Chapter Three Hundred and Two — Someone Set Up Us the Bomb
Chapter Three Hundred and Two — Someone Set Up Us the Bomb Seeing Bastion was like having a weight lifted off my shoulders. Seeing Awen, healthy and unexploded, was like replacing that weight with a warm blanket.My friends-some of them-were safe, and they were here to help me when I could really use the help.“I don’t actually know you,” Rainnewt said. “Are you that paladin that’s been following Miss Bunch around?”Bastion nodded. He reached to his hip, hand gripping around the hilt of his ornate sword. “I am. Would you do us both a favour and drop to your knees. Place your hands flat on the ground. Surrender. It’s the only logical option you have left.”“You do seem terribly confident in yourself,” Rainnewt said. He glanced around the darkened city. The place was becoming lighter and easier to see as the five guards that followed Bastion raised lights above their heads and moved closer to us. “But I’m afraid that I’m nearly gone already.”Bastion’s eyes narrowed, and I think it clicked for me at the same time. “He’s an illusion!” I shouted. If the Rainnewt we were looking at was a fake, then where was the real one?“There,” Bastion said. He whipped his sword out of its scabbard and pointed to his right with the tip of it.I spun and searched the near-dark for Rainnewt, but I couldn’t see him. Still, if Bastion said he was that way, then I’d trust my friend. My mana and stamina had been refilling during that little break, I could still fight for a while! I jumped up and onto one of the nearest rooftops, then spinted in the direction Bastion was pointing. I almost stumbled over some loose debris on one flat rooftop, but I managed to keep my footing.I needed light. My tiny ball of light was only strong enough to push the dark back in a little circle around me. I did have one other option when it came to magics that made light.“Rainnewt, you’d better duck!” I shouted as I jumped up, then flung my arm out in a wide arc. A brace of fireballs rushed out ahead of me in a rough semicircle. As the balls wooshed ahead, they cast orangey light across the pale, shadow-dusted walls of the dead city.No signs of Rainnewt. But then I saw a curtain shift in a window just before I landed on the edge of a rooftop. I spun and shot out a huge gush of Cleaning magic that way, the magic moving faster than most people would be able to avoid. It washed away dust and grime, and Rainnewt’s illusion magic too.“Found him!” I said.“Engaging!” Bastion called out as he buzzed past me. He had discarded his cape at some point, freeing his wings so that he could fly with no impediments.He landed in a roll, then sliced out with his sword snake-quick.The blade met metal as Rainnewt pulled a long dagger from the small of his back and parried the assault. “Really, Broccoli, you had to send one of these dogs of the king after me?”"... Is that an insult?" I frowned, leaping closer to the fight. "I like dogs!"Bastion stepped back, then ducked to the side and lunged in from an entirely new direction. The motion was so smooth it almost looked like a dance.Rainnewt wasn’t much slower though, and he was pretty strong, his own level likely very close to Bastion’s own. Dagger met sword again. Bastion had the advantage in length, and he used it right away.I paused, not sure what to do and entirely captivated as Bastion danced around Rainnewt, his sword plunging in and out just long enough for Rainnewt to bat it aside. He was looking for an opening, and judging by how Rainnewt was scrambling to push aside every strike, he’d find one eventually.And then, as Bastion was lunging in again, Rainnewt flung his free hand out towards the blade. There was a clink, and a second long dagger wavered into being in Rainnewt’s off-hand. He slipped past Bastion’s guard and sliced out towards the sylph.I gasped, but Bastion had the experience and skill not to lose his head. He weaved around the knife, brought his sword back, then flapped his wings once to regain some small amount of distance before he changed stances and resumed his strikes towards Rainnewt. He was being a lot more cautious now.Bastion spun and slashed out at empty air, only for his sword to meet something where nothing was visible. A second Rainnewt appeared there, smiling confidently while the first faded away like so much dust caught in a strong wind. “You’re a decent fighter,” he said.“And you are one of the most infuriating,” Bastion said. “You know that I will win this.”