Lily’s spine, it raced up the stairs, plowing its way through the remaining bulk of the attacking dire elves. Lily’s eyes went wide as it fixed its own blazing gaze on her, behind her, Luke shouted something and more explosives went flying in its direction. They struck true but the creature just kept coming, racing through the clouds of black smoke left behind as it opened its jaw to consume Lily with one quick snap.

Not gonna happen!

She took a step forward, down closer towards the beast as it drew closer and let her instincts carry her through the motions of her technique. She swung up just as it lowered its head down towards her and caught it on the chin, the impact causing a golden flare to ripple out between the two of them and send the dragon’s head whipping upward with a shriek of pain and confusion. She exhaled and flames billowed out, taking another step and swinging again, this time catching it on the shoulder as it pivoted to avoid her cutting it’s head right off then and there.

Tch.

She grit her teeth and pushed forward anyway, her next blow going up towards its wing and it snapped its jaws at her blade. She caught it on the side of the head instead and it stumbled before righting itself. Blow after blow rained down on the dragon, each one following in with explosive force as she tried to destabilize it, knock it off, hurt it, do something to it. She pushed forward and it fell back, small explosions raining down on the horde below rather than the dragon as to not catch her as well. She steeled her focus, hit it harder! She thought, swinging up again to bat its head away and get to its neck. 

Step after step pushed it further back, her movements a blur, the world around her blending away as she let out a roar, “STAY DOWN!” She bellowed, her muscles burning. She swung with all of her might, a muscle felt like it tore in her shoulder only to immediately start trying to heal itself again. She let out a gasp just as the swing struck and she felt the resistance of its hard scales give way a bit. She followed through, despite the pain, and completed the swing with a scream of pain and fury. The dragon whipped its head away, stumbling back a dozen steps as black blood oozed from its neck.

She panted and looked up to meet its eyes. The pupils were tiny now and they seemed to glow.

“Oh shit, now it’s mad,” She bit out as it reared back on its haunches and tilted its head towards her. Her eyes went wide as a verdant green glow rose up its throat. She turned, “Luke! Run!” She shouted, pivoting away and racing up the steps. A gurgling sound proceeded a sudden surge of mana in the air, she spun around when she reached the top of the steps, Luke diving for cover. The others can’t move! Shit! She snarled, glancing back over her shoulder and meeting William’s frantic gaze. She looked back at the dragon as the light blossomed in its mouth. Damn it. Fine!

She set her stance and held her weapon up, golden flames wrapped around it. She squeezed them tighter, tighter, tighter, pushing down and applying pressure with her will as the incoming attack reached its zenith of charge. She grit her teeth. I am Crusader. I will not let you get past me! She swore. “Not in this life and not in the next! I won’t budge an inch!” She roared, “Bring it on!” Verdant light flared and a cone of emerald energy lanced out from the creature’s maw and slammed into her blade. The golden flames burned bright as the attack split around her, corroding and annihilating the stone at her back. She felt her arms groan with the strain, her muscles screaming in protest. She felt her feet dig into the ground beneath her as the wave of raw power roared around her.

Her skin flaked, her armor burned, the pain was more than she’d ever felt in her entire life. Like shocks of electricity beneath her skin eating away at her flesh even as her power steadily healed her body. She was in a suspended state of breaking down and recovering and it never seemed to end. She clenched her teeth. I’m not dying here! She swore, I’m going to win, I’m going to get out of this place, and I’m going to become a hero! She raged, her eyes itched, her neck ached, every strand of hair on her head felt like it was on fire. The ground shook beneath her feet, the shuddering and crashing growing more and more intense, closer. Was it walking towards her while it did this? How much energy did it have to keep this up?

She felt her knee buckle beneath her and she shifted her weight slightly, forcing herself to stay standing as the constant pressure weighed down on her. She felt her eyebrows singe and the vision in her left eye started to fail her. She screwed up her face in an expression of fury and defiance, a sound keening from her throat. She couldn’t hear anymore, but she could feel it, something welling up inside of her chest. I need more! More! Just a little-

With a thunderous boom the blast from the dragon winked out of existence and she felt all of her strength leave her as she hit her knees and nearly fell face first into the stairs beneath her when something moved in and caught her. She blinked, her vision swimming, as she turned her head and looked up into a pair of pearlescent eyes. “Damn you’re a pretty hallucination,” She mumbled, and reached up to touch Snow’s face. Snow gave her a big smile laced with worry and tears. She ran her fingers through Lily’s hair and shook her head.

