Wizard Ch. 19

Artesia forced herself up and ignored the sharp ache in her side. Or was it her back? She saw her sword and snatched it up before turning and seeing the dragonkin had knocked one man down. He was bleeding from gashes in his leg. It turned to the other and drew its tail back.

"Hey, snake face!" Artesia grunted at it as she staggered forward.

The dragonkin turned and flicked its tail in a feint. Artesia ignored the tail, it was too far away. The dragonkin leapt back and away, twisting itself so it faced her straight on. Artesia kept coming, sword held out straight in her right arm.

It drew back, coiling up its muscles to pounce. Artesia staggered to her left a few steps, ruining its approach. It twisted to face her and then stepped. The tail lashed out but she ducked and threw her gently chewed left arm up. She batted the deadly tip high and kicked her boot out, catching the dragonkin under the tip of his snout.

The beast's jaw snapped together with a loud clack. Artesia slashed down, cutting a deep groove in the back and shoulder. She drew back even as the dragonkin lashed out at her and staggered her with a slash across her greave. Her leg twisted and she lost her balance, staggering her back to her left again.

Artesia pushed herself forward and thrust her sword out, burying the enchanted tip into the dragonkin's shoulder and cutting through bone before it slid between ribs and into its chest. It jerked away from her, twisting and leaping the side. Artesia's blade, caught between bones as it was, snapped off just above the hilt.

Artesia lost her balance and fell to her knees. She caught herself on her hands and looked up. The dragonkin thrashed and twisted, dancing for a moment before it slowed, staggered, and fell to the ground.

"You killed it!"

Artesia looked up. The slave approached her. "You killed all of them!"

"Just three," Artesia mumbled. She forced herself to her feet and turned. "Lord John!"

"No, I'm Andrew."

Artesia ignored him other than to say, "Help your... him. He's bleeding."

"So are you!" he said.

Artesia ignored him and tried to run. She staggered and nearly fell. She couldn't take a deep breath and her body wasn't working the way it had even a few minutes ago. She ground her teeth and looked down at her sword. All she had was a hilt and a nub of a blade not fit for cutting butter. She threw it away and tugged a long handled hatchet off her back. She tried to draw her dagger with her other hand but found she couldn't grip the handle with any strength.

"Fucking wizards," Artesia growled and limped over the footing of the outer wall and looked around. Some slaves had gathered, others had run down the path. She saw corpses too, draconian and dragonkin as well as three former slaves. She made it to the entrance of the manor and peered through the open doorway. Light shown down from further in, where openings in the roof had yet to be finished. There were bodies inside too, another slave and another dragonkin. She took a step in when something big and black stepped into the corridor at the far end.

Artesia raised her axe and then blinked away her confusion and saw it wasn't a draconian. It was John. In his black robe. For a moment he'd looked larger and, well, more menacing. She shook her head and nodded. "My lord... I handled the southern flank, as promised."

John walked up to her, black flames disappearing from his hands. He blinked and, she realized, his eyes seemed to light up. She found herself almost smiling, except her face hurt too much.

"Your hurt."

"You should see the other guys."

"Your sword?"

"Broke."

John nodded. "We'll get you another. A good one."

"I... I'm sorry, my lord, I need help."

John frowned and then reached to steady her. "Artesia, what's wrong?"

She struggled to swallow and pulled in a short breath. "Getting hard to breathe."

John scowled and turned. "Roxanne!"

"Coming!" Roxanne shouted. A moment later she jogged around the corner and her eyes widened when she saw Artesia. Roxanne was limping and her newest shirt was stained red on the left side of her belly. There were tears in it too, tears from dragonkin claws, but they couldn't see how bad the wound was.

John grabbed Artesia's arm and slipped it over his shoulder. Artesia hissed in pain and then found she could breathe a little better. She looked at him in surprise.

Roxanne grabbed her other arm, surprising the woman-at-arms. In seconds she was half walking, half being carried out of the manor. They kept going, taking her to a clear section of the plateau where Sadie was tending to the wounded man that had helped Artesia. They'd made their way over.

"What... oh... oh my! Zynga?"

Artesia noticed Zynga then, standing off to the side and keeping a shrewd eye on their surroundings. She'd only seen her like this once and no one had noticed. She'd almost convinced herself she'd been seeing things. Now that wasn't possible.

"Roxanne," Zynga said, her voice holding a more sibilant hiss. Her skin was red and she had claw tipped wings. Her clothing was... well, it was truly the stuff of nightmares. Ever busty, she wore a black two piece outfit that consisted of some otherworldly leather with metal plates that served as cups to hold her breasts and diadem shaped strips that fell to her knees between her legs and increasingly shorter as each strip neared her hips. There was a gap between strips too big enough for a little finger where they were connected to her long slung belt.

Zynga's hands were tipped with black claws an inch long. Her ears were sharply pointed and her teeth looked no less lethal, though they were far shorter. A tail hung in the air behind her, curled up with a sharp tip that looked nothing like the dragonkin tails, but was no less dangerous for it.

"So this is what you meant," Roxanne said.

Zynga looked at her and nodded. "Yes. This... this is my true form."

"Oh."

"Sadie, Artesia's hurt," John said, shattering the moment. "Sounds like her ribs are broke."

John slipped out from under Artesia. Her arm settling down returned the pressure and a new wave of pain. She staggered and nodded, unable to take a breath at all for a moment.

Sadie stared at her, her eyes serious with an unasked question. Artesia stiffened and turned her head to look at John. She looked back at Sadie and shook her head.

"Milord, I think you should see if Helleen needs help."

"Helleen? But--"

"You too," Sadie said to Roxanne.

John looked at Artesia and saw her nod. Her face was pale.

He shook his head and said, "Roxanne, let's go. Artesia, I swear, if your pride gets you killed I'll never forgive you!"

"Pride?" Roxanne asked as she walked over to him. Her eyes stayed on Zynga, not Artesia though.

"Don't ask," John muttered.

Zynga raised a clawed hand and waved.

Roxanne hesitated and then raised hers and waved back.

"Well, that fucking sucked," Zynga muttered.

"Hush," Sadie snapped. "Mind your language and do not speak a word of what you see or I will use every bit of Eile's blessing to banish you for a thousand years!"

"It's actually only a hundred," Zynga replied. "But whatever."

"Help this injured man, I need some privacy," Sadie told her. She turned back to the wounded swordswoman and said, "Artesia, I have to get your armor off."

Artesia nodded. She opened her mouth to try and speak but couldn't. Her eyes rolled up in her head while her body plummeted to the ground in a heap.

There's only 4 more chapters left to go for Wizard... stay tunes, more coming next week!