It seems like I had not been the only one busy. While I was wielding my powers against Maximus, Leafia, Gray, and Istan had all nocked arrows. None of the guards had yet made it back to their feet. Now that the foreground had been removed of human obstacles, we could finally take aim at Maximus. 

Istan was the first to loose his arrow, but Maximus stumbling to get up caused it to miss. A gash on Maximus’s leg was staining his pants red and clearly was making Maximus think twice about putting weight on that leg. His distraction caused by the pain ended with the clatter of Istan’s arrow near him. In that moment he looked up to find the source of the arrow, Leafia and Gray released their bow strings and with a twang the arrows flew toward Maximus. But despite flying true, both shafts halted in the air just a foot in front of Maximus. There was no panic in his face like I would have expected from a human. Instead, he smirked. He had condensed his power much like what I did to hold Mist together. The arrows did not have enough strength to break through this wall of power. Even worse, that wall of power was clearly not benign. The blight around him flourished in the energy escaping from his control. The plants and the guards were crying in protest as the blight continued to rot their tissue and, just like its master, ignored their cries for help. 

I needed to do something about this blight. It was spreading across the courtyard quickly. It was already reaching toward my companions. Leafia, Gray and Istan all had to move quickly to avoid the few tendrils of blight that had reached toward us. This would only get worse if I did not stop it.  

Wait! Wasn’t there someone missing? Tide! For a second I wondered if Tide had fallen to the blight like most of the guards, but soon I felt her moving around the outside of the courtyard. She was trying to get to Faun who was a little off to the side. That was so much like her. She would either meet you head on with overwhelming power or just snake her way around barely being noticed. This was not what I had in mind. But hopefully it would work.

Her plan would need some help if it was going to succeed. Not wanting to give Maximus a chance to notice Tide, I picked up one of the cobbles making up the rough paving. I could not help smiling, feeling the heft of the stone. It was just a little smaller than my head. Plants have always been good at breaking apart stones. And the gaps between these rounded stones made it even easier. The few guards that had managed to get to their feet shrunk back as I tossed the stone a few times to get a feel of it. How could I be that scary? I was just smiling while tossing a stone! On second thought, don’t answer.

Enough wasting time with idle thoughts. I took aim at Maximus and hurled my thoughts along with the stone at his barrier. The arrows might not have enough power to break through. But only Terra could match me for raw strength. As the rock crashed into the barrier another explosion sounded in the courtyard. The breaking barrier clung to the fragments of the shattered rock. Several of the surrounding guards cried in pain as they were peppered with the fragments. Unfortunately, the barrier seemed to work in deflecting the debris away from Maximus because no more wounds were apparent on his body. 

Istan again had readied his arrow but the delay was too long and Maximus had already put up another barrier. Well, it was not like I was going to be running out of stones soon. Thousands of them were generously supplied for me just waiting to be liberated from the pavement. 

“Fire your arrows as soon as I throw another stone,” I called to my friends, uprooting another of the loose cobbles. 

“I would not be doing that if I were you,” a slimy voice called across the yard. Maximus was again standing but this time with one arm raised high into the air. I looked up to see several archers on the walls surrounding us. The archers were not aiming at me or my companions but at the weakened Faun stuck in a cage. Maximus sickened me. Not only did he kidnap my friend, he was now using her as a hostage. I felt a little pang of guilt since we had also used Michael as a hostage, but that had really been for his own protection. Even now he was still sitting on the ground where Leafia had pushed him, trying to stay out of the fight. 

“How did he ever have time to station archers up there?” I asked myself in frustration. None of this made any sense. I had not really had time to stop to think about it. The only thing I could see is if that second guard decided to report us. Michael could not have done it. 

“It was the least I could do when you so thoughtfully announced your presence,” Maximus sneered. “You spirits shake the very ether when you unleash your powers. I have grown quite used to feeling it over the past few seasons, it was kind of hard to miss…. But now that I think about it. That power had a different flavor than you or this beast.” Tide! I cried out in my mind. While we were locked inside that storage room, Tide had used her power to silence Michael. And then we took the time to think of a plan, giving Maximus all the time he needed to stage an ambush. 

