Dodge: Serial 60

Ano rudely interrupts the battle between Losha and Koter.

Serial 60: Take the fall

January 25th, 33 S.D.     13:10        Ganglan Pass, Sventa

    “Sa, target is within the strike zone,” said an Henron soldier, crouching as he peered through a pair of binoculars. Like the rest of his ragtag squad, he wore a face mask both to conceal his identity and protect against the winter winds.

    “The charges are set, ready to engage,” said another as he carefully handled a large box with a heavy metal switch affixed to the top. Thin wires traveled from one side, stretching on for meters and crossing over the gap of the pass itself.

    “Hold on, new contact!” the spotter said, urgently raising his hand into the air.

    “Say again?” someone asked.

    “She is not alone. Target is currently occupied with one of our own. It... that has to be the Velhast Hound.”

    “Field Lead Koter? What is he doing here?”

    “No idea. Both are in the strike zone, however,” the spotter commented. “Commander, do we proceed with the mission as planned?”

    Core Lead Ano stepped forward, his hands calmly at rest behind his back. “Ksh,” he spat. “It makes no difference. TRIBLADE is a failed unit, one that could not eliminate the enemy. Where the boy and his kind have faltered, we shall succeed. Let me see those things.”

    Ano gestured to the spotter, quickly flexing his hand open and shut. Taking the tool to his eyes, he looked out into the distance. Though only Koter’s back remained visible from this vantage, Ano concluded that the lad had found himself in a very bad way. The old officer smiled as he slowly returned the binoculars.

    “It appears he has served us well, however. He certainly makes for a wonderful distraction. Now, let us reward him for his role. Execute the plan.”

    “Sa, Ver Ano!” one soldier said, flipping a safety lock on the steel box. A moment later, he forcefully pressed down on the main switch.



    Meanwhile, Losha shook her head. “I am not going to play games with you, or whoever gave you orders. If you will not reveal those details, it is no loss to me. If they have something they want from me, they know where to find me.”

    “Heh,” Koter said as his hand inched towards his special knife. He was on the verge of grabbing it. “You know, you really take the fun out of all this sometimes.”

    “My apologies. I did not know you would be having the time of your life getting thrashed.”

    “You-!”

    Before he could say anything further, a sudden deafening explosion ripped through the air. Trembling, the ground rocked as if infuriated. A geyser of fire spewed up at an angle to their right. Its trail of flames widened swiftly, cutting through the surrounding ice. Both combatants quickly turned towards the blast. Drained by their fight, Koter collapsed from the mighty rumbling; Losha managed continue standing.

    “What the hell?!” Koter roared, pushing himself up with his arms. Losha rapidly recalled a few select words she’d heard earlier, something about missing ordinance. She gasped silently as she looked around. Their battle had gone on for too long, and now that wretched man had finally made his move.

    “Ano... shrieks!” Losha said, scowling to herself for but a short moment. Neither she nor Koter had time to spare, for a second eruption shot forth, bursting through the earth along the gap of the pass. This one happened closer to them both, enough for the two of them to feel the intensity of its flames.

    “Ugh!” Koter grunted as he struggled to maintain his balance. Losha focused her attention sharply, doing everything in her power to isolate Ano’s seras frequency. As soon as she started though, she realized there stood more pressing matters before her. The ground where Koter was began to shift and crack. In seconds, it would perilously collapse into the narrow valley. Graver still, the fall would probably trigger a massive snow-slide, smothering countless thousands below. The Henron may have sworn war against her, and Koter of all people could hardly be considered friendly, but she had no tolerance for tragedies. They were people all the same; Losha could not watch their souls perish, especially at the hands of Ano.

    She leaped into action as fast as she could push herself. Having no use for it in the coming crisis, Losha dispersed her servai entirely. With a single speed-step, she zipped over to Koter’s position. She arrived so quickly, she almost missed Koter, but upon landing, she grabbed the officer’s collar. Yanking him up slightly, she then cast a kinetic series that launched him in the direction she’d just come from. In essence, they traded spaces. Aloft for a time, Koter soon came crashing down, rolling over his side for several instances. It was not a graceful descent, but it certainly kept him safe.

    In a daze, Koter blinked as he tried to settle his orientation. Titling and swaying, his vision teetered along with his head. As if through a filter, he saw Losha standing there indistinctly. A moment later, however, a wall of fire ripped up into the sky as the third bomb went off, shrouding her image in crimson hues. Breathing in once and profoundly, Koter pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the damage he’d already suffered. He walked hurriedly, sifting his way through the smoke. He was too late, despite his efforts.

