Nancey was sprinting, alone, through the woods. Running through the woods is usually a bad idea. People don't realize how easy it is to trip, fall, and suffer an injury. When alone, even a small injury can become a big problem. Nancey ran with little concern for safety. It wasn't that she was reckless, rather, with a few exceptions she could feel where all the obstacles were. The forest was alive; she could feel the magic running through every life form that was around her, they became a kinesthetic extension of her self, only slightly more chaotic because they had the tendency to move on their own.
Her seemingly random path was actually carefully picked to avoid the less predictable obstacles as she closed in on one of Thomas's rejects. It's not just good men that are made, she thought wryly. She did wish there were some better way he could choose the sorcerers he was gambling on. Her current target was another tactile. Brad something-or-other, if she recalled correctly.
Thomas had thought that because Brad was tactile then maybe he would be more like Nancey. She tried to tell him it wasn't the perception of magic, but the strength of will and character that determined the outcome.
She felt her target moving, he had changed course. He had been moving somewhat randomly, but now he was moving faster, potentially towards another human.
Please let me get there in time! She started to unravel one of her threads for a quick speed boost. She could feel her target's aura bleeding off as he prepared to attack, that was how she was tracking these leaches.
When Thomas first showed them how to twist the sources, coherency was the first gauge of success. If they failed to shift back, the most common symptom of the failure was their aura peeling itself off. But, unlike the early failures, some were more like Brad. They'd shift back without a problem, and then later their aura would start to slowly come undone. The further gone they were, the faster it unraveled. With each new victim they took, their aura would repair itself, but it would soon start unraveling again.
A final tattered thread of aura was wafting past her as Brad came into view. She gave the tattered thread of his aura a wide birth as she adjusted her angle. He was on his hands and knees, and he had someone pinned down. Brad's sickly form was obscuring the victim too much, she couldn't tell if the victim was still alive.
She needed to act fast and with precision. She still had a hold of one of her threads, so she used the energy from that and tried to impale Brad with it. He was able to feel her attack and deflect it before it even reached him. He didn't even turn from his victim, but Nancey managed to get a quick and clear impression of the victim. He was unconscious and his aura was still intact.
Brad hadn't had time to puncture him, yet. Nancey started drawing indiscriminately from every source she could reach near Brad, hoping to make it too difficult for him to track her attacks. She created pockets of fire, ice, light, and darkness in quick bursts.
To a sighted caster it would have looked strange, but to a tactile it was like a thick fog. Nancey could still visibly see his position and posture, but she had effectively rendered Brad blind to the sources in his surroundings.
There was no telling how he would react to the sudden bombardment, maybe he'd freeze up or maybe he'd shield himself with his intended victim. His choice was even better for Nancey, he turned and raised his head in an attempt to track Nancey visually.
She was already drawing from more of the threads, it was destabilizing her gateway spell, but it was a self-solving problem; she wrapped those threads around Brad's torso and activated the gateway. His head, shoulders, and left arm were suddenly gone. It was grisly and it was inhumane, but it saved the unconscious man lying on the ground.
Nancey doubled over and vomited. She hated killing, she hated the sight of blood, and she had just painted the forest with Brad's arterial spray.
When she was done heaving, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She tried to ignore the blood as she moved closer to the unconscious man and what was left of Brad. She took a moment to feel for anyone else that might be around, at the very tip of her perception there was a lone figure traveling through the woods, winding their way towards Nancey. At their speed and distance, Nancey had about an hour to clean up and move out.
Satisfied that no one would see her, she drew from the light and ignited every piece of dead flesh that Brad left behind. The area grew noticeably darker, even with the flames from the immolation. Then she drew from water, converted it into raw heat and vaporize the blood particulates. Then she amplified the wind to carry the ashes and smoke up into the sky. It was still obvious something had happened, but at least she didn't have to keep fighting the urge to vomit.
She sat down next to the unconscious man. He was tall, pale skinned, and lightly freckled. He was also sleeping soundly. She placed a hand on his head and gently pushed at his aura. It should have been easy because he was unconscious, but his aura didn't put up a fight at all, possibly a result of Brad's inexpert attempt to rip it from the body.
She soon had a clear impression of a bruise at the base of his skull, some bruised ribs, but he was otherwise healthy. She was already past his aura, so she started to mend the bruises. The ribs would be a little tender when she was done, but the skull was her real concern. She healed the capillaries and eliminated the swelling. He'd recover. She needed to get out of there before he woke up. With any luck, she'd be far away and wouldn't need to explain why he was lying amongst some recently wilted bushes. She wondered what he was doing out in the woods anyway.
The person at the edge of her perception was still headed right for her. It would still be half an hour before they reached her. Nancey left the man where he was and started walking towards the new comer.
As she moved closer she was able to get a better impression. It was another sorcerer. Moving somewhat clumsily, so probably not tactile. With the problem being taken care of, Nancey decided to see what this newcomer was doing. Maybe it would be a new ally. She couldn't trust any of Thomas's men enough to travel with them, it would be nice to have a real ally.
This is odd she thought, they're headed right at me.
Image from Pixabay.
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