I was kicking myself for forgetting about keeping our powers suppressed and for listening to Tide and not just going to Faun like I wanted to. What was I going to do now? I did not have any plants that could reach up to the roof quick enough to keep them from getting their shots off. And there were too many of them for the three of us with bows to handle. Could arrows even make it up to the roof?

It was then that a ripple of Tide’s familiar power filled the courtyard. I looked over to see Tide right next to Faun’s cage; a dome of water had formed around the two of them.

“Fire!” Maximus shouted. But the blue dome absorbed the energy from the arrows and they fell helplessly to the ground. 

Seeing that Maximus was distracted by Tide, I took this chance and launched the rock that was still in my hand at him. Maximus had maintained his barrier while we were talking so the rock did not reach him. It, once again, shattered with his barrier, raining shards on those that had not managed to escape. An arrow reached the barrier right after it shattered but was buffeted by the explosion and was forced off course. The arrow did not miss completely and took a good bite out of his arm. By the grunts of surprise from Istan and Gray it seemed to be Leafia’s arrow. I imagined the men were so distracted by Tide’s barrier that they did not get their arrows off before Maximus had already reestablished his own protection. 

“Your sister, Michael.” The slimy voice called in the deafening silence that fell following the explosion of rock. “Do you not want to see her again?”

It was then that I realized that the guard who had shown us to the yard at knife point had picked up his sword. Apparently  Istan had dropped it to ready his bow. In his eyes it was clear that this was the last thing that he wanted to be doing as he raised the sword to Leafia and said, “Drop your weapons,” in a loud voice. His hand was visibly shaking and I heard him whisper, “I have no choice.”

 My whole party paused. What are we going to do now? I am not sure our fate would be any better if we surrendered than if we risked our lives continuing the fight. I was not going to sacrifice one friend's life for another, we were all walking out of here. A flurry of movement caught me off guard. I guess our whole party did not hesitate on what to do next. 

As soon as Leafia felt the sword pressing against her back she bent forward to escape his reach while sending a foot flying out behind her. Michael staggered as Leafia’s foot connected with his knee. Leafia did not drop her bow to go for her knife. Instead she turned the bow sideways, giving her the reach to contend with the sword that was starting to regain its strength after it had drooped due to the kick.

The sword was making its way up but it could not compete with the speed of the much lighter bow which landed solidly on Michael’s windpipe. The sword clattered to the ground as Michael reached for his neck sputtering. Leafia did not yet seem to be done. The next thing I knew, one of her feet planted firmly in his gut sending him tumbling backwards. 

The thought of again taking Michael as a hostage to use against Maximum briefly flashed through my mind until I remembered how he just attacked his own guards with his magic. There was no remorse in his eyes as a few of them seemed to have taken their last breaths. I did not get an impression that Michael was any different. I could only see Michael being a pin cushion if we tried to use him for an exchange. The best I could do was make sure Maximus did not find any way to use him against us once more. With a flash of my power, the now coughing Michael found himself bound to the ground with plants. If he really wanted to he could get out in a few minutes, but by the way he was pulling on the plants his heart really was not in it.

“Tch- Incompetent fools,” Maximus growled. “I do not understand why the lord even pays you. Well, as soon as I show him my latest work I am sure most of you will be looking for a new job. And I will finally get the resources I need to finish my work.”

As Maximus was monologuing to himself I felt his sickening powers grow. I readied myself to counteract his powers with my own but no attack ever formed. “Time for a reunion, Michael. I think you will find your sister is so much better than she ever was before.”

Movement in the doors at the far end of the courtyard unsettled me. What in the forest could it be? It looked like two humans, a man and a woman. But I could feel nothing from them at all. There was no spiritual energy remaining in them. It was as if they were no longer alive.

Katuwarrior

I hope to get the next chapter up before I miss a day but I still need to clean it up a little