The Festival of the Azure Moon

Chapter 13 - Lightning on a Clear Day

Don ran for his life. Behind him was a terrifyingly powerful salamandra, and he was nearly out of essence. He had no hope of beating her in a straight fight, but he also had no way of teleporting away so long as she was hot on his heels. Even if he did buy himself enough time to cast a long-range teleportation spell, he certainly did not have the essence left to pull it off. He likely had enough to cast Jump twice or Blink twice, but not both. He also had enough energy to make a portal that could take him at least two hundred yards, but he hardly had the time to stand still and conjure it. All he could do was run.

He stopped short of entering the city when he heard the sound of the incoming town guard charging the harbor, and took a hard turn down the pier. His wounded shoulder stung with every long stride. The Sentinel was gaining ground with every step.

How was she still able to fight so capably after being poisoned by Shalnark?

Dusk came swooping in beside Don and squawked.

"Dusk! I could really use a lay of the land here."

"Phillip is waiting at the end of the wooden beach! He informed me that his contact is hastily getting ready to sail. The guards are heading that direction as well from within the city. If you don't reach them in time, they will be forced to set sail without you."

"Thank the merciful winds!" Don looked back to see his pursuer quickly gaining ground on him. "Shit, I might not even make it that far!"

"I'll buy you some time!" Dusk yelled. He swooped back directly into Sophia's face and latched onto her helmet's eye slits, trying to work his small talons into her eyes. This created a decent amount of distance between the two, allowing Don to gain some ground.

Before long, Don felt the tether that bound him to Dusk sever. He glanced back to see Dusk nearly cut in half with a knife through his breast and Sophia beginning her charge once again. Grasping his hammer in hand, Don almost stopped running to avenge his fallen friend, but after taking a moment to gather himself, he knew this would be futile.

Up ahead at the far edge of the harbor, Don could see a ship with Phillip's carriage hastily stashed aboard the deck. This must have been the ship Dusk mentioned. To Don's horror, the town guard had already emerged from within the city streets just as Dusk said. There were at least twelve of them armed to the teeth and thirsty for outlaw blood. Phillip's ship had already begun to leave port to prevent the guard from climbing aboard.

"Halt there, Pallumian!" one of the guards yelled.

Don's gaze shifted from the guard to the ship as he began to make quick calculations in his head. He had enough essence to create one portal that should have enough range to reach Phillip's ship, but to land it on a moving target would be tough. Even though the portal would reach, the vessel would continue to move beneath it. The casting time for this spell was relatively long as well. Both the guard and Sophia would be charging him at the same time from different directions, and both could enter the portal after him, so he would need to assure that the exit portal was above the ship just long enough for him to jump aboard but not his pursuers. If he did not get this portal just right, he could end up running directly into the ocean.

With all this in mind, the magician stopped in his tracks to take on a casting stance. He expelled all distractions from his mind, only allowing this one calculation to exist. His arms drew a big circle in the air as space bent to his will. The exit portal opened just above the rear end of the ship two hundred yards away, and the entrance portal right next to Don. Wasting no time, Don leaped through the portal and found himself falling toward a moving boat below him. His body slammed hard into the edge of the ship, cracking a few of his ribs on impact. He looked back to see the portal quickly trail behind the sailing vessel and a single guard falling through it into the ocean below.