"Faster!" Mary squeals excitedly as we zoom by, squeezing my leg tighter each time
Though it is a little hard to hear her over the loud howling of the wind blowing from under me and the humming coming from my now–glowing grey blade.
We glide just above the grass smoothly and quickly, pushing faster and faster upon Mary's every command
I am a little surprised this even worked in the first place. I tried copying something like a hover craft, blowing strong winds downwards to let me slip and slide everywhere.
It's taking an ungodly amount of concentration to maintain; even if I take a second to enjoy the scenery or appreciate the laughter, we begin to slow down and wobble all over the place
But despite that, I take a brief peek over my shoulder. I can spot him cresting the hill, barreling frighteningly quickly after us, with another faintly behind him
God, how's he so fast? I'm putting my all to stay ahead of him, but he's just quickly making up any distance between us
Can't let him get to us, can't fail at this one thing
I can see the pink willow just off in the distance, almost at safety
Letting go of my hold on Mary, I begin to flick my wrist back towards him, sending crystallizing droplets of water flying towards him. Each swelling to about the size of a softball. They crash into the ground in front of him, sending grass and dirt flying up in the air, but he just side-steps each one
"Whoah!" Mary exclaims. I can feel her start to slip off as she does
My hand shoots out, halting my barrage. I tightly grab the back of her dress, pressing her towards myself to desperately keep her safe on board
The lapse in concentration causes us to slow and wobble
It is enough for Rider to surge forward and tackle us down to the ground
I drop my grey-blade, the humming coming to an abrupt stop. I cradle Mary's head and shield her the best I can as the three of us go tumbling into the grass and dirt.
As we come to a stop, a slowly building laughter bursts from us
"Good job you two! Great work!" Mother says, briskly jogging up to us. She was somehow never too far behind, seemingly not even breaking a sweat.
"Firstly," she continues, "Rider. Good instincts. If you hadn't timed that tackle just right like that, you could have lost a lot of ground, great work. Now you." She turns abruptly towards Mary and me
"Just what was that?" A smile sprawls across her face, "I have never seen that before! Wasn't that so amazing Mary!"
She scoops her up and starts spinning her in the air. "Just wasn't he amazing! First skilled at magic at a young age, and just a few years later he's even making his own magic! Isn't he just so cool?!"
"Ya! Big brother is so cool!" Mary giggles in agreement
Both giggling like little girls, Mother continues to proudly sing my praises as she tosses Mary playfully into the air
It is just amazing how close they have become with each other
Since that day in the alley, Mary has been sticking to my side everywhere, every day; I practically have to carry her back to Ms. Eve myself at the end of the day
Mother used to seem so uneasy every time she saw her next to me. But recently, she has started to act affectionately towards her, scenes like this happening more and more. I guess they were able to connect on one thing
I can't help but smile. Even Rider is laughing now
He used to be so jumpy, worried about having Mary around. He would always complain, trying to get her back home to Ms. Eve. "Just her being out here–being seen with us is dangerous! They can torture us or something!". I felt he was uncharacteristically overreacting each and every time, though there is a part of me that could understand where it was coming from.
Even now as he laughs with us, I can tell that there is a part of him that is still tensed whenever Mary is around
Mother, now holding Mary, turns back towards us. "Now, can either of you two tell me how Rider was able to catch up to Jace so quickly?"
Wait, how did he? I know he's fast, but I felt like I was almost hitting 30 miles per hour or something
"Was I using… Magic?…" Rider slowly says with a puzzled look
"Close, but technically no." Mother carefully sits down cross-legged, "though it does use mana… Well, we're pretty sure it does"
I give Mother a confused look myself as she continues
"The technique has a few names, but people usually call it Martial Amping. It's essentially a way for warriors to compete with the fantastical feats of mages, allowing people to augment their physical capabilities."
Rider raises his hand.
"Yes Rider?"
"What does that mean? Physical capabilities?"