“If my goal was to defeat you, then yes. But time, as you well know, is on my side.”Bastion glared at him. He never took his eyes off of Rainnewt as he addressed me. “Broccoli, make sure the guards know where we are. I believe I might require their assistance soon.”“Alright!” I said. “Just be careful, okay!”I spun and ran to the other end of the roof, away from the clink-clink of sword and dagger meeting behind me as Bastion and Rainnewt continued to test each other.On arriving at the other end of the roof, I waved an arm over my head, signalling the guards making their way across the city closer. “This way! They’re over here! Fast!”The guards put on some extra speed, dashing over in a bit more of a hurry. Some took to the air and skipped from rooftop to rooftop, magical lights trailing behind them and brightening the world around us.“Awen!” I called out as I saw my friend running after the guards. She had a cloth bundle held close to her chest and was huffing and puffing as she tried to keep up with the others.The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.I bounced off the roof, skipped off another building, then landed with a huff next to Awen. “Awa!” she said as she jumped in fright. “Oh, Broccoli.”“Yeah! Did you get all the bombs?”She shook her head. “I couldn’t, there were too many. But I did manage to take one apart and I detonated one of them. Ah, in a controlled manner. Bastion was one of the first guards to show up, so I explained things as quickly as I could.”“And the rest of the bombs? How many are there?”“I don’t know. A lot.” She puffed out a breath. “More than enough to take down the entire building, but I think the guards might be able to handle it. I hope they’re evacuating.”“Good,” I said. At least Rainnewt’s plan was foiled in the end. Or maybe now, if he wanted to anger the sylph, the threat of a bomb might be as good as the bomb itself. “What’s that?” I asked with a gesture to the thing she was hugging close.Awen grinned. “A gift for Rainnewt. I thought, maybe, you could throw it at him?”“Is that a bomb?”“More like half a bomb?” Awen tried. “The arming mechanism is still there. There’s a five-second delay.”“Uh, that seems dangerous,” I said.She shrugged. “It’ll work!”Maybe we could bluff him?Awen and I rounded a corner onto the road where Bastion and Rainnewt had been fighting. The guards had arrived before us, but it didn’t look like they tipped the balance all that much. Two of them were injured, being tended to by a third as they leaned against the front of an abandoned home.The other guards were holding back, keeping a good few metres away from Rainnewt and Bastion, who were still carefully trading blows.At some point, they’d turned to using magic. Rainnewt was swinging around sharp beams of light that cut through they touched. Bastion countered with glowing shields and arcing balls of fire that hissed as they burned the air.Every time Rainnewt moved, a new image of him would split off and attack or dodge in a new direction. Sometimes those images turned out to be the real thing, and Bastion had to constantly block attacks that weren’t entirely real. He was ignoring some of the feints, but I had no idea how he could tell that those weren’t real while others were.“We need to do something,” I said.“Bomb?” Awen asked.Well, it was an idea.“Can you make it explode at a certain time?” I asked.“I can make it explode when your cleaning magic hits it,” Awen offered.“Okay, do it,” I said.Awen grinned and unwrapped the cloth she held to reveal a mechanical contraption of clockwork gears around what looked like a mason jar filled with something brown. She broke off a brass tine on part of it, then pinched her tongue between her teeth as she summoned a thin piece of glass in its place. “Okay. One good blast of cleaning magic and it will go off,” she said.“Perfect,” I said as I took the bomb away from her. “Get to cover, I’ll be right back!”Awen didn’t have time to protest that as I leaped up and onto the nearest rooftop. I started running again, glad that the sylph liked using such easy roofs to travel on.Bastion and Rainnewt were travelling a little as they fought, Rainnewt backpedalling and losing ground with every exchange. That was good, I didn’t want anyone caught in the splash of the bomb.