City of IF

[Smee]

Chapter 8 : All kinds of trouble

Ideas buzzed through my head. I had a dozen ideas for direct attack but quickly dismissed them. If the thugs were protected in some way then at best it'd be useless, at worse rebounded back at me or some innocent in the crowd. I needed something indirect.

I was out of time though. After the attack on the boy the crowd quickly parted allowing them swift passage across the room. Jarad and Tokes pushed their way in front of me, each armed with a dagger they'd had concealed. They had no chance, it was four against one. But their faces defied the odds. Eyes flashed with determination, their jaws set in matching grimaces.

In that moment I grasped an idea and I went with it. Two spells, one after another. My hands moved in a blur as I quickly fired off the simple first spell. A small ball of light flew from my hands, stopped in front of the thugs and then pulsed a blinding flash. All but the lead thug stopped and rubbed their eyes. He however just smirked.

"Is that all youse can do?" He mocked. "I'm gonna enjoy this."

I ignored him; already well into the second series of gestures. Jarad bought me some time, moving to confront the leader. For a second his face looked alarmed as he realised his backup were still rubbing their eyes, but then the smirk reappeared and he swiped at Jarad's face with his sword.

Jarad didn't attempt a parry with his small dagger, but stepped back instead, bringing his other hand from behind his back revealing his ale mug and threw it hard at the leaders head. The remaining beer hit first, making him duck down and causing the glass to miss. It continued past the leader and connected solidly with another of the thugs armed with a nasty spiked cudgel.

Tokes slipped forward, eyes narrowed as he focused on the ale-soaked thug. He jabbed with his dagger, but with startling speed the sword-tip whistled up and knocked it from his hand, sending it clattering to the floor. With a snarl Tokes backed off again, managing to position our table between the thugs and us.

As the leader wiped the last of the beer from his face the rest of his men blinked the last of the light from their eyes and joined him, weapons out and stares fixed on the three of us.

Jarad and Tokes backed up slowly as they advanced, and I moved as fast as I could to finish the complicated rune. I cast it out with a hidden flick of my wrist and then pasted a look of terror on my face as the leader flung the table between us out the way.

"I don't have no orders ag'inst killing your friends here Gori', and they done just got me mad."

A sharp voice rang out across the room.

"HALT."

Most of the thugs instantly turned to see who'd interrupted. The leader, ever mindful of tricks, stepped sideways so he could see the owner of the voice, but still see us out the corner of his eye.

The voice came from a tall man of middle years. Dark brown eyes looked out from a clean-shaven face, and a mop of black hair. His uniform was smart, consisting of a thick red cloak over mail that shone despite the dull interior of the inn. Gold brocade trimmed heavy black boots, and a golden insignia of an Eagle on a field of purple marked him as a high ranking soldier. His two-handed, double-edged sword was already drawn and pointing at the thugs in warning.

The thug leader didn't look impressed. "Pah, run along soldier-boy, some real men have business with this mage, and that business is none of yours."

The soldier looked indifferent as he casually spun his sword and knocked twice, gently, against the door he'd just entered.

The door slammed open and fifteen fully armed soldiers entered, all with weapons drawn.

"Psst," I whispered to Jarad. He caught my eye and I nodded towards the back. He caught on immediately and began slowly sliding away, motioning to Tokes too. Carefully we edged around a strewn chair and behind the back of the service bar. We crouched down and followed the length of it to the kitchen door at the far end. As we carefully went through I cast a palm out and watched as three images of us reappeared by the wall.

The last thing I saw as I let the door swing closed was most of the thugs surrendering weapons, whilst the thug leader suddenly leapt forward and thrust his sword through the illusion of the nearest soldier.

-~-

The run back to our rooms was done in silence, Tokes out in front leading, with Jarad watching for pursuit behind. Lost in the tangled warren of backstreets I focused only on the spy as he wound his way though ramshackle stalls and street traders and the bizarre mix of customers they attracted.

Much to my surprise, and relief, we suddenly burst from an alley to find ourselves across the street from Sindor's Inn. Breathing hard from the unexpected run I wasted no time getting up to the privacy of my room, Jarad and Tokes right behind. Taking some deep breathes, trying to slow my panting, I focused on the various candles around the room. With a mental command they sprang to life.