"Oh, well tha-"
"You can make yourself stronger, faster. Right Mom?" I interject
"Well… Yes, that is correct. As far as I am aware, it burns your reserves of mana to do so. Though how to start using it is harder to explain." She flexes her hand, "It's like using a muscle that you didn't know existed. Once you figure it out, you just know–it becomes easier to use. You two know what I mean?"
"So big brother can go even faster?" Mary asks
"Oh, I bet he can. I have a great idea." Mother sets Mary down, and stands back up. "Have you kids ever heard of the game catch-em? I used to play as a kid"
Slowly, Rider and I start to stand back up
"No? So, how do we play?" I ask Mom, though I may have a slight inkling of what this could be
"I am going to start as the catcher, you two will have to run away from me. If I catch you, you will become the catcher and I will become a runner and so on. Simple right? One other thing, you can't use magic to directly harm someone–you can use it to block a path or something, but you can't trip them."
"Okay, I will give you two to the count of ten, then I'm coming after you. Ten, nine, eight-"
Immediately, Rider begins booking it back towards the direction of Haven, before I can react to Mother's counting
I was always terrible at tag
"-Seven, six. Come on Jace! Get going!"
Right!
I start running myself. I'm a bit tired, but I think I'll be fine.
Now what to do? Clearly I can't outrun those two, and I think riding the winds would sort of defeat the purpose. But I can maybe out-wit them… I hope
As I'm running, I can hear someone's voice from behind me
"We're coming Big brother!" I hear Mary yell behind me
On Mother's back, they both come barreling towards me, a wild grin on Mother's face
With a new sense of urgency, I try picking up the pace, heading towards the gates to Haven.
Rider is ahead of me, he must have had the same idea
One of the guards spots us as we approach the gate. "Oi! What's the matter boys!? What's got you running like–Oh!" A brief look of realization crosses their face as they peer behind us, clearing the way for our escape.
I try to slow down and apologize, but another guard just shoos us along. "It's fine, go along! Good luck!" He shouts after
Right as I cross the threshold of the town, I can feel a palm slam into my back
"Caught ya!" Mother says, grinning like a child as she runs off again. Mary waves at me as they disappear into the bustling crowds
Great, I think as I slow down to catch my breath, just what am I going to do?
Just like I thought, I'm clearly not going to be able to catch up to Rider, gods, let alone Mother. So what should I do?
But as I'm thinking, I spot Rider ducking behind a building out of the corner of my eye
If there's one thing I have learned from our heroic escapades; I have a better sense of direction.
Pushing back into a run, I slip behind the buildings and chase after Rider
——————————————————————————————————
It's a good long while before I am able to get even remotely close to him, as he darts in and out of side streets
"C'mon, why don't ya let me tag ya"
"Not how the game works!" He yells over his shoulder
He abruptly turns left, entering the weathered stone buildings of old-town
I hadn't seen Mother and Mary for a while, but that isn't surprising
These maze like buildings can work to my advantage
He darts back behind buildings as I continue to pursue on the main street
A few buildings down, I will set my trap
Just as I am coming towards old-man Riley's store, I dart between the buildings just before it
Rider looks at me surprised as I cut him off, almost tripping as he scampers around a corner
It's all coming together
I chase after him, down the thinning alley
As I get closer and closer, the passage begins to come to an abrupt end
Alarmed, Rider looks around wildly for an escape
"I've got you this time buddy!" I yell triumphantly at him
Finally, I'm about ready to pass out!
I get closer and closer, but right when I'm about to tag him, the craziest thing happens
He quickly looks up to a nearby roof. Tensing his leg, he crouches down into a jump. His leg muscles seem to bizarrely tense
Jumping high above me, soaring into the air, he tumbles onto a nearby roof
"C'mon!"
"Wha! Did you see that! Did ya!" Rider excitedly calls to me
"Whoah!" I hear Mary exclaim from behind me again as Mother runs up from behind me out of nowhere. In one fluid motion, she parkours off the walls and joins Rider on the roof
"That's exactly it, good work Rider!" She smiles back down at me, "C'mon slow poke, try to keep up!"
