Etudie Perpetuity

I lay on the ground with a splitting headache and a broken body. All my options and allies were gone. Sharun, the greatest hunter on the Plains of Serenity, stomped towards me. My trump card, my ‘still life’ magic, had failed. None of my other magic spells had any effect, and I couldn’t muster the energy to cast them, anyway. At this point, all I could do was pray that Noel would swoop in with the Immortal of Desire and break whatever was controlling Sharun’s mind.

Wait. Controlling his mind? How did I not think of this before! If I can give myself mind control resistance, why can’t I do that to someone else?

I cursed myself. I didn’t have the time nor energy to try to interfere with the mind control magic. Besides, if the God of Evil was involved, I wasn’t sure I could break the spell anyways. Then again, the red star hadn’t been out last night. The God of Evil was probably using the Oracle to control Sharun. If I just had a little more time to gather my strength and think of something, maybe I could do something.

Sharun raised the Dragon’s Tooth. I closed my eyes. The wind whistled, time slowed, my thoughts blanked. A loud thud resounded. I opened my eyes. A short but muscular female elf stood in front of me. Her tunic was torn in places, stained with blood, and seemed to be made of plants rather than animal hide. Her spear stuck out in front of her, parrying the Dragon’s Tooth. Unlike the Dragon’s Tooth, which was a glorified piece of stick with a bunch of sharp rocks stuck into the tip, the short elf’s weapon was a true spear with a tip made of some strange dark metal.

I looked around. Many new hunters had joined the fighting. These fresh fighters pushed back the Hon and pretty much eliminated the Que. Among them was the male elder from the Bandari tribe. From the corner of my eye, I saw the Oracle get up by leaning heavily on her staff. Her hair was a mess, revealing a second eye.

The Oracle’s second eye was red. Very red. The whole eye looked like it was covered in blood. It didn’t glow like her other eye did, but it was far more unsettling. A gust of wind blew some hair off the Oracle’s forehead and my eyes widened. There were three red stars on her forehead, glowing angrily but with a dull light.

The Oracle was a starred monster? And a three star one at that? But she was an elf! Were elves considered monsters too or was this because she also got her power from the God of Evil? I had so many questions but no time to answer any of them. I had the one thing I needed: time. I had to make good use of it.

“You!” shouted the Oracle as she glared at the short elf standing in front of Sharun. “Ame Kisi. I should’ve dealt with you when I banished your worthless husband!”

The short elf, Ame Kisi, scowled. She whacked away Sharun’s spear. Sharun retreated to the Oracle’s side at her command. Ame Kisi continued: “If those worthless elders hadn’t stopped me that day, I would’ve stabbed you in your cold, worthless heart.” She smiled. “I’m the elder now. With the threat of The Terrible gone, your power over us is weaker than it has ever been.”

The Oracle laughed, coldly. “So what? My master is with me.”

“The red star wasn’t out last night,” said Ame. The Oracle frowned. Ame smiled and continued: “Yes, I know you work for the God of Evil. I’ve known since the day you dragged my husband to that accursed forest! I tortured it out of one of your goons. He told me everything. The way you took him inside that cave, telling the rest of us he was being left alone in exile. And then you sacrificed him to your master! I’ve been working my way to this point, slowly gathering power and influence among my tribe, while spreading discontent in the others. All so I could jump at the perfect opportunity and end you once and for all!”

“You’ve spent all this time plotting,” said the Oracle. “And this is the best you could do? You caught us by surprise, but the Hon will defeat your pathetic Kisi tribe soon enough. And you can’t defeat me. Not while I control the strongest hunter in the tribe and bless him with my power! Sharun.” The Oracle gestured to the hunter. “Kill her.”

Sharun dashed forward. Ame Kisi struck with her own spear. Her spear’s metal tip cut a deep wedge into Sharun’s spear, forcing him to step back. The expressionless Sharun ran his fingers up the Dragon’s Tooth, feeling up the incision. He leaned back and stretched out his hand. He lunged forward. Ame Kisi scrambled to defend. She awkwardly lifted the middle of her spear, blocking Sharun’s ferocious attack by digging in her feet and refusing to give ground.

The two hunters pushed against each other, gritting their teeth. Sharun pressed from above but Ame had the stability of the ground. Sharun disengaged his spear but swept his leg forward. Ame’s feet were planted firmly and she weathered the strike. Sharun’s leg bounced off her shin and she jumped forward, stabbing with her spear.

Sharun turned to the side, letting Ame cut right across where he had been. He punched her in the gut, but Ame let go of her spear with one hand and held onto his fist. She brought her spear around just as Sharun swung the Dragon’s Tooth with his free arm. The two spears clashed above their heads. Ame yelled and slammed her head into Sharun’s face.

Sharun, his nose bleeding, jumped back while bringing the Dragon’s Tooth across Ame’s shoulder. It cut a shallow gash on her skin, but Ame Kisi didn’t flinch. She followed Sharun’s legs with her own and tried to trip him up. The greatest hunter didn’t trip, but he did manage to pull Ame even closer. The two elbowed each other at the same time, trying to bring the tips of their spears closer to the fighting. Unable to stab, the two whacked each other with the shaft of their spears, and parried with the same lengths of wood.

Fighting in such close quarters with spears made no sense, but somehow these hunters were making it happen. It helped that their spears weren’t as long as spears from my Earth, but it was still impressive. I also understand why Ame wanted to stick to Sharun. It was clear that Sharun was stronger and faster than her. Fighting at long range would only benefit Sharun. On the other hand, Ame was smaller and more agile. She used Sharun’s own weight as well as the stability of the ground to fend him off.

But I could see her arms shaking and her breaths getting longer and harder. Sharun tried to jump away but Ame leaned forward. She stabbed at his waist, forcing him to dodge, but Ame angled her spear in such a way that the tail end crashed into his ribs. Sharun spat out air. Ame followed up with her elbow but Sharun jumped back. Ame was in the middle of her strike and passed by him. She had her back to him. She looked over her shoulder.

Sharun took some distance. He planted his feet and stepped forward, pointing his spear at Ame’s back. Ame spiraled to the right and slashed with the tip of her spear. Sharun leaned to his left and blocked her attack with the width of his spear. They kicked each other at the same time.

Exhausted, Ame took some space. She would be at a disadvantage at this distance, but she was too tired to keep fighting in close quarters. Sharun used his superior reach to press her back. Ame stepped back as she parried his spear. Sharun swung and slashed and stabbed with all his might while Ame blocked and parried and tried to counter when she could,

Sharun jumped back as Ame countered. He let her spear all the way forward before launching himself at her, twisting the Dragon’s Tooth as he stabbed straight ahead. The Dragon’s Tooth traveled parallel to her spear and pierced Ame Kisi’s shoulder. The elder cried out in pain but swung her spear around, catching Sharun in the side. There wasn’t enough force behind her swing to seriously injure him, but it did make the greatest hunter disengage once again.

The Dragon’s Tooth left a nasty gash on Ame Kisi’s shoulder. The Dragon’s Tooth was a flint microlith weapon, which meant it had a bunch of sharp pieces of flint at its end. It wasn’t very good at piercing things in one place, but it ripped out a huge wound if it hit properly. Ame Kisi would have to fight with one hand, which wasn’t very easy to do with a spear.

Sharun gripped the Dragon’s Tooth and lurched forward.