“Hey!” I called out from above the two fighters. They both glanced my way, but it was barely more than a peek. I raised the bomb over my head. “I’m going to drop this behind Rainnewt now. Uh, it’s one of his bombs.”The constant back and forth between the two stopped. Neither looked up towards me, but I could feel their attention. “That sounds like a rather terrible idea,” Bastion said.The two remaining guards started to back away little by little.“I agree with the paladin,” Rainnewt said.“It’s just half a bomb,” I added.“That’s still a lot of bomb!” Rainnewt shouted.“Well, in that case, you should surrender,” I said.“Broccoli, I’ll hardly surrender when you might well be bluffing.”“She doesn’t bluff,” Bastion said.“Come on, Rainnewt, last chance,” I said. I raised the bomb over my head until even my ears could brush against it. “This thing is pretty heavy, you know.”“You won’t do it,” he said.Bastion lunged at him, but Rainnewt ducked back and smacked Bastion’s sword aside.“Fine then,” I said. I stretched way back, then with a heavy grunt, I flung the bomb up and into the air in their general direction.“You’re mad!”“Sorry! Try not to get too hurt!” I spun on my heel, then darted away as quick as I could.I heard Bastion say something that was very unpaladin-like, then a glowing barrier appeared in front of him. He didn’t stay behind that though, and instead flew to the guards nearest him and tackled them off their feet.Rainnewt jumped through a window, glass shattering with a loud crack.And then the bomb hit the ground. I sent a wash of Cleaning magic after it, then spun away.I eeped as a wave of sound and warmth and wind picked me up from behind and sent me tumbling tail over teakettle.Glass shattered, at least one wall crumbled apart, and the constant echo of the explosion rang back and forth throughout the entire old city.I coughed as a wave of dust settled down around me, then I pulsed out a bit of Cleaning magic to clear enough air to breathe.I really, really hoped that everyone was still alive, and that the idea wasn’t as bad as I feared.
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Chapter Three Hundred and Three — Out of the Dark
Chapter Three Hundred and Three — Out of the Dark I shook my head and wiggled my ears. They were ringing a bit, which I supposed was normal after hearing such a loud noise.Standing up, I dusted myself off, then glanced back.Smoke and dust was still rising from the spot where I’d flung the bomb, and a couple of the nearby homes had their walls knocked down into big piles of rubble.I stumbled towards the explosion, a finger digging into one of my human ears to get it to pop back. The ringing started to fade as I arrived close to the edge of the roof where I tossed the bomb from. I didn’t want to stand on the very edge, since there were a few big cracks running across the stone wall.“Bastion?” I called down. “Are you okay?”The shield he’d put up was gone, and I was worried that I might have hurt my friend.A few wooshes burst from the smoke, clearing it away to reveal Bastion on his feet, sword by his side and wings flapping even though he wasn’t flying. “Broccoli?” he called out. “You’re still alive?”“Yeah!” I said. “I’m fine!”He glanced up and spotted me, then he waved me over. “Come over here, please.”I jumped down, landing with a crunch on the road that was now covered in little bits of rock. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you? What about the guards that were with you?”Bastion shook his head. “I’m fine,” he said before glancing over his shoulder. “These two look alright as well.”I pushed some Cleaning magic out to clear the area, revealing the two guards getting to their feet. They were covered in dust and grime, but they didn’t look injured.“I’m happy that everyone made it out okay,” I said.Bastion nodded, then he beckoned me closer. “Come here,” he said.I stepped up to him. Did he need me to carry something? I watched as his arm stretched out above my head, then he turned his hand so that its side was facing down. “What are-” I began.Bastion chopped down, clunking me right between the ears.“Ow!” I yelped as I brought my hands up to rub at my head. “That hurt!”“So did being blown up,” Bastion said. “Broccoli, it’s... it’s not good form to drop explosives next to allies, especially not when they’re within the blast radius.”“I... I’m sorry!” I said.