"Jarad, I want to know who, what, where and why. Everyone you have."

"But.."

I cut him off, trying not to take my anger out on him, but failing.

"No, what my opponents ate for breakfast this morning will have to wait. Finding out who's behind these attacks is what I want to know."

He nodded formally, face like stone. Inwardly I sighed knowing I'd have to smooth that over before long. He turned to Tokes, and with barely a look pushed the young spy out the door and downstairs. Frustrated I flicked a hand at the door to close it, but a head appearing around it just stopped me.

As the door opened wider it turned in to Luc bearing a tray of food. His eyes were wide with ill-contained excitement, and his usual boyish grin.

"Afternoon Gorin, sir. Guess what, guess what? Mistress Clara in the kitchens gave me a silver for helping her with some fetchin' and carryin' and I found a man in the bar who let me bet on your to win the fight and you won and now I've got five silvers."

He thrust a dirty hand into his tunic and brought forth is windfall. Such delight filled his face as he babbled about what he was going to spend it on, maybe a bottle of Moonwater that was supposed to turn your tongue blue, or maybe a real ticket so he could go see a fight in the arena.

I was only half listening, inwardly finding myself strangely calmed by the young boy's joyous ramblings, but I perked up as he mentioned a fight. I needed to find out not only when my own next fight was, but also Jakeen's. I wondered if he'd decided to use the scroll, and almost called Jarad back to countermand my earlier order and get Tokes to continue following him. In the end I decided not. I'd know if he turned up to fight.

I looked at Luc. Something he'd said still tried to get attention in my distracted mind. I suddenly remembered.

"There's no way you're going to spend such hard earnt winnings on a ticket when I've already paid for a whole tournament pass. You can come along and watch a fight with Jarad and I, and if you're good then you can watch my next fight too."

Just before his whoop of excitement carried him away, I stopped him.

"Oh and another thing. No wasting your money on Moonwater either, not whilst I'm around." I said with a smile.

Gesturing against my palm I sent a small spell toward the boy and then waited for him to notice. He shivered involuntarily at having magic cast at him, and was also a little crestfallen at being forbidden Moonwater.

"Well stick your tongue out then."

He did slowly, bending to look at his reflection in the silver tray he'd just set down.

"WOW, it's..it's aaalll tthee coollors off ttthee 'ainbow," he cried out thickly, his tongue still hanging out his mouth as he tried to talk.

I grinned. A simple illusion that'd wear off in a few hours.

"See now, so much better than a bit of blue." My smile almost as wide as his. "Now off with you, I'm busy," I chastised gently. Remembering his manners he bowed politely, grinned, stuck his tongue out again and ran out the door. I watched him go with a laugh.

-~-

The next day was a tedious one. Jarad persuaded me to stay in my room again for my own safety, whilst he coordinated everything else.

His people reported back regularly but no leads had been found. Back at the inn where the attack had happened he'd found out that after the lead thug had fallen through the illusioned guard the other thugs had quickly rearmed themselves and attacked the illusions of us so visciously that they didn't realise that they too were illusions for some minutes.

According to gossip from the crowd they'd destroyed a few tables in anger but then just left. A few seconds later the illusions had all vanished too as I had ran beyong my range to maintain them.

Jarad had then focused on finding out where the thugs went, but no matter how hard he tried it seemed they disappeared as effectively as my illusions had.

However, he did manage to find out that Jakeen had a fight the next day, and that I was on almost immediately after. My opponent was yet to be decided; today's fights determining who it would be. With all Jarad's efforts going on finding leads about the thugs, and other attacks, when I did find out who my opponent was I'd have no time to learn anything of them. I'd have to rely on what I could learn from them when we met in the arena.

The rest of the time I spent napping and recovering strength from the previous few days exertions. By the evening though I was once again feeling caged, and was reduced to pacing around my room. In the end I managed to distract myself for a few hours reading some research I'd bought with me. As well as music based spells there was also fascinating scrolls on mental runes and their possibilities. I lost myself in the theory until the candles guttered and plunged me into darkness. Casting a small light above my head I stretched and made my way to bed. Tomorrow would be a big day.