    Covering herself with a strong kinetic force-field, Losha had repelled any harm that dared to approach her. Even so, that series could not stop the ground from crumbling beneath. The land gave way as it tumbled down the steep incline. She would have found herself overrun by dirt and rocks had she not taken a speed-step to the side. Simultaneously, Losha cast two series; the first created an icy platform to halt her descent. The other erected a barrier to prevent the landslide from crushing the soldiers below.

    These measures of hers only proved temporary, unfortunately. Her makeshift ledge listed, pointing downwards and moving on its own. Looking over her shoulder, she realized that the snow along the “V” shaped walls of the pass was beginning to come loose. Another tremulous event would cause an outright avalanche. With little time to act, she jumped off the shelf she’d created and onto the slope. Sliding down on her back, protecting herself with another force-field, she quickly made her way towards the bottom. Right as she had done all of that, however, Ano and his renegade men ignited their fourth device. Instantly, hellish waves danced overhead as a great white mass sprang up. Like an ominous cloud, the snow spread out, blocking the air above. The same happened on the other side of the valley; the disaster was going to be twofold.

    At the top of the Ganglan Pass, Koter could only get so close to the edge, else he too would have been drawn into the chaotic free fall. He only managed to catch a fleeting glimpse of Losha before a flowing mound of snow and debris closed up around her. He fell forward on his knees, clutching his hands within themselves as he leaned close to the ground.

    “Son of a b***h!” he howled, pounding his fists against the frozen landscape.

    Losha, at that time, struggled to save herself and the lives of so many others. An overwhelming drone grew evermore until it was the only sound that could be heard; the snow plummeted with a frighteningly incalculable speed. In an instant it had just about caught up with her. She was poised to reach the lowest level. The Henron looked up, pointing and shouting as the last light of the day blotted away. There was only a single moment in which she could act, the slightest sliver of time. In that span, she would have to perform the greatest series she had ever known, else all their lives were forfeit. She could afford room for neither error nor planning. Her feat had to be flawless the first go around.

    As she crashed into a helpless soldier, she raised her arms to the flood above them and serialized with every bit of seras contained within her soul. At once her body came alight, wrapped in a brilliant blue aura. In the darkness, she alone blinded. For kilometers to the east and west, her energy stretched out, forming a barrier to shield the valley. Blocking the tons as they piled on in greater numbers still, her series glowed, as if it were a screen of some sort. A veritable mountain began to weigh down on her; she couldn’t rely on supporting it all with just kinetic energy.

    Switching tactics, she froze a layer of snow, transforming it into thick ice. To supplement these, she hunched over and plunged both of her hands into the ground. Between the soldiers, columns of ice extended upwards, connecting their roots with the ceiling. Running all along the avalanche’s length, they functioned like beams to secure the weight hanging but meters away. Eventually, the tumultuous rush subsided, its din replaced with the rancorous confusion of so many bewildered soldiers.

    “W-what just happened?”

    “Are you alright?”

    “Did we just die?”

    “It was a shrieking avalanche!”

    “Someone get me through to our Range Lead!”

    “Crap... I cannot see anything...”

    Having completed her strenuous task, Losha could but sit there panting in the dark. After her body returned to its normal, not-so-luminous state, she wondered if the Henron had even noticed her. They kept bumping and stumbling into her. Perhaps the situation was more alarming to them than she’d imagined. Eventually, however, someone helped pull her upright.

    “T-thank you,” she said faintly.

    “I guess I can forget about that nasty body slam you gave me. If you are who I think you are, we are the ones who owe you thanks,” said a male voice. A moment later, the man barked loudly, echoing over the dim panic around them. “Hey! Listen up! Shut your mouths if you want to make it out of here alive! We got someone here who can help us, so quit your yapping! That was an order, soldiers. Go ahead and explain the situation.”

    Although parts further up and down the pass were still filled with chatter, this area settled to a hush. Losha whirled her hand about, serializing a palm-sized orb of light. Crafting several dozen more in that fashion, she scattered them along the pass, hanging them at fixed intervals. It were as if they’d all been thrown into the eery depths of a mine. Whispers of wonder rose from the Henron as even this simple display of serialization was mystical before their eyes.

    “Soldiers...” the man beside her said, his tone trailing off into a threat. Apparently, he was a Field Lead. The rank and file quieted immediately.

    “Everyone,” Losha began. “Right now there is a significant amount of snow suspended on top of us. A number of explosions set off the reaction, however. I have stopped its fall for now. This should grant us time enough to safely leave. I suspect this was Core Lead Ano’s doing.” The Henron burst into angry murmurs.

    “Ano? That old b*****d?”

    “He did this?”

    “Damn! See? I told you he would kill us all.”

    “I thought we had him in custody,” said the officer next to her.