They both disappear out of view
Of course
I close my eyes and try to focus
Getting into a crouch, just like Rider did, I prepare my body for an Olympic level leap
"I got this, I totally got this"
Hyaa!
Every single muscle in my leg works in unison, sending me into the air
I barely make it ten-inches off the ground
Fine
Crouching back down, I place my hand onto the ground. Paper cuts line the edge of my hand as a gust of wind pushes me into the air, maybe a little too strongly
Twisting and tumbling in the air, I fall hard onto the roof. A searing pain cuts into my side as I start to roll off the roof
"Fuck!"
I barely grab onto the edge before falling off, groaning as I lift myself back onto the roof
I... I just
No
Rider is still probably my best option
Sorely, I get back up
Luckily, all the houses are roughly next to each other, so I am able to jump from roof to roof rather easily. But I can feel myself slowing down with every leap, but I am catching up to Rider
He is effortlessly bounding between buildings, leaping high into the air
What else can I do? How can I go faster?
I can feel my heart thumping with each and every step I make, my nerves sending shocks throughout my body
I can't dissapoint them again
A dark creeping feeling, a shadow mixed with an un-namable drive and anger seems like it arcs in my mind, until a cerulean glow pops in my vision
Crackling arcs lick the ground as blue lightning bathes my body in a buzzing numbness
Everything seems to be off, slowing to a fraction of a second of what it used to be as every sensation seems to heighten
The moment my foot touches the ground, I dash forward in a flash. Each stride I make seems to cover more ground than the last as the world flies past me
In less than a second, I am within arm's reach of Rider, catching him by surprise
"Ah ha!" I scream, my body instantly letting out a sigh of relief as I grab him by his collar
Startled, he grabs my arm. With surprising strength, he flips me over his shoulder instinctively, sending my flying off the edge of the building
There is a flash of recognition as I fly over him. Instead of letting me go, he keeps holding on
The momentum pulls us off the roof and crashing into the ground
All I can do is just lay there and moan in pain
"Ugh, I think I'm it now." he says with a groan
"Ya, I guess, heh." A dry chuckle escaping my mouth
"Ya, heh"
We lay here in the dirt for a while, until another chill sends our hairs on ends as a shadow covers us
"Oh good lords, it seems you kids are a bit hurt"
His voice seems steeped in a viscous kindness, freezing me in place
He resembles a Christian priest, dressed all in black with white accents. He almost feels military-esque with his handsome but scarred face, and short–almost buzzed hair
"You need a hand, boys?" He smiles as he extends a heavily bandaged arm out to me.
It seems to draw you in, his smile I mean, bathed in sticky kindness. But if your gaze wanders upward towards his eyes, you can't help but look away, getting drawn back into that addictive smile
Something about him makes me recoil away just from the thought
"Oh my! I apologize if I have done something to offend you. Would you at least permit me to heal your wounds? You both have taken quite the tumble, please allow me to do that much"
"I don't know about that, we can just go to Fall-"
"Oh! Why thank you! Are you a priest?" Rider speaks up, "I haven't seen you around before, are you new here?"
"You're quite observant. I have been sent here by my god to help you fine people, so let me start with you two, if you would kindly?"
Before I can interject, Rider is already reaching out to take his hand
His smile turns over towards me. "See? Wasn't that easy?" He says, reaching out a hand to me
Gingerly, I take it
"Oh dear, it seems you are more beat up than I thought, If you would only give me a second"
"... Alright"
As he forcibly lifts me up with an icy vice around my arm, his grip tightens even harder as he begins to mutter an incantation
Though incantation does not feel like an accurate enough description. It is filled with verse like rhyming and religious sounding words, so prayer feels more accurate
But my worries get pushed to the back of my mind
His hand buzzes, emitting a faint golden-orange glow. It is quite warm, filled with millions of escalating pin-pricks
All I can do is stare in awe
I've been so engrossed in magical theory, I don't know much else about this world, let alone their gods and their magic
Though there is magics that can regrow limbs, cure any disease, or even bring life back from the dead, it is all regulated towards the divine influence of holy magic. There have been a few scholars that were able to heal cuts and bruises with their intellect, it would quickly evolve towards necromancy often enough
But my thoughts are quickly cut short
"Big brother!"
