Weight of Worlds

The teams assembled outside Saleema’s barrier. There were only two requirements to join a strike force, some ability to traverse through the air and willingness to face danger. The last party, healers and a few defenders, remained with the secondary strike force.

Each force was composed of a Domeshield, a Hammer, and miscellaneous supports. The Dome’s purpose was to take and keep Saleema’s attention. Hammers hit hard and hit fast should the Dome become trapped. The supporters facilitated these two and served as tertiary distractions, should such dire need arise.

Sansir crowded at the back of the Strike Force One. Their Dome, the triplet master Kanaan, exerted force on the world as three oblong pieces of obsidian orbited him. Next to him stood their Hammer, Esmund. Sansir reached out to Grevor’s shoulder, taking a steadying draw in his presence. Then, with a sharp breath, he drew the axe at his hip. The steel gleamed in the morning light, the leather-wrapped handle creaking in his hand. The new ring grew tight under the pressure.

On his left, Kasos stood submerged in dark water. The technique earned more curious looks than Sansir’s axe did, but none had the spare attention to question it further.

“Prepare defenses!” Kanaan shouted as Esmund reached out to the barrier. Warp-mana surged viciously bright, and the air roared with a muted explosion. Sansir felt the dome shatter, though he could no longer see it.

Stone crashed before them, and fragments the air. Someone nearby grunted, but a worried nudge revealed Grev still stood. Then the sound of Saleema’s technique, the crashing rush of vast amounts of stone, overwhelmed all other noise.

His eyes began clearing as the platform moved forward. The ice Sansir’d placed, he would not risk the slush he usually traveled with, on the obsidian platform, rose away. Spreading out from the platform, he saw the barrier was already dying away. Sparks of violet hissing silently.

The cacophony of stone muted as boulders, and rocks landed on the ground. Saleema, dirt-smeared and in worn down clothes, hovered in the center of the crumpling zone. Sansir felt her tether-sense searching the surrounding space.

“Is she ignoring us?” One of the other tethered whispered in outrage.

Saleema’s hand twitched, the rainbow blade shifting slightly in the other. Even with them approaching, they were ignored. More people were leaving the platform and Kanaan broke it down until only he could fit on it. Sansir glanced towards Grev. White-eyes wide, he flexed fingers nervously, the gleam of metal on his hand seemed odd in the light. Odd in a good way.

Kasos had disappeared somewhere, hopefully alongside Ranvir, who was also gone. Above them, the storm was changing. Despite the cold, rain was mixing in with the snow.

Kanaan attacked. The stones orbiting him blasted forward, fast enough that each caused a howling sound as they pierced the air. Space twisted around Saleema. The stones veered momentarily off course, but Kanaan brought them back in with a strained look on his face.

Frowning, she dodged under the stones, slashing them apart with her blade. Her eyes swept over them. The cold purple shine left Sansir with a queasy feeling in his stomach. So much like Ranvir’s, except something was missing from them. A dead person’s eyes inside a living woman’s body.

She sneered at them. “Hide and seek?” she asked in Kisi. “This is pathetic.”

Sansir tensed, ice generating next to him as he hefted the axe. What a stupid choice. He had no need of the axe here. It couldn’t even cut her. Still, he squeezed until the ring felt like it would pop through the bone and the haft splinter between his fingers.

All throughout the force, the sentiment was mirrored. Yet, no one fled. Saleema leapt after them. She was fast, but there was a belligerent, languid energy to it. As if she was suffering their attention.

More murmurs rose from among the tethered as Kanaan met her first attack. Delaying her attacks with orbiting stone, while also using the obsidian to strike out at her. They balanced out for a few moments, meeting attack with attack.

Sweat slicked Kanaan’s forehead into a glisten, while Saleema looked bored. She swept attacks at him, forcing him to dodge, but rarely followed up with much force. The attitude was building up, not just in the watchers, but in the triplet master as well. These people were the strongest of the strongest. Pride became a way of life for them. Any master knew they were better than a second-stage. Any twin master understood the same about regular masters. Kanaan was supposed to be at the peak of power.

“Keep it cool,” Grev whispered. Light-edged his form and he’d drifted closer to Sansir… Or perhaps Sansir had done the drifting, he realized. One of Kanaan’s orbiting stones shattered, obsidian-edged shrapnel blasting into Saleema’s unprotected body. “Shit.” Grev’s words were quiet as death below the rampage of the triplet master’s follow-ups.