-~-

It dawned bright, and clear and Luc woke me with another tray of food. As usual he chattered inanely about anything and everything. How much fun he had with his rainbow tongue, how excited he was about seeing a fight today, and if I thought he should place another bet on me again were just brief moments in a deluge of topics. I listened idly as I quickly consumed the tasty breakfast.

Afterwards I dressed, and wasn't surprised to see Jarad appear almost the second I'd finished. A quick questioning look from me and an almost simultaneous shake of the head from him announced no new information on the attackers.

"I do know the name of your next opponent though. Never heard of him before. His name's Mical, apparently trounced Ingreth in just a few minutes, although I don't know how."

It was worrying news. Ingreth I knew, and she was no lightweight when it came to magic. I caught a glimpse of Luc looking at me, eyes wide as he tried to follow our conversation.

"Oh well, can't be helped. It's not like the other competitors know much about their opponents when they fight. I'll manage." I made it sound confident for Luc's sake.

Jarad looked like he was about to say something but catching Luc's eye he grimaced and swallowed it. Clearing his throat he changed topic.

"We should get a move on, Jakeen's fight isn't long."

I nodded and followed him out, Luc following right behind, his usual grin once again plastered from ear to ear.

-~-


Luc sat through the whole of Jakeen's fight with mouth agape and hands wringing in a disturbing impression of Sindor. I'd been anxiously awaiting his arrival in the arena. As soon as I saw him a large smile spread across my face. Not a trace of the bandages, and aside from looking a little agitated and nervous, perfectly healthy.

His opponent was an unknown mage called Bevorum. She fought using shadow magics almost entirely unfamiliar to me and I watched with as much fascination as Luc. She seemed to have trapped Jakeen in some kind of illusion of the mind, but great clouds obscured much of the view in the arena. Brief flashes of Jakeen wandering around looking to be in a haze, whilst Bevorum paced around the outside, constantly gesturing and moving her staff.

When the winner was called Luc clapped enthusiastically, shouting and cheering before turning to face Jarad and I.

"THAT WAS AWESOME, but who won?"

With a laugh Jarad picked him up, tousled his hair and took him to get some food.

"If you enjoyed that, wait until you see Gorin." I heard him say.

I grinned and watched them leave and then hastened down to the arena entrance. Fight time.

-~-

Registration was quick, the organisers well into the swing of things now. They still dashed around with armfuls of scrolls, but one soon noticed me and ticked me off a list. Mical was already in the arena, it'd taken me longer than I realised to get down from the crowd stands. I strode through the waiting area and straight into the arena. Whether by great organisation, or coincidence, my name was announced as I did.

"...Gorin."

As soon as I saw the view of the crowd all looking at me all, all distractions flew from my head. I raised a hand to the crowd even as I locked my stare on to Mical trying to learn what I could.

He was tall, thin, and very unassuming. His robes were a fashionable green, good quality but not ostentatious. His eyes were looking around the crowd, a large grin on his face as he soaked up the atmosphere. After his previous victory he'd certainly earnt his share of supporters.

There was very little I could tell from his appearance. Before I could think more the announcers voice boomed out again.


"CONTESTANTS, IT'S LAST ONE STANDING, BE INVENTIVE.......AND FIGHT"


My first move put a strong shield around me, I didn't know what to expect. I made the shield invisible though, and added a tester bolt of light to the spell to mask my casting. It flew towards Mical but before it got there it transformed into a small bird and soared into the air where it vanished in a puff of feathers.

He wasn't moving, just staring at me with a smile still on his face. From what Jarad had said about his fight with Ingreth it had finished very quickly. Surely he must have pressed the attack, what was he waiting for?

I walked slowly sideways, watching him intently. Without warning I fired off another shot of light, but this time using a mental command. His surprised showed as it travelled almost to him before once again turning into a small bird.

This time he responded, his left arm circled quickly whilst his right stabbed down. I recognised it and sent a counter-rune towards him as he threw a palm out. The expected fireball didn't appear, but a green mist that floated from his hand. My counter passed through causing it to swirl, but otherwise no effect. The spell stopped just a metre away from Mical's smiling face as it collided with his shield. He'd snuck that up quickly!

