Triple Strength

256. Clan: Tabitha.

I learned a lot from Kelda. She was always so cautious with her affinity. Scared of setting things alight by accident. There were many things you would not think would burn until a stray flame would ignite it. She was so careful. I learned so much. I used to keep oils, poisons and ground pepper in my Spaitial Pocket, and I still do. But now I also keep common things like flour dust.

I don’t have a wind affinity, but my Shadow Manipulation can sprinkle dust overhead, and there is usually a fire nearby that a puppet can flick coals or a branch to the appropriate place. If not, the shadows can create sparks from a tinder box. It doesn’t take a lot of flour dust to cause havoc and, of course, injury. The dust exploded.

Most of those manning the barricade were lizard kin, so were not as susceptible to burns as a human. They still had vulnerable eyes, ears and noses. I might have overdone it a bit as the wooden carts they were using as a barricade caught alight, several guards had burning clothes, and, of course, there was the confusion of the unexpected.

This allowed Modrica to leap their barricade, and she had her mace out this time and was breaking bones and crushing skulls. She had also created an earthen shield on her other arm. That is one of the benefits of army training. She decided she liked using a shield. She used it as an offensive weapon. Her Earthern Shield was not as strong as a metal shield, but she could repair it on the go or recreate it if necessary. Wiremu had also taught her that the shield's surface does not have to be flat, and hers were now always covered in Earthen Spikes.

This group of soldiers, however, contained some specialised Veterans, and two of them had engaged Modrica and stopped her progress. The lieutenant was moving up to help them. I moved to intervene when Nyx’s Shadow Shield deflected a knife that was thrown at me. Somebody had a sight ability to get through my Shadow’s Embrace or, more likely, a different sense. Two rogues converged on my position, although I am pretty sure only one could sense me. Spatial Awareness pierced their Stealth Skills without trouble.

I have been holding back as showing too many cards gave the game away for Wiremu, and he wasn’t sure who the clever commander was. It was as likely to be the captain as the City Lord. I moved in the shadows toward the mansion while my Shadow Puppet scrambled up to the roof. I was using my Distract Skill with the puppet to get their attention. We need to draw the Captain out or get in there. Drawing him out seemed to be the easier option. Modrica bellowed his name again.

The two rogues were distracted by my puppet, but the more experienced one only briefly. It was enough that she lost me in her senses. She was searching, and it wasn’t with her eyes. I was close to the mansion and thinking how to up the stakes when the gates opened, and five Lizardkin came out. Modrica was sporting some wounds but had downed one of the three she was fighting. At least in melee range, the archers held back to avoid friendly fire.

“Stop!” one of them yelled. The two fighting Modrica disengaged and stepped back. That wasn’t good, as the archers would have a free shot when talks broke down. “I am Captain Hussain. Who are you?”

Modrica removed her desert head covering, revealing her orc features. If you hadn’t already worked out she was an orc by her speech and fighting style, you had to be pretty dumb.

“You enslaved an orc,” she stated.

My Hearing Aid caught Hussain swearing under his breath, but it was the female next to him who spoke next.

“That was my father, and he has paid for his crime. I am the Lady in charge of the city now,” That was a huge exaggeration as there were at least two other contenders, if not more. “If you were the one to level the palace, you killed him and hundreds of innocents.” She definitely liked her exaggeration. “That is a crime which you must answer for.”

Modrica pointed her mace at Hussain. “You must die.” She was always a woman of few words.

“Who are you to be Judge and Executioner? This is my city. I will judge!” It could only be Asra speaking.

I was surprised when Modrica answered her. “I am Modrica the Merciless, Matriarch of Clan Črna.” Črna is orcish for Black. “Umreti is Clan Črna. Hussain must die.” The sequential timing of events is not that important to orcs. Umreti was now Clan Črna. Therefore, the clan must avenge what was done to him. The fact he wasn’t clan when it was done is irrelevant.

I heard Hussain mutter, “Bloody single-minded orcs,” as he gave the hand signal to the archers to shoot her.

Nothing happened, and he looked around, surprised. The archers were there and ready to shoot. It is just that none of them saw his hand move. My Body Image Skill was almost at Journeyman Level, and once it is there, I will be free to use it on bodies other than mine, but for now, I was limited to small body parts, like an arm.

He opened his mouth to yell and found it full of shadows. He tried to lift his arm to his throat, but it was bound tightly as dark shadows appeared around him, binding his arms and feet together. He fell forward onto the ground and started to struggle for breath.

The four other people around him had different reactions. Asra stepped away as if he was contagious, and two of the others were clearly her guards and stepped with her. The last lizardkin was obviously loyal to the captain and bent down to use his claws on the shadows to free him. Hussain was a warrior and, therefore, physically strong. It took both Nyx and I to hold him with our Binding Shadows. Both Nyx and I were Syphoning Energy from him to speed things up as well. His main attributes would be in Physical Constitution, so syphoning his Spiritual Energy is going for his weak area.

His loyal soldier would be successful at clawing our shadows apart if he was allowed to continue. Shadow manipulation is a Master level Skill, and it doesn’t take a lot of effort to create two needles and remove his sight. Unfortunately, I was too slow. Modrica’s mace smashed into his head, knocking him to the ground and leaving him lying still. She had thrown it from by the barricade, and she could put a lot of power in a throw.

Another guard made to approach and was stopped by Modrica’s low growl.

Asra tried to negotiate, “We must be able to come to an arrangement. Hussain is useful to me. What can I offer you?”

She had obviously never dealt with orcs before. I know Modrica was not interested in talking, so I sent my puppet. She stepped out of Modrica’s Shadow and took the form of an 8-10-year-old orc girl. She was completely black. Asra stopped talking, and everybody stared. The puppet skipped forward like she was going to play with friends. Everybody stepped back, especially when a nervous archer put an arrow through the puppet-orc-girl, and nothing happened. Well, nothing happened to the puppet-orc-girl. The archer screamed as I made use of the two needles I had created.

