Instead of Arya, I prefer her mom (Chapter 43)

Cedric took stock of his enemy. There were seven of them, two per tunnel while a third hung back. He was most careful of the latter, suspecting them to be a mage.

He was prepared for a mental battle, but it didn’t happen. Instead, the mage seemed somewhat cautious of him. Perhaps they were acting as a commander, not as a combatant? Whatever the case, Cedric wouldn’t let things play out how they wished.

Speaking a word in the ancient language, the walls of two tunnels suddenly cracked, the sound echoing deafeningly in the narrow space. The stone burst and shattered, raining rock and dust on the attackers from above.

Distance shouts could vaguely be heard before being drowned out by the collapse. Within seconds, the tunnels were closed off, and four of the assailants buried under tons of earth.

‘There, that should even the odds.’

The spell wasn’t that taxing, assisted by the enormous mass bearing down on the subterranean structure. All Cedric had to do was introduce a few structural weaknesses and destabilize the soil.

He wasn’t going to start the fight at a disadvantage. He trusted his wards, but the more enemies there were, the bigger the odds of someone getting lucky.

With that dealt with, Cedric returned his attention to the remaining tunnel, housing the mage. He deliberately avoided it, cautious of his shifting attention being taken advantage of. He wasn’t yet able to shore up his mental defenses while casting simultaneously.

After a brief halt, the two brigands closed in on him even faster. They seemed entirely unshaken by the collapse.

Cedric couldn’t help being surprised by their discipline. Having commanded a band of pirates, he knew they were a cowardly lot. They were only willing to fight if victory was certain. If things took a turn for the worse, they would flee without a second thought.

Wanting to remove the two as fast as possible, Cedric rid himself of distracting thoughts, concentrating on a spell. However, before it could be completed, dull twangs suddenly sounded in the darkness. There was a whistling sound, followed by two long, sharp bolts appearing as if out of thin air.

Cedric was somewhat caught off-guard, not expecting the pair to suddenly fire so accurately from so far away. Certainly, there wasn’t much space for bows down here. They had to be using crossbows.

While not that uncommon, it wasn’t a weapon just anyone could own, not just in terms of price. Crossbows were expensive, but they were actually contraband for anyone outside the military.

For a moment, Cedric worried there would be something special about the crossbow-bolts, perhaps having a ward-piercing effect like that dagger. Fortunately, he saw them whiz past his head, deflected by his wards.

Regaining his concentration, Cedric visualized what he wanted. Having a decent grip of the natural laws, he was confident in the spell’s power.

“Kveykva.”

The word simply meant ‘lightning’. Given his proficiency with it, his choice wasn’t surprising.

Not only wasn’t there time to think of something fancy, a powerful lighting bolt was more than enough to solve his problems. Not only was it both incredibly fast and destructive, the intense light and sound would be disorienting in the narrow tunnel.

However, while it the middle of casting, he had an idea.

What if, instead of creating an electrostatic gradient, depending purely on the natural cascade for dealing damage, he augmented it with his magical power? That is to say, bolstering the spontaneous electrical discharge with his own, magical lightning.

Excited about seeing the outcome, Cedric pulled on his mana, drawing it out with his mind. It surged forth out of some deep part of him, rushing to the surface of his skin. His body came alive in a way that was difficult to describe, thrumming with power.

As soon as he completed the spell, a tremendous crackling sound could be heard, loud enough to shatter eardrums. It was like a bomb went off.

In the dim, cramped tunnels, streaks of blinding, white light manifested, like tongues of holy fire. A deluge of bolts arced outward from Cedric’s fingertips, sheets of crackling, serpentine electricity that drowned out everything.

The sight and sound of the unleashed energy was all-consuming to the extent that he felt his whole body growing numb, losing feeling in his limbs and tasting metal on his tongue.

Though Cedric shut his eyes and muffled his hearing, he couldn’t escape the power of the spell. The unexpectedly tremendous amount of energy was beyond his ability to control. He felt like he was gripping a live wire with both hands, bucking and writhing like a living thing.

For the briefest moment, he was able to shield himself, but then the power came apart in his hands, surging in all directions. It was like trying to rein in a stampeding ox—a foolish and suicidal idea. The only thing he could do was let go, lest he be trampled as well.

The destruction was immense. Frankly, Cedric hadn’t even noticed whether the two attackers were hit. He was too busy trying to preserve his life.

Multiple overlapping ‘BOOMs’ sounded in the confined space, creating a wave of force than knocked him off his feet. He went flying backward, the grimy wall speeding toward him like a locomotive. At the same time, fragments of rock, wood chips and stagnant water pelted him—debris from the explosion.

Cedric felt the air being knocked out of him as he impacted the wall, flattening against it like a piece of putty. The flash of pain at the back of his head had the fortunate side effect of cutting off the spell, something he hadn’t the presence of mind to do.

Collapsing to the ground, he let out a pained groan. The massive discharge was shut of all at once, though electricity still crackled and sparked in the air.

Taking a moment or two to catch his breath, Cedric forced himself onto shaky legs. Though his mouth moved, voicing his shock and confusion, he could barely hear himself speak.

“What. The. Fuck.”

