Eldritch Exorcist

I landed on the chasing car. Armor spell already cast, and two other second-circle spells ready. I could sense three mana signatures inside. To my surprise, all were in the second circle, though at early stages.

As I landed on the car's roof, the bowman aiming for Q'Shar released the arrow in surprise. The projectile missed the car entirely as it embedded itself in the concrete. But he was not in the second circle for nothing.

The man immediately collected himself, pulling another arrow. His projectile shone with light as it was released, almost point-blank, into my chest. I cast Shield using second-circle mana to make sure the arrow did not pierce the spell. I extended my staff a bit, casting the spell at an upward angle.

My decision turned out to be the correct one, as I felt the spell almost wane at the impact. The bow must have been some sort of enchanted weapon. The arrow hit the shield with a metallic screech as it ricocheted upward, rotating in the air. The bowman was a seasoned warrior, not caring about the attack missing, he had already pulled another arrow.

But he should have paid attention to his original projectile.

As we drove under the point where the deflected arrow was in the air, he did not see it freeze in place, ceasing its rotation. He drew the bowstring again, aiming for my center of mass, this time sure he would hit his mark as no shield materialized.

It was too late.

For him.

The previous arrow shot towards the back of his head with double the force. My second spell, Force Control. As he was about to release the next shot, his own projectile pierced the side of his head, coming back out on the other side of his skull. He slumped limply over the window, releasing the pulled arrow into the asphalt.

Before I could act again, the driver saw the archer's corpse and immediately changed tactics, from keeping the car steady for the shooter to swerving left and right.

I fell on all fours not to slip from the car's top. The moment my knees hit the roof, a sword came through the metal, straight into my abdomen. My armor spell lit up and almost gave way.

I rolled to the side, almost slipping off the car as the blade went through the metal once again, right where my chest was. I needed a second to cast, as I was not that familiar with the spell, only casting it once before to piss off a certain cat.

I decided to gamble on that one, omitting as much of the spell as I could as I started casting. The blade went through the roof, this time hitting my leg. The armor lit up and disappeared, leaving my body open.

The car swerved to the right as I grabbed the roof with both hands, arching my back to be as far away from the car's top as possible. The man inside immediately figured out where my torso would be, as the blade came through once again, right into my chest.

Death's Grasp.

As it was about to pierce me, two hands looking like withered branches grabbed the blade, stopping it in place, not allowing it to move up or down.

The cast was not perfect, as the spell originally should have summoned three appendages, but it did the job. The man's weapon was stuck, and I used that opportunity. I used a spell stored in the staff, Panther's Agility, to help me with the maneuver I wanted to perform.

I let my staff snake around my wrist and grabbed the archer's body, pulling it through the window, and then, holding onto the upper part of the doors, I swung myself into the car, feet first.

The driver and the man in the back seat froze in surprise, giving me a second to fall through my consciousness. I saw that the large man let go of the sword stuck in the ceiling and jumped at me as the driver went for a dagger.

But I did not care. I arrived in front of the abyss inside me. And as I was looking into it, I lightly tugged on the line representing my contract. I did not need a haymaker, a simple spell this time. A bit of eldritch energy flew into me.

Thankfully, I did not need to open my eyes, not this time. Instead, I focused on the will. I focused on the blasphemy I was about to commit. I made my intent clear, as I told the universe through the energy that I knew IT. I informed existence that I knew the true name of the Blind God, that I knew its last syllable. I was nowhere powerful enough to speak it, but the intent was enough.

Intone the Last Syllable

Aura of eldritch terror emanated from me, as all existence feared the blasphemy of the true abyssal name. Both men froze, their minds in shambles, full of openings. Giving me a second for a simple spell. The man who took the brunt of the impact was the swordsman, as I locked my eyes with him.

The driver reclaimed control over his body faster. He saw the opening, his fear pushing him to kill its source as fast as possible without thinking. With a firm swing, pushing all his mana into the blade as it lit up, he blindly swung the dagger.

The blade went deep into my back.

And then the Distortion spell gave way. The colors of the clothes switched back to their original ones.

"N-Noooo!" the man shouted in grief as he noticed the dagger sitting deep in the back of his own ally, as he realized it was not me on top of him, but the swordsman whom I pulled on top of myself. I felt his body go limp over me as the driver started swinging the dagger back, keeping the car straight with one hand and attacking with the other. But I used his friend's body as a shield, the blade stabbing into him again and again.

Force.

I cast the spell into the corpse, shooting it forward into the back of the driver's seat, obscuring the space between the seats and pushing the driver out of balance as the impact flung him forward. The car almost hit a wall as we swerved with a screech of the tires.

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He quickly regained control of the vehicle.

I used the time the maneuver bought me, pushing myself against the body so a sudden brake would not throw me forward. With my left hand, I unlocked the driver's seatbelt, and with my right, I strongly pulled the handbrake.

The car came to a screeching halt. I felt a force pushing me into the body between me and the driver's seat as the man fell forward. I could hear the sound of his nose breaking, accompanied by a grunt of pain as his face slammed into the steering wheel.

I grabbed his nose, squeezing it as he shouted in pain, blood getting all over my palm. The man finally recovered enough to attack once again, faster than I predicted, as he managed to leave a gash on my hand as I was pulling it back.

Before he attacked again, I opened the door, allowing the staff to unravel into my hand, using a stored Armor spell as I jumped from the car.

