Paladins' Parabellum

Chapter Twenty: Garret The Harbinger

I'm frozen in a state of horrifying shock from Garret's failed surprise attack. Ulrika keeps her eyes locked on him without blinking. The moment her eyes move to me, I use all my force to lunge back into him. We fall back, but I perform a handstand to set myself upright. He kicks the side of my right knee, tripping me before I can grab my sword. I catch myself and roll away to get some distance. His relentless assaults follow me as he tries to strike me with his sword. One drive cuts down my chest, but the blade doesn't reach my skin.

"Garret!" Ulrika screams.

Garret doesn't look her way, but I notice he hesitates as he tries to hit me. I duck under one of his swings, place my hands on his stomach and blast him. He flies back into a mixed crowd of Paladins and cultists.

"Haleema, are you alright?" Ulrika asks, crawling over to her. I walk over to them, keeping my eyes on Garret.

"What happened?" I ask, taking a quick glance at Haleema. She's clutching her ears.

"My ears can't take the noise of Garret's sword," Haleema says, scrunching up her face from the possible terrible ringing she's hearing.

"Ulrika, can you cover me for a sec?" Ulrika picks her swords up from the ground. She wields her right one while the other gets sheathed in the left scabbard.

"Be quick," Ulrika says, twirling her sword. I cup Haleema's ears, putting my index fingers on the top part of it. Her face relaxes, then her ears twitch a bit in my hands.

"Transmute," I whisper. I can feel my spell flow out of my palms. The sensation feels like cool air being sucked from them. Haleema slightly panics, pressing her hands against mine, then holds them. "You're okay. How's that?"

"My ears... They've stopped ringing," Haleema says. I help her to her feet and pick up her staff. "Kaioson, what did you do?"

"I've created a certain threshold of volume that your ears will hear. Loud noises won't pass through." She gasps with a big smile. Her ears perk up for a moment before resting back to their usual angle. I somewhat chuckle, seeing how happy she is.

"I'm grateful, Kaio," she says softly before saying in a normal voice, "You're full of surprises. I'm starting to believe you are more than I originally thought." To make myself more mysterious, I give her a wink then walk over to Ulrika, who's staring in Garret's direction. No one is fighting over there, yet she's tensed up.

"What's going on?"

"I fear the worse is about to come," Ulrika answers.

"You don't mean—"

"Yup. It's what I said. Prepare yourself. Haleema, get over here!" Haleema glides over to my left side.

All at once, the clashes of swords stop around us. There's a massive surge of magic rising where Garret is. People around that area start backing away. Once they move just enough to give us a clear view, it's revealed to be Garret. Lightning cascades around his body like wheels spinning. He stops about fifteen feet in front of us, glaring precisely at me.

"You are going to be a pain in my ass," Garret says.

"So will I," Ulrika chimes in, pointing at herself. "I'm ten times worse."

"You? The castrated swain? You don't scare me, beast."

"I can't believe he's still on that shit. I'm kinda offended now," Ulrika whispers to me. I'm fuming with indignation by his insults against her womanhood for the second time. I don't want to respond to multiply my hate, so I bite my inner lip to remain calm. "Garret, your forces are nearly gone, and by the looks of things, you're screwed."