    “He has escaped. You can verify this with Core Lead Liveta. I was in pursuit, as I offered to track him down. At any rate, we need to get out of the Ganglan Pass at once. My ice will not hold forever. Nothing on this route should be blocked. It may be a tight squeeze in places, but the pass itself is now effectively a tunnel. We can leave simply by walking.”

    “Pass it along!” the Field Lead said. “We move on as planned. Step it up folks!” The message traveled across their numbers, carried by hasty words. “How long do you think it will last?”

    “As long as Ano does not drop anymore bombs, a few hours at best. The problem is time. Even in four hours, we would not be able to press so many through here. The logistics just do not work.”

    “I thought you said-”

    “Sa, that we would have time enough. My plan is not finished, however.”

    “Not finished?”

    Losha pushed and pardoned herself past some soldiers until she reached the opposite wall. While she stooped low, her personal light sphere bobbed at random, highlighting the textures before her. As she examined the geology under a halo, she brushed back a few strands of hair that fell in front of her eyes. Gently, she touched its rocky surface; her fingers scantly swept along its rugged facade. Each end of her fingers turned into searing blue spots for a few seconds.

    “What are you going to do?” asked the officer.

    “We need another path through. I shall carve us one.”

    “H-hey, can you do that?” asked one Henron.

    “Of course she can,” the Field Lead retorted. “You forget Totul already?”

    “Ah, uh, no, sir.”

    “For all of our sakes, we would best believe her. Enemy that she is, to us in this moment, we need her and these abilities.”

    “I actually do not know if this is guaranteed to work,” Losha explained. “In theory, it is simple enough. I can use my art, serialization, to disintegrate the earth around us. I just direct my energy to break down the bonds of the material. With that, we can go on.”

    Taking her fist, Losha hit the wall with a sideways swing of her arm. As the bottom of her hand struck the rock, it dissolved into a stack of dust. Smokey tendrils of dirt wafted through the air as the stone’s particles slid across their feet. A large portion of the wall was then replaced with a perfect archway, an entrance hewed smoothly and cleanly. It extended forward for several meters before more rocks obstructed everything.

    “The first step is as I have demonstrated. Obviously all of that matter needs somewhere to go, so do not be afraid to get your boots a little tarnished. The second step should help.” Losha waved her hand, using a kinetic series to pushed the loose soil to the very sides. “We do this repeatedly until we reach the top.”

    “The top? Of where?” inquired the Field Lead.

    “The Ganglan Pass. I am certainly not going to cut a parallel path alongside the tunnel. I would too greatly exert myself before we even come close to exiting. I shall make a ramp leading up instead. It will be a long detour, but eventually the land eases back to plain-level, at which point we can contact Core Lead Liveta. Anywhere but here is better, after all, so let us start moving.”

    Losha stepped into the vein she was creating, holding up her hand to the rocks. She prepared herself to serialize, but as soon as she started gathering seras, blue sparks flickered around her body. The soldiers cautiously stepped back as she quickly knelt to the ground. This phenomenon was exactly the same thing that occurred whenever she hit someone with her servai. So, this electric-like display meant one had lost nearly all of their seras, and it could happen outside of battle? She’d already used so much; could she continue to push her soul?

    “Are you alright?”

    “Sa...” Losha said as she slowly stood up. Her body returned to normal, though her breathing had become deep. Her hand came up again, casting another series and rending a swath of the Ganglan Pass into rubble. “Let us move.”



    Some time later, at the top of the pass, Ano and his group waited idly. They all carried rifles or pistols in addition to the swords strapped by their sides. They may have been a small lot, but they had prepared themselves exceptionally well. With his arms neatly folded behind his back, the former Core Lead spoke infrequently to himself as he stared across the horizon.

    “More b***h than wolf...” he muttered lowly. “Just a woman, not so different from us all. Witch or not, she will die, same as anyone”

    “Ver Ano,” said one of his masked men. “These are the coordinates, sa?”

    “Of course!” Ano replied loudly, extending his chest forward. “We all saw that mutt sniffing around here. He came to find her; any spot he loiters around, she is bound to turn up. Having chased that arrogant dog away, all we need is patience now.”

    “Could anybody really have survived all of that?” asked someone else.

    “She could. She did,” Ano said firmly.

    Minutes later, the Core Lead’s words turned out to be true. As if the ground suddenly melted, it fell apart in a long oval. Copious amounts of earthy powder polluted the air as this opening emerged. At first its blackened reaches remained impenetrable, however shadows and voices soon crept forth. In accord with Ano’s prediction, Losha arose from the tomb. His other estimates were just as correct; she’d become extraordinarily weak. Everyone had their breaking point; all Ano had to do was dump her under a few hundred meters of snow.

    She took two steps before careening backwards. At that point, lightning danced all over her, running across her limbs and curling up her chest.

