Zena le Blank
It was dark in the mines, but Zena didnât care. She was on the Hunt, and her Heavenâs Eye would see to it that none of her prey escaped. She had already dealt with a dozen or so since sheâd entered, small fry mostly, though the cloak sheâd worn to ward off the mountainâs cold had been discarded at some point after one dark wizard had gotten lucky enough to burn part of it to ash.
She was following a set of tracks laid down for a mine cart she hadnât seen yet, for no other reason than it was the only feature that wasnât a stone spike rising from the floor or ceiling. Her eye magic illuminated the forms of several people in the distance, which made it rather convenient that the tracks seemed to be running in their direction. She watched them as she walked, their glowing forms a beacon in the dark tunnels, and she felt a kind of dull surprise that they seemed to be fighting each other. A house divided, perhaps? Or maybeâŠ
She felt her pace quicken to a jog, and then a sprint. If a different guild had come to the mountain, then sheâd have to hurry. Like hell was Zena going to let some two-bit âofficialâ guild steal credit for her achievements, or worse, rob her of all the fun. This was her guild to destroy, not theirs.
Her feet flew over steel rails crossed with wooden boards, kicking up clouds of dust as she ran full-speed toward the interlopers. She could hear the wind in her ears, feel stone pounding under her feet - and then she was pinwheeling her arms, trying to catch herself from falling into a ravine that was swiftly filling with water. Seawater, judging by the smell, which was just. Just great. Absolutely terrific.
Looking down into the inky swirling blackness, her Heavenâs Eye revealed two figures bobbing on top of the waves. She looked around for a way to cross the gap, content to pass off the two forms below as dark wizards that had been felled by her rivals in guild busting, but as she noticed the distinct lack of a bridge or even so much as a swinging rope, another thought gnawed at her brain.
What if theyâre from the other guild?
Well then, they shouldâve known what they were getting into. Besides, theyâre alive, probably. Their heads are above the water sometimes, theyâll be fine.
Actually, now that she judged the gap, maybe she could jump across! Itâd be easy. She moved back a few paces to give herself a running start, broke into a sprint, and dove headlong into the water.
Wait, what?!
She took a deep breath as her head came back above the waves, feeling her stomach turn as she bounced in the churning water. She cast around for the two bodies sheâd seen from above, spotting one a short distance away. She swam towards him, fighting with the saltwater pouring down from above to keep her head from sinking below the surface, and felt her fingers close around fabric. She pulled his arm around her shoulders, kicking her feet to keep from slipping under from the new weight, then made for the slick rock wall.
âPoison Dragonâs Grip Strike!â She thrust her claws into the stone, hauling herself up as she wrapped her other arm around the wizard she was trying to rescue. She heard a hiss as caustic purple scales appeared on her forearms, burning away the fabric of his shirt. He could always by a new one.
Her feet struggled with the wet stone, and her attempts to scale the wall were made even more difficult by the use of only one arm, but after a few minutes of cursing and more than one slip that caused her to lose several feet of progress, she felt her fingers land on the ledge. With a mighty heave she threw the heavy bastard up onto level ground before diving back into the water.
Hope your guild is rich, assholes, she thought to herself as she hit the waves face-first.
She didnât see the second one. She spun wildly in pace, treading water and hoping she hadnât been mistaken about how many had been down here. And then she spotted him, a dozen feet down and sinking fast. She swore loudly, took as large a breath as she could, and threw herself after him. It was dark, dark, and getting darker. She strained against the force of the water pouring down from above, muscles burning as she kicked her feet as hard as she could, trying to catch him before she ran out of breath.
She was getting closer, closer - she reached out her arm, and then she had him, pulling him back up above the waves as quickly as she could. Stupid long-nosed bastard had to go and- She cursed at his unconscious form the entire way up the wall before tossing him over the edge to join his considerably more bulky companion. She hauled herself up after him, gasping from the exertion. She rolled over onto her back, panting and cursing. She wondered briefly how much water these two had swallowed. Oh well. At least they were on dry land now.
Speaking of dry land, she sat up and looked across to the side she wanted to be on. Seawater was still pouring over its ledge, though if this were magic she doubted it would keep up much longer. Just the amount that was steadily filling the ravine must be consuming a considerably amount of magical energy, so whoever cast this damn ocean crap spell must be either exceptionally powerful or about to pass out. Zena really hoped it was the latter, but judging by the previous fifteen-ish minutes, she was willing to bet it was the former.
She sighed, stood, and then took a running leap at the other side, her head immediately dropping below the water rushing over its edge. She managed to catch hold of the cart tracks to keep from plummeting over back into the abyss, and proceeded to use them as a bizarre horizontal ladder to make her progress toward the wizards sheâd been moving toward to begin with. Occasionally she had to stop to raise her head above the water line and take a new breath, being pushed back a couple of feet every time she did so. But then it was back to the horizontal ladder, working her way up the incline to what she really hoped was a perfectly level room where the seawater flowed at a lazy trickle.