The Ghost's Crusade

XVI: Akkali (cont.)

The solider stared back at Akkali glassy-eyed and mortified, then clutched his sword and pulled it from the earth. She watched his expression morph from terror to one of pure, seething hatred.

She slid one foot back in preparation for what she knew was coming. Every person that had looked at her with those eyes had ended up trying to kill her. "Stay down. You saw what I did to that monster."

The next moment he lunged at her with a fanatical scream, cursing her as an unholy witch and the summoner of everything foul that was assaulting his compatriots before launching into a tirade of what she supposed were obscenities in a language she didn't know. Still, it wasn't all that difficult to comprehend what he meant.

Siphoning magic into her left hand she swept the blade aside and pivoted, slinging the staff around like a whip and slamming it across his spine at almost the same moment the point passed harmlessly to her side. He crashed back into the mud, snapping his wrist as he landed, which only made him howl even louder as he tried to summon help to kill her. Reaching around she clenched his jaw in one hand, then shoved his head down with one foot and twisted sharply backwards until his chin sat between his shoulder blades.

"Idiot."

Leaving the corpse for the crows she listened for Jansa's barking and headed towards the sound of the dog through the mist and thick smoke. There were dozens of the imp homunculi bouncing through the shadows like voracious demons, beating everything in sight with fists stitched together much like those of the larger trolls. Sparing a glance over her shoulder she saw that the blast she had leveled at the troll homunculus' ankle had deprived it of its entire left leg, though it was still managing to shamble on at a much slower pace using one arm in place of its missing limb.

Akkali ran across the field, dodging screaming and fleeing soldiers and smacking more than a few of the fools that looked to run her through in their panic, finally spotting the shaggy mutt circling Tiernan's feet, howling as loudly as her lungs could manage. With a shrill whistle she announced her presence and watched the Inquisitor's green eyes grow wide enough to pop out of his skull. Jansa bounded towards her and nipped at her heels in relief and she spared the dog a quick pet on the head.

Before he could ask any question he happened to have waiting she pointed back towards Baedorn. "Drys went to get your subordinate zealots. He's going to flank them, provided they listen."

He pulled an arrow from what was obviously a borrowed quiver and motioned to her. "Light something on fire for me."

"I'm not your magical match," she snapped. "Get your damn flint."

Wrapping a length of dyed blue cloth around the tip of the arrow he knocked it into his bowstring and said, "Please light the cloth here on fire for me, Akkali. I have an idea."

Sneering at him she reached out and wrapped her fist around the arrowhead, feeling the markings on her arm start to seethe as she pushed magic through into the cloth. It exploded into a bright ghostly blue flame just before she removed her hand. Aiming for a high point in the sky, Tiernan drew and fired, letting the arrow sail over the chaos on the field and leave a long glittering streak of slowly-burning witchlight through the air.

Akkali watched the mass of homunculi slowly shift their focus, first towards the witchlight overhead, then at its point of origin. Almost as one a section of the imps peeled off from their frenzied attack on the Wessinberg lines and began loping up the hill towards where they stood.

Letting loose a growl that almost matched Jansa's she shoved Tiernan to the side angrily. "Grand idea, Inquisitor. Now they know right where we are."