Tiyana's footsteps were silent as she was skulking around the seemingly abandoned warehouse in the City of Common Second of Elderhearth. The night was quiet, but that was usual for the late night hours on a Wednesday. It was the middle of the week, and the Common Second was a worker city. People there were resting before their morning shifts inside Elderhearth's many factories and other workshops. She had bribed the few Night Guards that were prowling the area, and her path was clear and unobstructed. The work she was doing benefited Elderhearth, as much as it benefited her own personal vendetta against the Triumvirate – the prevalent terrorist organization that was present within the entirety of Pelaraam. It was a public secret that the organization based their headquarters somewhere inside Elderhearth, and she swore that she would do everything in her power to bring down the bastards that took Reggie from her.
The Triumvirate had existed for a long time now, perhaps some hundred years. But in the years since Uther Dawnbringer took the Throne of Elderhearth, their efforts had tripled. There was an invisible war going on between Emperor Uther, his forces and the Triumvirate – and it had been affecting the lives and safety of millions. Not two weeks ago, a secured Librarian facility (the type that stored experimental weaponry and powerful Crystal batteries) was hit, leaving a dozen of Librarian mages dead, and the facility raided. One thing that’s unique about the Triumvirate is that they are mainly comprised of mages who believe in a ludicrous idea of free mages – or rather – they believed in the idea where societal hierarchy was supposed to be comprised of powerful mages, who did not have to bow down to the requests, rules and laws given out by measly humans with no real power. Political power – to them – represented an illusion humans gave themselves in order to claim power in a world where mages who have the ability to bend the forces of reality to their wills exist.
But they forget one thing. One very important thing, and that is – no matter how strong of a mage you are, you still die like a human. Power means nothing, if you let your guard down. There’s an old saying that goes “if you get drunk on power, you become blind to the powerless”, and Tiyana had spent countless hours honing her skills, training and practicing for that very mission: killing mages. Her unique trait was that she was not a mage. She was just one very determined woman, driven by vengeful wrath.
She crouched near one of the warehouse windows, peeking her head over to look inside – making sure that her head stays well hidden. The small crystal on her Cloaking bracelet, that essentially made her invisible to anyone looking for her – emanated a dim glow, which meant that the Warehouse was being actively warded against uninvited guests. She allowed herself a wry smile, as she was memorizing the layout of the Triumvirate mages who were walking around the inside of the warehouse. There were four of them. Two were doing rounds over the large open space, leisurely looking around. The other two were climbing up and down the two staircases that led to the offices on the upper floor. Their overinflated ego that screamed invincibility will be their ultimate end. To be casually strolling inside one of their more important compounds inside a City where the Inquisition, the Blackthorne Corps and various other powerful organizations that specialized in taking out mage-related threats existed – was not only thoughtless, but outright stupid.
Tiyana gave her weapons a final inspection before breaching inside. Her two large slugger guns that fired sharpened steel slugs were loaded and ready. She initiated a charge on one of the slugger guns, which made the Crystal mechanism inside faintly hum. Thirty seconds before it was ready. The first shot from that gun will be devastating. One Charged Shot could penetrate through thick concrete walls with ease – her lips curved into a vicious smile, as she remembered the damage a Charged Shot does to a mage. The remaining three smaller hand guns were locked and loaded. She took out a small ring with a square Crystal on it and slipped it on her finger. It was the Aegis Ring, a magic item that could deploy a powerful shield that was able to block most spells that were hurled at her.
Fighting mages is a delicate process that required a person to be equipped with adequate magic items that would provide enough utility to fight against mages of various powers – and Tiyana made sure that she had a large arsenal of those to pick and choose from. They were mostly situational, but the Aegis Ring and the Cloaking Bracelet were her essentials she always wore. She may be crazy for fighting mages as a non-mage, but she wasn’t stupid to do it without the necessary equipment. Her favorite one was the Razor Whirlwind – a pocket sized sphere that, once activated and thrown in a group of people – would explode in a fast, circulating gust of wind that had hundreds of small, razor-sharp metal fillings, rending anyone in its proximity with a thousand cuts. It was both a good offensive item, and a defensive item. She used it many times to give herself a quick escape. As always, she carried two of those with her.
Tiyana took out a round, fist-sized plate. In its center, there was a dim crystal. She inspected it briefly, and placed it on the stone wall beneath the window she was crouching by. When she pressed the crystal, a clicking sound was heard as the plate stuck itself to the stone surface and the crystal began to glow.
“Fifteen seconds.” Tiyana murmured silently. She left the device planted on the wall and swiftly moved towards the main entrance to the warehouse – counting down to herself.
Seven seconds later, she was standing in front of the door. She felt the cold, wooden handle of her slugger gun underneath her palm before drawing the weapon.
“Four.”
She took a deep breath.
“Three.”
She took a step back and pointed her shoulder towards the wooden door.
“Two.”
Her lips curved into an eager smile.
“One.”
The sudden explosion echoed in the empty district, as Tiyana used the loud sound to cover the noise of her breaking down the door of the warehouse, tearing them off of their hinges with the impact of her shoulder bash. She flew inside the warehouse and was greeted with an expanding cloud of stone dust and splintered wood falling to the floor. Debris from the Breaching Plate’s explosion. Her attentive eyes scanned the room quickly, and she saw that three of the four mages were already moving into battle formation near the hole in the wall – which gave her enough opening to get rid of the first mage. She aimed down her slugger gun at the mage on the right staircase, and as his eyes were widening in shock as he registered her entry – she fired.