Obsidian generated as fast as he could throw it. Piling on the offensive, Kanaan drove her to the ground. He roared, sending more attacks after her, growing in size. The impact shook Sansir’s chest, each stone booming into the ground.

Blood sprayed, and purple split the air behind Kanaan. Es had appeared at his side just in time. Warp deflecting warp, sending Saleema’s blade bouncing upward. Sansir generated ice along Es’ side. Saleema’s kick broke through and sent him careening to the ground. Grev raced after him.

Her follow up fist cracked Kanaan’s chest with a sound similar to his assault. The triplet master blasted out of the sky. Smoke coalesced in the sky to catch the man. He righted himself with a groan, but otherwise seemed whole.

Saleema appeared before him once more, sword cocked back. This time, others reacted as well. Masses of power coalesced around her upraised hand, holding the sword in place. The weapon flashed purple beneath the gathered power and soon appeared in her free hand.

But Kanaan got the chance to resume his defenses. One second, two. Five. She smashed a knee into his stomach, seizing him by the arm space twisted around them. Esmund, having recovered somewhat from his own attack, appeared at her side, lashing out with a warp-covered fist.

She pulled back, deflected the next blow with her sword, sending chips of bone into the air. Sansir’s breath halted as her eyes narrowed on the blade. Then Es. Kanaan had been pulled away but looked to still be in fighting condition.

Again she attacked, swinging her sword. The entire team reacted, halting the blade mid-motion. Only she was gone with a crack of force. Sansir’s eyes panicked and rushed through the crowd even as his tether-sense locked on the waning mass of power. Kanaan hung bowed around her fist. His back was to Sansir, but he didn’t like the way his shirt bulged backward.

Saleema pulled a blood-slicked hand free, letting the man drop. People stood in stunned silence, blankly letting her retrieve the still immobilized weapon. Es jumped her, more people joining in.

All projectiles flew back faster and stronger into their own faces. The entire crew was forced to play interference as Saleema swung around Esmund, attempting to cut him down. Sansir readied a small needle, infusing it with his Concept as strongly as he could.

Pressure suddenly swallowed him whole. The edges of his vision darkened, the needle crumpling without him stabilizing it. Light clashed in front of him, droplets of blood rising before him. Then he started falling, yet the pressure retreated and his consciousness returned in full force.

Pain stung his chest. A perfectly neat cut had stabbed into his jacket. He swept in ice, halting, then reversing his fall. Es and Saleema fought directly above him. They struggled for a few moments. He was disturbed to see random minor cuts on Es’ body. Small, yet numerous. Es’ mana fluctuated as Saleema unleashed a flurry, and three cuts shredded his left sleeve.

Sansir joined the others in freezing her solid, trapping Saleema under generated material. She vanished and Es pulled back, breathing hard. Stepping out of a split in space not too far, she raised her blade, checking its edge. Chips had been taken out of it. She sneered at Esmund, raising the weapon— she froze. Space swallowed her again.

Dovar stood on the second platform, watching anxiously as the fight played out before him. Rain was now pelting down on them, whipping the snow into a liquid flurry as well. He was helpless. He shouldn’t have come. How could he ever possibly fight her? Even to help was to dream buckets into lakes.

Kanaan went down at such speed, none really understood until he fell from the sky, blood trailing his stomach. People gasped and milled, many rising to fly under their own techniques.

Grev darted down, the fastest among the first strike force. He caught the triplet master and raced him to them. Es took the Dome’s place and fended off Saleema’s attacks. His efforts seemed more successful, though as a warp-tethered he was far less inclined to defense.

Grev landed on the platform, dumping Kanaan before racing back. Master Stjarna, the most skilled healer they had knelt next to the triplet master. Mute and without his assistant, the man began work. His spirit blossomed as mana flooded into the Dome’s body.

Rainbow arced between the two men, blood streaming. Droplets mixed with blood as it spattered the tethered. Stjarna let out a strained, low cry and fell back, clutching his chest, the cut having sheared through the collarbone. Kanaan let out a louder, but equally strangled cry, the blade slipping through his lower ribs.

Saleema landed on the platform, frowning down at them. Stillness filled the air as she glowered, first at the sword, then Kanaan and Stjarna. Then Master Hrodwulf, their Dome, finally acted, tackling her off the platform. Dovar followed them over, still noticing the confused look on Saleema’s face.