Chương 26: What is best in life

Ch 26: What is best in life Felix found it was best in life to assume you were fucked. First, it made every victory a pleasant surprise. Second, it prepared you for the worst. He had no idea how and if the school's mages could help him. But this philosophy dictated he assume they couldn't. So he walked towards statue-man, still hoping to rip off those swords. And if they didn't come off, maybe beat the others to death with its arms. But he prepared to be interrupted by a charge. The cat-men didn't disappoint.

With a round of hisses, three more of the furry creatures came barreling forward with claws and fangs. They were fast, and they were cunning, but they weren't soldiers. Like most creatures seeing violence, they were afraid for themselves, and mostly in each other's way. Felix moved as if ready to strike the one in the middle. Then as it faltered, he dashed right and swiped at the cat on the side. He hit it somewhere in the chest with a decent blow, but not hard enough to kill it.

Two of the cats went scrambling past, the one he'd hit dropping and spinning fast enough to rake his leg with a shallow wound before it twisted away. Felix circled, trying to keep the creatures in each other's way. They came on now in a cautious pack, yeowling and slashing but too wary to jump at him. He swatted at their hands and broke a wrist before the things shrunk back. But statue-man was coming. It was a lot bigger up close.

And Felix had no idea how he was going to fight it without getting his ass shredded by cats. In his mind or maybe soul he could feel the inferno roiling, angry to be left out, feeding on Felix's pain. He figured he could just let it loose, but he doubted the elemental or golem or whatever it was feared fire. And if these cat-men were really immune to magic it would be a complete waste. Better to smash them all to bits. Wherever you were in the world, that pretty much always worked. Another cat lunged.

This time Felix leaned in and caught it with his bar in the jaw. It twisted and dropped unconscious. The other two cats fell back just as the heavy footfalls of the golem came. Felix turned and pulled back expecting a sword. But the creature had stopped entirely. It was surrounded by a… floating bubble of water, feet lifted off the ground. It jabbed and kicked but obviously couldn't move. Felix saw High Mage Hasha on the grass waving his hands. A good warrior didn't waste an opportunity.

Felix charged at the nearest cat, swerving like he was chasing a rabbit as it fled. His magic-induced speed won out, and he got a hand on the little bastard's leg before crushing its spine with his club. The other cat bolted. When Felix rose up to assess he realized the ogre with wings was in the back chanting. So that was great. He'd never known an ogre to memorize more than about three words in a row, one of which always included food, or violence. It gave him a very bad feeling.

He was readying to run over and deal with it, but all along the teacher's building now he saw mages chanting, too. With a crack like lightning, power flared between them. The air shimmered and flashed. Little clouds or mist was forming and blocking Felix's view. With only a moment to decide, he turned and went at the golem, hoping to hurt it somehow while it was helpless. He jabbed his arm and club into the water bubble like a spear, straight at the creature's elbow.

But as his skin touched the water, he felt the fire inside him flare and twist with contempt. The water mana hissed, splashing on the ground as the golem dropped to its feet. So that was a mistake. Felix winced and pulled back from a sword swipe. Then another. His two feet of dull iron was starting to feel like a bad joke, and he kept moving back as the thing swung. But more and more people were streaming into the square.

The ground ripped apart at the golem's feet, roots twisting at its ankles before the dirt reformed and trapped it from the knees down. The thing struggled, but guards with spears and hammers were moving in now and attacking its arms as yet more roots ripped from the ground and held it. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Felix let out a breath, and looked for more trouble. His pulse calmed when he looked at the palace.

Isa was still standing there with Cara and some of her family surrounded by guards. He met her big, brown eyes, and something about the whole situation clicked into place. This attack made no sense. He didn't understand these isles or these people, obviously. But that ogre thing was a mage. Probably a mercenary. This felt like a paid assault using some kind of competent outsiders. It was quick and coordinated and seemed to have happened in a weird place that caught the Amadi by surprise. But why would they do it?

Even if Felix hadn't been there, he expected the attack was doomed. It was just a matter of time unless they turned and ran, which he suspected they would. Because when he looked at Isa and some of her family members he understood—it was a distraction. They couldn't take the palace with the numbers they had. But they could make a really big mess. And maybe kill a specific target.

