The First Cultivator

The kin arrived soon after the smoke was visible in the distance. They quickly gathered the free kin and supplies from the silos. They asked some questions, and Azura answered. At least, she thought she did. She wasn't sure. Everything seemed unreal. She tried to withdraw from what happened, but the weeping mage forced her to relive it. Then, the inferno would draw her gaze. Children. She had killed children. Even if it was by accident, the burden was heavy. This was a weight that her ki couldn't easily lift.

Soon enough, the kin were leaving. Some were driving carts full of crops. Others hoisted packs of supplies as they marched toward the staging area. Many stopped thanking her, shaking her hand. Azura did it all mechanically. The entire time, that burning inferno continued to mock her.

"We should go," Hamal said, gently guiding her away. Azura looked back. They left the mages behind, drugged and free from their bindings. They lay like the corpses she had made in the field, overlooked by the burning pyre. Hamal had said they would wake up the next day.

Azura kept glancing back till the farmhouse ruins were out of sight.

"Get it together," Hamal hissed in her ear. "Everyone is counting on you."

Azura looked at him, then nodded, coming back to herself. He was right. The next stop couldn't be so bad... right?

***

The foundry stank. The others plugged their noses as they crept nearer. Gerald found the smell rather inviting. It reminded him of the forge… and his pa. Gerald insisted they strike this one when they had been selecting targets. It wasn't the biggest foundry or the best, but it had something the others didn't. It had a unique refinery that could smelt mana-infused metals. It might even have some of the tools they were hoping for.

The structure came into view in the next few minutes. It wasn't a large building. The design was practical, with metal and stone walls that reached several stories tall. Many vents surrounding the central tower spewed thick smoke, leaving tar-like smears on the shafts. A few kin overseen by a single mage brought supplies as they watched.

Gerald glanced back at the others, hoping that it had what they needed. Azura and Tabatha lost that spark of excitement they had when the mission started. The events at the farm weighed heavily on them. Hamal was a rat-kin and had probably done worse. Gerald didn't want to know. Gwen… Well, she seemed more excited than before. As for himself, he knew that stuff like this would happen. You can't forge a blade without beating it with a hammer.

"What's this place?" Azura asked.

"That's an old kin foundry from before the war," Gerald said. "My pa took me on a trip to this one several years ago to buy some metal for a commission. They have a special forge we need."

"The rat-kin reported that up to ten mages are stationed here, along with fifty or so kin. Security shouldn't be too strict. No one should know about the previous raid yet," Hamal said.

"Do we sneak up again?" Gwen asked, sounding bored.

"No. There is nowhere to hide. I think our only real choice is to rush it. It will take too long to…"

Hamal was interrupted as an alarm spell went off. The kin outside the forge immediately dropped what they had. The mage quickly ushered them inside, the thick door closing behind them. Gerald saw a mage on the foundry balcony casting the alarm spell. He must have just come out.

"What do we…" Azura began.

"Throw a rock at him!" Hamal shouted.

The statement would have been funny if the results weren't so deadly. Gerald had seen what had happened to the other mage. A rock suddenly lifted and shot off toward the mage with a deafening boom.

The mage couldn't dodge in time, but he didn't need to. The projectile shattered against the building several feet from him. The mage ducked down, probably pelted by shrapnel.

"Damn it!" Azura shouted. "He's too far away."

Before Gerald could ask what they should do, Hamal was already acting.

"GO!" Hamal shouted, rushing forward. Gerald could feel his friend's mana coursing through him. He'd inverted his pool. Gerald stepped out of cover, doing the same. As the mana flooded his body, Azura was already past him. She stood as a sentinel as they broke cover, rushing the foundry.

Gerald was happy she did. He was too far away to hear the incantation, but what could only have been a fireball exploded above them. Gerald watched in morbid fascination as a sheet of fire spread above a transparent barrier before dispersing. Azura must have used her ki to create a barrier blocking the attack.

"Stick close to me!" Azura shouted as several more fireballs, followed by forcebolts, showered them from above. Hamal snarled at the delay, but he obeyed as their dash became a crawl.

Gerald's heart thundered as they came closer to the entrance. Part of him was sure that Azura's barrier would collapse at any moment. Yet, she didn't seem strained as they made the entrance. The deadly spells from above had finally ceased as they exited the line of fire.

Gerald reached for the door when Azura stopped him.