I thought no more on it though as I watched the green mist. It sank to the ground and flowed around him. As it expanded it got higher and higher until he was lost to view.

I unconsciously moved further back. Time for some action.

No more pretense or hiding, my arms moved quickly as I traced out the large rune. I cast it out and the arena shimmered out of view.


-~-






Mical's grin widened as he watched the arena disappear. "I've coaxed him out to play then," he thought to himself as he watched trees and plants begin to appear beyond the boundary of the green mist. Soon all he could see around him was a hot, steaming, jungle. Birds and insect noises seemed to fill the air and the temperature rose quickly. The grin became a smirk as he couldn't believe his luck. Gorin had played right into his hands here. A quick flick of a palm released a prepared spell as he melted into the trees.





-~-

As soon as my illusion was in place I quickly moved from my original position. With a upflung arm I soared into the air stood upon a branch of a rapidly growing tree. It rose into the canopy and I stopped it. From here I could easily see the extent of the mini-jungle, although it'd seem much bigger to its main victim, Mical. To my eyes the jungle faded as I searched him out. Lets see him turn my attacks into birds when they were lost amongst the confusion of a jungle.

I scanned the sandy arena but couldn't see him. I spun around looking frantically, but there wasn't a trace of him or the green mist.

A growling made me turn back. Inches from my face a black muzzle growled again. Feline eyes bore into me. A growl below forced me to tear my eyes from the huge panther only to see another on the branch below...

------------

What the hell does Gorin do to get out of this?

And how does he fight Mical, if he manages to find him again?

He really needs lots of ideas everyone - lets get imaginative.

[Phang]

Hmmm...make yourself look like a bigger panther?

But then again, these aren't necessarily simple panthers, or even panthers at all.

[LordoftheNight]

Send out a flare of bright light, and make himself disappear at the same time? Then get away while it's distracted.

[Phang]

lordofthenight wrote: Send out a flare of bright light, and make himself disappear at the same time? Then get away while it's distracted.

But the problem is, will they be distracted? I doubt these are real panthers.

[hewithoutaname]

He could simply "take away" the branches the panthers are on. They could fall toward the ground as he launches himself into the air preparing for an attack.

[Muaddib]

Could he turn himself to look like a large blazing flame? Animals are scared of fire. Or maybe some heavenly music could start playing, to calm the beast?

[hewithoutaname]

Heavenly music..... I like it. Another thought i have (i have many) is that if he has such great illusionary powers couldnt he tell if it was or not, as an illusion is bending the presence of light couldnt Gorin muster a "beam" or flash of light to counter-act the illusion?

[LordoftheNight]

Illusion isn't necessarily the bending of light though, it could be conjuring an object without subtance.

[Smee]

Quote: Another thought i have (i have many) is that if he has such great illusionary powers couldnt he tell if it was or not, as an illusion is bending the presence of light couldnt Gorin muster a "beam" or flash of light to counter-act the illusion?

Excellent thought if you mean searching for Mical. :D

The way Gorin makes himself invisible is by bending the light around him as if he wasn't there. There are otherways obviously, like the FADE that Jakeen uses, but if Mical is using the same spell then there is definately a good chance Gorin could spot it.

But can he spot it in time :shock:

The immediate concern though is the panthers. The first one is too close for any spell but the fastest ones - there's not room for complex gesturing, not to mention he's a little surprised.

Some good ideas already for this, that could work.

Keep them coming. :)

[DoomBuggy]

Is the big cat an illusion or is it real? That's a tricky one.

I suppose Gorin doesn't have any reason to believe the cat is anything other than real, so he has to deal with it as if it were real. I think fire is a simple enough spell to keep it at a distance, or a sudden light flash can blind it and scare it away.

Finding Mical seems to be well-suggested too. I'm wondering is there any way to use his own beast-summoning/illusion against him. If Gorin were, for example, to make himself look exactly like the big cat, might that give him the advantage of being basically unnoticeable while he casts a more complicated spell to get rid of his competitor?