I groaned, hitting the asphalt, the change in acceleration still not pleasant even with the protection spell. The mana around me lit up with each hit against the asphalt. I jumped to my feet, then immediately raised my hands with the curse tattoos. First, the anchor, the body, the nose bridge to be precise. I did not have eye contact with the enemy, but I had something even better. His blood.

As I chose the anchor, I smeared the blood still in the palm of my right hand over the tattoo and cast the lightest Blindness of the Seven Hells curse I could without collapsing the spell. The blood was an excellent tracker for the magic, as I felt it take root inside the man's body. It would be some time before he recognized the pain in the face as a curse rather than the outcome of a broken nose.

The car slowed a bit, but then Q'Shar drifted, turning his own vehicle 180 degrees. The suggestion was obvious. Three on one. The red car sped up once again, taking a sharp turn and disappearing into a back alley.

I relaxed a bit, checking the gash on my hand. It was quite deep. Now with the adrenaline washing away, the pain started to get to me. With a sigh, I took a small potion from my belt and downed it. As I finished drinking, Q'Shar's car stopped beside me.

The window lowered, and I saw a contented cat with pale Ophelia next to him. "You good?" he asked, seeing my wound.

"Yes, the bleeding should soon stop. I could use a bandage, though," I said, raising the arm and seeing the concoction do its work. Low-grade potions had limited effects, mostly stopping bleeding and helping the natural healing process, but it was always something.

"Did you get him?" asked the cat, opening the door.

I concentrated a bit on my magic and felt a bit of it moving away fast, looping around at a distance, heading back toward the city. "Yes. It should be quite some time before he notices the curse, if at all." I now turned toward the cat. "And what took you so long? You were supposed to flush them out and make a U-turn, not drive around like a maniac."

"Ohhhh, suuure," the cat looked at me with raised eyebrows. "When you start unnecessary fights, it's all good. But when I get the chance to drive around in my car for once, I'm the bad guy. Also, there were three guys on motorcycles that we initially missed as they were barely in the first circle. I took care of them, so you're welcome, by the way."

"I could've taken them."

"Six on one would be problematic even for you, plus enchanted crossbows, so don't pretend. I helped you and took this baby for a spin. It's even better than planned," the cat said with a proud smile.

I looked at Ophelia, still sitting in the car, looking absent-minded. "What about her?" I asked, pointing my head at the passenger seat.

The cat lowered his voice a bit. "We got into some trouble, and she ended up in a bit of a scuffle. Did well though, summoned the familiar on instinct."

I raised my eyebrows. "That's nice. A snake?"

"Yes," nodded the cat.

I went to the passenger side of the car, opened the door, and saw the woman turn to me slowly. Confusion on her face. " I-I think I hurt another person," she whispered.

"Probably." I nodded, "Better get used to it. How did it feel, in that moment?"

She stayed silent for a while. "Good," she finally said. "It felt good, like I triumphed over someone for the first time."

"Good. Now I assume it's back to guilt over feeling good." She nodded in confirmation. "You will have to deal with that, but watch out not to grow too proud either. Pride is just as easy a killer as fear. The cat told me you connected with your familiar."

She raised herself in her chair, straightening her back, some liveliness back in her eyes. "I think so. A snake appeared and bit the man." Her face scrunched at the memory.

"Can you remember where this feeling was? The presence inside you?"

"Yes, I think so," she said, closing her eyes. Her eyebrows moved up and down until she looked back at me. "Yes, I think I can sense it."

"Good. Now concentrate on that feeling. Try to sense the connection. Try to sense the being inside and its emotions. It should help you stabilize your mind. Share some pain with it, that's why it's here, among other things."

Ophelia nodded and closed her eyes once again, sitting in place. After a while, I could see she relaxed a bit, even a sliver of a smile made its way onto her face. "I think it's worried about me," she said with her eyes still closed.

"Good, you guys sense each other. I'll go talk to Q'Shar," I replied and went to the other side of the car. The cat was out of the driver's seat and checking the damage to the back of the machine, swearing up a storm at the destruction of such a beauty and telling the car that he would take care of her.

I raised my eyebrows. "Are you in love?"

"Yes," came a quick reply. "It's a beauty."

I raised my eyebrows even higher.

"It's a BMW M2 series, with a turbocharged 3.0-litre N55B30T0 straight-six engine and—"

"Yeah, none of those words in that order mean anything to me," I interrupted.

The cat gave me a look of disdain. "I almost forgot you lack any taste for finer things."

I rolled my eyes. "Sure, sure. When will the rest be here?"

He sighed and shook his head. "They should be here soon. We can slowly get going. You sure he will try to run?"

"He looked terrified. I did my part, so you better be sure about yours."

"It's not guaranteed, Sam, especially if they were mercenaries, but you sometimes have to risk letting go of smaller fish to hook the bigger fish," replied the cat, sounding sure of himself.

"Any idea who that was?"

"No. Their whole plan wasn't that good. It had holes, but the presence of so many second-circle mages is strange."

I nodded in confirmation, trying to piece the thing together in my head as the sound of an engine could be heard from afar.

"Should I get someone to escort the girl?" asked the cat, also picking up on the noise.

"We'll see how she feels. Right now, she is meditating… I think."

"She can meditate?" asked the cat, surprised.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm not sure, I don't have a familiar, but I think she is in a similar state of mind. She can make a decision later if she wants to come."

As we spoke, a white van came from around the corner. The car stopped right beside us, and the back doors opened. The first thing I saw was a sizable tiger inside, with metal claw covers and a torn ear, nodding at me in greeting.

"You got the special forces, huh?" I chuckled.

It was time to see who was dumb enough to try and pull this off.