“I’m as real as it gets, babe,” She said as Cass collided with the dragon’s head, screaming at the top of her lungs just over Snow’s shoulder.

Another shape dipped in and pulled her to her feet, throwing her arm over a broad shoulder. She had to turn her head to see Alex’s focused face as she ran up the steps to get her inside the building. Snow hustling next to them. The sound of a rocket went off behind her and she heard a terrible impact followed by a howl of pain from the dragon. She shook her head, trying to shake off the hallucination one more time. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing even as Alex set her down next to William.

He crouched next to her, “How fast can you get back on your feet?” He asked.

She blinked at him in confusion again, “You’re really here,” She said with a smile, delirious.

“Alex! Get your ass out here!” Val shouted, “Could use a little reptile v reptile if you don’t mind!”

“I’m busy!” Alex barked back before looking down at her. Next to him, Snow looked over her face and reached out to brush back a bit of her hair. Her lip trembled a bit and she glanced at Alex who gave her a hard look. “She’ll be fine,” He said and got to his feet, “Won’t you?”

Lily stared up at him as confusion gave way at last to clarity, the pain muddling her thoughts easing off as her ability got right to work, soothing the injuries first before it started to heal. She coughed, “Right as rain in no time,” She said with a grin, “Now go.”

He nodded and scales spread across his neck and jawline in an instant, his eyes turned to slits and his nostrils flared. He whipped his head around and charged, fangs bared as he leaped through the air and tackled the face of the dragon that was now frantically fighting off a whole new host of enemies. John clung to its back and stabbed it over and over while Cass struck it in the side with her hammer. She panted and looked up at Snow who was still examining her face. “How bad is it?” She asked with a lazy grin, “Any good scars in my future?”

“Pretty sure those’ll heal,” Snow said softly, “Though I don’t think your mom is going to like the new color added to your hairstyle, or the eyes, or the updated tattoo,” Snow quipped, “You sure you weren’t a scene kid or something in your past life?”

Lily barked out a laugh, it hurt, so much. She kept laughing anyway even as her body started to feel numb. “My eyes changed now? Great!” She chuckled sarcastically and leaned her head back with a groan. She watched Luke get out from his hiding spot and race over to resume his support of the others. Good, she thought, relieved and glanced at William who had a bit more color in his face. The others laying on the ground did too. Her head swam a little and she frowned, she glanced down at her feet, the numbness had given way to… nothing, stiffness. “I can’t feel my feet,” She mumbled.

Snow looked down at her feet and reached for her boots, she tugged for a moment and with some difficulty managed to get them off. They both stared in rapt amazement and alarm as something green had spread across her skin. It’s not the color of that magic but… She blinked slowly as she felt the emptiness creep up her leg. It’s spreading. 

“Is that jade?” Snow whispered, panicked, she looked over at Lily, “Lily, what’s happening?”

Lily’s eyes fluttered as the feeling spread up further. Despite every rational thought telling her she should be panicking, her instincts said something else. Let it happen. Just let it happen. She let out a shaky breath, the fear warring with her instincts as her heart raced. She reached up to take Snow’s hand and squeezed it before nodding towards the others still engaged with the Dragon. “Get going, I’ll be back in no time.”

“What do you mean, back?” Snow asked, “Where are you going?”

Lilian closed her eyes and searched her instincts, the manual of her powers, every time she accessed them it felt like they grew more and more detailed. She grinned a little to herself. That’s a pretty long cooldown, she thought with amusement. Not a bad trade-off though. I can live with that. She opened her eyes and just nodded, “Just a quick power nap,” She said, “Don’t worry. Focus on supporting them, okay? Follow Greg’s lead.” She didn’t see Greg or the usual tell-tale purple hue of his powers but he had to be somewhere nearby orchestrating the fight.

Snow forced a smile onto her face and reached up to stroke Lily’s chin as the jade spread up to her waist. She nodded and kissed her forehead before getting to her feet and racing out, drawing that funky pistol from her thigh.

Lillian let her head fall back as she breathed, “Just hang in there for five minutes guys,” She muttered as she felt the jade reach her heart. Her breathing began to slow. “I’ll be back in five minutes,” She mumbled as her vision swam and the spread reached her throat. “Just hang in there…” She whispered as her vision went dark, her body falling utterly still.

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