[hewithoutaname]

Quick spells....gotta think on this one. I'll be on later with a new idea.

[rlz]

I caught up Smee ;) .

Here's my suggestion. If he can quickly conjure up an illusionary tree behind him, then create an illusion of about 9 more of him so that the panthers get confused. All of the Gorin's that were created lean back and fade into a tree, all real except for the real Gorin, that goes through the fake tree. Say that there are 10 panthers, each one goes after a Gorin, all of them hit the tree that Gorin disappeared into and 9 of them are stunned. The one that goes for the real Gorin, goes right through the illusionary tree, and Gorin is standing right in front of it. He then casts a spell so that the panther is blinded for a while. Then search for Mical. Make him self invisible obviously before he searches for Mical.

I don't know just a suggestion.

[Ovrlndnsea]

"Make him self invisible obviously before he searches for Mical."

I'm pretty sure that would take too much power to do, although place notify me if I'm wrong.

[Smee]

No invisible isn't too much power - it all depends on whether he'd have time to cast it, or whether (if the panther is real) it'd make any difference if it could still smell him.

A poll will be going up very soon. Last ideas team :D

Happy Writing :)

[Smee]

POLL IS UP

You'll notice each one has 'try' in front of it. Some of those options could fail for lack of time.

These are all great ideas, but what's quickest?

Vote quick :D

[rlz]

Voted for my own idea, replicas. Hope it works, but he has to make his replicas trick the panthers into a pit or something, then the last panther that's after the real him, just shoot a big boomy-thingy at it... :lol:

[Ovrlndnsea]

I voted "Try taking away the illusion branches," but here's something that is bothering me: Someone suggested this "Try to make himself look exactly like the big cat," and so why wasn't it in the poll? That's what I would have voted.

[LordoftheNight]

Voted.

And Smee - nice idea that you've got there with the author option. I'm sure I saw it somewhere before though.

[Smee]

Quote: Someone suggested this "Try to make himself look exactly like the big cat," and so why wasn't it in the poll? That's what I would have voted.

Quote: Hmmm...make yourself look like a bigger panther?

But then again, these aren't necessarily simple panthers, or even panthers at all.

Apologies OverlndnSea, but Phang, who suggested the idea seemed to change her mind as she suggested it, plus I was also trying to provide the options that are most likely to work. Turning into a panther is unlikely to stop them - they are directed by Mical to attack man or beast.

Thanks for your comments :)

[Ovrlndnsea]

Smee wrote: Quote: Someone suggested this "Try to make himself look exactly like the big cat," and so why wasn't it in the poll? That's what I would have voted.

Quote: Hmmm...make yourself look like a bigger panther?

But then again, these aren't necessarily simple panthers, or even panthers at all.

Apologies OverlndnSea, but Phang, who suggested the idea seemed to change her mind as she suggested it, plus I was also trying to provide the options that are most likely to work. Turning into a panther is unlikely to stop them - they are directed by Mical to attack man or beast.

Thanks for your comments :)

Oh ok. Sorry about that.
Is Phang on our team? Yikes! No wait, I'm thinking about the evil Phang from GREED... You do look good as a big green sluggy-wuggy.
Also, that isn't how you spell my name. My name is this: Ovrlndnsea, not OverlndnSea. You can call me Ovr if you'ed like.

[Smee]

*grins*

Thanks Ovr - much easier.

That was just me trying to remember your name - in my head it's just Over land or sea shortened down - I just didn't shorten it enough ;)

Have Fun :D

[Smee]

Last call for votes

[Ovrlndnsea]

Smee wrote: *grins*

Thanks Ovr - much easier.

That was just me trying to remember your name - in my head it's just Over land or sea shortened down - I just didn't shorten it enough ;)

Have Fun :D

Except it is "over land and sea" shortend; there isn't any "n" in "or"!

I got it while playing a piraty themed game, and now I use it everywhere on the web.

[Smee]

The Poll is closed.

Gorin is going to try an illusion of a large flame to hopefully scare the panthers away.

Great ideas everyone, thanks for playing. The new chapter will be up as soon as I can.

:D