"I can feel the blood of two mages waiting on the other side. All of you get to the sides."

Gerald quickly did so with Tabatha next to him. Hamal and Gwen took the other side. Azura stood before the door. Perhaps she was going to quickly open it and rush in. That didn't happen. Instead, Azura drew back her fist and punched. The entire door and part of the frame were hurled forward with a deafening clang. Tabatha covered her ears too late as the cacophony echoed loudly in the confined space.

"Clear," Azura said, rushing in.

The others followed. Gerald guarded the rear. It only took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the low light. The first thing he noticed was the crimson smear on the ground. It started about twenty feet away and continued for another forty where the wreckage of the door lay, a few twisted limbs beneath it.

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"Fuck…" Gerald said as he followed.

"LIGHTENING!" A voice from above chanted. Gerald looked up in time to see a bright streak of light heading right at him. Azura was suddenly there, with a barrier of ki protecting them.

"GREATER FORCEBOLT!" Another voice from above chanted.

"Stay near me!" Azura shouted as more and more voices chanted various spells.

"Keep them busy," Hamal said. "I'll take out the ones above."

"Be careful," Azura hissed as more mages joined the barrage. This time, they came from multiple sides. The flashy spells did have one benefit: no one noticed when the lone dark figure left the others. Gerald hoped Hamal knew what he was doing.

***

Hamal really hoped he knew what he was doing. He killed mages before. It was all part of his assassination exploits his family specialized in. But, he'd never attacked a mage who was in combat before. It was the first lesson he learned. Never attack an aware mage. The mage's body and skin spells made them nearly impossible to kill. At least it had. He hoped that was no longer the case.

Another fresh barrage of spells threatened to blind him as Azura continued to hold off four separate mages. Azura was busy protecting the others and couldn't attack back. If he could take out the two above, the others could take cover as Azura finished the last of them. A glance up showed a raised ladder about ten feet off the ground. The jump would have been impossible for him only two weeks ago, now… Hamal leaped; his mana-infused muscles made him jump just high enough to grasp the bottom rung. With quick and efficient movements, Hamal climbed up, never making a sound. As soon as he was up top, he took cover behind an old box filled with iron scraps. Good. The mages were too preoccupied with Azura to look his way.

"God's above! Is she invincible?!" A female mage cried out.

"GREATER FORCEBOLT!" The other panted as he launched another spell. Then he spoke in a weak whisper. "Keep attacking. She'll give up soon."

Hamal rather doubted that. A glance at the pair didn't reveal whether they were using body or skin spells. They could be using everything for the offense. He rather doubted it. As the pair continued to launch spells, Hamal crept closer. He moved in time with each spell, disguising any slight noise he made. Nearly there, he reached inside his pouch, grabbing a handful of metal dust. Perhaps it was chance or a flicker of shadow, but the nearest mage turned toward him. His eyes went wide in surprise. Before he could do anything, Hamal rushed forward and pushed. The mage might command powerful magic, but he still obeyed gravity. The man screamed as he fell.

The female mage turned rage in her face as she raised her arm. Hamal threw the dust in her face.

"My eyes!" The woman screamed as she shielded her face, tickles of blood leaking like tears. Hamal rushed behind her and pushed. She cried even more as she tumbled forward, hitting her head with a wet thunk on the way down. Any concerns about them being still alive ended when Gwen and Gerald descended on the pair as Azura rushed the last two, killing them instantly. Gerald bashed the fallen man's skull in with a metal rod while Gwen dug her claws into the woman's neck, unleashing a torrent of blood.

Hamal looked around for Azura, and that was when the last two mages appeared with hostages.

***

Azura froze as the mages appeared, surrounded by a dozen kin bound with magical chains. One mage held the chain spell, while the other was using a levitation spell on a large glob of molten metal suspended above their heads, his face scrunched in concentration.

"BACK THE FUCK UP!" The chain mage cried, his voice frantic. "IF YOU TAKE A SINGLE STEP TOWARD US WE'LL FUCKING DO IT!"

"Sure," Azura said, raising her hands as she took several steps back. "Whatever you want. Just don't hurt them."

"GET BACK MORE!" The mage screamed, nearly foaming at the mouth. Azura got back as far as she could, pressing against the wall.