The puppet spoke using a child’s singsong voice, “Naughty, naughty, naughty.”

Hussain was getting more desperate in trying to breathe and thrashing around on the ground. The puppet-orc-girl skipped right up to him and said, “Naughty, naughty.” and stabbed him in the eye with the glass knife. If the puppet were stronger, I would have had her slit his throat, but he would have some sort of tough scale skill for certain.

The puppet-orc-girl stood back up and looked at Asra and cocked her head to the side as if not sure what she was looking at. I was juggling a lot here, but I was used to it in our performances.

Puppet-orc-girl said in a voice that indicated Asra was a bit simple, “You have been introduced to Modrica the Merciless, and yet you ask for mercy?” She bent down to Hussain again and worked her knife into the eye socket until it broke through into his brain. Hussain had a seizure and then lay still, dead. The Shadows binding him faded away.

Puppet-orc-girl stood again, looked at Asra and said, “There will be no mercy for those who try to enslave orcs.” She then turned her back on them and skipped back to Modrica. Together, they looked very much like a mother and daughter.

Then Dusk screamed from just beyond the broken barricade, announcing her arrival. I had been holding her back until her entrance into the fight would make the biggest difference, but the fight ended too quickly. However, every good performance needs a good exit. She brushed past the barricade, and Modrica mounted her while the puppet faded away. Dusk reared and screamed again, and they were off galloping away down the road.

Asra shook off the silence first, “Everybody back to your posts. Get that barricade fixed.” Then she escaped into her mansion while trying to make it look like she wasn’t running to safety. The Lieutenant took charge and got people moving, although, by morning, I think they would have a number desert them.

I stayed where I was watching for almost an hour. Then, I moved away toward the stable. I found a quiet ally. I said, “Well, you obviously don’t plan on trying to kill me. What do you want?”

The rogue with the extra sense dropped down from a nearby roof. “Who are you?”

“Clan Črna.”

“You are not an orc.”

“I am not interested in you wasting my time by stating the obvious. What do you want.”

“I want to be your apprentice.”

“No.”

“No? Just like that without asking anything about me?”

“Just like that.”

“Why?”

“Because you are not clan, and you don’t even know what that means.” Dusk trotted around the corner behind me. She was no longer carrying Modrica. I mounted. “If you follow, you will be caught.” I rode away on Dusk, leaving her standing there.

Tabitha Carter Level Physical Mental Spiritual Totals Free

Strength Agility Perception Strength Agility Perception Strength Agility Perception

Base Attributes 9 12 11 8 12 10 9 10 10 91

Earned Attributes 2 3 5 3 2 1 1 1 4 22

Thief B 13 3 13 13 4 1 13 6 5 7 65 0

Shadow Predator S 11 7 11 2 12 12 9 53 2

Racketeer S 7 5 7 8 7 8 35 0

Life Thief S 2 3 2 2 7 1

Burglar S 5 5 1 5 2 7 20 0

Merchant B 11 2 11 6 11 11 3 3 8 55 0

Rider B 11 2 11 11 4 1 10 5 44 0

Entertainer B 9 5 1 9 9 9 10 43 2

Totals 35 59 52 41 46 56 53 43 50 435

Constitution 146 143 146

Resistances: Cold 20, Poison 4, Pain 5, Disease 1, Acid 2, Mental 1

Skills

Novice:

General

Sewing 4, Spiritual Traps 1, Shadow Mind 1, Sprint 2, Shadow Merge 2

Apprentice:

General

Pickpocket 9, Trapping 5, Cooking 9, Hearing Aid 9, Adjuster 8, Body Image 9, Agility Riding 7

Syphon Energy 9, Syphon Consitution 8, Shadow Step 5

Fighting

Blunt Weapon 9, Knockout Strike 9, Shadow Shield 5

Senses

Elemental Senses 8,

Lore

Journeyman:

General

Bargain 12, Appraise 11, Spatial Pocket 10, Shadow Puppet 12, Performance 12, Tough Hide 10, Lock Pick 10, Detect Traps 10, Sleight of Hand 12, Detect Spiritual Traps 10, Disarm Spiritual Traps 10, Confuse Status 12, Identify 11, Distract 14, Disarm Traps 10, Orcish 11, Dwarvish 13, Lute 12, Coax 11, Mimic 14, Elemental Bond 12, Animal Care 11, Binding Shadows 10, Engulfing Shadows 14, Animal Bond 10

Fighting

Intimidating Aura 14, Rampage 10, Parry 10, Small Blades 14, Unarmed Combat 11, Swords 11, Dual Wield 10

Senses

Sense Spiritual 12, Spatial Awareness 14,

Lore

Sapient Lore 10,

Master:

General

Stealth 17, Shadow Manipulation 17, Shadows Embrace 15, Riding 15,

Senses

Darksight 16,

Affinity: Shadow

Monster Kills: 1

Bond: Nyx, Shadow Elemental

Skills: Syphon Energy, Binding Shadows, Shadow Manipulation, Mimicry, Coax, Engulfing Shadows, Sense Spiritual, Body Image, Shadow Shield

Bond: Dusk, Shadow Charger

Skills:

Novice:

Syphon Energy, Syphon Constitution, Shadow Merge. Shadow Shield

Apprentice:

Sprint, Fast Strike, Power Strike, Intimidating Aura, Binding Shadows,

Shadow Step,

Journeyman:

Speed Boost, Tough Hide,

Master:

Shadows Embrace, Shadow Manipulation. Darksight

Affinity: Shadow