She always loved the opening shot of any battle. For her, time slows down to a crawl, and she feels like she can take in every little detail of her opening kill. The slug flew out of the gun, twisting around its axis as it flew towards the mage whose mouth was opening into a shout, his hand slowly flying upwards, to point an accusing finger at her. But her slug was faster. And far more deadly than any of his shouts and pointed fingers could ever be.
The slug took the mage across the side of the face, blowing a part of his head clean off. Blood sprayed in a violent cloud as his remaining eye turned to the inside of his skull. His corpse immediately slumped, the force of the slug throwing his head backwards, and pulling his entire body with it. She exhaled the breath she had held this entire time, and as the last molecules of air left her lungs – the body of the dead mage crashed into the wooden staircase.
Time quickly sped up to its normal pace, as she instinctively raised her arm – activating the Aegis Ring, throwing up an Essence Shield in front of her just in time to block an ice blast from one of the mages that had time to react to her. The ice exploded into a mist and she dashed forward.
The Ice mage was standing near the bottom of the staircase that was near the hole in the wall, his eyes glowing with a cold, blue color as another ice blast was forming above his outstretched palm.
The second mage was running towards her, flailing an ax around him – trailing fire. “A fire enchanter, probably”? She thought to herself.
The third mage was a giant of a man, and she knew the moment she saw him that he would be a problem. The mage had an extra pair of arms jutting out below his regular arms, and the four limbs were covered in a shiny, metallic exterior. “A powerful Body mage. Do I hate those, by the Dawnbringer”. She cursed in her mind.
The Fire mage was preparing his axe for a wide, downward swing – but Tiyana was already in her zone. Thinking quickly, she threw herself on her knees, sliding underneath the Fire mage’s legs. In a moment, she was back up on her feet, grabbing the mage into a choke hold and destroying his balance by kicking his feet under him – allowing her to violently jerk him to the side. Just in time for the Ice mage’s ice blast, which struck his ally square in the chest. The Fire mage let out a strangled breath as Tiyana felt a wave of ice spreading across the mage’s body very quickly. She released her hold on him, and threw herself back a few steps. The Fire mage was now standing completely frozen, the fiery glow on his axe going dim.
“Good thing I wasn’t hit by that”. She raised her slugger gun and fired. The Ice mage tried to form an icy barrier in front of himself, but he was too slow, as the slug tore through the thin sheet of ice, blasting a hole in his chest. His body slumped lifelessly.
Tiyana’s smile was quickly removed as her attention snapped towards thumping steps nearing her. The giant Body mage was charging at her, his four arms ready to pummel her into a bloody pulp. She tried to throw herself into a roll to the side, but he was too quick for her. Two fists, armored in magic took her in the side and threw her across the room. Her slugger gun was knocked out of her hand, flying away from her. She crashed through the railing of the right staircase, her vision blackened, her breath ragged. More than two ribs were broken, she was sure. As she was trying to regain her composure, her eyes were met by the lifeless gaze of the remaining eye of the mage she killed first. “Oh shut up.” She groaned, weakly lifting herself up – just in time to become aware of two massive fists streaking towards her head. She threw herself down the stairs, as the Body mage crashed into the wooden staircase, completely destroying the wooden boards – and she was sure she heard a squelching sound. She wasn’t sure if it was from her slamming against the floor, or the Body mage’s fists tearing into the corpse of the dead mage.
She winced in pain, steadying herself as she was getting up. Her breathing was ragged. “Did it pierce my lungs? I can’t let this drag on.” She thought as she decided it wasn’t a good idea to try and feel her bruised side. The Body mage was already making his way toward her, his very presence overbearing as he towered over her. His four arms leisurely swinging at his side.
She noticed a faint glow underneath the flap of her coat, and she suddenly smiled. “The Charged shot”! She remembered. It was ready, as more than thirty seconds have passed. “Oh this one is going to be EXTRA powerful.” She thought to herself, jerking the slugger gun out of its holster.
She raised it at the Body mage, whose lips twisted into an ugly smile. “You think you can hurt me with that little toy, bitch?” his thundering voice sent a shudder through her, as his head suddenly had a metallic texture about it. His arms weren’t armored anymore, but he shielded his entire face, and she saw the metallic armor extended down, over his neck and towards his chest.
This would be a problem, if she was about to shoot a regular slug.
But this was anything but regular.
“Oh, you bet I do.” She said, pointing the slugger gun, which emanated a humming sound from the glowing crystal, directly at the Body mage’s shiny, reflective head that looked like it had a face engraved in its metal surface.
She pulled the trigger, and she felt the Crystal discharge. Green flames licked around the ejected slug, as its surface was covered in tiny cracks, glowing with the same green color – looking as if the slug was overfilled with energy, and that energy was trying to break through the steel surface. The recoil of the Charged shot was so strong, it sent her slugger gun flying from her grip. She made a mental note not to let the Charged shot charge for more than a minute next time.
The slug screamed through the air and slammed into the Body mage’s head with a sound that was akin to the roar of a heavy Siewersk Thundercannon, spitting its large-caliber artillery rounds, like a vengeful mage bringing down the sky on top of his enemies.. It boomed, rattling her bones, and shaking her to her core. A cloud of energy, glowing with a faint green was dissipating from around the Body mage’s head – and the sight was glorious. His face was pushed into the back of his skull, as if it was struck by a large hammer. The Body mage waivered, as the metallic armor dissipated from the surface of his head, leaving only a mangled mess of skin, hair, flesh and bone. His entire head split open like a watermelon and his four-armed corpse slammed into the wooden ground.
“Who’s the bitch now, bitch?” Tiyana drew a ragged breath, as she went over to pick up her two slugger guns, holstering both of them.
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