What am I supposed to do?! Azura wondered, her mind racing. Panic made thinking difficult as the mage continued to shout at her. Her eyes drifted to the kin. They were a mixed group of various ages. The youngest was a female raccoon-kin who couldn't be older than thirteen.

"I SAID GET BACK MORE!!!" The mage wailed shrilly enough to shatter glass.

Oh shit. He's lost it, Azura thought in sudden realization.

"I can't! I'm against the wall!" Azura cried back.

"GET THE FUCK BACK!" The mage screamed again, clearly not listening or thinking, as he angrily swept his hand. It was the hand that held the chain spell. The kin all lurched forward. One bumped into the mage holding the levitation spell, toppling him forward, his concentration broken.

Azura's eyes widened in horror as the molten metal seemed to descend in slow motion. Ki flooded her body as she burst forward, extending a ki shield to block the molten metal. The shield only covered five kin before the liquid metal crushed the others, including the mages. There was no screaming from them. The metal, while liquid, was incredibly heavy. Death was instantaneous. Those were the lucky ones. The last five screamed as their fur and clothes combusted. Their flesh instantly charring. A quick pull with ki flung the five out from beneath the molten metal. The five kin thrashed silently as Azura tried to extinguish the flames. She started frantically patting the fire on the first kin. She failed to notice how blackened flesh stuck to her hands with each pat. That kin stopped moving, as did the three others. The small raccoon girl was the only one still alive, twitching as she thrashed.

"Gods below," Azura said, her hand trembling as she knelt beside her. Half of her face was gone, reduced to a charred mess. She blinked her one good eye at Azura.

"NO. NO. NO. NO. NO!" Azura muttered, bringing out her ki. She had healed her mother. She could do it again. The crimson speck appeared on her fingertip. Azura lightly pressed the ki to one of the many melted parts of the kin's body. As soon as the ki entered the kin, Azura knew it was too late. The girl's lungs were burnt cinders. That was why she wasn't screaming… she couldn't. She must have breathed in the super-heated air. Azura felt the girl's blood come alive before she could say how sorry she was. The girl was dead.

"NO!!!" Azura screamed, holding the dead kin as she wept.

***

That could have gone better, Hamal thought darkly as Gwen escorted the remaining kin out of the foundry. He looked at Azura, huddled in a corner, her arms around her legs. Tabatha sat next to her, stroking her hair.

"We should go back," Gerald said.

"Did we get the tools?" Hamal asked.

"There's some here. Not what we need, but I don't think Azura can handle it."

Everyone had their limits. Hamal had been where Azura was now before. Missions that cost innocent lives were always the hardest.

"Alright. Let's go talk to her," Hamal said. They would just have to find another way. Perhaps Gerald could make the tools once they had taken the equipment here.

"Azura, the mission's over. Let's head back," Hamal said as he and Gerald stopped before her. He expected her to nod numbly or just continue to stay silent. He didn't expect the furious gaze to snap up at him. She angrily wiped at her eyes as she got to her feet, a bit unsteady.

"Did we get what we need?" Azura asked.

"That doesn't matter," Hamal said. "The mission is done. We can find…"

"NO!" Azura shouted, startling them. "I won't stop! I won't let that girl's death be in vain! We've got a job to do. Let's fucking finish it up!" With that, she walked to the nearest wall, punching open a new exit. She stalked out, leaving the others behind.

"I guess we move on to the last place then," Gerald said as Tabatha rushed after Azura.

"I guess so," Hamal said worriedly.

***

Hamals sent the signal. In ten minutes, the kin cultivators arrived, taking everything of value. Azura let them. She didn't want to bother with it. She didn't want to think. She wished they would hurry up. The setting sun splashed the landscape in red and orange, just like the flames of the foundry behind them. The kin set it ablaze after the last of them left the looted building behind.

"You okay?" Tabatha asked.

"Not really," Azura said flatly. "But I've got kin counting on me. I'll have to be."

"It wasn't your fault," Tabatha said.

"I know. Still feels like it was."

Tabatha threw her arms around Azura. She hesitated only a moment before hugging her back.

"It's hard," Azura said with tears in her eyes again. "I've got all this power, yet kin keep dying. Am I doing any good at all?"

"You are! I would be some sex toy now for the deranged mage that killed my brother. You saved me. It's just that… you can't save everyone."

The pair was silent as the others joined them.

"Ready?" Hamal asked.

"Yeah," Azura said. "I want this fucking day to be over."