"Oi! What in the hells are you doing to my son!"
Mother comes storming in, still holding Mary who is staring at us with a grim expression
"I do apologize, miss." He quickly releases my arm. "I was just passing by and thought they could use some healing magics. I am sorry if I have caused you some problems with me doing so, I only had the best of intentions"
He gives Mother his dripping smile, who returns with an uncharacteristic frown
His face lights up when he notices Mary. "Oh, just who might this lovely young lady be? Your daughter perhaps? She is quite lovely... Despite her… seeming circumstance"
Mary buries her face into Mother's neck just from the sound of his voice, Mother in turn furrows her brow at him
"She is unimportant."
She pushes between us and the man, "And can you tell me why an un-marked priest is wandering around outside the church district like this? Which god do you follow?"
"My apologies miss. I am Victor Verdä, a newly found follower of God; my master sent me here to preach and plead with your "Lord", to grant me sanctuary in your lovely town. I only wish to spread our teachings. I do apologize if my un-announced arrival has brought some discomfort"
Mother takes a second to chew on her lip before responding. "No, I must apologize for my conduct as well. If you really are new, then welcome to Haven." She turns around to where Rider and I are awkwardly standing, "C'mon boys, let's go home"
She briskly turns on her heel and marches in the opposite direction of Victor. "Are you coming?"
I can see Mary looking at us pleadingly over her shoulder
Rider and I just give each other an uneasy look before jogging to catch up with Mother
"Oh right!" Victor calls out, "I knew you looked familiar, you must be madame Cassandra Bell, the wife to the esteemed Arch-Angel lord Siph Bell, what an honor for you to be among the first for me to meet! I do wish we can get along well, your ladyship"
I can see the muscles in her jaw tighten at his words, but doesn't respond
We walk solemnly for a long while, until Rider breaks the silence
"Lady Bell?"
"Yes Rider?" Mother still seems tense, but puts on a smile
"Who is God? I've never heard of... him? before"
"How do you not-" I instinctively respond, before being cut-off by Mother's confused look before she continues
"I haven't heard of any new gods, let alone one egotistical enough–well, other than Solaire--to call themselves something like "The God". Though I have heard of these cultists worming their way into towns and cities, they're from the mountains up north or something"
She stops to try to give us a wide smile, though I think I've lived long enough with her to see the frown she is trying to mask for us
"It is nothing, nothing you have to worry about... Anyways, good job Rider, I see that you've gotten the hang of physical amps?"
"I think so! You were right! It's really hard to describe it." Rider turns to me, "Sorry Jace, though that lightning thing was just so cool! How'd you do that?"
"Lightning?" Mother asks, the frown under her smile promptly melting. "What lightning?"
"We got onto the roof, right?! Then you went off and Jace started chasing after me, but Jace was so far behind! Then suddenly there was all these popping sounds, and he tagged me!"
"So I see we had a loser for today's game," Mother's signature mischievous grin, familiarly shining at me
"Not me! I was able to get him back right away!... Well, sort of..."
"Is that when you two fell?"
"Well... Not exactly, more like he threw me over his shoulder and I dragged us both down"
Mother lets out a bellowing laugh, "hahaha! I'm sorry I wasn't around for that, I go too into the game I guess. But you two are big and strong, right Mary?"
"Ya! Super strong and cool!" Mary Cheers
"It is a bit funny," Mother continues, "I think I did something very similar when me and Siph were kids, he had a bloody nose for a few days after I think." She settles into a soft smile to herself as she thinks
She quickly recovers
"Let's go make a visit to Ms. Misha and Mr. Fallen, make sure everything is in working order, then we can go make ourselves some tasty lunch, sound like a good idea?"
"Ya!" we three kids unanimously cheer