All is Fair

An extract from the journals of Sister Venerae

Pan City, POZ

September 8th, V26 - Dusk

We flew like a trio of arrows through the darkening sky, Twenty, Nata and myself. Parsifal was on my shoulder, his claws gripping tightly to me through my armoured coat, his beak open to catch the wind.

It was exhilarating, flying like a superhero in some old time movie. Longflower could do this at will, but for us she had cast a flight spell on each of us. Her spell knowledge was immense and her reservoir of power seemed limitless even to me.

Following my lead, the three of us dipped and turned a corner, following the streets towards our destination. Obscuration spells would stop any mortal eyes from seeing us fly past, but Mares set as watchers would see past such magic.

That was the reason for our low level approach, using the surrounding towers to hide us from direct sight until we were right up against our target. It came into view as we cleared the last building, a tall luxury tower at the edge of the harbour.

Lights gleamed already at various floors and at the top I could see the hazard warning lights showing where the private landing pad was located. I checked my two companions with a glance to either side.

Twenty was as stoic as ever, her face set in grim determination. Nata on my left was grinning like a kid on a rollercoaster, loving the ride and full of terror at the same time. At my signal we silently rocketed up to the base of the tower then shot upwards, skimming as close as we dared to the building face.

Nearing the topmost level I slowed myself, using a simple thought to adjust the speed of the flight spell. The three of us crested the building and set ourselves down onto the landing pad. Luckily for us there was no sentry up here, only the automated scanners that operated the defensive weapons array. They would only track something man sized or larger, and with the Obscuration spells in effect they were blind to our presence.

Moving silently, we crossed to the stairway that led down to the patio level and checked for any guards. A lone Enhanced stood sentry, moving around between the rooftop garden beds and swimming pool, his heavy armour making a soft whine of servos. His face was hidden behind the armoured visor, sensors and cameras covering the front. In theory, our concealment magic would stop his equipment from detecting us.

“Somnolus” uttered Nata and sent a ball of white light across the space between us, striking the sentry in his helmet. He paused and then stopped walking, slumping forwards but held upright by the powered suit. No alerts sounded that we could sense, so we moved carefully down the stairs to the patio. Twenty covered us from above with her pistols until we gave the all clear then followed us down.

It was a shared Obscuration spell we were using, a neat trick by Longflower. It meant we could see each other as normal, but to anyone else we were hidden. The only downside was that once we began physical combat, the spell would lapse across all of us at once. Magic has its own rules that it follows, as unbreakable in their way as the laws of physics.

I went to the door that accessed the living space for Governor Tan. According to the schematics Jericho had supplied, there was a large entertaining area that linked to private bedrooms, ensuites and office spaces. All the cooking was done on the floor below, where the staff also lived.

My lockbreaker was in my left hand and I used the spell to overcome the security mechanisms. The Ceramiglass door opened and I led the way inside. It was dark in the entertaining area, only light from the wall of windows that fronted the patio letting any illumination in.

“Visio” I whispered to myself, triggering my darkness sight. The room came to life in shades of grey, showing me long lounges, occasional tables and a bar with stools along one wall. Seated around the room, sitting quiet and unmoving in the dark, were maybe a dozen men and women, their eyes closed.

“Oh shit” I heard myself say in shock. How did one Warlock have so many Mares bound to him at one time?

As one, the Hosts opened their eyes and looked at the three of us. Black forms spewed from their bodies, retching from gaping mouths, leaking from their eyes and noses, coalescing into the forms of Mares.

The booming of Twenty’s pistol and the flare of Nata’s sword told me they knew what we were facing. “Ferro Mortis!” I yelled and threw power into my own sword, lunging forwards to engage the hellish beasts that were forming in front of us. Our Obscuration spell vanished in that moment, but against Mares it was useless anyway. Parsifal leaped upwards with a beat of his black wings, leaving me free to fight without hindrance.

A Blood Mare loomed up to block my charge, its black body huge and distended with the victims it had feasted upon. Its long talons lashed at me and I parried the blows aside, driving Ferro Mortis through its chest. Even as it boiled away in thick black mist I pushed past towards the rooms that lay beyond. Parsifal winged through the room above me, dodging the talons that sought to pluck him from the air.