“I really hope you are. Friends don’t bomb friends.”I pouted, but Bastion was probably right. That hadn't been very nice of me at all. “I’m sorry. Really. Uh, but we should go check on Rainnewt. He was closer to the explosion.”Bastion nodded, then half-turned to address the guards. He barked a few orders, sending one out to fetch reinforcements while the other gathered the nearby guards who could help once we found Rainnewt again.Bastion and I took the lead in checking the area of the explosion. There was a black scorch on the ground, and a big circle where all of the long-accumulated dust and debris had been pushed back. No signs of Rainnewt though.“There,” Bastion said. He pointed to one of the nearest houses. I couldn’t see what hinted that Rainnewt had gone that way, but I trusted Bastion’s intuition on the matter.He kicked open a door and I tossed a lightball into the room, filling it with pale white light that shoved aside the old shadows occupying the home. Rainnewt was there, laying on the ground with his back against the wall.I gasped.He was clutching at his tummy. Blood seeped out from between his clenched fingers, running down over his legs and pooling on the floor. His head was turned to the side and pressed against the wall, eyes squeezed shut and teeth grit.“Oh no,” I said. “I’m so, so sorry.” I started to run in, but Bastion held an arm out, stopping me.“Illusion,” he said.We stepped into the room and I pushed a bit of Cleaning magic towards Rainnewt and his body faded away into so many motes of light. “Oh, it really was just an-”I was cut off as Bastion spun, grabbed me by the scruff, and shoved me aside.It was such a brusque, sudden motion, that I barely had time to wonder why Bastion was being so mean before his sword came up and caught something out of the air with a metallic clink.A new Rainnewt appeared, holding onto a dagger mid-parry.He looked rough, his suit covered in dust and grime, with a few tears in it that hadn’t been there before. A long cut along his forehead was bleeding across his face, and he was grimacing as he moved back, as though the motion hurt him.“Came back to finish me off?” he rasped. “You know, Broccoli, your whole facade, pretending to be so innocent, so harmless. You’re not, are you?”“Hey! I’m as harmless as I want to be!” I said.“You tossed a bomb at me!” Rainnewt shouted right back.I stood up properly as Bastion let go and crossed my arms. “You’re the one that brought the bombs. You can’t blame me for using your own weapon against you.”Bastion must have been tired of our argument, because his arm blurred toward Rainnewt.Rainnewt’s eyes widened a moment before the paladin’s knuckles met his chin with a hard crack. I saw his face go through a few strange expressions as he was spun halfway around. His eyes rolled up, and he crashed to the floor like a sackful of potatoes.Bastion was on him a moment later, pinning his arms to the small of his back and tossing the two daggers he had to the corner of the room. “I need restraints,” he said.I slid to the side as a guard ran in with a short length of rope which Bastion immediately used to tie Rainnewt’s hands together. Rainnewt didn’t stay unconscious for long. He came to and started to squirm to fight Bastion off, but it was no use, not with more guards stepping into the room and surrounding him.“I believe it goes without saying that you’re under arrest,” Bastion said to Rainnewt. Looking up, he addressed the guards. “I want three pairs of eyes on him at all times. No exceptions. He’s capable of shapeshifting and it’s possible that he has bribed some members of the guard. Do not trust anything he says. In fact, gag him. I’m certain someone can spare a sock.”This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.The guards nodded, and soon they helped drag Rainnewt out of the home and into the street. They never actually let him get to his feet though, preferring to drag him around by the armpits.I followed the guards out of the building, but paused when I saw that Bastion wasn’t following. “Are you okay?” I asked.Bastion looked up, then smiled. “I’m well. A little disappointed though. I’ve scuffed my armour in a few places. It will take hours to buff it back to a shine.”“Oh,” I said. "I could help?" I raised a hand, manifesting the barest glow of cleaning magic.He shook his head. “It’s a Paladin’s responsibility to keep his gear in tip-top shape. Ceremonial equipment more so. Though I believe I will be forgiven for having become somewhat unkempt today. While traditions are important, lives are more so.” He bent down and plucked Rainnewt's two daggers off the ground.“As long as you don’t get a talking-to for it. You were awesome earlier, fighting against Rainnewt like that.”