With burning, blurry eyes, he took in the surrounding destruction. Jagged furrows had been carved into the walls and floors, smoking and steaming. The smell of ionized air mixed with that of boiling sewage, creating a particularly offensive smell.

‘What… just happened?’

Seeing that nothing was moving, and given his head still throbbed from the impact, Cedric took a moment to collect his thoughts. It seemed that, when he modified the spell, something unexpected occurred. There was a type of chain reaction, with the electrostatic-gradient actually drawing power from himself, more than he intended to invest into the spell.

The result was a tremendous energy consumption, actually using up about half of his mana. It was an unacceptable mistake to make—he hadn’t known the spell’s effect in advance, but that was exactly the problem. His aching body, the high-pitched whine in his ears and the exhaustion seeping into his limbs told Cedric just how reckless he’d been.

‘From now on, no more untested spells.’

Resolving to be more careful, he muttered a few words, feeling the injuries on his body disappear. His mana depleted further, but the trade-off was worth it. He didn’t want to go into his next conflict only having hearing on one side.

Extending his mind, he found the environment to be empty and sterile. There were no signs of the two attackers ahead. The mage was gone as well, though Cedric was careful about assuming his death.

However, checking again just to be safe, there was one faint, flickering sign of life, and it was right next to him.

Turning his head, Cedric spotted the assassin. Or, well, what remained of her. The word ‘charred corpse’ came to mind, but she was still alive, drawing uneven, raspy breaths. Her face looked terrible, bloody, burned and cracked, with a big, weeping fissure running across her face. Her hair was all but gone, replaced by a short, black crust, covering her hair like the burnt bristles on an unskinned piece of pork.

However, the worst damage was to her limbs. Somehow, her boots were gone, exposing her blackened feet. The flesh there was entirely stripped off, resembling something desiccated, or a piece of jerky left in the sun for too long. Her arms were in a similar state, burned away and useless up to the elbow.

“…”

Cedric was taken aback, but not really surprised. He wasn’t so stupid as to not protect himself, but with the spell going haywire, there was no time to worry about his prisoner. Consequently, she’d taken a few hundred kilovolts head-on. It was a miracle she was still alive.

Thinking for a moment, Cedric leaned over her, putting a hand on her shoulder. He didn’t feel any guilt about nearly killing her. Instead, he was simply loathe to waste such a valuable resource. With Silver away on a mission and that piece of trash dead or captured, Cedric needed a helper. Her rare and considerable skill only added to his desire to keep her.

Snaking a tendril of thought into her mind – needed for what he was about to do – he found her in a state of shock and turmoil. She was half awake, half unconscious, trapped in a fever dream of pain and encroaching death.

Drawing on her senses, he got an idea of where she’d taken the most damage—her internal organs, particularly her heart.

‘Waise Heill.’

Whispering the phrase, Cedric concentrated on what he wanted to heal. Ultimately, he didn’t know enough to restore her body to before the attack, nor would he if he could. It would consume too much energy, even using her own stores to compensate.

He withdrew his consciousness, feeling the healing take effect. Outwardly, she was still a mess, but she would live a while longer. He’d leave her here for now and come back when the mess was sorted out. Whether someone else found her or she escaped by herself didn’t matter. Aside from someone with modern medical knowledge or perhaps an elf, the girl would die without attention.

Straightening, Cedric returned his gaze to the tunnels. With two collapsed, he had only one option. Assuming the mage survived, or there being more attackers, he was likely looking at an ambush. Of course, them entirely withdrawing was an option, but it was safer to assume the worst.

As he was about to take a step forward, taking care not to stumble given his persisting disorientation, he suddenly felt something reach out for his mind—a consciousness far more powerful than he expected.

What the hell was happening now? Surely, they wouldn’t send someone of this caliber after him? It was completely overkill for dealing with an unknown rogue mage!

Cedric grit his teeth, fortifying his mental defenses. He hadn’t expected to be in for the fight of his life today. Fortunately, he had his gems, and a particularly nasty back-up spell he’d been preparing. He didn’t know if it would be enough, but-…

However, to both his shock and relief, it turned out to be someone familiar.

‘Cedric!’

Feeling Saphira’s presence, he relaxed involuntarily, letting his barriers down.

‘Saphira…? What do you want? No, forget it. I’m a little busy right now. I’ll get back to you later-…’

‘Eragon is gone! Brom wanted to go after him, but he says something is happening in the city!’

Cedric’s eyebrow twitched. He fought to keep his irritation from seeping into her mind, but didn’t quite manage it. Frankly, he couldn’t give less of a shit about Eragon. Especially not right now, but he supposed they had a deal.

‘Look, I really can’t right now. Like I said, I need some time. I’ll get into touch after I’m done… dealing with a minor annoyance.’

Saphira was silent for a moment, sensing his emotions. She seemed unhappy that he didn’t jump to help, but stopped herself from snapping at him.

‘Are you in trouble? What’s happening?’

‘Just something small. I’ll get back to you.’

‘Cedric, wait…!’

However, before Saphira could continue pestering him, he cut their connection. He couldn’t afford to be distracted right now.

Taking a breath, he took a single step, debris crunching under his feet. Hopefully, he’d catch the tail of whatever thing was trying to mess with him. If the assassin died, then he’d have no clue about the forces hiding in the dark.

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