Our target would already know we were here, alerted by his awakened Mares. My only chance was to get to him before he could escape. That meant I had to leave Nata and Twenty to fight the remaining Mares on their own. I had faith in their skills and hoped that was enough.

Another Mare came bursting out of the corridor ahead, a Shadow Mare with talon tipped tentacles filling the space. I slashed two from its body, sending them away in a cloud of black smoke. Parsifal appeared over me, and I heard the voice of Longflower speak through him.

“I banish you in the name of my Master!” her voice roared in the enclosed space and a five sided pentagram of red light engulfed the Mare. The light compressed around the creature and it writhed and vanished from this world, exorcised back to its own.

Without hesitation I ran forwards once more, desperate to find the Warlock. I followed my instincts and crashed through a doorway into an opulent bedroom, my sword illuminating the room in blue light. A man stood near an opened window, a case clutched to his chest, and grinned at me with delight.

“So clever, Venerae, to have found me at last” he said, then threw himself into the darkness beyond.

“Sonofabitch!” I yelled and ran and leaped through the window too, uncaring of what lay beyond.

“Levitus” came from my lips, pushing power into my left hand tattoo, pushing me out into the night air. Tran was hovering in the air before me, a look of surprise on his face as I slammed into him, wrapping my arm holding Ferro Mortis around him.

A look of fear crossed his face, so close to mine, just for a moment, then he laughed and sent us both hurling across the sky.

“Give it up, Tran” I shouted to him as we raced through the sky, “I won’t let you escape me this time”

“I think you are mistaken, Sister” he said calmly, “I won’t let you escape me”

The sky spun wildly around us both and then we hit the ground, tumbling apart as we rolled across paving. I was stunned for a moment, the hard landing driving the air from lungs. It was only my armoured coat that saved me losing most of my skin as I scraped across the roughly surfaced paving stones.

I pushed myself to my feet, using my glowing sword to brace myself as I stood unsteadily. We were somewhere along the harbour front, towers and stores to my right, the water’s edge to my left. Kai Tran stood not far from me, the lights along the walkway showing him to me clearly.

He was a shorter than me, about five and a half feet tall. His black hair was long and bound into a plait, a gleaming gold ring fixing it in place. His thin lipped mouth was framed by a goatee beard and it curled up into a sly smile. Dark eyes regarded me as I faced off against him, showing no fear at all this time.

A long black coat of leather covered his slender frame, silver buttons running down the front. I was certain it would contain a Mare for protection. His feet were in tall black boots and he adopted a fighting stance, spreading his feet wide for balance. The metal case he was carrying was on the ground behind him, the size of a briefcase.

“No more Mares to send against me?” I asked him and lifted my sword into a guard position, unsure of why he had not flown away.

“I can finish you by myself, Maiden” he gloated and from under his coat drew a short bladed sword. “This is Lingshae, my Iron Mare, and she has been thirsting to drink from you. I am sure your blood will be sweet nectar to her”

I held my own blade forwards. “This is Ferro Mortis. He was forged during the First Crusade and has spent a thousand years destroying vermin like you. He has never failed in that task. Prepare to face Judgement, Governor Tran”

“Too scared to use the Norn Blade, Maiden?” he taunted, watching me as I walked closer.

“You just aren’t worthy of it, Tran” I responded and circled around him, putting his back to the walkway railing that ran along the water’s edge. I could see the metal case clearly now, a cryogenic case I was certain with its own battery power supply. With a fervent prayer I hoped that what was inside was the antidote for Millie.

With a shout I rushed him and he met me with a countercharge. Our blades rang and sparked in the cool night air, the blue light of mine leaving ghost images as it flashed into attack and defence. Blow after blow crashed against the blades, yet neither of us could find an opening.

We stepped back from each other, both of us aware the other was a talented opponent. The enchantment of my blade seemed equally matched by the Mare bound within his. I had not thought he would be easy to take down, yet I was not expecting him to fight so well. Warlocks are considered cowards, never willing to risk their own blood.