    “Hey!” exclaimed the Field Lead as he caught her. “Hey now, are you alright? Wolf of Sventa?!” Though the man’s present concern was with Losha, the sound of a dozen plus guns chambering their rounds soon grabbed his greater attention.

    “What? Who is that?” he asked, holding a hand to his eyes and blinking. Through the daylight, he could but squint at unidentifiable forms.

    “It appears Losha Holvate Sventa has pressed herself a bit too far this time,” Ano said, stepping forward. He raised a hand and gestured at the soldiers in the hole. “Why, even you fellows were able to apprehend her. Well done.”

    “Ano?”

    “Shrieks, it is the Core Lead.”

    “How did that guy get here?”

    Ano simply smiled widely as he looked at them all coolly.

    “Ano Taksat, what is the meaning of all this?” asked the officer holding Losha. She had become limp and paralyzed by then, a slacken human heap. Her head fell aimless down. Deprived of vital seras, her consciousness waned  away by degrees.

    “I have come for the woman in your arms. I shall personally deliver her unto Heigon Henron. I do not suspect there will be any trouble, not with her current state.”

    “You cannot do that,” said the officer. “She came earlier with the Guarded Arms. She is a diplomat today.”

    “Hmm... I see no such flag now...”

    “Ano...” the officer growled. “We know what you just did. It would have been Totul all over again were it not for her intervention. We owe you a bullet or two. We owe her our lives. This is something even the most patriotic of us understand. Ah... I see it is a mistake to figure a man of your criminal stature would know that.”

    Ano balled up his hand for a hot moment, but refrained from one of his patented outbursts. Instead, he merely shook his head. “Who better serves his country? You cowards who fled without a fight, or I who captured our most troublesome of foes? Who holds greater favor in Heigon’s eye? That is all we need consider. Diplomacy be damned. What are the Sventa going to do anyway? Start another war?” he laughed.

    “You are not laying your hands on her. Rather than that, I think you will be coming along with us, back in shackles where your hide belongs.” Behind the Field Lead, various soldiers readied their arms in an instant. “You are outnumbered, Ano. We can throw a quarter of an order against your handful. Dubious odds at best. I would advise you to surrender now.”

    Ano snickered abruptly. “Do consider your own position. Do you believe I am finished? Hardly. I have at least three more charges to blow. I do not know precisely how she saved you, but I have enough remote firepower to see you all burned and buried at the push of a button. Whether you survived my plan or not was none of my concern originally. I only needed her to sacrifice herself to aid you. I figured she would play the hero. The rest of you, however, are inconsequential. I leave it in your hands to decide your fate, for my heart is ambivalent.”

    The Field Lead sneered. He glared up at Ano, then looked on at Losha.

    “Come, come. I need an answer,” Ano said, holding his hand out. “Her life, or thousands of your own people, your very blood?”

Author's Note

In the reaches of Aste, deep within the grasslands of the Central Plains, 14 warring clans mount constant warfare against one another. Through endless bloodshed, the people are forever rooted in a cycle of conflict. Returning to the place she once called home, Losha leaves Palostrol to go back to her family. Yet in their embrace she finds a world teetering on the brink of devestation. As King's words echo through her mind, she must decide if serialization holds the answers to peace. But are the consequences of failure are worth it? The path of the Continent's greatest struggle has only just begun. The Age of Serialization starts now.

The next installment comes March 4th, 2015. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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* Naturally, as Losha noted, you can't just disintegrate something without leaving material left behind. Losha would have had to dig her way out if the earth and rocks of the Ganglan Pass were tight and compact. Thankfully, it's rather porous and once turned into fine powder is actually easily compressed. Since she does not know the exact composition of the area, Losha mentions that she doesn't know if her series will work as intended. Obviously, however, it did.

* That "dog" Ano is referring to is obviously Koter. Apparently, he knew Losha was still alive, and even knew the spot where she would come up. His tracking abilities are second to none, at least for someone who can't perceive seras frequencies. Ano sees Koter and knows they're after the same thing.

* Ano again proves himself a sociopath who would murder many for his own advancement. He also shows himself thinking too grandly. He wants to bring Losha to Heigon in the capital, to show how he single-handedly got rid of their worst enemy. The pragmatic approach would be to kill her first. Of course, Ano isn't just thinking about his own personal glory. He may be a bastard, but he's a Core Lead for a reason. He's got something else in store for Losha, but what exactly will that entail?

* This serial shows the Henron not being bad guys (Ano excluded) and drawing on the idea that the clans and their divisions are superficial. No one has a negative reaction to Losha's presence at the bottom of the valley, and they don't suspect her of any wrongdoing (it helps that blowing up people fits Ano's modus operandi).

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Any feedback is welcome. Just writing because I like it. Always wanted to make a weekly series, so I'm doing it.