“I’m more concerned over how difficult the battle was,” Bastion said. He raised one of the knives, inspecting it in the faint light.“Are the knives special?”He shook his head and looked at the other. “No. Quite the opposite. They’re perfectly ordinary. Well-made, but not mastercraft. No markings, nothing to make them special. I’m a little disappointed.”“How so?”He smiled. ”I was hoping the reason I had to work hard to keep up was because he had superior equipment, perhaps enchanted. This knocks that theory out of the air. That Rainnewt man is dangerous. Most Paladins would defeat him in a straight contest, I think, but he doesn’t fight fairly. Tricks and illusions and deception at every turn. He’s dangerous.”I glanced back to where he was being held by the guards. A few more had joined the group, and I saw Awen loitering by the edge. Unless he pulled off some great trick, he wasn’t going to get away. “What’s going to happen to him?” I asked.Bastion took a while to answer. “He will be judged. Likely in a more private venue. Then he will pay for his crimes, depending on the judgement handed down to him.”“So, jail?” I asked.Bastion patted me on the shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go see how your friends are doing.”“Oh, okay,” I said. Bastion wasn’t that great at distractions, but I didn’t mind. I stuck close to him until I was close enough to Awen that I could run over and pull her into a tight hug. “You’re alright?”“I’m fine,” Awen said with a giggle. “I heard an explosion, that was you?”“I didn’t explode. But I might have caused one, yeah. Your bomb worked, by the way.”“I figured as much,” Awens said. “Fortunately, that’s the only explosion I heard. I think that they cleared out the others.”“They had someone that could disable them?” I asked.Awen shook her head. “I think they had some guards that could jam up the traps on the bombs, but they mostly just carried them out of the building. I guess they’ll let them all explode where it’s safe.”“Uh, is that safe at all?” I asked.“An explosion outside, with nothing to redirect the force of it? I think it should be safe,” Awen said. “The blast will just disperse in every direction. If it’s far enough from any homes or anything important, then it shouldn’t actually cause any harm.”I nodded firmly. “Good.”Bastion walked up next to us. “We’ll be escorting the prisoner out. You should follow us. I’m certain there will be many questions.”“Questions?”“Oh yes, plenty,” Bastion said. “The fact that you both acted to help, that things might have been worse without your assistance, will help a lot.”“Why do you say that as if we’ll need the help?” I asked.“Because you might. With situations like these, there are some people who will immediately look for ways to put the blame on someone that isn’t themselves. That means that they might see your involvement in the situation as an easy way to claim that you’re somehow responsible.”“That doesn’t make any sense,” I said.Bastion shrugged. “One of the first things the fearful and cowardly toss away is common sense and decency.” He patted me on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll do what I can to allay suspicions. And besides, you have friends in good places, and something of a reputation.”I snorted. “Come on, we’ve only been here for a few days, we can hardly have a reputation already.”“Ah, if you say so,” Bastion said.The guards kept a formation around Rainnewt as they escorted him through the old city. Bastion, Awen, and I stayed at the back of the group, walking along at a decent pace through the ancient ruins until we reentered the basement of the old palace. The room was a hive of activity, with what must have been half the city’s guards and Paladins scouring the basement for anything out of place.We got lots of looks, but Bastion being there probably saved us from some scrutiny.A couple of Paladins joined us, sharing quick signs with Bastion before they nodded and formed up at our flanks.The halls above, unlike the basement, were eerily empty. Where dignitaries and diplomats and nosy people of all sorts had been gathering before, there was now a whole lot of nothing, only a few guards moving around in quick patrols.It was only when we were outside that we found everyone again. “Broccoli Bunch!”I flinched at the snap in Amaryllis’ voice.“I prepared all night for that speech. I should have known that I didn’t need to bother, what with you around to cause a ruckus!”
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