“It was clever of you, five years ago, to bring down Governor Rose” I said to Tran as we circled each other. “You gave yourself the opening you needed to get on the Board”

I lunged in again, driving him back a step with a flurry of blows. He gave little ground, meeting my strikes with unexpected strength and forcing me back once more. He was not even sweating although I was beginning to tire already from the intensity of the combat.

“We planned it for a long time” Tran admitted, smiling as he saw my sweating face. “It would have been perfect if we had eliminated you and the Bishop at the time, but overall things went as we hoped”

He charged me, his Iron Mare driving Ferro Mortis to the side with a powerful blow and then cutting back across my torso with a counter sweep. The armour held and I was pushed back from him by its force. I felt the enchantment I had recharged that night dissipate as the Iron Mare stole the magic away.

“You are weakening, Maiden” he gloated. “That sword will never be strong enough to stop me this night” He glanced to Threadcutter, hanging from the baldric at my left hip in its scabbard. “Last chance to defeat me” he offered and lowered his guard.

I put Ferro Mortis into my left hand, then lifted Threadcutter, scabbard and all, from off my shoulder and held it forwards. “This weapon would end you utterly if I used its power. For some reason you want me to do that, don’t you Tran?”

Tran eyed me warily, his face neutral.

“You know I can only use the power of Threadcutter one more time, so why goad me into doing just that?”

“There are reasons, dear Maiden” he answered. “But if you die tonight, then the result will be the same”

He came at me then, and I did the only thing I could do. I lobbed Threadcutter to him and with a look of confusion he instinctively caught it, hilt first as I intended.

Threadcutter is also called the Norn Blade, only able to be wielded by the women of my ancient bloodline. The men of our line can carry the blade if needed, such as when my brother Alex had to deliver it to me the first time. It had suffered him to bear it but would never allow him to have wielded it.

For everyone else, Threadcutter was pure bad news. It was tied to the lines of Fate, those invisible threads of destiny that linked all living beings. Every creature, born in our world or the Dark Side, has the thread of Fate. If you messed with Threadcutter, it messed with your Fate.

It could not kill Tran, as that required my hand and my will to cause that. But it could give him the worst luck imaginable. His foot slipped out from under him on an unseen piece of trash, his Iron Mare swinging wildly as he stumbled.

Ferro Mortis struck forwards, a weak blow in my left hand, but Fate was on my side. I am the Maiden after all. It struck him above the collar of his coat, driving clean through his neck and protruding a foot or more out of his spine. He gurgled and dropped to his knees, his eyes locked with mine.

I saw the Mare of Possession leave him as the body of Kai Tran died. It trailed from him as a ribbon of dark smoke, drifting with the breeze coming from the sea. Drawing my sword clear I laid him on the walkway, his eyelids fluttering as the Mare left him to die.

My Norn sight opened, looking at the fading life of this man. He was freed from the Warlock who had imprisoned his body and mind, so at last I could see the links he had to the people around him. I honed in on those I sought and found the answers I needed.

The husk of this man finally came to the end of his destiny. To die alone at my hands on a deserted waterfront.

“Did you get what you required, Madam?” asked Parsifal, standing at my side.

“Yes” I answered, weary to my core.

“How did you know he was Possessed and not the Warlock?” wondered Parsifal, helping me to stand.

“I didn’t, not until he stood his ground to fight me” I admitted. “The Warlock wants Threadcutter out of the story. Making me use it to save my life or by killing me, either way got them the result they wanted”

If I had time I would have done something for Tran, but all I could do was to close his eyes. The Iron Mares bound into the sword and the coat were still active, so I asked Parsifal to have Longflower banish them both. The metal case I picked up as well as Threadcutter, looping the sword back over my shoulder.

I directed my gaze along the line of towers to where Twenty and Nata had been fighting.

“I need to get back to them, Parsifal” I said. “Catch up when you can” and started to run along the pavement.

“As you wish, Madam” he acknowledged as I left him behind.