"Cara!" he shouted, running towards Isa at full speed.

"Protect Isa! Assassins!" He'd hardly gotten the words out before he saw something shimmer in the air near the wall. The fire mage who'd escaped him near the outskirts of the city stepped out as if camouflaged into the stone, his hands moving and glowing with power. He was holding something like a vase. His face was pale and twisted with effort. He opened his mouth in an expression of pain, teeth clenched as the vase broke apart in his hands. Cara dove at Isa. Fire exploded in the center of the royal family.

Screams and bits and pieces of human being erupted with a terrible shock of physical power, flying off in random directions. The burst of magic even reached Felix like a gust of wind and a slap to his chest. It was like seeing a ship full of oil catch fire and erupt. He blinked through the rushing air, mind blank, no interest in the consequences until he saw it for himself. Logic tried to tell him nothing could have survived. That Isa and whoever else was there before had died instantly.

That he should turn and fight for the survivors. But he shut it all out and charged straight into the smoke. Inside there were scarred rends in the stone walkway, like a giant scythe had sliced away chunks. Broken bodies and torn off limbs had splattered against walls, or lay scattered and burnt dozens of feet away. In the center of it all, a bubble of blue water spun and sprayed drops in every direction. The stone behind it was untouched, as if the water had somehow protected it from the explosion.

And there, in the middle of the devastation, in the circle of mayhem and blood, Felix saw Isa. She looked horrified. Afraid. But unharmed. She was like a painting of some renowned beauty, her hands held wide in a pose for the artist. Her skin was a shade of blue from the sphere. Cara was on the ground beneath her, hugging her legs. Felix froze in wonder, staring until he realized the assassin was still alive. The 'vase' in his hands had shattered.

One of his hands was missing, his skin drooping like he was a half melted candle. But still he stumbled towards Isa, his remaining hand holding a knife. Felix crossed the stone, hopped over a jagged rut, and hit the assassin with his metal bar so hard his head caved in. He stood there panting, flame roiling inside him, a red tinge to his vision. He wanted revenge. To find whoever was trying to kill Isa and rip them apart. But he was in a battle. There were more enemies.

He turned and saw the Amadi wizards and guards had captured or killed everything except the ogre. The square was littered with blood, corpses, water pools and ripped up grass. Felix slowly felt himself relax. Or maybe start to pass out. He'd lost a lot of blood. While he could, though, he walked to Isa and put his hands against the bubble, trying to shout that she was safe. The magic hissed against his hands then dropped.

He shivered as a cold feeling washed over him, sloshing even in his fortress somewhere he couldn't see.

"You're safe now," he said, moving slowly and carefully towards the island princess.

"Let's get you inside."

"My brothers," she said, almost absently as she met his eyes. Cara was groaning and standing up with blood staining one ear. Felix tried to help her stand but she wavered and had to lean on his bloody shoulder. He tried not to wince.

"My brothers were right beside me," Isa said. Her face was pale as a sheet, her eyes far away. He'd seen it in men on the battlefield—some at the beginning, some at the end. The terror of sudden violence and loss could send a person far away. To old memories, or some imaginary place where everything was dull and intangible.

"Are you alright, Isa? Are you hurt?"

"Me? No. Nothing can hurt me in my..." She waved like she couldn't find the words to explain. Felix was pretty sure the attack was over, but 'pretty sure' wasn't good enough. He pulled Cara and took Isa's arm. The second he touched her she practically wrapped herself around his chest. They just stood there holding each other a moment, Isa panting, Cara groaning, Felix bleeding.

"We have to go, princess. You need to walk."

"You keep protecting me," she whispered.

"Why do you do that?" She looked at the destruction around her and Felix forced her eyes back to his.

"How did this…" She saw his blood was staining her dress and her eyes went wide.

"You're hurt. We need to get you to a healer."

"Good idea. Let's go."

"Felix!" Silas' voice. The kid ran up with a big grin, wiping sweat from his brow.

"I plugged the wall. You should have seen me. Though that stupid mage got away. Wait, is that…a leg? Did a bunch of people explode or something?" Felix stared at the kid with potentially real violent threat if he said another word. Silas stopped smiling, making a face like 'oh'.

"Let's go, Isa." She nodded silently against his chest, and he forced them all step by step back towards the palace.